10 Reasons Why You Should STILL Be Using Facebook (as found on SEO Chicks)

Since writing a few blog posts about the benefits of using Facebook for marketing, I have been asked; “Well, how do you do it?” There are no secrets to using Facebook, unless you are running illegal scripts. Depending on the reasons and types of markets you might be dealing with on Facebook, it’s really quite simple to utilize the social network as a marketing tool.

“Don’t hate on Facebook.” Give it a chance before you decide to curse it to hell as an annoying social site that is a waste of time. If you STILL aren’t using Facebook for yourself, you won’t be able to understand how to use it for anyone else.

Create your “internet marketer” profile. I prefer when people give it their own personal touch. Add some (and only some) albums of cool pictures for me to see what you are like. Myself among many others are dying to judge you. This sounds a lot worse than it actually is.

By now, you probably already know over 200 people on Facebook. Whether they are your actually friends, or authors of the blogs you read. The #1 Simple Step of Social Media Success is to connect with these people, according to Chris Winfield. Facebook makes it really easy for you, and separates these people into networks, and clubs. You already know who you should be conversing with. In most cases, networking professionals will accept your friend request.

Some of these people, you might not have gotten a chance to talk to at the latest convention and now you are looking at mobile uploads of their children. This really is a wonderful tool.

Here are 10 reasons why you should STILL be using Facebook as a Marketing Professional:

1. Join all the groups that relate to you and add connections: Start conversations with people you look up to in the industry. Possibly gain a friend request or two hundred.

2. Promote your blog or other blogs you are promoting on your profile, using BlogFriends. You spent hours perfecting the perfect blog post, now everyone knows.

3. Draw attention to yourself quickly: Upload a new album, post a note, poke people (occasionally), comment on everyone’s stuff. Being popular on Facebook can easily transfer over to real life.

4. Set up real life connections: Introduce yourself to your Facebook friends. Start a relationship. These people are also voters on Social News sites, and blog writers, and good people to know.

5. Research information for clients and Gain Knowledge: Dive head first into groups and read what people are saying about your clients. Excellent for those who are practicing Reputation Management. Read forums, participate, research, and get to work!

6. Network before big events: With SMX West coming up, there are tons of groups to join. See who will be there. Set up a meeting with these people by sending them a message on Facebook, or just simply join the group so people will know you will be there as well. Look at their profile, if they have recent news, you will have a conversation starter at the convention.

7. Update your Status: I hate to say it but those people who tie in their Twitter with their Facebook status are super helpful. If you become a regular status updater, people will always take interest in whatever your doing. It’s like reality TV. *Congratulations to Glen Allsopp who just PASSED HIS DRIVING TEST! 38m ago*

8. Applications Help: It’s true that many applications are annoying. But the Stumble Upon application is awesome! It shows on your profile and news feed what you are Stumbling, so this way everyone else knows, and will also stumble if they are interested.

9. Facebook is Improving: The ever changing controls are sometimes annoying but helpful. You can edit your preferences in the news feeds and see what you want to see. You can also control what people see about you with privacy and security settings.

10. Facebook Profiles Rank- If clients are looking you up, they might like the fact that your profile comes up (but they might not). In this case, it works the same as LinkedIn. So make sure to keep it as Professional as the business you run. *For example: While hiring, I did a search and found a possible employee Facebook page and lets just say they weren’t hired based on the profile picture alone. This could have totally worked in their favor, if I saw a nice clean page with nice comments from Coworkers, friends, a link to their blog, etc.

So… Why Not? It’s totally up to you how you want to use it. If you choose not to use Facebook, then don’t. If you just want to use to it watch what everyone else is doing, that is fine too. You don’t have to add every application, or give drinks to your Top Friends. You can totally make what you want of it.

I hope that this post helps people who are still “Hating” and helps them find success with Facebook conversations, like I have in many ways.



If you have any other reasons or ideas why Marketing Professionals should STILL be using Facebook, please let me know!

5 Reasons Why Repetition is the Key to Brand Development

Online brand development starts with the decision of what is the most appropriate identity for you and/or your business. The next logical step is to establish how to brand the identity you have chosen in a way that is effective and in alignment with what it is you do.

Quite often the best approach is develop a series of branding strategies that will make your efforts the most effective and your coverage the most extensive.

From this point on your focus will be to make sure your identity branding efforts are both as consistent and as repetitious as possible.
No matter how 'slick' or cutting edge your strategies may be, if they are not reinforced consistently they will do you little good. Ultimately the key will be in your repetition since this will be what eventually embeds the image you are reinforcing into the minds of people.

Here are 5 reasons why repetition and not necessarily the design of the strategy itself plays a key role in how effective your online identity branding efforts will be.

Expands Exposure

The greater the repetition the deeper the market saturation. This obviously leads to more exposure as your efforts begin to reach more areas of the internet. Much like filling a bucket of water, the more you put into the bucket the fuller it gets and so the same for your repetitive identity branding efforts.

Conditions the Mind

As more people begin to repeatedly see your brand in different areas online, they begin to form the association between the image itself and what you are branding.

This is simply conditioning people to automatically make this association and is exactly how branding strategies work towards the development of any brand. The more they see your efforts the stronger the association becomes, plain and simple!

Arouses Further Curiosity

If people see your image or brand often enough it is quite common for their own curiosity to compel them to seek further information on what the image represents.

Remember the whole point behind establishing a brand is to increase your marketing effectiveness and by getting people to visit your site you now have the chance to do so!

Brings Forth More Witnesses

This is the point where your repetition has saturated the market allowing others who may not have formerly seen your 'impression' a chance to view more about you. Quite often this occurs after others have referred them to do so due to the viral effect that is taking place. It is hard to avoid the 'buzz' about you when your image is seemingly everywhere!

Image Reinforcement

Your consistent repetition serves to only more firmly establish your identity. With each new effort your exposure grows and the association between what you are branding and the image you are establishing becomes that much stronger. This reinforcement is exactly how to brand yourself or business or even both online.

Brand development is a very important aspect of internet marketing because it helps make you more easily noticeable online. The process is actually not very complicated and starts with the determination of what is the most appropriate identity for what you do. From there a decision is made how to brand this chosen identity into the minds of others.

In most cases the utilization of multiple branding strategies is often seen as the best approach. No matter how dynamic or cutting edge your selected strategies may be however, effort will be wasted unless the image is reinforce as repetitiously as possible.

This simple act of repetition plays a key role in how effective your identity branding efforts will be, and the 5 reasons discussed above are testimony as to why. Without repeated and consistent reinforcement even the best strategies will fall short of making the impression you want in the minds of others.


About the Author: TJ Philpott is an author and Internet entrepreneur based out of North Carolina. For more tips about effective online brand development and to also receive a free instructional manual that teaches valuable niche research techniques visit: http://affiliatequickstart.com/.

Quick Tips for Surrogacy Agency Owners- Have Integrity

in·teg·ri·ty

inˈteɡrədē/

noun

1. 1.

   the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.

   "he is known to be a man of integrity"

   synonyms:

   honesty, probity, rectitude, honor, good character, principle(s), ethics,morals, righteousness, morality, virtue, decency, fairness,scrupulousness, sincerity, truthfulness, trustworthiness "I never doubted his integrity"

17 Twitter Tips (as found, in part, on DoshDosh)

As most of you already know, I 'do' social media for people in the Reproductive Industry. They are trying to reach out to other professionals (like I do) as well as potential egg donors or surrogates, intended parents and donor egg recipients. Sharing information and educating the public is another great reason for people to turn to social media in the first place. I set up businesses and individuals on the road to social networking success by placing bios and information about their business on places like Facebook, LinkedIN, Pinterest, and Twitter to name a very few. Needless to say they still have to USE these tools to get the most out of them. (but Lamothe Services can do that for you too!) Below is a segment on Twitter that I found that should catapult even the busiest executive into posting a 'tweet' once in a while.  

Twitter gives you a fragmented experience of opinions, events, news, ideas and feedback largely because its structured to accommodate non-contextual usability: You can easily follow thousands of users and listen in and enter into conversations conducted among multiple users at any point. And this is usually the case.

On the other hand, Twitter can be actively used as a tool to push out messages that capitalize on the attention you’re receiving from other users. Yes, I’m talking about self-promotion and marketing. This involves active user engagement.


1. Personal Branding. Twitter is a social media platform you can use to build your personal brand. It has the primary benefit of developing a casual persona and establishes you as a social personality that is connected and approachable. As Twitter adoption increases, new users will be drawn towards well established Twitter personas.

2. Get Feedback. Need an alternative perspective on how a website looks or the right course of action to take? Blast out a message asking for advice and you’ll receive replies from other users. This collective intelligence can be used as fodder for articles or projects.

3. Hire People. Need a good logo designer, marketer or programmer? Send out a message asking for recommendations. This is a very quick and easy way to hire freelancers or even companies based on familiar recommendations.

4. Direct traffic. Twitter can be used to get traffic to your websites or the sites of friends. If you ask your friends to tweet about it, the message will spread faster and further as other active users pick it up. There is a viral nature to all types of news, even on a site like Twitter.

5. Read News. Twitter users often link to useful sites or articles and can be a source of scoops and alternative news. You can also subscribe to Twitter feeds for specific websites/conferences, which allows you to receive and view content quickly. This is very useful for active social news participants.

6. Make New Friends. Like any other social network, Twitter has a built-in function for you to befriend and track the messages of other users. This is an easy way for you connect with people outside of your usual circle. Make an effort to add active users you find interesting. A Twitter acquaintance can be developed into a long lasting friendship.

7. Network for benefits. Twitter can be used as a socializing platform for you to interact with other like-minded people, especially those in the same industry. It can be used to establish consistent and deeper relationships for future benefits such as testimonials or peer recommendations.

8. Use it as a ToDo list. Use Twitter to record down what you need to do while you are away from the computer. Mark the tweet as a favorite to file it for referencing. Another alternative is to use an Online task management service that is synced with Twitter. One example is Remember The Milk.

9. Business Management. Twitter can be used as a company intranet that connects employees to one another. Workers can liaise with each other when working on group projects. Particularly useful when certain workers go out often in the field. Updates could be set to private for security reasons.

10. Notify Your Customers. Set up a Twitter feed for the specific purpose of notifying customers when new products come in. Customers can subscribe via mobile or RSS for instant notification. Twitter can also be used to provide mini-updates for one-on-one clients.

11. Take Notes. Twitter provides you with an easy way to record important ideas or concepts you want to explore further. Include links relevant to ideas you want to explore. Note taking can also be done offline via mobile applications.

12. Event Updates. Businesses can use Twitter as a means to inform event participants and latest event happenings/changes. This is a hassle-free way of disseminating information, especially when you don’t have the means to set up a direct mobile link between you and the audience

13. Find Prospects. Twitter can be used as a means to find potential customers or clients online. Do a search for keywords related to your product on Twitter Search and then follow users. Tweet about topics parallel to your product and close prospects away from public channels by using direct messages or offline communications. Discretion and skill is needed in this area.

14. Provide Live coverage. Twitter’s message size limit prevents detailed coverage of events but it can allow you to provide real-time commentary which may help to spark further discussion or interest on the event as other Twitter users spread the message. Very useful for citizen journalism.

15. Time Management and Analysis. Twitter can simply be used to keep a detailed record of what you are doing every daily. This might be boring for others but this type of usage is useful when you want to analyze how you spend and manage your time.

16. Set Up Meetings. Twitter can help you organize impromptu meetups. For example, you can twitter a message while at a cafe, event or art gallery and arrange to meet fellow users at a specific spot. It’s an informal and casual way of arranging a meeting.

17. Acquire Votes. Send a link to your stories you’ve submitted in other social news sites like Digg. Sometimes your followers will vote up the stories because they agree with it. This allows you to acquire more support for your efforts on other social media websites

5 Essentials When Advertising Your Small Business

I am stuck in business mode....not only am I sharing ideas that work for all small business but what can work for an agency. Needless to say I am using "small business" loosely because look at the new numbers out there...the Infertility Industry is boasting that it's now a 4 BILLION DOLLAR business! Who is getting all of this money and are you feeling like all you are earning are the crumbs off this huge buffet? I think we are all aware that to actually be effective in the agency segment of the infertility business puzzle you have to have a few altruistic cells in your body...no one is going to be rich running an agency but a comfortable living can and should be expected. No one wants those looking for third party help to be viewed as Mr. and Mrs. Money-bags, because most IPs are far from rich especially after all of the treatments they have undergone on themselves! It's all so expensive! However, we as business owners need to find ways to reach out to our clients. Once they know of our existence then we can show them why we are the best "partner" for them to hire. Below are some advertising tips that you can put to work for you now or planning ahead for the holidays!


5 Essentials When Advertising Your Small Business
Posted by Suzanne Vara

Advertise your Business! Now is the time to plan to plan ahead and take your advertising campaigns off life support.

Advertising sets out to persuade people to buy your product or service by effectively targeting them where they reside. Traditional media (print, radio, TV) has often been called noise as it interrupts people when they are not wanting to watch or listen or see ads while relaxing. The same can be said for banner ads and pop-ups on the internet. While the internet does allow for targeting a specific group more closely, ads will reach people who have no need or interest in your product or service.

5 Essentials for Advertising Your Business:

1. Identify target market. Who wants and needs your product or service? Find out where they hang out and develop a plan around this. Use multiple mediums to see what work best. Teens still watch tv as they talk about the show they just wanted with their friends on Facebook!

2. Determine Budget. Be reasonable here. Remember you need a good balance of reach and frequency to get people to identify with your product/service and the make the decision to buy. Being top of mind never hurts!

3. Research and Determine Mediums. Get media kits and read through proposals you receive. It is very easy to get caught up in the number of spots and not realizing that half of them are in the middle of the night and on a sister station that is the lowest rated station.

4. Create Single Message. Focus on 1 product or service and how it will add value to the consumers life.

5. Design/Produce. Best advice here is to higher someone unless you are a graphic designer. Designers have the experience with where to best position, which fonts work best and overall layout. Your ad whether it is print, radio, tv or on the internet, is a reflection of your brand and the company overall. Let's make it a good one!

Taking the time to look at all the various mediums that are available will go a long way. Tight budgets do not allow for trying something and hoping it will work. Researching where your target market is will go a long way. Once you have that information, be sure to really look at the medium. If you don't make changes in your marketing now you may be left behind by your competition!

It's time again for START ART August 3-5 in Las Vegas, NV

The Annual REI Nursing Congress: Scientific & Therapeutic Approaches to Assisted Reproductive Technology (StartART) provides a unique and comprehensive educational opportunity for nurses, featuring critical updates on the latest advances in reproductive medicine from procedures and protocols to bioethical and legal issues. The goal of this annual congress is to provide late-breaking information, cutting-edge techniques, and best practices to improve ART outcomes. This goal is enhanced by the unique contributions that REI nurses make to the field of reproductive medicine through their skills, compassion, and caring. 

Last Weeks of the LaMothe Services Winter Special for New Surrogacy Agency Owners-Ending April 15th

Winter Special!

Calling all entrepreneurs! LaMothe Services is offering a WINTER Special that will have you running your own Surrogacy Agency before you know it!  

Are you interested in owning and operating your own Surrogacy Agency but don't know where to start? Do you live in a surrogacy friendly state? Have you been entertaining the idea of becoming your own boss? Are you a 'people person' and have knowledge of the third party family building field? (Past Surrogate, Intended Parent or other A.R.T Professional) Do you believe that 2017 is YOUR year to take control of your own career path? If the answers are a resounding YES to all these questions then LaMothe Services, LLC can help you formulate a plan and assist you in building your business to it's full potential. E-mail LaMotheServices@aol.com to set up your free 40 minute consult and learn more about our WINTER SPECIAL!

Our WINTER SPECIAL for NEW SURROGACY AGENCY Owners includes the following!

20 Hours of Consultation:

This includes mainly phone and some e-mail communication. Discussing the viability of a surrogacy program, what it might take to begin, what issues and road blocks maybe in your path, etc. This package is based on what issues you want to explore.  Below are just a few of the issues we will discuss. As you can see, often more time is needed to have your business up and running smoothly: 

* Naming your business

*Business plan/description (what services are you offering? what makes you different from everyone else?)

*Tax ID, Licenses, Business identity (LLC, Inc. etc.)

*Competition (local, statewide, nationally)

*Defining your roles (who is CEO? Who is responsible for accounting, recruiting, matching, case management, website/social media, marketing etc.)

*Start up costs

*Running costs

* Charging your clients (Getting paid) Hiring an accountant, bank accounts, escrow services etc.

*Retainer agreements between your agency and the Ips

*Marketing: finding IP's, Surrogate,

*Working with other agencies, MHP, attorneys, clinics, ins. companies

*Building your business

*Launching the business...what should be in place 

*Reviewing Marketing Materials and Agreements, below

Marketing Materials and  Agreements:

32-35+  ”samples". These  include a retainer  agreement, sample contracts, reimbursements for surrogates, anticipated fees and  costs, check lists, agency forms and documents, educational information for IPs and Surrogates etc. Some of this information can also be used in the website, social media, and marketing materials 

Website Development:   

Total overview of what you would like on your website including content, design (colors), links (resources), key words

Client provides all content for the website including Logo.

Designing your website and adding content provided by client  (Home Page, Services, About Us, For Surrogates, For IPs,  Testimonials, Q&A for example) plus adding photos, group boxes or other design elements

Setting up a e-mail address to go from the site to the address of your choice

Teaching you how to take control of your site once it is completed so that you can add, remove and update your site as needed on your own

(Your credit card will be charged directly from the hosting company $19.99 per month once the site is activated.)

Business Card and Brochure Design-Client pays for all printing and shipping directly to their office/home. Client provides logo and content (Content can be found and used from the website)

Banner Ad Assistance

2 banner ads ready to post on Internet sites for visibility of your new company

Your Banner Ads on InfertilityAnswers.org for 12 months FREE   

The cost of this package is $6,000.00 and is offered in 2 instalments of $3,000.00 each-one month apart. If you choose to pay in full, you will receive 10% off the entire package! (That's a $600.00 savings!)

                                                   

Extra hourly add-on packages are available for an additional charge. Call 727-458-8333 or e-mail LaMotheServices@aol.com to set up an appointment to learn all the details

**No Refunds

StartART 2016 August 3-6th Will You Be Attending?

The Annual REI Nursing Congress: Scientific & Therapeutic Approaches to Assisted Reproductive Technology (StartART) provides a unique and comprehensive educational opportunity for nurses, featuring critical updates on the latest advances in reproductive medicine from procedures and protocols to bioethical and legal issues. The goal of this annual congress is to provide late-breaking information, cutting-edge techniques, and best practices to improve ART outcomes. This goal is enhanced by the unique contributions that REI nurses make to the field of reproductive medicine through their skills, compassion, and caring. 

I hope to see you there! Visit the site for more information: http://www.startartcongress.com/accreditation1.html

Information Gathering for Your Surrogacy Business: The Intake Sheet

I am going to start talking about forms...I know that most people might like to use the computer exclusively but what happens when or if your network is down? Your computer has crashed? You just want to talk on the phone in the other room and not have to read off your lap top screen? This is where the Intake Sheet can come in handy. It's the first bit of information gathered from an Intended Parents or potential Surrogate when they call you directly. Have several copies on hand, one sheet for IP's and one for GC's. These sheets should be only one page long and it should help you determine eligibility for your program and later as a reference page. This is also a great tool to use so that you don't miss any important initial questions.

Both IP and SM sheets should have this general contact information:
Name
Address
Telephone numbers
E-mail address

IP's looking for a surrogate:
Age(s)
Health Reason (because it has to be a medical/physical reason by law)
Using a Clinic? RE? Name and location of each
Already have children? How many?
Single or married/partners
Using Egg Donor?
Using Frozen Embryos
Want Surrogate to travel?
Gestational or Traditional
Location of surrogate
First timer or experienced
Race/religion/marital preference
Financial Expectations

Leave some room at the bottom of your form for additional Information: And there will be if you talk to your Prospective IP's and find out all that they have experienced.

Surrogate looking for IP's:
Age
BMI
Children
Pregnancy or birth complications
Taking medications?
Other health issues?
Married or single
Insurance?
Race/religion
Selective Reduction ok or not
Traditional or Gestational
First timer or experienced
If experienced, details
Base Fee expectations if any
Willing to work with the following:
Gay/single/married with children/partners/only women/only men/International/

Additional Details

You can add on other questions if you like. After your conversation if either the IP's or the Gestational Carrier (GC) seems to fit into your program or what you are looking for THEN have them fill out a complete packet and have them include photos if possible. This packet of information can be compiled and then mailed via US postal service or you can have online forms. Whatever you choose to do just make sure that you have enough information to assist you in making a good match.

Psychological Triggers That Win Sales and Influence Customers/Clients for Your Surrogacy or Egg Donation Business: Trigger 6 Scarcity

Scarcity the least favorite tactic in our field of egg donors and surrogacy. We are already struggling with "Scarcity" of qualified surrogates and although there are more women willing to be donors, Indian, Jewish, Asian and Red headed-blue eyed girls may be few and far between! Because the field is already flooded with Intended Parents waiting for that perfect egg donor or surrogate, there is no need to start a panic. Most of our clients are well aware how hard it is to find someone that they really feel a connection with to carry their baby or find that donor who has the genetics they long to have within their own child's DNA. Having said that, "specials" still can bring more clients to your door. "Free" psychological evaluations for a limited time, Lowering agency fees for National Infertility Awareness Month, Exhibit Booth specials if IPs sign up during a conference. All of these have expiration dates that compel people to make a decision and hop on board.

On the donor or surrogacy side of things, offering referral specials and certain times of the year that may be higher then the norm sometimes attract more attention. (Extra money for the holidays, education or a special family vacation anyone?) The point here is not to use smoke and mirrors or tricks but to genuinely show how far your business is willing to go...for a limited time.

The flip side of this "tactic" is if you have to many clients waiting for surrogates or donors, you will need to slow things down. Removing all offers or specials from your website, post the waiting period time frame to the public and then just work with the clients you do have and make them as happy as possible. When you are back to full speed, you will receive testimonials from delighted clients and a stronger reputation to share. Being as upfront as possible will keep your integrity in place and a smile on your client's face. 

Be sure to check out Triggers 1: Reciprocity, Trigger 2: Commitment and Consistency, Trigger 3: Liking, Trigger 4: Authority, Trigger 5: Social Proof!