tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14558867276924098012011-11-27T15:24:55.841-08:00A place for small business owners to find and share information to help them simplify and enjoy managing their companies.Beth Schechernoreply@blogger.comBlogger181100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1455886727692409801.post-85337567273792602542010-04-28T11:24:00.000-07:002010-04-28T11:24:41.971-07:00

By now, many of you have probably noticed changes (yet again) with Facebook.  The social media community is still in the process of evaluating the impacts of the 'Like' button to individuals and businesses.  One thing that stands out for me is that Facebook is helping us to share our interests in a bold and bigger way.  I am not sure that I am comfortable with that right now.  Maybe after

Beth Schechernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1455886727692409801.post-41101252737822709402010-04-12T09:54:00.000-07:002010-04-12T09:54:13.951-07:00

When I first started focusing my consulting business on Social Media and the internet, I remember espousing to my sister how I could "take it where ever I go."  I was looking forward to moving closer to her and it made her feel better that I would not have to start my business all over again once I was near her. Well, my sister is now gone but I am still going to move closer to where she

Beth Schechernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1455886727692409801.post-61946236719229160822010-03-25T12:49:00.000-07:002010-03-29T10:25:13.168-07:00

Regardless of whether or not you use Facebook to promote your business, there is an enormous amount of valuable information just waiting to be harvested by you.  I suggest setting up your User (personal) Account to enable you to have this information sent to you as soon as it is published. First, of course, you need to have a personal account.  If you are afraid of your privacy being

Beth Schechernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1455886727692409801.post-27133046762436871372010-03-17T15:05:00.000-07:002010-03-17T15:05:29.320-07:00

Do I need a personal Facebook profile in order to set up a Fan Page for my business? The short answer to this question is "No".  You do not need to have a personal profile in order to have a business Fan Page or to run ads.  A better questions is, "Is it a good idea to manage Fan Pages from my personal account or just set up a business account?" I have copied the following from the Facebook

Beth Schechernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1455886727692409801.post-19813316992405771872010-02-25T12:54:00.000-08:002010-02-25T12:54:39.153-08:00

I started writing this post wanting to talk about the balance of automated control of your social media messaging and that of using your own personal voice.  Then I realized that there are so many "it depends" to this, that I found myself going back to basics (once again).  Just a checkpoint to make sure that there is clarity around your small business. Stepping into the world of Social Media

Beth Schechernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1455886727692409801.post-48788820263755983222010-02-17T10:01:00.000-08:002010-02-17T10:01:25.048-08:00

I have had an opportunity this week to look at various businesses, to go beyond the product that they sell and consider the feeling that is being sold.  By this, I mean that when we purchase something we come away with something much deeper than the product or service. My friend in the jewelry business says she sells a feeling of being beautiful and deserving.  If it were just the beauty of the

Beth Schechernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1455886727692409801.post-2940770009067195482010-02-09T11:23:00.000-08:002010-02-16T08:56:21.008-08:00

Have you ever gotten on to a Social Media site and been overwhelmed by the options, questions, invitations, and glut of information that pops up on the screen?  Yup, me too!  In my case, I find it a challenge to figure out how to get control over this, or to use it to my benefit.  Many people though, get paralyzed by it and find that they never go back to the site again. Today I would like to

Beth Schechernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1455886727692409801.post-50152274734669050492010-02-03T14:03:00.000-08:002010-02-03T14:03:37.730-08:00

I just spend about 45 minutes working on Twitter.  Now, I admit that I have been slacking off for about a week and it was catch up time.  It did make me get serious with Twitter and thinking about why I would want to follow someone and what I want Twitter to do for me. When I first signed up for Twitter, I decided to look for and follow people that I thought could give me information that would

Beth Schechernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1455886727692409801.post-22766987184610990382010-01-27T05:52:00.000-08:002010-01-27T05:52:50.880-08:00

Video!  What a great medium to express who you are, what you are about, and what you do.  All of the pros say that it is so simple and you don't have to be an expert or hire a video company to get yourself out there on the internet with some video messages.  I do believe this, but I also can say that there is a learning curve, just like with any other new platform that we attempt. Yes, it is

Beth Schechernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1455886727692409801.post-21017598076625399472010-01-19T12:18:00.000-08:002010-01-19T12:18:52.112-08:00

There is so much to do in order to run a small business that it seems we never have time to get ourselves organized.  We keep thinking about that list we want to write which is entitled "Steps to get myself organized so that I can work efficiently".  We never get to writing the list, because we have too much to do to even think about it.  Forget about actually 'doing' the list.I have found myself

Beth Schechernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1455886727692409801.post-500462173060197062009-12-26T13:33:00.000-08:002009-12-26T13:33:34.829-08:00

If you are like most people, you have gotten an online presence because someone has invited you to join a network, and you quickly signed up.  Sometimes you go back and spruce it up a bit, but still, not really having a clear focus on what the objective is.  Now may be the time to stop and think about how you want others to see you on the web. Ideally, we start out with the end in mind.  What is

Beth Schechernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1455886727692409801.post-74647855169540170822009-11-14T16:39:00.000-08:002009-11-14T16:39:20.196-08:00

Many small business owners are confused as to why they would want to have a presence on LinkedIn.  If their business is not a B2B (Business to Business), they don't see the relevance of LinkedIn for them.  Although they may not be reaching out to their customers directly on LinkedIn, it certainly gives them an opportunity to become known in business circles and to be referred. Once again, let's

Beth Schechernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1455886727692409801.post-32398827205576483352009-10-20T16:39:00.000-07:002009-10-20T16:39:01.948-07:00

When entering into the world of Social Media Marketing for your business, some of the guidelines will be a bit different than you have seen in the past.  Targeting customers and relating to them may take on some new perspectives.  One of the first things you want to do is to define your target audience.    Remember that in Social Media, there is a huge pool of customers to choose from.  Part of

Beth Schechernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1455886727692409801.post-34687127536991532882009-09-26T08:33:00.000-07:002009-09-26T08:33:19.297-07:00

This week I was brought back to remembering why I am a believer in Social Media.  It comes down to one simple statement:  "People like to do business with people that that know." Think about it.  If you have a neighbor who is a plumber, would you rather have them come work on your kitchen sink, or would you get out the Yellow Pages (or do a Google search) and pick the guy with the best looking

Beth Schechernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1455886727692409801.post-7542024885743830102009-09-21T14:27:00.001-07:002009-09-21T14:27:58.483-07:00

Have you ever gone to a website for information only to find that they are still listing last year's special event for Winter?  I don't know about you, but when I see this, I tend to click out and look elsewhere.  Part of the purpose of having the internet is so that we can list changes in real-time.  So, if you have a website, know that it is a powerful tool, but it does take care and feeding.

Beth Schechernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1455886727692409801.post-88155930748644193392009-09-14T09:38:00.000-07:002009-09-14T09:39:44.865-07:00

Several months ago when I was working on 're-inventing' myself, I became fascinated by the differences in the generations that are now in the workforce.  I spent a lot of time reading about changes in our expectations of the world and how to relate to those that are of a different generation than our own.  (A great book is by Don Tapscott, Grown Up Digital.  Also www.grownupdigital.com)  One of

Beth Schechernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1455886727692409801.post-48766027314978993962009-09-05T15:12:00.000-07:002009-09-05T15:12:00.320-07:00

If you think about it, when the Baby Boomers where growing up, they were all about change.  In the 60's and 70's there were protests for change, radical new fashions, and a huge jump in our education system that emphasized science and math. We changed from black and white TV's, to color, to VCR's to DVD's.  As Boomers, we think that we invented change and, in our typical fashion, that we would

Beth Schechernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1455886727692409801.post-14751038351125277992009-08-29T17:04:00.000-07:002009-08-29T17:04:39.797-07:00

Finally!  My Small Business Support Blog is up and running.   Not sure what took me so long to get around to it, except fear of the unknown.  Once I decided that a Blog is important, setting it up was truly not difficult at all. I want to tell you a little bit about our name, Living Small Business Out Loud.  This Blog is for Small Business Owners.  If you have ever run a small business, you know

Beth Schechernoreply@blogger.com0