a Rafflecopter giveaway

PhotoPad will be giving away a $50 Visa Gift card to one random fan as a great gift for Valentine’s Day.

PhotoPad Fun~ a cool & whimisical way to organize photos in a photobook, send a postcard,eCard, or cool animation! One stop App on Facebook!

Complete the entries for the PhotoPad page and you could win. Increase your chances by having your referrals include your name when they comment on the form and send your friends a Heart for Valentine’s day.  The contest will only run till February 15th, 2012 12:01AM EST , so entering now to win!

-To enter the PhotoPad giveaway, please enter the Rafflecopter below:


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tiny Tots Eco Store is owned by Sulani, mom of 2, from Australia is dedicated to providing the best quality products at an affordable price. At Tiny Tots Eco Store we stock items that are Australian made or made by Australian Owned manufacturers that are high quality and guaranteed to deliver what they promise.

Who is Tiny Tots Eco Store:

“One stop shop for quality baby products”

Our products are specialised in new mother and babies care. We stock products that are beneficial to toddlers and the entire family. Our products are tested to ensure their quality and durability.
“To provide high quality, environmentally friendly products with a focus on great customer service”

*Our customers are valuable to us. We promise to:
*Post all goods within 24 hrs of the purchase
*Reply e-mails within 24 hrs
*Call back within 24 hrs
*Ongoing customer service and support
*To be open to feedback from our customers
*Information about our brands in store

Eco Nappies Australia

Australian owned modern cloth nappy company. Providing an environmentally friendly, affordable modern cloth nappy system that gives a perfect fit from new born to toilet training stage(3-18kg). Unlike most modern cloth nappies Eco Nappies Australia cloth nappies are very high quality and durable and are great value for money. All nappies come with 2 inserts and in 10 adorable colours. The outer layer is breathable which makes it a perfect nappy for all throughout the year.
Eco nappies have a great range of nappy bags that help mum to take the nappies and wipes when travelling. Nappy bags are waterproof and come in 10 great colours.
Cleaning the nappies are a breeze. Just wash the nappies straight in the washing machine. No soaking required. To make things easy try the Eco Nappies Australia bamboo liners.
Eco Nappies can be purchased individually or in packs. We have special offers with the starter pack, part time pack and complete pack.

Aroma baby Products

Pure, Gentle, Certified Organic skin care product range for new mum, baby and entire family.
Aromababy founder Catherine Cervasio and the team are dedicated to providing the purest and most organic skincare range that deliver the results as promised. Aromababy is Australian made certified organic skincare using mostly organic Australian grown natural ingredients which support Australian growers. No animal testing –accredited with CCF(choose cruelty free)

Eczema friendly and suitable for sensitive skin.
Aromababy is also specialised in organic cotton baby clothing range.

Mum to Mum products

Mum to Mum is a New Zealand company with a good reputation for their high quality products. Mum 2 Mum™ was created in 2004 by two Mums, Jo Bond and Jo Keall. Their aim and passion now as Mum 2 Mum is to produce quality baby products that make life easier for parents everywhere. Products include the Wonder Bib® range, Hooded Towels, Burp Cloths, Play n’ Change Mats, Face Washer and the Dream Swaddle.

Tiny tots eco store special gift packs

Taking the hard work out of choosing a perfect gift for the new mum and baby. We store a range of products that are already gift packed in beautiful wooden boxes and satin bags making the gift so special. We also have store gift vouchers.

We share

Tiny Tots Eco Store contribute 5% of the total profit at the end of the year to Save the Children charity organisation.We also have a ongoing monthly contributions for Save the Children foundation.Save the children foundation help families to provide a stable future for their children.For more information about this charity visit www.savethechildren.org.

Visit them at http://www.tinytotsecostore.com.au

Specials Running for Tiny Tots Eco Store:

10-15% off selected products
products on special change every 2-3 weeks
PromoCode discount of 10%
COUP1MAGADV

Also, Find them on other social networks:

Facebook: Tiny Tots Eco Store

QCOS Kids is run by Marina, mom of 2, from Pennsylvania believe that kids can be both, comfortable and stylish. Their goal is to provide quality product that will be enjoyed by both, children and parents.

Who is QCOS Kids:

When our twins were born, we’ve spent a lot of time searching for the clothing and shoes for them that would be comfortable, have a great quality and our kids would love to wear.
As we have come across people asking us where we buy clothes for the boys, we decided to share the experiences and bring the products that we found into one store that parents like us would love.

All of the brands we offer are or have been worn by our own kids and they loved it.

Visit them at http://www.qcoskids.com

Specials Running for QCOS Kids:

$10 off for Living Your Moment only. Coupon code: LYM10OFF
Minimum purchase required: $50 exluding taxes, shipping & handling

$10% off new orders. Coupon code: NEW10
No minimum purchase required.

Free shipping on all orders over $49.99

Also, Find them on other social networks:

Facebook: QCOS Kids

I am always amazed that a small business owner will pay good money to hire a housekeeper but will not invest in their business by outsourcing. As a small business owner, you are used to having to be the jack or Jill of all trades. You are the web developer, accountant, secretary, cold call salesman.

You. are. it.

Are you excellent at all of those things? Probably not.

Nevertheless, you do all of them because you feel you need to watch your pennies and only invest in the necessities.

Let me blow your mind for a minute. Your marketing plan is a necessity. There, I said it.

As I dove into the world of social media, I learned a very important lesson that was the foundation of everything I did. Would you like to know what that lesson was?

You do what you are good at; let me do what I am good at.

Simple concept? Very. However, in small business it is quite profound.

But think of it this way…

Your business is all about making widgets, you are good at making widgets, you are confident at making widgets. Explaining to potential customers via the internet, & social media that you are good at making widgets and they should buy YOUR widgets, yeah, not so much.

That is where a social media professional comes in. Social networking, social media, that is their comfort zone, that is what they are good at.

There are other reasons to hire someone to sell you. You just flat out do not have time. You are up to your nose making those amazing widgets. Who has time to get the word out?

Are you not sure what you should outsource? Take the advice of Living Your MoMent Owner & CEO, Abbey Fatica.

“Find your weakness and outsource those jobs”

In addition, remember when you outsource you can focus more on your business or if you have kids, your kids. What a concept right?

So, what should you look for in a company or individual when looking to hire them to sell you?

• Check for a client testimonial page
• Search Google for the company or individual and see what pops up. Are they even listed anywhere?
• Consider finding the company or individual on LinkedIn. What does their bio look like, have people recommended them?
• If you want to hire someone to market, you via social media and you cannot find them on social media, MOVE ON!

When we asked this question in our weekly chat, Jackie from With Just a bit of Magic said, “When hiring someone references are a must!” and “good communication & getting back in a timely manner”

What are some of the thing you could hire someone to do for you to lighten the load?

• Twitter & Facebook set up, monitoring, and engagement.
• YouTube video upload & commenting.
• Google+ how to use profile to build brand through engagement.
• Blogger outreach campaigns. Build your brand recognition through blogger outreach.

The reality is if you have a good relationship with the person or company, you hire IT CAN ALL WORK. However, you need to give it time. Nothing will happen overnight. Allow for anywhere from 3-6 months to see solid results.

So, get out there and hire!

Until next time!

Christina

Linnell Media Group

The last two weeks we have been discussing how to really engage your Facebook page & Twitter followers. Fans and followers are amazing; they bolster our credibility and presence online. However, if we never truly engage with them, make them feel wanted, they will leave and go to a business that does do this for them.  You don’t want that do you? I certainly don’t. I adore and appreciate my fans. They could have followed anyone, but they picked me. That is a huge vote of confidence.

Facebook:

Ah, social media the thing we all love to hate, right? I have always said if you are going to have a Facebook fan page then you should actually be on it. Last week we talked about “when” to update your status, well, the length of your post can influence engagement just as much as the time.

Tip #1 Keep your updates short and sweet, around 80 characters.

Side Tip-Statistically a full length URL offers more engagement than one used with a shortener.

Tip #2 Do you ever feel weird about asking for a “like” or a comment on your updates? You should not! Sometimes we just need to “ask for what we want”

Tip #3 Words that drive engagement: like, take, submit, watch, comment, tell us, and share

Are you using these? How are they working for you?

Tip #4 Be flexible! How things work will probably change in a few months.

Twitter:

Believe it or not, according to PC Advisor businesses need to be maintaining a Twitter account. For those businesses that refuse to be on Twitter, they can be viewed as unprofessional in the eyes of the consumer. Interesting, right? I am actually one of those that prescribe to this theory. I agree, there are some businesses that have no business (pardon the pun) being on Twitter. But, most could really benefit from it.  I love the point they make that in these tough economic times businesses need to use every tool available to them.

I found a very useful article from Social Media Examiner that offers some killer tips on engagement. Let me share some with you.

#1 Publish useful tips or facts-

One of the first ways you can contribute to the conversation is to share useful information.

#2 Retweet to acknowledge others-

Retweeting other people’s tweets is a form of acknowledgement.

#3 Reach out with Follow Friday #FF-

Although Follow Friday (#FF) has been around a while, it can still be a good way to initiate conversations when you put a little thought into it.

#4 Answer other people’s tweets-

Another easy way to engage people is to respond to others’ tweets.

I was checking out an article by Tech Cocktail where they cited that mainstream media was not engaging their twitter followers. There seemed to be a pushing of content and no real dialogue with their followers. Now, most of us are not considered mainstream media outlets. However, do we find ourselves pushing content more than interacting?

Remember, your Twitter followers are technically your clients. They can be a wonderful marketing tool for you if you treat them right.

A great rule of thumb is: Share THEM more than you share YOURSELF.

Until next time!

Christina

Linnell Media Group

Families Earning More is run by Wendy, mom of 2, from Canada who wanted to be able to get environmental friendly products and replace her income.

What is Families Earning More:

I actually got started as a customer over 12 years ago, I have allergies and my son has asthma, he was on 2 puffers. A friend shared with me that there was a company that did not use any chemicals in their products , over 400 of them. A company that cares about you ,your family and the environment. We loved the products and my son was able to come off his puffers and I stopped using all the prescriptions for my allergies. My friend told me that I could get my own products for free if I wanted to or also replace my income. I thought at first that I would have to do parties and sell to my friends, but I was pleasantly surprised that I did not have to do any of that. I just shared the information with friends and family and they wanted to try the products just like I did. And that was over 10 years ago, and they are still shopping today. The business works because of the products and no one is spending money that they are not already spending. They are just shopping at a different store. This is the only company that pays you residual income and you can build a business to last a lifetime. I am loving every minute of it and that I can help others with income or just to save money in this economy and have a healthier home. So for the last 10 years I have been helping others earn part time income up to 6 figure incomes. There is absolutely NO Risk, and anyone can be successful. Call Wendy 1-877-936-6272 or request more info at www.wendy.familiesearningmore.com

Visit them at http://www.wendy.familiesearningmore.com

Check out their specials:

Until January 18th 2012 You can Open Up a Wholesale Shopping Account or start a business to earn residual income for life for just $1.00

Find them on other social networks:

-Facebook: Wendy Ethier Schaan

PhotoPad will be giving away a $50 Visa Gift card to one random fan.

PhotoPad Fun~ a cool & whimisical way to organize photos in a photobook, send a postcard,eCard, or cool animation! One stop App on Facebook!

Complete the entries for the PhotoPad  page and you could win. Increase your chances by having your referrals include your name when they comment on the form.  The contest will only run till January 25th at 11:59PM EST , so start referring people to their page to win!

-To enter the PhotoPad giveaway, please enter the Rafflecopter below:


a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giant baby shower combines, shopping, information and celebration all in one amazing event!!!

It’s our mission to empower parents-to-be, new parents and their tiny tots on exercise, nutrition & wellness, While shopping and celebrating in a dreamy and whimsical atmosphere, with all the trimmings of a giant baby shower. Friends and family can also be part of the celebration with tons of fun attractions and activities for the entire family.

-To enter the Baby Shower Expo giveaway, please enter the Rafflecopter below:

 


a Rafflecopter giveaway

As you build your business or your blog have you ever wondered, “Why didn’t that tweet get any attention? No one responded to my post on Facebook, I wonder why?” Well, if you haven’t good for you. I certainly have. The timing issue of posting can be one frustrating topic. Today we will take a look at some ideas to drive the most traffic to your updates, solely based on when you post. Let me first say that EVERY business, blog, and niche is different. What might be the optimal time for one is not for another. I strongly encourage each of you to take 15-30 days and pull together that data after that time.  Use an Excel spreadsheet and track how often your post gets an impression. The great thing about Facebook is they have this handy tab called “Insights”. This will show what posts got the most impressions.

With regards to Twitter, if you use a 3^rd party tool like Hootsuite (I do) you can actually create reports and summaries of how your links were received. So, for example if you wanted to stick to 1 time of day for delivering content, Twitter could tell you how many times that link was clicked. You can tell pretty fast if that time of day is poor or good.

Let’s talk about Facebook first.

Regardless of your business, blog or niche you should be posting every single day. You want your “stuff” in the streams of your friends and fans as often as possible without being obnoxious. Mind you that line can be pretty blurry at times.

Mashable had an excellent article in October talking about that very topic. You can read the entire article here. Jeff Widman, co-founded PageLever. When asked how frequently or when should status updates be posted he answered, Post whenever the most recent status update for your page stops showing up in your fans’ news feeds.

That makes sense, right? Not for most of us.

But, Jeff has given a real way to measure this. He says, Post a status update. Every hour, record the number of impressions, likes and comments. Figure out when the rate of new impressions or likes slows down.

You could do this for 2 days and probably get a great idea of when your fans are reading your updates.

Consider spacing your updates out throughout the day. Here are 3 key times for most brands, for most reach.

• Early Morning
• Early Evening/After work
• Late night

Consider the day of the week as well. This is when your niche really comes into play. If you are all about entertainment, Thursday through Sunday would be huge. People are making plans and they are look for advice. However, if you are in retails studies show engagement is at its highest on Sundays.

Let’s talk about Twitter now.

Many people say the best time to tweet is 9am pst. And here is why. You are hitting a sweet spot for availability. Look at this way.

9am pst = 11am cst & 12pm est. Lunchtime! People are freely perusing their twitter streams and are catching your message.

9am pst is the start of the work day on the west coast and Canada.

Plus, if you have international business 9am pst hangs nicely as the end of the business day in England. 5pm

Now we all want our message seen on Twitter but what is even better than that? Well, being Re-tweeted of course! A good time to get re-tweeted is 4pm to 10p est.

A cool tool to check when your tweets are most impactful is Timely. What the online tool does is schedule your tweets for THE most effective time. That way you get more mentions, more RT.

There is a fantastic article over at The Next Web showing an infographic on when to tweet.  12 pm & 6pm are the best times to tweet. Their graphs show us that 5pm est. is the best time to get a RT. They cite the best days to tweet are midweek and weekends. Finally, they say best tweeting frequency is 1-4 tweets per hour.