In a recent blog post, Duct Tape Marketing’s John Jantsch saves us all time, trouble, and headaches by tossing in his two cents regarding the Top 10 Business Applications for Facebook.
If you’re not familiar with Mr. Jantsch, he’s got a strong, results-oriented, no-nonsense approach about what works and what doesn’t in today’s marketing realm. For example:
There are thousands of application available with one click once you have a Facebook profile. But, don’t get caught up in adding every goofy dodad, just because you can. Think logically about your goals for being on Facebook and then choose the tools that will help your communicate, achieve and amplify those objectives.
The post is a solid, boiled-down list and explanation of what to use - and why to use - Facebook to grow your network, reputation, and business.
Sweet.
As a Facebook newbie who’s just starting to understand its potential as a powerful way to “A-Ha Yourself!” (get your message, mission, and vision OUT THERE to your ideal audience, in fun and profitable ways), short cuts like Mr. Janstsch’s Top 10 list go a long way toward salvaging my social networking sanity. (Or what’s left of it.)
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on Friday, August 29th, 2008 at 3:56 pm and is filed under Tools to "A-Ha Yourself!".
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This entry was posted
on Friday, August 29th, 2008 at 10:14 am and is filed under Mood Boosters.
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This entry was posted
on Friday, August 29th, 2008 at 7:12 am and is filed under Entrepreneur Diaries.
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Thanks to the fab folks at Acorn Creative for freshening our WordPress blog with an injection of new code! (Okay, so they updated us to the latest version - I’m stretching out the metaphor well beyond what it was made for.)
And here’s the photos I promised, of me working on a client’s online marketing strategy in the Kokatosi game room…
…and our campsite. After I packed it in and left the game room, Lani and I went out in a two-person kayak and had our weekly business meeting on the lake, drifting as close as possible to the loons floating and diving in the water.
For the past three years, we’ve taken off at the end of the summer to Kokatosi, on the shores of Crescent Lake in Raymond, ME. This year, we weren’t sure if we were going - family health issues for one, and for another, we’ve been a three-person family in a 10×10 tent - where do you fit a fourth, and all the gear that comes with him, in there?!
Well, we worked it out at the last minute, and I’m writing to you in the middle of our two-night stay. Lani’s parents even snagged a reservation at the last minute, so they’re here with us as well.
They have free Wi-Fi near the camp offices, so I’m sitting in the game room as I complete marketing updates for our clients, and put the finishing touches on a couple of press releases. It’s working fine for the most part…except for the fact that I can’t seem to upload photos onto the blog.
After we get back, I’ll post a photo of our campsite, and of me in my temporary “workspace.” Until then, it’s time to post, shut down, and go jump in the lake with my kids!
This entry was posted
on Monday, August 25th, 2008 at 3:22 pm and is filed under Entrepreneur Diaries.
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Eight years ago today I was waking up to “Going to the Chapel and I’m gonna get married” from my CD alarm clock. You were my destination and prize. Eight years later, you still are.
In some ways, eight years doesn’t sound like a heck of a long time. Sure, it’s two presidential terms. It’s enough to give Michael Phelps time and opportunity to earn himself 11 gold medals. It contains bull and bear markets, real estate booms and busts.
But…
When I married you, there was no iPhone, no Facebook, no tweeting, texting, or Netflix. Back in the day, we had hard-coding HTML and these things called jpgs. We wrote in journals - made of real paper! We went to all the hot movies and watering holes in Santa Monica, Westwood, and hip joints throughout Los Angeles. We played and dreamed in our 1000 sq. ft. two-bedroom apartment. You commuted to your post-MBA bank auditing/financial analyst job(s) and volunteered at the Brentwood Library, while I wrote author biographies, took on any freelance gigs I could nab, and did my thing as a sub in the LA school district.
A lot has changed over the last eight years. Still, in the midst of everything, in the living of the every day, it feels like a veritable blip.
Somehow, while we got rid of our debt and stashed cash away for our “big move” to New Hampshire, while we planned for (and had!) our first child together, while we lined things up so we could be official content vendors for Mattel from 3,000 miles away, we’ve pulled off a few miracles together.
We made it through the incredibly steep Vail pass during the pitch-black of night, in a giant moving truck, in the wrong gear. (What was with all that smoke, huh?)
We found an interim, off-season condo rental for $350/month (everyone said it couldn’t be done!), so we get our bearings in our new state before we found and bought our first home.
We incorporated our biz on January 2nd, 2004, saving us from ever having to take a corporate or desk job again.
We learned how to parent and juggle and trust each other enough to decide to bring a 2nd beautiful angel into this world.
We continue to laugh and challenge each other, learn and grow together in the face of fears, fluctuations, challenges, chaos, and tragedies all around us.
We, somehow, NEVER run out of things to talk about. (How do we do that??)
Eight years later, and I’ve got stretch marks and “Rubinesque Voluptuousness” that didn’t exist on our Wedding Day. You’ve seen me at my horrifying, screaming worst. We’ve stirred up, um, unexpected emotions in each other that haven’t been easy to contain (again, I’m sorry about the butter knife incident), and we’ve muscled through the ups and downs of being married business owners - sometimes with grace, sometimes with pure, stubborn will power, and occasionally with nothing but an overtired “Eh, whatever.”
As you know, I think about our past, present, and future a lot. And the truth is, I wouldn’t change a thing. I think we’re exactly where we need and deserve to be. We’ve made a ton of incredible friends and contacts along the way. We’ve pushed ourselves to learn more, be better, and manage without the benefit of regular sleep or schedules. We’re constantly open to new opportunities. We never limit ourselves, and we continue to write our own story in this world. When we hit those succulent, wide-open spaces of clarity, possibility, and creative collaboration, we know in our hearts we’re doing the right things, we’re still “in the game,” and there’s no one else either one of us would rather be with than each other.
Yes, it’s often scary. Yes, we could learn how to manage our stress better. Yes, sometimes we need to step back and put things in perspective.
For the most part, though, I must tell you I’m proud of us, and I’m grateful for our choices. This is fun with you. I love being your wife, business partner, and the mother of your amazing, healthy, blessed children.
When I think of you at the end of that long aisle, beaming, looking so handsome in your tux, with the 3o+ foot stained-glass showcase window behind you, I am thrilled to know what “eight years later” has brought us.
We’re living our dream, honey. It’s a funky, quirky, imperfect, amusing, powerful, potential-filled rodeo of a dream, but we’re living it with wild abandon, nonetheless.
Thank you for being my co-pilot on this wild, wacky adventure. I love you. Happy Anniversary.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, August 20th, 2008 at 11:11 am and is filed under Married - With Business.
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…you overcame your fears today and allowed yourself to dream big?
…you already have all the tools, resources, and answers you need to get started — or to finish! — successfully?
…the world is literally chomping at the bit for what you and your business have to offer?
…you knew you had plenty of money coming into your bank account for the next six months to do and be everything you want, and that money will EXPLODE because of your actions?
…you threw down the gauntlet and declared exactly what you want, what you stand for, and what you’re worth?
…your success story is no different than those of the multi-million and billionaires you read about in Forbes, Inc., Fast Company, Entrepreneur, Fortune, et al?
…every “challenge” life and business chucks at you really does contain the gifts that ultimately lead you to the ripest, most fabulous and prosperous opportunities?
…time IS on your side, EVERYTHING has played out perfectly so far, and you’re in EXACTLY the right place and frame of mind to become your wildest, most kick-butt vision and version of yourself?
This entry was posted
on Saturday, August 16th, 2008 at 11:24 am and is filed under Mood Boosters, Storytelling.
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I’d love to write a great blog post here, but I’m already running behind. Allen and Kevin are hosting a webinar on “Top 10 Opportunities for Social Media Engagement” in 59 minutes, and I’m supposed to head down there 10 minutes ago.
However, I’m NEVER alone in our beautiful office these days. As Allen and I hoped and dreamed and planned could happen, I’ve got kid duty. This is a wonderful thing…except I miss work.
Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE being with our two amazing boys, and I’m involved in our business on a daily basis. Allen calls me from the office and we talk client stuff. When he calls, I’m either:
Stacking or unstacking the dishwasher; in the car; at the town beach; hosting a play date; going to or from the gym; grocery shopping; vacuuming (our yellow lab is shedding like CRAZY this summer, and we’ve got a crawling child!); fixing someone’s breakfast/lunch/dinner; elbow-deep in a bathtub; changing a diaper; or in the midst of and/or on the way to some other glamorous act or locale.
When I talk to Allen, I’m in awe of all the things he’s handling on a daily basis. On any given day, he’s smack in the middle of:
As if that all isn’t enough, he’s also the guy handling the thrilling tasks of meeting with our accountant to manage our finances, showing up to countless meetings via phone and in person, blogging for us, and talking to me on the phone about all life issues — re: furnaces, SUV transmissions, disciplining our almost-six-year-old, scheduling doctors appointments for our little guy, coordinating child care and the “date night” that never actually happens…
So yeah. It’s a lot. For both of us. For all of us — you, the reader of this blog post, and us, the “Content Lovers” who manage to blog here and there, in the midst of it all.
And if we can’t find the time to blog, we Tweet. On Twitter.
Because really, that’s more conducive to this crazy, fully-loaded life, ain’t it? 140 characters to say something, anything, just to try to capture a moment of your day, before the moment is lost, and before the day never got recorded in any way whatsoever.
Is it worth it? Does it all add up someday? Does any of it matter?
I guess that’s what I’m going to find out in 21 minutes, during the aforementioned Social Media webinar, hosted by Kevin and Al.
But before I go down to the Acorn Creative offices, I’m going to do a quick Tweet about how much I love and appreciate my dear, sweet, hard working, multi-talented husband. Just in case I forget to tell him when we’re lost in the chaos of all that other stuff that too often gets in the way of the more important things of life.
I may not have hours and days and weeks to thank Allen for everything he does for me and our family and our business and our clients, but I definitely have enough time and focused energy for 140 measly characters.
Ahhhh, it’s a modern-day love story, through and through.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, August 13th, 2008 at 12:44 pm and is filed under Entrepreneur Diaries.
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Have you been hearing about places like Facebook and MySpace, concepts like social media and social bookmarking, or tools like widgets? What the heck is up with these, anyway?
And most importantly - how can you use any of them to increase visibility for your business, and boost your bottom line?
Our pal and strategic ally Kevin Skarritt, the Chief Nut at Acorn Creative, is hosting a free webinar tomorrow, Wednesday August 13th, on “The Top 10 Opportunities for Social Media Engagement (All the Cool Kids Are Doing It!),” from 1-2pm. Kevin says…
Ready to invigorate your brand with the new tools of social media? We’ll examine the powerful and inexpensive business opportunities that social media offers and teach you how to use them effectively.
Kevin lives, eats, and breathes this stuff - and I should know, I spend enough time with him already. From four-hour lunches, to long car rides to clients in adjacent states, I can’t have a conversation with the guy without the topic of social media popping up or figuring in. (BTW, from left to right, that’s me and Lani, MySpace Senior VP Shawn Gold, and Kevin at the Global Marketing Summit last year.)
So who better to interview him for the webinar? Yes, I’ll be on the line with him to grill him, keep him grounded, and make sure he boils the information down in a way we can all use for our own businesses.
Learn more and sign up here, and you’ll even get a free copy of Acorn’s special report on inbound linking strategies for your website (a $49 value!).
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, August 12th, 2008 at 1:36 pm and is filed under Press 'n Such.
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Our friend and awesome photographer Michelle Goodearl (portfolio, blog) sent us a link to this video clip. If you’ve ever geeked out over font faces, typography, serifs, or Wingdings, this is for you!
This entry was posted
on Sunday, August 10th, 2008 at 1:56 pm and is filed under Mood Boosters.
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