Find Friends and Connect with Your Community 

Now  that  you  have  a  Facebook  account,  connecting  to  people  in  your  community  is  easy.  Start  by  using  the  Search  feature  to  find  friends  who  are  already  using  Facebook  and  request  to  be  their  friend.  You  can  add  just  about  anyone  you  can  think  of,  including  your  members,  supporters,  volunteers,  staff,  and  even  your  board  members.  Don’t  worry  if  you  don’t  have  a  big  list  right  away.  Once  you  have  two  or  more  contacts,  you’ll  be  able  to  expand  your  social  network  by  locating  mutual  friends  and  contacting  them.  

Finding Friends on Facebook.   

Facebook  offers  a  message  board  feature  called  ”The  Wall”  that  displays  member  profile  pages.  You  can  use  it  to  post  all  kinds  of  messages  to  your  network.  But  beware:  Comments  can  be  viewed  by  all  your  contacts  in  your  list  of  Facebook  friends. 

 Create a Group for Your Organization or Event

Just  like  every  other  social  networking  site,  you  can  create  and  join  groups  on  Facebook.  And  there  are  a  growing  number  of groups  dedicated  to  social  change.  Why create  a  group?  Creating  groups  allows  you  to  share  information  about  pretty  much  anything.  You  can  create  groups  for  your organization  or  event  to  make  announcements,  join  discussion  groups,  or  even  to  share  pictures.  There  are  two  kinds  of  groups  on Facebook - open  and  closed.  So  be  sure  to  create  open  groups  so  that  people  can  find  it  and  your  members  can  invite  others  to join.   

CLICK HERE to read more including Uploading  and Sharing  Pictures.   

In part one of an article about RSS Feeds, we talked about how they worked and interesting facts about them. This is part 2 because there is so much to learn and take action on!

CLICK HERE if you missed part 1:

There are many benefits to learning how to use RSS feeds, especially if you are always looking for ways to save time and maximize your efforts.

These are the benefits to each type of User:

• Consumer Bottom Line: Subscribing to feeds makes it possible to review a large amount of online content in a very short time. Very convenient: comes right to you desktop. Don’t have to reveal e-mail address.
• Publisher Bottom Line: Feeds permit instant distribution of content and the ability to make it “subscribable.” Each time you send blog, you are sending out a notice to sign up for RSS feed.
Least time for maximum exposure. Can Set aside a day to set up all the publicizing information that you can.
• Advertiser Bottom Line: Advertising in feeds overcomes many of the shortcomings that traditional marketing channels encounter including spam filters, delayed distribution, search engine rankings, and general inbox noise.

Thousands of bloggers, podcasters, and videobloggers publish feeds to keep themselves better connected to their readers, listeners, admirers, and critics.

Apple, through its iTunes Music Store, offers TONS of audio and video podcasts for download, each of which is powered by a feed.

Here’s how it works for GutZy Women:

POST Content on my debbieducic.com blog >>>>>>>>>automatically pings feedburner>>>>>>>changes content into XML language>>>>>>>>aggregator reads content and forms into list of unread new articles or podcasts into itunes downloadables>>>>I use my feedreader to check out what’s on it>>>>>>>>behind the scenes, I give my feed code to other blogs, social networking sites, as well as other aggregators>>>>>>>>automatically posts entries to many places across the internet each timeI publish. >>>>I’m a HAPPY CAMPER
END RESULT: Saves everybody time! Exponentially increases GutZy Women’s Reach with a little work from the beginning of setting it all up but is automatic from there.

CHALLENGE: Getting people to subscribe. Get over the fear of something new that SEEMS complicated but actually is quite easy these days with the help of companies like Feedburner.

Answer: Social bookmarking sites: Digg & Technorati as 2 examples by inviting people to Digg & Tehnorati your blog posts. Look around Blogoshpere, where else you can post. Invite your list and your friends to subscribe when you communicate with them through e-mail, bulletin boards, etc.

Place your feed widgets wherever you can and “in the fold” so they can be easily seen. Place them right after your posts, so if they just read or heard or saw something they LOVED, they can ask for MORE!

NEXT STEP: Learn more about all the different ways to use RSS Feeds and commit to adding one new way a month. Before you know it, you’ll be RSS GODESSES and will be reaping the VALUABLE rewards!

 The importance and need for RSS feeds ties in with the inundation of information that we are all experiencing at the same time that we are all getting busier…especially those of us who are into online and offline social networking.

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and the feed works two ways:

Publish an article, podcast or video on a blog or other websites and shoots it out to the feed aggregators. Then they shoot it out to all types of end readers or listeners.

End users choose how info comes to them: RSS feed reader or e-mail,or in the case of podcasts, the Apple i-tunes store. There are Links to content, partial or full text on a page or now can look like website pages right from the inbox.

Click Here to read 5 interesting facts about RSS :

 What is Internet Marketing?

Internet marketing includes all strategies that are used to increase visitors to your website or as is the norm these days, your multiple websites, with the ULTIMATE goal being to convert these website visitors into LIFETIME Customers, Clients, Donors, Members or Associates.

Objectives of Internet Marketing

Internet Marketing is essentially used to achieve the following objectives:

1. Convey your company’s message about you, your products and your services
2. Build your corporate identity
3. Disseminate your marketing information
4. Conduct research as to your demographics of existing as well as prospective customers
5. Offer a 24/7, live source of your information
6. Publicize latest innovations, exciting events and up-to-date news
7. Sell your products, services or programs over the Internet

One of the biggest benefits that internet marketing offers businesses is the potential to reach out to prospective customers across the globe for a fraction of what it would cost using traditional marketing strategies.

Cost of Internet Marketing Strategies v/s Traditional Marketing Strategies

 Traditional marketing strategies involved spending huge amounts of time and advertising dollars to hire agencies and production crews to create marketing campaigns for different media including magazines, newspapers, television and radio.

To engage in internet marketing, all you need is a website that communicates your message and keeps existing as well as potential clients informed about the products or services offered by your company. Blogs, Podcasts,Videos, e-mail marketing and online promotions form the components of internet marketing, all of which require a negligible amount of set-up time and capital investment if you start out simply.

Effectiveness of Internet Marketing Strategies v/s Traditional Marketing StrategiesStatistics reveal that when you advertise in magazines, only a small percentage of readers actually care about your message and an even smaller percentage will be prospective buyers. The statistics for television and radio are just as dismal; viewers cared even less for the messages conveyed during repeat ads and tended to switch channels or change stations during ad breaks.Using traditional marketing techniques, you paid a fortune to attract maximum eyeballs. Unfortunately, only a miniscule percentage of those were converted into actual sales. There was no way to target only pertinent readers or viewers.

Implementing correct techniques in internet marketing allows you to attract target traffic to your website, most of who could be converted into revenue and will end up being loyal customers. Some of the internet marketing strategies that can boost target traffic to your website include search engine optimization, article marketing, reciprocal linking, social networking and blogging.

Gauging effectiveness of Internet Marketing v/s Traditional Marketing StrategiesWith traditional marketing methods there was no way of measuring the actual effectiveness of your efforts; there was no way of determining how many viewers and readers were actually influenced by your ad bought your product as a direct result.With internet marketing, the very nature of the internet makes it possible for marketers to receive quantitative feedback on the efficacy of the marketing campaign. You can put systems in place that tell you whether or not your marketing campaign is achieving the target objective.

Internet marketing is rapidly becoming an increasingly strategic part of every company’s marketing mix. Every business, whether it is a traditional brick and stone business, an online business or a ‘bricks and clicks’ combination of both can benefit tremendously from internet marketing.

Monday, February 11th at 5:00 AM MST, Joanne Quinn-Smith, CEO of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates and President of the National Association of Women Business Owners in Pittsburgh, PA. and I will chat on Talkshoe, a popular talkcast network and we’ll be talking about RSS …which stands for “Really Simple Syndication” and is an application that helps content providers get their content out on the internet and directly into people’s VIEW. You are officially invited!

The reason why YOU want to listen in is because once you understand how easy this application is to use and how much time and brain damage it will save you, you’ll wonder why you didn’t subscribe to it sooner! Basically it’s like subscribing to your favorite magazines and having them delivered directly to your home…except the content that’s in the magazines comes from the internet. And instead of you leaving it on your coffee table, you leave it on your computer or MP3 player. But you can still open it up at YOUR convenience, just like your magazine.

It’s VERY COOL!

Now, Just in case you aren’t up at the wee hour of the mornin’ , one of the beautiful things about podcasts (sort of like online radio shows) is that they are recorded and can be listened to with a click of a mouse…just like the play button down at the bottom of this post. OR if your kids have talked you into buying an MP3 player, like an iPod, you can download the show to it and listen while you’re working out at the club (although if you’re into water aerobics, wait ’til you’re on dry land :).

OUR FIRST EPISODE IS VERY INFORMATIVE!

This will be the second podcast we”ll be doing together after we met through mutual contacts on a social networking site. In the first one, which took place about a month ago, we talk alot about social networking, podcasting, video, Web 2.0, which YOU CAN LISTEN TO RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW.

You can find the play or download button at the bottom of this post.

But don’t forget about this Monday. I don’t want to be the only one up before the crack of dawn! Please join us!