People do business with those they know, like and trust – this is true online and offline. I believe you should communicate with your website visitors because that’s where the money is. Effective communication doesn’t require thousands of dollars, the latest technology or high-end graphics. In this podcast I’ll share three simple – yet highly effective – steps to make your website work (and sell) for you.

 

 How to Make your Website Work (and Sell) for You [Metromom Podcast] [5:04m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The best thing about online marketing is that it allows you to create relationships with more people than you would normally come into contact with. Kim DeYoung, a mom entrepreneur with loads of internet savvy, explains the need to communicate effectively online so people get a sense of who you are. She shares exactly what you need to accomplish with your website and the tools you must use to maximize the benefits of marketing your business online.

 

 5 Tools Every Mom Entrepreneur Must Have to Market Her Business Online [Metromom Podcast] [7:44m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Email remains one of the most powerful (and inexpensive) marketing tools at your disposal. It’s a critical  component in building relationships with your target audience. The problem is that email can be a HUGE drain on your time, and busy mom entrepreneurs don’t have a lot of time to spare.

That’s why understanding and utilizing autoresponders is really important if you want to maximize the time and energy you spend on email. An autoresponder is basically a computer program that automatically answers e-mail sent to it. This process saves you countless hours because the email autoresponder message is always working for you.

I decided to invest my time and energy into understanding the ins-and-outs of autoresponders. I also interviewed Jennifer Haubein of Best Biz Website Solutions at the Metromom Online Success Telesummit to get even more ideas since she’s an expert at automation.

I want to share with you the three main benefits we have personally discovered when it comes to using autoresponders….

1. Help you utilize pull (instead of push) marketing – When you give your website visitors something of value such as a free irresistible offer, like a report or e-course, you’re using pull marketing. Once they sign-up for your offer and provide you with their email address, your goal is to not just give them your report but to use autoresponders to provide ongoing value.

2. Enhance your customer service – It’s hard to respond to each and every customer in a timely way. This is especially true on the internet because your website is working 24/7 when you can’t or don’t want to. Utilizing autoresponders allows you to communicate with your customers effortlessly, and on their schedule.

3. Allow for effortless and consistent follow-up – Studies repeatedly show that it takes 7-9 contacts on average before a person is willing to buy your product or service. That’s a considerable amount of follow-up and an autoresponder can do all of this for you.

Autoresponders can help you build relationships through targeted marketing and first-class customer service. Once you set it up, it runs on autopilot so you can focus on other aspects of growing your business (or spend more time on yourself and your family).

If you want more information on the best software options or how to set-up email campaigns, you can listen to my interview with Jennifer Haubein from the Telesummit – How to Build Relationships and Save Time Through Automated Email Campaigns (you’ll also get the transcript and my personal notes).

For two days (48 hours total) on Friday May 1st and Saturday May 2nd, 18 speakers will share their wisdom about taking your online business to the next level. Not only is the content incredibly “how-to” focused but it’s F^REE. You’ll have the opportunity to learn from speakers such as Nancy Marmolejo, Michele PW, Victoria Colligan, Shannon Cherry, Alicia Forest, Laura West, Gina Bell & more. Enjoy the video and learn more by visiting this page.

Learn more by visiting: http://MetromomTelesummit.com

With our current economy, you’ve probably been hearing a lot of bad news lately. Well, I want to share some good news with you. Women entrepreneurs, especially moms, are harnessing the power and flexibility of internet marketing to design businesses and lifestyles on their own terms. They’re making millions of dollars working-at-home on their own schedule.

Take a look at a recent article in Time magazine about our changing times, “At no other time in recent history has it been easier or cheaper to start a new kind of company.” The article goes on to discuss the advantages of Web-based businesses that cost almost nothing to get off the ground and can turn into great moneymakers.

Whether you want to get a new business off the ground or just want to use the Internet to expand your current business income, you need more than great ideas. Basically, there are the three things you must know in order to grow your business and maximize your time and energy.

• You need to know which internet marketing strategies will work best for your business.
• You need to be building your team because you can’t go it alone.
• You need to start implementing proven systems that will get the money pouring in.

If you’re serious about taking your business to the next level I hope you’ll join me for on May 1st & 2nd for the F^REE Metromom Online Success Telesummit. It really is F^REE to listen to 18 online marketing experts (like Nancy Marmolejo, Shannon Cherry, Beth Schneider, Michele PW, Alicia Forest) share the latest techniques and creative ways to build your business and thrive in this new economy.  During the Summit you can listen to what you want, when you want (completely around your schedule) so there isn’t a single reason why you shouldn’t check it out.  #mtmm09

In preparation for the Metromom Online Success Telesummit on May 1^st and 2^nd, I’ve been very busy interviewing 18 internet marketing experts, and quite honestly I’m amazed by the quality of content they’re providing. What really struck me yesterday was the constant underlying theme that kept coming up from all of the experts – the importance of being authentic in your marketing.

I heard it from Nancy Marmolejo as she talked about social networking, Michele PW as she shared copywriting tips, and Wendy Maynard as she discussed blogging. They all said basically the same thing – the key to being successful online is to be authentic and create relationships that are mutually beneficial.

A mom entrepreneur that I find especially inspirational – because of her authenticity – is Amy Miyamoto. As a mother of 3-year old twins, Amy is (in my mind) the ultimate Metromom! She will also be speaking at the Telesummit on How to Leverage the Power of Social Media to Create a Community of Raving Fans and Still Have Time for Your Family and Yourself.

I love the way Amy is promoting her talk. She created the YouTube segment above to explain what she’ll be sharing.  What really appeals to me about video messages is that I find it to be a great medium to let your personality shine through. (FYI – Amy will share how she created this message really quickly.)

If doing business authentically and on your own terms is important to you, you don’t want to miss hearing from these experts. Visit this page to learn more about what they’ll be sharing. #mtmm09

Men make up 82% of the recession’s job losses, which means countless women are out there looking for work to make up for the lost paycheck. The problem is it’s almost impossible to find a job right now, so for many women their only hope is to get a home-based business up and running as quickly as possible. The internet provides these women with endless options and increased flexibility.

I strongly believe that having a website is now a necessity for every entrepreneur – even for the mom working part-time in her basement. I’m in the same situation as many women, since my husband lost his job five months ago. I understand the challenges facing work-at-home moms. “Most women I speak with are overwhelmed with the internet – they’ve heard about great tools like blogs, Twitter, Facebook, podcasts, and YouTube but don’t know where to start. They don’t want to waste time on things that won’t have a direct impact on their bottom line.” Due to the monumentally increased financial pressure on moms, these women need help figuring out how to use the internet to generate an income quickly.

With so many struggling, I’ve decided to host a virtual Telesummit to help as many women as possible learn how to use the internet to prosper and profit. I chose a Telesummit as the ideal way for women to learn without travel costs and time away from their family. On May 1st and 2nd women worldwide can access trainings from eighteen highly-respected, nationally-recognized online experts who’ve agreed to share their best internet marketing strategies for absolutely no charge. (Speakers include: Nancy Marmolejo, Michele PW, Alicia Forest, Victoria Colligan and Beth Schneider)

Women (and men) will be able to access free training seminars by calling from their phone or by listening via the Internet. Learn more about the Metromom Online Success Telesummit taking place May 1st and 2nd.  #mtmm09

Since I have so many mom entrepreneurs out there “tweeting” about the upcoming Metromom Online Success Telesummit I decided to use my own hashtag – #MTMM09 – to keep track of the conversations. (If you’re a fan of Twitter you’ve seen hashtags within tweets. They are created by prefixing a word with a hash symbol: #hashtag. Hashtags were developed as a means to create “groupings” on Twitter.)

Please check http://search.twitter.com/search?q=mtmm09 to see any conversations going on about the Telesummit right now… Feel free to retweet!

So, are tweets, hashtags, retweets etc. a complete waste of time or can you really leverage the power of social media and monetize your time? I’m really looking forward to two speakers who will be addressing this exact topic during the Metromom Online Success Telesummit on May 1^st and 2^nd.

Amy Miyamoto @lotusamy will talk about, “How to Leverage the Power of Social Media to Create a Community of Raving Fans and Still Have Time for Your Family and Yourself.” As a mother of 3-year old twins herself, Amy is committed to maximizing the power of social media in the least amount of time. She went from a social media novice to a devoted enthusiast and was named one of the “Top 11 Business Women to Follow” in Sarah Prout’s recent ebook “Twitter Inspiration” in a matter of a few short months.

Here’s what Amy will be sharing:

· What is the #1 thing you MUST do before getting started with Social Media

· The 3 most powerful types of friends/followers to have and why

· The 5 key types of tweets/posts that you must include in order to create a community of raving fans

· The one essential component for maximizing your Social Media success that most people are missing

· The top 3 ways to leverage your social media impact in the least amount of time

I’m also thrilled that Social Networking Strategist, Nancy Marmolejo @nancymarmolejo, will share her “magic secrets” of turning social networking followers into fans and fans into pre-sold leads during her presentation on, “How to Turn Followers into Fans (and Fans Into Leads!)”

Nancy is one of the leading experts on social networking and she’ll share:

· Expert tips on setting up a strong social networking presence so you stand out from your peers and competition

· The 4 Parts of the Social Marketing Cycle that turns followers into fans and fans into leads

· The big 2-part strategy you need to stay consistent and memorable

· Big mistakes social networkers make that cost you fans, followers, leads, and sales (you can’t afford to miss this part!)

· Cutting edge techniques to connect authentically with your market and the tools to get it done

So if you’re serious about taking your business to the next level I hope you’ll join me on May 1st & 2nd. It’s FREE to listen to these calls by Amy and Nancy and many more… Make sure you check out what my other All-Star experts will be sharing at The Metromom Online Success Telesummit. This is the first and last time I’ll ever get all of these INCREDIBLE experts sharing their time and expertise in this way-so you don’t want to miss it! #MTMM09

Sometimes we hesitate to move forward with our business because we’re afraid that we just don’t have enough experience or skills to implement our ideas. What I’ve learned is that if you know WHAT needs to be done, you can always get help on HOW to get it done.

I’m experiencing the truth of this as I put together the Metromom Online Success Telesummit #mtmm09 that’s coming on May 1st and 2nd. It’s a BIG, multi-faceted event – like nothing I’ve ever done before – so I have little hands-on experience, but I’m loving every minute of it.

Here are the things that help me as I navigate through this new experience:

• Benefiting from the confidence, excitement and support from my team and mastermind friends.
• Utilizing of past experiences that relate to organizing information, content and people.
• Focusing on my end goal of providing women the online information they’re looking for based on my survey results.
• Not worrying about perfection, but more importantly taking action.
• Thrilled at the quality of people who are agreeing to participate.

There are moments of stress (and waking up in the middle of the  night wondering about details I might have missed) but I’m really enjoying the process. We all have doubts about our lack of experience running a business or expanding in some way. And, while experience is important, resourcefulness has a BIGGER impact on your long-term success.

I really want you to benefit from all of my resources and learn how to get the MOST out of your time and energy with a knock-out internet marketing strategy. Please sign up for the Metromom Online Success Tele-summit for F.R.E.E.! #mtmm09

p.s. – a great thing that’s come out of this is that I’m chronicling all my learning through this telesummit process into an information product to share with others about all the steps involved. Stay tuned…

Have you been trying to figure out how to make the internet work for you? Do you have questions on how to use blogs, social networking, web design and more?

In the process of building my own website – and an entire internet marketing strategy – I’ve found great tools and strategies for success but it was a lot of work. Instead of a single source, I found the tips scattered throughout various books, info products, teleseminars and one-on-one coaching sessions. My learning process has been very time-consuming!

My friends, family and platinum clients are amazed at the knowledge I’ve assimilated and quickly put into action. Basically, when it came to online success – I really enjoy trying different strategies to see what works and what doesn’t.

I recently decided I want to make it easier for other women to gather that information and put together their own formula for online success. Which leads me to my upcoming Metromom Online Success Telesummit…

I’ve been hearing from so many women who want advice on developing and maximizing a website presence. So I decided to gather together a tele-series of great speakers that are online experts – so that you busy Metromoms can have a conference from the comfort of your own home.

This summit is guaranteed to provide you with specific strategies for success. You’ll walk away with the information you need to take your business to the next level.

Sign up for more info about our fantastic line-up of topics and speakers.