facebook – Steve Pohlit

Response To: Close Your Facebook Account —No

Check out this video

Is it credible? You decide!

For me – see below

I have been on line since December 1995

My contact email address has been on line since then and yes the original one forwards to my gmail account now. However the original one is still alive and gets traffic

I am easy to find

My phone number has been published on line for 12 years. Yes it is true that if I do not recognize the number I will not answer.

So why would I hide? I don’t why would I disguise where I am going or what I am doing? I don’t.

I think if you are confident in you skin you are not afraid of being out there. No let’s look at another area – points of view opposite of mainstream popular politics. If you follow me on Facebook and other social media sites you will see I am what some would label a Patriot – I prefer the Libertarian label -doesn’t matter. What I stand for are the tenants of our constitution. I stand for at a deeper level Life Rights – the right of all to live their intentions in freedom and peace.

Steve Pohlit

Build Facebook Likes and Your Email Lists With Lead Capture Toolkit

Jason Doucette Launches Lead Capture Toolkit

I have been coaching Jason Doucette on building business profits using his technical programming skills. Lead Capture Toolkit was an idea that emerged and Jason has now launched this program. Essentially it is an application that helps you build your Facebook Likes by offering an incentive that people receive when they register their name and email address. This registration information is integrated with popular autoresponder systems. I have set on up on my Facebook Page and I use the autoresponder service by Aweber

The Primary Advantages of Lead Capture Toolkit

Most everyone appreciates the value of building your list. Most marketers have autoresponder accounts and build relationships using email marketing communications as a primary tool. Facebook is one social media site that has become hugely popular with companies and entrepreneurs since restructuring their Page feature. You probably have seen requests to Like My Page.

Lead Capture Toolkit adds to your Facebook page the option to offer an incentive for a Facebook Fan to join your email list. Once set up, (the set up is very straight forward) the process is very smooth for a subscriber. Subscribers receive the opt-in confirmation in their email which in compliance with no spam practices. Once confirmed they receive the incentive you offer which is a well known and proven to work technique for building your list.

The benefit for you in using Lead Capture Toolkit is you are building your list as you build your Facebook fans.

I have been testing the functionality of Lead Capture Toolkit for about a month. It is easy to set up and integrates very easily with Facebook. Part of the coaching has been to enhance the training through videos and text on the steps to install this valuable application. Click Here and Check It Out. You are welcome to leave your questions and comments here or connect with Jason.

Action Steps

Click Here Now for Lead Capture Toolkit. Jason did not follow my advice on pricing. It is very low. Get it now before he changes his mind and raises the price. Yours can be free by simply becoming and affiliate and having just two people buy it from your link. It has been approved by Click Bank and is now listed there.

Action Steps

Get A Business Coach! If you already have a business with more than 10 employees, Hire A Consultant who is able to work with you part of the time on-site.

Would you like to be in the next group of very successful companies and entrepreneurs?

Contact me now.

Steve Pohlit

Business Development Consulting
Executive Coach

Social Media Services
New Digital Media, Inc.

Connect With Steve On:

Twitter

Facebook

Linked in

727-587-7871

About: Steve Pohlit CPA,MBA has been the CFO and COO of major domestic and international companies. Steve has extensive business ownership experience having purchased and started off line and on line businesses.

Steve offers his build business profits expertise to companies and entrepreneurs with business coaching and business consulting. His focus is on building business profits and net asset value at above average rates. Steve incorporates health and wellness plus relationship guidance in his work as they are at the foundation of achieving all goals.

All articles published by Steve unless specifically restricted may be freely published with this resource information.

On Line Marketing: The Formula I Recommend And Why

Question: What Is The Goal of Business Growth Marketing?

Answer: Traffic and Conversion!

What this means is that in order to grow your business with new customers, there needs to be a stream of relevant traffic interested in what it is you offer. Your job is to move this traffic from interested to “I’ll Take It” !

Question: How do you move people from being interested to buyers?

Answer: In my experience, people become buyers when a relationship and trust is established. Also, for professional services and many physical products, people want to talk to a person before making a final decision. Contact information including an email address and phone number is very important.

Building A Relationship On Line

The process that has worked for me has at it’s foundation a blog. The blog has a contact capture form with a reason for people to give you that information. Their name goes into a autoresponder system for follow- up messages with value added content. Value added content can be tips, a link to another blog article, examples of what is working and direct educational material. Each follow on email should have a signature with a link for more information and contact information.

The blog is the home for valuable content or articles that offer valuable information. This can be current news and relevant “how to” information. Offering examples of what is working is another terrific way of offering value. Marketing messages can be in the signature and the article itself can be structured so the reader understands how your offer is a solution for their interests.

In summary, the blog and the autoresponder sequence is key to building trust and establishing a relationship. Links in the blog and emails can direct the reader to a direct sales page or a contact page.

With this foundation in place and continually growing, you now have the source of material for valuable updates using social media sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Social Media is a major tool for helping you build your business. I recommend you look at your social media network as an asset for your business that will continually become more valuable if it is properly managed.

Twitter

I always recommend using at least two accounts, one personal and one business. Twitter seems to regularly modify how it is enforcing its terms of service. Having multiple accounts reduces the risk of going completely off of Twitter because of an account suspension. However, if you post quality messages to valuable content plus use tweets that have no URL in them that demonstrate you are interacting, they you should not have any problems with account suspension.

Building a Twitter following and managing tweets through that network can be a significant commitment of time. I highly recommend leveraging or outsourcing a lot of this work. My company New Digital Media, Inc. has been established specifically to help you with this.

Facebook

There are three primary channels on Facebook that should be used that do not cost money. One channel is pay per click advertising does cost money. Regarding pay per click on Facebook, my initial tests are positive. It appears advertising on Facebook is cost effective. More on this in a future article.

The first area that should be built on Facebook is your profile. There are many exceptions to the rule that profiles are to be personal. Currently I do not advise spending time building a business profile as there is a high risk of being deactivated. Your personal profile can and should have clear links to your business.

My focus has been on building my profile and my friends list is primarily for business purposes. As I approached the 5,000 friends limit on Facebook I created a fan page. While I am not a fan of the label fan page, it is channel for expanding your network and there are no limits to the number of fans. If your goal is to build a fan page for a business (Facebook encourages business fan pages) then I recommend a build strategy that invites friends to a fan page, uses Twitter to promote your profile and fan page and test Facebook ads to build your fan page. I have seen very effective ad campaigns that have built fan pages fast so I know this works. If you build a fan page then you should have a communication strategy for developing the interest of your fans.

Facebook Groups are one of my favorites for building business since once a person joins your group, generally they are very interested in messages related to the topic of the group. For example, I have the group Build Business Profits on Facebook which ties into the theme of this blog as well as my social media blogs. The feedback I receive from messages sent to this group as well as several other targeted groups I have built is consistently positive.

Other Social Media Sites

I highly recommend using YouTube and I have done a lot of YouTube work in the past and will be stepping up my YouTube activity again this year. I also recommend LinkedIn There are many other social media sites and I have some work being done on a handful of other sites. However, with the growth in Facebook and Twitter I continue to concentrate on those two. Up and coming and closely being watched is Google Buzz.

The Number One Key Success Factor

While I am always building my social media network and the network for clients of New Digital Media, Inc. the most valuable asset in social media is the quality of information offered in articles and personal communication. With my own accounts and those of clients there is always a focus of adding value and blending with personal messages. I have no automated messages flowing through Facebook and I am paying increasing attention to the balance of non automated messages on Twitter.

My focus is having people connect with me on my offers. This is what I always advise clients as well. Consistently there is contact information with articles, contact name and email forms feeding an autoresponder with an email message sequence and published phone information. This is fundamental internet marketing. There is always more including search engine optimization, search engine pay per click, squeeze pages and more. However with a consistent focus on building a relationship with people who are interested in your products and services, you will be able to stay focused on those on line tools most effective for your business.

Then there is off line marketing which is a topic for another article.

Steve Pohlit

Business Consulting, Executive Coach
Turnaround/Crisis Management
Temporary CEO, CFO, Controller Services
International Business Resources

Social Media Services
New Digital Media, Inc.

Twitter

Facebook

Linked in

MySpace

727-587-7871

Email

About: Steve Pohlit is a CPA,MBA and has been the CFO of several major domestic and international companies. Steve is a business owner and an expert business consultant focused on building profits and net asset value. He is very experienced with Internet marketing and social media marketing. All articles published by Steve unless specifically restricted may be freely published with this resource information.

Carl's Jr. Very Effective Use of Social Media, Internet Marketing, Video, More

Carl’s Jr. has over 1100 locations with 772 in California. They have no locations in my current home state of Florida. However, because of my business consulting experience in the restaurant industry along with a controversial video commercial released by Carl’s several years ago, I became aware of this restaurant business. I learned it was founded with the purchase of one hot dog cart for less than $500 in 1941.

While reviewing a Facebook application recommended by a friend I noticed an ad on the site for Carl’s. Of course I remembered the original video that was absolutely outrageous and wondered if they had posted it on Facebook. (They did not.) What I did notice was they have almost 68,000 fans, they are promoting a new sandwich, offering an incentive coupon and their fan page wall is extremely active.

I went a little deeper and clicked to their website. I stayed there maybe 5-8 minutes watching all their video commercials. They are very entertaining. I registered for their newsletter. The visuals, sounds and messages of the videos and the images of the graphics are terrific. If there was a location nearby I would be a customer. I also feel that the next time I visit the West Coast I will look them up. Their presentation is that good.

Carl’s Jr has links to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flicker on their website. I am not sure if they have expanded onto other social media sites. If asked I would recommend they be on every major social media venue. Clearly the visuals and sound are huge assets for their messages about their food.

Food isn’t the only attraction as evidenced by one YouTube video with Audriana Partridge in a hot gold bikini eating one of Carl’s Jr.’s famous sandwiches. This video has already been viewed over 545 thousand times with most others by Carl’s Jr. being viewed in the range of 20 thousand. Think about the value of one YouTube video being viewed over one half million times.

I did a brief review of Facebook to see if key competitors are using social media. Facebook members have activated McDonald’s and Wendy’s fan pages. Neither company seems to have an active Facebook presence.

I am a major advocate for using social media to build business profits. But here is the key as demonstrated by Carl’s Jr.: you have got to have a hook. Carl’s is kicking butt in their ads for size, quality and price vs. McDonald’s. Then they add amazing visuals, incentives, and are definitely on top of their game when it comes to strengthening social relationships. So they are hitting on all cylinders including the use of a well toned body wearing little excited about a huge order of food. What an amazing contrast and Carl’s Jr. pulls it off marvelously just as they did a few years back with a famous celebrity promoting their food wearing near nothing on the hood of a car. It was amazing.

On video and in pictures, Carl’s Jr. looks like great tasting food. I assume that is the case with more than 1,100 locations. Of course that is key for sustained growth in same store sales as well as sustained growth in the number of locations. Somehow I suspect the food experience is great and I will confirm that one of these days. If you have eaten at Carl’s Jr. please share your experiences including what you ordered.

Great example Carl’s Jr. of executing very well on fundamentals.

Sending you energy of health, happiness, prosperity

Steve Pohlit

Business Consulting, Executive Coaching
International Business Resources

Social Media Services
New Digital Media, Inc.

727-587-7871
Email

Carl’s Jr. Very Effective Use of Social Media, Internet Marketing, Video, More

Great example Carl’s Jr. of executing very well on fundamentals.

Sending you energy of health, happiness, prosperity

Steve Pohlit

Business Consulting, Executive Coaching
International Business Resources

Social Media Services
New Digital Media, Inc.

727-587-7871
Email

How To Use Social Media To Grow Your Business

How To Use Social Media To Grow Your Business

The tools available to market products and services are numerous. Direct response marketing, Internet marketing, brand awareness campaigns and more are all labels for marketing programs. In every case, the goal is the same…increase revenue and profits.

My experience working with companies to grow profits is extensive. (Click Here for my resume) I have developed my views on marketing from actual experience implementing programs, monitoring the results and continuously testing ideas to improve response rates and profitability. Social media is phrase representing an ever increasing number of places people congregate. Social media marketing is just that..marketing to people using social media sites.

There are a number of credible people holding seminars, selling courses and offering consulting on how to do social media marketing. My recommendation to business is to focus on your business. My company will build your social media network and I will work with you to develop and implement your social media marketing program. These are two very distinctly separate tasks.

How we build a social media network is based on my actual results in developing several of my own business ventures and providing these services to clients. I have personally done the social media work staring February 2008 . Since that time I completed the detailed steps. I will highlight some of them in this article. From this experience I recommend what steps you should leverage to others and the tools I feel are a must have for developing your network. This is for people very serious about using social media as a business building tool.

Key Marketing Principle Reviewed

Marketing is primarily about attracting traffic to your offer and converting that traffic to customers. Many know this. Most ignore it. I never ignore it. For clarification it is not just any traffic but relevant traffic. What does relevant traffic mean? It means people already interested in what it is you have to offer.

The late Gary Halbert said if you are selling hamburgers, he would rather have a starving crowd than all the positioning of signs, building, location and all of the other things we normally address in marketing a physical product like hamburgers. It is every marketer’s dream to have a starving crowd. I am no different. The starving crowd is not right outside my door. I need to find them and so do you.

The Cloud

My view of the cloud is simply an image of all the people using social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace, etc. So when I use the phrase the cloud that is what I mean.

The Goal

Return on investment in time and money is the goal. Sure I work on projects and products where I have expertise and interest. Sure I do things out of curiosity without having any monetization objective, but most of what I do is to drive profitable revenue doing business where I have a high personal interest. When I do this well, I am compensated by the marketplace for providing value. For me spending time on what I enjoy is not work. However, unless there is income flow, my enjoyment of a an area of personal interest is going to expire. Having said that I will encourage you to make sure your attention span is long enough to allow your business to develop.

To achieve the monetization goal I am developing as large a portion of the cloud as possible that I can reach. I then continuously send messages intended to invite people I am reaching to consider my offer. Related to this goal is my objective to at also have as many people as possible give me their contact information. That action tells me there is some level of interest in what I am offering. For those experienced marketers reading this I am not sending out selling messages. All of the messages are indirect intended to create an interest in wanting more information. Many flavors of messages are used and I am always developing new ones to test.

The Specifics

The work is done by my company New Digital Media, Inc. I work with all clients directly. When the scope of the work is defined some of the tasks that I previously have done personally are leveraged. The staff working with me is very experienced and they actually develop their own network which I encourage. We share social media network growth tips.

Our primary focus is on growing Twitter and Facebook accounts. Within Facebook we work with clients to grow friends and when friends are at a certain level we build a targeted group. As a group is being built we implement a messaging strategy to the group. We are gradually expanding our focus into several other social media sites. However, for now Twitter and Facebook is out primary focus.

The goal of the network is to drive interested people to a landing page or a product sales page. As appropriate, we advocate the destination to be a blog article. As articles are added they serve as destinations for new messages to the network. In certain cases we will promote a client through our own network which is quite large.

We use a combination of tools to assist us in growing accounts. Most of these tools are used with Twitter. There are no automation tools we use to grow Facebook friends and groups. We use an automation tool to assist us with posting messages to Twitter and Facebook. This tool has the capability to post messages to LinkedIn, MySpace and more. The primary tools we use and recommend if you are doing this work yourself are:

Hummingbird for growing Twiter followers

Tweet Later – message management

Tweep

Instant Capture Pages

Blogs – WordPress format exclusively This Site Shows You How To Set One Up – Free

Autoresponder – Aweber

Web Hosting – Host Gator

Each person in the company uses at least two computers. It is not practical to run our automation tools and do our other work on one machine. This can be done but it will affect productivity by at least 50%.

Effectiveness

The following Twitter accounts were developed in six weeks. digialmediabiz 9735 followers. buildprofits 8694 followers So those are a couple examples of accounts growing.

Size of our total network – very large

On Facebook we grew the group Deliberate Creation to over 2,500 members in three weeks. This happens to be a very niche market and we were very pleased with how rapidly this developed.

Return on Investment – we have numerous success stories for ourselves and for clients. However, it has taken quite awhile to systematize what works. Additionally, we are constantly monitoring the rules of the social media sites as they can change and we want to be in compliance. For these reasons, I highly recommend looking at our company to help you grow your network which allows you to focus on growing your business.

Based on Twitter’s current algorithms we can build an account to 10,000 followers in about two months. Facebook has a limit of 5000 friends and it can take 6 months or longer to hit that level. Remember once built, these assets are in place for multiple purposes.

Personally my network is used to market consulting services, New Digital Media and several other ventures. I noticed the most significant improvement in what we do once I developed a laser beam focus on our objective and finding the right staff. Both are in place. The difference between my company and most of the people who are experienced, is we do it for you and hand over the results. Along the way we teach you so you are in a position to continue the process or have us continue. If you are a large company, I will teach your in-house staff how to do this.

Fees and Referrals

Our fees are quoted for each client. I pay referral fees that average 15% of fees collected. This percentage varies depending on the scope of work performed. Currently we have capacity for a limited number of clients. With the marketing we are now doing to create awareness of our services, the door for new clients may close quickly. If you are thinking about working with us, I suggest you contact me now.

Contact Information

Steve Pohlit, President
New Digital Media, Inc.
727-587-7871
Email

Sharing with all my readers the energy of peace, happiness and abundance

Steve Pohlit

Follow Me and I Follow You http://Twitter.com/BuildProfits

FREE Report:
How To Increase Business Profits by 30% or More in 90 Days or Less

Connect with me on Facebook Click Here

About: Steve Pohlit is a CPA,MBA and has been the CFO of several major domestic and international companies. Steve is business owner and an expert business consultant, direct response and social media marketing and social networking security expert . Steve is focused on helping companies improve their business performance. All articles published by Steve unless specifically restricted may be freely published with this resource information.

WSJ Reports Twitter Success Stories and Misses The Mark

The WSJ reports Moonfruit went from 400 followers to 47,000 followers in about a week using a contest that became popular and viral fast. Other similar success stories were reported. When you read this article Click Here For The Story I suggest you consider the missing link. Now in all fairness the link may not be missing in the examples reported. However, this key success factor was not addressed in the article.

The Missing Link

Think of a funnel. This story is about using the incentive of a contest to reach out into the cloud of a very popular social media site which of course is Twitter. This strategy was very successful in that the number of followers increased rapidly. However, followers have no value unless they are people interested in your offer – the offer for products and services that earns you money.

Followers need to be converted to a contact data base where you have their name and email contact information. That step is moving followers through the marketing funnel. Now that step can be bypassed if a follower goes directly to your offer and buys. At that point you also have their contact information. Again the goal is to develop this contact data base so you can communicate with these people who have said they are interested in who you are and what you offer. That communication then is intended to further cement the relationship and when the person is ready they will buy. You have not idea when they will be ready so building the relationship is the key.

In the current environment there is an opportunity to move people from followers to a contact data base where you can message them and by pass the email system. That option is to move them into a group on Facebook. There is an inherent limitation to that in that Facebook limits group size for sending messages to 5,000 people. Many people are setting up fan pages which do not have the limitations of a group. However, messages to fans currently are not sent to their Facebook inbox which is not as effective as groups.

My advice is to use the assets of social media with the goal of developing your own asset which is your customer list and prospect list. Then there is one more thing: communicate with them.

Sharing with all my readers the energy of peace, happiness and abundance

Steve Pohlit, Expert Business Consulting

Email Me, Steve Pohlit to schedule A No Obligation Consultation On Building Your Business Profits.Need more customers? Let’s discuss how to use cutting edge Social Media Marketing in the revenue building cycle of your business to drive your profits sky high. If your company is not growing revenue and profits, if your company is not cash flow positive Click Here for more information about Turnaround Consulting Services for Business In Crisis

Follow Me and I Follow You http://Twitter.com/BuildProfits

FREE Report:
How To Increase Business Profits by 30% or More in 90 Days or Less

Connect with me on Facebook Click Here

Social Media Blueprint

A panel discussion of Social Media experts formed at a recent JV Alert conference addressed a question on the business of Social Media. A key point made is that Social Media is a tool.

That excellent reminder serves as the starting point for this summary on How To Use Social Media to Start and Grow a Business. Social Media is a general term for community based Internet sites with the biggest ones being Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, and very fast growing ones like Twitter and LinkedIn.

Generally, my first response with a question like “how should I use Social Media?” is “what is it that you want”. My business Manifest Mastermind guides everyone in our free course as well as paying members to begin with a clear definition of what it is that you want and then they are asked why.

Applying this to Social Media and using my own experience as an example, my initial goal was to understand the primary options for Social Media sites. My conclusion was that I could spend my time for entertainment or for developing business. Very soon I further clarified Social Media for me which was that I wanted to know if Social Media was a valid tool for building a profitable business.

Social proof that Social Media is an effective tool for building a business is Manifest Mastermind. The time line from business idea to business launch was four months. This actually could have been shorter if we would have been able to allocate more financial resources to it. We spent a lot of professional time and very little cash in developing this business.

When possible I would advise others to outsource more but we proved that a business could be successfuly launced with very little money.

Social Media Blueprint:

This is a top level summary of the Social Media Blueprint I recommend. This is based on my actual experience with Manifest Mastermind:

1. Have a clear definition of what you want and why. Are you using Social Media for business or pleasure? If you intend to use Social Media sites for developing business there will and should be pleasure because Social Media is about developing relationships with people interested in who you are and what you are doing.

2. Identify what Social Media sites are best for your business. Actually this is fairly easy with the top three sites for business being Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. There are an ever increasing list of social media sites. Start with the ones that have the market. LinkedIn is growing fast and can be another one that is important for you going forward.

3. Form relationships with those most likely interested in that what you are doing. I am sure you have heard the advice to define your target market. This is no different. How do you find your market on Social Media sites? There are several ways. A primary one is doing research on: who is talking about your business topic (Twitter); who is joining groups related to your business (Facebook); and, who is adding video content related to your business (YouTube). I advise a filtering approach. Invite people into your world and then invite them into a network focused on your niche business.

4. Ultimately you must capture those with an interest into your own list. We use traditional Internet Marketing guidance on bringing people to our list and then offering value to demonstate why they benefit from spending money with us.

Next Steps:

Manifest Mastermind’s business purpose is to help others create their own success stories. Success stories happen in the areas where people are clearly focused on a prioritized list of their own dreams. Dreams fall into three main categories: financial, health and relationships. They are never mutually exclusive. Our guidance is based on The Law of Attraction and the Mastermind Principle. Guidance is developed with experts advising us on particular topics.

We are expanding our reach in Social Media and we are soon launching our small group mastermind program. Every business model on line and off is based on one foundation principle: traffic and conversion. We are extending our traffic building model beyond Social Media. However, Social Media remains an integral part of our business development strategy.

Sharing with all my readers the energy of peace, happiness and abundance

Steve Pohlit
The Profit Expert

Steve is the Co-Founder of Manifest Mastermind and President of International Business Consulting Resources. His firm specializes in guiding companies to rapid increases in revenue and profits with a sustainable growth rate. FREE Reports:

How To Make More Money With Your Business Now and Long Term

7 Steps To Manifesting Your Dreams

Network with me on Facebook: LinkedIn: Follow me on Twitter

Valuable Job Search Guide Found on Mashable.com

In doing research for my current business development project which will demonstrate the power of social media I discovered what seems to be a really cool tip for those looking for a job. I found this tip on the very popular blog Mashable and here it is from Eric Pender

I have actually used Google Reader to help me find job leads.

I go to Craigslist and perform a query in the jobs section for specific keywords that target the kinds of jobs I’m looking for (I search for search engine optimization jobs, but you can really use this for anything). Then, I take the URL that comes from my search query and plug it into Google Reader. Anytime that a new job posting comes up for that keyword, it comes into my reader feed. When I was looking for jobs and saw an interesting listing come across my feed, I was the first one to apply for it. This strategy landed me many calls, and one of them ended up resulting in my current place of employment.

To Follow The Business Development Project Using Social Media connect with the following:

On Facebook
http://steve.facebook.com
http://groups.to/manifest

On Twitter
http://twitter.com/stevepohlit
http://twitter.com/manifestmmind

Interesting facts: 500 new friends were added to our Facebook group in 4 days. 0-1,000 followers were added on Twitter in 4 days.

Sharing with all my readers the energy of peace, happiness and abundance

Steve Pohlit,
The Profit Expert
www.StevePohlit.com

Network with me on Facebook: LinkedIn: Follow me on Twitter

This report may be freely distributed without restrictions with the original content including this resource box remaining unchanged. Author: Steve Pohlit, Business Consulting Services, Executive Coaching, please visit www.stevepohlit.com

PS. My doors are open for new clients and referrals are well compensated.

My Social Networking and Social Marketing Policy

I have adopted the following based on what has been released by Brian Campbell. Brian encourages others to adopt this posture and you are invited to use it if it fits. You will have EVEN more opportunities if you adopt this policy or one similar for yourself.

I’m sending this message out to all of my Facebook friends. It is my policy regarding how I work and interact on social networks including Facebook.

This is an open invitation for you to experience new growth and tap into the power of the connections that I’ve made on Facebook.

I, Steve Pohlit give you FULL permission to:

1. Post a link to your website on the wall of my Facebook profile.
2. Tag me in a note that’s on a topic you think I may be interested in without mentioning my name in the note itself I appreciate all credible references to me but those are not required.
3. Ask me a general question on my personal profile’s wall.
4. Post a link to any videos, pictures or websites that you think that I might enjoy or that the majority of my friends might enjoy.
5. Say hello, initiate a conversation or let me know more about you.
6. I trust your judgement to post whatever you think is appropriate. If it helps you, please post!

I ask that you post something that you think has value. If you do not add value and include an affiliate link, I may delete it and I am likely to ask that you do not do that again. I will use the same method you used in posting to politely ask you to stop. Some of my frieds are more tolerent of spam. My profile is a public picture of me and my network. I choose to send positive energy personally and through my profile.

If you post something that is valuable, I may take the time to view it and perhaps I’ll share it with others. I might comment on it, or say nothing but simply remember that you’re a value creator and I’ll have a positive impression of you that may lead to a business relationship with me or friendship at some point in the future with me or my friends.

If you have a blog, website, product or service that you’ve created that my network would like to know about, feel free to tell me about it by posting on my wall. Feel free to include a link to the site with a brief description of what benefits someone would achieve by vising the site.

If you tag me in a note that’s related to something you know I’m interested in (social networking, Internet marketing, building business profits, creating wealth, helping people, law of attraction, giving, healthy living, or spirituality) then the people who are connected to me for those purposes will come and read your note and if it provides value, you’ll build a loyal following.

If you tag me in all of your notes just to get free publicity for yourself, you have my blessings. Even if you think you’re a competitor of mine, go ahead and promote yourself. I don’t have any competition anyway because the value I create cannot be diminished by the value you create.

I’m glad to provide a platform for you to reach people with your message through me.

I want you to provide value to the world and I don’t want to hinder your success. I believe that my network of connections on facebook is one of the most talented, creative and caring groups of people with a true commitment to success and by allowing you the freedom to promote the value that you give to the world, you’re helping me fulfill my mission in life by serving my friends.

There’s one other thing I’ll point out about allowing you the freedom to post freely on my wall, tag me in notes, or do other things to get in my mini-feed. This action benefits me too. That’s right! By posting your opportunities on my wall, you’re actually helping people find out about me and helping me deliver my value to more people. So we both win!

When I asked you earlier in this note to adopt a similar strategy, I did so because by allowing people to tag you and post on your wall you will experience more rapid growth.

Facebook is designed to send new people to you if you allow people freedom to connect with you in the ways I’ve explained above. If you try to restrict people, you’re restricitng your own growth.

If you’re reading this SteveReports.com blog post as a note on facebook, I’ve tagged a few people. I’ve tagged my friends and colleagues that I think would benefit from adopting a similar open-door policy. Many of the people I’ve tagged already have this type of policy, although perhaps they aren’t aware of it.

The people who I’ve tagged are my friends, and the message to potential “spammers” mentioned is not in any way addressed to the people tagged above.

The message to potential “spammers” is more of a mindset that I have towards these type of people that I would like you to adopt, and as my friends I know that you have no intentions to spam. I’ve simply shared with you how I feel about what everyone else calls “spammers.”

Sending all my readers the energy of wellness, peace and abundance.

Steve Pohlit
http://www.stevereports.com

Network with me on

Don’t Miss These Free Reports from my new business consulting site:

The Top 10 Action Stops That Will Make Your Business At Least 50% More Money in 90 Days or Less While You Spending Less Time Working Click Here For The Free Report

The Key Issues That Must Be Addressed Before You Buy Any Business of Any Size. Click Here For The Free Report

Steve is the President of International Business Consulting Resources. His firm specializes in guiding companies to rapid increases in revenue and profits with a sustainable growth rate. Don’t miss my FREE Report: How To Make More Money With Your Business Now and Long Term I am building my practice and welcome new client inquiries. Call me for a fee consultation at 727-587-7871 Remember many of my business building articles can be found at Steve Reports and my prosperity building tool (best tool ever for helping you manifest your goals and dreams) is The Prosperity Tool Chest and guiding articles posted very often at Prosperity Tip

5 Steps To Stop Insane Management From Driving Business Into The Ground

As a reminder the popular definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and over and expecting the different results”. Most companies continue to do business the same way and blame the economy and high gas prices on their declining business results when they should be looking in the mirror. There seems to be a strong undercurrent of “I am waiting for somebody to do something vs. I am responsible.”

The operative word here is most. There are sectors of the economy that have been hit by current conditions. I will leave that analysis to economist and academics. They have a lot more expertise in such matters and enjoy the intellectual debates of cause and effect. I have a laser beam focus on what individual companies can and should be doing to achieve their potential.

I am excluding from this article any company who is in serious cash flow difficulty. When a business gets to that point, crisis management… turnaround expertise is needed. MY firm International Resources does that work and we are very good at it. I always advise if you are in that situation, call me or a firm like mine right now as time is of the essence. My direct line is 727-587-7871.

What are “The 5 Steps To Stop Insane Management From Driving Business Into The Ground?”

1. Have a very clear profit plan at each line item of business performance. Measure actual performance against plan and have clear accountability for achieving the plan line item by line item. To implement this you must have timely, accurate and relevant information. No excuses…must have.

2. When people who are accountable for line item performance consistently fail to meet the stated goals, replace them. Period!

3. The number one function in a business that will be the subject of most of the excuses is sales. These excuses come from people who do not understand how to market to a consumer who places ever increasing importance on relationships. Why do you think the community building sites like YouTube, MySpace and Facebook are in the top ten most highly visited sites globally? According to Alexa, YouTube is 3 , MySpace is 6 and Facebook is 8 ) Every business must have a relationship driven marketing strategy and then implement it. See Relationship Marketing below.

4. Always be evaluating the market including on line competitors. I wonder if Microsoft, Yahoo and AOL in retrospect would have done anything different when Google first came to market? No company is immune from being seriously weekend by competition. I look at the drugstore landscape. I live in Florida where competition is very active particularly for pharmacy prescriptions. A new format of drugstores was introduced not that long ago by Walgreens, CVS, and others with positioning of buildings with 24 hour drive through pharmacies on high cost real estate. Two things have happened with those changes. Prices skyrocketed to pay for real estate and relationships with the pharmacy customer has almost become extinct. Within this landscape I am aware of several privately held drugstores doing very well because of their attention to customer relationships.

5. Don’t push a boulder up hill. Some companies were never meant to be. People start companies or buy existing companies because they think it is a good idea. The only opinion that matter is the market. If your business was not all that strong in the past and you are basically doing everything right, the best action to stopping the profit leaks may mean closing the doors. If you are not sure Contact Me.

Reality Business: The following examples are taken from just one day’s experiences – today.

1. I was talking with a former client who is now a good friend, who told me they have exposure on a large receivable as it looks like the customer is going out of business. After asking two questions I understood that procedures installed during the consulting project were ignored. Insane management. This happens all the time where people make exceptions to sound business practices and then wonder what went wrong. Follow well founded established policies and procedures without exception. Does that mean nothing will ever go wrong? No, but the surprises will be fewer and far between.

2. During a meeting with a very successful fund manager I asked him if there was any one or two things that he attributes to his success. We were specifically talking about clients who transfer portfolios of $250,000 and higher to him from other firms. He said: “just two things: first I have a “high touch” approach which cements the relationship. The markets have been unforgiving lately. I increase my meetings with clients when competitors are shying away from making calls to people whose portfolios have been hit. Second I have marketing funnel to my target audience that has consistently worked very well.” I am not writing the details as this is proprietary but I will tell you this – you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure it out.

3. I was invited to lunch at a very nice restaurant in Tampa. It has a fairly steep price tag for most of the selections. There were many tables available. Like nearly every other restaurant I have ever dined, regardless of price point, when I left they have no idea who I am and have no way of inviting me back. Insane management.

All in one day!!

Relationship Marketing:

I love talking about how easy it is for retail business to install a relationship marketing program. This is actually easy for every company, but most readers can relate to experiences with restaurants, grocery stores, dry cleaners, specialty shops and other retail stores. Just ask yourself when was the last time you received a thank you note, an incentive to come in for a special on a particularly slow day or a brief questionnaire asking you how they can serve you better? It happens. I listened to a story the other night about a business getting a fax every time it rains near the lunch hour from a nearby restaurant saying “It is raining. Our business will be slow today. Come in for a free Taco.”” Of course, nearly everyone will be buying more than one taco. But isn’t that cool and how hard is that to do?

Visit http://www.localretailmarketing.com for an idea on how you can begin strengthening your customer relationships. The information is free. My firm is not if you want us to do it for you. We get it done now which can be very valuable for you.

Accept The Responsibility and Take Action Starting Now!!

Sending all my readers the energy of wellness, happiness and peace.

Steve Pohlit
http://www.stevereports.com

Don’t Miss These Free Reports from my new business consulting site:

The Top 10 Action Stops That Will Make Your Business At Least 50% More Money in 90 Days or Less While You Spending Less Time Working Click Here For The Free Report

The Key Issues That Must Be Addressed Before You Buy Any Business of Any Size. Click Here For The Free Report

How To Use Social Media Video (YouTube) To Grow Your Business

Does 200 million page views a month catch your attention? How about knowing 41% of the members between the ages of 34 and 55 and all groups are divided nearly evenly between male and female? If that isn’t enough to get your attention consider these:

1. Members look for content by areas of interest.
2. All content is video and each video can be described using text that is rich with targeted keywords for your product or service.

Just a Couple More Things

1. The information above is about YouTube.. the 6th highest volume site on the Internet. The demographic data is for the US only and yet YouTube is International. The real number are larger but not quantified.
2. There are more than 150 social media sites on line and growing. Each one is attempting to carve out a niche of the huge general market. Of the 150, approximately one third are video sites. Once a person masters YouTube alll the skills are generally transferable to other niche market video sites.

The Action Plan Tracker

I have a business consulting firm. I teach companies how to build revenues and profits using proven principles and processes. Part of the business consulting work plan is to help the client implement an improved and more effective marketing strategy. Social media is now a required component of my updated business marketing strategy model. The numbers of people joining social media sites and becoming very active are very significant and should not be ignored.

There are a huge number of businesses that do not have websites, use blogs, test on line promotion campaigns, execute effective email campaign which are all very proven and effective marketing tools. Social media sites generally completely ignored by most companies. The exceptions are wisely building brand and loyalty.

Very recently I developed the groups YouTube Mastery on Facebook and MySpace as well as the the site www.youtubemastery.net These resources are just being developed and the website is very underdeveloped. However, I have a very clear plan and once I reach that point I take action and sacrifice some perfection. People need to know about these opportunities now and begin using all the Internet tools plus traditional marketing tools in their business now. I currently advise business owners that they need to be devoting nearly 80% of their time on marketing. Part of that 80% includes working with staff and others accountable for marketing. Marketing and developing people are the two most important areas where a business owner needs to spend their time. All other responsibilities should be delegated. What if your are an entrepreneur of one. The point is still the same.

Right Now Action Steps:

1. Join the group YouTube Mastery on Facebook
2. Visit and register at www.youtubemastery.net

These two actions will result in you getting up to speed on using social media and social media video to market your business.

Sending all my readers the energy of wellness, happiness and peace.

Steve Pohlit
http://www.stevereports.com

Don’t Miss These Free Reports from my new business consulting site:

The Top 10 Action Stops That Will Make Your Business At Least 50% More Money in 90 Days or Less While You Spending Less Time Working

The Key Issues That Must Be Addressed Before You Buy Any Business of Any Size.

Click Here For The Free Report

Business Marketing Opportunities on Facebook vs MySpace

MySpace vs. Facebook Comparison Video

Jeff Hoffman prepared a nice video on the statistical differences between MySpace and Facebook. This video is about 9 minutes long and is worth the time. The comments I posted in response to this material follow:

Jeff does a real nice job of presenting data on the demographic differences between Facebook and MySpace. What is most clear to me is that the demographics of both sites are shifting rapidly. There are people who have been successful building networks on Facebook and who are now working to do the same on MySpace. So I wouldn’t ignore MySpace based on this information.

However, given limited resources, Jeff objectively delivers the message to businesses to spend time marketing on Facebook vs. MySpace. For me there remains a very serious question when considering Facebook vs. all other marketing tools. That is whether Facebook should be used at all. I don’t see compelling evidence of the value for companies spending time developing social networking on Facebook. However, I advise all companies , entrepreneurs, and solopreneurs to be actively developing a presence on at least Facebook. I offer that advice because I believe we are just at the beginning of understanding how to market effectively on social medial sites including Facebook.

Thank you Jeff for this video and I look forward to more content on this topic.

Steve Pohlit, President
IR Consulting, Inc
http://www.IRConsultingInc.com

PS One comment I failed to include is the potentially high ROI for paid advertising on Facebook and MySpace. This should be tested.

———————-

Just Released from my new business consulting site: The Key Issues That Must Be Addressed Before You Buy Any Business of Any Size.

Click Here For The Free Report

Steve Pohlit
http://www.stevereports.com

Social Media Marketing – Advice on Using Twitter From John Reese

You probably know John Reese is a very experienced credible and successful Internet marketer. I have benefited a great deal from John’s courses and newsletters. This message from John came to me by email and I am posting it here. Like John I have been skeptical about Social Media marketing including Twitter. One thing about John is that he tests everything and you will see he has been accumulating data on driving traffic to his sites and particularly his blog using Twitter. After you read John’s message come back and take these action steps:

1. set up your account at www.twitter.com
2. look up www.twitter.com/stevepohlit and follow me
3. look up www.twitter.com/johnreese and follow him
4. follow John’s guidance in adding people to follow
5. notice how people post to Twitter and start posting regularly.
(I use Ping.fm to post to Twitter and Facebook. It is supposed to update my accounts at LinkedIn and MySpace but I don’t see that working well. Maybe you will have more luck.)

Two final points from me:

1. this is part of my signature on my outgoing emails:

Network with me on

Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/4yyhf2

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/stevepohlit

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/stevepohlit

Follow me on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/stevepohlit

2. Notice how I discovered valuable content written by an authority on a topic where I have some experience added comments and now publish it on my blog – with no changes to the original message. This is another way of generating valuable content for your blog (hint, hint)

————————————————-

Email from John Reese starts now:

If you haven’t yet created a Twitter account
you’re really missing out.

This service has exploded in growth
in the past few months and I don’t see
it slowing down anytime soon. There
are now MILLIONS of users and it’s
becoming mainstream.

I’ve been running some interesting
tests and I’m already seeing some
great traffic results — far greater than
the traffic from Facebook or any
other “Web 2.0” service.

Facebook and the others certainly
have their place, but Twitter is more
powerful. At first I didn’t really “get it”
but now I do and my traffic stats
don’t lie. IT WORKS.

As a communications tool, Twitter is
probably only 2nd to Email right now.
It’s a great way to network with people
as well as to drive visitors to any of
your sites, blog posts, etc.

BUT DON’T WAIT…

Create a Twitter account NOW and
start ‘following’ people you want.
Others will eventually follow you in
return. Observe how others post
and you’ll quickly learn the culture,
etiquette, and uses for Twitter.

It’s not rocket science. In fact,
it’s a lot of fun.

You really need to start today because
the sooner you start the sooner your
followers list will start growing and more
people will see your posts — which will
then virally grow from there.

*******VERY IMPORTANT********

MAKE SURE TO FOLLOW ME!

(I’m actively posting all the time.)

Create an account then go here:
http://twitter.com/johnreese

Click the “Follow” link that shows
under my photo.

That’s it. Everytime I post you’ll
see it in your main “timeline”
area.

* After you click to “Follow” me
look at the right-hand side of
my profile page. Click the blue
“Followers” link and you can see
all the people currently following
my posts. Follow some of these
other marketers so you can get
involved.

Twitter is extremely VIRAL.
When you make posts (called
“tweets”) they can be exposed
to all the friends (followers)
of others. Then they can choose
to follow you.

I think Twitter is going to really
evolve into a “must use”
marketing tool. It’s a great way
to announce you’ve just made
a new blog post, released a
new product, or anything else
you’re up to.

I’m already seeing 400+ visitors
each time I make a tweet that
I’ve made a new blog post.

So trust me, this is no flash in
the pan. In fact, this may be
one of the most powerful marketing
tools ever — it just depends how
it evolves.

But so far you’d be crazy not to
use it. It’s producing great results.

Take 2 minutes to create an
account — heck you’ll want to
do it now so you can at least
get your name before someone
else takes it. Or your company
or product name, etc.

Just go to http://www.Twitter.com

Then visit my page at:
http://twitter.com/johnreese

———————————————

Info courtesy of Steve Pohlit

Sending all my readers the energy of vibrant health, happiness and prosperity.

Steve Pohlit
http://www.stevereports.com

Steve is the President of International Business Consulting Resources. His firm specializes in guiding companies to rapid increases in revenue and profits with a sustainable growth rate. I am building my practice and welcome new client inquiries. Call me for a fee consultation at 727-587-7871 Remember many of my business building articles can be found at Steve Reports and my prosperity building tool is The Prosperity Tool Chest

Business Blogging – Steve Reports Replies To BusinessWeek

This week BusinessWeek published a business blogging article titled Beyond Blogs. Actually it was a follow on to a business blogging article originally written in 2005 which has received a lot of attention. (Click Here to read the current Business Week article)

As a major advocate of blogs, blog technology and developments since 2005, I was very interested in what the authors had to say. Certainly there was good content in the article. My reply that follows addresses what I believe to be the number one issue on people’s minds that spend time using blogs, blogging and now participating in social networks. At the conclusion I provide the advice I give to clients. Please take a few minutes and comment on this topic.

(this is what I posted on BusinessWeek.)

Increasing numbers of people feel the value in being connected. I think many still struggle with how best to use these networks and technology. While continuing to make connecting and receiving information easier, how should a business or person best navigate this information?

In that respect I don’t think the principles of research and investing time have changed. I advise my clients (and do this myself) to focus on those key areas of business and personal interest and build from there. One very important point: this is a “givers gain” world which is a great development. Like many others I provide guidance and content that was once kept secret and came with a steep price tag.

With increasing volumes of very valuable free contet, what are people happy to pay for? The answer has been and continues to be the same. They pay for value as measured by results. I am delighted to build my practice on a results driven model. I am also very grateful for the developments of social networking, blogs and for authors who write great articles like this one for BusinessWeek.

Steve Pohlit

Steve
http://irconsultinginc.com

How To Use Multi Media For Lead Generation

It is unusual for me to watch TV. However for those of you that follow me on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace adn LinkedIn you know that I love the Stanley Cup Playoffs. While watching the most recent game I noticed an add during a commercial break that appeared to be an promotion for a home furnishings retailer. I quickly realized the promotion was for lead generation. This ad was designed specifically for viewers to request a resource on how to buy direct from over 700 manufacturers.

The promotion focused on the mark-up that retailers charge and asked “why should you pay their bills?” So this was clearly an emotionally engaging campaign. It was also targeted at anyone remodeling or building new. It also appealed to people intending on replacing home furnishings.

The focus of this ad was to motivate people to call or go to the web site to request their informational booklet. Clearly a squeeze page strategy using electronic media which in this case was TV. This was all very well done except showing home furnishing ads during a hockey game begs the question of whether this was the right program to be presenting the campaign.

While the ad was running I went over to my nearly always on computer and typed in their URL. Again – squeeze page only. The home page was there for one purpose which was to capture contact information. I was intrigued as to what they were really promoting. Is it a buying club with a monthly membership fee or something else?

I was very surprised to discover that I received a pass for an appointment to visit a physical place not more that one mile from my home and they were very specific as to the time. What is more interesting they now know my household (me) since their follow up survey wanted to confirm there was no problem having a baby sitter so I can could make the appointment. (The only baby sitter I need is for me.) They also know I am planning on at least some home furnishing replacements in the next 3-6 months. They asked and I told them.

I am likely to go to this appointment because I am very intrigued by what it is they want me to do. The location is not large enough for a showroom so my number one bet is that is is a buying club promotion. I will disclose the website with a follow up report in a few days.

In summary this is an excellent case study in lead generation. I certainly don’t know but it would not surprise me if Dan Kennedy was hired for this since he is one of the best marketers with TV media, copy and lead generation. Dan is the one who taught me how to pay attention to ads including infomercials. The effective ones on TV are effective sales letter in action. If you are interested in marketing you really should be getting Dan’s monthly newsletter. Click Here if you are interested.

This example is a great lesson in using multi-media for lead generation. TV, Phone, and the Internet are the primary tools being used and there is a mail in option presented but not emphasized. They did a good job and served as an example of why it is important to pay attention to well designed campaigns. And on that note I will ad there is no such thing as junk mail. Every piece is an opportunity to learn something even if it is what not to do.

Sending all my readers the energy of vibrant health, happiness and prosperity.

Steve
http://irconsultinginc.com

Steve is the President of International Business Consulting Resources. His firm specializes in guiding companies and their employees to achieve their highest potential. Many of Steve’s business building articles can be found at Steve Reports and his prosperity building tool is The Prosperity Tool Chest

Email Steve or call him directly at 727-587-7871

PS Don’t pass the valuable information on Blogging for Profits and How To Increase Revenue and Profits by 30% or More In 90 Days or Less.

6 Steps To Building Community: Steve Pohlit Reports on This Article

(The following excerpt is from an article posted on Imedia.com and my comment was written to offer guidance to those still questioning the value of communities or wondering how to participate. Steve Pohlit)

Jim Lynch Writes For Imedia:

The secret — the message is more important than the mechanics
There are many new and old media tools that you can use to manage your community. No doubt, these tools are important. But remember, it’s the message that attracts, nurtures and grows your membership. It?s the message that will ultimately enable you to realize the business value of a B2C or B2B community. Your message needs to be targeted, relevant, interesting, differentiating and compelling for your audience.

Communities are an exciting new way for businesses to connect with their markets. You can build your own or plug into influential communities of people with a vested interest in your success. Don’t wait to get started. Learn as you go and refine your strategy based on what you learn. This is a great opportunity for marketing professionals to deliver new breakthrough programs.

Steve Reports:

Excellent Jim – you have clearly articulated the essential elements of facilitating a community and building a relationship with the community. I appreciate the examples of Dove and Oracle in your article.

I think for smaller companies and entrepreneurs, they may be wondering how to best develop the value of a community. My current thinking is to research the social networks with relevant members like Facebook, LInkedIn and MySpace and build your network. Also join relevant groups and start your own group. At http://www.actionplantracker.com there is free guide for Facebook and the steps are easily adaptable to other social networks.

Most people do not appreciate the significance of your message but a growing number of business leaders are beginning to include transparency within a relevant community as a priority on their list of business development initiatives.

Again my compliments on an an outstanding article and message.

Be well and wishing you continued success,

Steve
http://www.stevereports.com

Part 3 (Final For Now) Steve Pohlit's Response To Patsi Krakoff's (The Blog Squad) Question: Is Social Networking A Wast of Time?

In Part 1 the size of the social networking market today was introduced with specific reference to the rapid rise of Facebook in just over three years. Successful social networking includes opening the doors to your life. This seemed natural for the early adopters of social networking, but for many others today,it is not and is still not natural. I pointed out the leadership role John Reese has taken to introducing Facebook to his huge list and beginning to share parts of his previously well guarded life. John’s posture as well as others has a ripple effect on the business community.

In Part 2 I disclosed that relationships are the primary reason I feel social networking is a valuable use of time. I remind myself and share this view with you that in any relationship, you have to do your part. I accept total responsibility for those relationships that have fallen by the wayside in my life. I am not repeating those mistakes including ones developed in my world of social networking. People active on the social networking sites are giving and giving and giving more. That is real positive energy circulating. I have chosen to be with that energy flow.

In the last of this series I am opening the door to the more notable of my experiences in just three weeks of being active on Facebook. I am not holding anything back. There have been many wonderful experiences. I didn’t maintain a list and will probably remember others after this is published. These will provide you a good view of my experience in a short time. Sequentially:

1. I posted pictures of an event in Orlando and immediately a person who I have tremendous respect for messaged me and asked “Steve where is the car?” I then knew that John Reese was following certain information I was posting. The car was John’s Lamborghini. I have a picture of me and John with his car from that event. I found the picture and posted it. That brief communication reinforced for me that I wanted to make sure that everything I was posting would be viewed in a positive light by whomever decided to read it.

2. Travis Greenlee published a series of videos on growing your network on Facebook. He did a terrific job and I spent 30 minutes watching his series and taking notes. I developed an action plan tracker from those videos that I posted to the Action Plan Tracker site. I began working those action steps. Travis liked it – I am not sure that many of the 2,000 people in his network paid that close attention to his work . Welcome to the world of social networking. You can put the value out there but most people will not pay attention to it. We still live in a “give me the magic pill” society. I digress.

3. I developed the site Prosperity Tip. This is the front end for The Prosperity Now Program under development and the associated Prosperity Tool Chest which is the most powerful tool for transforming your life if that is something you want to do. That background is important because right about the time I was becoming active on Facebook I was finishing the book The Moses Code by James Twyman. There are no coincidences and one of my new friends was talking about Facebook Groups. So I thought I would look up The Moses Code group and it wasn’t formed. I formed it immediately. The next morning there were maybe 6 members with me and my daughter representing 2 out the 6. One of the other members is the author – how cool is that? You can join a group on Facebook reflecting your interests and start one of your own. I notice that there are a huge number of groups. Many are started and few are that active and stay on topic. If you start one, stick to the original purpose.

4. Authors I highly respect are in my network: Joe Vitale, Deepak Chopra, Joe Sugarman, John Assarof, James Twyman to name a few. Of course there are experts who are not on Facebook but many are. Do not hesitate to approach anyone to network with you. Sending them a note that you enjoy their work goes a long way to receiving a reply.

5. Nikhil Satija and I became Facebook friends. One day I noticed a short post from Nikhil and checked out what he was doing. That led to a unique joint venture for promoting a high ticket product. There is more information at his group Million Dollar Business on Facebook and at the page I webpage I set up to introduce people to this idea. ( Click Here ) Today we are working together on developing traffic flow and that is fun.

6. Another post led me to Bubble Ply . Now imagine the likelihood of paying attention to a name like that. Well this post from a FB friend led me to that site and all I can say is wow. I posted an article about this or should I say I demonstrated this technology in a post Titled “Nobody Is Talking About This …Is This off The Charts or What? ”

(Remember I am writing about things that have happened in just the last three weeks of being active on Facebook)

7. I learned about Twitter and can follow some of the activity of interesting people. Just this week I learned how to sync Twitter with Facebook using an application on Facebook called twittersync. Guess where I learned that? Correct a Facebook friend led me to that solution. Candidly I am sure about Twitter but I am active with it and I will likely write about Twitter at some future date.

8. My friends introduce me to games and applications that I never would have given any thought to. Realistically I decline many of those invitations. While they may be interesting, like many other people I make choices as to how I will use my time. However, several of those recommendations I am experimenting with and one of them looks to be very powerful and is in the category of “I can’t believe more people are not in a buzz about this!” What is it? See the next item on the list.

9. One of my newest friends is Michael Wolf. He is CEO of a UK based company that has developed a very fascinating application that assists people in 1.) Promoting their expertise 2.) Finding people for projects and 3.) Researching a question or issue. Currently this is a Facebook application. It appears to be very new as there are some technical challenges still being worked out. I am in touch with Michael and have given him details that may help his company work out the remaining issues. I will be writing an Action Plan Tracker on this application when the technical issues are worked out and I have more experience with it. What is interesting to me is that this application falls within the scope of another business model idea I had developed within 24 hours of Michael contacting me to be his friend. A great example of the Law of Attraction working.

10. I wrote about this in Part 2 and clearly this last item is the number one reason I am active with Facebook. I have 400+ more direct connections around the world than I had three weeks ago. I feel that I know a number of them quite well and our relationships are growing closer. This connection feels real good to me. One of the key principles I have taught in The Prosperity Now Program is that to me our main goal is being at peace. Yes we deserve all this world has to offer but I we are not at peace with who we are and what we have, all the money and what that can buy means nothing. At some point all of us leave all the stuff behind and what remains is our footprint on the soul of others.

Patsi, you are a wonderful lady and thank you for asking the question. I had no idea my answer would lead to a three part series, but I loved sharing this with everyone.

The close of this series is one that I use for my Prosperity Tip readers:

May you experience your pure potentiality and live the life of your dreams.

Steve Pohlit, Business Development Consultant and Coach
http://www.stevereports.com

Part 3 (Final For Now) Steve Pohlit’s Response To Patsi Krakoff’s (The Blog Squad) Question: Is Social Networking A Wast of Time?

(Remember I am writing about things that have happened in just the last three weeks of being active on Facebook)

Patsi, you are a wonderful lady and thank you for asking the question. I had no idea my answer would lead to a three part series, but I loved sharing this with everyone.

The close of this series is one that I use for my Prosperity Tip readers:

May you experience your pure potentiality and live the life of your dreams.

Steve Pohlit, Business Development Consultant and Coach
http://www.stevereports.com

Part 2: My Response To The Blog Squad's Question Is Social Networking A Waste of Tme

Consider there are a lot of people who are not on social networking sites and don’t even know what you mean when you mention it. At a recent meeting of 70 people in the age range of 20-75 with most in the age group of 40-60, I was mentioning Facebook and asked how many knew what I was talking about? 20% maybe knew and 10% used it. I think that number is representative for that age group and there are reports issued validating the number of users is growing each month.

Here is a peak at my experience with growing a network on Facebook. In literally three weeks my friends on Facebook grew from 9 to 389. In my network I estimate more than 90% of the people are most concerned about what they do and have no interest in what I do after we are connected. Many (and I have done this when I started) use the Facebook system to add numbers of “friends”. When I scan my friends list and the friends of a friend list I notice very few people have posted any recent news. This tells me there is a huge group of people not very active on Facebook – maybe 90%. I am a great example. I have been a member of Facebook for about two years and have been active for three weeks.

My conclusion is that the majority of people on line are not aware of social networking sites and of the people on these sites the majority are not active. That leads me to think that for people interested in developing business, spending time on social networks is a total waste of time like Patsi suspects. But wait a minute…

Social networking on line is only a little over three years old. The initial crowd was mostly college students and to some extent people in counter mainstream niche markets. That has changed. If you do a search on your favorite author, entrepreneur, spiritual leader or celebrity, you are likely to find they have a profile on a social networking site like Facebook or MySpace. Every author and speaker that interests me has video clips on YouTube. Every artist that I have every researched on YouTube has videos of concerts and more on YouTube. I love what is available to me based on my interests. I also feel very good about my growing network.

Many of those people and I share the same professional and personal interests. How do I know that? I have formed a couple of groups and people join. They wouldn’t do that if they didn’t have an interest.

Today there will be over 400 people who can view my profile, see a few pictures and understand my professional and personal interests. I have reviewed the profiles and commented no many of them. Every new person in my network receives a detailed message from me that includes a sincere offer to help them with ideas if I can. I have received almost zero notes in response to my offer.

I also openly tell everyone I am interested in building my client base and an ideal client for me falls into one of two categories: First a company in the retail, manufacturing, distribution, hospitality, construction or transportation industry that has 25 or more employees. Companies fitting that profile are ones where I use my on site program The Profit System for increasing their revenue and profit by 30% or more in 90 days or less. Second: for smaller businesses I am offering a coaching program that leads them through many of the same processes used for the large companies, only I am doing more of that work remote so it is affordable for the small business owner, entrepreneur and solopreneur (a term I learned on Facebook) And more than 400 new friends are recognizing that I offer very nice referral fees for new business.

By the end of May my network will be greater than 1,000 and there will be an increasing number of people from countries outside of the US who are Facebook friends with me. Will all of this mean more business? I have no idea. What is most important to me are the relationships I am forming. Do I have a relationship with each person in my network. Yes but the relationships just like anywhere else vary based on our respective interests and points of view.

I will tell you an interesting story about the lady who asked the question that resulted in me writing this series …Patsi Krakoff. I have known of Patsi for a couple years because I am a subscriber to The Blog Squad Blog (and you should be too Click Here ). As new friends on Facebook I noticed several videos Patsi posted for her Facebook friends network and… well let’s just say a bright, articulate, attractive woman gets the attention of this single man. So I sent her a polite message that included the question: are you married? Patsi’s reply was wonderful. I truly felt she was flattered that I asked and then she let me know that she was very happily married. Of course I wish her and her husband bliss forever. Patsi and I are now a little bit closer from sharing that communication. You just never know what might happen on a social networking site.

I know from personal experience that for anything to develop, personally or professionally it is important for a person to be out there, sincere and have it in their hearts to contribute to the development of the community. With that posture the energy that returns is wonderful. I believe if you sit on the sidelines you are going to witness the spacecraft take off and not be on it.

In Part 3 I will conclude my response to Patsi’s question with information on a number of experiences in just three weeks of being active on Facebook. Remember this is just one site. You are not going to want to miss this article since what I have to share actually is quite stunning even for me to think about yet alone write.

Don’t miss Part 3 and all the future editions of Steve Reports. Subscribe to my blog (top right hand corner of this page) and the articles are delivered right to your email. How cool is that?

Until then consider this:

“The significant problems that we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them. ” Albert Einstein

Steve Pohlit, Business Development Consultant and Coach
http://www.stevereports.com

Part 2: My Response To The Blog Squad’s Question Is Social Networking A Waste of Tme

Don’t miss Part 3 and all the future editions of Steve Reports. Subscribe to my blog (top right hand corner of this page) and the articles are delivered right to your email. How cool is that?

Until then consider this:

“The significant problems that we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them. ” Albert Einstein

Steve Pohlit, Business Development Consultant and Coach
http://www.stevereports.com

Part 1: Response To The Blog Squad's Question Is Social Networking A Waste of Time

I enjoy blogs and one of my favorite sites is operated by Denise Wakeman and Patsi Krakoff professionally known as The Blog Squad.

Their latest post addresses the value of social networking sites. If you are not exactly sure what social networking sites are look at Facebook, Twitter, My Space, You Tube for starters. I read that Facebook gets more traffic per month than Google and has an estimated value of $15 billion. Facebook started in 2004 so in less than four years having an estimated value of $15 billion is a great success story.

Valuation is not the important topic today except that it is an indicator of worldwide demographic trends of people connecting with people. If you spend any time at all on Facebook, MySpace or the other popular sites you will quickly understand that people are opening their previously private lives to the world. Of course there are text profiles, website links and more. What is really interesting are the pictures being posted and personal videos. Just yesterday John Reese, a very successful business professional and expert in the field of Internet marketing whose work I value tremendously, published pictures of his home inside and out. John has been very private about his personal life but is now cracking the door open on social networking sites.

Books and courses are being written about the value of social networking sites. However Patsi from The Blog Squad suggests this may all be a waste of time. She writes in part

“Last year at BlogHer Business, we heard about
Twitter. Just for fun, we both set up an account.
But it never caught on, or at least it didn’t for
me. Then I go over to Biz Tips Blog and find out
Denise has been sucked in. Even Leesa Barns of
Podcasting fame is in love with Twitter. Again,
I’m not convinced.

Curmudgeon and introvert, I’m now accepting new
friends into Facebook even though I’m not
convinced yet it will bring big business rewards.

So Denise and I are in two camps on these new
social sites for now: She’s convinced it’s worth
it, I’m still skeptical and am waiting to see how
it all shakes out.”

Patsi raises the question that has been in a lot of people’s mind. Is time on social networks time well spent? My answer is a resounding yes it is time well spent. The reason for my answer is likely to surprise you. In Part 2 of my response, I open the doors as to why social networking is very valuable. If you want this delivered right to your email you will subscribe to my blog

Until then consider this “The significant problems that we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them. ” Albert Einstein

Steve Pohlit, Business Development Consultant and Coach
http://www.stevereports.com

Part 1: Response To The Blog Squad’s Question Is Social Networking A Waste of Time

I enjoy blogs and one of my favorite sites is operated by Denise Wakeman and Patsi Krakoff professionally known as The Blog Squad.

Books and courses are being written about the value of social networking sites. However Patsi from The Blog Squad suggests this may all be a waste of time. She writes in part

Curmudgeon and introvert, I’m now accepting new
friends into Facebook even though I’m not
convinced yet it will bring big business rewards.

So Denise and I are in two camps on these new
social sites for now: She’s convinced it’s worth
it, I’m still skeptical and am waiting to see how
it all shakes out.”

Until then consider this “The significant problems that we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them. ” Albert Einstein

Steve Pohlit, Business Development Consultant and Coach
http://www.stevereports.com

Stephen Prierce Asks What Would You Do?

The lessons from Stephen Pierce at his blog DTalpha are excellent . Click Here listen to the message and my response below will make more sense to you. Stephen welcomes all comments

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The answers come when we are grounded on who we are. Anger, resentment, stress serve no purpose other than to make us sick and in some cases become the source for some disease. However, all of us have traditional programming so while we still have an ego driven reaction it is best to let time pass in a situation like the letter which could be similar to a challenging situation with your child, job, business or someone you just met at a service station.

The severity of the situation will guide you to the time you need and the support of others. There is no substitute for a powerful network. My career accelerated the fastest when there was a continual stream of terrific people coming into my life. Now my business position is different but there is no shortage of outstanding people. Stephen Pierce for example provides guidance here and I am networked with him on www.facebook.com as well a other terrific people (join us).

On a higher level, for me it has been important to make a commitment to a life of peace and happiness. See several recent posts on this at http://www.prosperitytip.com

Wellness, happiness and prosperity to all
Steve
http://www.asktheconsultant.biz

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There are two reasons why companies ask me for business consulting assistance:
1. They know what to do but want an independent third party experienced business development consultant to drive the process as that approach demonstrates management’s commitment to achieving the goals.
2. Management understands the need for improved performance and understands they do not have the experience to implement what is required.
3. There is actually a third reason and that is where a business is in a crises situation and turnaround business consulting procedures need to be implemented fast. Nobody likes that situation, even the consultant. However, many companies can be salvaged with the right action. Think of the what goes into action when a person has a heart attack. Timing and action are the differences between life and death.

Be Well and Prosper,
Steve Pohlit
Business Development Consulting
Steve Pohlit has more than 20 years experience running very large and medium sized companies. Steve consults with clients to design and implement processes that will deliver improved business performance for the long term. Learn more about the process of Increasing Profits by 30% or More In 90 Days or Less by visiting 10 Minute MBA or you can call 727-587-7871 and speak with Steve directly. Have a question? Click Here To Visit Ask The Consultant