New Media Rules

You can set up a meeting similar to Outlook using the GMail event function and Google Calendar Synch.

Send the invitation by e-mail. When you recepient accepts the invitation, you’ll receive another e-mail. Your Google Calendars are updated

I use Google Calendar Synch to synchronize with Outlook Calendar, so I can synchronize the calendar on my iPod touch (through iTunes). I’m running Windows 7 and Office 2007 and the sych runs flawlessly. I’ve synched Office 2003 on Vista, although it wasn’t as reliable or easy to set up.

We’ve been using Google Wave more and more to communicate with our clients. I hope to see this functionality added soon.

We’re off to Blog World Expo tomorrow and we want to keep connected to our customers as well as broadcasting the events of the conference.

At home this is an easy task, on the road it can be confusing, especially if you’re not a frequent traveller.

Planning can be broken down to two areas – Access and Power

Access to your accounts can be an issue. At your office, you use an email client such as Outlook to read your mail and someone else may have set this up for you. If you’re taking along a netbook or a conventional laptop the simplest way to access your important email accounts is through a webmail client. Contact the support folks at your hosting company if you’re not sure the settings.

Set up a rule to forward a copy of important emails to a GMail account. This avoids the hassle since GMail is easily accessible. Just don’t forget to sign out, especially if you’re using a public computer.

Do you have all the account information you need? URLs, userid and password information? I recommend Roboform, or another userid service. Password protect your information in the unlikely event your computer is stolen,

An offline editor like Wiindows Live Writer will allow you to write blog posts anywhere and then post them when you have reliable internet access. An air card or mobile broadband card from a cellular company ensures internet access. Check the terms before you leave home so you don’t be charged roaming fees.

Power is essential to all your gadgets and that means chargers. Line up every piece of equipment you’ll be bringing, put the corresponding charger in front of it 2ork wand don’t put anything in your bag until you pack the charger. Does a charger look like it will work for two devices? Test it!!! Err on the conservative side .. just don’t take as many clothes .

If you spend some time planning before you leave home, you’ll be able to stay connected during a conference .. now if the organizers would just provide wireless service for the attendees .. don’t get me started.

What road warrior tips do you have?

Almost everyone has a Facebook account. The schemes we use to build up our Facebook friends are as varied as our personalities. Early on numbers mattered. It wasn’t unusual for folks to reach the 5000 upper limit.

Is it any wonder we have friends who abuse that relationship? You know who they are. They send you virtual teddy bears, ask you to play time wasting games and send you endless messages to join their mlm meeting on Tuesday in Iowa .. and you live in 2,000 miles away.

More and more, folks are using Facebook to build relationships and connect with their business community. Along with Linkedin and Twitter, Facebook can be an effective entry in your Social Media toolbox.

Is your Facebook Inbox full of spam? Removing it forever turns out to be a lot simpler than you realize. Take the time to remove those spammers from your friends. It’s really that simple.  The 80/20 rule applies to your Facebook spam. 20% of your Friends are generating 80% of the spam in your inbox.

Invest some time to review your inbox messages and be ruthless. Unfriend anyone who sends you an unwanted message. The results are remarkable and almost immediate. Well worth the time for an Inbox with useful messages.

You’re home from the conference. Now is the time to sort through the business cards and literature you collected for two days.

• · take the time to review the websites and bookmark those worth a second look
• · enter contacts into your address books of those you want to stay in touch with. Don’t forget to note where you met them and why you’re entering their info
• · write a quick e-mail to the contacts you’ve entered into your address book to tell them how much you enjoyed meeting them. If you’ve made any notes on their business card, mention your conversation with them.
• · put a note in your calendar to spend more time investigating some of the more interesting sites or contacts
• · review your notes – scan them or transfer recordings to a directory labeled with the name of the conference
• · check on www.slideshare.com for the conference slides and create a document with the links to the session slides that are of the most interest.
• · Make a list of three concepts you’ll integrate into your business plan. Write a mini business plan with goals and dates
• · Follow Up every week and journal the progress integrating three concepts into your business plan

What do you do to follow up from a conference you’ve attended?

Doing your homework before you leave will help you to get the most benefit from a conference. Conferences are expensive and it’s important as a small business owner to get value.

The first thing you need to do is to identify who the speakers are. These days that’s easier than ever. Check the conference site, they often have links to the speakers twitter and linkedin accounts as well as blogs. Take the time to check out the speaker and what his/her latest project is. Is this information of value to your or your clients? I follow as many of the speakers as I can on Twitter and Linkedin. I don’t usually follow them on Facebook unless there’s a compelling reason. There’s more chance of spam on Facebook than the others. Focus on where you’re getting the best return,

The second thing you need to do is review the Exhibitors. Again, follow them on Twitter and Linkedin. Twitter is a good resource for invitations to receptions, tweetups, meetups and other social events. Exhibitors will send their brightest and best to conferences, so here’s an opportunity to learn the latest technology and to find out more about company offerings. Take advantage of the free limited time accounts, sit through the product demos, ask questions. Sign up for the free accounts, you’re able to try a product before you have to make a commitment. Work the exhibition hall and the parties.

The last thing is to become familiar with the schedule and have a preliminary plan. If you’ll be travelling with another person, split up the presentations. Talk to everyone you can at the conference .. ask questions, which presentation are you looking forward to? Who’s been your favorite speaker? What was a waste of time?

Share your information with others. Be helpful. Use your networking skills, this is no time to be solitary. Search out twitter buddies .. their photo is right there .. don’t be shy about walking up to your twitter buddy, introduce yourself and let them know what you like about their tweets, discuss a point of view.

Oh yeah .. collect as many free pens as you can. That’s my weakness .. not so excited about a Tshirt with someone’s logo, but I’m a sucker for a great free pen.

What’s your conference tip? favorite swag?

My business partner Marilyn Anderson and I visited the Richmond Night Market last week. The Night Market has been around in some form for the past ten years and is modeled on the Night Markets in Hong Kong.

It’s a collection of stalls selling everything from socks to no-name brand electronics. There’s food! The most successful part of the market has been the food. Mostly Asian; the food is fabulous and not the kind that comes in a container from your neighborhood take-out.

This year grilled squid was the most popular dish, followed by traditional dim sum items BBQ Pork bun and sui mei For dessert there was deep fried ice cream and banana/chocolate spring rolls at Ivanna Chan’s stall. Ivanna is working for a Burnaby caterer right now, but she’s scouting a location in the West End. Watch for the Sweet Sensations grand opening.

The Market has changed management and location in the past few years, so it’s changed from mostly Asian electronic imports to jewelry, clothing and even a few larger organizations (Costco, Bell). The changes have changed the market itself to just another flea market. The food stalls and the location more than make up for the now-ordinary shopping experience. Their brand is intact because enough of what the customer has experienced for the past ten years remains.

The other event I’ve attended in the past month was the Folk Festival at Jericho. When I think of folk music, I think of hippies. Vancouver’s 4th Ave was world famous as a hippy haven in the 60’s and the Folk Festival reminds us all of those times; although most of the attendees and vendors weren’t even born during 4th Avenue’s hey-day.

The folk festival has been made up of two parts .. those inside the compound/fence and those outside on the beach. The beach

1. Listen

Twitter is a giant conversation and you get to listen in on any part of it. Several million people are tweeting (talking) day and night, 24 hours a day and you have the opportunity to listen in.

Listen to what people are saying (it’s called trending on twitter), what people are excited about, what’s in the news. Find out what’s important to your readers. Incorporate popular topics in your writing, especially blogs and on-line articles.

Examples of a recent Twitter Session:

@AnneOnline was talking about taking her dog for a walk Took Ivy dog with me. A chicken poked its head out and Ivy tried to get in, but all is well. Chickens are safe for another day. =)

@billwelker quoted Lou Gerig The ballplayer who loses his head, who can’t keep his cool, is worse than no ballplayer at all. -Lou Gehrig

@alferreti mentioned an online article Making Twitter #FollowFriday Effective http://tinyurl.com/lemel6

@properitygal recommended someone she follows #followfriday @terrywygal cause he knows his itsha in Real Estate investing and puts on great seminars-tell him to put me on his stage

Using the search capability of Twitter, you can research any topic in less time and  with more relevant results than with any other online tool.

2. Connect

You can connect with any of the tens of millions people who use twitter everyday. When you follow them, you’re able to see their tweets, what they’re saying.

It’s not necessary for people you’re following to give permission. In that respect, it’s like being on stage and your relationship with your audience. For example, you can follow experts in your field or celebrities like Oprah Winfrey.

Use Twitters search capability to find someone you’d like to follow. You’re able to see who other people follow, so a tip to build a community quickly is to follow all the folks a person of influence does.

3. Communicate

Now you’ve built a community, it’s time for you to dive into the conversation. The same rules that apply at a business networking event apply to Twitter. Rule one is DON’T SPAM. Any form of “Buy my product” is spam.

Safe Twitter message types for the beginner are to

· retweet another user. Copy what they’ve said, giving them credit.

· Reply to what someone has said .. that’s the conversation part. Don’t be shy.

· Tweet your favorite quotes

· Let folks know what you’re reading .. online articles or blogs with a line

Be a giver. Help others by providing good content, tips and encouragement. In the case of Twitter, the good guys do finish first.

Twitter is one of the fastest growing internet applications. It’s so easy to use, anyone can establish an account and start to tweet. Building a community and effective communication requires some concentration, but is easily attainable for those who Listen, Connect and Communicate.

Your USP or Unique Selling Proposition. Wikipedia defines USP as “ any aspect of an object that differentiates it from similar objects”. Simply put What Makes You Different? or Why Should I Buy From You?

In just about every Marketing workshop you’ve attended, you’ve  been told how important a USP is, but being able to define your own USP is often a challenge.

This method is part lateral thinking, part brainstorming with mind mapping techniques thrown in. It incorporates a simple system that can be reused.

Ask yourself, What is an example of how I’m different? Write it down. These are headings.

What is another example? write it down next to the last example. Keep repeating until you’ve run out ot reasons why you’re different. Don’t edit, write down whatever comes to your mind.

Once you have at least 5 examples of how you’re different, then write down at least 5 examples of actions that reinforce the examples of what makes you different.

Here’s what it looks like:

You don’t have to stop at five, but keep writing until you have a minimum of 5 examples of what makes you different.

Now send your list to either a client or a colleague for feedback. Your clients will often identify more examples of what makes you unique.

Have you identified Your Unique Selling Proposition? Is your USP an important part of your Marketing campaign?

I like WordPress 2.7. Being able to install plug-ins and upgrade to a new release from your blog’s admin panel is more than worth the time is takes to upgrade. The new look and feel takes a bit of getting used to, but it’s well designed information is where you expect it to be.

I’m still not a big fan of the actual blog post editor. The window is too small. I like to move things around and read what I’ve already written. I know you can use preview, but that distracts me. Creating your posts in Word creates formatting issues when you cut and paste the content into a WordPress edit window.

Some folks are able to write in Notepad so another text editor, but those remind me of vi, and I get flashbacks to my UNIX sys admin days.

Windrows Live Writer was recommended to me as a good, free offline blog post editor. It’s easy to download and install. I installed all the plugins I thought I would use (and a few more for good measure). Live Writer allows you to upload photos and do simple manipulation.

I’ve uploaded a photo my friend Marilyn took on her recent trip to Greece. I was able to easily place the photo, add a frame, tilt it, crop it and resize it  quickly. I’m not sure why you’d want to tilt a photo, except to prove you can. I just clicked on the photo to return to the Picture menu.

Need a Quote of the Day? one click an the plug-in does all the work for you. Quote of the Day: Critics are like eunuchs in a harem. They’re there every night, they see it done every night, they see how it should be done every night, but they can’t do it themselves –Brendan Behan–Quoted by Gyles Brandreth in *Theatrical Disasters*

I can save a draft locally, post to a draft online or post to a draft and edit online. When you’re done, just Publish to blog. You can create, edit and post Pages too.

You can define your tags .. don’t see categories anywhere, but this is my first post using Live Writer. Usually takes me three or four times before I find all the treasures. If Windows Live continues to behave as nicely as it did for this blog post, I’ve found another time saveing tool. Are you using a offline editor for your blog posts or do you prefer to edit right in Word Press.

That is exactly what I’m going to do and I challenge you to do the same thing. Actually I started about six weeks ago. Once I had the system in place, I got going right away.

What got me motivated to put a system in place was my inability to move past my present income level. Pretty powerful motivation.

I’m a fan of Brian Tracy. I’ve downloaded his books Goals and Eat That Frog and listen to them when I need encouragement to write down my goals. I know a system of setting and monitoring goals is key to being successful, but as long as I was “getting by” I often didn’t seem to find the time to put into goal setting.

An e-mail from an ex-classmate of mine from the Douglas College Self-Employment Program saying she’d made the decision to accept a position with a high-end Health Spa chain got be thinking about why I became self-employed. It was to control my own destiny and to use my potential. That wasn’t happening.

I didn’t lack confidence, experience and drive. What was lacking was a system. Me lacking a system? I’m the Queen of systems .. what’s going on here? I have systems for everything .. except the BIG system .. where’s me my business going? I used to have a system, but life got in the way and my business morphed into something other than what I had planned. It’s better than my plan, but I failed to make adjustments to my goals to account for life. I need to get back on track.

I use mind mapping to record seemingly unrelated thoughts and then connect the dots later. That’s how I take notes.

Here’s the System:

1. Define you long term goals. Be specific and write it down. I’m going to make more money is not a goal .. it’s a statement, an idea where you’re going.
   1. I’m going to make $250,000 by creating 15 Affiliate Marketing websites by November 2009 is a goal.
   2. I’m going to be running my $250,000 affiliate marketing business from an apartment in Madrid Spain by April of 2011 is a goal.
   3. Write down what it’s going to look and feel like when you’ve achieved this goal. Be specific
2. Define what tasks you need to achieve the long term goal. Use mind mapping here too.
   1. how much money per month/per week/per day is $250,000 per year?
   2. what steps do I need to take to achieve those goals?
      1. Brian Tracy suggests 20 tasks per goal. I usually find the answer(s) somewhere near 10 tasks.
3. What are you willing to sacrifice to achieve these goals?
   1. Now you have the outline of a plan, you have an idea of the time and work involved to achieve your goal. How committed are you?
4. Treat your Long Term Goal as a Project.
   1. Use a simple project planning system to monitor your goals and the tasks required.
   2. I use Liquid Planner. It’s free, easy to use and flexible. They have training videos, so learning to use this utility is a snap.
   3. From your mind map from step 2, start entering expected results (goals)  top down and enter Completion Dates and time per task. Your going to have to use estimates for now. You can make adjustments as you go along.
   4. Define other resources you need and ask tasks and schedules to them.

Treating your long term goal as a project helps you to monitor your tasks and make adjustments as you proceed. This is the key to your success. You know what’s required to achieve your goal and you’re able to measure your progress make strategic changes on the fly.

Is this a lot of work? Yes, but proceed at your own pace. Using a simple mind mapping and project management system is something everyone can do.

You can adapt this system to loose weight, quit smoking or whatever your New Years Resolution.

Let’s get started .. This is the year you can achieve that goal.