As I was driving home today I was dodging POTHOLES. It was like playing Centipede and dodging mushrooms – there were so many of them!!! (If you don’t recall the Atari game then welcome to the 80s!!!)

I then start thinking about how in NETWORKING there are POTHOLES, too.
Think about it…

Are there people you will DODGE?
Have you ever SWERVED even ever so slightly into “oncoming traffic” to avoid them?
What about going over the pothole as fast as you can to get it over with and minimize the damage…?

Powerful visuals, aren’t they?

You can think of a “pothole” in your network in many different ways.

It can be PEOPLE who are the potholes – they cause damage to your business whenever you run into them. They only have negative things to say or share and that can bring DOWN your UP mood. They tend to point out what is WRONG with everything (be it about you or them or someone/thing). They seldom find the GOOD in anything or point it out. So, the damage here can be emotional, as well as physical and financial.
? : Ever heard, “Attitude is Everything!”? Well, a person with a “pothole” attitude has the WRONG attitude! I’d rather run with a “mountain climber” who is unstoppable, caring & sharing.

It can be TECHNOLOGY – when something doesn’t work or work right. Do you work through it, seek help, drop it all together, or ???. Maybe you have delayed promoting your business on Social Media or networking sites. There is the FEAR of the unknown (when it comes to technology or anything else). What is your approach to technology “potholes”? Dodge it…zip through it…swerve around it…or ??? There may be some tools you have yet to implemented, or started but need to go back and finish up – like creating a LinkedIn profile or starting a Fan Page on Facebook, or maybe it is diving into Twitter!
? : Are you familiar with a company called “Nike”? What do they say? JUST DO IT! (and if you aren’t sure how, swallow your pride and ask for help)

It can be (gasp) Y.O.U.! When is the last time you asked a Professional Networker or someone whom you know that will tell you, no matter how much the truth hurts, what feedback they have on your networking skills? You may be blessed with the “gift of gab” but is gabbing too much losing you money and connections? For me, I can say that WAS one of my flaws when I networked at LIVE events. I am a “chatty Cathy” – I will talk with anyone about almost anything for as long as humanly possible…but then that made me late to my next appointment and didn’t allow time to meet others, or enable me to schedule a follow-up meeting with the person as we already talked about everything there was to talk about…and BLAH BLAH BLAH. (Are you getting the idea here?)
Sometimes, the problem isn’t them, it is us – you – me – I…which isn’t the easiest thing in the world to come to terms with. . . but it IS the easiest thing to fix because “YOU” is something you control. (WOOHOO, right?!?) I mean, if you listed the “pothole people” in your network and then set out to fix each of them, how long would it take you? If you decided and were determined to nail down the technology issues you were having and to overcome them ALL, how much time, energy, and effort would it require and how much business would you lose out on over that period of time? Yet, when it is YOU that needs a few tweaks in their networking and some new ideas to implement, how quickly can you do just that? IN MINUTES!!!

There are other “potholes” you will come up with as you think about it. So make a list (and then check it twice just like Santa Claus does) and then prioritize them based on these 3 categories:
1) Things I can control.
2) Things I can’t control, others do.
3) Things I am committed to changing in the next 30- 60 days.

See what lands on your Committed – Control list and which “potholes” you will continue to ZIP OVER, SWERVE AROUND, or COMPLETELY DODGE. And have fun as you do it…you might even make a game of it!

We played HANGMAN on my FanPage last week. GAMES ARE FUN!!! (that’s a random thought on a Monday for you…)

Oh, and now for another “Random thought for a Monday”…
1) Have you ever wondered how people get all of those symbols, weird fonts, and goofy letters in their status updates/wall posts on Facebook or in a comment, note, discussion, etc.?
WELL…you don’t have to copy and paste that info anymore.
Just bookmark this great “cheat sheet” page I found today – I just love “borrowing” code, don’t you?

Why reinvent the wheel?
Instead, just find someone who’s done it an WAH LAH!!!
Here’s your “wheel” (in keeping with the pothole theme of the day) –

http://www.spike-jamie.com/alt-codes.html

2) I’m using a FANTASTIC, FUN and FAST new tool that allows me to share information on ALL my friends’ walls on Facebook at one time.
None of that “copy and paste” stuff. The messages are personalized.
No trying to get to EVERYONE’S page in a day…with 5000 friends, do you know how LONG that would take me?
LOTS more interaction with Facebook friends, prospects, and clients. WOOHOO!!!
I am TOTALLY loving this and am ecstatic about how it’s helping my business and FanPage to grow, not to mention my subscribers for THIS BLOG and my website. THIS ROCKS!!!
Yes, I have had ONE PERSON not so thrilled about it…but guess what? [deleted them] There are over 5 MILLION people on Facebook so removing ONE makes room for someone NEW on my Profile Page. OUT with the negativism and IN with the optimists.

If YOU don’t like it, then “sit on a tack” as the song goes. As for me and my house, we are going to keep on keeping on because THIS WORKS!!!

Hope you enjoyed the read. If so, be sure to comment below – though they are moderated to prevent junk like spam from posting, the REAL comments get posted. WOOHOO!!!
AND AND AND, don’t forget to subscribe to the emails I send out for this blog, too. I don’t sell your info or spam you with junk. It’s all content-driven, relevant, and business building info you will be blessed by. I hope you subscribe!!!

Facebook is the #2 most trafficked website in the entire world?!?

Yes, it is true, and they have shared the statistics to prove it. HOLD ON TO YOUR SEATS…these numbers are staggering!!!

• More than 350 million active users
• 50% of our active users log on to Facebook in any given day
• More than 35 million users update their status each day
• More than 55 million status updates posted each day
• More than 2.5 billion photos uploaded to the site each month
• More than 3.5 billion pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photo albums, etc.) shared each week
• More than 3.5 million events created each month
• More than 1.6 million active Pages on Facebook
• More than 700,000 local businesses have active Pages on Facebook
• Pages have created more than 5.3 billion fans

And that is JUST the beginning!!!

If your company’s website won’t come upon a Mobile phone, did you know you could be losing business?!?
If you don’t have an iPhone or Smart Phone then borrow a friends to see how your website looks when it is “Googled” or accessed via a mobile connection (doesn’t matter if it is 3G or 4G or no G…LOL).  Is it easy to view, scroll through, click? I was amazed to see what my Networking Queen website looked like…and yes, I need to make some changes!

Check this out from Facebook:

• There are more than 65 million active users currently accessing Facebook through their mobile devices.
• People that use Facebook on their mobile devices are almost 50% more active on Facebook than non-mobile users.
• There are more than 180 mobile operators in 60 countries working to deploy and promote Facebook mobile products.

Now, the statistics don’t go into AGES of the users, but you can imagine that there are a good number who are UNDER the age of 21 and OVER the age of 61. You see, this is important to know because there are many minors and seniors who access Facebook (the internet in general) on a daily-basis. Having content that caters to a broad range and diverse audience will enable you to impact more lives, expand your brand, and benefit monetarily from the content shared. YES, this does include VIDEOS!!! And, frankly, the more videos the better.

My dilemma…working from home means I have the luxury of spending some days in a ponytail, with a hat on my head, working in sweats and even NO MAKEUP. AHHH!!! I know…you all thought I was dressed to the 9s 24/7/365. WRONG! I am human, just like you and I enjoy my lounge wear. Just being transparent here…

Let’s look at a few more statistics that might encourage you to EXPAND YOUR TERRITORY to include INTERNATIONAL contact/connections on Facebook:

• More than 70 translations available on the site
• About 70% of Facebook users are outside the United States
• Over 300,000 users helped translate the site through the translations application

When you have a website and when you use Social Media to network, you can EXPAND YOUR BUSINESS across the ocean, into other countries, onto other continents, beyond the reach of your U.S.-based cell phone to INTERNATIONAL connections!!! That is a reason to be EXCITED about Facebook because EVERY SINGLE BUSINESS has GLOBAL IMPACT when they have a website. So if you are online, on Facebook, and with an email address, believe it or not, YOU HAVE THE ABILITY TO NETWORK INTERNATIONALLY!!!

There is even more statistics shared online. Just go to: http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics

I hope this post has encouraged, empowered and even INSPIRED you to take Facebook to a whole new level!!!

If you aren’t sure what to do first, how to reach others or where you need to begin then be sure to register for one of my Tele-Seminars! I have a FREE 30-minute session coming up on February 10th at 10:30 AM (pst)/12:30 PM (cst)/1:30 PM (est).  CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

If you enjoy networking then you must enjoy socializing! (If you are thinking, “no, not really,” then get ready for a new way of thinking!!!)

That’s good because the next commandment for SEO focuses on you being social….Social Bookmarking, that is!

Remember, the tips you are learning here should not just be applied to your BLOG but also to your wall posts, notes, status updates, tweets and more. As you read on, don’t forget to think long-term, future-focused, and GROWING your network. After all, if you are about networking for more business, then you need to embrace the power of the internet to assist you in this voyage. I guarantee it makes things MUCH more easier, enjoyable…AND PROFITABLE!

The Third Commandment – Thou Shalt Submit Daily Blog to Social Bookmarks

The exact keyword string that you identify for your blog’s title will be used in each submission. Change up the description for each submission.

Here are the angels of Google that will help you ascend in the rankings and find a home in Google Heaven:

For the complete list of Social Bookmark Sites go here.

MY TAKE ON THIS: TRUE!!! (are you beginning to see a pattern here…?)

When I first looked at this list I was overwhelmed! Did you get that, too…and then to see there were MORE?!? I mean, who has the time to bookmark every single one of these sites with the blog I just posted or note I created, or or or…ANYTHING!  I am an entrepreneur in business by myself and would love to have an army of Web gurus at my beck and call to assist me with Search Engine Optimization, Keyword Searches, blogging, Bookmarking…and all of the things I know I SHOULD BE doing but just don’t have the time. I mean, WHO DOES???

WHEW – now that I got that off of my chest, let’s take a step back and look at what IS possible…

If there are a few of these that work best for you, then commit to using those. With each site you have to create a profile, setup your website, add the links and do hours of work, right?  Well…sort of. You could do it yourself or, again, you can do what you love and pay someone to assist with the minor details, like bookmarking (I will reference oDesk.com here again in case you missed it in a previous post talking about how you can outsource the things you need done but don’t want to or can’t afford to spend hundreds or thousands on finding someone locally to assist).

Why does he reference CHANGING the description with each submission?  Can you guess?

It will be seen as duplicate data and the additional posts could be ignored. You don’t want that to happen as it would be a waste of your time then, had you used multiple social bookmarking sites with the same content. A tip I learned from Nitro Marketing is to change every 3^rd word. HOW EASY IS THAT?!? If you want the post to be relevant and for your content to be noticed and bookmarked (duh), then try this easy approach and see how it works for you!  If you want to commit more time and energy to each social bookmarking site then go ahead and redo the entire description.  That takes a creative person with many hours of time available for the devotion of “practice” content. (LOL) For the rest of us, more power to the third WORD approach, right?!?

Next, we visit The Fourth Commandment…I hope you have already considered some of the tips shared here and MAYBE EVEN implemented a few of the ideas. If you are looking to be a master networker online (or offline), sometimes you have to embrace new ideas! (Okay, not sometimes, we ALWAYS need to look at ideas with an open-mind and see which are applicable to us…now and/or in the future).

Until then,…happy bookmarking and networking!!!