There’s a growing buzz about a new social networking site: Google+. Networking comes in all forms and social media can help build both your social and professional network. The unique feature about Google+ is that it allows you to group your “friends” into more natural circles of people. In the real world, people naturally place others into circles: family, work friends/acquaintances, sports friends/acquaintances, spiritual or religious friends/acquaintances and many more. Google+ allows you to create your own circles and share your news with just the circles you want to include. This great feature allows you to share your news with just the right people.

Right now Google+ is in a testing mode and is currently closed to new members. BUT you can create your Google profile TODAY. Google is finely tuning all the features so when full roll-out occurs, many of the bugs will have been removed.

There are a lot of other cool features in Google+: a place where you can hangout in real time live with your friends, live chat, or upload photos to The Cloud. If you are interested in learning more about Google+ and how to set up your Google profile so you are ready to join in when Google+ opens up, consider purchasing the latest book:

How to use Google+by Diana Sturm

This is available on Amazon Kindle and is viewable on all computers with Amazon’s free downloadable viewers.

You can purchase your copy here for just $4.95 and receive it instantly on your Kindle or computer:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005ESIF3C

A little over a month ago I was discussing advertising options with business consultant and friend, Calvin Bacon of Wisepreneur. My primary business is in the service industry as a trainer showing people how to use the Emotional Freedom Technique to heal their bodies. In addition to making people aware that my business even exists, I also have to educate them on WHAT the Emotional Freedom Technique is and what it can do for them. Since this is in the alternative health field, it can often be a tough sell because people have not heard of the technique before. Ideally, I want to drive people to my website so they can learn more and decide if my services are right for them.

Statistics say that people must see you or your advertisements at least 7-10 times before they decide to inquire about or purchase your product. This tells us that getting our business message in front of people is very important AND it is important that the message is repetitive. So what are some of the best ways a small business owner can do this?

Calvin and I were discussing this very question and coming up with a variety of answers. Calvin mentioned car magnets and thought that all service businesses should have them. Honestly, I balked. Thoughts of “how tacky” ran through my mind. I certainly don’t drive a fancy car, but I really didn’t want it being a driving billboard.  But then he pointed out the benefits: you only pay once for the magnets; the magnets are long lasting; you can design your own message; the magnets are inexpensive; you can change your message for a low cost; and you can remove the magnets any time you want to stop showing them.

It didn’t take me long to realize that car magnets were worth at least a try. After all, I was spending $100 a month to have a black and white advertisement in a local health magazine that only a certain segment of the population would see. Yet I drive all around town, so with car magnets more people would become aware of my business. The magnets are a one time cost and they should last at least a year before they look worn or I get tired of them. So I decided to check them out.

I headed over to my all time favorite small business marketing and promotions company: VistaPrint. I have used VistaPrint since at least 2004 and have been very happy with all of their products and their prices. They send out newsletters about once a week to entice clients to try new products at deeply discounted prices.

I zipped over to the car magnet category for a look-see. First, I had to decide on the size of car magnet I wanted - they have two sizes. Then I had to think about where these magnets would fit on my car. Not all cars have a lot of panel space for rectangular magnets. The small magnet is about the same size as a standard 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper so I grabbed a sheet and headed outside to my car. I have a Honda Element so the side panels were a no-brainer, the large magnets would fit easily on the sides. But what about the back? The back of a Honda Element doesn’t have much steel in the back panels, but playing with the paper I found that a small car magnet would fit nicely AND since my car sits up high, the magnet would be right at eye level for the cars behind me. People behind my car would HAVE to read the magnet when stopped for traffic.

I was starting to get excited about this idea, so I sat back at my computer and began playing with car magnet designs. VistaPrint makes this very easy by providing dozens of pre-made designs where you just slap in your company name, message/tagline, phone number, website and you are done. The hard part is picking the design. I chose 6 different designs and using screen capture, an art program and Word, created a Word document with all 6 designs. I then emailed the document to several people asking them for feedback on which design they liked best.

The feedback from everyone was very important. While several people picked the same design I favored, Calvin suggested different wording for my tagline which made it more gender neutral (apparently men don’t like discussing emotions).  So I made the changes and ordered two large magnets, one for each side, plus one small magnet for the rear of the car. I bought them on sale along with 2 sets of business cards. All tolled, delivered to my door, for 2 large magnets, 1 small magnet and 2 sets of business cards (250 cards each) I paid $58. Did I mention that included delivery to my door?

I received my package about a week later on a Saturday and was very pleased when I saw the finished product. The printing was stunning and clear. I washed my car right away and once it dried, I carefully positioned my new magnets. They looked pretty darn good. They even matched the coloring of my car (something I definitely did NOT consider when purchasing them). So were they going to work?

Keep in mind, my goal was to make people aware my company exists and drive them to my website. Guess what happened? Within the first 24 hours after I applied the magnets to my car, my website hits jumped 127%. I thought maybe it was a fluke, but as the weeks progressed, I noticed that I was getting hits from Android and Blackberry operating systems – cell phones. I had NEVER had those on my website before, so the car magnets were working. I ended the month with a 61% increase in website traffic over the previous month. The only promotional change I made was using the car magnets.

The other benefit to the car magnets is that people are now stopping me in parking lots and asking me about my business. The car magnets open the door to conversations I would never normally have with strangers. Have the magnets directly translated into hard sales? Not yet, but then I’ve only had the car magnets for about 30 days.  I expect as people see the car magnets more and more around town, they will feel more comfortable calling. Only time will tell!

Dr. Diana Sturm, Change Agent, is the founder of The Delta Institute, a healing ministry, and Networking 101. She is a member of the Mobile Chamber of Commerce and has achieved Diplomat of the Month in both 2009 and 2010 competing against about 60 other networkers extraordinaire. She is an ACN Independent Representative in Mobile, Alabama. ACN is a practical network marketing company providing everyday home and business services. For a look at ACN’s business opportunity and their products, visit Diana’s ACN website. For more information on Diana’s healing ministry, visit The Delta Institute. To reach her, call (251) 219-4574.

A few days ago, I shared with you a link from Katie Freiling where she shared tips on how to create a personal brand. Personal Branding is VERY important to building YOUR business either face-to-face or online. Katie’s released a few more videos and this is her last one. See all four FREE videos and learn the basics on creating YOUR brand.

Video 4 of the CASH IN ON YOU  Personal Branding Formula is here!

https://katiefreiling.infusionsoft.com/go/cashinonyou/Alexia/

Katie is going to give you a complete breakdown of the CASH IN ON YOU System… and how you can get step-by-step coaching to build your own 6-figure personal brand online around your passions and strengths!

If you’re an entrepreneur who is looking to create reliable, long-term wealth online, while doing what you love, and making a difference… being fulfilled from the inside out…

This is exactly what you need to get there.  And Katie’s approach is very unique… She’ll help you access your core power and potential from within… so that you become a master at manifesting the results you want in your business…

And then walk you, step-by-step through her proven process of developing your personal brand…From discovering your passions and choosing a niche… to developing your social list building and traffic system… to creating your own info products and services… to marketing and promoting them authentically and powerfully.

This TRULY is the inner and outer foundation you need for long-term success as an internet entrepreneur.

So again, here’s the link to check out the CASH IN ON YOU Personal Branding System:

https://katiefreiling.infusionsoft.com/go/cashinonyou/Alexia/

I’m so excited for you to see this video!

Enjoy!

Yours in True Success,

Diana Sturm

P.S.  Don’t procrastinate on this… Click the link below and watch the videos now… because they won’t be live for much longer!  You don’t want to miss out on this, trust me!

https://katiefreiling.infusionsoft.com/go/cashinonyou/Alexia/

See you over there!

Dr. Diana Sturm, Change Agent, is the founder of The Delta Institute, a healing ministry, and Networking 101. She is a member of the Mobile Chamber of Commerce and has achieved Diplomat of the Month in both 2009 and 2010 competing against about 60 other networkers extraordinaire. She is an ACN Independent Representative in Mobile, Alabama. ACN is an extraordinary network marketing company providing home and business services. For a look at ACN’s business opportunity and their products, visit Diana’s ACN website. For more information on Diana’s healing ministry, visit The Delta Institute. To reach her, call (251) 219-4574.

Face it. Everyone has days where they don’t want to go to work or even see another human being. There is just an emptiness inside that wants to be filled up with something positive. What do you do?

On those days when you are not even remotely motivated to do anything, stop for a few minutes and think about what does motivate you.  Does music lift your spirits? Reading a certain book or listening to a certain person? Taking out your easel and paint set? Playing the guitar? Hugging your spouse and children? If there is an activity which can bring your focus back to feeling good (because it is often when we lose focus that we feel this emptiness), then do that activity for a set period of time.

While you are doing the activity, tell yourself over and over: “This feels great, I love doing this.” What you will notice is that your spirits will begin to lift up within a few minutes. Now what if you start thinking of those activities you really don’t like to do? What if you just changed some of the self-talk from negative to positive? If you don’t like your job, think about one person there who makes the day a bit brighter and think of it as going to see that person. Tell yourself, “This isn’t so bad. There are a lot worse jobs than this. I guess I can appreciate this job.”  While this may not resolve the crazy boss or complete boredom you feel, it will help you get through the day feeling a little brighter while you look for other work.

It is up to YOU to motivate yourself. Look inside first and ask yourself what holds meaning to you. It might be that you feel good by making other people smile. Then smile and greet everyone you see – yes, even the strangers in the hallway. For many people in this world, a kind smile and a hello is all they will hear in a day. As you focus on your the activity which holds meaning to you, you will find your own spirits are lifted up.

The next time you are down in the dumps, stop your pity party immediately and begin to think about what motivates you. Set your goal for today on doing at least one of the activities which puts inspiration into your life. You don’t have a motivating activity? Then try them all and FIND ONE! Just don’t sit back and wallow. Take action and do it!

Dr. Diana Sturm, Change Agent, is the founder of The Delta Institute, a healing ministry, and Networking 101. She is a member of the Mobile Chamber of Commerce and has achieved Diplomat of the Month in both 2009 and 2010 competing against about 60 other networkers extraordinaire. She is an ACN Independent Representative in Mobile, Alabama. ACN is a practical network marketing company providing everyday home and business services. For a look at ACN’s business opportunity and their products, visit Diana’s ACN website. For more information on Diana’s healing ministry, visit The Delta Institute. To reach her, call (251) 219-4574.

Do you have a personal brand? If so what is it? Personal Branding has become the latest buzzword online. But what does it really entail?

Personal branding is all about developing YOURSELF as the primary product. You may have the greatest widget in the world, but your customers will buy from YOU. They look at your personal branding to decide if they can trust you and feel confident about purchasing your widget.

Is personal branding needed for everyone? Not necessarily. If you own a Coca-cola distributorship, you have purchased a well recognized brand which already has its own image and world message. But if you provide a service or you have created a brand new product, you probably need personal branding.

Personal branding really starts with looking inside yourself, clearing out the cobwebs, and defining who you really are and what you want to present to the world. Here’s a hint: if you always present your true authentic self, then you will never experience regret or remorse. It’s when we are not authentic with ourselves that we start to get the uneasy feeling in the pit of our stomachs.

As many of you know, my primary business, The Delta Institute, is about empowering people to move forward in their lives. That process always starts with letting go of the baggage the person is carrying. There are many ways to release the baggage and I am always striving to develop myself – to grow and learn more.

Today I ran into another woman with the same mission – helping people to move forward with their lives by helping people develop their personal branding. Her name is Katie Freiling. Katie is a specialist in the field of personal branding and has achieved income levels that many people aspire to reach. The cool thing is that she is offering a free peek inside of her personal branding course. The free peek is called Cash In On YOU and focuses on helping you brand yourself, whether you are a network marketer, provide a service or have a product.

Take a few minutes out of your day today and visit Cash In On You. You’ll be glad you did!

Dr. Diana Sturm, Change Agent, is the founder of The Delta Institute, a healing ministry, and Networking 101. She is a member of the Mobile Chamber of Commerce and has achieved Diplomat of the Month in both 2009 and 2010 competing against about 60 other networkers extraordinaire. She is an ACN Independent Representative in Mobile, Alabama. ACN is an extraordinary network marketing company providing home and business services. For a look at ACN’s business opportunity and their products, visit Diana’s ACN website. For more information on Diana’s healing ministry, visit The Delta Institute. To reach her, call (251) 219-4574.

I love to share and promote others who have great products. Fabienne Fredrickson is a great business coach who helps women (and some men) build their businesses. For the next few days, Fabienne is giving away for FREE several videos on building your business.

Click here for the first video.

Why is this important to networking? Networking is about building YOUR business. Learn more about building a better business and you will become a better networker.

Fabienne shares about the first step: identifying your target market. When you network do you seek to meet people in your target market or do you just meet whomever presents themselves? Obviously, if you have the opportunity, you should seek out those in your target market first at any networking event. This works wonderfully well if you are marketing to a particular gender.

But what if you are not marketing to a particular gender? In this case when you introduce yourself, you want to include information on who your target market is. Let’s say you market pizzas. You might think everyone likes pizzas, but that isn’t true. Many people today stay away from carbs, wheat or many other ingredients in pizzas. Never assume a person will like pizza but when you meet someone you may say something like this:

“Hi, my name is Joe. I’m with Marvelous Pizzas. We make handcrafted pizzas for the gourmet pizza lover. Do you know of anyone who loves pizza? We are running a great promotion this month.”

There is no assumption that the listener likes pizza. You are telling the person who your target market is, what you make and that you have a special offer for them. After making your statement, stop and listen. The person will either be interested or may know someone who is interested in your product. Offer the person your business card.

Enjoy Fabienne’s video: click here to view it.

Dr. Diana Sturm, Change Agent, is the founder of The Delta Institute, a healing ministry, and Networking 101. She is a member of the Mobile Chamber of Commerce and has achieved Diplomat of the Month in both 2009 and 2010 competing against about 60 other networkers extraordinaire. She is an ACN Independent Representative in Mobile, Alabama. ACN is an extraordinary network marketing company providing home and business services. For a look at ACN’s business opportunity and their products, visit Diana’s ACN website. For more information on Diana’s healing ministry, visit The Delta Institute. To reach her, call (251) 219-4574.

Many of you might have your own mailing lists to promote your products. We start with our immediate friends and business associates but then to grow our business we know we need to grow our list beyond our immediate circle of influence.

Beginning next week, March 15th is a FREE telesummit on building your mailing lists to reach more people. Each week for 4 weeks you will hear four featured speakers sharing their tips on how to build your mailing list.

Sign up here:  http://www.listbuildingsummit.com/friend

Many people enter multi-level marketing because of the tremendous earnings potential. They are excited about someday earning the 5 figure checks when they reach the top of the ladder. For each legitimate MLM out there, the key to reaching those heights is first in selling products and second in recruiting other people as part of your team.

When choosing your MLM company, how carefully did you look at the products the company offers? What level of quality are they? Are they competitive in the marketplace? Who is your target market for your products? These are all basic marketing questions you need to answer in order to know how to present your products to your friends, family and other customers.  You need to have TOTAL CONFIDENCE in the products you are selling. You need to be excited about them. You need to know that the company behind them, backs them up 100%. Why do you need these things?

Have you ever met someone who was in an MLM who apologized about the cost of their products. “Well, they are good, but they do cost $xxx per month. I know that is a lot of money for most people….” The problem is that YOU don’t know how your customer spends their money. So by putting the thought in their mind that the product is too expensive for them, they will take your word for it and believe you. It will be too expensive for them. This salesperson doesn’t have the right mental attitude or confidence in his own products. He apologizes for them.

As an ACN Independent Representative, I LOVE using the ACN video phone. It is FUN to use and I use it in my business, The Delta Institute. I can see my clients face to face even though they are hundreds or thousands of miles away. The connection is clear and consistent unlike Skype which often is fuzzy and drops out. My sessions using the video phone are much more productive than a regular telephone session. I just can’t imagine why everyone doesn’t have a video phone! Especially since its competitive with the cost of a regular telephone.

This is the type of everyday use YOU need to do with your own MLM products. Use the products daily and tell everyone about them.  Get excited about what you do! Your natural interest will peak the interest of those around you and they will be excited to join you in the business.

Dr. Diana Sturm, Change Agent, is the founder of The Delta Institute and Networking 101. She is a member of the Mobile Chamber of Commerce and has achieved Diplomat of the Month in both 2009 and 2010 competing against about 60 other networkers extraordinaire. She is an ACN Independent Representative in Mobile, Alabama. ACN is an extraordinary network marketing company providing home and business services. For a look at ACN’s business opportunity and their products, visit Diana’s ACN website. For more information on EFT, visit The Delta Institute. To reach her, call (251) 219-4574.

A great way to meet new people is to attend open networking events created by your local Chamber of Commerce or other civic organizations. These might be free for members with a small charge for non-members. Each event will take place at a different venue thereby drawing in different people each time.

Last night I attended an event held at our local baseball stadium. Participants got to sample the new menu the stadium was going to offer that season as well as stay for a practice game held after the event.

The question is: stand or sit?? At this event, participants got a choice: they could stand around and talk or they could sit at large round tables, each having a place for eight people.  Where should you go?

When food is being served and you want to enjoy eating it, definitely sit down to eat. This way you will avoid getting food all over your clothes or in a worse case situation, also spill your drink on your clothes.  If there are other people at the table, share your business with them and trade business cards.  Often eating with someone creates a more relaxed casual atmosphere and conversation is much easier. If no one else is sitting at the table, eat your food and then get back up to network. Don’t let the presence of the table become an excuse for not meeting people.

In this particular situation, there were different food stations positioned at the different corners of the room. This allowed people to move to different areas. This also gives you an opportunity (and a reason) to cover the entire room. As with other networking events, your goal is to meet 3-5 new people and have an actual conversation with them about their business and about your business.

Dr. Diana Sturm, Change Agent, is the founder of The Delta Institute and Networking 101. She is a member of the Mobile Chamber of Commerce and has achieved Diplomat of the Month in both 2009 and 2010 competing against about 60 other networkers extraordinaire. She is an ACN Independent Representative in Mobile, Alabama. ACN is an extraordinary network marketing company providing home and business services. For a look at their products, visit Diana’s ACN website. For more information on EFT, visit The Delta Institute. To reach her, call (251) 219-4574.

Here is a great re-post from Fabienne Fredrickson:

There are a few different types of professional networking events, one of them being the “free-for-all.” That’s the kind of networking where you’re basically thrust into a roomful of people who seemingly know each other and are supposed to introduce yourself. Ouch! That’s not always easy, even if you feel like a born networker.

A tactic I use when I’m feeling really overwhelmed by a roomful of people I don’t know is that I pretend it’s my own party. That’s right, as if I’m the one who organized the shin-dig in the first place.

If you know me personally, you already know that I’m a pretty social person and I LOVE to entertain. That being said, I’ve thrown hundreds of parties since my early twenties and I’ve had many occasions to feel what it feels like to be a host.

A host:
1.  is in control of the situation
2.  is confident
3.  knows most everybody
4.  has the right to ask if they don’t know you

In throwing cocktail parties and barbecues over the years, I’ve experienced more than a few times someone in my kitchen or living room that I didn’t know, usually a guest of one of my guests. I usually feel really comfortable going up to that person and saying, “Hi, I’m Fabienne. We haven’t met yet. What’s your name? Who did you come with tonight?” with a smile. I used to call this my ‘Ultimate Icebreaker,’ especially when I was single.

Taking that as a cue, when I get slightly shy in a large overwhelming networking situation, I shift my way of thinking about the event and pretend it’s my OWN party. Then I do the same thing, using my ‘Ultimate Icebreaker.’ It always works and I’m never nervous once I get started!

The best part of it is, sometimes, the person I walked up to and started the conversation with often DOES feel like it’s my party, or at least that I’m really confident. I guess that’s not a bad thing for attracting clients.

Your Assignment:

Pretend it’s YOUR party and that will somehow make it much more OK for you to approach strangers at a networking group. Then, use my Ultimate Icebreaker: “Hi, I’m so-and-so. We haven’t met yet. What’s your name? Who did you come with tonight?” with a smile.

If you’re not sure where to start with networking to get clients in the first place, check out The Secrets of Master Networkers Manual™. Step by step, I take you through everything you need to do to get clients from networking, and pull clients and referrals in easily and consistently. Get it today at www.secretsofnetworkers.com.

© 2011 Client Attraction LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Fabienne Fredrickson, The Client Attraction Mentor, is founder of the Client Attraction System , the proven step-by-step program that shows you exactly how to attract more clients, in record time…guaranteed. To get your F.R.E.E. Audio CD by mail and receive her weekly marketing & success mindset articles on attracting more high-paying clients and dramatically increasing your in.come, visit www.clientattraction.com.