Saturday, April 24, 2010

Making Babies: The Definitive Guide to Improving Your Fertility and Reproductive Health by Jason Jackson N.D. ~A LaMothe Book Review

Some books that come to me in the mail don't hold much of a surprise for me. They are just what they seem, at least if you judge the book by it's cover. Making Babies: The Definitive guide to improving Your Fertility and Reproductive Health by Jason Jackson N.D. certainly has a lot more to offer then I expected. To start, Jason Jackson runs a successful Natural Medicine practice from Brisbane, Australia. He has lectured and consulted extensively on numerous health topics throughout Australia and overseas. Mr Jackson specializes in reproductive health and infertility and is recognized as one of Australia's leading Naturopaths in this area and is an authority in the field of Clinical Nutrition and Herbal Medicine.

The introduction is what really captured my attention: "Over the thousands of years that humans have been able to reproduce, it has been only the last fifty years or so in the industrialized world, with its nutrient-depleted foods, genetically engineered agriculture, chemical processing, drugs, radiation and pollution, that we are now observing massive impacts on our ability to bear offspring, particularly in affluent Western societies." The last fifty years?

With chapters on Male and Female Reproductive Overviews, Preparing for Conception, Stress and Fertility, and yes, Medically Assisted Reproductive Technology (which is considered 'Plan C') I found that Jason Jackson was very adept at covering everything that one would need to know to do just that, Make Babies.

What I was really happy about were the detailed black and white photos depicting not only the human anatomy but also of fibroids, PCOS, IVF Procedure and quite a few more that add value to each chapter.

I recommend Making Babies The Definitive Guide to Improving Your Fertility and Reproductive Health by Jason Jackson N.D. for your office to be used as an infertility/fertility resource guide.

Friday, April 16, 2010

The Facebook Fan Page: 5 Tips to Achieve Fantastic Business Results By Christine Gallagher, MLS, MSIS

I have set up quite a few Fan Pages lately and I have one of my own under LaMothe Services BUT I also have two Group Pages, Infertility Answers and Networking A.R.T. All have a good following however the big difference between the two, Group pages and Fan pages, is the fact that you can only message your entire membership through the Group pages and not the Fan pages. This may put some off who want to use their Fan Pages to send out messages and business updates to their membership following. Group pages demand more interaction where as Fan pages don't rely on other people posting. Using the Wall helps...as does RSSing your blog into your fan page.


Read below..it's up to you to decide!

Sharon LaMothe
Infertility Answers, Inc.
http://infertilityanswers.org/
LaMothe Services, LLC
http://lamotheservices.com/
 
Many small business owners are already on Facebook but are either still not sure that it is a good use of their time, or they see its potential but are just confused about how exactly it can work for them.

Starting a Fan Page for your business may be your answer. But how can you use a Fan Page to achieve fantastic results?

1) The first way to leverage Fan Pages is to set up your Page for success.

One of the first things you need to do when you set up a new Page is to give it a title. A tip with this is to think about using keywords related to your business that you would like to be found for.

You also want to choose a good, clear photo for your Page. Another thing to note is to make sure you have filled out the Info tab on your Page thoroughly with all the relevant information about your business.

2) The second way to leverage Fan Pages is to build your Fan base.

You have to be a little proactive about getting Fans, especially when your Page is new. An easy way to invite people is to use the "Suggest to Friends" link underneath the picture on your Fan Page. Facebook will then pull up a list of your Facebook friends and you would just click on the ones you want to send invitations to.

You'll want to consider people like former and current clients, people you've partnered with in your business, vendors you work with, people who you know have purchased from you before, etc.

3) The third way to leverage Fan Pages is to interact and engage with your Fans.

Once you have some supporters of your Page, you want to encourage more dialogue and interaction between yourself and them and even among each other. The biggest impact comes from simply having conversations with people.

One thing that I do on my Page is to just ask open-ended questions. Asking people to share experiences is another great way to get a dialogue going.

4) The fourth way to leverage Fan Pages is to provide good content.

Offering regular content will naturally encourage interaction because you are giving people something to respond to. You don't need to come up with all the content yourself, either. You might just link to an interesting article or blog post you have found on the web related to your business or industry.

What content like this does is attract comments from your Fans, which is activity that in turn goes out into the News Feed. The more activity on your Page then, the more attention to your Page you have a chance of attracting.

5) The 5th way to leverage Fan Pages is to use them to drive traffic to and from your blog or website.

To do this, you definitely want to list your website in the Info section, and you also want to share links in your updates to your own site.

You can also use an application like Notes to enter your blog feed so that it pulls your posts into your Page. You also want to add your URL to your email signature, and use the free badges and widgets Facebook provides that you can add to your website.

You can check out http://www.facebook.com/facebook-widgets for those. Once you have something like this on your site, visitors can just click on it and they will land on your Page where they can become a fan.

So, if you don't have a Page yet, head over to http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php and start one now. If you do have one set up, use these tips to help make your Page stand out, get noticed, and become a helpful destination for all of your raving Fans.

About the Author: Christine Gallagher, MLS, MSIS, founder of CommunicateValue.com, teaches small business owners and professionals how to conquer the overwhelming aspects of online and social media marketing to increase business and maximize profits. For free tips on how to build profitable relationships, leverage technology and create your own successful online business, visit http://CommunicateValue.com.

Friday, April 9, 2010

4 Tips To ‘UP’ Your Value Line and Boost Biz By V. Summers

In a “changing tide” economy, you need to understand at a deeper level that business owners focused on delivering greater value digitally via the internet are truly reaping some amazing rewards. Why? They have innovated, transitioned and positioned themselves to extend their “value line” by providing even greater solutions to their clients and prospects.

So, what is a “value line”?

Well, simply put, the amount of free knowledge, expertise and solutions via tips, tools and resources about the benefits of your services and/or products that you as a business owner offer digitally and automatically.

In the old economy, this is what the free value line looked like, especially online:

Free value———-> = Client Conversion + Repeat Business

In the new economy, if you understand that the free value line has now been extended, you can align your approach for unrivaled marketing and business success. Here is what the free new value line looks like:

Free value, Free Value, Free Value, Free Value———-> = Client Conversion + Repeat Business

So, if you need to bring more value to your prospects and clients today to continue to grow as a business, how can you do that easily and effectively via the internet?

Take your knowledge and expertise (aka, the capital in your head) and provide valuable insights about the solutions/benefits your services and products provide, and share those golden nuggets with your ideal demographic.

Please find below four time-tested online strategies that will extend your value line and help catapult your business income. I can attest that once I started implementing these proven success formulas, my business began to really boom.

Online value-added strategy No. 1. Offer a weekly or biweekly e-zine. What is an e-zine? It’s an online newsletter delivered through an e-mail service provider into the e-mail box of your prospects and clients. My e-zine is Insights on Business Success. Let’s face it, you know so much that others would like to know.

Take the time to share some of your knowledge and expertise on a consistent basis via this low-cost, user-friendly publishing format, and you will quickly see a transformation not only to your bottom-line income but also on your conversion rate of prospects into clients and added repeat business from your current clients.

Online value-added strategy No. 2. Add some video to your website. Research tells us that more than 60 percent of what is being searched for online is video and that over 200 million videos are consumed per month in the U.S. alone. Get yourself a Flip Video camera and create 5 to 10 videos approximately three minutes apiece, whereby in each video you answer one frequently asked question you get about your services and/or products.

Now be sure to share those videos with all your prospects and clients online and– bam!–you’ve just moved your free value line to the right again!

Online value-added strategy No. 3. Write a Free Report. List five, seven or 10 questions that your prospects and clients should be asking you about your services and/or products. Now, answer those questions and edit these pieces into a five-, seven- or 10-step free report. Once the free report has been written, take your word doc and turn it into an unalterable PDF digital file.

When you have new visitors to your website, share this free report with them via automatic delivery for leaving their name and e-mail address. Now you are automating building a relationship with your ideal demographic, adding extra value for your current client and, again, extending your free value line to the right. Want to see a good example of how this has been done? Visit DesignKrew.com

Online value-added strategy No. 4. Post on a blog. Truth is, people buy from people they know, like and trust. A blog offers you the opportunity to share more of you and your expertise in an ongoing format. If your visitor likes one blog post, she can scroll down to read others. The more you bring value via an ongoing blog post, the more you extend your free value line. Plus, every time you post content, the blog directories pick up your stuff and help drive traffic to you.

Further, when others comment on your postings, it becomes “social proof”–thus creating a community of people who know, like and trust you who are raving fans and will refer other people to your services and products.

The other piece about a blog is that your visitors tell you what they like and what they want, so you can set yourself up for great success and give them what they want! Wow, what a concept!

These four strategies are the most relevant to extending your free value line today online. Practice these time-tested formulas, and you will love the results. Plus, it is fun to be building relationships with your prospects and clients 24/7 via the online world, ‘cuz it never takes a vacation and is always working to extend your free value line even while you sleep!