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

Over on the side bar of this blog there is animated ad promoting "Real Women Do Social Media". If you haven't clicked on this ad before you may not know what it's all about. Well it's program on social media marketing specifically for women entrepreneurs and business owners designed and taught by our very own Lip-sticking blogger, Lena West!

Lena's been a guest blogger on the Lip-sticking blog way longer than I have. In reviewing her list of blog posts I believe she's been writing on this blog for the past four years! I just checked my history, and I've been blogging here about 2.5 years now. Anyhow, I've gotten to know Lena from reading her posts and in various communications we've had over the phone, emails, tweets, etc. However we never had the opportunity to meet until finally last month when we were both scheduled to speak at BlogPaws West in Denver.

It really is great when you finally meet someone in person that you've known online for sometime. There is still nothing that matches this personal connection. Lena and I did have the chance to speak about many things including how we might collaborate more in the future. I really wanted to find out more about Lena's "Real Women Do Social Media" program which is about to start a new 7-week course on October 20. So here's what I learned from Lena:

Donna: Lena, can you share with us some overall insights on the program, how many women you have had in the past courses and the types and size of their businesses?

Lena: We've had two full cycles of the Real Women Do Social Media (RWDSM) training initiative thus far. The classes are kept to manageable numbers so that everyone gets attention. We have had a few men participate, but mostly women, of course. The types and sizes of business vary - we have lots of owners of micro businesses and then again, we have women who own businesses that have many full-time employees. Everyone is welcome in the program, provided that you are an entrepreneur/business owner (or want to be one) and you want to learn a step-by-step social media marketing system that will generate client leads and increased visibility in their market and with the media. If you're someone who's looking for content on "how to use Twitter", this isn't the course for you. If you're looking for "how to leverage Twitter", sign up!"

Donna: How is registration going for this next course which begins on October 20? Since you have had a waiting list, is the course now full or do you have any open spots to fill?

Lena: While I'm not at liberty to reveal serious numbers, let's just say that the number of people on the waiting list far out numbers the number of available spots in the course. And, the fact is, that people wait around because they think the course won't fill up and every cycle at least 10-15 miss out because they're in "wait and see" mode. This course is a course for people who take action - not people who "wait and see".

Donna: You do go into more detail on this issue on your website, but besides that you're a woman teaching social media to women, what is different here than if you were teaching a mixed class of business people?

Lena: Oh, gosh...there's SUCH a huge difference in teaching social media marketing systems to women business owners. We approach things differently, we work best with, prefer and get the best results from systems and we want to learn from others about how they did it.

Also, we provide an online community so the women can collaborate, mix it up and do business with one another. This is essential.

And, then there's the element of having been there and done that. It took me YEARS to perfect the social media marketing system I teach during the course - and these women learn it, soup-to-nuts in 7 short weeks. Women like learning the shortcuts and avoiding the sandtraps.

Donna: With so many new social media tools being launched every day and many businesses still learning what is working and what isn't, how do you keep the course fresh and relevant?

Lena: I'll answer that question with one word: me. I keep the course fresh and relevant by being me. I teach my social media marketing system all around the world. I write for outlets like American Express OPEN Forum, I'm an expert blogger for FastCompany, I'm a blogger and columnist for Entrepreneur Magazine...so I see it all when I'm out there speaking and writing. I bring my daily client experiences (confidentially, of course) into the class and I make it relevant to them right then, in that moment. Then, of course, every other week, we have a guest speaker - a Real Woman who's out there creating social media success. She shares how she's doing it, what she's learning and how they can do it, too!

Thanks Lena for sharing with us. She was on her way today to speak at the Healthy Media Images for Youth Industry Summit in Washington, DC. This lady never rests!

So please visit the Real Women Do Social Media website if you're interested in learning more and to find out if you can still get a spot. I'm sure Lena will be continuing the program in 2011, so you can always get on her waiting list. I hope to be invited as a guest speaker at one of her future classes.

Oh and BTW - while I'm promoting the women of Lip-sticking, let's not forget that Yvonne DiVita, our founder and leader, was just named by Fortune as one of the 24 Most Powerful & Influential Women. Plus the Lip-sticking blog made another list as The Top 10 Blogs by Women that Might Change Your Life. Way to go ladies!