As we get ready to dive into 2010, we’re making our resolutions, identifying our goals and getting ready to make the year a great one. One common resolution small business owners make is to find a way to spend more quality time with their family. This is a big challenge, especially for those of us who work from home and constantly fight the work/life balance issue.

But there is a way to merge the two facets of your life — family and work — to create a harmonious solution. Depending on their age, your children may have some understanding about what you do, at least from an observer’s perspective. By opening the door to them and giving them an opportunity to get involved in your work, you are sharing an important part of your life and letting them see a whole new side of you.

Here are some of the biggest reasons to let your kids have a hand in your work:

• It lets them see how you work.
• It teaches them responsibility.
• It lets them experience the pride that comes with completing a project.
• It gives them an opportunity to learn about business.
• It helps them appreciate what you do every day.
• It allows them to spend some quality time with you.

A toddler can…

• Put paper in the recycling container
• Carry files to your desk
• Help you open and close file cabinet drawers
• Stack books in piles

A school-age child can…

• Fill your pencil holder with new pens and pencils
• Alphabetize your files
• Collate and staple reports
• Stamp letters and seal envelopes
• Count pages and inserts

A teenager can…

• Shred documents
• Type letters and memos
• Mail packages
• Enter data in a spreadsheet
• Purchase supplies
• Complete online research
• Scan photos and documents

• Paying them for their time
• Letting them pick what they would like to do in the office
• Creating “work hours” especially for them, once or twice a week
• Telling them what a great job they are doing

You can even set up an area in your office where they can do their own homework while you work. And don’t forget to turn off the business mentality and remember it’s not about getting as much done as possible; it’s about learning more about your kids and sharing a special time…just between you and them.

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For the past year, we have seen the Twitter phenomenon sweep the world in quite an impressive way. In just a very short time, this social networking site that also doubles as a micro-blog has become one of the most popular sites on the Internet. One of the reasons for Twitter’s appeal is its simple and straightforward approach. For starters, account registration is free completely hassle-free. Once you are registered, you can start searching for other Twitter users to follow and invite them to follow you as well.

Most people who use Twitter do so in order to keep in touch with friends and family. They send updates, called tweets, to let people know what they are up to, as well as receive tweets from users they have chosen to follow. However, many people are also using Twitter for more than personal purposes. For business owners, Twitter has become an essential tool for promoting their products and services online.

Although the basic processes of sending tweets and following users are the same, there are a few things you have to do differently if you are planning to use your Twitter account for business purposes. For one thing, you want to be visible to a wider group of followers and not be restricted to people you already know personally. A great way to do this is with the use of @replies.

An @reply simply means affixing the “@” sign before a user’s name and inserting that before your reply. In order to make the most of @replies on Twitter, you have to use Twitter’s search feature regularly. Find tweets related to products or services you are offering and respond to users who posted related tweets by using @replies.

For example, let’s say you are running a party-planning business. Search for tweets of people posting questions on how to prepare for upcoming birthdays or special events. You can respond to a user who posted by sending her an @reply containing a link to your business website or blog. Your response can be something along the lines of, “@busymom for birthday or party planning tips and professional advice, check out <your url here>” Since the user asked a question, you will essentially be just answering her and your post won’t be considered as unsolicited advice.

This is why @replies are very useful. Instead of simply advertising your products or services to strangers out of the blue, which a lot of people don’t really appreciate, you will actually be providing them a solution to a problem they do have. With the @replies, you will also be addressing the user who posted the question directly, making it less of an advertisement and more of a helpful gesture.Another advantage of using @replies is you don’t necessarily have to be someone’s follower in order to send her @replies. On the contrary, you can even use these @replies to further expand your contact list on Twitter. The more @replies you post, the more people will be able to see you. If they find your @replies or tweets to be quite interesting or relevant to their issues, they may even choose to follow you on Twitter.

Since Twitter is a rapidly growing website with more than two million users, the opportunities of reaching potential clients is limitless. If you use the features of the site properly, you can expand your business tremendously in no time at all.

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Just a little opinion (and rambling) post from me today…

Resources:
Flip Video Camera: http://www.theflip.com
Jamie’s Blog: http://www.blogjamieblog.com
Zoobuh Kids Email: http://www.zoobuh.com

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Using an eZine (Electronic Newsletter) as a part of your overall Internet Marketing plan can be a powerful way to achieve your marketing goals. Less experienced marketers commit a number of common mistakes that may cause your targeted list to opt-out.  Here are several common mistakes to avoid in your eZine campaign.

1) Sending Out Promotions Rather than News

All Internet marketing, including your eZine, should focus on building long-lasting relationships with your subscribers over time. If your eZine message is consistently aimed at prompting an immediate sale, you’ll find a steady stream of subscribers opting out.

To build a loyal following, design your eZine campaign to provide content and resources that will help spark interest in your product or service by subtly providing them with topics that show the benefits of your offerings.  For example, if you’re a business coach, sharing information that your target market could benefit from, will quickly show them you are an expert in this field. This will eventually lead to a positive action on their part, i.e. contacting you for professional business coaching.

2) Not Focusing on Subscribers

When organizing your eZine campaign, provide relevant and up-to-date content written in a way that speaks to your subscriber’s needs, never on your business offerings. People don’t care much about what your business can do for them, but what they can gain by building a relationship with you, that may ultimately lead to working together.  Using our coaching example above, sending valuable resources and information about challenges your ideal client may face would be better than just an announcement about your next program. By providing relevant content in a timely manner, subscribers are more likely to be loyal to your eZine campaign.

3) Making it Difficult to Opt Out

Your eZine success is not driven by the number of subscribers on your list.  The quality, not the quantity of your subscribers is far more important.  Making it difficult for people to unsubscribe can potentially lead to disaster.  Beyond annoying and alienating potential prospects, it will be more difficult to track your eZine results.  Allowing people to easily unsubscribe keeps your reputation intact and allows you to achieve optimum response rates.

It is perfectly understandable for you to want to make the most out of your eZine campaign as quickly as possible, but don’t let that allow you to defeat its entire purpose. Realize that it takes some time for eZine marketing to produce optimum results by making sure it’s implemented correctly. To keep you focused on the desired result, avoid these mistakes that eZine marketers often commit when running their Internet campaign.

Jeannine Clontz, IVAA CVA, MVA, EthicsChecked™, owner of Accurate Business Services is a Virtual Assistant (VA).  ABS provides ‘as needed’ marketing and social media support, training and consulting to busy entrepreneurs.  Clontz is a writer, author, VA Coach, and speaker on business topics including business ethics. For her free 10-Step Guide to Finding the Right VA, or her FREE Report, Social Media Marketing Benefits, send a request to:  service@accbizsvcs.com or visit:  http://www.accbizsvcs.com, www.VAbizcoach.com or her book website http://www.entrepreneurialfreedom.com

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There is no doubt that social media is one of the most effective marketing channels around, especially for powerful word of mouth feedback and viral content. From airlines to eateries, thousands of businesses around the world are embracing social media content to further their influence, expand their business, and increase their online marketing power.

However, with the good comes the bad, and there are certainly businesses that are embracing the wrong kind of social media promotion. Marketing is a field that is talked about by many, yet understood by relatively few, and the many recent failed social media marketing campaigns are evidence to the rules that you have to follow when marketing online.

These are the five biggest mistakes businesses make when they market online. From spam tactics to destructive marketing messages, everything that could hurt your online marketing image is covered. Get your marketing plan out, take notes, and eliminate any of the following from your marketing efforts:

1. Don’t just link to your company blog on Twitter.

Twitter users hate just being fed linked content. While it is easy to write off the entire medium as a backlink platform, doing so leaves an incredibly powerful marketing resource completely untapped. Invest some time in developing a real strategy for every social media platform that you use, and don’t just half-use something for backlinks and channel funneling. A much better strategy is to combine different social media platforms to create a tailored, powerful message.

2. Facebook groups are great for cult businesses, bad for ultra-small.

Why? Because the entire nature of a group gets destroyed when there are only a couple of people participating in the discussion. If you are a cult brand that attracts a lot of passion from your customers, users, or clients, a Facebook group is a great idea. Otherwise, it is best to keep your conversation in channels that you can easily attach yourself to. Small businesses benefit highly from blogs and micro-publishing, so a Twitter or blogging presence is much more valuable, as is a Facebook Fan Page.

3. Don’t drop everything to take on social media.

There are other marketing channels out there, and they are often much more effective than social media. For some, social media is their marketing calling card, but that does not mean that is has to be the same for you. Some brands translate better than others across different marketing platforms and formats. While one brand may succeed in a social media world, another might fall flat.

4. Don’t always listen to your social media feedback.

Feedback needs to be approached as a whole unit, not as disjointed units of variable value. When you use social media to spread your word, it’s easy to fall for the fallacy of valuing it higher than it really is. Feedback is valuable no matter what the form, and treating social media feedback as more valuable than a mailed letter is a broken strategy.

5. Don’t spam.

There are laws against email spam. There are laws against mailing spam. At this point, there are no laws about spamming your followers on Twitter. Don’t do it. As much as it can boost your short-term returns, spamming is quite possibly the worst long-term strategy imaginable. Focus on real connections, not the false connections that spamming creates.

Now here are some words to live by in your social media marketing campaigns. Write them down on a sticky, post them next to your computer, and refer to them often….

Lighten up, Share, Encourage, Embrace, Inspire, Converse, Listen, Ask, Answer, Be Real, and HAVE FUN!

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