What is your 5 year plan?

Hello everyone,

I want to take a minute and give a big shout out to my daughter who turns 5 today! Happy Birthday Caitlynn!

Now, when I say, “where did those five years go” those of you who are parents know what I am talking about. Time just flies by and it is amazing to me that five years of my life is behind me.

So, what is that I am trying to get at here? Well, after taking some time to reflect back on everything that has happened, both good and bad I wanted to get you to start thinking about what has the last five years been like for you.

Has it been all good? Have you had some struggling times? Do you have a plan for the future?

Well, let me tell you something I learned from a mentor of mine. The great Jim Rohn once said, ” the last five years are in the past but the next five years lie ahead of you.”

To think everything in the past, is in the past. Past success is just that. Past failure is just that! Make the decision today to make the next five years better.

Go big in the next five years and if you need some help with that I am here to help. Contact me and I will help you get a 5 year plan together, so you can realize your dreams.

Well, we are off to go take the birthday girl to go see “Rango.” I hope it is age appropriate!

Coach Dave

Social Media Marketing Tips

How can you accomplish your online branding goals as efficiently as possible?

Social Media Marketing (SMM) has become a popular alternative for online business branding. Companies don’t think of social sites (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, Linkedin) as “websites for kids”. They are valuable Internet marketing and networking resources for business. On the other hand, there are 4 major issues involved with diving into SMM without the proper knowledge and strategies. These can “make” or “break” your success in social media marketing:

GETTING STARTED IN SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

Make wise choices from the beginning and move forward with a “plan of action”!

Prior to getting started in social media marketing, you need to nip the urge to join every single social site on Google. It does not hurt to have a presence everywhere on the Internet, though there is no advantage in wasting time setting up a social account that is not used. The site owner may delete it – OR – it will get outdated and look unprofessional. Plus, there is no way that you can “work” them all unless you have a team to help you. You will still want to be discerning and make a “plan of action”. You need this to properly brand your business through social media marketing. You also need this “plan of action” in order to “position” your company correctly from the beginning. This concept holds true in Internet marketing in general.

PROPER SET UP

Meet your social market where they work and play on the Internet!

You need to learn how to “set up” and “position” your company with the “best” social networks and websites. Some initial positioning details to consider: (a) determining which are the “best social sites” for your niche and interests, (d) choosing the right user name for your individual profile links, (c) choosing the most attractive profile information and media to share, (d) developing a knack for filtering activity according to what is appropriate at a particular social site, (e) establishing a time schedule that permits working as many networks as possible, (f) choosing the best initial connections … and so on.

Keep in mind that “Account Settings”, network protocol, niche and viral marketing all go hand in hand throughout time.

Additionally, some social sites have a more playful environment than others; even those with a professional focus. You need to select websites that not only fit your company’s focus, but also the personal interests of the individual(s) that will “work” the social media marketing process for you. Note: Don’t let the “playful” networks defer you. One of the goals of social media marketing is to reach your target markets where they work and “play” on the Internet.

IMPLEMENTATION: WHAT TO DO & WHAT NOT TO DO

Don’t just “wing it”; move prepared to market effectively for your business.

Your activity should include a predefined social media optimization (SMO) strategy. This SMO is a combination of search engine optimization (SEO) and social media marketing (SMM). It expedites the professional results that you require for your business. It is easy to assume that SMM is simply setting up social networks and marketing. Although this is part of the process, social networking is not all that is involved in social media marketing. It is suggested that you have a website and a blog. You need to search engine optimize any personal resources prior to SMM. You need a second set of keywords that do not conflict with your personal virtual properties, though compliment your efforts.
Content is key to this offsite marketing process, therefore blogs, articles, comments, discussions, images, videos, link … everything SMM needs to correspond with the SEO.

There is a fine line to what is considered advertising and marketing; spam or valid content. Some social sites are flexible and others are not. You need to move into a virtual realm with a professional plan of action and work the network according to the infrastructure provided, though with intent to produce rapid conversions.

TESTING, TRACKING & REFINING

You will need to test, tread, track and refine before you can run with a strategy.

As with an offline business plan, your online branding strategy will need “tweaked” and updated for the following reasons:

(a) The Internet is constantly changing, you will need to update accordingly.

(b) Search engine rankings, blog / website traffic and subscribers mean absolutely nothing if you are not able to convert this activity into sales.

You cannot move forward if your plan of action is not working for you.

PRIORITIZING TASKS: MONEY & TIME MANAGEMENT

As the old saying goes, “time is money” …

If you get one major point from this article, prioritizing “time” and “money” is what you should remember. Internet marketing is not easy for most; especially when you are merging into unfamiliar arenas. Time and money are the “double edge sword”. Handling your own online branding is only time and cost effective if it is making you money. The reality is that you will not drive conversions nor make money at first because it takes time to learn Internet Marketing. This is time that busy professionals do not have, therefore you either have to put in the extra hours or hire an expert to do the work for you. If you choose to do your own search engine optimization and social media marketing, then you need to prioritize whether the bulk of your activity is on the Learning, Researching or the Implementation (Content, SEO, SMM) at any given time. The advantage is that you can adjust this as needed.
Regardless, a proper online branding strategy will include both the technical and social, therefore they are all one in the same, time consuming, process.

Online business branding and social networking appear to be easy, on the surface, though not a simple process. There are defined strategies that should include both search engine optimization (SEO) and social media marketing (SMM) in order to create a process called social media optimization (SMO). This SMO is actually the online marketing that you want to do for your business. When done correctly, the SMO will produce immediate responses that are easy to track, increase sales and creates a popularity that contributes to fast branding success. You can change the sales / marketing conversions for your business within a few days or gradually “divide and conquer” your competitive online business arena. In other words, your business can market as aggressively or conservatively as needed. This is based on how your company is equipped to handle growth.

In this generation of Social Media Marketing and Search Engine Optimization, it is to your benefit to learn how to properly brand your business online or find someone that knows how to do this for you.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/social-marketing-articles/social-media-marketing-tips-3046506.html

About the Author

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About the Author:

Lea Charlton has been a leader in the Organic SEO arena since 2004. She specializes in Social SEO Marketing and Consultative Training Services for busy professionals needing fast branding success and social strategy solutions.

Are you going to quit?

I had to share this video with you. Sports has always been something that I felt gave me a solid background to my character. If you have played sports you know what I am talking about. Also, today is a special day for me. My youngest daughter turns two today and I want to leave this video on the blog today to let her know that the game is on and her dad will never quit. I hope she has that resolve one day as well!

Your guide on how to be a successful personal trainer

How Do I Become a Successful Personal Trainer?

If there’s one question that is the foundation for this blog it’s this one and since 2008 I’ve been writing post after post on the topic – to the point where it’s difficult for a new reader to find a place to start.

The following list of links are my suggestions on key posts on the topic of becoming a successful personal trainer from my blog archives. I hope you find them to be useful.

A Personal Guide to Become a Successful Trainer

The Answer to the Million Dollar Question  

– I am always asked the question of “How do I get more personal training clients? In this post I answer that question for you in this post.

It’s Not the Recession It’s You

– From time to time I have a few rants and I thought I would share this one with you. Read it for yourself and let me know your thoughts. 

Do You Really Want To Be a Personal Trainer?

– In this post I pose a simple question but the answer isn’t all that easy. Sometimes people think they are cut out to be a personal trainer and the truth be told they are not. I lay out the questions you need to answer to really know if personal training is right for you. 

Create Your Own Luck

– I have never believed in luck and I talk about what you need to do to be successful in personal training and life. 

The Fastest Way To a Six Figure Income

If it is your goal to make a six figure income through personal training then this post is a must read.

 

These posts are intended to serve as a guide towards your success as a personal trainer. They are not going to answer all your questions but will help you on your quest.

 

Coach Dave

What you can learn from “Shamu” the Killer Whale

Well I am back from a wonderful relaxing vacation with the family. Despite the sweltering heat we had an amazing time visiting San Antonio and Sea World. Now, I would like to be able to say that I did not think about work but unfortunately I can not help but think about how my experiences can help give you an edge or tip to increase your knowledge and business. So, my question for you today is, what can you learn from a killer whale named “Shamu”? 

I am assuming everyone has had the opportunity to visit a Sea World and has seen the Shamu Show. If not, I highly recommend that you visit a location near you and take in the experience. So with that being said, each year Sea Worlds change things up with the themes of their shows and currently the theme of the Shamu show is “Believe”. What a great theme for what we are currently experiencing right now in this economy. I know people are struggling right now and now more than ever it is important to continue to believe in what you are doing and most importantly, believe in yourself.  Beleiving in yourself is an important first step for your success, but the real lesson I want to get across to you today is what you can learn from Shamu the killer whale.

The first and most important lesson to take away is that Shamu is the predator of all predators in the ocean; however, as dominant as this creature is the killer whale and the Sea World trainers have developed a trust that is incomprehensible to think of. Who would ever think that a whale and a trainer could come together and develop a trust that allows a unique relationship to develop and flourish. Building trust is the single most important  trait that you need to develop with your clients. Trust will open up doors that you never thought were possible and once the doors are open then you will be able to help solve the emotional pain that your client is experiencing. I guarantee you that once you have established trust with your client you will create a raving fan. (More on raving fans at a later date)

The second take away from Shamu is the adaptability that exists between him and the environment that exists at Sea World. It is almost unfathomable to think that a killer whale is able to adapt to different elements and ultimately succeed no matter what environment that he is in. This is important for personal trainers if you want to succeed. The best way to become a successful personal trainer is to adapt to your environment and your client. Each client will present a different opportunity and with that you will need to adapt to their personality and their needs if you want to retain them as a client. Listen, if a killer whale can adapt from being the dominant animal in the sea to a trained entertainer then I know that you can adapt to whatever client personality that is presented to you.

If you want to be a successful personal trainer learn two things from Shamu the killer whale. Build trust and learn to adapt to your environment and you will become successful with your business.