Articles
Browse every published article connected to Liz Dennery Sanders, with exact attribution and full-archive search.
Articles
Browse every published article connected to Liz Dennery Sanders, or search within this exact expert archive.
Your to-do list is a mile long. You bring home the bacon and serve it up for brunch. Your Nike trainers get as much use as your Manolo’s, and your social calendar is booked almost every evening for the next two months. You work 14 hour days, and that doesn’t count the nine conferences you are attending this year. Are you exhausted yet?r
There are close to a billion people on Facebook. More than 50,000 people open an account on Twitter daily, and YouTube is the second largest search engine, behind Google. There are more than 200 million blogs and people are sharing images on Pinterest and Instagram at an unprecedented rate. It’s safe to say that people you know are online. And more of them are jumping on every day. Yet a lot of netiquette mistakes are being made in the digital realm. The good news is that many of the same etiquette rules that apply in the real world are also applicable on the Web.
Many small business owners make the mistake of “if I build it they will come” with their websites. They erroneously believe that once they go “live” with a brochure-style site, clients will swarm like bees to honey.
1. Keep your word and follow through. 2. Tell her she’s beautiful. 3. Tell her she’s strong. 4. Honor her brain. 5. Be a good role model. 6. Become a mentor. 7. Listen to her (no really, stop talking and listen.) 8. Encourage her to dream and pursue her passions. 9. Know your rights and make sure she understands hers. 10. Vote for reproductive freedom. 11. Be kind and patient with yourself. 12. Be kind and patient with her. 13. Teach her to focus on a glass half full world. 14. Teach her to use her brains, not her body, to influence and persuade. 15. Make sure she reads. A lot.r
Part of being an entrepreneur is having a passion for what you're doing. It's also about juggling many things at once - projects, deadlines, people and opportunities. When you start your business, you're fueled by excitement and motivation. Soon enough, you have a never-ending (and always-growing) to-do list and an overwhelming desire to hit the pause button.
We live in a world filled with experts. Let’s face it: anyone with a degree, a certification, a few awards or years of experience in a particular industry can tout themselves as an expert. And in the dinosaur ages pre-Inte et, this might have been enough. Today, there are literally MILLIONS of people with special skills or knowledge and years of training under their belts. Smug and satisfied, these same people hang their degrees on their walls, create brochure-style websites, print up their business cards and call themselves experts. But they are not authorities.
We live in a world of copycats. My husband calls them “sheeple.” You know, the followers. People that don’t come up with any of their own original ideas, but rather, blindly follow others. This is rampant in the online marketing world. Websites, sales pages and signature programs that smell an awful lot like the next person. People, a program isn’t your signature unless YOU developed it.
What is confidence, exactly? The dictionary defines confidence as: belief or trust in oneself and one's powers or abilities; certitude, assurance. I’d like to take it a few steps further. To me, confidence is knowing who you are and feeling comfortable in your own skin, despite any exte al pressures that might make you feel otherwise. It’s having a clear sense of self that doesn’t get blown about by every wind.
There’s no shortage of time management books, tips and tricks. Yet most people I know seem to struggle with their time in one way or another. We all have the same 168 hours every week of our lives. Once you take out time for work, sleep, meals and commuting, you’re left with roughly six to ten hours a week. Not much time to play with, is there? The real secret to time management is actually self-management. In order to better manage your time, you first have to manage yourself.
Today, branding isn’t optional. You are a 24/7 walking, talking billboard. Every day, in everything you do – how you interact, how you dress, what your website looks like, how you speak – you tell the world about yourself. People are buying only one thing from you – the way the engagement (hiring you, working with you, learning from you, using your product or service, etc.) makes them FEEL. And the only way to be considered awesome is to earn a piece of valuable real estate in your potential clients’ hearts and minds.
Not a day goes by without a question from one of my clients about how to "do" social media. What is it? Won't it suck up all of my time? Misconceptions about the whole concept are rampant. First, let's simplify the name. Social media is nothing more than a conversation. It's an opportunity for you to jump in at any point in time and connect, engage and offer something of value to both people you know and those you've never met.
One of the most common questions I get from friends, clients and strangers alike, is how to build a powerful brand with little to no budget. There’s a popular saying that you either have to spend time or money to build your business. When you don’t have the budget, you’ll be putting in more time. Thankfully, putting in the time allows you to connect, engage, create and converse – all offering the opportunity to build your brand and your community.
I have to admit it, I’ve had enough. Social media has been around the block. Millions of “how to” posts and books have been written, yet so many people are still getting it wrong. I’ve mentioned quite a few of these don’ts in previous posts over the past three years, but somehow, the message still isn’t getting through. Social media is personal, but too many people (and companies) are treating it as an impersonal advertising platform. Fail. There are people on the receiving end of your posts. People who want to connect and engage. It’s called social media for a reason.
Once you have remarkable content up on your blog - useful information you know your target audience wants to consume and will be of value to them , you'll need a steady stream of traffic to engage your audience and turn readers into evangelists. While patience is a must while you build your tribe, there are a number of things you can do to increase traffic to your blog over time. Here Are 13 Ways To Increase Your Blog Traffic:
It’s not enough to be memorable. It’s a good first start, but in today’s attention-deficit culture, you’re going to need more. In order for a brand to have real staying power, you must have these eight essential characteristics . Having only one or two just won’t cut it. Clarity without an emotional connection is flat, social engagement without energy is boring and remarkability without authenticity has no heart.
No matter what you do for a living, you’ll never have an awesome brand unless you realize that you’re in the people business. Connecting, conversing and helping other people get what they want. Gary Vaynerchuck, the son of Russian immigrants, grew up in his parents’ liquor store. Turned off by the stuffiness of the wine industry–conceited sommeliers and snobby shopkeepers unwilling (or unable) to educate their consumers – Gary rebranded his parents store to Wine Library, and founded the website, WineLibraryTV to make wine accessible and understandable to all who had an interest.
So you’ve taken the plunge and downloaded a Wordpress template for your blog. Now what? One thing that you must focus on in order to create a successful blog is your content. When you first create your blog, you must decide what you’re going to write about. I call this your Flagship Content. What are people coming to you for? What is your area of expertise and experience? You want to create useful content that provides long term value to your target audience. Provide something relevant and original that will stand the test of time.
Some consider having style means carrying the latest "it" bag or wearing the most current trend taken from the pages of Vogue. I have a different take on the subject. Any average Jane can rip out a page from a fashion magazine, bring it to her local department store or boutique and copy a look from head to toe. This says nothing of her intelligence, attitude, energy or character.
What the world needs is more awesome people. People who take responsibility for their actions, help others and care about something bigger than themselves. In other words: people who give a sh*t. This month’s column was inspired by a post from Julien Smith titled, “The Short and Sweet Guide to being F*@king Awesome,” on his blog you should be reading, inoveryourhead.net. Julien’s theory is that there is only one thing in life that matters, and that is to be awesome.r
We all have a million demands on our time. None of us are immune to meetings, email, voice mail, deadlines, doctor’s appointments, bills to pay, kids to pick up, etc. But if you’re not taking an active role in how you spend your time, then you’re allowing life to spend you. It’s almost too easy to let life take control and run away with the little bit of time you have left in your calendar. If you allow it, your time will get eaten up by a gazillion things that have nothing to do with what you value.r
If you’re ready to get serious about press coverage for you and your business, these are ten time-tested tips to follow. 1. Offer Information of Value – Does your product or service offer something that’s unique and of value to your target audience? If so, it might be of interest to the media. It’s not about you or your business, it’s about what you or your business can do for others. What can you offer the public? Four questions to ask yourself before you approach a media person are: What makes my business special and unique? Why am I different from my competitors?
Testimonials are a very powerful piece of your marketing strategy. When written correctly and used effectively, they establish credibility, build trust and turn prospects into clients. Testimonials can be incredibly persuasive and break down the natural barriers of distrust, hesitancy or ambivalence that a prospect may be feeling.
I was sitting in my therapist’s office (brilliant gal, by the way) last week talking about another fear and perceived limitation that had me stuck in my tracks. When I finally finished rambling I heard her take a deep breath and she said, “You know Liz, just use your courage.” Use my courage. Hmmm. I have courage? Her words stayed with me for days. Great educators call it a “teachable moment.” I knew there was an important message for me here.
One of the biggest fears clients share is that participating in social media will be a huge time suck for them. Many have signed up for a Twitter account or a Facebook page, only to desert them after a few well-intentioned weeks of scattered and sporadic posting. Well my friends, there is an easier way. Quite a few programs and platforms have been created over the past couple of years to help consolidate and automate your social media strategy. Here are just a few: • Tweet Deck • Market Me Tweet • Social Blaster • Social Oomph • Hootsuite
You’ve started a Twitter account, built a Facebook Fan Page and are considering jumping on Google+. But if you’re subscribing to the theory of “if I build it, they will come,” you’re in for a pretty disappointing ride. Social media is an incredible vehicle for connection, but once the connection is made, then what? You’ve got to engage if you’re going to grow your community and your business. You can’t expect that just because you slap up a profile picture, a link to your website and a daily post, that your ideal clients will be banging down your door to get in.r
Every day we are inundated with more information than our brains can possibly handle. Attention has become our scarcest resource. If you are ever going to have a chance to earn a piece of real estate in your target audience’s mind, then it’s not okay just to be good enough, or even great. You’ve got to stand for something. You’ve got to be awesome. Awesome to them. To the people who matter: those who are most likely to identify with your message, connect with you, and ultimately buy from you.
One of the most common complaints I hear from clients is their anxiety around what to say on Twitter and other social media channels, expletives occasionally included. They see other people talking and posting and they feel the tremendous momentum building around these conversations and would like to join in, but they are too paralyzed to do anything. They also realize that it’s a great opportunity to meet and connect with potential clients. “I just don’t have anything interesting to share,” they tell me, or worse, “What if I make a complete fool of myself?” What if you do?
Oscar Wilde once wrote, “Be yourself, everyone else is already taken.” Why is it that we try so hard to fit in, to be liked, to be accepted, when we are truly at our best when we are our most unique, authentic selves? It’s what is different about you that makes you special and more memorable than most.