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If you are involved in any way with fundraising or Non-profit programs or just plain wanting to help people in dire need…listen up!

If you are a business owner or make an income from the internet, this message is of benefit to you too.

If you’ve visited my blog lately, you’ve probably noticed that I’m on a mission to get the word out about “cause marketing”as well as non-traditional multi media internet marketing and social networking for non-profits.

Many of my very dear friends are involved in non-profits, either as fundraisers, grant writers, board members, managers or presidents and I hear from them regularly about how hard it is these days to raise enough money just to stay in business.

It breaks my heart to hear stories of those who are in great need falling through the cracks in the system because there’s just not enough money to go around.

But some people, like my friend and co-competitor in the Next Internet Millionaire competition, Jason Marshall, got creative! Check it out now if you don’t have time to read this e-mail in full:

http://Petey.HearTheirStories.com

If you followed the show, Jason was the Christian fellow from Florida who loved pulling magic tricks and was a one-on-one aide to Petey, a 12 year old boy who suffers from a fatal disease called Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Over the years, it has gotten harder and harder for Jason to help him get around.  So he figured out a way to get him a power chair!

You’ve got to see the smile on Petey’s face as he’s riding in his hot new wheels. Jason caught him on video…you’ve got to take a look because it will put a smile on your face as well. But Jason soon realized that getting the new wheelchair into a vehicle to take him places was impossible.

After checking out the price of an Accessible Van, Jason got creative and put together this AMAZING plan for raising the funds for Petey’s van. And I PROUD to be a part of getting the word out!

I respectfully ask for YOUR HELP.

I am not only asking you to go to their website to donate to the cause (It’s a loving, touching story that I think you’ll appreciate), but for those of you who have wracked your brain for new ideas or ways to raise money for loved ones, friends, causes dear to your heart, this is one great idea that you or your non-profit could duplicate for a cause dear to your own heart!

Those of you who are business owners and not part of the nonprofit world, the interesting twist of this unique offer is that in return for a fairly small donation, you’ll recieve close to $2,000.00 of business building products and services from some extremely knowledgeable and qualified experts in their field.

So the way I see it? It’s a win Win, WIN! All the way around!

To watch the fun video of Petey popping bubble wrap with his new wheels and to read the entire article click here:

Or click this link to see what a great cause where you can become a part of the solution”

http://Petey.HearTheirStories.com

The NEW FACE of  “Do Gooders”:

One of my fellow Next Internet Millionaire contestants, Jason Marshall,  is getting ready to do an online fundraising for his student, who is confined to a wheelchair, in order to buy a wheelchair accessible van to drive him around. He is doing this by holding a product launch where many internet marketers are donating the products to be sold and  promoting to their lists. (You’ll hear about the details soon as I’ve agreed to help.)

Another woman I met, Joanie Winberg,  has just launched a membership community site for women going through divorce. As one of her “Panel of Experts”, I agreed to be a resource for women on her site who may need some direction in building in some income from internet marketing to help them not only survive, but thrive!

On April 5th, GutZy Women will be holding a special educational event specifically to share valuable pointers with women artists on how to better market and sell their art or artistic services. The event is in conjunction with SWAN Day (Support Women Artists Now) a grassroots effort that is being coordinated by The Fund for Women Artists through its websites. This Nonprofit has provided me with a national website and promotional tools already in place so that we can co-promote, me to my list and them to the world.

Hayley Solich from Australia, a gal I met through the “Virtual GutZy Women Clubhouse“,  just launched her Women Can International, Inc. As I have been asked to be featured in her next newsletter, GutZy Women LLC will gain the attention of other women who are passionate about helping us all be the best we can be as we offer our gifts and talents to the world. We in turn will reciprocate…probably by holding a teleseminar interview with Hayley.

These are just a few real, close to home examples of how this new way of “cause marketing” is being created by possibility thinkers online.

This really got me thinking…

WHAT ARE THE STATS?

I used the study titled “Blogging for Donor’s Hearts” done by the University of Massachusetts in my research for this article that analyzed social media use in the largest charities in the United States.

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How do you get the attention of people online these days when there are billions of websites, thousands of blogs appearing daily, hundreds of spam filters and other programs designed to block e-mails?

It’s a whole new world online lately, in case you haven’t noticed and so how can YOU, as a small business person, artist, professional or fundraiser be visible when there’s so much going on that you can’t be found, let alone heard or seen?

Then from a consumer point of view, how do YOU keep from wasting valuable time to find exactly what you you’re looking for in a way that you feel safe from all the hype and

Debbie addresses that very subject in this video with David and Frank of Relativity. They agree from their own experiences and by studying how others are being successful, the answer lies in the relationship building and engagement capabilities that Web 2.0 offers. In fact they give specific examples of how people, businesses and educational entities are using blogs, RSS feeds, social networks, bookmarking, podcasting, videos and other tools to gain more attention.

This series of articles can be used to glean knowledge and know how from two very qualified and experienced technology guys. In part 1, Frank Klein, who has been an educator and technology administrator for 40 years talks about how Web 2.0 affects and benefits students, school teachers and administrators.

Video, Video, Video…it’s all the rage on the Internet and I must admit, I’m SOLD on the benefits of including it in just about anyone’s online marketing mix! When I first got all excited about video on the Internet, we were continously warned about the limitations on the number of peope that could actually view them in a decent way. Boy, has that changed dramatically in just a few short years!

The appearance of You Tube and other free video hosting sites plus the spread of high speed internet connections has opened up an incredibly affordable and effective opportunity to get your message and your unique persona out into the world in a form of communication that is very easy for others to absorb.

 As much as we all hate to admit it, we like watching more than reading…especially our younger generation!

I learned that lesson big time from the young whipper snappers I spent time with at the Next Internet Millionaire competition. They were shooting videos constantly… in very creative ways. They were having so much fun doing it…brainstorming ideas, joking, coming up with story boards or interviewing each other, sharing software knowledge and tips and tricks that I was sorry I didn’t bring my own digital video camera…I don’t like missing out on the fun like that.

But since then, looking back on how video was the medium by which I was chosen to participate in such a unique, historical event, and how creating different styles of video for GutZy Women since then, has exponentially increased our exposure (ie: visitors) out in virtual land and brought in a more international mix of visitors, I can’t speak highly enough about what video has done for my business and can do for YOURS as well!

“How can I get Started with Video in my Marketing Mix?”

I hired Dream Teller Video, a woman owned professional team, to film the GutZy Women Grand Opening, the pre-grand opening interviews and many of the “article” follow-ups that now appear on our sites, which are high  quality, professional and have worked GREAT for us. We  have also played with NEW, less expensive, but often time- consuming  ways to produce videos ourselves and they both valuable in attracting different types of audiences.

Other GutZy Women have  just FLIPPED over video!

We at GutZy Women have discovered an almost PERFECT NEW ALTERNATIVE to creating interesting and fun videos that are SO EASY and fast to make, it’s almost ridiculous! It’s called the Flip… and we’ve FLIPPED over it!

Watch for the next couple videos we created with the Flip template software while skiing in Vail and Breckenridge and find out how EASY and fast they were to make with the templates provided free with the Flip Camera. I’d LOVE your feedback one way or the other.

The next question might be…”What exactly do I do with my videos once I have them?”

Oh, we have LOTS of ideas! Join our FREE Beta Membership at http://www.gutzywomen.com to find them or follow the posts coming up soon at on http://www.debbieducic.com