"Your Place Or Mine?"...By Derrick Fleming

"Hush Hotel"....By Derrick Fleming

Tweak Vs Twitter

These days my blog has been collecting dust! Between banner and blog design requests, I haven’t had as much time to write as I normally do. But you know me, “busy means business”, so I never complain about being busy (lol). But seriously, have you noticed that you can’t open a website without being smacked in the face with 50 Social Media icons … “twitter me” … “facebook me” … watch me sleep (lol). I see some many sistas glued to their smart phones,twittering every minute and I wonder how much of THAT is adding value to their business.

Now don’t get me wrong… I’m on twitter and I see the value of social media marketing (I get may fair share of twitter sales), but if I had to make a choice … hands down I choose my “Tweak Technique” over Twitter any day. As the name suggests, this technique is all about regularly tweaking my business to make it better. As a matter of fact, I’ve been quietly tweaking like crazy these past few months and the results have been amazing! If you want my humble opinion, before you get lost in the latest social media marketing techniques and trending topics, focus on highlighting those areas of your business that need work and make them better.

For me, a few little tweaks have turned into more money and WHO DOES NOT WANT MORE MONEY flowing into their business? I normally only share my marketing techniques with my Smart Business Sista Circle (feel free to join us) BUT just for today I’m gonna let you in on my latest profitable AND productive tweaks.

My Recent Tweaks

#1: I spent the past weekend working on my Money and Marketing Newsletter for my BBWO members and sistasense.com readers. This newsletter now includes 60 of my best marketing articles, videos, freebies and exclusive offers and it’s all done and being auto-delivered to my subscribers (feel free to sign up to the newsletter). Now without having to rush to the computer every night, I can consistently share my BEST Marketing Advice to you and free-up more time to focus on other projects. This one tweak was sitting on my to do list for MONTHS, but finally getting it done has made a BIG Difference. What can you learn from my tweak? For starters if you want to build your presence and stay connected to customers online, you have to stay consistent. Consistency is what this tweak is all about. Beyond sales pitches and new products, I want the people in my circle to know that I’m committed to regularly and freely sharing valuable information. Believe me when I say that getting people to listen to you is the most valuable and hardest thing acquire online. While  there are a few more things you can definitely learn from this technique,  I’ll save those for later.

#2: One of my first money-makers online was the Search Urban Directory, an online search engine featuring black websites. For years I allowed people to submit sites for free and then eventually, I started charging $10. Now that msoy is one of the oldest and most popular Black Search Engines online I’ve decide to finally raise the submission fee to $25. This price is still pretty cheap, considering it’s a one time fee and a great promotional opportunity for website owners trying to reach African Americans Online BUT that’s not the real idea behind this tweak. In the past getting 4 new site submissions to the directory translated into $40 in sales, now those same 4 submissions equal $100 in sales! Again, while its important to get into new marketing trends, never forget that little old marketing and sales techniques still work. Tweaking prices on products that regularly bring in revenue for me is often times the easiest way to make more money without selling or doing something new.

I have more tweaks that I want to share, but this post is getting longer than I wanted, so I’ll save them for another day. If you do nothing else, I recommend taking the time to dissect your business. See if you can come up with a few ways you can make your business better. If you are stuck on how to start this process let me make a few suggestions. For the past few years I’ve worked on several projects that were specifically about showing other entrepreneurs the areas in their business that they can fix and make better.

I often recommend that newbies take it slow and start with the basics. For newbies in internet marketing, I suggest downloading my ‘Selling Your Products and Services Online’ eBook Collection. Here is a discount code for the next 30 readers who download this eBundle. Code: FIX01 | If you download now you can save $30 and get this ebundle for $19.

Selling Your Products and Services Online:
Three eBooks for Internet Marketing and Sales Beginners

The Ultimate Money and Marketing Guide:
Two 7-Day eCourses on Finding Customers and Selling on Social Networks

The Smart Business Sista Series:
Monthly Marketing eBooks and how-to video tutorials

The Women of Color Coaching Program:
Monthly Marketing Webinars specifically created for Women Entrepreneurs

My favorite of this is definitely the WOCC Program, last year my partner Richelle and I did 12 Months worth of training webinars for Business Women of Color on How to Market their businesses online and offline. The results were amazing because for those 12 months we gave them a constant flow of marketing ideas and different tweaks they could implement to make their businesses better. As a matter of fact, we did a What’s Working Now Webinar so our members could show you their results. You can click here to watch the replay.

If you liked this post also read: Why Social Media Marketing Can’t Fix Your Business

Get featured in my next Small Business eBook

Would you like to share your small business services and/or expertise with the 7,000+ women on BBWO?

If yes, then submit your BEST small business article to be included in my soon-to-be released FREE eBook entitled, “Get Your Business Straight: Black Business Advice from Black Business Women.”

This is your chance to have a promotional article and a link to your website included in an eBook that I am going to giveaway to the thousands of BBWO members and women entrepreneurs in my circle.

Don’t you want every new BBWO member to know who you are and what business services you offer? This is an especially great PR offer for those with business blogs and networks and those who offer small business consulting services.

I’m looking for business articles on topics like marketing, branding, publishing, virtual assisting, working at home, finances, social media, sales, web design, funding, time-management, startups, etc. Click here for more details on submitting your article.

DEADLINE:  2/12/2010
I will be accepting 15 articles max, so submit your article asap. Only one article submission per person.

Where will you be in seven days? (ReadOn or MissOut)

I looked at the calender and realized that in seven days January 2010 will be over. In seven days all the “New Year, New You” buzz will be gone! Before February hits, think about where you will be in seven days. Are you still pushing to take your life to the next level or have old year habits returned … preventing you from moving forward?

For many sistas in my circle (maybe you), this year they REALLY want a new business, a new website, a new life BUT the funds are still low, the time is still limited, the support is still lacking. When I think about them and you, I know that I can’t change your circumstances, BUT I can give you the tools to help change your life.

For the next seven days I’m aiming to help you keep that “New Year, New You” fire burning. I want you to do MORE than just dream about a new house, a new car, no boss, no bills. If you are trying to find a business, start a business, or get your new business off the ground, I’m willing to tell you everything I’ve done AND learned and you don’t have to break the bank to pick my brain!

Last year I worked really hard to put all my startup wisdom into the StartupSista series. Even though I’ve been selling this course for $79, I want you to have it for $10. Yes I said 10 bucks, yes you heard me right, and yes I am crazy for doing this (lol). Why would I every consider giving away all my valuable Startup information, videos, and ebooks for $10!! Well… I want to make sure that right now, you can’t use lack of funds as an excuse to get valuable information about how to start making money online if that’s what your BIG goal is for 2010.

• For 50 People or the Next Seven Days (whichever one comes first) the $10 discount code is: START10
• Because my coupons go fast, here is a $29 discount code if you miss the first one: START29
• To grab StarupSista now + get more details visit startupsista.com

What am I doing in the next 7 days?

Even though I make far more money FASTER and EASIER when I sell my products for $79,  this year I have committed myself to doing more stuff like this and even sharing my profits with affiliates BECAUSE my 2010 Agenda is to help more women learn how to make money online.”If you want to live your dreams, you have to work towards them.” – LaShanda Henry

Did I help your business grow?

If you have found my articles, ebooks, and or videos helpful to you in the past, I would love to know! Leave me a comment and let me know how my business tips have helped your business grow!