Here For The Party?? Me too!

I've been hearing the Buzz on the mommy blogosphere about 5 Minutes for Mom's 2009 Ultimate Blog Party. I decided that this year I need to participate because it's about the true meaning of social media--developing relationships.

How does this happen? By getting to know others on the blogosphere.

How do you get to know a group of virtual strangers? By visiting, reading and commenting on other blogs of interest.

It doesn't matter if you're a newbie or a guru, a mom or not. (this year, EVERYONE is welcome!) You can literally let your inner "Rock Star" loose and chances are there's someone at the UBP who will become your groupie! lol...

If you're new to Millionaire Moms Inc, WELCOME! If you'd like to read about me you can get a brief look at my "blood, sweat, and tears" journey in business while juggling it ALL--just like most of you!

I welcome the opportunity to share, to learn, to reach out, to lift up and have a FABULOUS time getting to know you all. Look for my comments on YOUR blogs too! I give LINK LOVE any time that I can!

If you have questions, give a holler! Comments are WELCOMED and reciprocated! (Hint! Hint!)

Charm School For Networking Organizations

Here's the story...

A few weeks back, I attended an evening mixer for a well known national business organization who shall remain nameless. (Why shall they remain nameless? Because they don't deserve any press from me--or you for that matter.) It's the PRINCIPLE violated that I want to cover that really matters. But I digress...

At the mixer, there was a person whose sole function for the organization is to meet and greet both new AND prospective members. Considering that 200+ people were crammed into a restaurant like "sardines"--this would prove no easy task. I get that.

HOWEVER, since when did it become OK to assume (based on a LESS than 10 second introduction) that you know everything you need to know about what someone's business entails? (To be fair, I was introduced by a counterpart by my name, owner of business name and title of social media consultant. Yes, my friend also referred to me as a 'social media guru', but I actually enjoyed that title. Who am I to burst her bubble? lol.)

I mean, really! Yes, I "get" that some are ignorant of the important role that social media can and should play in marketing. To ASSUME is one thing. To VERBALIZE this, as one board liaison did that very evening, is another.

Not only was I subjected to a 10 minute rant by a 'member liaison' about how "social media" (not poor supervision on his part of his employees downloading stuff from the net on company time) caused his store computer to become infected with all sorts of 'viruses', but the assumptions continued in a "follow-up" email I received today from the prospective member liaison.

The beginning was nice enough. The usual formalities of "it was nice to meet you" and "I want to learn more about your business BECAUSE" were followed by what I feel was a veiled slight of,
"my CHILDREN have Twitter and Facebook accounts" and that "more and more people are socializing on the internet." Wow! She really "gets" how I help companies increase their online presence, brand recognition, sales, profits and customer service. After all if CHILDREN can do this, then why can't I?? (Yes, that smacks of sarcasm and for good reason!)

It never ceases to amaze me that others still don't realize that we ALL act at one time or another in a "sales" capacity--whether or not it is in our job description.

Sales 101: What's In It For THEM is what matters most!

One would think that a 'new/prospective member liaison' would realize that the FIRST order of business would be to tell me how their organization could be of benefit to my business. One would ALSO think that it would be of importance to spend a little bit of time (other than the 10 seconds already allotted) to truly understand what I DO before insulting my business. I mean if you don't KNOW what someone truly does for a living, say you don't KNOW. It shows you're honest and in today's business world, honesty goes a long way. (IMO)

Injury to insult--the bottom of the email contained an invite to join! Give me a break!

For all the talk about how some have embraced social media because it allows a degree of anonymity as it does not "require" face to face interaction (that is a nice way of implying that it does not require interpersonal realtionship skills) I say BS!

Manners are manners and my momma raised me right. I was taught that one should always ask about what's new with the other person BEFORE you move on to what's new with you! Etiquette is the same online and off. It's time that some of these business improvement organizations went to charm school.

Guess it's time for this Moxie Maven to school 'em.

Who's with me?!?

If this resonated with you, PLEASE comment. If you know someone who NEEDS to read this post, please forward it.

A Virtual High Five Is In Order!

I'm not one to toot my own horn, but it's not every day that you get featured on the blogosphere! Alexis Neely is a family lawyer, an author, a blogger, a single mother and an all around "MOXIE" kind of girl.

She started a "Having it All and Doing it All" series on her blog and sent a call out on Twitter for applicants. So, I responded with my "little" story and thought nothing more about it.

And guess who her FIRST featured mom is???

ME!

I can't believe it. I'm honored and humbled and hope that ONE mom gets a least ONE thing from my story.

Thanks for letting me give a "virtual" High Five to myself. ;-)

Walk It Out!

Some of you may not know this, but BOTH of my children were born prematurely and no one knows why. I'm doing my part to help provide funds for research. Please join me. Even $1 can make a big difference. Simply click the SPONSOR ME link to walk or donate. Thanks for your support.

10 MUST HAVE Twitter Tips

A beautiful thing about Twitter is the wealth of useful information that flows. (if you're following cool tweeps!) But if you're a newbie to Twitter, you can easily make mishaps if you don't know the "twetiquette". I've compiled a TOP 10 List of MUST HAVE Tips to help you out. Feel free to add your own in the comments.

Twitter Tips

1. Be yourself, but be aware. Yes, you can say whatever you feel like saying, but remember that whatever you write will exist in the world wide web forever! Proceed with extreme caution. The place to vent about your boss, company or co-workers is NOT here.

2. Engage and Interact with others. If you like something they say, reply by clicking the little grey arrow that appears when you hover over one of their tweets. (If you're using Tweet Deck, simply hit the @reply tool) You can also simply type in @username (replacing "username" with whatever their username happens to be on Twitter). This is the way you speak to someone on Twitter. Even BETTER than the @reply is the RT, or Re-Tweet. Tweeple (twitter people) are MORE likely to read a RT because if you thought it was cool enough to send to YOUR followers, then possibly they will to. It's a great little trick for getting followers.

3. Follow celebrities. They may never interact with you, but at least you can interact with them. It's no longer a question of who is on Twitter -- but who ISN'T on Twitter. Common interests build relationships. Celebrities and/or those who follow them are no different.

4. Third Party Applications Are A MUST! If you're Tweeting from the twitter home page, you're behind the times. Did you know that you can Twitter from your desktop, your iphone or blackberry? Twitter allows programmers to create tools to make using Twitter a better experience for us all. There's Twitterrific, TweetDeck, and Twhirl -- just to name a few. My personal preference is Tweet Deck.

5. Follow New People Daily Don't know who to follow? A quick search for some of your favorite things on search.twitter.com will quickly reveal who you should be following on Twitter. Maybe they'll follow you back! You can also use Twello (it's like the yellow pages of Twitter) I don't recommend "auto follow" apps because it defeats the purpose of Twitter: transparency and authenticity.

6. Follow government officials. Check to see if your elected officials are Tweeting. http://tweetcongress.org Regardless of what political views you have, you have to admit that the Obama campaign dominated social media--especially Twitter.

7. Ask the Twitterverse Twitter is all about giving FIRST--especially helpful information. If you have a need, a question or need a resource, ask the Twitterverse. News and information travels at the speed of light there!

8. Tweetups I've successfully connected OFFLINE with Twitter connections that started online. Not only have I made friends but I've developed strategic business alliances and gained new clients. ALL FOR FREE using Twitter. Simply put, a Tweetup is a gathering of fellow Twitter users in your local community. If you don't have one in your area, start one!

9. NO AUTOMATIC Follower Getters! I know it SOUNDS tempting when you read the ads. "Get 15,000 followers in 30 days." But ask yourself this, how are you REALISTICALLY going to interact with all those people? And are they REALLY listening to you? Probably not. Choose who you follow (and unfollow) YOURSELF. You'll thank me for it as you develop REAL connections.

10. Use Twetiquette! The same courtesies you give offline also apply online. DON'T BE THAT GUY OR GIRL! What I mean is this: Don't send people links to buy your stuff UNTIL they ask for it! Twitter is a NETWORKING tool, not a sales tool. The sales part comes AFTER you develop and cultivate your new relationships. Ask people being to know, like and trust you you will find they are more open to learning about your product or service.

Can Social Media Efforts Be Measured?

I was recently asked if social media efforts can be measured. In fact a client of mine shared that she feels as though she's been "spinning her wheels" simply because she hasn't yet seen what she deems a fruitful relationship (i.e. new sales partner) develop from her efforts.

My client feels this sense of what I call "The Treadmill Effect"(where you are contstantly running, but never seem to arrive anywhere) because her efforts are not entirely targeted or purposeful. Therefore, she has not accomplished her goal. Simply stated, it is because she did not start with the end in mind.

To really "dig" into the processes that can be measured, I came across this great article today. This quote gets to the heart of the matter:

"I’m going to take the last bit of this mammoth post to say something critically important. Every single metric above - every single one - is tied to something else that doesn’t have it’s own metric. It’s the strength of the relationships between people. That’s nearly impossible to put on any kind of yardstick, but it’s the underpinning of ALL of these things. Better relationships drive better business, period. You may not be able to measure the relationships themselves, but all of the metrics above are indications - the results, if you will - of how well you’ve cultivated those relationships on a human level."

Get A Yardstick, Mar 2009
Read the entire article. You will thank me!

Showing Up Differently?

For the first time in a long time, I've been at a loss for words. Yesterday, I attended an event for the Greater Houston eWomen Network.

Hearing the founder Sandra Yancey share her story and her vision for the GLOW project, with us was moving to say the least. It is often difficult to see that those whom you aspire to emulate have once been in your shoes.

For those of you who have not had the opportunity to see the movie yet, I strongly encourage you to do so. For my Houston area readers, there will be a private screening in the coming months, so watch for my post about it. If you are not in a city where the movie is playing, you can purchase the DVD and have your own screening! EVERY woman needs to see GLOW...end of story! (And as an FYI: I gain NOTHING from sharing this with you, other than the satisfaction of knowing that it will change you as it has me.)

Simply put, GLOW is the light that we share when we lift another and though we give, we've lost nothing in the process.

Ponder that...

The concept of giving without remembering and taking without forgetting is powerful.

Sandra Yancey is humble, generous, candid and open. She shared a powerful story where she discussed the concept of showing up differently to do something the NEXT time around. This really struck a cord with me, considering that I've done this very thing by leaping off high dive to launch my dream business. I've quite literally transformed before my own eyes.

Ask yourself this:

If I could start my business all over again tomorrow, how would I show up differently this time?

The answers will amaze you!

I know that I am not doing her justice, so I will not continue to ramble on. Maybe as my thoughts clear in the next few days, I can share more.

I'd love to hear how you have shared your GLOW with another or how another has shared her GLOW with you and what impact that had on you.