Why it is not good to go cheap on your website for your business.

I have had my own IT, Social Media and Website business for a few years now and have met thousands of people through my extensive networking in Greater Boston.   About 75% of the people I meet either have their own main business, a side (part-time) business or are in sales and marketing.   About 50% of those people have their own website or are working on their own website.

A website is the focal point of your business.  Not the Facebook page, Pinterest page, your website is the main source of revenue, interaction with clients/customers and where people land to learn about what you do.   The first page of your website is the most important page.  It is also the page where you would want the connections to take action whether it is to sign up for a webinar, purchase a product or service or simply contact you.   Your website should be hosted on a secure platform that allows you to change the content as much as you want.   The buzz word is content and without changing it, you will never get on that first page of Google.   Your website should also be on a platform that allows you to grow your business to meet your financial and customer goals.  Finally, your website should have the capabilities to be able to reach out to potential clients in a professional manner.   Think email marketing or outbound marketing.

So why do the majority of business owners go cheap on their website?  When I meet professionals at events, the typical answer on who is building their website is that they are eithlarge company that could care less about your business.  In all respects, your business website is the most important marketing investment you are going to make, so why not spend your marketing dollars wisely and build a great website that your connections will remember you for?    In today's world is all about being online, even if your business has a brick and mortar presence.

er doing it themselves, having an intern or their cousin build it and hosting it under their desk in their living room or for heavens sake, they got sold one of those expensive SEO/Website packages from some

Finally, when you are in business, get your website up and running as quickly as possible, build it with the take action on the first page, and don't look for that free labor or make it your side project.  What will happen is that potential clients will not take your business seriously and then you may be out of business.

Content is King in the Marketing World, Really.

I have been involved with social media and marketing for about six years now in addition to my core career in Information Technology and has always heard a consistent message from marketing experts that the content on your internet platforms determines your success on the web and in business.   They say content is the fuel for your marketing engine.   So why do some company's avoid this stated fact and stick with those static web platforms.

There are three types of content.  There is high content which is paid content such as trade blogs.   There is medium level content such as a question/answer forum for a product or service a company provides.  Then there is low content which is user generated.  Medium and low content have a 60-80% direct referral rate where this type of content has the potential to generate the most leads for your business.   This is pretty impressive but it doesn't initially lead to a sale/deal.   With all of the information on the web and the intense research people do today, it can take up to ten pieces of content before a purchasing decision is made.  So, what does that mean?   By refreshing your content on your web platform, you keep your potential customers engaged, and engaged potential customers would become real customers.

So, just like the old SEO buzzword, you will continue to hear that you will need keep up your web platforms with fresh content.  A great example of a platform that is considered the content king is the UR Business Network.   Content is refreshed almost hourly on the site and the result is the site gets over 500 thousand hits a month.   Not bad for a startup company.   Content is king in the marketing world, really.

The Evil of Social Media

We are now in different times where the social media empowers people to use the First Amendment to their advantages voicing what is on their minds.   With some of the events as of late with the Donald Sterling/LA Clippers episode and now PK Subban from the Montreal Canadians, social media users basically say what they want when they want even it is causes a controversy.  

For the readers that don't know, the Boston Bruins went into double overtime last night against the rival Montreal Canadians and lost Game 1 of the Second Round series in the NHL Playoffs.  PK Subban was the star of the Montreal Canadians that scored the winning goal and he happens to be black.   Professional Hockey is the reverse of Professional Basketball where there are not many black players just like in basketball there are not as many white players.   PK Subban is inspirational just like Larry Bird was back in the 1980s showing with a little commitment, desire and talent, you can succeed no matter what your ethnic background is.   Unfortunately, since he is black, a very small select of Twitter users used the social platform to voice their displeasure of PK Subban in a disgraceful way using strong degrading language.  I can understand the passion of being a Boston Bruins fan, but at the same time, I do not understand why people needed to be so unprofessional and mean toward a talented hockey player the happens to be black.   What is also concerning is that the city of Boston has come a long way becoming a world class diverse city that is accepting of all backgrounds and this now takes Boston back.

The unfortunate aspect of social media is that once something is posted, it will always be somewhere on the internet even if they removed the tweet or even the account.   The old saying is that if you need to be negative or controversial, it is better to not use a social platform to voice your opinions.   This is actually not the first time a select few Boston based tweets were directed toward PK Subban.

The evil of social media will always be there, but hopefully we have finally learned a lesson that it is always best to not anything hateful.   Take out your hate in other ways like go to the gym and workout or turn it into positive energy.

Finally, on another note, this makes me think of the non-profit called Sneakers To Beakers, that my good friend Bob Sansone is running and how its purpose is to break down the color barriers and introduce sports and STEM for underprivileged children of all backgrounds.  If only the select evil few on social media had the same mindset as Bob and his non-profit, we would be in a better place.

Networking is All About Follow-up and Making a Friend

I have been going to networking events since 2007 and feel that I have crafted the art of networking and follow-up.   Back in the early days, I would go to an event and meet as many people as possible, tell as many people what I was up to, even if they didn't ask and tried to give out as many business cards as possible hoping for a response.    The one positive with this approach was that I was able to build up a large following on social media sites like Linkedin and Facebook.   Otherwise, I quickly realized my business was going nowhere and I was wasting time going to events.

Over the years, I started to observe the ways others networked and noticed that the seasoned networker asked a lot of questions and showed genuine interest in the person they were talking to.  Their eye contact was fixed on the person versus looking around the room for that next person to give their business card to.   I adjusted my approach and became more compassionate about helping and listening to the person's needs.  After all, I offer a lot of great services from health/wellness, social networking and a large group of connections.  I changed my mindset to simply go to an event and make some friends and not try to score my next client.  With these changes, I noticed that the follow-up process was easier and I was starting to get referrals without asking.  People were no longer avoiding me like the plague.

This brings me to the point of this blog.   Go to a networking event, make a few friends and follow-up with at least a quarter of the attendees of the event.  Meet them for coffee, learn more about them and then at the right time offer a solution to any of their needs or connect them to someone that can help them.   Continue to stay in contact with them and eventually you will have a great connection and a friend.

Happy Networking!

Where Have I Been?

I didn't realize that is have been almost four months since I last wrote a blog.  As a social media professional, you would think I would be blogging every day about what was on my mind that day.  So, what have I been doing?

I have been doing a lot more social media presentations to both employment networking groups and also small business groups.  I take pride in sharing everything I know about social media and if I were to help someone out that day, I would feel like I have accomplished something.  This past year I have also been involved with my local Toastmasters chapter, so I am getting the experience getting in front of people and providing a great presentation.  I never thought five or six years ago that I would have no problem giving presentations.

My website and social media business is doing real well.  I have had a great variety of clients ranging from an insurance company, a real estate agent, a staffing company and even a dating service.  I have to say it is fun looking for content for a dating service.  All in all, being able to research and post great content for these businesses make my business fun.  Also great content brings increased dialogue and discussions.  I also take pride that I know how to help small businesses grow using social media as a way to reach that customer they could not have reached any other way.

A lot of people don't know that I also own a franchise of shop.com, which is an incredible online shopping site which blends people power (shop consultants), social media and an extensive product brokerage that makes amazon look small, if you can believe that.  I love this business, since the primary focus is helping others succeed.  I have been doing this business for four years now and I think it the best way to learn and get into a business for the first time.  The training and the people you associate with are the most positive and driven professionals you would ever meet.  Of course, there are challenges such as partnering with the right people to help build your business.  Unfortunately, only 5% of people in the USA today fit this category.   but I like challenges and I will continue to partner with the ambitious, the entrepreneurial, the go-nows.

Of course, with business comes fun too.  Even as busy as I was, I was able to enjoy this past summer.   I feel so blessed to live in New England.  I was able to hike mountains in Maine, go to the great beaches of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and catch a few rock concerts this summer.  So, the old adage of work hard, play hard, was the story of my life this summer.

So here we are, going into the extended holiday season.  Let's socialize, shop and stay in touch.

What is going to take to get the economy going in the right direction??

I took the day off from the corporate job to concentrate on my passion of helping professionals understand how social media can help them with their career aspirations.    I started the day at the weekly Acton Networkers networking meeting in Acton, MA outside of Boston.   Acton Networkers is a large and well-known professional networking group in the Metrowest of Boston.  I was asked to present the topic "Employment in a Social Media World" in front of around 45 people.  It was a well attended event and I met some great professionals and heard their 30-second elevator pitches.  There were many with great skills whom just cannot find the right career opportunity and some folks have been out of work for years.  It breaks my heart to hear that, thinking they have families and their livelihood at stake.

After hearing feedback from the crowd, I adjusted my presentation to be less statistics and more inspiring.  I provided some great tips on how to use LinkedIN to make real connections but also made the session very interactive, so everyone there felt like they were part of the event.  I encouraged them to use LinkedIN to build relationships since after all relationships is how the majority of people land their next great opportunity.  I stressed to the group that we are in a different economy now.  Gone are the days of living and dying by the company you work for, hoping that their supervisors drive their career success.  Also, the days of applying for what jobs there are, via the old job boards like Monster, Careerbuilders are not so effective anymore.  What is effective is taking advantage of what social media has to offer in relationship building.  What is effective is driving your own career and making decisions for yourself.  If everyone took the initiative to drive their own success, whether it is starting their own business or ensuring their skills are up-to-date so that they would always be in demand, less professionals would be unemployed.  Of course, it sounds easier said than done, but if everyone took advantage of the social media tools, networking and relationship building they would always be in a proactive state in their career success.

I personally have been laid off twice ironically while I was in the midst of building my business, AIMC Business Solutions.  I learned my lesson the hard way and I am hoping today, I was able to influence my audience to take advantage of their resource so we can all get the economy going in the right direction.

An Ocean of Issues - What is Happening in Rhode Island is Breaking My Heart

I grew up in Rhode Island, the smallest and most unique state of them all in the USA.    Rhode Island is a great place to live.  The beaches are beautiful, the restaurants and art are second to none and you get the sense that everyone is part of one great family.  You have great towns like Newport "Home of the America's Cup", Bristol "The Oldest Running 4th of July Parade in the USA" and Providence, "America's Renaissance City".    In Rhode Island, you don't need to drive hours to get anywhere.   You can go from ocean and tourist sites of  Newport to the woods of Burrillville in under an hour.  The major state airport is in the center of the state with a commuter rail station connected to it.  Not even Boston has that.  You can take a day trip to two of the world's most cosmopolitan and dynamic megalopolises in New York City and Boston.  Rhode Island has it all, so why is everyone leaving and moving to god forsaken places like Texas or Arizona.

There is something wrong in Rhode Island.  Unemployment is sky high, there is no trust in government and there is a sense of negativity that is beyond control.  You see it every day in the Providence Journal.  The people do not trust the government but they never change the government.  The taxes continue to climb, yet no new businesses are moving in.  Next to Massachusetts, Rhode Island looks pretty bad.  It is pretty embarrassing that Worcester overtook Providence as the second largest city in New England..   All of this breaks my heart, even though I have lived in Massachusetts for the past twenty years.

Rhode Island simply needs to let go of the past and bring in the new.  New leadership is essential for the state to get out of its rut.  New leadership will take a step back and realize what they have is the envy of a lot of other states.    Rhode Island has the ocean, convenience to Boston and New York, world-class universities and a tourism scene nothing like a lot of other places.  So who will be the next leader to make this change?  The first thing Rhode Islanders need to do is to take a chance and make a change and good things will follow.