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Hiya! Sonya here and as you might know, I am not just a marketing ninja-type person, I'm also a yoga teacher. And I KNOW how difficult it can be to grow and sustain a small business.

It's a big beautiful crazy world out there and we are all superheros, here, doing our part to make a change for the better so I came up with this special package with special pricing - JUST FOR YOU - to make growing your small business a little easier AND because it's almost the holiday season and because I like seeing businesses grow!

Here's a little tidbit to remember in your social marketing mix…

Facebook and social media should be an extra large slice in your juicy marketing pie so this offer is to help get you going or move you along your way in that direction  - plus its easy to maintain and it's viral in nature (think along these lines…he told two friends who told two friends who then told 5 friends who told 3 friends who told….getting the picture?)

Your Special Package

The SMALLBIZ Facebook FanPage - A custom Facebook Biz Page (or biz page revamp) utilizing all the tools bells and whistles to make it WORK as a tool to grow your business. Please see examples below for specific page.

What You Get

1. Custom Business Profile Graphic in extra large size that will anchor your page and include YOUR special offer

2. Custom Landing Page encouraging new visitors to 'LIKE' your page

3. Custom Tab/Page of your choice (could be for email newsletter sign up/a special offer/special workshop or series you have coming up/registration page

4. How to Cross Promote Facebook with Current Marketing Materials

5. Facebook Link Love

Your Price: $49 (a $145 Value) - Get it Now!

Unsure of what to do? Just follow the "Get it Now" link and remit payment - you can pay via paypal or credit card. You'll be contacted super fast with a couple of questions specific to your biz then…presto, chango, viola…your newly styled marketing, grow your biz tool is live! So excited to get started!

Not sure you want (or need) the SMALL BIZ Facebook Fan Page Package with special pricing but still want to be on the list for future special 'Small Biz Only' marketing packages, Tips or Tools? Never fear! You can sign up here!

Let's get started off on the right foot.

We are here for you and yes, we can help.

We will MAKE time (even if we are busy) to listen and come up with a plan of action or just a few tips and tidbits to get you going on your way.

Here's what you need to do:

Step 1: Contact us. Use the form on the Contact Us page or shoot us an email. Either way we will respond within 24 hours. If we don't, you have our promise that we'll do something really nice for you…like feature you on our blog or throw some specialized links your way or give you an hour of free consulting.

Step 2: Determine your needs. Promise…this is painless. After we've taken a little time to talk about where you are right now in your online marketing endeavors and figured out where you want to go and any budgetary requirements, we can throw in our expertise about what's available and how we can help you grow.

Step 3: Ante Up. We will provide you with a made-to-order marketing agenda (based on what is proven to work in an online environment and our wealth of experience in this area).

Step 4: Pick and Choose. Make your selection from the agenda we provide: a. all of the above; b. some of the above; c. this, that or the other.

Step 5: Time to Shine. We get busy shining up your marketing and growing your business. We will be right there with you every step of the way - holding your hand and showing you exactly what we are doing and how we are doing it so YOU can actually take over when the project is complete.

Our job is to not only help grow your business but to teach you HOW so you will ultimately be one very empowered entrepreneur. Ok, enough said? Let's get busy!

As most of you know (our loyal TrulyTwistedMarketing readers) this blog is all about exploring and offering up tried and true tips and tools to get you on your way to growing your online presence - from web development to paid online advertising to social media marketing and pretty much everything in between.

We do try to throw in a bit of hilarity and "OMG you won't BELIEVE what happened here" type of fiascos that tend to occur just to keep it fun and interesting and to let you know that there are real live human beings at work here.

We like to dish it all out so you can get a good feel for what's about to happen with your marketing and web development endeavors and so you can clearly see a means to tackle the "HOWs" and the "WHYs" that invariably come up in any type of web marketing or web site development project.

You could call it an advice column… 

You could call it an internet science experiment…

You could call it sharing the marketing love…

Um, we don't really care. We just know it's stuff that is important and it's based on experience in doing this type of work a long time and these are things that will ultimately help you along your merry marketing/web development way. 

So now that we are all, once again, on the same page…here's some love for you (that's code for advice that you should take) on web development.

The cheapest price isn't always the best.

The most expensive price won't always get you top quality work.

You are looking for the person or web company that has a clear understanding of what your needs are, can look into the immediate future and see that your site needs to be built in a way that will position you and your company with every advantage to compete in an online environment. 

Typically that translates into the following:

• a site built with high search engine ranking capabilities.
• a site built with a component that will PULL traffic to your business both online and offline.
• a stie built to convert your visitors (traffic) into paying customers, or clients or big believers in whatever the concept is you are publishing.
• a site built with the user in mind - easy to navigate with a sense of high quality design and functionality.
• a site built that you can ultimately run without the help of a professional web developer.
• a site built with your future needs in mind - affiliate network, paid advertising spots, targeted site search, forum or membership area.

Of course we just happen to know a company that can take care of this entire list and more.

As always feel free to meander on over to our "I want to grow my biz page" or take a gander at our "portfolio" and feel free to drop a line or throw in your comments about the whole shebang.

And yes, we do know it's NOT officially Shameless Self Promotion Day (A day we all love and await with much anticipation, bated breath and general all around excitement)…but look, it just HAPPENED to come up…

We’ve been stumbled. Ahhhhhhh, love it.

StumbleUpon is by far one of the absolute best traffic sources for any blog or website with the exception of search engine traffic from Google.

But first, let me tell you WHAT StumbleUpon IS then we can get into the WHY it is so fabulous.

StumbleUpon is all about social bookmarking (yes, just like Digg or del.icio.us). But the cool factor has to do with the slick toolbar that installs directly into your browser. What that means is that a stumbler (a StumbleUpon user) can mark any web site they happen to be browsing they can then give the site a “thumbs up” meaning “Like It” or a “thumbs down” meaning, um, yeah….the not so good “Don’t Like It.”

Here’s the formula. The more thumbs up your page gets, the more it’s served up to other stumblers on StumbleUpon which (obviously) leads to an increasing number of people who see your site – that’s a good thing! The alternative is that if a page gets too many thumbs down they are dropped out of StumbleUpon.

Now, here’s why StumbleUpon is so very fabulous. SumbleUpon has a unique algorithm that is different from Digg or del.icio.us. First of all you don’t have to land on the front page of StumbleUpon to get traffic. Popular pages and even not so popular pages are served up to new users everyday. So, a page that gets stumbled say two months ago will continue to send a steady stream of traffic because it’s still being seen by users.

I can testify that it works. This blog and the bestecostuff.com/blog (our lovely side gig) have both been stumbled and the traffic just keeps coming. As I said before…ahhhhh, love it!

Now, let’s make something clear. This traffic is link building traffic. Do not try to sell to stumblers (or any other social media users for that matter). It’s really bad form. Your information is getting stumbled because it is interesting, amusing and fabulously well-written. Stumblers aren’t looking for stuff to buy. They are looking for good information.

Now, those are the basics of StumbleUpon. There’s more, of course, there always is! Next time we’ll list out the must-have secret formula to StumbleUpon success – just kidding, I love throw in all those descriptive words. But we will list out some rules and a few hot tips to get you stumbling in the right direction.

Open your mind and try this idea…

Keep growing your desire to receive. Make it bigger and bigger and bigger. Don't aim for things that have endings. We never want to aim for limitation. We're always looking for a way to expand and grow every day of our lives.

Stop participating in the mentality of loss and fear that is pervasive in this business economy. GROW your business. Be OPEN to growth. Look for innovative and new ways to get energized and excited about what you do and how you do it and don't limit yourself (no endings).

It's a simple concept. Just try it.

Let me know what happens.

Marketing isn't just about creating that new ad or making a web site or a brochure to hand it…really good marketing consists of being aware of the many ways you actually reach out and touch a customer.

And, the hands-down best marketing is a simple concept that I talk about all the time…it is personal. It can be felt.

The thing is that when you take the time and energy to really think about the different ways you actually touch your customers and make those as personal as possible, they will remember you. They will recommend you to their friends, family, co-workers. And THAT viral word of mouth marketing is exactly what you want.

Ever heard of the Nametag Guy?

Stick with me, this is word of mouth marketing, right here, right now…I'm about to tell you why this guy is so cool - in essence I'm helping him further his brand, build his credibility which could ultimately boost his bottom line and the coolest thing (for him) is that I'm doing the work for him, for free. Now, understand, I'm not doing this because I think he needs help, not because I know him, not for any reason OTHER than he had an understanding of how to touch a potential customer in a way that is personal and can keep them talking about his business.

Isn't that what YOU want for YOUR business?

Ok, here are ten tips to remember (this is his philosophy for what he calls "approachable service")…

1. People buy people
2. Friendly always wins
3. Make the mundane memorable
4. Be unique, not different
5. Interaction, not interruption (In other words, INTERACT with your customers, don't make them feel they are INTERRUPTING you)
6. Be That Guy (or That Girl)
7. You want FANS not customers
8. Don't sell; allow people to buy
9. Consistency is far better than rare moments of greatness
10. If you don't make a name for yourself, someone will make one for you

There you have it. Not so complex, really. Just a simple shifting of perceptions and how you interact with your customers.

But if you do all these things your marketing will become more personal and you will, in the minds of your customers, be more approachable. Then the snowball effect will kick in. Your potential customers will remember you for your approachability and personal touch and if you've done your job really well, they will pass on how truly fabulous you, your service, your product is to their friends, family and co-workers.

If you didn't see it on Twitter from Celebrate Green…here's an awesome article from the Toilet Paper Entrepreneur on Women Business Owners.

Check it out!

"Why Women Entrepreneurs Are The New Face For Small Busness"

So here's the deal…

It's time for change.

Yep, it's a simple concept a one word thingy that makes people literally quake in their shoes.

Grown men (and grown women for that matter) seem to have the same reaction. It's that OMG batten down the hatches, rollercoasterish feeling you get waaaaaaay down in the pit of your stomach because you know we are going…somewhere we've never been…AND things are gonna change.

Simple yet powerful - change.

It is (as the sages throughout the ages predicted) the only thing that is actually constant in life.

Ok, so one of the changes (not so big, yet we think powerful) is the look and feel of this site. We are moving toward a more user friendly design that will better showcase what we do and how we do it. Elves and faeries are busy right at this very second tweaking and tuning and converting it into a sleek new skillfully honed kickin' site that will (we think) make you drool. So keep checking back regularly to get a gander. We will be implementing the site changes slowly over time so as not to run the risk of shocking our regular readers…yeah you know who all you cool people are out there…we love you guys…

Another change is the type of work we are taking on…lots more design and lots more web development along with online and offline marketing - we've been doing some logo design work, branding and of course web site design and development. Our little firm is growing - quite happily growing.

What won't change is our usual way of doing things, here in the land of blog. We will still throw it ALL out there to see what sticks. You know, what works what doesn't - the snafus, dramas and happy endings. And we'll walk you through the process from beginning to end.

So this is our big fat WELCOME to change and to you to watch us grow, participate and play along with us in the big sandbox of life.  

"If all the world's a stage, I want to operate the trap door."

-Paul Beatty 

I'm just sayin…

We all have days where we want to operate the trap door. Mine happens to be today.

1.    Write a Compelling Headline — The goal of a headline is to grab the reader’s attention and make them want to know more. So always use benefits-oriented headlines and subheads that speak directly to your ideal customer’s wants, needs, problems or goals.

2.    Write like you speak — The best copy writing reads like a one-to-one conversation between the reader and the writer. Read it out loud - that's what I do…you'll also pick up any grammatical errors or funky sounding verbiage. 

3.    Keep it simple — This one is pretty straightforward. Don't alienate your readers by using long suspicious sounding words that aren't commonly understood. Keep it to an 8th grade level (any professional copywriter will tell you this) and write simply and clearly.

4.    Make it skim-able — Paragraphs should be brief (four to five lines max) and most sentences short (18 words or less). And use bullet points to explain separate pieces of information.

5.    Use Active Voice — Whenever possible, always choose to use active voice in your writing. Avoid passive voice. This basic grammar rule will keep your writing more lively and…well…active!

6.    Sell the Benefits — Promote benefits, not just features. Benefits are what the features can do for your customer. It’s why they should care about, or want, those features. Here’s a quick tip to get you thinking about the benefits…Make your list of features, then for every feature put yourself in the customer’s shoes and ask, “What’s in it for me?” The answer every time is the benefit. That's what you want to promote!

7.    Call to Action — Always, always, always include a “call to action” and ask for the sale. This is not the place to be shy. You want to make sure your customer has an open invitation and knows it. And it needs to be easy - always include your contact information, phone, email, link to a page…whatever way you want them to contact you, be sure to list it here within the call to action.