Times are changing, so we hear. That is really the only consistency in life we can rely on, because as the world changes, so must we.

In the world of business TODAY, many people cannot figure out the next move to make in terms of capturing new markets, retaining current clients or establishing a new business, service or product.

For today's post, we will focus on the new business.

You have to send a message that reaches your audience. What is the best way to have a welcoming reception? Hand out a personally engraved calling card? In some cases that may not be a bad idea. Hell, whenever I have a new client or a client who sends me more business, I send a handwritten note. I want the person to know their business has meaning to me. Obviously, there are many ways of saying thank you for your business besides a note; yet it is the personal touch and time that is appreciated, the more...the better.

What does appreciation mean in terms of gaining new business? People like to be appreciated, no one wants to feel like they are just a number or some other nondescript face in your address book. If you are placing an ad in this day and age (we are talking on-line here, forget the traditional media for now), you better make sure it speaks to your intended audience. Make sure there may be a NEED for what you are selling. Do you know your people? First step: Get to know your people. Find out how or where (or IF) your business, product or service will work for them. Second step: What is the best way/vehicle to get your message to them? Third Step: Create your message based on the research. Fourth step: Get the message out there. Fifth Step: Show appreciation every step of the way, thank people for their interest, time, questions, advice, and money!

It is a win-win situation! Build a better relationship and loyalty will help you to sustain your clients, even if they don't buy now or buy later....create the appreciation and they will always come back.

And...it doesn't matter if your message is carried thru an ad, a marketing message, a salesperson, a referral, or a passive website.....ALWAYS appreciate what you have and what you receive, especially in a time of so much uncertainty.

It was a coconut landing on my head sort of moment, when it dawned on me that all of the things I had been talking about for months to potential clients...actually meant a whole new frontier in more ways than one.

For the first time in a long time, I have the opportunity to utilize my talents and experience in being creative, techie (well kinda), using my PR savviness, promotional inspiration and marketing concepts. Not to mention the ability to develop business and create a fun or depending what you call fun, maybe a better term is a "slightly warped" image of my client.

The off-line portion actually takes less time than the online compilation of sites, sounds, clips, blogs, applications, connections, etc...although, my point is: this is more fun than I remember marketing ever, ever, ever! And believe me, I have done some creative promotions in the past.

I would love to hear from other people about their experiences online and the viral effects of the social media aspect...not to mention the improvement in business. I know without proper analytics, which no matter what anyone states to the contrary, is there ain't much out there to call reliable. I am curious, so feed my curious mind, either leave a comment or email me.

Have a good evening.

Business/Personal Coaching

One of my greatest pleasures has been to coach people. I am told by those who know me personally and professionally, that I tend to listen intently to them. I am genuinely curious and care about other people, so I have found that through no fault of my own, I am also a coach.

This post will be my only mention of my coaching services. If you are interested in more, please email me at Tracy@13degreez.com

Need a bit o’ coaching to reach that goal; here are some areas to consider:

• Time Management/Organization (including work/life balance)
• Stress Management
• Career planning and development
• Looking for a mate
• Love life/Relationship/family
• Empty-Nester looking to start a career or change direction
• Stay at home parent looking to re-enter job market
• Diet/Exercise/Well-being (including meditation)
• Spiritual and Personal self-care
• Finances and Budgeting
• Creativity
• Entrepreneurial and Small Business Development
• Business, marketing and sales plans

We make choices each day; ranging from the profound, life-changing kind to the trivial. Each choice affects our lives; we may be both fulfilled and balanced or feel a definite lack of “that something we just can’t put our finger on”. As a coach, I can help you to create an effective, balanced and fulfilling life professionally and personally.

What can 13 Degreez do for you?

• Create Marketing (on-line/offline) and Business Development Strategy
• Create promotions on-line with an off-line tie-in
• Conceptualize and produce seminars, parties, community and trade events.
• Select, Create, Connect and integrate all on-line media for maximum exposure
• Create and update all of your online entities, as often as you want
• Create and send out press releases
• Handle all vendor relations for marketing, PR and promotions
• Attain public/business speaking opportunities for various company personnel
• Identify new markets and create business opportunities
• Represent and introduce your people to potential client companies
• Use social media for online networking, including blogs
• Train personnel to sell and market company daily
• Warm Lead Generation--we'll close the first deal for you
• Create advertising—seek out appropriate vehicles for placement
• Follow up with clients: send thank you gift, keep up correspondence, testimonials
• Attend industry workshops and events to network firm and obtain latest information

Social-media marketing combines the mythic effectiveness of word-of-mouth with the limitless power of the Internet to connect people.

Social media marketing (SMM) is a group of online marketing tools that utilize and influence social media. From the perspective of Internet marketing, Social Media is a diverse community of web sites, in which the content is mainly published by its members. Most of the sites do not receive their content from direct employees of the property (example: The content on Twitter is micro-blogging from members. The owners may “tweet”, but it is the choice of members to follow them).

Social media optimization (SMO) is online public relations. The brand, product or service of a company may be optimized through tactics, which generate publicity by use of social media, community websites, blogs, and online communities. An example of optimization would be to add links to a company’s blogs or to websites from communities such as FaceBook, StumbleUpon, Digg, Reddit, etc…

Another example would be to add Google’s Ad Sense or Pluck to your blog or company site, thereby not just providing a link, but also benefitting from the monetization of the click through from your site.

We will as time allows, post more insight into the world of Social Media and how we integrate it with our offline efforts for both marketing and business development.