And then on to your marketing plan which today really needs to include social media in some way, shape, or form.  And all of it is what I’m going to start calling “Business Design”.  I’ve been designing and building websites for entrepreneurs and small businesses for quite a few years and what I’m learning and starting to teach others about social media is putting an entirely new spin on my business.

I’ve partnered with two other men to really build this up to a level where we can help people with a range of services.  We’re developing a blue print that will help us guide new clients from bare-bones, I’ve got nothing prepared, to an up and running site with a WordPress blog, a Twitter account, a Facebook page, and a well thought-out game plan for implementing it all.  And that’s not it entirely, but that’s the core, and we’re getting interest in quite a few arenas so it’s gratifying to see that what we’re building is resonating with others.

So, back to our equation again – Social Media = Business Design.  Social Media is a tiger with a long tail.  The implications and importance of learning how to tame that beast and make it work for you can’t be over-stated.  If you’re just beginning to build a business, roll your sleeves up and dig in with both hands.  Craft your business around a well conceived Social Media plan and stick with it – don’t give up.  Design your business with Social Media.

If you’ve been in business for a while and are ready to take it to the next level, roll your sleeves up and dig in with both hands.  Weave it into your existing marketing plans to supplement and strengthen what you’ve already got in place.  Design your business with Social Media.  And for you especially, keep metrics.  Test against your numbers from the traditional media efforts and see how things stack up.  It’s my guess that once you settle into a good Social Media flow, you’ll start to see things happening quicker.

Most of all – for either group, newbies and wizened business pros – engage, start dialogues, and build trust.  This is the new key to long lasting success.

See you soon,

Jeff

Chris, founder of New Marketing Labs gives ten rules to live by in the world of Social Media and how listening should be your tool of choice in building a community around your brand.  I highly advise you listen to this thoughtful and powerful lesson and begin implementing the ideas and strategies immediately.

Best,

Jeff

Before I really started experimenting I’d had an account there for maybe 6 months and had a whopping total of 140 or so followers.  In three days of making valuable posts, engaging with others, retweeting cool stuff, and really paying attention, I’ve more than doubled that and right this minute stand at 320 – including Guy Kawasaki – which blows me away.

I got a call from a recruiter who found me on Monster and spent over an hour with him, going through his process.  But what happened in that hour brought back memories of things I’ve done and loved.  Of places I’ve been and felt completely at home.  Of people I’ve had the privilege of working with and learning from.

So who am I?  I’m a designer who loves creating things that mean something to people.  I’m a writer who loves to give readers something to think about and a new way to look at life, love, and relationships.  I’m a teacher who gets such a rush out of showing people a new way to do something that in some way makes things better for them.  And I’m a dad who so, so, so loves his two boys and all the crazy, wonderful things they bring to life.

I don’t think I could live without being all those different Jeffs and doing all that, all the time.  I’ve traveled and worked in many different countries and become a different person with each new encounter I’ve made around the world.  I hope I can bring all that to you, in whatever way you want it because I’d like to be able to make a difference.

And finally, I hope that you’ll come back and see how all this continues to grow.  I’ll be putting on my designer hat and creating videos that will teach design students and maybe even junior designers a technique for creating garment detail sheets for factories.  I’m toying with the idea – based on a podcast I listened to lately – of creating audios, 1 chapter at a time, from a novel I wrote.  And who knows what else I’ll come up with.  I plan on having fun being who I am and sharing it with the world.

That’s who I am.

See ya around,

Jeff

Between yesterday morning at this time and this morning, I got almost 30 new Twitter followers.  I’ve been getting in the range of 1-5 per day for a while, but that was fantastic.  My goal now is to teach my clients how to do the same and better.

More on this later.  Gotta run out for an appointment.

Jeff

http://bit.ly/UcBF5 http://bit.ly/eQUOc

The list gives twitter names for 60 strategist who Tom rates as the top to follow and learn from.  I’ve already got some on my list already but I’m adding more tonight.

Thanks for the great list, Tom.

Jeff

One of the keys to an effective Social Media strategy is this:  FREE.  Yes, you heard that right, free.  You have to start giving away viable, usable, worthwhile, practical, realistic advice.  You have to find the gems embedded in your business and start packaging it for the world to consume.

• What do you have that could help someone right now with a problem they face?
• What is it about your business, that if someone could tap into right now, would cause them to become a fan of yours and want to come back to you again?
• What can you do for someone, right now, that will make them come back to you and pay you to do something bigger for them?

Start thinking about this and write some ideas down.

And check back in here, or subscribe to the feed with the RSS button in the top right hand corner of this page for more on this and learn what it takes to become not only visible, but noteworthy on the web, and in your communities.

Best,

Jeff