Check out this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LN78dChZss4

When someone gives you a business card they are not authorizing you to add them to your email list. Sure, you can add them to your contacts database but not to your mailing list. For someone to join your mailing list, they have to personally enter their name and email address  in a form, either online or on paper, and confirm that they would like to be added to your list. And to be extra sure about it, most email management systems then send a second email to the subscribed person requesting that they confirm again that they want to be on the list (called a double-optin). Getting someone’s business card then forcing that person onto your list is…SPAM, and it can get you in trouble.

How much trouble? First of all, you’re shooting yourself in the foot by sending unsolicited information to someone you hope will be a client of yours. Bridge of trust…. BURNED. I mean, really, what are the chances that you are going to do business with someone who yesterday you gave them your business card and today they are sending you mass emails. It tells me I’m just a number to them. Just another business card to put on the list.

Next, like I said, you could lose all your lists from SPAM complaints and get your email account shut down without warning. And, finally, you could get your website hosting account shut down without warning, which means bye-bye to your website, and you’re out of business.

What CAN you do with a business card to build your list? If you ask me, a one-time personal email to the person on the card inviting them to join your email list with a link to where they can subscribe if they want to is okay. It’s a one-time invitation, the same way you would invite someone if you were talking to them in person. And if they don’t subscribe to your list, don’t take it personally. Either your subscribe (opt-in) page needs to be improved or they are just not interested right now. Hey, you and I both know that we can’t be on everyone’s email list. Furthermore, most email management services charge you based on the number of people on your list. You wouldn’t want to pay to send an email to someone that doesn’t have time or interest to read it anyway would you?

However, when you build your email lists the right way, you’ll have a list of people that want you to contact them, and want to you to send them information about what you do. What’s the right way? That’s a whole other topic.

So, protect your business and build your email lists without SPAMMING.

What email management system do I personally use and recommend?

Everything!

The truth is both you and I would be hard pressed to find a small business owner or entrepreneur with a gut feeling that they really need to step up their online marketing either through website redesign, social media, email marketing, or one of the hundreds of other ways to market a business online. In fact, that person might be you.

So, what’s the hangup? Why don’t you get started?

The Question: What is keeping you from busting into the world of effectively marketing your business online?

The Answer: You don’t know what you want for breakfast?

That’s right, you don’t know what you want for breakfast.

Have you ever woken up in the morning, hungry, walked over to the cupboard, opened it up, stared at a box of cereal, closed the cupboard, and mumbled to yourself, “There’s nothing to eat for breakfast. I’ll wait for lunch,” then went to work hungry convinced what’s there isn’t worth it?

You were just staring at a box of cereal weren’t you? But what was the cereal? Super Duty Bran Flakes

So, why didn’t you eat the Super Duty Bran Flakes? You bought it didn’t you? You put it in your shopping cart and paid for it didn’t you?

In fact, didn’t you stand there staring at the cereals saying to yourself, “Yummy Fruity Pebbles? Super Duty Bran Flakes. Yummy Fruity Pebbles? Super Duty Bran Flakes. Yummy sweet sugary indulgent breakfast bliss? Dry raspy healthy bran breakfast hell?”

The problem was, you didn’t decide and commit to that decision. So you just picked the one on sale and now, a day later, you’re frustrated with yesterday’s attempt to buy cereal. So, that box of Super Duty Bran Flakes sits on the shelf long past its expiration date gathering cob webs in the back of the cupboard.

The same holds true for online marketing.

A business owner knows he or she needs to get a website and start marketing online. Unsure of whether the website should be lively and exciting or clean and simple, the business owner either blindly picks one or “plays it safe” with a boring generic website with the hopes that it will appeal to all audiences.

Well, that generic middle-of-the-road website doesn’t appeal to anyone, and what you’re left with is a website that sits on a virtual cupboard shelf gathering cobwebs while the business owner convinces himself that online marketing doesn’t work and isn’t worth it.

What’s the solution?

DEFINE YOUR TARGET MARKET AND TAKE ACTION!

When you were buying cereal, you didn’t commit and take action what you really wanted, so you just took what was on sale.

When you were starting to market online, you didn’t commit and take action to attract the customers you really wanted, so your generic website and marketing continues to pull in generic non-committed customers.

In the grocery store, had you committed fully to either Fruity Pebbles or Super Duty Bran Flakes, you would have open up the cupboard for breakfast knowing exactly what was in there, and ate a great breakfast.

In your online marketing, had you committed fully to build your website and develop your online marketing plan to attract your most valuable customers, you would open up your email every day knowing exactly what kind of business leads you are going to find in there, and have a great list of pre-qualified leads.

So what’s it going to be? Fruity Pebbles or Super Duty Bran Flakes?

It’s time to commit and give new focus to your online marketing efforts.

What would you pay for a list like that?

You can get one for FREE. How?

I’ll give you 3 words: AWeber, Facebook, Twitter

More at my workshop on Wed, Feb 17th 5:30-7:30pm in Honolulu, HI.
Get info and register online here.

Social Media can be a powerful tool in your marketing bag of tricks, and it’s FREE! What is social media?  Think of yourself sitting at a little table in a café sipping a hot chocolate with . . . hundreds of millions of people! What would you say? How would you say it? How would you get people to listen to you?

In this workshop you will learn the basics of how to use Facebook and Twitter and how to use them to promote your business. This is not an advanced social media workshop.

In this workshop I will start at ground zero with the basics of using Facebook and Twitter, and then demonstrate how to use it to grow your business. You will learn the essential fundamentals of social media for your business.

Here are some of the questions you will get answered:

What is social media, Twitter, and Facebook? *How much time does it take to use social media?

Can I automate my social media marketing? *What privacy issues are there with social networking?

How can I brand my Twitter background for my business? *Can I advertise on Facebook and Twitter?

How can I find customers using Twitter and Facebook? *How do you share photos on Twitter? What are the demographics of most social media users? What’s the difference between a Facebook Group and Fan Page? How do I create a Facebook page for my business?

I am going to pack in as much as possible in two hours! Come learn the lingo and the how-to of promoting your business through social media.

This workshop has been on our most wanted list for months, so please register early.  If there are specific questions you want to make sure get answered at the workshop,  go to www.nateburgoyne.com/hwbcmedia and let me know.

I invite you to come early to network with other business owners and entrepreneurs, and to get your website and online marketing questions answered. Check in begins at 5:00 PM and the workshop begins at 5:30 PM.

Register today online at  hwbc.org.

If online registration is still open, there are still seats available. Get yours quick. We anticipate this workshop to sell out early.

Are you committed to coming out on top? What will make the difference for your business in 2010? The economy? Wrong! A bail-out bill? No! The FED printing more money? No! The answer is YOU!

In this workshop, web designer and online marketing specialist, Nate Burgoyne is going to blast through the fluff with a “double-barreled marketing shotgun” and show you what really works!

More info and pre-workshop download at http://www.nateburgoyne.com/double-barreled .

Register Online at http://bit.ly/doublebarreled

Register by Phone at 526-1001

Space is Limited. First come, first serve.

Workshop is at the Hawaii Women’s Business Center in Honolulu. http://www.hwbc.org

Got pre-workshop questions, email Nate at nate@nateburgoyne.com or connect through LinkedIn. You are also welcome to comment on this thread.

Nate Burgoyne ( http://www.nateburgoyne.com ) is a web designer and online marketing specialist. He is president of Integrity Online Marketing (http://www.integrityonlinemarketing.com)

However, I think we all may be forgetting that face-to-face networking is still an important part of lead generating. This morning I was invited to attend a business networking group here locally and I’m excited to be part of it. I met some great like-minded business owners and entrepreneurs that are willing to work together to grow each other’s businesses.

There something special about meeting people in person, especially when you see the same people at different venues and different networking events. You remember their smiles and personalities.

One of the greatest things about being small business owners and entrepreneurs is that, in most cases, we are able to choose who we do business with. In fact, for me, when I meet a new potential business contact and start get to know him or her, I’m really trying to make the decision of whether this person and I will be able to connect and work effectively together toward a common goal.

While, all of this trust can certainly be developed online over several weeks of Facebook updates, the same connection can take place in about 30 seconds or less in a face-to-face meeting.

Happy networking both online and off!

From what I can tell at first glance, Peoplestring is a social networking and email service that rewards you in multiple ways for using their services.

Here’s one of the free banners that People String gives you to help spread the word on your blog or website.

Similar to Facebook, there is a social networking aspect of the site where you can update your status, add friends, join groups, etc. . . Additionally, there is a chat feature that brought me back to they days of AOL chat rooms of the early 90′s.

The system gives you an email address such as nateburgoyne@peoplestring.com that is free, though it may take you a minute or two to find it. I found it by clicking on the rotating “Mail” icons on the right side of the  page.

Before I share my thoughts on the program, I actively participate in Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, so that’s where my social networking foundation lies.

I think Peoplestring has  a great idea about putting money back into the pockets of the users, however, in my opinion, I think it’s a  ”features overkill”.  For me, the dashboard is too busy with banners, buttons, links, tools, and news.

I’m guessing that once you get into it and spend some time with it, you’ll be able to easily navigate through the site.

Maybe I’ve been spoiled with the simple Twitter layout that asks nothing more than, “What are are you doing? and the Facebook update box that asks the question, “What’s on your mind?”.

Am I going to take Peoplestring as a serious business venture? Maybe. They have a lot of new features planned coming up for the network and I’m sure they’ll be working out the kinks as they go along. While I was trying to figure out the system, the number of people online was bouncing around 176 at any given time, which in today’s social networking word, is minuscule, however, you have to start somewhere.

Personally, I think People String needs to clean up the interface some so it’s easy to follow and so that it intuitively tells you what to do to use the services and generate income with the system. From what I can tell, you get paid by getting others to use the system,  taking surveys, and promoting some products like this Black Grape antioxidant drink.  It’s a bit overwhelming for me.

They do  have some tutorials and webinars and so forth to show you how to use it all, but to tell you the truth, I’m in an iPod state of mind. I want to be able to look at the dashboard and know what to do without an instruction manual.

Will I personally pursue Peoople String as a business?

Well, I’ve signed up  for my free account and I’ll definitely check in with them from time to time to see how the system is progressing. If they do clean things up to where I understand the system, I’ll definitely be launching my business and helping my downline to do the same.

Should you sign up for Peoplestring?

Yes. Why not? It’s free.

Sign up as part of my group by clicking the banner below and when I decide to take this business into full gear, you’ll be one of the first to get first-hand training on how I do it. Might as well jump in early and get paid a couple bucks doing so.

We’re finalizing the date for next month’s workshop on a topic which I’m really excited about because I know it’ll make difference in your business. Check back soon for date and topic announcement.

Keep in touch everyone. If you haven’t already joined my newsletter be sure to do so, also you’re all invited to connect to me through LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Have a great day everyone! Keep in touch. Aloha.

If you’re tired of having TweetDeck or Twirl open on your desktop just to keep your followers up to date, you can use Social Oomph to pre-write your tweets and schedule them to go out whenever you want.

The service supports multiple Twitter accounts and is very intuitive to use. I personally use the upgraded version of the service and recommend you upgrade if your time is limited and you want to get aggressive about your marketing.

Click the banner below for more information. Also, if you have any questions about how I personally use Social Oomph, send me an email at info@nateburgoyne.com.