Aurelia Williams, the real life coach for the work at home mom is offering an entire week of tips to help WAHMs get and keep their home and business in order. You can read more about her Journey to Joy tour here.

She will be talking about focus, health and wellness, stress, the empty nest and organization. She will be stopping at a blog near you so don’t hesitate to stop by and ask her a few questions or comment on her posts. At the end of the tour Aurelia will be giving away a great prize package.

One lucky commenter will win the Journey to Joy Gift package that includes:

1. A free session with the Real Life Coach, Aurelia Williams
2. A copy of the Journey to Joy e-book
3. A $25 Bath and Body Works Gift Card

All you have to do for your chance to win is comment on this post and the others in the Journey to Joy blog tour. For each comment that you leave your name will be entered into the drawing for the prize. Comments must be more than 15 words long and relevant.

A winner will be chosen at the end of the blog tour and announced on Monday March 1, 2010. Be sure to provide your email address in the provided space so that you can be contacted in the event that you win.

You can follow her this week one the following blogs:

ourney to Joy Blog Tour Schedule

Day 1: Monday February 22

WAHM Talk Radio – Kelly McCausey

Day 2: Tuesday February 23

Mother Knows Best – Marguerite Wright

Day 3: Wednesday February 24

Multi-Tasking Mama – Melissa Smallwood

Day 4: Thursday February 25

Dinker and Giggles – Alaina Frederick

Day 5: Friday February 26

Mom’s Prime Years – Sharon Mc Millan

Join us for what will truly be a journey to joy as Aurelia keeps it real and paints an authentic picture of balance in your home and business.

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Real Life Coach Aurelia Williams starts her Blog Tour Today

If you are trying to bring your business online or even if you have been online for sometime but you are still not quite getting this internet marketing thing, some training may be needed. Online marketing is not something that just happens. You have to work it every chance you get.

I have had the privilege to learn under some great people like Nicole Dean, Regina Baker, Kelly McCausey, and one of my favorites, Jimmy D. Brown.

Jimmy was a light to my dim path when I was confused about many things having to do with online marketing. Reading his great reports just made is a little more clear and took away many of my fears about business online. With the fact that his morals and values matched mine, it was easy to fall in love with this products because he is who he says he is and there is not apologizing for it.

So when I got an email that Jimmy was retiring it threw me for a minute until I opened up the email. That is when I realized that he was retiring all of his current products…and there are tons. I myself am a member of Affiliatenaire and took the Membernaire course as well. I learned a great deal that I apply to the work I do with my clients from both courses.

Jimmy is retiring his products and he is starting with his SRZone where he sells small reports. The prices on the reports were already good but now they are only $10 each and that is a steal. I made sure to grab the ones I did not have in my business tools files. I use them as tools because the reports are very applicable to my business structure.

Let me break it down for you:

In life, there are two commodities that are very limited: TIME and MONEY.

In marketing and online business, there are also two commodities that are limited. Guess what? They are TIME and MONEY.

You only have so many hours in the day to invest in your business and learning. And, you only have so much money to invest in your business and learning about how to make more money online.

So, when you’re looking somewhere to learn how to be a more effective marketer, you want something AFFORDABLE and CONCISE.

The bottom line is this: you want information that is relevant to your current needs – and you want to understand that information so you can actually use it – and you’d rather not have to get a second mortgage to pay for it!

With these reports you get juicy useful information that you can start applying immediately.

Take the time to glance at what is available because for only $10 per report you can get online marketing training for under a hundred bucks.

Jimmy will be shutting all sales to the SRzone February 26; so don’t drag your feet. If you are looking for some great affordable training this is the way to go!

Disclosure: Yes, these links are affiliate links and if you chose to click them I will get commissions. However know that I truly admire Jimmy D. Brown and it is not my goal to just get money but to see your business grow!

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Resource Wednesday: Business Training Reports

This weekend is full of goodies for you to read. I have read some already; while others I have yet to have a chance to chew on.

What are you reading on the internet this weekend? Share your great reading finds by commenting on this post.

Here is the Social Savvy Weekend Wrap Up for this week:

The Social Impact of Friendships and Lies -I found myself laughing as I read this post. Jason hit on such a relevant point of how watered down friendships have become as a result of social media.  Does that mean that social media is the cause. No, I don’t think. Read it to find out Jason’s take.

How Sticky Is Your Site? – Lexi uses her own client as an example of how to make your site sticky. Great read!

The Most Powerful Marketing Tool – Pat shares how the art of story telling can serve s strong component to your marketing strategy.

Reality Check: A Blog Is Not a Business – This had to be one of my favorite reads of the week. It is a good read for anyone looking to become a profitable blogger. The advice is practical and makes a great deal of sense. David Risely talks about getting real and understand how you really make money blogging. You have to read this!

I hope you enjoy reading these posts. Do me a favor. Come back here to this post and let me know what you read and your thoughts.

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Social Savvy Weekend Wrap Up: 2-12-10

A virtual blog tour is a way to use content to spread your message. It is much like guest blogging but it usually involves more components. A blog tour can work well for anyone seeking to get their message out about a product, service, or book.

The main component of a blog tour is the Blog Host. The blog host is important because it is their blog that will serve as a core portion of the tour. Without the blog host, there can be no blog tour.

The blog host will open their blog to the “guest blogger” for a specific amount of time so that the guest blogger can share the message they wish to convey with the audience. The benefits for the blog host are well worth the time it takes to give someone your platform for a brief period of time.

Here are some of the benefits

• You get to take a rest from creating content. Better yet you have less content to create for the month because you are a part of a blog tour and the guest blogger may be on your blog anywhere from a day to an entire week.
• You get perks like free products and books. Most blog tour contributors will offer some sort of thank you to the host for their generosity. For example, I allow book blog tours over at my lifestyle blog, Mom Unplugged and as  thank you I receive a copy of the book. Now while I try to review them, just knowing that they are a gift from the contributor that I allowed to post to my blog is a great incentive. I guess it doesn’t hurt that I love to read too
• As the blog host you are able to benefit from the traffic that will come to your blog. Again, I will use Mom Unplugged as an example. I am currently a part of a blog tour for a book titled Sistah Faith and the conversation surrounding the tour has not only brought traffic but sign ups to my newsletter list as well. Because the tour is a week long and has about 15 blogs included, that brings traffic from not only the guest blogger but from the blogs on the tour as well.

Now after reading this you may be wondering how you can participate. Of course I am going to tell you.

• Locate blog tour event coordinators and get on their notification list. A good blog tour coordinator will have a list and if they don’t ask them why. Tell them you want to be on a notification list. It may turn on the light bulb in their head!

• Let people know that you are available for blog tours. On your site in a prominent spot on your site (think about creating a page) you can outline what type of tours you are interested in, how to contact you, and what your current schedule is like. You may find that people will seek you out when they know you are available.

Speaking from my own experience, I can say that blog tours have benefited my lifestyle blog in a number of ways. I even have people seeking me out who stopped by my blog on a tour date contacted me constantly to make Mom Unplugged a stop on their tour.

If you are looking for a fun way to gain traffic that is targeted, hosting a blog tour is a good idea.

If you are looking to get your feet wet, take a look at the blog tours I am coordinating. If one (or more) sound like it is a fit for your blog, sign up. But make sure you register quick because the tour spots fill up fast.

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How a Blog Tour Benefits the Host!

This week I want to share a resources to will help make your blog reading more enjoyable. Sometimes hopping from blog to blog can become tedious and it can keep you from participating in communities that can help your bottom line.

Feedly: I discovered this great feed reader two months ago and I have not looking back. Feedly is just a pretty feed reader. There are many that are simply eye sores and I am a rather visual person so when I found Feedly I was sold. What feedly does is organize your favorite sites into a magazine-like start page with some great visual appeal.

If you use Google Reader, Feedly exports all of your post over to their interface without a hitch.

Here is a sample of what the cover page of a Feedly reader looks like:

With Feedly you can organize all of those blog post that you want to read into handy little categories to make it easier for you to locate your favorite posts.

Here is another showing how you can organize your favorite blogs or websites into pages. If you need to move one from one category to another, you just drag and drop. Really easy!

In addition to the cover, you can also view the latest content from your favorite spots on the web, or you can view it in digest style.

The one feature that I think any social media geek will love is the ability to search for topics, twitter streams and hashtags. Feedly’s Explore feature you see a twitter stream of someone you follow along with the post or web page they tweeted about. Now that is cool!

Here is an image:

You can see where I did a direct reply through my twitter stream and where I commented on someone’s blog via Disqus and it went into my twitter stream. This is a handy feature because it helps you to find new site and blogs and explore cyber spots that you have have otherwise never knew existed.

I have to say that reading blogs is such a joy now because it is all so pretty with Feedly

Do you use Feedly?

If so what do you like about it? What are you favorite features and why?

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Resource Wednesday: Make Your Blog Reading Fun

There are many people who think that there is some big secret to marketing online. Really there is not. Many of those same people trying to figure out marketing are already doing it, but may not aware of it. They just need to tweak their efforts a little bit.

Just about any business owner who utilizes the Internet for any purpose, will likely find that whether or not they intentionally organized an Internet marketing campaign; they may already be marketing their products and services on the Internet.

Do you have a website for your business?

Business owners who answer yes to this question are already marketing their products or services online.  Having a live website means there is the potential for curious Internet users to access your website. You may not be actively promoting your website, but you may still find that your website generates interest in your products despite the lack of promotional endeavors.

However, it takes more than simply having a website to increase your online presence and gain a loyal market that will buy from you again and again.

Do you participate in message boards and include a link to your website in your signature?

If you answered yes to this question then you are taking an extra step towards marketing your website online. Savvy business owners realize the importance of participation in industry related message boards. They know that these boards (forums) can be used  to create an interest in their products and services, establish themselves as an expert in their industry, and offer a link to their own website even if it is in the signature line of their posts.

If you are participating in message board and people know about your products, services, and website then you are inadvertently enjoying the benefits of Internet marketing. You may just be a part of the community because you enjoy it; but you are, in essence, marketing your business.

Now in order to reach your bottom line goals you need to make sure that when they click on the URL that leads to your site, that the landing page is marketing ready. You can do this by making sure that you site has everything it needs so that people know all about what you offer. Create some calls to action, have an optin box, and make sure that your content compels your market to pay attention. Present value for your visitors so that they want to come back to your website again and again.

Do you solicit feedback from your customers online?

Most business owners realize the importance of soliciting feedback from customers for business purposes. Whether it be via online polls, email, or client testimonials it is understood that client feedback is an integral part of business. Although the business owners may be doing this simply for a business purpose it is a part of online marketing.

There are several other ways that you may be marketing and did not know it. What you have to do is look at your overall plan, see exactly where you are marketing and how you can enhance the experience for full marketing opportunities. Discover those ways that you can leverage what you are already doing and add it to the market portion of your overall business plan. If you are not quite sure how to further benefit from what you are doing, it is a good idea to enlist the help of an online marketing consultant who can show you the way.

What are some of the ways you have been marketing and did not know it?

If you are reading this and you know how to market online, share your insights as well.

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Are You Marketing and Didn’t Even Know It

This week we are talking with Rod Kirby from the Success Center. Rod knows his way around the social media marketing arena well and you can tell from the posts he cranks out over at his blogazine. I thought it was a good idea to start this series of interview with one of the most Savvy Entrepreneurs I have met in a long time.

Tell us a little about your business.

My company is called, SBLS Enterprises. It’s basically a holding company for my intellectual and media properties such as The Success Center (Christian entrepreneur blog-a-zine), Inside the Success (online radio and web show), and an audio book titled, “Business Leadership Wisdom from Proverbs.” Officially, I’m an editor, author, speaker, and business coach. It’s a tough job but somebody’s gotta be successful . . .

What is it about social media that makes it so unique for marketing?

There are a couple of things that make it unique, #1 – With no overhead, no print marketing materials to develop, and zero fees the return on investment can be huge if utilized correctly. #2 – It opens up conversation and dialogue between the seller and buyer that wasn’t there before. Instead of going directly for the sale, the seller has the opportunity to ask questions and get to know potential buyers first.

What do you think most people miss when it comes to marketing online?

I think people get excited about the tools to help them market online but fail to understand the best way to use them. They just jump in without testing the water or reading the instructions on how to use the boat. . .

What are your top three marketing tools?

Firstly, I don’t consider them marketing tools, I consider them marketing platforms. A tool is typically used once and discarded (in other words, something useful but not valuable). A platform is something solid used to stand on. Something sturdy you can build something on top of. My top 3 platforms are Twitter, Facebook, and my blog. Twitter for starting conversations, sharing information, and broadcasting my offerings. Facebook for deepening relationships. And the blog for offering valuable advice, tips, and information.

What advice do you have for the business owner seeking a viable online presence?

Therein lies the problem, you can’t have just an online presence. . . you have to present value to visitors, followers, fans, and friends. A website is only as good as it is useful to someone visiting it. A blog is only a great as the conversations started there. Create something valuable and you’ll find the success you’re looking for.

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About Rod

Rod Kirby is a success coach, speaker, and editor-in-chief of The Success Center; the #1 Christian entrepreneur’s blog for small business, marketing, social media, and personal branding help.

He is also the producer of Inside the Success, the show that aims to equip entrepreneurs for success by going “inside” the lives of others making it happen in their industries.

Rod has been on the forefront of entrepreneurship since 2002 when he started his first business, a video game tournament event company. In March 2009 Rod launched his personal blog, The Success Center, where he shared inspirational success stories and offered small business advice. The blog quickly developed a following and in June 2009 Rod re-launched it with a “blog-a-zine” focus. One factor in the blog’s success is Rod’s multimedia content, focus on community, and consistency in delivering quality content 5 days a week.
Rod’s mission is to inspire, empower, and equip entrepreneurs of all walks of life for success.

You can read more about Rod on his very informative “About page” over at the Success Center.  You will enjoy what you read.

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Savvy Marketing Moments With Rod “the Success Coach” Kirby

I like to read a lot over the weekend. I visit blogs that may have missed during the week. It happens when you own your business. The cool thing is that with tools like Delicious and Feedly you can bookmark great reads and come back to them later.

This weekend I will be reading the following. Read along with me or share your own Great Reads for the Weekend!

Here is the Social savvy Weekend Wrap-Up for the week of January 29, 2010! Have fun reading and learning!

How to Build a Beautiful Blog

Site Review: Where is Your Call To Action – I love learning from Lynn Terry!

Create a Blog or Website - Another goodie from Lynn. If you are looking into Internet Marketing or Affiliate Marketing to earn some residual income, Lynn is a great keep it real person to learn from.

How to be a Twitter Rockstar Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 - Regina Baker is my mentor and has been online as an Internet Marketer since 1996. I read her stuff with great care because I always glean something applicable from it.

How Well do You Know Your Audience – I just discovered this blog through a friend’s tweet and I have been eating up since discovering it.

If you want to know what is good to read here on the Social Savvy Online Solutions Blog, let me suggest the following:

Virtual Tour Tips – 12 Days of great information to help you organize you very own Virtual Blog Tour

Review and Book Giveaway – I am reviewing Six Pixels of Separation by Mitch Joel and giving away 5 copies.

Marketing Tips from the Shark Tank – Do you watch The Shark Tank? I do. You always learn some of the more valuable lessons for business.

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Social Savvy Weekend Wrap-Up 1-29-10

Social Savvy Online Solutions is all about helping you find ways to make your marketing and promoting efforts a little simpler. I am starting something new here on the blog that I hope will benefit the readers. Every Wednesday look for my selection of resources of the week. These posts will usually include some WordPress plugins ( I am a WP snob….sorry folks), promoting resources like good applications for connecting to your market, and some old fashioned back to basis online marketing tools that every business owner needs to always keep up with.

My target market is the new online business owner so some of you reading this may already be aware of many of the tools I mention. Then again, you just may not be familiar so stop by every week to see what new stuff I add to the list.

On with this week’s resources…

• Zemanta. This is a cool tool that integrates with your blog, pulling out key words and providing images, articles you can research and link to, as well as key words you can tag in your posts. I love it because it makes the search for images so easy and I can just click relevant words and it adds it as a tag word. Zemanta also gives others an option to reblog your postYou can  also customize your recommendations by sharing your personal resources and contacts with Zemanta so that it pulls posts and articles from blogs and resources you read for you to recommend and compliment your post. Zemanta has many cool features like the “reblog” option where you can quote me by simply copy and pasting. Zemanta will automatically create the quote for your blog post. I can write a book on this resource but be sure to check it out because it is a very valuable tool.

• Hootsuite. This Twitter application is perfect for the person with multiple accounts or users of an account. It is very similar to Tweetdeck but has some features that Tweetdeck does not. Like the statistics tool which allows you to see what links you share your followers are clicking. This is a very valuable tool for the online entrepreneur because it provides real time stats and a way for you to see exactly what your market seeks. Hootsuite also has an iPhone application for all of you mobile folks. You can find a list of all Hootsuite apps and plugins here.

• iContact. I know most folks use Aweber or Constant contact for their email marketing but I have to say that I have been with iContact for almost two years and I love it! not only are they reasonably priced but they offer various tools to help you with your email marketing. The interface is pretty easy to get and they do not release your email until they have done a spam check. It is great for the person who likes their email marketing to be done as simple yet effective as possible.  If you are looking for a low cost option for email marketing iContact is a great option.

Stay tuned for more great marketing, promoting and project management tools and resources. Share your tools and resources by commenting below! Can’t wait to see what goodies you use

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Disclosure: iContact is one of my affiliate partners. This means that I may make a profit if you choose to purchase their service. Please view my Policy statement for more information.

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Resources Wednesday: Blogging, Email Marketing and Twitter

For the last month I have been taking bites from one of the most delightful books on the topic of social media and marketing that I have read in a long time. Six Pixels of Separation: Everyone Is Connected. Connect Your Business to Everyone by Mitch Joel is an easy to read book with plenty of tasty morsels for the small business owner who doubts social media’s power to learn the truth.

Mitch Joel does an excellent job of intertwining digital marketing, social media, personal branding, and entrepreneurship in a clear, entertaining, and instructive manner that everyone can understand and apply. By reading the book we are able to see that in this technological world, we are all really just six pixels apart. This new “closeness” is why the face of business and marketing is changing by leaps and bounds.

I found myself laughing out loud and shaking my head in agreement with Mitch’s realistic approach. There is no way a curious or doubting business owner would not glean a a great deal of knowledge from reading Six Pixels of Separation. It is simply filled  with logical useful information. No “guru” promises or fairy fantasies. Mitch Joel presents the truth and nothing but the truth.

It made me so curious that I found myself digesting his site, Twist Image Blog and the Six Pixels of Separation podcast. There is so much practical information there that I simply breathed a sigh of relief.

Mr. Joel was not trying to sell me anything. He was not making promises about huge numbers or six figures. He was simply providing stuff I can use and resonate with.

About the Giveaway

I was so exited when the folks over at the Hatchet Book Group told me that I can give away 5 copies of the book to the Social Savvy readers.

Are you ready for your chance to win? Really, this is a great book and the rules are pretty simple.

How you can get entries for your chance to win.

• Retweet the post using the hashtag #ssgiveaway or share it on Facebook. There are icons on the top right of this post that sharing on Twitter or Facebook easy.
• Leave a comment and tell me about your biggest pet peeve when it comes to social media.
• Leave a comment and tell me why you think you need to read Six Pixels of Separation

You can choose to do one or both!

Didn’t I tell you that getting an entry for the giveaway was a breeze?  I did not even tell you to sign up for my feed or the newsletter. Of course if you decided to do either, you will get an additional entry but it is not mandatory at all

Please know that the contest will run from January 26, 2010 until January 31, 2010 at 12:00 Midnight EST and is only open to U.S. and Canadian residents

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Review and Giveaway: Six Pixels of Separation