Business Mixer in Snohomish, WA
Being a member of LeTip gives me the opportunity to network more than just with our chapter. Every quarter various LeTip chapters host business mixers to further engage and pass business between members. This quarters business mixer is hosted by Everett’s Afternoon chapter at Victorian Manor in Snohomish Washington.
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A free alternative to hosting your own website
For many the problem of having a website stems from the fear of technology. In the early stages of the internet building a website was done by masters of html, server side hosting and a host of other magical tricks. But today’s alternatives have made it as easy as having a MySpace account. My first two sites where a MSN Space and an Advanced Access real estate website. Now I have a few blogsites, have built blogsites, blog on other professional websites and have a host of free social professional blogs and profiles.
It has taken the better part of a few years to learn all this and the biggest thing I’ve learned is it does not have to take a few years to learn. Getting an online presence is far more important today then just a few years ago especially is a slow economy. The easiest way to gain a website is to join a social professional network and complete the free profile steps.
The first place to start, and get the feel of free web advertising, is to register at www.MerchantCircle.com. MerchantCircle is an online directory designed strictly for businesses and allows its users to create a profile, list contact information, upload a picture/logo, receive testimonials and even have a blog. It’s free, easy and within a few minutes your business can be online and in a search engine friendly directory.
Still not sure where to start? Go to www.MerchantCircle.com and register. Fill out the require fields and don’t be afraid to disclose business contact information, it’s safe and secure. When you’re done hit submit at the bottom of the page and voila, you have a webpage online.
From the merchant dashboard you can navigate through the profile, add in information and further build a free website. Don’t get frustrated when things go wrong or it seems challenging to get the hang of.
Next…[EDITING POST]
It is all a learning curve but once one network is figured out other networks will fall into place.
Taking market share in a downed economy
Economical times can force businesses to make decision they would rather avoid. Typically, though exceptions are rare, companies thrive on sales of good and/or services to get through daily operations. But in challenging economic times companies need to think of avenues to pull in a fresh source of business.
It boils down to advertising and brand/name awareness. Companies that do not posses the leverage to gain and defend market share have a more difficult time drawing in consumers. It’s not because smaller companies provide inferior products or service. But quite the contrary. Small companies typically do not have a war chest to pull from to sustain long stretches of a downed market.
So what is the option? How does a smaller company fighting to stay alive gain market share while the pool of consumers continues to decrease?
Here is how. Get a marketing program together that does not take a continual influx of cash to maintain, a marketing program that takes into account available free time of a downed market and one that, as a business owner, has ownership and expertise.
Outsourcing marketing campaigns to print advertisers is inefficient, high cost and delivers minimal return. Switching to an internet driven marketing strategy will yield long term dividends. An internet marketing strategy works 24/7/365 with no interruptions, well save the intermitted server errors.
Building a Web 2.0 business blogsite is one of the most inexpensive marketing strategies a small business can have. Mapping a plan to dominate hyper local keywords and phrases makes the small business owner and instant expert authority within their realm. Consumers are driven to the website that has the most relevant and comprehensive data regarding a topic via search engines.
This idea may seem new but rest assured it’s not. Online brand building is captivating a large audience across the world and that is why on my Snohomish County real estate website the work continues to solidify the site as the authority. One strategy a site can incorporate, in which I have done (after building a SEO friendly site with quality content), is to get on local authority sites.
CitizenRain is a website built by one of the largest news companies in Washington, King5. They have a real estate page which syndicates local real estate blogs and if you look underneath the advertisement on the left you’ll find a list of those blogs. Number 5 on the list is mine. So every time I publish something it automatically gets the exposure from a trusted website, increasing exposure and decreases search engine index time. This results in a superior website when compared to other local competitors.
Strategies like this take very little time compared to the amount of market life they generate. Invest in great technology, get it exposed and it will work for you.
Another website done, can you believe it?
Well I just finished another website and this time it is for a student athlete, Jadelyn Thompson. Jadelyn is a volleyball player with a very bright future and it was a privilege to do up a Tweaked by TW Resource Group website for her. The site is pretty simple but its focus is to give a central location for college recruiters to see her in action as well as be able to contact her directly. As far as I know, I am being kept on as the webmaster to provide updates to the site. Good Luck with your future Jadelyn!!
FBI email scam…how ingenious…Not
This is too funny and is first for me. Today I received this email supposedly from the FBI. I’m not an expert on the FBI but something tells me that they do not send emails notifying beneficiaries of large sums of money. Call me stereotypical but I seem to believe that they are black tie, badge flashing, sun glass wearing, gun packing dudes that drive blacked out Suburbans. Not the email sending, money giving out, ATM address requesting computer guy. Something just does not fit does it? Here is some of the email:
We the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) United States of America have discovered through our intelligent monitoring network that you have a transaction going on as either inheritance payment, Lottery or contract payment in a tone of Millions of United States Dollars which have been approved but have not been settled.
This is to officially inform you that we have verified your contract / inheritance file after close monitoring and found out why you have not received your payment, both on your part and on the part of your debtors.
My personal favorite in the email:
A COPY OF YOUR INTERNATIONAL PASSPORT
No problem, I will get right on that. Not! These types of scam emails are common place in the tech age but being able to identify scams fast can save a lot of time and avoid a lot of turmoil. So here are five things to look for when determining if an email is real or phony bologna.
1. Is the sender more than likely to send large amounts of money to people they never met via the internet? Probably not. Large sums of money are usually handled more professionally, with credentials and proof of association with the sum of money. If it looks fake, it probably is fake.
2. Are there links in the email? Emails sent with links in the body of the text are more than likely masking their true destination. In the image below, the sender is trying to get me to login into my Paypal account, using fear tactics, and cancel the transaction. The links are fishing for login information and 100% fake. If you see these emails and you’re not sure if it is legit or not simply hover the mouse cursor over the link and the true destination is revealed.
3. Who is the sender of the email? Take a look at the email address and evaluate it. Does it look legit or are their special characters, names misspelled and/or is it from something non-related to the email content. I have seen them as close as service@paypal.com to adr76yadf@pacypal.com so be in tune with variations and adaptations.
4. Look at the subject line. Is there obscene verbage (obscene language doesn’t mean your kid has been at porn site), special characters, fear tactic remarks (ex: Your account has been suspended) or does it say “RE: Thanks for your recent inquiry” and you have not made a recent inquiry on any website.
5. Check out the verbage in the email. Are there phrases like “Attn: Honorable Beneficiary” and “Faithfully Your’s” throughout the email? I mean, who talks like that? No one I have ever met and this includes traveling abroad. If an email is using phrases and words that are completely out of the norm then something is suspicious about the email.
By taking the time to check these 5 items in an email you can avoid falling victim to email scams. W are constantly being told not give out usernames and passwords on the internet and it is a simple practice that keeps you safe and secure online. Just a simple precaution to protect one’s identity and retain peace of mind while on the internet so surf safe and be skeptical.