Lip-Sticking

Simple is Hard Work.

By Guest Blogger, Mary Schmidt, Marketing Troubleshooter 

Me. Last Friday. Hulking out. Hulk no like experts! (Yet another expert pitchin' on a LinkedIn "discussion" set me off...You won't like me when I'm angry.) 

But seriously, I find it simpler to not be angry.  It's better for me (and everyone else) for me to be generous, practice loving kindness and (Grrrrr, *CRASH*, *SMASH!*) let it go. 

However, to get to simple, I've had to do a lot of hard work...with daily spiritual maintenance.  So, I get a wee bit irked (let it go...let it go) with the eleventy billion experts purporting they can help you make seemingly everything in life SIMPLE! In only five (or ten or twelve) steps. (Anyone in AA can tell you that 12-step program is a killer. Simple to read and repeat, difficult to live.) 

Same goes for business. The simpler it looks, the more work went into it (or should.)  For example, I'm in the last throes of putting together the cells for my upcoming social media workshop. Very few words. Lots of graphics. Simple...looking. Lots of research, analysis and thinking went into getting to that look. With more work on the soundtrack that goes with the images.  So, I get more than a wee bit irked with the gazillion social media experts who promote that social media is free, easy, simple...quick (in only 60 minutes a day!)...whatever.  Get ya snake oil right here! ABSOLUTELY GUARANTEED!

Saying social media is free is like saying if you pick up a hammer on the street, you're an expert carpenter. Easy? Oh sure. If you want to sweat blood on your keyboard on a regular basis. Simple?  Well, yeah. A hammer is basically simple too. So is a screwdriver which...no, no, I'm not going there, way too easy. Let it go...let it go.    

June is Busting Out All Over

by Yvonne DiVita

So the song from Oklahoma goes: "June is busting out all over; All over the meadow and the hill"... and on and one. The song celebrates the sun, the grass, the warmth ... the end of cold weather, keeping us all indoors.

My backyard is a jungle. That's what June is giving me. The dogs don't mind. They nose around for bugs, or whatever it is that is so fascinating there on the ground. They find secret places to do "their business"... behind a towering bush or clump of overgrown grass, thinking they are hidden. The jungle of the yard is play to them. To us, it's a reminder that winter is over and it's time to think lawn...etc. 

Why are people so intent on making their lawn look... well kept? What purpose does a manicured lawn serve? When did we as a species begin to pay so much attention to our lawns, as if weekends exist to putter around the garden, mow the grass, tend to the trees, plant more flowers? I guess if you have kids, it's important. Frankie, shown here, probably prefers a grassy backyard.

Friday Musings: Togetherness can be lonely

by Yvonne DiVita

A good friend of mine, Bruce Peters, sent me a link to a blog post he called "eloquent." A lonely post. A post with amazing clarity - written with perspective, by a 22 year old author.

On this day, this Friday at the end of a tremendously busy week preparing for the BlogPaws conference, I took a minute to read this post again...and to reflect.

The Opposite of Loneliness

"We don't have a word for the opposite of loneliness, but if we did, I could say that's what I want in life," wrote Marina Keegan on CrossCampus. "What I'm grateful and thankful to have found at Yale, and what I'm scared of losing when we wake up tomorrow and leave this place."

She's writing about graduation. The passage of time. The feelings of a young woman about to embark upon the unkown.

58 Days and Counting to the "Social-Media" Summer Olympic Games in London

By Guest Blogger, Donna DeClemente, Donna's Promo Talk

The London Summer Olympic Games are now only 58 days away from the opening ceremony. You can see the exact countdown on the Official Website here. I've been blogging about the Olympics since the 2008 Summer Games were held in Beijing and much has changed over the course of four years. The 2012 Games are being proclaimed by many as the first social-media Olympics, so this is sure to be one of many posts that I'll write.

Longtime sponsor of the Olympics, Visa, has launched their first "social-by-design" integrated marketing campaign for the Games, Go World. The "global cheer" campaign is the largest in Visa's 25 year history as a sponsor of the Olympic Games.

The initial thinking behind the campaign came about during some early brainstorming sessions. The marketing group together with their agency team realized that this summer many fans will likely be cheering for the athletes through social-media channels, so why not organize the cheering and own it? Visa then turned to its own Olympic focus group, the 60 Olympic athletes who make up Team Visa, which include swimmer Michael Phelps, runner Lopez Lomong and tennis player Li Na. The athletes told Visa that cheers, in fact, do make a difference.

Amp Up Your Social Media Marketing

Guest post by Blog Manager Robbi Hess

Don't you just love staring at a blank screen? I know I do (just kidding!) Even after all of my years of writing, I am not a huge fan of the blank screen. I just know it's taunting me to "Get Writing!" or something equally as obnoxious. To thwart it I have a to-do, or in my case a to-write, list. Take that, blank screen! I kind of know what I'm going to blog about or put as a Facebook status update and that, my writerly friends, is a boon to my creativity. 

What's on your mind?

by Yvonne DiVita

Facebook wants to know what's on my mind. Here's what's on my mind...

1. Living life to its fullest. While I have limitations set on me by my health, I often think I'm missing out on some of the best things in life just because I am a passive observer. 

2. Laundry. Somehow, I don't think anyone on Facebook wants to know I'm thinking about laundry. So, I won't elaborate on it here.

3. My kids. Yes, I think about my kids every day. I miss my daughter and her family back in Buffalo (hi Frankie!) and I miss my son, a lot. I miss my Mom and my sisters and I so miss my brother. But, none of the missing makes me want to move back to NY.

Friday Musings: Procrastination

by Yvonne DiVita

We all do it. Procrastinate. Some of us are more guilty of it than others. We push off tasks that we aren't ready to do - to tomorrow or next week or next month. And, when it comes time to do those tasks, we're less prepared to tackle them than we were at the onset. Why?

Experts abound to explain why people do this. In the end, knowing why doesn't always solve the problem.

Take travel for business, for instance. Me, I hate traveling. If I have a business trip on my schedule, I'll ignore it till the cows come home. Almost as if it might go away if I pretend it's not there. The problem then is - by the time I realize it's practically upon me, the cost of airfares have gone up more than $100 and I'm angry at myself for not planning ahead. <sigh>

Facebook promotions together with ads are a winning combination

By Guest Blogger, Donna DeClemente, Donna's Promo Talk

The big Facebook IPO day came and went last Friday. It was a huge disappointment and the stock continues to get worse this week. I'm glad I'm not one who bought any of it. First General Motors announced a few days before the launch that they're pulling all their Facebook advertising, $10 million worth, because it hasn't delivered effective results. Then a study comes out that says nearly half of Facebook users never click on ads. This survey was conducted by advertising agency Greenlight which found that 44% of Facebook users “never,” or will ever, click on ads or sponsored posts while using the social media site.

However, General Motors is not walking away from Facebook by any means. They stated that Facebook is still a very important part of their marketing strategy and they will continue to focus on creating engaging content on their page and to solicit feedback from their fans. So this says that content is still king and always has been, no mater what the medium. Running promotions on your Facebook page and offering your fans chances to win prizes and receive special discounts and offers is still one of the top reasons that users visit and Like a Facebook page. Those users that engage on a page by entering a sweepstakes or contest and then share that activity with their friends is the type of social media advertising that is working.

Are You Making The Most of Facebook?

Guest post by Blog Manager Robbi Hess

Just when you get a handle on Facebook, it changes the next day, right? You update your page and your banner photo and the next thing you know, it’s changing again. Now with the recent implementation of Timeline, are you making the most of your time on this social media platform and is it working for your business the way you hoped it would? There are many steps you can take to enhance the time you spend on Facebook.

Here are five steps you can take to make your business more visible on Facebook:

The Only Choice You Positively MUST Make

By Guest Blogger, Mary Schmidt, Marketing Troubleshooter  

Choosing to operate from abundance not scarcity. Once you make the decision, all other choices flow from that foundation.  And, I'm not talking about how to make more money.   

You don't have to pay a life coach. You don't have to buy books. You don't have to attend seminars.  You don't have to sign up for webinars. You don't have to research "how" to practice abundance.  

You don't even have to talk about it with others. 

You can keep it very, very simple. You choose to operate from a perspective of abundance (or, as some people say, to practice abundance.)