Recently I decided to go on a “weight loss” program.

Why?

Well several reasons..time, illness, lack of interest..whatever the reason I started deleting, disabling or un-publishing stuff like mad.

I started with my Facebook Fan page. I created it as an experiment to understand how it worked for my consulting career. Mission accomplished. 200+ fans later I have no direction or reason to keep doing it at the moment. So I put it on holiday. Facebook will keep making changes – guaranteed but for right now I don’t need to have a fan page. The next page I create, should I choose to do so will be because I have a human not technology reason to have one. I have no desire to have a page just to say I have one.

What was next?

Posterous. I’ve had a blog on there for over a year now. I posted infrequently yet I had followers. Who knows why. I made it private and no more posting for me on that platform. At least for now.

To create your own plan ask yourself:

1. Where are you really involved?
2. Do you care about what you’re doing? If you feel guilty about not participating more – it’s on the list to go!
3. If you aren’t ready to delete just make your accounts private, if possible. If you don’t miss it after a few months I’d say it’s safe to get rid of it.

Next to go will probably be my YouTube channel. Again I have zero reason to keep it active. I have one video!

You don’t have to be on every social network or whatever’s cool at the moment. It’s like spring cleaning your media presence. It needs to be done. You wouldn’t keep clothes that were falling apart or stuff you never wore in your closet in hopes that you’d wear it? Well same thing applies online. Well unless you’re a hoader…that’s a whole other issue entirely.

I’m sure there is some social media guru or “social media scientist” out there who disagrees but whatever gurus are overrated.

If you can’t part with it use it. Create a plan and implement it. Otherwise it deserves to be in the rubbish pile.

© iStockphoto.com/JulNichols

Huh? I’m not crazy. I’ve heard that alot. A client wants to add Twitter or Facebook… or whatever social network to their site but they aren’t interested in doing any work. The reasons vary but honestly why bother. It’s like asking someone on a date and then not talking for the entire time.

Why would you care to see them again? You wouldn’t…unless you had lost your mind.

Throw a link to Facebook on the site. Why?

What are you planning to DO once you have a fan page? Does your business really need one? Or rather are you going to do anything useful with it other than talk at your customers.

Or someone gets excited and says “Oh let’s get a Twitter account!”. Again…to what end? I can’t tell you how many meetings I’ve been in where it was obvious that a) the person speaking had never used Twitter b) had no idea what they were talking about and c) had no valid reason other than it sounded cool. On what planet…is something cool if it doesn’t make sense for your business and no one is going to take ownership of it. Waste of time and money.

Some people don’t want to give customers a platform to complain. Well… get real… consumers complain all the time. But people who love you write more good things than bad. Besides if you had a lousy product wouldn’t you want to improve it. When did we get so afraid of criticism? Not everyone is going to like your product or service.

Just a thought.

By not giving your loyal happy customers a place to talk and share their stories you are missing out. Word of mouth is your friend…not your enemy.

Promoting your products or service all day long is not a relationship building activity.

Go have a conversation already…social media is about building relationships, which you cannot do without engagement just being on the network isn’t enough.

Make sure you ask for references. And of course get everything in writing. A verbal contract isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.

Download mindmap PDF.

The source file for the mind map is available for download. The file was created in Mind Manager 8. You can also get the clickable mind map and a PDF as well.

© iStockPhoto/apcuk

Search is the largest potential source of qualified leads. SEO is an acronym for “search engine optimization” or “search engine optimizer.” Approximately 70% of all website traffic to a site comes from search engines. Most searchers typically pick the top ranking results of their search.

SEO Elements
Ensure that keywords are in URLs, page titles, headlines, and links. Tag all image and video elements. Meta tags, sitemap.xml, RSS feeds and other elements contribute to the indexing and accurate display of your site. Custom meta tags on all pages.

According to Google here are some questions to ask if you plan to hire a professional SEO expert.

* Can you show me examples of your previous work and share some success stories?
* Do you follow the Google Webmaster Guidelines?
* Do you offer any online marketing services or advice to complement your organic search business?
* What kind of results do you expect to see, and in what timeframe? How do you measure your success?
* What’s your experience in my industry?
* What’s your experience in my country/city?
* What’s your experience developing international sites?
* What are your most important SEO techniques?
* How long have you been in business?
* How can I expect to communicate with you? Will you share with me all the changes you make to my site, and provide detailed information about your recommendations and the reasoning behind them?

SEO can be retrofitted
You don’t need to re-do your site entirely to incorporate SEO best practices. Here are a few simple fixes.

• Update all ALT text to reflect image content
• Add title tags to reflect link content
• Update your Meta Tags. Meta tags go in between the “opening” and “closing” HEAD tags. Meta Description: This tag enjoys much support, and it is well worth using. Meta Keywords: This tag is only supported by some major crawlers.

Web Resources

• Google’s Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide
• Google Engage Program
• The Bing’s SEO Guide for Webmasters
• A free SEO book from iBusinessPromoter
• The SEO Fast Start Book by Dan Thies

Books

• Web Analytics 2.0: The Art of Online Accountability and Science of Customer Centricity
• Search Engine Optimization: An Hour a Day
• Search Engine Optimization For Dummies by Peter Kent

Web Analytics Tools

• Google Analytics
• Omniture
• Woopra

Ultimately, the secret to good SEO is good content.

(c) iStockPhoto/iqoncept

I used to absolutely HATE networking. I would avoid it like the plague. But back in 2004 I changed my mind about networking. I changed the way I thought about networking so it changed the way I behaved when I decided to go to an event. I was working exclusively at home at the time.

I decided to figure out what about networking I didn’t like. I hated the small talk. The attempt to talk to a large amount of people and get a bunch of business cards. 90% of whom I never reached out to after the event. Pointless right? The whole reason to go to a networking event is to MEET people. So why wasn’t I following up? Or meeting people with whom I had any chemistry?

Well for starters I wasn’t honoring the fact that I’m an introvert and I was attending too many events. Which guaranteed I’d fail. Why? Well I was brain dead by the time I got to my third event of the week. Who can focus much less carry on a conversation when just being in the room is driving you nuts because you need some quiet.

I started to be more picky about which events I attended. I also gave myself permission to leave early if I felt like it. Why force myself to stay when I’m not enjoying myself? I’d be irritable and quiet – not exactly the way to be if you are looking to connect with people.

So I set myself a goal, I’d aim to connect one on one with at least five people and after that I was free to leave. I wasn’t in the business of collecting business cards just to prove I met a ton of people. I am in the business of creating relationships. Networking is about creating relationships not about numbers. Until you have the relationship thing down the numbers don’t matter.

Nothing is more irritating than someone you barely know trying to sell you something. There is no trust yet. Why would you buy what they are selling? Or how about not talking to someone for months and then asking them for job leads. Annoying right?

Whether networking online/in-person being authentic is important.

What I’ve learned over the years:

• Give without expecting anything in return
• Stay in touch. Sure email is great but a quick phone call or handwritten note are great too
• Be genuinely interested in the other person’s goals
• Ask how you can help
• Go early to events
• It’s not about quantity of connections but the quality of them
• Eat before you go so you aren’t hovering over the buffet table
• Bring business cards. Sounds crazy to put that on the list but you’d be surprised at how many times I’ve been with people at an event who didn’t have business cards on them. Even if you are unemployed you still need them. There is the old standby Vistaprint but also consider Moo or Expressionery
• Forward jobs that aren’t a good fit for you to others even if they aren’t actively looking. You never know it might be their dream job
• Know when to move on. Relationships are a two street. If the other person isn’t interested don’t keep trying. It is best to move on to someone who is interested in making a connection. Yes, the rejection will sting but dragging it out is pointless
• Go to events that are outside of your industry. It’s easy to stick with groups and organizations that are about your field.
• Online networking is a good place to start but try to take the connection offline too

(c) iStockPhoto/ayzek

In May, I took the two week course taught by Nancy Ancowitz on Self-Promotion for Introverts at New York University. I had heard Nancy speak on the topic in March as well which is why I decided to take her course. Seminars are great but I like taking longer classes as they give me the opportunity to spend more time on a topic, do more research and ask more questions after I’ve had time to think about the material.
Success is something most of us hope to achieve but without self-promotion we will most likely not achieve our true potential. As an introvert I know there is nothing I hate more than listening to someone brag about their accomplishments. It’s boring and obnoxious which is probably why most introverts hate self-promotion. We are under the misguided notion that self-promotion equals bragging.

It doesn’t.

Self-promotion is a dialogue not a monologue. Most bragging tends to be a monologue of one person trying to impress the other with his/her accomplishments. In most cases they aren’t interested in the other person at all and are dominating the conversation. Trying to sell themselves by any means necessary. Most people hate bragging.

(c) iStockPhoto/robynmac

Self-promotion is about being authentic, creating a dialogue, stating the facts without embellishment and creating connections. To do it well you must know what is holding you back from effective self-promotion. You must understand what makes you unique – your strengths and weakness, even your quirks.

It’s not about selling your soul to the highest bidder. It is about figuring out what you offer the world and letting the world know that you exist. Most people right or wrong prefer to work with people they like. Find out why people have hired you in the past or why they did for your current position. You can use that information in promoting yourself. Figure out what makes you great at your job.

I know there are parts of my job I love and there are others I hate so much I’d rather go to the dentist.

Being a visual learner I created a mindmap of the “Self-Promotion for Introverts” class recently. It contains what I felt were some important take aways. If you want to learn more you can take Nancy’s class in October, read her book – Self-Promotion for Introverts: The Quiet Guide to Getting Ahead or checkout her blog.

Download Self-promotion for Introverts Class Mindmap

In April I took “Presentation Skills for Introverts” taught by Nancy Ancowitz the author of Self-Promotion for Introverts: The Quiet Guide to Getting Ahead. Click on the mind map image above to enlarge the image. The map highlights the key points that I took away from the course. Presenting is a skill that we all need but requires practice to master. During the course I got to practice not only the verbals but the non-verbals skills of presenting.

The instructor, Nancy Ancowitz has a section in her book that covers presentation skills but she also recommends the following books – The Exceptional Presenter: A Proven Formula to Open Up and Own the Room and How to Write and Give a Speech, Second Revised Edition.

There is another session of the class starting Thursdays, 6/10 and 6/17 at 6:30-9:30 p.m.
at New York University’s Washington Square campus. The cost is $110. To register – http://bit.ly/czeJFy

Dowload Presentation Skills for Introverts Mind Map

(c) iStockPhoto/kabliczech

Presenting to an audience can instill all kinds of fears for some many people. The imagination can create havoc with reality. Odds are you aren’t going to pass out or forget everything you have to say. But if you think you are you probably will. It’s that whole self-fulfilling prophecy at work.
I have fears about public speaking and I’ve been an instructor both in-person and online. I recently signed up for “Presentations Skills for Introverts” taught by Nancy Ancowitz , a course that she teaches at New York University.
The biggest take aways are that practice is necessary to get better. If you’re introverted you need to figure out what makes you comfortable in front of an audience. Does size matter? Do you prefer smaller groups to larger groups? Some people find presenting to people they don’t know easier than presenting to those that they do.
Watch other presenters. No one is perfect. Even presenters that we think are good have weaknesses. It was great to be in an environment where I got feedback on my strengths as well as the areas I need to work on.
Here’s my presentation from our last class -

Today I attended a talk by Nancy Ancowitz entitled Self Promotion for Introverts at In Good Company. Nancy has written a book by the same name which was published last year. It has lots of great tips and suggestions that can work for both introverts and extroverts. Check out the PDF of my mindmap of the presentation.

Mindmap of Nancy Ancowitz’s presentation