09/13/2015

Marketing Your Business: Social Media 103 - FacebookOf course you've heard about Facebook - who hasn't? It is one of the top social media platforms out there with over 750 million users. The question is, do you have a presence on Facebook and, if so, are you making the most of your Facebook membership? Contrary to what many people think, Facebook isn't just for playing games! You can use it for so much more! Profile Page: If you haven't already done so, set up your profile page. This way, you can make use of Facebook's Google juice and ride the wave of keyword searches to bring your audience right to you. This is where you should post your videos, family photos, and blurbs about the things you do for hobbies. It is not your business page, but simply a venue for those who may be interest... 10/05/2014

Marketing Your Business: Quick Tip 1Watch What You Say!Every word you type to compose a blog post, every tweet you send out, every Facebook status update - it all remains a part of your online history. Forever. Even if you delete the update, it's still there. That's the wonderful thing about the internet. Once it's out there, it's out there. Every. Single. Word. As such, there are some tips about posting online: Avoid posting rants about business associates - this only serves to make you look bad, not them. Watch your language - crude remarks, foul language, and sexual inuendos will only serve to tarnish the reputation you are attempting to build. Try not to be rude - this, too, tarnishes your reputation. Remember, everything you say online in turn says something about you - and never g... 09/29/2014

30 Days of Marketing Opportunities - Day 30This series of 30 Days of Marketing Opportunities will give you 30 projects or tasks that your Virtual Assistant can handle on your behalf, generating leads that will ultimately generate more income for you!  These are tasks that do not require a lot of high-end skill but, instead, require some time (hence the reason your Virtual Assistant should handle these tasks, not you!) and attention to detail.  Join me on the journey and I welcome your feedback!Day 30 - Promote Your Clients Another way to get your name, face and business out there is to start a cross-promotion effort with your clients! And it's really easy to do. When you have a client who closes on a property, promote it and them in your newsletter and/or website. In addition to the fac... 09/26/2014

30 Days of Marketing Opportunities - Day 29This series of 30 Days of Marketing Opportunities will give you 30 projects or tasks that your Virtual Assistant can handle on your behalf, generating leads that will ultimately generate more income for you!  These are tasks that do not require a lot of high-end skill but, instead, require some time (hence the reason your Virtual Assistant should handle these tasks, not you!) and attention to detail.  Join me on the journey and I welcome your feedback!Day 29 - Sponsor a "Go Green" Event Everyone is going green...or trying to go green! It's all the new rage. Many people want to go green but don't know where to start. How can you help? Sponsor a "Go Green" event where the people in your farm area get to learn hands-on how to go green, what going ... 09/26/2014

Family is Everything - Their Opinions Matter      Taking family photos isn't always fun, especially when you have 6 kids to coordinate during the long and often arduous process. They were very adamant that they wanted "their" pictures to be FUN. So these are two shots that we took which the children deemed "fun enough" to keep. That's the thing about kids. People don't always realize that children have opinions. Mine have lots and lots (and lots) of opinions, especially my daughter. They are fun and extremely funny, but opinionated. Very much so. I don't mind though, because they let me know just what they are thinking. I've tried to raise them in such a way that they aren't being disrespectful when they do it, but I appreciate this. I know how they feel (probably too much), I know what... 09/24/2014

30 Days of Marketing Opportunities - Day 28This series of 30 Days of Marketing Opportunities will give you 30 projects or tasks that your Virtual Assistant can handle on your behalf, generating leads that will ultimately generate more income for you!  These are tasks that do not require a lot of high-end skill but, instead, require some time (hence the reason your Virtual Assistant should handle these tasks, not you!) and attention to detail.  Join me on the journey and I welcome your feedback!Day 28 - Host a Blood Drive Another great way to become indispensible in your farm area is to host a blood drive. The Red Cross is always in need of donations. You can be the point person to coordinate and advertise a blood drive in your farm area. Contact the Red Cross to have a Blood Mobile sent... 09/24/2014

30 Days of Marketing Opportunities - Day 27This series of 30 Days of Marketing Opportunities will give you 30 projects or tasks that your Virtual Assistant can handle on your behalf, generating leads that will ultimately generate more income for you!  These are tasks that do not require a lot of high-end skill but, instead, require some time (hence the reason your Virtual Assistant should handle these tasks, not you!) and attention to detail.  Join me on the journey and I welcome your feedback!Day 27 - Sponsor a Restaurant Fishbowl Have you ever dropped your business card into a bowl at a restaurant and wondered who gets those cards? Well, it could be you! Talk to the owner or manager of a few restaurants in your farm area. Let them know that you would like to sponsor a fishbowl. Most r... 09/23/2014

30 Days of Marketing Opportunities - Day 26This series of 30 Days of Marketing Opportunities will give you 30 projects or tasks that your Virtual Assistant can handle on your behalf, generating leads that will ultimately generate more income for you!  These are tasks that do not require a lot of high-end skill but, instead, require some time (hence the reason your Virtual Assistant should handle these tasks, not you!) and attention to detail.  Join me on the journey and I welcome your feedback!Day 26 - Host a Community Garage Sale Make yourself a valued part of your farm community by hosting a community garage sale. Make it a point to send a flyer to every member of the farm area, letting them know that you are hosting a garage sale. Select the best location in the farm area to hold the... 09/22/2014

Family is Everything - My Family is So Cool    This is a picture of my one and only daughter, Sarai (pictured - age 6), my younger sister, Sandra, and my son #3, Elijah (pictured - age 5). We were having a "Hot Wheels" birthday party the year the twins turned 3. It was the first year that the twins were able to have a birthday party since they had been hospitalized, so this was a big deal. We have 5 boys and altogether, we have 7 boys in our family. That means, there are lots and lots of cars hanging around my house, my sisters' houses, and my parent's house. So the perfect birthday party for the boys was a "Hot Wheels" party. Some of the party favors included "Hot Wheels" sunglasses, which the "models" are displaying. What I like most about this picture is that it shows just how cool m... 09/18/2014

30 Days of Marketing Opportunities - Day 25This series of 30 Days of Marketing Opportunities will give you 30 projects or tasks that your Virtual Assistant can handle on your behalf, generating leads that will ultimately generate more income for you!  These are tasks that do not require a lot of high-end skill but, instead, require some time (hence the reason your Virtual Assistant should handle these tasks, not you!) and attention to detail.  Join me on the journey and I welcome your feedback!Day 25 - Donuts for Mortgage OfficesThere's something about people who come bearing gifts that opens all kinds of doors. When someone gives you something, you tend to think of them fondly and remember them more often and more readily. So a very simple marketing opportunity is to select one or two ... 09/18/2014

Marketing Your Business: Lead Management 102Drip E-mail CampaignsAre you utilizing drip e-mail campaigns to keep your leads properly engaged? If not, consider these reasons why you should: Drip e-mails regularly keep your name and face in front of your leads. Drip e-mails can be tailored to focus on what your lead is interested in (short sales, foreclosures, first-time buyers, move-up buyers, first-time sellers). Drip e-mails, when customized specifically for your niche, can provide a source of information for leads that put you at the head of the pack as an expert in your area. Once written, drip e-mail messages can then be utilized as rotating tips on your website or in your newsletter. Once written, drip e-mail messages can be utilized over and over again, for as long as you need or ... 09/17/2014

30 Days of Marketing Opportunities - Day 24This series of 30 Days of Marketing Opportunities will give you 30 projects or tasks that your Virtual Assistant can handle on your behalf, generating leads that will ultimately generate more income for you!  These are tasks that do not require a lot of high-end skill but, instead, require some time (hence the reason your Virtual Assistant should handle these tasks, not you!) and attention to detail.  Join me on the journey and I welcome your feedback!Day 24 - Sponsor a Pasta CelebrationA great way to get your name, face, and business in front of your farm area is to get them all in one place at the same time. How can you do that? Try hosting a pasta celebration! October 17th is National Pasta Day! Sponsor a dinner for the residents in your far... 09/17/2014

30 Days of Marketing Opportunities - Day 23This series of 30 Days of Marketing Opportunities will give you 30 projects or tasks that your Virtual Assistant can handle on your behalf, generating leads that will ultimately generate more income for you!  These are tasks that do not require a lot of high-end skill but, instead, require some time (hence the reason your Virtual Assistant should handle these tasks, not you!) and attention to detail.  Join me on the journey and I welcome your feedback!Day 23 - Honor the TeachersPick a day each month when you will celebrate the teachers in your farm area. Select one school each month and take something to the school to honor the teachers. It can simply be granola bars and water bottles, or fresh fruit baskets, or as extravagant as thank you card... 09/15/2014

30 Days of Marketing Opportunities - Day 22This series of 30 Days of Marketing Opportunities will give you 30 projects or tasks that your Virtual Assistant can handle on your behalf, generating leads that will ultimately generate more income for you!  These are tasks that do not require a lot of high-end skill but, instead, require some time (hence the reason your Virtual Assistant should handle these tasks, not you!) and attention to detail.  Join me on the journey and I welcome your feedback!Day 22 - Read to a ClassroomPick a school in your farm area and arrange with the administrators to come in and read to one or more classrooms. Kindergarten through 3rd grade works best. (After all, once you hit 4th grade, you don't have time for anyone reading to you like a baby!) Here's what you ... 09/12/2014

30 Days of Marketing Opportunities - Day 21This series of 30 Days of Marketing Opportunities will give you 30 projects or tasks that your Virtual Assistant can handle on your behalf, generating leads that will ultimately generate more income for you!  These are tasks that do not require a lot of high-end skill but, instead, require some time (hence the reason your Virtual Assistant should handle these tasks, not you!) and attention to detail.  Join me on the journey and I welcome your feedback!Day 21 - Socialize Yourself!Do you have a profile set up on Facebook?  LinkedIn?  MySpace?  Twitter?  If not, you'd best get hoppin'! Social networking is all the rage these days. And let's be honest - your target audience are buyers, sellers or both. Whatever profession they may be in - be it tra... 09/11/2014

30 Days of Marketing Opportunities - Day 20This series of 30 Days of Marketing Opportunities will give you 30 projects or tasks that your Virtual Assistant can handle on your behalf, generating leads that will ultimately generate more income for you!  These are tasks that do not require a lot of high-end skill but, instead, require some time (hence the reason your Virtual Assistant should handle these tasks, not you!) and attention to detail.  Join me on the journey and I welcome your feedback!Day 20 - Sponsor an Event for a Local Charity There are lots of charities out there - you may even already support one or more of them. As a result of all the health issues our twins have had, we have been longtime supporters of the Ronald McDonald House. One of my favorite new charities, however,... 09/10/2014

Family is Everything - Hanging Out With Family    That's my youngest sister, Haizle, and my one and only daughter, Sarai at one of many, many (many) family get-togethers. We have lots of cook-outs. We have lots of family dinners. We have lots of family "events." And we have lots and lots (and lots) of fun! One of the most important things that our family believes in, besides God, is hanging out together. Let's face it... Hanging out together keeps a family together. If you go long periods of time without being with your family, you get used to not being with your family. We can't have that. I don't know about other people's families but we can't have that.Family is everything - at least that's how our family feels about it. The more time you spend with family, the more family you feel. ... 09/10/2014

Marketing Your Business: Social Media 102 - ActiveRainAre you making the most of ActiveRain for your business? It's not just a blogging platform. It is so much more than that. It is social networking to the max for those in the real estate industry. There are so many ways you can use ActiveRain to promote, expand, and support your business.BloggingOf course, one of the primary ways to utilize your ActiveRain membership is through blogging. You can set up a blog in a matter of moments and post as regularly as you choose. Blogging is a fantastic way to put and keep your name out there. Through consistent blogging, you can notify your prospects, current clients, and past clients about what is going on in your geographic area. You can also use blogging to keep your contacts and sphere of in... 09/09/2014

30 Days of Marketing Opportunities - Day 19This series of 30 Days of Marketing Opportunities will give you 30 projects or tasks that your Virtual Assistant can handle on your behalf, generating leads that will ultimately generate more income for you!  These are tasks that do not require a lot of high-end skill but, instead, require some time (hence the reason your Virtual Assistant should handle these tasks, not you!) and attention to detail.  Join me on the journey and I welcome your feedback!Day 19 - Sponsor Contests Ever drop your business card in a bowl at a restaurant or store, and days later get a call saying you've won lunch for two or a $25 gift certificate to your favorite store? Some business person is sponsoring those raffles, so why can't you? What do you get from sponsoring... 09/08/2014