How many products do you have available at this very minute that could be a part of your income stream? What does your product tree look like? Is it ready to be harvested and enjoyed?

I ask these questions because I watch many people pump out product after product and grow branches that are ripe for the picking. However their promotional efforts still need a lot of nourishing.

I have had clients approach me and ask why they aren’t making money. The first thing I ask them is how are they marketing and promoting so that their market knows what they offer. The answers often throw me for a loop:

I have a few buttons placed on some sites.
I don’t enjoy writing.
I am not good with talking to people.
I have a website. Isn’t that enough?
Well you are my social media/marketing VA! What are you doing to promote me?
What exactly is promoting?
Trust me the list goes on.

If you are pushing out report after report, e-book after e-book, internet marketing product after internet marketing product, but you are not going forth with your promotional efforts; then you are going nowhere fast. Been there, done that, wrote the book… wanna read it?

This was one of the many reasons I decided to start my VA business. I was watching too many people make the same mistakes I did when it comes to marketing and promoting- a lot of production but very little return due to poor promotional efforts.

Think of where companies like Coca-Cola or McDonald’s would be if all they did was push out products and did no promoting.

It makes little sense to pump out all the products if you have no marketing plan. Marketing includes the promotional part as well and it is not as hard as it seems. It just takes time. If you invest and your product is good, then the money will come. It may trickle at first but then you will start to watch it grow and grow.

Promoting is a very important part of marketing and there are many ways to promote yourself.

• Content marketing: Content is King
• Video marketing…GOT FLIP!
• Teleseminars/Webinars: People love to hear you talk if you know what you are talking about
• Virtual Blog Tour/Guest Blogging: Strategic guest blogging is a great way to find your market and share your message
• Your own blog with great SEO in place and regular quality posting will keep your market coming back for more
• Podcasting: There is likely an audience who needs your expertise
• Talk it up: Using your social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Ning is a great way to share your message. Just don’t be spammy and remember to offer your help where you can. Be a value and not a nag
• Business cards: Every business needs them because you need to promote online and off.
• Speaking engagements: Trust me the more you do them the easier they get.
• Freebies: Are you giving away stuff to entice your market to want more
• A List: Opt-in lists are a great way to promote because the people who sign up are usually interested in what you have to say

These are only a few ways that you can promote yourself and your products. There are many more creative ways to get your message to the masses.

Have a good support team is a great way to outsource some of your promoting efforts. It saves you time and helps you to spread the word in a more efficient manner.

It makes not sense to have a full branch if no one is around to taste the fruit of your labor. It will just get old and rot!

Many people have asked me what is my attraction to Twitter and how has it really helped my business. It is funny to hear because all I can really say is that I am just being me. There is really no other way around that fact. I am the type of person who is me 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

However, if I were to give an interview or be invited to speak on the subject of “How Twitter Can Help Your Business”, I guess I would have to give a few pointers and perhaps relate it to twitter being channels to success. So let’s imagine that this is a huge arena and I am about to speak on the subject.

Twitter is a channel for communicating in real time with people from all over the world. When I first joined Twitter I was doing it as a way to connect to work at home mom buddies like me. Being a work at home mom, I wanted some adult company through the day. But then one day I began to look at Twitter as a tool that I could use to actually reach my market. At the time I was running a site about vegan living and had a weekly Podcast as well. I noticed that the people who started following me were vegans, natural health and living folks, and those interested in what a vegan eats or how they cook. That is when I saw Twitter as this huge communicating channel for conveying so much more than just conversation with my fellow mom friends.

Twitter is a channel for communicating your marketing messages to the masses. The key to using Twitter as a channel of this sort is not to be pitchy, pushy, or a prudish. People will only care about what you do if they know that you care too. Not about your business, but rather about the people themselves. Your marketing should not be about pushing advertising messages and getting the sale. It needs to be magnetically relational (you will hear me speak about relationship often). If you look at the current marketing trends they are all leading towards CONNECTING TO the people; not TALKING AT the people. So you want to focus on marketing your message adding your personality to the mix.

Twitter is a channel for meeting people and making connections that will last. When you market with your personality you will draw people to you who want to be a part of what you do. This is where you can find your TEAM. A team of supporters on many levels. Your personality will draw the people to you as they see who you are, what you need, and what they possibly can do for you or vice verse. Again, this does not mean you need to be pushy or pitchy. Just be you. When I was making the switch and re-branding myself as a content writer and then a VA, people on Twitter knew who LaTara Ham-Ying was. When I opened for business I had clients the first week. It was not just because I am a good writer (tooting my own horn), but because people knew my personality, style and work ethic. They learned all of this by reading my blogs, tweets, and of course by word of mouth.

Contrary to what many of my clients believe, I am not a Twitter Guru yet; but I can say that about 90% of my online business comes from the way I relate on Twitter. That tells me that I must be doing something right. I cannot stress enough the value of relational marketing and what it will do for your business when you learn to CONNECT to people in the right way.

Are you a relational marketer on Twitter?

Are you missing the point of relating to people for marketing purposes?

What type of channel to success has Twitter been for you?

Image by Ethan Hein via Flickr

Being smart with social media and networking is not about being everywhere. It is about making yourself effectively visible wherever you decide to network. People are always telling me that they see me everywhere. I for one can say this is not true; however what I can say is that where I do network and I work at being an effective part of the community.

Do I always flaunt my business or services, no.

You can belong to three or four social networking groups or platforms and watch your business and network grow. The key to being effectively visible is getting in the mix. When I say getting in the mix, I mean getting involved with the community.

• Chat with people

• Offer your help without selling or losing yourself

• Don’t be afraid to tell people what you do and what you offer. There is nothing wrong with self-promotion but there is something wrong with selfish promotion.

• Promote others. Share what is going on with other business owners. Not just the gurus but anyone with a valuable service or product.

It is not important for you to have a profile on every social networking profile on the internet. That is just not smart because there are so many of them out there. The fact that you make the right connections is what matters most.

The bottom line for most business owners is to earn money. Money is often accumulated through a particular product or service. However, to sell that product or service business owners need to alert the general public. Customer cannot buy a product or a service if they do not know that it exists. That is why, as a business owner, you need to advertise your business.

When it comes to advertising there are many business owners who literally cringe. The reason they cringe is because many of the advertising methods cost money. While it is good to spend a little to make a little, it would be even better if you are able to save by advertising for nothing. There are ways to promote your business and the products or services that you sell without having to spend any money at all.

Is your curiosity peaked yet?

One of the ways that you can promote your online business, without having to spend a dime, is by using something that is readily available online. That thing is an online social networking. A large number of internet users, in fact millions of them, belong to at least one social networking group.

When it comes to social networking,many people think of online friendships or online relationships. Yes, these are very common but many online marketers know that there is power in participating in social networking groups. In fact, it was through doing business online that social networking got it start.

If you are a small business owner, especially one that operates an online business or is trying to give your business a strong online presence, there is a way that you can use social networking sites to your advantage.

There are networking sites that are designed for business owners. These websites will not only allow you to share your business information with other business owners, but it will also allow you to develop close relationships with those that share an interest that is similar to yours. Essentially, this means that you could not only learn valuable business information, but you could also walk away with a new business partner or client.

If it is your goal to start social networking, be sure that you target networks that fit your needs and desires. This is why having a plan is so important. Writing down your social media marketing plan is a good way to guage which groups you join and which ones are just not for you. Many places like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Ning and even MySpace are helping business owners share their expertise, gain a following, and increase their income potential.

By joining a social networking website, especially one that is popular and has a large number of members, you should be able to generate interest in your business, including the products or services that you sell.

If you have not discovered a place that suits you ask around, talk to a social media expert, and get in where you fit in.

Do you remember the game Connect 4? The strategy of that game is to connect 4 checkers of the same color. You have to think to win the game.

Can I introduce you to a game I call Connect 5?

This game will show you how to effectively connect to your market and find quality traffic and potential customers or clients.

If you are trying to present yourself to your market as a an expert, the best thing you can do is connect to other people! I am not talking about connecting through an automated service and selfishly promoting your product or business. That is a big turn off. Don’t automate your networking… BIG MISTAKE!

When I say connect, I mean just that. Take the time to find 5 people or more if you want that are saying something you can comment on. It can be on Twitter, Facebook, or even someone’s blog. Whatever you choose all you need to do is let someone know that someone thinks that what they said was worth a comment or two.

It is not a hard thing to do. Connecting is how your business will flow. If you aren’t connecting, you aren’t being effective in business. if you aren’t connecting with authentic purpose then don’t do it.

When you connect do it because something truly interest you. Not because so-and-so is a good person to connect to because they have a lot of Twitter followers or seem to be popular. Popular does not mean influence!

What do you think about connecting to others through Social Media?

Image via Wikipedia

When it comes to social media marketing, there are many formulas people can try but only one that I found truly works.

One for the formulas people use is…

You+Many Followers = Success

Success is the wrong answer because numbers mean absolutely nothing when it comes to building your presence online and leveraging your bottom line. Just because someone have 20,000 followers on Twitter does not mean that they are viable connections. It simply means that they have a large number of followers that is it.

So the right answer for this equation is:

You+Many Followers = Vain Connections

The next formula that many people use for social media marketing is…

You+Many Profiles=Success

Again those who market this way are missing the value of social media and true connection. You can have 100 profiles and never get anywhere with your social media marketing. If you are not using them, what good does it do for you? Unless you have super powers there is no way you can effectively utilize 100 profiles.

In my early days of social media marketing I attempted the feat of having a profile on every platform that existed. I learned that keeping up with all of them was impossible. Plus it was impossible to actually find time for working when I was so busy trying to market myself with social media. I found myself spending too many nights up late; and mornings, up way too early.

The correct answer for this equation is…

You+Many Profiles=Wasteful Connections

What is a person to do when it comes to social media marketing? How does one find the right formula for success in the social media realm?

One formula that I have noticed that seems to work again and again for many people when it comes to social media marketing is…

You+Do You= Success

The most effective form of social media market is simply you being you! There is no magic pill or an exact method for marketing online. It really depends on who you are and what your goals are for marketing online.

There are many people who do not use twitter and facebook and they are successful. There are some folks who only use Facebook and do so with great success. The thing to remember is that social media includes so many facets that there really is something for everyone.

Very few people use the term “New Media” because it seems to have found its way into the social media stream. Whatever one chooses to call it, it works as well. There are some people who only blog and guess what….it works.

What makes the difference is not necessarily what they are doing but how they are doing it. People who are truly successful are not the ones who say, “Give me your money and I will show you how to get 10,000 Twitter followers”.

Nor or they the ones who tell you that social media should ne the core of your business plan. That is just wrong. It is a valuable part of a good business plan but it should not be the core. There are too many other components for that.

Believe it or not the ones who are truly successful do not all have 20,000 followers. They do not have profiles all over the internet. They do not even know everything there is to know about social media.

The most successful people use social media as a true connection tool. They are authentic and sincere in their approach. They are not the ones spitting out link after link. They are the ones finding value in connecting with their followers and friends. The most successful people use social media as a part of their plan by communicating with their true personality.

They take the time to discover which platforms work for them and they are consistent with it. They are not out to find the most followers on Twitter or friends on Facebook. The most successful people in social media are the ones who find value in the few hundred folks they have in their social media circle. They know how to use what they have, be it large or small to reach their bottom line.

If you are seeking a path towards success with social media marketing, find the places where you fit and use them to the best of your ability. Follow the formula…

You+Do You= Success

I was speaking with a client who told me a coach informed her that with all she does her list should be in the 1000′s and that she needs to partner with some big list people to get more folks on her own list. She then told her to do a one day give away of all her products or a day of coaching in her key areas of focus.

Here was my reply to her…

YOU DO YOU!!!

Why did I say that? While I don’t totally disagree with the coach, I do not agree with aligning yourself with people for the sake of a growing list. When you align yourself with folks for the sake of just growing your list, you can find yourself in some serious trouble.

Everything you do in business should come from the standpoint of quality for quality results. It makes no difference if you align yourself with Mr. Guru 123 if he is a crook and all about self. He could have the list but may be receiving horrible results because his marketing effort involve no true communication and connection power.

The bottom line is that in order to get quality results you have to produce quality marketing strategies. You need to understand what you want to get back for your efforts before you start giving one day coaching sessions for an entire day or give away all your products for free. Free is good but it is not all gold.

Sorry, but I think the coach gave my client some very bad insight into how to build her list and I told her such.

What she should have told her was to consider her marketing plan and find ways to connect to your market that will benefit all involved. She should have suggested that she look at what she is doing that works and keep at it; and take a look at what does not work and toss it. Maybe the client has too many irons in the fire and needs to focus on some key areas of her business and grow her list in that area. Sometimes if a person has a plate full of stuff and no one to help her eat it then she ends up throwing the stuff away or getting sick from eating too much.

Here are some hidden dangers of not focusing on quality marketing:

• You get a list of a 1000 people but 75% are freebie seekers. They only joined your list for the free stuff. You never make a dime off of them and they never tell anyone about you because they really don’t care. They just want the free stuff they will probably never use.

• You align yourself with Mr. Guru 123 only to discover that he has been blacklisted and banned from many networks. His list is a one that he purchased and the people on it never opted in or they simply don’t exist. Oh yeah, they still do that. I had to help a client get out of a mess like that about three months ago…so yes it does happen!

There are some key points to consider if you list is not growing or your marketing efforts are not working:

• What does you marketing funnel look like? Does it have enough quality freebies, great low cost options, residual opportunities?

• What are your promotional efforts like?

• How do you communicate to your market? What do they know about you? How often and what do they hear from you?

• What is the quality of your content? Are you re-purposing more and creating fresh content less? Re-purposing is good, but it can get stale.

• Who are you aligning yourself with? I never said don’t do it. I simply said be careful how you do it. Are you aligning yourself with people who share your core values and principles in business? Are you creating alliances with people who are about quality over quantity? What is your purpose for alignment? What is theirs?

There are so many facets to creating quality marketing strategies but please don’t let the main one be to simply grow your list. If you are marketing the right way, they will come. For some it takes more time than others to grow a list by number. However, you can have a list of 100 good folks who will buy your products, promote you, and stay loyal to you just because you took the time to provide quality marketing efforts that paid off.

Have you ever talked to someone that knows everything? Whatever the topic, they are the expert? It takes a lot of courage to admit that we don’t know something. How often do you seek out new information? Technology places a wealth of knowledge at our fingertips.

Learning is something that never gets old. There is always something new for us to learn about. There is always something we don’t know. Life is full of lessons that provide opportunities to gain new insight. Have you ever got bored doing something the same way consistently? Even if it’s driving a different route to work, you will discover something new.

Acquiring new knowledge requires us to step out of our comfort zone, acknowledge that we don’t know it all, and be willing and open to experiencing new ideas. So, as you are out today, take a little extra time to seek out something new. The possibilities are endless!

“The purpose of learning is growth, and our minds, unlike our bodies, can continue growing as long as we live.” ~ Mortimer Adler

This past week we had the first call in the Ignite Your Life Summer Series. The topic was “Building Christ-Esteem” and it was a truly enlightening. We learned that Christ-esteem removes the barriers that can get in the way when we focus on self-esteem.

Yes, self-esteem is very important, but when it is mis-guided then it can become a very dangerous tool in your life. It is a wise idea to see esteem from God’s eyes and learn to build your Christ-esteem.

What is self-esteem

From Wikepedia

Self-esteem is a term used in psychology to reflect a person’s overall evaluation or appraisal of his or her own worth. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs (for example, “I am competent” or “I am incompetent”) and emotions such as triumph, despair, pride and shame. A person’s self-esteem may be reflected in their behavior, such as in assertiveness, shyness, confidence or caution.

In other words self-esteem has a direct correlation with the way you feel about yourself and it can be presented in a number of ways.

Self-esteem is often related to what a person does as opposed to who she is. As women we have this bad because we value what we do more so than who we are. We want to be the perfect mom and when we are not we feel like failures. We want to always lend a hand to a cause, event, or anything that will show how much we really want to help. We end up so busy that we forget the value of being productive and that being productive means taking care of self.
What would happen if we dared to see ourselves as God does? What would happen if we took the time to search the word and build up our Christ-esteem vs our self-esteem?

Why would we want to do this? Why build up our Christ-esteem as opposed to our self-esteem?

Is there a difference? There can be.

Because so many relate self-esteem to “feelings of worth based on their skills, accomplishments, status, financial resources, or appearance it can lead a person to feel independent and prideful and to indulge in self-worship, which dulls our desire for God. James 4:6 tells us that “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” If we only trust in our earthly resources, we will inevitably be left with a sense of worth based on pride. Jesus told us, “You also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty’” (Luke 17:10).

Does this mean our esteem is to be low? By no means!

The Bible tells us in Romans 12:3 not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought but it does not say we are not to think highly of ourselves. Think about it. We are made in the Image of WHO….

I think you get the picture!

Why would God want  us to think low of ourselves. To be humble has nothing to do with  low self-esteem.

In one sense, low self-esteem is the opposite of pride. In another sense, low-self-esteem is a form of pride. Some people have low self-esteem because they want people to feel sorry for them, to pay attention to them, to comfort them. Low self-esteem can be a declaration of “look at me” just as much as pride. It simply takes a different route to get to the same destination, that is, self-absorption, self-obsession, and selfishness. Instead, we are to be selfless, to die to self, and to deflect any attention given to us to the great God who created and sustains us.

It is important to build Christ-esteem for quite a few reasons:

1. It takes self totally out of the picture
2. It places the emphasis on Christ as the Center of your Joy
3. It allows you to see your worth in God’s eyes with humility and awe
4. It gives you good grounding for making solid decision based on godly wisdom and logic
5. It takes you to the point of wanting to be in the perfect will of God since your focus is properly aligned!

Your self-esteem needs to rest in Christ because the essence of who you are dwells with Him:

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is your[a] life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” (Colossians 3:1-4)

When you place your esteem in the right place then you know that you will not become boastful or full of pride. You know that your intentions are in the right place and you are not doing anything for vain glory! You have confidence to move forward without fear or shame. You can move forward without being bothered by what others think about you.

Christ-esteem is what will drive you to move forward in courageous confidence in the call on your life!

Are you ready to build your Christ-esteem? How do you plan to do this?

Change is inevitable and occurs all around us. Seasons change, time changes, and people change. Change means to alter, transform, switch, or to make different. Change can be difficult or exciting for some or simply out of the question for others. Resistance to change is never truly effective because it is simply unavoidable.

Change is scary. It is the one thing that is always around. Every thing changes, and every one changes; nothing stays the same. Change can be uncomfortable and painful. Several years ago, I decided that I wanted to change. I didn’t know how or what that would look or feel like, but I was certain that I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. I wanted my environment to change, my outlook to change, and I wanted to release myself of my past. I no longer wanted to allow my past to hinder me from seeking a better future one day at a time. It didn’t happen overnight, and the effort involved was like climbing a mountain. I sometimes thought I would never make it.

I was determined to stay on my pursuit of happiness.  There were challenges and obstacles along the way. I sometimes felt defeated; I had to learn how to endure. I also had to learn how not to be so hard on myself when I had a setback. I had to just pick up where I had left off. I had to make a conscience effort everyday not to give up. Even though I was experiences growing pains in varying degrees, it would be worth it in the long run. Like a mother giving birth, I had to focus on the long term benefits of my growing pains in the search of happiness, joy, and peace, rather than the short term pain itself.

As I continue my pursuit to allow change to be a constant factor in my life, I have become more determined and encouraged. Disappointments and adversity will come, but it is up to me how I allow it to affect me. I have decided to take every moment in stride. I look for lessons and room for growth. This allows to me to maintain a positive outlook because I now realize that just as living is a process, so is change.

“Change has a considerable psychological impact on the human mind. To the fearful it is threatening because it means that things may get worse. To the hopeful it is encouraging because things may get better. To the confident, it is inspiring because the challenge exists to make things better.” King Whitney Jr.