Why Blogs and Social Marketing for Business?

Solopreneurs: What's the up-side of being laid off from someone else's company? How can you start up a business you're passionate about on a shoe-string budget? How can search engine optimization (SEO), dynamic content, blogging and social marketing help bring customers to your new enterprise?

Current Status: I'm psyched about co-authoring a nonfic book with my favorite doctor. It will have case studies that demonstrate the mind-body connection, and how letting go of emotional burdens can free us not only of illness, but also release us to be more vital, happier people. It's still in the planning stages, but I look forward to getting into the writing very soon. 

What's interesting in Internet marketing: I focused my research on blogs and social marketing today. There is so much free information on the Internet that, if you take the time, you can learn a great deal without paying for anything. I'm basically an autodidact -- I teach myself, that's the way I'm most comfortable learning something new, so this is great for me. And I'll share. 

For example: Successful Internet marketing involves making connections and building community with your customers -- being generous, authentic, honest and transparent. Who'd a thunk? We boomers have always seen business as the Man, the master and the soul-sucking enemy that dictates how we live. The new ROI, as I read in a post today, is in avoiding the risk of ignoring the clients or customers we would most like to attract. 

And... All the social factors that isolate people, from overwork to single parenting, have begun to turn around due to the unlikely auspices of the personal computer. Now we find life partners, interest groups and even communities on FaceBook and and eHarmony, LinkedIn and Twitter. Small businesses cannot afford to overlook this trend.

Also... Businesses that insist on spending dollars on integrated advertising campaigns rather than hiring humans to blog and listen in on the Twitterverse will probably lose out, simply because marketing campaigns come to an end...while viral marketing expands unstoppably outward, in an explosion of information and brand loyalty. [I'll explain this further in future posts.]

Watching: Saw Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang --again-- last night. So entertaining. Stuart and I love movies with witty dialogue. And I have nothing but admiration for the acting talent of Robert Downey Jr.

Soap Box: Give it away, give it freely.They'll beat a path to your door once they know you are genuine. Except for the extreme risk-takers and gamblers and pie-in-the-sky optimists, most people know -- or suspect -- when they're being spammed or scammed. So give genuine service and quality around something you love to do...because it's right and because it works.