Forgive me, Fans, Friends, and Followers, for I have sinned.

It’s been weeks (and in some cases, even months!) since my last real-time Facebook update, blog post, TwitPic, Blip, Twitter “@” reply, or LinkedIn exchange.

My mind and fingers have gone through withdrawals — physical spasms, mental texting, ghost editing, faux outreach, unrequited networking, and pleasant banter that never made it out of my head and into this Web-bound dimension.

I’ve stood behind my husband’s shoulders, watching his social activity with a lust and loathing akin to the torturous plight of Twilight’s Edward and Bella.

I want to indulge. Surrender. Sink my teeth into all of the juicy, rapturous outlets and interplays available to me.

Ahhhh, to post an old school photo, tag a group of long-lost friends, and see the rush of connected frivolity cascade upon my page! Ohhhh, to tweet my whims and musings without angst or agenda, just for the sheer fun of it. I’ve done it before! I can do it again! I can keep it in check, I will! I must!

Alas, I resist tempation, denying myself the power and freedom the platforms lavish upon me.

You see, I’ve put myself on the social media wagon.

Social media detox. It’s not a good time to do it. (Is it ever?) Nor is it professionally sound. Social media’s Vampires of Judgmentalism prey on any traces of inconsistent engagement, let alone consummate social celibacy.

But I had to do it. I knew myself enough to know I had to quit my socializing cold turkey for a spell so I could rejigger my thoughts, refuel my spirit, and regain a sliver of perspective and sanity.

There are complications.

As co-owner of Epiphanies, Inc., a business that has spent the last six years hailing the miraculous might of targeted content over online channels to reach niche markets, communicate world-changing ideas, and boost business like nothing we’ve seen in 10,000 years of human civilization, stepping off the social media crazy train is heresy.

Just like all those preachers and politicians who condemn alternative recreational pastimes only to be discovered snorting meth, snogging call girls, and toe-tapping morse code in public restrooms, it’s hypocritical of me to go off the grid. My husband and I have spent the last year explaining to thousands of people — via teleclasses, speaking engagements, workshops, print media, interviews, YouTube videos, you name it — how essential it is for all serious entrepreneurs, global brands, and mission-driven organizations to get past all reservations and get into the social game.

We’ve cited statistics (i.e. at 350,000,000 users, if Facebook were a nation, it would be the 3rd most populated country in the world), released a free Special Report (”37 Easy Ways to Boost Biz Visibility, Revenue, & Results With Twitter!“), and created a Social Media Kick Start Virtual Boot Camp (6 webinar-style modules, templates, checklists, audios), all for the purpose of helping professionals get the information they need to succeed in this stunningly robust online environment.

“It’s easy! Fun! Leveraged! Fascinating!” I’d whoop. And it IS. All of it. Thing is, I got so awestruck by social media’s potential and implications, so gaga over the life-changing success stories, opportunities, and activities I was seeing on the front lines, I short circuited.

Instead of heeding any of my own tips and strategies for social success (time blocking, outsourcing, planning, leveraging content, embracing imperfection, crafting editorial calendars, setting up systems based on vision and ROI, and last but not least, PLAYING), I just stepped away.

It hurts to stop, by the way. You’ve seen what’s happening, 24/7. You know there are conversations you’re missing, contacts wondering why you’ve left them hanging, technologies evolving, and events coming and going without your knowledge or participation.

For example, I just found out in holiday cards that a dear childhood pal of mine eloped months ago, while another had his first baby, and still another celebrated the galley copies of her third book. No doubt I would have known in a respectable time frame had I been tuning into their news feeds like a good friend should.

So there’s sadness. And shame. And lots of self-flagellation.

You feel alienated - desperate for a fix, but determined to battle the detox demons at all costs. If you meet up with friends, colleagues, and associates in the real world, they talk about trending topics, viral videos, parties, meetings, and happenings about which you know nothing. You feel like a fallen octoganarian using an iPhone to dial 911 - completely helpless and utterly hopeless, even though you know the tools you need to fix the problem are right there at your fingertips.

The good news is, I’ve been to the Dark Side of non-engagement, and I’ve lived to tell about it. Turns out the world actually DOESN’T stop spinning on its axis if you duck out of your social networks for a stint.

The real friends and business professionals who matter over the long term not only forgive you, they manage to find creative ways to contact you. Some use that oldie but goody, the phone call! Others text. Still others give a shout out to those in your life’s inner circle (in my case, my spouse), and ask them to deliver messages. It may be a little inconvenient, but it works nonetheless.

Now, as I consider re-entering the social stratosphere feeling refreshed, squared away, and excited to get back into the game, I feel like I’m coming to the party with a new set of skills. Skills like intention, realism, forgiveness, prudence, and purpose. As silly as it sounds, before my detox, I thought I’d be able to keep up with the world’s information and output while sending off my own contributions at a Mach 7 pace.

I cannot. Nor can you.

However, I CAN accept my limits, respect my goals, and commit to a social media recovery and discovery process that values responding over reacting, and imperfect communications over perfect, tantrum-fueled silence.

Turns out the same virtues we revere in the real world are essential in the virtual realm. Compassion. Understanding. Acceptance. Forward progress despite roadblocks and detours.

As social media continues to connect, divide, multiply, and conquer, we must remember we’re all mere mortals doing the best we can with the resources available to us, and these tools and platforms can either torment us, or help us triumph.

It’s up to us to choose the frame of the game.

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This entry was posted on Monday, January 4th, 2010 at 12:22 pm and is filed under Entrepreneur Diaries, Inciter Articles, Social Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Earlier this year, a prominent New York Times bestselling author (who was on a panel with a close friend of ours at a day-long event - which is how we came to hear this tidbit) waved their $15,000 speaking engagement fee to appear at the event, on the condition that the organization putting together the event buy a copy of their book for every member of that organization (about 150 folks).

Wow!

You and I may not be authors of that stature just yet, but there are ways to build your audience and brand up to the point where you can command that kind of payday. One of those ways, which has really begun to blossom in 2009, is the virtual book tour.

What’s a Virtual Book Tour?

Readings, signings, Q &A sessions - these are staples of the traditional book tour. Hosted by your local bookstore, often funded by the authors themselves, and rarely promoted by publishers, these event appearances help authors get the word out about their books and (hopefully) create the grass-roots sort of interest that could lead to a tipping-point in popularity. Or, at least, enough sales to justify the publisher investing in the author’s next book idea.

The Virtual Book Tour, on the other hand, lets authors and readers connect from the convenience of homes, offices, cars, park benches, libraries - you name it!

By using teleseminars and webinars to create virtual versions of traditional book tour whistle-stops (and create new kinds of promotional opportunities), authors and readers both benefit from Virtual Books Tours in three very useful ways:

1. Increased reach. The traditional book tour is often limited by travel time, gas costs, and simple logistics to a handful of cities. The Virtual Book Tour, on the other hand, busts through the limits of time, space, and national borders.

Authors can connect with their audience anywhere on Earth, and nterested readers (including potential mavens key to word-of-mouth success) don’t have to hope their favorite author cruises through town in order to enjoy the author in a “live-and-unplugged” kind of arena.

2. Lowered costs. An elite set of authors may have their expenses paid for. The rest of us have to foot our own bills. Rather than shell out thousands of dollars to get on the road (not to mention the opportunity cost of working/writing time lost to travel), the Virtual Book Tour offers authors an opportunity to get the word out in a much more cost-effective way. As for readers and other interested parties, not only don’t you have to drive to a location-based event, you don’t have to pay the (sometimes required) admission fee. What’s more, thanks to the immediacy offered by social media tools, you can find out about a Virtual Book Tour appearance within 15 minutes of the start, and make it with time to spare.

3. Engaged community. Authors all want sales, and what really helps with that is having a set of raving fans who can act as powerful and trusted promoters of your work. You can only engage with a few of these folks, and not very often, in the offline world. Online, however, you can create a much more expansive set of kindred spirits (call ‘em “Kindreds” for short). There, you can connect with your Kindreds in more unique, relationship-building, interactive, collaborative ways. On the flip side, what reader wouldn’t want the chance to have insider access to an author they love? Who wouldn’t be thrilled to take advantage of an invitation to exclusive forums, webinar breakout rooms, and intimate Q&A calls with inspiring authors?

And with the incredible, viral, instant-publishing-savvy social media platforms out there, you don’t have to have a huge machine behind you to get the word out about your virtual appearances, either. You can use the online venues you already have at your disposal, and give your audience the tools to spread the word.

We’ve had the opportunity to see how well this concept works first-hand in 2009, as charter members of the Author Teleseminars Ambassadors Council. Author Teleseminars is the brainchild of Elizabeth Marshall, whom we’ve known for a few years now and finally met in person last year. She’s a marketing powerhouse, a passionate community builder, and a respected writer in her own right (she co-authored The Contrarian Effect with Michael Port, which was selected as one of the Top 10 Business Books of 2008 by the editorial board of Amazon.com). The Ambassadors Council is the advisory board for Author Teleseminars, and it’s attracted some very heavy hitters in the online marketing world.

So, if you’re an author who’s not yet ready to charge $15,000 to groups who want you to speak at their events, and shell out $15,000 to drive across the country in a rented van, give the Virtual Book Tour idea a spin. Besides, it’s not about you - it’s about the audience who wants to connect with you, wherever THEY are.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 at 4:06 pm and is filed under Fun With Marketing, Inciter Articles, Mood Boosters. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

The following is slightly adapted from October’s installment of The Broad Appeal: One Chick’s Case Against Perfection, Lani’s monthly column for the NH Mirror magazine.

 (Prefer to listen - or read along with Lani? Just click the “Play” button below.)

It’s time, ladies. It’s time to rule – and rescue! – planet Earth.

Humankind is evolving faster than a hummingbird hula-hooping, and our singular strengths are the headlamps guiding us out of the collapsing mineshaft of “Ye Old Way.”

“Women, it turns out, are built to lead – particularly in the modern world,” says biological anthropologist Helen Fisher. Based on what she calls our “web thinking” (as opposed to males’ more linear “step thinking”), we have distinct, evolution-bolstered gifts designed to excel right now. Fisher cites intuition, imagination, long-term planning and networking among our gender’s gene scene.

Not coincidentally, these traits are shared by successful entrepreneurs.

“But I’m not an entrepreneur!” you say. Oh really?

Do you organize and manage your life (a budding enterprise if ever there was one) with considerable initiative and risk? Do you play the odds, move mountains, make decisions and invent solutions as often as you’re supposed to do your Kegel exercises?

Then yes, incorporated or not, you’re an entrepreneur at heart. And Female Entrepreneurs are at the heart of a major cultural and philosophical shift – in power, productivity and possibility. Thanks to ideological momentum plus mind-blowing advances in technology, all signs point to seven feminine-laced virtues that are changing the way we all live, work and play together.

1. Creativity. “Web thinking” means discovering 1 + 2 sometimes equals kumquat. Creativity allows us to riff off that answer with purpose, passion, and elegant flair.

2. Compassion. A profound capacity for empathy helps us understand our neighbors’ trials, tribulations, and triumphs, too. Compassion inspires us to take action – like volunteering, sending care packages, cooking casseroles, and launching mission-driven organizations.

3. Collaboration. Listening to others without feeling threatened, then blending the best ideas to solve specific problems. What woman doesn’t get a thrill out of mixing a pinch of this with a dash of that to create something new, better, and delightful?

4. Connections. As in, making lots of them. Social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn certainly help. We socialize in life, and keep strong, meaningful connections going with the tools available to us.

5. Community. When Hillary Clinton said “it takes a village…” she immortalized the phrase. These days, your “village” could be a local one, an online cooperative, or a global community of like-minded souls united by a bold vision or venture.

6. Communication. I once heard the average man mutters 7,000 words per day, while his ovaried companion squeezes 25,000 words into her daily repertoire. By glare, gab, blog, bootie shake, text message, or gesture, we gals definitely revel in revealing what’s on our minds.

7. CRAZY. Seal sang it best: “Oh we’re never gonna survive, unless, we are a little crazy.” Fight it or flaunt it, but don’t dare deny it – crazy is a chick thing. We may as well use it to our advantage!

These seven “C’s” are giving us – the world’s Female Entrepreneurs – the winning edge that makes things all work out, against all odds.

And with crazy as our ace in the hole?

Not only can we grasp the kumquat equation in No. 1, we can live, learn and love at full blast. No boundaries, bras optional. Once and for all.

Lani is a Female Entrepreneur. Follow her on at http://Twitter.com/LaniVoivod, and become a Fan of Epiphanies, Inc. on Facebook at http://Facebook.com/AhaYourself, to stay connected to the social marketing & success strategies business she nurtures and grows with her husband, Allen.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, October 3rd, 2009 at 10:21 am and is filed under ADD Info Summits, Inciter Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Historically speaking, there used to be an idea that certain kinds of marketing tactics were reserved for certain kinds of businesses and brands. You might have expected a circus company to stage a big to-do in Times Square, for example, but not a home appliance company.

And yet, 2008 saw giant inflatable versions of General Electric’s latest washer and dryer camped out in Manhattan, underneath a sky-high clothesline strung with laundry!

The lines defining what’s an acceptable marketing tactic for one business, brand, or organization versus another have been blurring for years. And marketing on the Internet has been subject to the same situation. As in the offline world, common beliefs about what’s appropriate turn into myths that ultimately get shattered by breakthrough companies.

Blendtec, a maker of high-end blenders designed for commercial kitchens and luxury homes, wouldn’t seem to be a good fit for YouTube at first glance. But their “Will It Blend?” videos (more than 80 as of this writing), with low production costs and a campy soundtrack, have garnered nearly 80 million views and increased sales by more than 700% in the 18 months since the campaign began.

So let’s break down some of the common myths about social media marketing – that the tools are not for “serious” business use, that only “kids” use them, and that no one’s “listening” online.

1. The long-term trend. Social networks - like blogs before them, and like websites before blogs – started off being used for “non-business” purposes. Once associated with techie-type forums or personal rantings and ravings, the trend for all of these online tools is to go from niched and private use to broad-based public use.

Websites are now universally accepted by even the most straight-laced and serious industries, brands, and organizations. Blogs are about as well regarded, and though they’re not as pervasive as websites, their use continues to grow (up 68% in 2008). And just about every company on the Fortune 100 has a presence on at least one social network.

Please don’t get hung up on where these tools have been. Look at where they’re going instead. Seriously!

2. The average user age. Twitter, with its 140-character limit, frivolous “What are you doing?” update invitation, and rampant use of instant messaging/texting type abbreviations (“LOL!”), seems ideally suited for young users. In fact, the average user age hovers right around 40. Yes, you read it right. 40.

Facebook started out as being just for college students, but they’ve opened their doors to everyone now. (Truth is, their ambition is to displace Google at the center of the Internet – and they can do it.) Currently, their biggest user base is in the 25-34 age group, and growing fastest in the over-40 set.

LinkedIn is, well, LinkedIn – for professionals only. Always has been, always will be. And despite the attention media darlings like Facebook and Twitter receive, LinkedIn is growing just fine, thank you very much. They crossed the 40-million user mark, no doubt propelled in large part by the topsy-turvy economy.

So let us say it loud and proud: Social networks aren’t just for the kids anymore.

3. How we use the web. When’s the last time you stopped and thought about the way you surfed the web? Steve Krug, a website user-interface expert and author of the seminal book Don’t Make Me Think, suggests that the best way to see how someone surfs your own site is to invite them over for a beer, sit down next to them, and watch them try to find their way through your site.

You can extend this idea to how your customers, clients, and prospects use not only your website, but the whole Internet in general. When we’re online, we’re information seekers. I may be seeking out the latest funny cat videos, and you may be trying to learn what that weird bump on your knuckle is all about, but the process is the same – we’re looking for information in a focused and targeted way. And we behave the same way whether our information seeking (or “listening”) is for business or personal use.

Having an active presence on social networks and a blog of one’s own creates more opportunities for you to be found by information seekers. It gives search engines more reasons to list you higher in the search results than your non-blogging, anti-social competition. And it proves to your target audience how much you care, how much you know, and how much more worthy you are of attention, respect, and outright business dealings.

Besides, what good is the information doing you if it’s just sitting in your head, where nobody can access it unless they carve out a piece of your limited time? Get it out there and put it to work for you!

It doesn’t matter whether your target audience is in the public or private sector, academic or institutional, small business or large enterprise. Social media marketing tools level the playing field for all entrepreneurs, global brands, and mission-driven organizations. So dive right in – the water’s fine, and like the washer and dryer, you can adjust your settings to run hot, cold, fast, gentle, or anywhere in-between.

Posted in Inciter Articles, Social Marketing | 1 Comment »

This entry was posted on Friday, August 21st, 2009 at 11:26 am and is filed under Inciter Articles, Social Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Staying active on multiple social media sites is a challenge we all have as small business owners. We’ve even been asked to help bigger organizations like the state’s Division of Economic Development to eliminate redundancy and streamline their social media efforts.

The good news is, there are quite a few ways to LEVERAGE your time and content in social media. Here’s how…

***RSS feeds are key.***

“RSS” stands for “Really Simple Syndication.” Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and many other social sites automatically generate RSS feeds. For example, if you have a blog (we use and recommend WordPress), you can use its RSS feed to send your blog posts to other sites (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) and even to your email subscriber list automatically. In other words, you set it up once and forget about it.

Using a syndication service is another time-saving method.

Websites like Ping.fm or HelloTxt.com (yes, that’s “text” without the “e”), are one-stop shops for sending status updates to multiple social networking platforms.

“Plug-ins” can also help. They’re just little pieces of software that expand the functionality of blogs, like WordPress. Dozens of plug-ins exist for integrating your blog content with social media platforms. “Applications” do the same thing for Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites.

And if you’re on the move a lot or you simply don’t like to be tied down to your computer, using Twitter as your quick ‘n easy content launcher may be the way to go. You can send fast, painless content shots - messages, links, exchanges with other professionals - via your cell phone, smart mobile device, or computer, and use your “tweets” to update your presence on other social platforms.

Finally, while you may not have the budget to hire an employee, there are affordable alternatives.

Virtual Assistants - entrepreneurs who provide professional administrative, technical, or creative (social) assistance to clients from a remote location - can be hired for specialized services, for as little as 5 hours per month, for $20-$60 per hour. You can also find freelancers through services like oDesk.com or eLance.com, for $5-$20 per hour.

Whether you spend an hour a day or an hour per week on your social media presence, it’s an ongoing learning process. As you start to see results and get more comfortable, you’ll know how best to budget your time and resources.

Lani & Allen Voivod, The Content Lovers of Epiphanies, Inc., help imperfect-preneurs, global brands, and mission-driven organizations use social marketing & success strategies to ramp up visibility, competitive edge, and profits. Get their free Special Report, “37 Easy Ways to Boost Visibility, $$, and Results w/ Twitter” at http://www.EpiphaniesInc.com/twitter. Then grab “I Had an ‘Aha Moment - Now What?’ at http://www.AhaSuccessKit.com!

Posted in Inciter Articles, Social Marketing | 1 Comment »

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009 at 8:53 pm and is filed under Inciter Articles, Social Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

The professional/personal divide for social networking is a big deal for a lot of people. It’s a question we’ve been asked at just about every single event, presentation, or workshop on social media we’ve delivered, during in-person networking sessions, and heard as attendees at other social-media-related soirees.

Personal privacy concerns play into it. A company’s legal liability and reputation also play into it. And the media highlights incidents of people who either aren’t using common sense or don’t know how to control their privacy settings properly.

You may have heard about the Philadelphia Eagles part-time employee who complained on Facebook about a trade the Eagles didn’t make, and was fired as a result. D’oh! Or the person who lost a job offer from Cisco for tweeting about the choice of taking a good paycheck but hating the work and the commute.

Things like this happen all the time, and happened well before social media ever came along. Stupid emails accidentally sent company-wide, inappropriate remarks in meetings, bad behavior at office parties…the list goes on and on.

So rather than limit the professional/personal conversation to social networking, let’s look at it in terms of networking in general.

When you go to an “offline” networking event, do you ever, only, and exclusively talk about business? Of course not! You talk about the weather, baseball, traffic, kids, movies, and all the other water-cooler-type topics that ultimately become fertile ground for creative collaborations, engaging services, and even striking business deals.

It’s an open secret that, at its core, business is not about “business.” It’s about people and relationships. People want to create relationships, and do business with people who they enjoy, respect, and feel comfortable with. For that to be at all possible, mixing the professional and the personal – in a way that feels comfortable for you, demonstrates professionalism, and respects the tenets of respect and human decency – has never been easier, or smarter, for your business success.

As a result, when asked about “professional versus personal,” we add a third category to the conversation - “private.” You don’t talk about the unexpected blemish that’s developed in your bathing suit area. You don’t talk about how you want to tell off your boss with every four-letter word you can think of. You don’t put anything online that you would be embarrassed to see on the front page of the New York Times.

In fact, asking yourself that gut-check, common-sense question, “Would I be okay if this was read or seen by millions of people, including my neighbors, colleagues, and grandmother?” before you share your thoughts online is all you really need to do to manage the professional/personal/private divide.

Your clients, prospects, partners, and allies all want to know there’s a savvy business mind at work when they connect with you. They also want to know you’re human. As business becomes ever more competitive, the personal connection becomes ever more vital. Social networking tools allow you to mix the professional AND the personal with confidence and your own unique flair, for maximum value. So dive in and start sharing!

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This entry was posted on Friday, July 10th, 2009 at 3:23 pm and is filed under Inciter Articles, Social Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

What’s your worst fear?

Spiders? Speaking in public? Being rushed to the hospital wearing yesterday’s underwear?

If you’re like most people, whether you admit it or not, it’s FAILURE.

And no group knows FAILURE quite like business owners, solo professionals, and entrepreneurs, right? We put ourselves out there time and time again, while friends and family members who work as employees, or are retired with a lifetime’s worth of opinions to share, voice their own fears and concerns to us at every available opportunity. Many take it one step further and chime in about their confusion - and yes, even their disapproval! - of our choices. Somehow, holiday dinners, well-attended family picnics, and other high-profile events strike these loquacious worrywarts and cynics as the perfect time and place to offer their two cents. Lucky us.

But really, when we FAIL, what happens? Does the sky fall? Do we lose our homes? Our shirts? Or worst of all – our pride? And if all these things happen and we’re still finding time to read this article, was the outcome really so devastating?

More often than not, FAILURE is nothing more than a shift in expectations. You thought you wanted one thing to happen – like, making 1000 sales in 24 hours from your latest product launch – but instead you get something else – like, a crashed website, and a bunch of emails complaining about poor customer service.

But…what if it’s not FAILURE? What if, like those old Reese’s candy commercials, all of the “your-chocolate-in-MY-peanut-butter!” moments are really birthing stations for HAPPY ACCIDENTS?

“Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit,” said Napoleon Hill, founder of the Motivational Movement and best-selling author of Think and Grow Rich, in which 500 millionaires were mined and matrixed for their winning life formulas.

And Happy Accidents are definitely seeds of great might. They’re those well-disguised gifts that – if allowed to spawn rather than spurn – can easily become your own life’s (or the world’s!) Next Big Thing.

Penicillin was a Happy Accident, enduring more than 40 years of dismissals before it became “the discovery that changed modern medicine” in 1939. Heck, Columbus’s “New World” was a FAILURE, in that it didn’t reveal the coveted western passage to the Far East, as the notorious navigator had originally hoped to plot.

“Success is 99 percent failure,” said Soichiro Honda. Yup. His billion-dollar enterprise only came into being because Toyota wouldn’t buy his piston rings, and his other peculiar designs and patents were laughed at for decades. (Of course, when Japan’s post-WWII economy inspired Mr. Honda to slap a little engine on a bicycle – thereby inventing the Honda Motorcycle Company – Soichiro laughed all the way to the bank!)

Truth is, virtually every successful business person, author, artist, and accomplished human on the planet boasts a string of spectacular FAILURES that could trip a stampeding herd of juiced-up Paul Bunyans.

Which leads us to the Great Irony of Life: Failure is NOT a thing to be avoided, but rather, THE golden objective to pursue, accumulate, tally, gulp, and experience at every opportunity.

So here’s the magic key to creative freedom and fun, for all endeavors big and small. (Listen up! It’ll change your life…)

Ditch the pressure of “Success or bust!” and switch the goal to dogged failure.

Fail, fail, fail, and fail some more at something (or everything!) you LOVE to do, and sooner or later you are destined to succeed – whether or not you’re wearing clean underwear.

From one of Failure’s favorite protégé’s, please hear this:

May you always have the strength and courage

to FAIL MISERABLY at every opportunity,

and may you live on to become one

of the biggest failures the world has ever known!

(As for the state of your undies, for heaven’s sake – stack the deck in your favor. Keep ‘em clean – or go commando!)

WANNA USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEBSITE?
Please do! Just kindly include this blurb with it:

Lani & Allen Voivod, The Content Lovers of Epiphanies, Inc., help imperfect-preneurs, globals brands, and mission-driven organizations use social marketing & success strategies to ramp up visibility, competitive edge, community, and profits. Get their free Special Report, 37 Easy Ways to Boost Visibility, Revenue, and Results With Twitter, which reveals how to the leverage the power and potential of the world’s fastest growing social network.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 17th, 2009 at 9:50 am and is filed under Inciter Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

If you’re a leader, employee, or volunteer of a non-profit or mission-driven organization with limited funding and resources, you’ve likely said more than a few (million) times you wish there was a way to wake people up, get their attention, connect with like-minded folks, and incite meaningful action. Maybe you’ve dared dream of making a real, lasting difference in your community, or in the world at large.

Now along comes “Social Media.” For many, this overused phrase conjures up feelings of fear, overwhelm, technological anarchy, time suckage, and generational divides.

Please, don’t let that be true for you.

Social media tools and resources ARE the inexpensive, viral, and action-inspiring answers to your most audacious wishes and dreams. And the good news is, you can use your passion and vision to transcend overwhelm and hype, and explode your reach and results.

Here are five of ten easy ways to do just that.

1. Inspire Direct Action! One of the best features of human nature - even (and especially!) in a shaky economic climate - is we want to GIVE. Most of us give what we can, when we can. So yes, you absolutely can ask for donations through social media.

Social-friendly applications like TipJoy, Tweet4Good, SixDegrees, ChipIn, and even PayPal make accepting on-the-spot donations easy for non-profits and mission-driven organizations. Make it easy for people who want to give, and put one of these tools to use now.

2. Inbound Links/SEO. Search engines change their algorithms all the time so people can’t game the system. But here’s what will stay true no matter what: If there are links to your site from a highly-trafficked place of authority, and you regularly publish keyword-thoughtful content in those places, your search engine placement will improve.

As of this writing, Facebook is the fourth most-visited website. Five of the top ten sites are social media. Twitter is #36 and climbing fast. Get the picture?

3. Monitor & Engage. Twitter Search makes it easy to find people talking about the topics relevant to your organization right now, and to join the conversation. Don’t want to search right now? Applications like TweepBeep and Tweet Later monitor keywords and send you digest emails.

Meanwhile, Facebook Social Ads tap into the incredible treasure trove of information people publish about themselves. It’s easily the most valuable marketing database on Earth - Microsoft invested $240 million for a 1.6% stake in Facebook in 2007, and news sources like NBC and the New York Times estimate Facebook’s value at $10-15 billion.

4. Leverage. Most people aren’t looking to do more work. In fact, they’re looking to do less - or the ever popular “do more with less.” Facebook and Twitter are built for just these purposes. Sure, you can get lost in the depths that they offer, but you can also simplify your work with them.

RSS feeds created automatically by Twitter can be used to update your blog and Facebook profiles, groups, and fan Pages. Applications like Twitterfeed can send your Facebook updates to Twitter. And that’s just touching the surface. The point is, YOU can decide which platform you like to work with best, update in one place, and use the wealth of automating tools available to spread your content out across your Social Marketing Content Ecosystem.

5. Crowdsourcing. One of the under-used secrets of marketing is that your Ideal Audience will tell you exactly what they want from you. All you have to do is ask them! This old adage holds true in the social media realm, too - in fact, it’s even more powerful, because the response can be immediate.

Your Twitter Followers and Facebook Fans will TELL you what works for them, whether you’re asking about new product ideas, new marketing messages, even new branding and taglines. What’s more, they’ll “Stack Attack” the best ideas, too, building on each other’s creativity in powerful and unpredictable ways. (Dell’s IdeaStorm.com is a great example of how collaborative feedback gives way to innovative new products and services.)

Those are the first five ways for non-profits to use Twitter, Facebook, and other social media resources to boost awareness, raise funds, and rally advocates. In Part 2 of this article, you’ll discover five more ways for passionate professionals and mission-driven organizations to confidently hop on the social media bandwagon.

(Oh, by the way … if you’re part of a for-profit business, everything in this article still applies - even the bit about accepting money. If you’re not ready for a complete merchant account solution like www.AhaMerchant.com, PayPal and Amazon can both take care of you.)

WANNA USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEBSITE?
Please do! Just kindly include this blurb with it:

Lani & Allen Voivod, The Content Lovers of Epiphanies, Inc., help imperfect-preneurs, multi-million-dollar businesses, and mission-driven organizations use social marketing & success strategies to ramp up visibility, competitive edge, community, and profits. Get their free Special Report, 37 Easy Ways to Boost Visibility, Revenue, and Results With Twitter, which reveals how to the leverage the power and potential of the world’s fastest growing social network.

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This entry was posted on Monday, June 1st, 2009 at 11:47 am and is filed under Inciter Articles, Social Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

by Lani & Allen Voivod, aka The Content Lovers™ of Epiphanies, Inc.

As small business owners, it’s all too easy for us to get so immersed in the daily planning and producing of projects and profits that we forget to step back and take a look at the Bigger Picture of what’s going on “in the field,” as they say.

So take a minute out of - or add a minute into - your day’s to-do’s and get hip to three of the top trends that require your attention, ASAP. Not only will you feel smarter, but the information will help you:

·         Stay relevant and competitive.

·         Adjust your products, services, practices, and policies accordingly.

·         Make better decisions about what to do with your time and resources.

And away we go!

Trend #1: The Rise of the Lifestyle Entrepreneur

Over the last few years, we’ve seen the illusion of the “safe” corporate job get completely annihilated. We’ve seen retirement plans disappear, corporate greed get outed, and the “gentleman’s handshake” between dedicated employees who invest 10 - 30 years into their company’s goals and profits go the way of the dodo bird.

Enter the Lifestyle Entrepreneur. Creative, determined individuals who play to their own strengths, take advantage of the tools and resources available, and design their businesses to support their own passions, vision, and lifestyle goals, instead of designing a business that rules their lives.

What are some of the tools, signs, and secret weapons of the Lifestyle Entrepreneur?

·         Leveraged business models, like membership sites

·         Ultra-niche products and services that can be automated

·         Using Virtual Assistants instead of employees

·         Driving traffic to online products and services that require little or no human intervention

With the Internet, every single business and industry has the capacity to create some passive money portals around their products and services. It’s not only possible - more and more, it’s expected! Which means even multi-million-dollar companies can take advantage of some or all of the savvy strategies of the Lifestyle Entrepreneur.

Trend #2: “Kindred” Creation

It’s funny, most people assume moving business online means the death of personal connections. The irony is, to be successful online, you have to get in tune and in touch with what your Target Market and Ideal Audience wants more than ever before. You have to talk how they talk, hang out where they hang out, and make offers they find Irresistible. You have to find your Kindreds. Foster and nurture relationships. Find people who think like you do, have similar or complementary outlooks, etc.

Mega-marketer Dan Kennedy calls these folks your “Herd.” Marketing guru and author Seth Godin calls them your “Tribe.” We prefer Kindreds, because it sounds more human. And the human connection is what it’s all about.

Trend #3: The Great Social Divide

Essentially, there are those who have jumped (or are jumping) into the social marketing game, and those who haven’t (and won’t). Don’t be in the second group.

If you’re a business owner who sincerely wants to be in business five years from now, 2009 is the year you have to take the plunge into the social networking realm. It can be crude at first, but you have to budget some time and resources to get better and fold in this stuff a little at a time.

Right now, very few people (if any) are using all the vehicles perfectly, so you don’t have to worry about what’s the “right way” or the “wrong way.” The only “wrong way” is to end 2009 without some sort of presence on the top-tier social marketing sites, at the very least: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn. And don’t forget that old dinosaur of interactive, conversational communications: BLOGGING. It’s still very much a respected VIP at the social marketing party - mostly because it can serve as your aggregate, your home base, your one-stop connection shop.

Set up a bare-minimum strategy. Learn a little about one of these every month, or every other month. Tools and applications are being developed even as we speak at mind blowing rates.

Your competition is learning this stuff. What’s more, your Target Market is looking for you - or will be looking for you - in these forums. They’re looking to connect, see who you really are, what you and your business are thinking about…what’s behind the curtain, so to speak.

If you’re not there when they want to make that connection or do their research, they’ll move on to whoever is willing to share their behind-the-scenes personality in authentic ways.

Ultimately, the human need for connection is fueling the social media explosion, and there will be thousands more sites and opportunities popping up in 2009 and beyond.

Be on the playing field when the pitch is thrown.

So there you have them - three of the top 12 biz trends for 2009. May you use them to fuel your business success, this year and for many years to come!

(Remember, vote for your favorite “Headless Chicken Syndrome PSA” video on The “A-Ha!” Blog to get a copy of the audio program where we reveal all 12 trends, and you’ll also have a chance to win a free copy of the “Down ‘n Dirty Marketing Planning” package, too!)

WANNA USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEBSITE?
Please do! Just kindly include this blurb with it:

Lani & Allen Voivod, The Content Lovers of Epiphanies, Inc., help imperfect-preneurs and million-dollar businesses get down ‘n dirty with their marketing, so they can connect and prosper with the peeps who matter. Get your FREE “A-Ha!” Success Kit, a one-of-a-kind 7-day ecourse with real-world case studies, posters, and articles designed to thrill, inspire, and rock your world, at www.AhaSuccessKit.com!

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This entry was posted on Friday, February 6th, 2009 at 11:09 am and is filed under Inciter Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Andrew Carnegie, America’s first billionaire, tasked a man named Napoleon Hill with this whopper:

Discover the universal success secrets shared by the world’s wealthiest men.

(No offense, ladies, this was 50+ years ago, when it was all about the Boys’ Club.)

Twenty years of research later, Hill published Carnegie’s secret formula for success in Think and Grow Rich. According to Hill, successful men shared traits like desire, faith, specialized knowledge, imagination, persistence, planning, sex transmutation (!), and decision-making. One of these shared traits was so vital, Hill dubbed it “The Driving Force.”

This Driving Force? The “Master Mind”: “Coordination of knowledge and effort, in a spirit of harmony, between two or more people, for the attainment of a definite purpose.”

Industry leaders, inventors, revolutionaries, and tycoons would form “Mastermind Groups” to:

• Problem-solve
• Brainstorm
• Help each other think bigger, better, and more strategically
• Leverage their combined experience and insight
• Create a “Third Mind” that was more powerful than anything they could muster by themselves

For the modern day business professional, a Mastermind Group is similar to a Board of Directors or an Advisory Board, usually made up of business leaders in other fields who support and strategize with a company’s senior management.

Unfortunately for microbusiness owners and solo-preneurs, self-led or voluntary Mastermind Groups often don’t work.

They lack accountability, commitment, and organized direction essential to Masterminding success.

So what’s a success-minded solo professional or small biz owner to do?

Make it your business to find a results-driven, marketing-oriented, revenue-obsessed Mastermind Program, ASAP.

More and more, Mastermind Programs are popping up around the Internet. Some are 100% virtual, some are big-ticket events, and some are five- and six-figure day or weekend-long retreats. All strive to deliver quality information, environments, and support. Some succeed, while others fall woefully short.

There’s one catch: To make this secret weapon work for you, you have to be able to tell the difference between a good Mastermind Program and its shoddy, ne’er-do-well cousin. Here are six ways:

1. Look at its bones.

There are plenty of “loose” business groups around, but if you’re looking to move forward systematically and strategically, a top-notch Mastermind Program’s gotta have a solid structure in place. Ideally, it’s goal-focused and results-driven.

2. Ask yourself: “Who’s at the helm?”

A good Mastermind Program should be led by a person or team who’s in the game, walks the walk, leads with vision and purpose, encourages the free-flow of ideas, and knows how to get out of the way of the groups’ progress, too.

3. See that it informs, educates, and inspires, yet doesn’t overwhelm.

Unless you get a huge chunk of time off to learn new strategies and implement them in your own sweet time, the Mastermind Program you choose needs to respect the fact that you’re still running a business. (And you may even have a life outside your business!)

4. Join one that’s all mixed up.

Some Mastermind Programs offer only group sessions, or only home study, or only 1-on-1 support. But if you can find one that incorporates all three, you’ve struck gold.

5. Ask yourself: “Who’s sitting around the Mastermind Table with me?”

If 6-12 stellar business owners all focused their collective wisdom on your business - where your money’s coming from, where you want it to be, and how to get you there - what would that be worth to you? Could you more easily map out your path to profits purposefully, strategically, and confidently? You betcha. Quality Mastermind Programs attract quality business owners. Period.

6. Make sure it gets you out of the “I already know that” trap.

If you already know what you need and want to be doing in your business, why haven’t you done it already? Great Mastermind Programs break you out of the “I already know that” habit, hold you accountable, help you identify the steps you need to take, and get you excited and energized to take those steps.

And possibly, the most important thing for you to keep in mind about Mastermind Programs is this:

7. You get what you pay for.

If a “professional” is offering a free mastermind program, odds are they don’t value their own time, or worse, they won’t value yours. What’s more, free programs attract people who aren’t willing or interested in investing in the growth and success of their business. Are these the kind of big thinkers who’ll help you take your business to the next level?

Signs point to “No.”

Most reputable and effective Masterminds Programs manage member caliber with a monthly or annual investment. So when you invest in a quality, focused, and results-driven Mastermind Program, you’re likely to put much more effort in…which means you’re more likely to get an even bigger benefit on the back-end.

So set your personal bar high, keep your expectations optimistic yet down-to-earth, and make like a billionaire by using a powerful, profit -savvy Mastermind Program to grow your revenue and results!

WANNA USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEBSITE?
Please do! Just kindly include this blurb with it:

Lani & Allen Voivod, aka “The Content Lovers” of Epiphanies, Inc., help lifestyle entrepreneurs and million-dollar businesses “A-Ha Themselves!” in fun, innovative, and profitable ways with business masterminding, content leveraging, and social marketing & success strategies. To learn more about their one-of-a-kind 2009 “A-Ha!” Revenue & Results Mastermind Program - the first ever in the New England area - go to www.EpiphaniesInc.com/mastermind!

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 26th, 2008 at 2:53 pm and is filed under Inciter Articles, Masterminding. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.