Charlotte Howard Consulting Blog

Here’s a cool tool I came across that may be of use to you for your business. This tool has been created to help business owners cut to 100+ hours of human labor done in 2 minutes?!

I have been researching this tool for a while and have spoken on numerous occasions with one of the creators Charles Heflin, great guy. Like all tools you use for business it does require human interaction.



I’m not sure how long Charles will allow us to offer this opportunity to you. But this is a reminder of the truly revolutionary tool that finally makes it possible to outsource your marketing to hundreds of professionals worldwide in less than 2 minutes.

Synnd software is marketing leverage like you’ve never seen or tried before. You can currently leverage approximately 100+ hours of human promotional labor in the time it takes to create a marketing campaign in the Synnd system (about 2 minutes).

Imagine having your marketing “done for you” while you spend your new found time doing more important things like building better content or fine tuning your sales funnel or developing new
business relationships… How could you grow your business if you outsourced all your marketing chores?

Synnd now offers the following modules:

>>> Content Voting Campaigns
(good for initiating the viral spread of your best content)

>>> Content Bookmarking Campaigns
(good for building deep inbound Social Buzz for Search engine
visibility enhancement as well as improved rankings)

>>> Twitter Re-Tweet Campaigns
(good for almost instant traffic)

>>> Article Syndication to the top article directories
(coming soon – good for building inbound links and establishing
authority in your niche)

Synnd is now 800+ members strong and growing!

Time is running out on the special $1 trial offer

Here’s the special link to check out the details:

http://bit.ly/synndtrialoffer

Whether you’re an introvert or an extrovert, feel like you have the gift of gab or just don’t know how to make small talk, networking know-how is very important for your business success. There is a notion in business that I believe most of us subscribe to that says “all things being equal, people will do business with and refer business to those they know, like and trust.” And the key to this is obviously being able to develop relationships.

Think of networking as the cultivation of mutually beneficial, win-win relationships. In order to be win-win, there must be GIVE and take (notice the emphasis on give). Networking shouldn’t be viewed as “events” where you go to sell your business. When effective networking is taking place, the parties involved actively share ideas, information, resources, etc.

Ok, so you know that you should be networking because it is one of the most cost-effective lead generation activities when used wisely, appropriately and professionally. But, maybe that seems easier said than done. Here’s a seven step plan to really get going with networking for your business.

1. Check out several groups to find the best chemistry and perceived value. Most groups will allow you to come and visit at least a couple of times before you have to join. Go and ask around to find out why others have joined and what value they get out of belonging.

Resist the urge to just go join the Chamber of Commerce simply because everyone tells you that’s what you need to do. If that’s not where your target group can be found, then you might just be wasting a considerable amount of time (and money).

I’m not telling you not to join the Chamber. Just be clear about what you’d like to get out of this or any other group. If it’s to find prospective clients or referral sources, then you need to be networking where those resources can be found.

2. When you find a group or two, join and go to all the meetings you can. Don’t go just once or twice expecting things to happen and then if they don’t quit. Building mutually beneficial, win-win relationships will take some time.

The contacts you make need to constantly see your face and hear your message. Continual contact with others over time will open up opportunities for you to go deeper and learn more about each others thoughts, ideas and capabilities in regards to your respective businesses.

Know, like, and trust generally only happens over time. Being regular and persistent will pay off.

3. Get involved – be visible. Do as much as you can to make yourself more visible within the organization. Volunteer to help with meetings, be on committees, or become a leader or board member.

Being involved does a couple of things for you and your business. First, you’ll get more opportunities to establish connections and get to know some of the contacts you’ve made even better. Secondly, the higher the visibility you have in the group, the less you’ll have to work to make new connections. Instead, as new people come into the group, they will likely seek you out because they view you as a leader within the organization.

4. Keep your circles of contacts informed. Don’t just assume that running in to someone once a month (or even once a week) will cause them to start doing business with you or sending it your way. You need to let them know what’s going on when you’re not at that particular group in order to inform and educate them.

Send them invitations to your events or open houses. Send them email or letters to share big news or success stories, especially anything of relevance to them or those in their networks of contacts. If you believe that you have valuable ideas, information and resources to share with others, then doesn’t this just make sense?

5. Work at GIVING referrals and sharing valuable information. That’s right, you need to be willing to GIVE before you get. That means you need to get to know other members and what makes a good prospect for them. What kinds of information might you have access to that could be useful to them?

You may initially think you don’t have much of value to share with others (besides your business and what you provide). Part of the key to getting good at giving is to not make assumptions. For example, don’t assume that some basic resource (e.g., a web site) that you’re aware of is familiar to someone you might be talking to just because they are the “expert” in that field. Be willing to ask if they know about the resource and ready to share if they don’t.

Want to get better at actually giving referrals? Here’s a simple question to ask someone you’re connecting with. “How am I going to know when I meet a really good prospect for you?”

Just the fact that you are willing to explore giving will elevate your know, like and trust factor.

6. Focus on Quality, not Quantity, Quantity, Quantity. It’s not necessarily about the number of connections you make, but about the quality of the ones you do make. Are they mutually beneficial, win-win relationships?

Quality connections will be identifiable because all involved parties will be actively sharing ideas, information, and resources. Yes, it is true that you need to spend some time and effort getting to know the other person(s) and what’s important to them. But, you also need to be clear and actively thinking about what information or resources you want and need.

Staying in touch with and following up with a smaller number of quality relationships will generally be much more productive than trying to follow up with a larger number of superficial contacts.

7. Be persistent, but be patient. The goal of a networking event shouldn’t necessarily be to come away with prospects every time you go out, but to come away with great connections. Networking usually takes time to get the relationships developed and nurtured.

Don’t approach networking as a scary proposition or a necessary evil for being in business. Take the pressure off yourself and really focus on how you might be able to connect with someone you meet. Focus on them first and look for ways to be useful to them. As you become known as a connector you’ll eventually be ready to reap what you sow.

Happy Monday To All Of You!

I promise I’m not going to take up to much of your time today, but I just wanted to share with some information on generating 20 leads per day on facebook for your business.

If you are trying to build your business and simply don’t have a marketing budget.

You don’t need to… if you have a facebook account, which you may already have. If you don’t get one now and connect with me.

You can see your solution here:
http://bit.ly/FacebookMarketingStar

Some say you can drive traffic for f’ree by just surfing the web.

But the problem is, it consumes absolutely to much time and before you know it your whole day is gone.

Get the step by step blueprint of how you can spend only 30 minutes a day on facebook to create endless raving fans that are ready to buy from you with their wallets in hand.

Grab Instant Access… See link below

http://bit.ly/FacebookMarketingStar

Online Networking has become a very popular way to grow your business for free. Using online networking or social media for personal and business use can be very helpful to those who want to network anytime of the day. However, if you are unfamiliar with how to use online networking or social media effectively it can be very frustrating to know what is working or not.

In order to use online networking or social media effectively. You will need to figure out if you are going to use online networking or social media for personal and business usage. If you decide to use online networking or social media for both preferences. I would like to suggest to you that their, will be a need to separate your personal and business social interactions.

As a business professional this is a very important part of doing business. After creating your social media profiles for business and personal usage. You will need to figure out your purpose for using online networking or social media by choosing your objective.

Next, choose the top social networks to join and begin being interactive by joining groups. Just to name a few top social networks for you to begin join. My top picks are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Myspace. Make sure you complete your profile entirely and add your photo. People love to get to know you and love to see photos of the people they are networking with online.

Make sure you offer value and be very helpful to those social friends in need. Remember no spam on these social networks, as this looks unprofessional when you spam others. You can rest assure doing these techniques to build your social presence will create a list of life long social connections.

To learn more about implementing these social media techniques.

About Author:
Charlotte Howard is a Business Consultant and Founder of Charlotte
Howard Consulting LLC. Grab Charlotte’s FREE click by click training for
Traditional Business Owners and Home-Based Business Owners.

Meetup is a large network of local groups which aims to organize a local group. The network helps people to be self- organized and regenerates local communities.

Meetup believes that people can make a difference by organizing themselves into groups and working as a team. They believed that making a difference is possible if people will work with each other as a group rather than individually. Meetup let people meet face to face who shares the same interests from different parts of the world.

If you are planning to create a Hair Association and you don’t have any idea on how to make this possible and on whom to get help with, Meetup.com can help you organize to make this possible and find people who have the same interest as yours.

1.    The first thing to do is register to their platform provided you are at least 18 years old. Their platform provides their users variety of resources used in organizing groups and alliances.

2.    You need to pick a topic for your group which will be Hair Association.  Within 72 hours the website will email you who are those interested to join you in creating your hair association.  Your group will then be listed in their directory.

3.    You will then fill up a form which will contain what your group Meetup is all about. It will ask where your Meetup group place and the name of your meeting group. It also gives you an option whether to make your Meetup group private or public. You also need to put your name, email and create a password.

4.    One you received the email notifying who will be interested to join your association; you can then organize a meeting with your group. This way you can share your ideas with each other on how to come up with a hair association. Since you have the same interest it will be a lot easier dealing with your group and share interests with each other.  If you don’t like the people in the group you can freely create another group.

5.    With your group, you can schedule your meet ups and plan on how you can make your Hair Association for real. As an organizer you have the right to suspend or terminate membership in your group and to charge fees in connection with membership in your group. You can also limit requirements for your group and temporarily or permanently remove any information that you have posted. You can also look for sponsors for your hair association using Meetup.com.

Through Meetup.com, you can share your interest with other people and make your dreams come true such as creating your own Hair Association.

Facebook fanpages is a very important aspect for your business. If you are like most entrepreneurs in business. You will want to make it your business to keep in touch with everyone, by providing the latest news. Such as upcoming promotions, joint venture opportunities, hiring of employees, contests, and free stuff.

After speaking with some of my friends over this past weekend. We all made up in our minds to create our facebook fanpages also because the search engines will rank you better when others are trying to gain information about you online.

Now, you will still want to keep your regular facebook profile available too. However, I would just direct everyone over to your fanpage to begin building real good solid relationships with your clients, friends, and family. This will enable everyone to stay up to date with what you have going on.

This is also a great way to separate your business life from your personal life. If people don’t know who you are and what you do for a living how can you expect them to communicate with you. Everyone facebook friend limit is 5000 and your fan page is an unlimited amount. When you create yours make sure you let me know so we can get connected.

Click below to become a fan or friend on facebook:

http://www.TheHairMarketingGal.com

http://www.CharlotteOnFacebook.com

Cheers,

Charlotte Howard

P.S. To learn about social networks for hairstylist click here

The Linkedin account is used over 39 million members. And this is in more than 200 countries around the world. In fact, there are always new members who sign up for the account. And it is not only in US but also even outside US.

This interconnected network can help you get introduced and be linked in with other professionals that you need to work with in order for you to achieve your goals.

So, how do you create an account for this? It is simple and easy. When you want to join, just like the other members, you need to create a profile that would give them a background of your professional expertise and accomplishments. Then, you can connect with others by inviting your trusted contacts to join Linkedin, so that they can contact you as well. Now, this connection will be your network. It will be the people you know and they know, thus, you will be linked to a lot of people and can come up with your circle of connections.

So, maybe you are wondering what you can do with your network. There are so many things you can do when you are linked with others. You can manage the information that is available for others to see. You can find and be introduced to prospective clients to help you grow professionally. You can create and collaborate on projects, or even share files with your connections. This can also help you learn from the discussions with other people linked to your account. You can close your deal and you can distribute job listings.

This Linkedin account can help you professionally. It will aid you to grow professionally, thus, it will be a great opportunity for you. So, what are you waiting for? Join now and start while it is early.