Just when I thought I had it all sussed and could also help my clients with with Facebook, blogging etc., now Google is coming out with a new program,  “Google + Project.”  I groaned when I saw this because I want it simple! If this takes off I will have to figure out if it will help my business or not.

The real issue here is the challenge of staying current and also not spending all of your time online doing marketing. How to figure out the balance and how to know where and when to put your focus are two questions I get asked all the time.

They are excellent questions because marketing has to be strategic and follow a system that is right for your specific business. Too many people get sucked into the online bottomless pit and hours drift by before they wake up and wonder where they are. Meanwhile a lot of other important stuff hasn’t gotten done.

The very first important thing needs to be your own marketing plan!

Without that plan you are like a leaf in the wind and not in control. Here are a few good questions to ask that will help you craft the social media part of your marketing plan.

1. Who is your niche client group and are they on Facebook, Twitter or Linked in? If you aren’t sure you need to find out. There are some people who are not plugged in to these sites at all out of choice. For example, my  orthopedic surgeon. He doesn’t have a need and he says he doesn’t have time or interest.

2.  What are the five questions your clients are asking you? In your updates make sure you give value by addressing these five questions over and over with new ideas, awarenesses and inspiration.

3.  Are you mixing mix personal with business? I use facebook 100% for business. What this means is that I only post things I am happy for my clients and other business associates to read. All of my business updates come from my Business page. My friends page updates are  more personal but still relate, and just give a fuller dimension of who I am.

4. Are you consistent? If you only go on to your sites rarely, people won’t develop a relationship with you. Real connections take time to nurture and grow. For instance, I have a Linked in group and I tend to show up there at least three times a week and stay in touch with people. It keeps the group vibrant as well.  Same with your blog posts. You don’t have to do a new one every day but you need to be regular so people will find new, fresh posts to read. This is also a way to invite people to your website. In my case my blog is a page on my larger site, so once they are reading the blog they might check out other pages as well. (hint)

5. What three sites are the best for your business? Focus on those. Too many will make you scattered and quality is better than quantity. My three are Facebook, Linked in and Biznik.  I picked these three because this is where my niche group hangs out. I do Twitter to a lesser degree as my Facebook automatically post tweets, but I don’t actually go on to Twitter to RT more than once a week. I tried more and it was too time consuming for the roi.

Answer these five questions and it will make your social media marketing much easier and you will get way better results too! In the comments below it would be great to hear what your three sites are and why you use them.

If your business is a solo gig that involves services that help people, you may have skipped doing a business plan and have focused all your energy on getting more clients, bringing in more money and trying to figure out how to do marketing that works.

You haven’t bought a franchise with a built in plan and system.

You aren’t starting a big manufacturing plant and getting a bank loan. You’re using a home office, maybe renting another small space somewhere to meet clients and possibly still have a part time job.

No one is asking for your business plan, and although you know it’s a good idea you just can’t get your head around how to do it or why it is so important.

A plan is built from a vision. A plan is simply steps toward manifesting your vision.

I regularly ask my new clients to share their business vision and plan.  Most people respond these ways:

•  A description of the lifestyle they want for themselves ultimately.
•  How many clients they want.
•  The kind of work they want to be doing.
•  The creative projects they want to develop.
•  To be able to pay the bills and stay afloat.

All of these things are good and important to think about but they are all about, what you want to be doing and how you want to be living. Your business actually has it’s own life and spirit.

When you begin a business it is similar to giving birth to a child. You need to have a vision of your child growing up to become a fully developed adult. Once you have that picture, you take steps to help your child develop in ways that assure that outcome.

Your business vision needs to include a picture of what it will be when it is fully developed.

• How much money it will generate per year.
• Where they money will come from.
• All the income streams.
• Steps to develop each of those streams.
• A fully developed marketing plan and strategy.
• Systems and organization to support the growth.

Answering those questions can be hard if you are only focused on what you want to do and how to pay your mortgage. In order to come up with these answers it requires strategic planning and visioning.

It’s really hard to do this visioning on your own, and way easier to have the support of someone who is not emotionally involved. Your own self-doubt and fears will make it hard to create a healthy vision that you can use as a template for setting goals and planning.

Chapter 5 in “Clear Your Focus Grow Your Business” is called  ”Your Money Map,”  and can help you begin this process, however when your self-doubts emerge, ask for support. Have you done a vision and plan for your business? If not what has stopped you? I would love to hear from you.

I would love to be able to share that it was a “Piece a cake,” to change my website from html to WordPress and that  it was no big deal!  However it would be not telling the real truth.

It was a huge endeavor. I compare it to remodeling a house. I’ve done that as well, and although it wasn’t fun, the end result was so worth it.

I feel the same about this process. I am thrilled with my new site and new look!  It feels great and the fact that it is done and live is the best part!

In the world of the internet, my site was old and out-dated. It was built five years ago and although I updated content and did some other adjustments along the way, the basic look was “old.”  I wanted a more contemporary site and one that reflected my business more authentically.

This new site does all of these things. The good content hasn’t changed but the presentation is now so lovely, the navigation works better, plus lots of new bells and whistles. I would love to have all of your kudos.  Please share anything with me in the comments below. I would so appreciate it!

I am going to share a few things I learned through this process that might help you if you embark on the same journey.

1. Hire the right web developer to make it happen. Don’t pick someone because they are cheaper. Pick someone because they get it, communicate easily,  keep deadlines and will be calm when you are flipping out.

2. Expect to pay more than you planned. An estimate  will state very clearly what it includes, but in truth, you may not  actually understand what that all means that point. (I didn’t, and I am somewhat smart . Until you are immersed in the project, you may not realize you need some extras beyond that estimate. It is just the way it is. It was like that when I built my house too. You have to look at it as an investment in your business that will have a return later.

3. Hire the right person for each part of the job. I wanted to change my site presentation and also improve my logo. Most of the time web developers are not also graphic artists. I hired both and as a result my site is top quality. Don’t skimp as this is such an important investment. The colors on my site were taken from the adobe photo above. It communicates “inspiration,” to me and the hues on my site reflect this energy.

4. Use the process as an opportunity to offer even more wonderful content and help to your niche clients. It’s important to provide ways for people to get involved and find help on every page!

5. I Love some of the new options like the big footer with up-coming events listed and my new blog posts. Things like this were not available five years ago. Check out the cool Facebook updates in the side bar here! Look at other websites and see what works. Think expansively. This is a new opportunity.

I especially give thanks to Jocelyn Mozak who built this site and was so  easy to work with, and Kathleen Krushas who was a master at designing the presentation. What a powerful team! Let me know if I can help any of you through this process. I have learned so much in this experience.  I invite you to look at every page and  thanks so much for leaving your comments below.

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How to take an idea and turn it into a business is exciting and also overwhelming.

Having a service that you love and you know helps people, is just a tiny piece of the puzzle. In fact, it is even smaller than tiny.

A strong business requires good products and services but that alone won’t create a lucrative business.

Do these three things and watch what happens!

1. Plant seeds. Make sure you have seeds that are healthy, perfect for your climate and will grow easily in abundance. Do you want to have a bigger, more lucrative business?. Make sure you plant seeds that are the best ones, perfect for your garden and will grow easily in abundance.

Plant a variety of seeds so you have many beautiful plants that work together to grow a large, prosperous garden. Some may not work out, but others will take off. Your seeds are your products and services and fulfill a burning need for your customers.Your seeds are also your business systems that once are in place will have strong roots and provide stability.

2. Weed your garden. Let go of plants that are using up all the energy and nutrients but not providing the garden you want. Pull them out by the roots and let go of your attachment to them. Throw them in the compost and allow them to transform and leave your garden space open for the seeds you really want to grow.

Weeds will strangle your business if you don’t keep them pulled out. They can  be clutter, poor money management, attachment to services that don’t work, and poor habits.

3. Fertilize and water. Nurture your garden with loving help and focused decisions. Use the best fertilizers and remember to water them as needed. If you don’t have time, hire a gardener to help.

In your business this can involved investing in support services, a bookkeeper, coach, assistant or mastermind group. It can mean taking the time to do the tasks that are important but not urgent, like creating your marketing plan and following it, doing strategic planning and keeping things in order.

If you do all three of these things, your garden will grow abundantly and you will have prosperity plants and provide beautiful help to many, many people.

It’s Monday morning and I have way too much stuff rattling around in my brain. It says, “Do this,” and “Me first,” and a whole variety of worries! It can feel a bit like being on a treadmill.

Here I am another week of dealing with paying bills, sorting out the stack of papers on my desk and my own issues to face. It all makes my energy plummet.

What I need is to be be energized for the week and transform my state of mind.

If you feel similar you might also appreciate the five tips I came up with. Just writing them has made me feel better and more inspired!

1. Get out of your office and walk around the block before you do anything. When I lived in New Zealand I  would walk on the beach and that was immediately transformative. The beach is now 90 minutes away so not an option. But walking and looking at people’s gardens is also lovely. It reminds me that I am part of a community and also my greater purpose is to just be peaceful and  in the moment.

2. Do something that will inspire others first thing. Think of something that connects with people and will make a difference somehow. Do that first. It will remind you that who you are and what you do, can make a big difference. ( ex. I’ve just written this blog post)

3. Give gratitude to the people who are helping and supporting you- your team. You are not alone and without these folks, you wouldn’t be able to do what you do as easily. Send an email, write a thank-you on Facebook or send a card with a real stamp!  It will feel good and remind you how important it is to acknowledge the people who are standing with you.

4. Create an affirmation for the week. It could also be one word that describes the energy or focus you want to have for this week while you are working. Write that out and post it on your desk where you can see it everyday. Make it positive and affirming. It will help you to stay tuned all week as your eyes read it here and there. Every time you read it, just breath it in and smile.

5. Decide on something important you want to accomplish this week and write it down on your white board or  somewhere that works for you. It may be something you’ve been avoiding because you are unsure or you just keep putting off. Writing it down gives you a positive goal to work toward and then at the end of the week you will feel good because you did it and you can celebrate and pat yourself on the back!

These are all things you have likely done before but it is so important to be mindful. Each one of these alone will make a huge shift and doing all five will be transformative. Please comment and let me know what you think. You might have others to add to these five.

If you haven’t done my Free Prosperity Challenge I invite you to do it. You will get an empowering email everyday for 14 days.