By Nancy Alert
During the past 5 years there has been a significant amount of talk about how important it is to have your website optimized through (SEO) Search Engine Optimization and using Social Media for your business. There are a number of companies you can pay to optimize your website so you are on the first page of Google everyday as one of the first three entries. The cost for this is anywhere from $49.00 to thousands of dollars per month. Then there is the –how do I chose the right Social Media for my business?
Forget paying someone to show you how to use Social Media or how to get on the first page of Google. Follow these instructions and you will be on your way to great results for free.
1- You must first determine what is the demographic you would like to serve, and how you would like to be found on the internet.
2- Create accounts on www.LinkedIn.com, www.digg.com, www.Facebook.com, www.Twitter.com, www.Tumblr.com, www.Wordpress.com, and others then;
3- Create an account at www.posterous.com or just send an email to post@posterous.com to create an account. Once the account is created you can auto post to all your other blogs and social networks with one email.
4- List the key words and or phrases in your account that people use on Google to find information about your services, products or demographic.
5- Then start sending emails to your Posterous account (these are actually your blogs) on subjects about your area, your services, your products, your new hire etc. Make sure you include the key words you use in your Posterous account. Send at least one email per day and it will go to all your social media networks.
6- Within a week or so your blogs and articles will start showing up on page one of your searches that you chose key words for within the subject you chose.
See my account at Posterous http://nancyalert.posterous.com/
If you do not have a website or the website you have is not bringing you clients then you may want to try a Wordpress website. Make sure you go to www.wordpress.org and it’s a “hosted” Wordpress site not wordpress.com. All of this is free with the exception of the hosting for your Wordpress website.
The key to make sure that your information is reaching your target market is to post to Posterous at least once a day with updates.
Check back here next month to find out “How To Get Free Publicity For Your Business”.

Fall 2011 Schedule

Atlanta: Oct. 4 Chicago: Oct. 6 Los Angeles: Oct. 18 New York: Nov. 3 Washington, DC: Nov. 9 Dallas: Nov. 15 Important Details: All Events 10am to 2pm Free Admission Register On-Site Resumes Required for Admittance Business Attire Required You are responsible for your parking fees.

Women For Hire career expos are high-caliber recruiting events that enable talented women in all fields to meet directly with recruiters and hiring managers from top employers. Whether you’re an experienced professional with several years of experience under your belt or a graduating college student, these one-day events are an ideal chance to launch or advance your career.

Leading employers throughout the country have recruited top talent at Women For Hire events since our inception in 1999. We’ve collected more than 10,000 success stories from women who say they were hired at our events or have benefited from our advice on job searching and career development.

Visit Site

8:46 AM Wednesday June 1, 2011

It’s college graduation season, which makes this a happy time in the Boston area. Lots of families are congregating here to celebrate the education achievements of one of their own. I have nothing but good memories of my two graduation days; one at MIT, the other at Harvard.

But I remember precisely nothing of what was said at the ceremonies themselves. Most college graduation speeches are deeply forgettable, as annual Doonesbury cartoons used to remind us:

This is a happy day at this august institution, your educations have prepared you to tackle the world’s problems, your energy and enthusiasm are refreshing, I have anecdotes and insights to share, you have obligations do to x, y, and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

So I was thrilled to read a graduation speech that actually said something new and important.It’s Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s commencement address this year at Barnard. Predictably, she takes up the topic of female underrepresentation at the top ranks of government and business. As she says:

Of 190 heads of state, nine are women. Of all the parliaments around the world, 13% of those seats are held by women. Corporate America top jobs, 15% are women; numbers which have not moved at all in the past nine years. Nine years. Of full professors around the United States, only 24% are women.

Sandberg gets unpredictable, and compelling, when she diagnoses the root cause of this condition and offers remedies. She places the responsibility largely on theyoung women themselves, rather than on external forces such as sexism and unequal burdens. She acknowledges that these exist, but spends less than 500 words on them in a speech of nearly 3,000.

She spends much more of her time encouraging young women to be ambitious and self-confident, and to “lean in” to their careers, especially before important life choices loom:

Women almost never make one decision to leave the workforce. It doesn’t happen that way. They make small little decisionsalong the way that eventually lead them there. Maybe it’s the last year of med school when they say, I’ll take a slightly less interesting specialty because I’m going to want more balance one day. Maybe it’s the fifth year in a law firm when they say, I’m not even sure I should go for partner, because I know I’m going to want kids eventually. These women don’t even have relationships, and already they’re finding balance, balance for responsibilities they don’t yet have. And from that moment, they start quietly leaning back… So, my heartfelt message to all of you is, and start thinking about this now, do not leave before you leave. Do not lean back; lean in. Put your foot on that gas pedal and keep it there until the day you have to make a decision, and then make a decision. That’s the only way, when that day comes, you’ll even have a decision to make.

I find her advice refreshing, novel, and super smart. And I give her great credit for putting the responsibility on the young women themselves, rather than offering them an easy out by assuring them in advance that any disappointments they experience are because the deck is stacked against them.

So I want to thank her for giving a great, far-from-boring commencement address. I also want to echo her advice, and expand it to all graduates this year. The rate of change and uncertainty in the economy is high and getting higher, and as I’ve written before, good jobs might well be getting harder to come by.

The best way to thrive in this environment is to be excellent at what you do, and the best way to become excellent is to lean way in to your career as it starts. Good luck!

(From our friend at Illumin):

Greetings!

This email wasn’t sent on the perfect day because it’s
supposed to be sent on Wednesdays.

It isn’t timed perfectly because it should go out in
the morning, ideally between 10:30 and 11:00.

There’s a thing or two in this week’s vlog I wish I had
said.

I wanted to shoot this video just one more time
wearing more blush because I look pretty pale.

I didn’t mention the need to be perfect impacts men, too,
but had meant to.

I really thought about not sending this out today and just
waiting until next week, on Wednesday, around 11am,
the perfect date and time, when I had the opportunity
to re-shoot it, say everything I really wanted to say and
wear a bit more blush.

But here it is–imperfections and all.

PS
Are your thoughts or words keeping you from
accomplishing something today? If you think
or say any of the underlined words above,
you might be facing the need to be perfect.

Have a brilliant weekend!

Margaret

Margaret Prusan, Founder
Illumin LLC
www.Illumin.biz
(800) 710-2756

Time seems to move faster the older we get. Maybe its because we have more to do and more going on. As I look back on 2010, I feel a mix of emotion – pride, frustration, joy, sadness, fear, hope… and no, I am not schizophrenic! The year went by so fast, I am astonished that I accomplished so much!

As a new mom, wife, daughter, advertising executive, and entrepreneur, I live a very full life. Having a child is the most amazing experience in the world – life changing and awe-inspiring. It puts work/business in perspective and has forced me to search for a healthier work/life balance. Many of my Femme friends have made the jump into motherhood this year… putting their careers aside to tackle the toughest job on the planet – motherhood.

I can hear the “amen” sounding off as I say that motherhood is the most difficult yet fulfilling job a woman can have. But, we are driven women who are not the type to stay single-focused for long. As great multi-taskers we are excited to rejoin the work-force, or launch a new endeavor. After all, we can do it… no problem.

Going “back to work” is a scary thought for a new mom. I feel pangs of guilt and have a pit in my stomach when I am away from my baby girl. The work I do is gratifying, and I love my job. But nothing can compare with seeing your little one smile, or fall asleep on your chest in the middle of the day… So, what do we do?

We need to find the “balance” between the call of duty and being self-fulfilled. We need to be able to ask for help, and receive it graciously when we get it! We need to focus on our partnerships and reply on our partners for support. Most of all, we need to take care of ourselves and make sure we are running on a FULL TANK. No one wants to be brought up by a mom who is constantly running out of gas… and no one wants to work with that woman either!

So my Femmes, as you flash-back on 2010, look at how you found “balance” in your life. Whether you are a mom, or not, my wish for you is to have the most fulfilled and balanced year in 2011!

Warm wishes and many blessings… Happy New Year!

Lindsay

Like a Fine Wine

Ah, they say one gets better with age or is it just more complex? Either way, it’s that time of the year again; and rather than stay in denial, I’ve decided to be bubbly and celebrate my birthday. I’m ready to connect with some current vintages and to reconnect by tapping into my reserves. Herein lies my conundrum – at what point is a relationship mature enough to withstand long storage vs being corked?

There are some people that are easy to stay in touch with and then there are the others. In my personal life, it’s easy to over-analyze the latter and still not know what to do. In my professional life, it’s a whole different matter. All of my contacts, believe it or not, are categorized and prioritized for either sales campaigns (4-6 touches) or marketing campaigns (once you start, you don’t stop).

What do you do with your people? Are they being harvested, crushed, fermented, and matured? If you are not sure, or if you need the input of an experienced vintner, call me!

Salud mis amigos!

Aruna

P.S. Be sure to check out my blog for additional posts!



I’m adding this article for those who can relate… working moms, with kids of any age, are heroes! So if you are a working mom – this ones for you

From www.workingmom.com

When this handbag junkie turned her passion into a multimillion-dollar online business thanks to eBay, the Fairfield, CA, mom of four opted out of a law career.

By: Sarah Davis We had no money coming in but a lot of money going out when I was in law school back in 1999, and my husband was in medical school. I got the idea for my business at a mall while shopping at a Gymboree. A woman was buying a stack of clearance blankets for $17 each. She said she’d sell them on eBay for $40. eBay was something I thought I could do. So I started selling everything in our house that wasn’t nailed down and that was easy to ship. I soon began selling my own handbags. I’ve always loved fashion, so I came up with Fashionphile.com as the name of the business. These days I sell high-end bags like Louis Vuitton and Gucci that have been preowned. If someone buys a Chanel handbag for $1,000 and gets tired of it, we sell it for her. But when I was starting out I’d buy bags on sale at luxury department stores and resell them on eBay. I had a good reputation for authentic luxury bags. There’s enough room for lots of people to sell on eBay. What I think worked was that I was very responsive to customers. I answered emails promptly. I shipped items in new, clean packing materials. When you’re selling an Hermès bag for $28,000, you need to develop a good feedback rating so that people trust you enough to send the money first. When someone said a bag was smaller than she thought it would be, I gave her a quick refund. I was doing so well that I decided not to pursue a law career, even after passing the bar. Nobody else was doing consignment-only for handbags. I was making $30,000 a month on the bags. I paid off my school loans. It’s good to recognize your weaknesses and find smart people to fill in your gaps. I had no business training. An accountant asked what my five-year plan was. I had no plan. He recommended I read The E-Myth. I opened a high-end boutique in Beverly Hills in 2008, because that’s where the bags are. We had 12 employees. So I was operating online and offline. My work is all about family. I get to spend more time with my kids—Izzie, 12; Aerie, 10; Ike, 6; and Zoie, 4. As an entrepreneur I spend many nights up until 2 a.m. but still get up for the kids by 6:30. And everyone in my family has worked with me at some point. The advantage of an online business is that it’s global. Bags that are out of date here are hot in Germany. We sold $4.5 million in bags last year. This year we’re aiming to bring in more than $6 million. I wear five or six different bags all the time, rotate them, then sell them. My favorite exotic bag is the Hermès Crocodile Birkin. It’s a piece of art. It would run you $20,000 to $35,000. I think I’m successful because I have a tight niche. We’re the go-to luxury handbag people.