Lip-Sticking

Social Media: It Isn't Pin the Tail On the Donkey

by Yvonne DiVita

I'm encouraged by blogs and news outlets starting to report that social media isn't an effective marketing tool. Ok, that's not really what they're saying. They're saying social media is necessary but to make it effective, it has to be focused. It has to be a tool in your marketing toolbox, not a megaphone you shout into. 

We're pushing into the second half of 2013, many years beyond the days of early blogs or the launch of Facebook and Twitter, and today we're inundated with so many social media options, it makes one cross-eyed. Even those of us who work in the social media space are rubbing our temples trying to push away the headache of "another social media community?". 

How is a small business supposed to determine the best and most effective way to use this tool we call "social media"? I can tell you this much - you don't play pin the tail on the donkey, hoping your push-pin lands on the right answer, rewarding you with riches beyond galore! 

Here's what you do...

Stumbling Right Along...

by Yvonne DiVita

It's 2:00 a.m. and you're up pacing the floor, mind racing with thoughts of this, that and the other thing. You can't sleep, there's far too much going on in the business to sleep! You have orders to fill, or clients to call, or blog posts to write, or any number of other things that keep popping into your head like little soap bubbles... clinging, the way soap does, to your brain cells, preventing you from sleeping.

Does pacing help? Does braving the still, cold night... disturbing the cat despite your best efforts to be quiet... work? Are you now in control of those nagging thoughts or...are they just multiplying, even as you struggle to tame them?

Being a small business owner is hard. Yes, it is! Generally, if it's your business, you're in charge and regardless of how many employees you have, or contract workers, or even volunteers... the buck stops with you and if orders don't go out, or if they're mangled somehow, or if someone on staff has words with a client or if orders are down this month and payroll is up and... you get the drift. IF anything happens that causes angst, it's your fault, it's your responsiblity, and you'd better fix it!

4 Ways to Stay On Budget This Year

by Yvonne DiVita

Is there a budget in your future? In your past? Are you on budget right now?

If you're a small business, you had better be on budget! While that doesn't mean living a life of pure austerity - it does mean paying attention to your spending. 

Austerity, according to the dictionary, refers to "markedly simple or unadorned." Many of us start out with austerity budgets - with second, or third, hand furniture, set up in our basement or dining room. Our budgets are beyond austere - they're non-existent. I talked to a young man just this week who said he and his wife put all their monies into his new business and were living off credit cards now. His budget has gone beyond austere and into... desperation!

Friday Musings - What is wrong with people?

by Yvonne DiVita

I'm surrounded by caring people who go that extra mile, each and every day, so when confronted with the gross negligence and ignorance of 'other' people... I find myself wondering, "What is wrong with people?" 

I'm serious. How can anyone...any sentient being...cause so much pain and suffering - so much abuse and terror? I guess some of these people are just plain mean. Or they have no souls. I guess some of them start out meaning well and fall into...tough times, without knowing what to do or who to turn to. I guess some are just stupid. No, not stupid, uneducated. It's not the same thing.

I'm talking about people who perpetuate cruelty and anger on animals. On innocent beings that exist for no other purpose than to love you. Innocent beings that have no voice but live, breathe and FEEL, just as warmly, deeply and purposefully as you and I. It will baffle me now and forever to know this cruelty exists.

Friday Musings - Working from home

by Yvonne DiVita

I work from home. I've worked from home for more than 10 years. Granted, I work for myself... although these days there is a bigger presence in our lives - BlogPaws was aquired by Pet360 and I now work for them. But, they understand that, as the Co-Founder and major contributor to BlogPaws, I need to have a good working environment... which is here at home. Where I can give my dogs lots of attention, all day long. 

There's a bit of controversy going around the business world about the whole working from home idea. Back when the Internet began, we geeks were ecstatic that we now had a tool that would allow us to work from home and still be connected to the office. And yet, the numbers haven't changed all that much... people don't work from home as much as we thought they would. Flexible hours is not the norm, as we expected it would be. 

Friday Musings - International Women's Day

by Yvonne DiVita on Behalf of International Women's Day 2013

Heifer International, a non-profit organization dedicated to ending world hunger and poverty, shares ways readers can “take action” during International Women’s Day (that would be today folks) via the Heifer International’s IWD page. 

In Heifer projects around the world, women are the backbone of agriculture and the key driver of food production. One way Heifer is helping to end poverty is by providing women in impoverished communities with the assistance, tools and training to enhance food production and build sustainable assets and income.

Friday Musings - On Women and Leadership

by Yvonne DiVita

Relevant questions of the day...

Is there still a war between "moms" who stay at home and "moms" who don't (moms who generate income outside of the home - I won't say 'work' because all Moms work)?

    Answer: Yes. Why? You tell me. I did both. They are both noteworthy and important. Both take leadership skills. Both add value to the greater good. Both require time, energy, and focus. So, why war over them? It rather defeats the purpose of being a Mom. IMBO

Invasion of the Torterats

by Yvonne DiVita

When W.R. Widerberg asked if I'd review his series of books about the future of the world, I have to admit I hesitated just a bit. Don't get me wrong. I love science fiction. I love futuristic stories. I love reading, as you know. But, what did I know about W.R. Widerberg? Nothing.

I took a chance because the cover of the book was compelling, and the blurb on the cover drew me in, "Far in the frozen future the fate of the Camarilla, the last civilisation on earth, rests in one girl's hands..." 

Mind you, I was prepared to be disappointed, as I had been in The Hunger Games. But, I was also game.

Turns out, my gut knew better than I did. This series of stories told in a futurist world is far more entertaining and engrossing than that other one... I need not continue to mention the name of it. The second movie is already being promoted via the web.

The Google+ Factor

by Yvonne DiVita

On Google? On Google+? Know what you're doing? Me, neither. I'm still learning Google+ and not doing
very well at it. I just don't seem to have time.

When people say that to me, I look them in the eye and ask, "Do you have time to market your business online...other ways? Why not experiment with Google+ instead of LinkedIn today? Why not make it your business to figure this out...and THEN you can decide if it's worth your time or not."

And then, I go off and don't take my own advice. Sigh.

Here's a great chart to help you get started... and if you're a Google+ Diva, please share some insight with the rest of us. What are we missing? What should we do first? Is this worth our time...or not? Is the graphic here any help at all? What's up with the Circles thing and the hangouts? What are the rest of us missing?

Friday Musings - Once Upon A Dream

by Yvonne DiVita

Once upon a dream, I saw tomorrow and it was good. I dreamt of yesterday but it slipped through my fingers...it melted on my jeans and left a stain that will not come out. 

Once upon a dream, I glimpsed a sunny day - when all I'd known was rain. I tried to escape the rain, to reach the warmth of that sun, but the rain was me and I was the rain, and the sun was just... a dream.

Once upon a dream, I hunkered down in a dark corner... a tiny thing, of no consequence... afraid to unfold myself and venture out into the room. I only saw shadows - nothing but gray shadows. In my dream, I sat mute - listening to the sounds around me. Strange sounds - like words and voices, but far off, unintelligible.