What Waiting In The Wrong Line at CVS Taught Me About Online Customer Service

January 19, 2010
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Find a Ning Network

January 13, 2010

Ning is a super cool free tool that allows anyone to create their own social network. That means you can create a private or public facebook-like site with user profiles, blogs, forums and more.

If you’re thinking about creating your own site – stop right there buddy!  Why start your own site when you can just leverage someone else’s?

I want you to join at least one Ning site where your prospects are talking. They might be there discussing exactly what they buy from you (for example, you sell surfboards and search for a Ning site about surfboards) or you might need to be a little more abstract. For example, someone who sells to bookkeepers could search for a Ning site about quickbooks, a tool that bookkeepers often use.

There are two ways to find Ning sites. Ning does have  discovery tool on its homepage but let’s be honest people – it sucks. Go to http://www.ning.com/ and click on the circles to see what I mean.

A better way to find Ning sites is our old friend google. Simply go to google and add the word ning to your search term. So in the examples above I would type “ning surfboard” and “ning quickbooks” into google. When you’re scanning the search results just look for sites with ning in the URL (which is pretty easy as it will be bolded in your search results).

Once you find a targeted site, dive in a start talking! Comment on a blog, post on the forums, have some fun and see what happens.


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How To Find Facebook Groups

January 11, 2010

Facebook groups (which are different from pages or profiles) are a great way to find like-minded folks in the messy maze of facebook. You can find a group that shares your profession, a group with a common interest, or connect with a group of potential clients.

To find facebook groups, put your search term in the general search box in the top of facebook, then click the “magnifying glass” icon next to the search term you typed in to get the full search interface. Next, click on “groups” in the left hand sidebar.

Once you find a group you’d like to join click the “Join Group” text link on the right side of the page. (Or, once you’ve clicked into the group look for the “Join” button at the top of the page.)

Your assignment is to join 3 groups. But you can’t just leave it at that! After you’ve joined the group you need to interact in some way by starting a new conversation in the discussion forum, posting on the wall, or adding your two cents to an existing discussion.

This contribution should not be an advertisement for your business, the goal here is to discover new contacts and build relationships. So while it’s fine to reference your business, a straight-up pitch or advertisement is generally not welcomed. Instead, ease in by making relationships and then letting everyone know about your business when a good match comes up. (For example, when someone asks a question that your business provides a solution to.)

Who knows who you’ll meet!


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How To Retweet (The Original Way and Using The Retweet Button)

January 8, 2010

There are two ways to send a retweet on twitter – one that allows you to add a comment to your retweet and one that doesn’t. If you want to know how to add a comment to your twitter retweet (the “old way” to retweet), watch this video:

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The True Story of How My Worst Fear Came True

January 7, 2010
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Mentioned in this video: Christine Kane (Go to her site NOW!)

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