There are so many books about networking and advice about networking that I’m not sure what I can add that would be entirely new, but I thought I’d share the most common ways I am networking these days and where I’m getting new clients.

1. Word of Mouth - I have to say despite my love of technology, the bottom line is I’m getting most clients from referrals from other clients and people who have worked with me. Don’t ever discount the power of the warm referral. Read the rest of this entry »

In the constant struggle to juggle and (cough cough) balance (yeah right), I decided to look at my day task by task to see how I’m doing in the juggle/balance work/life game. This is a typical day for me. Join me on this ride of the Entrepreneur Mom.

7am - Up early to log into Second Life & do a pre-tour of Crowne Plaza’s sim to write run sheet for camera crew. This is for my new SLCN.tv show REAL BIZ in SL, totally avatar-based.

7:30am - Breakfast with hubby before he leaves for work.

8am - Log back into SL and prep promos for this week’s guests on Athena Isle: Tuesday, a psychic and Wednesday, a Second Life reporter talking about her job. And on March 10, marketing gurus Peppers and Rogers talking about their new book. Read the rest of this entry »

As we all know and tend to learn the hard way, email is not the perfect communications medium and using it well when you are pitching something to reporters is an art unto itself. In order to improve the success of your email pitches, here are some things to keep in mind before hitting the “Send” button.

1. Don’t pitch unless you have the good match.

Do your homework and learn what reporters are writing about. Read their articles or columns. Get familiar with their “beat.” Your non-related pitch can put sour taste in their mouth, especially when they report on women in business and you pitch them an interview with a male CEO. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been developing, coordinating and hosting a lot of events in Second Life as part of my online consulting work, and am still honing my perfect mix of online marketing tactics to attract a steady audience, but here are the online marketing tools I’ve been using.

1. Twitter.
I can’t say enough about microblogging and how effective it is once you build a strong following. I have over 500 followers now on my Twitter page, many of whom are avid SL residents, so I have a nicely targeted audience for promos about my events. Read the rest of this entry »

It is 2:00 a.m. as I write this post. I’m not really a night owl anymore or late-hour worker anymore. Having a baby changed all that. I used to work on the computer at any hour of the day or night. When I got the urge to work, I’d plug in and log on and easily spend hours immersed in my writing.

These days, I cherish my 6-8 hours of partially interrupted sleep every night, interruptions being baby crying out for a diaper change or bottle. I try to eek out just a few minutes more sleep each morning as my husband gets ready for work and before I head to the kitchen to join him for breakfast. Just one more minute, please… Read the rest of this entry »

I was asked by a reporter once to give my do’s and don’ts of networking. Here are a few of the tips I gave based on all my good and bad experiences networking over the (many) years. Most of these are common sense and apply not just to our “old fashioned” in person networking but also our “new wave” of digital and social networking. Read the rest of this entry »

For any publishers out there - whether you are publishing a newsletter or blogging, podcasting or videocasting, I’m sure you know that coming up with content can be a major challenge, especially if you are posting on a weekly or more frequent basis.

Once you establish the basic topics or themes of your content, there are lots of different ways to come up with and present that content. Here are some of my tips and prompts… Read the rest of this entry »

Are you blogging for your business? Are you thinking about letting other employees blog with you?

There are inherent risks in company-wide blogging that include employees accidentally revealing company secrets or voicing an opinion that is not in keeping with the corporate culture and guidelines. While blogging can be a useful marketing tool for your company and by adding employee voices to the mix you can create a richer resource, you need to take precautions before you add bloggers to your blog.
Read the rest of this entry »