Thursday, January 03, 2008

Blogging & Social Media -- What's all the buzz

Unless you have been living under a rock, you probably have heard about blogs. But what about social media? What is all that about? Is it for business?


Here are some statistics to show you just what is being said about Social Media:
  • 48% of business leaders spend 2-5 hours a week using social media tools to generate leads and find new clients (Source: socialmediaiq.com)
  • 42% of sales managers view blogs and podcasts as very important sales generating tools (Source: MarketingSherpa)
  • Of the Top 8 most visited sites worldwide, 5 are social networking websites – MySpace, Facebook, Orkut, Live.com, YouTube (Source: eMarketer)

I had the pleasure of meeting Leesa Barnes in September at a conference that we both attended. Her book Podcasting for Profit was literally in the presses and being published the next week. I learned a lot from her about Social Media. I wasn't surprise then when I got an email about her telesummit she is putting on about this subject. I must say I think it is very exciting and very innovative. I am also amazed the low investment to be able to learn cutting edge material from all the experts in this field. If you want to know more about Social Media and how you can use it to blow your business out of the water and take it to new heights, then I recommend you check out this site: Social Media Telesummit 2008. I think you will be amazed by what you will learn.

It's a New Year . . . So Now What

We've all been there. It seems like months of preparation and the holidays are over in just a few hours. Then you find yourself looking in the mirror and wondering, now what? What have I accomplished? What's next? Or is that just me.

I must say I had a good year. I had my ups and downs, but overall I feel like I accomplished a lot and found my grove. The most important part of 2007 is realizing that I need to build a business around the lifestyle I want and not build a lifestyle around my business. When I tried to fit in a lifestyle around my business, it never happened. When I planned my business activities around my lifestyle, I was actually doing what I had hoped I could do. Looking back on that now, it seems so simple, but it was not so when I was working too much and not having the lifestyle I wanted.

So what did you learn from last year? What are you going to do differently this year? How will that change your life? I'd love to hear from you.