Woman's Network Alliance

Founder, Debbie Pietro-Quintana of The Woman's Network Alliance (WNA) has announced that they are looking for 12 Chapter Presidents across the United States. If you.....

• Own your own business
• Want to increase you visibility
• Have great leadership skills
• Are willing to support others
  
• Live in the United States

Then apply today as a new Chapter President! All entries need to be in by November 1st. and interviews will begin the 2nd week in November.

This is their press release.....

San Jose, California - A local women's networking group which formed in 2007 to provide a new concept of supporting women in business is officially announcing it's national program. The Women's Networking Alliance is based out of San Jose, California but has twenty-four women business owners from all over the bay area. The current Chapter President is Melissa Stacey, owner of Feeling Organized in San Jose and in 2010, they'll add an additional 12 Chapter Presidents.

"WNA has been designed to encourage referrals between members but more important its about supporting one another through challenges and successes," says founder Debbie Quintana. "Our structure, foundation and program has proven to be a successful business model and we truly want to share it with others." This comes after Quintana launched a national gift basket association earlier this year, again, combining her experience as a gift basket company owner and networking professional to help others. The Gift Basket Association has over 100 members, launched a quarterly magazine, a discussion forum and is being nationally recognized for its efforts to uplift the gift basket industry.

WNA is looking for women business owners who are interested in starting their own chapter of WNA in their town. Applications are due on or before November 1st. If you're interested in becoming a chapter president, you can read about the program and apply online at www.womensnetworkingalliance.com. The final announcement of the 12 new chapter presidents will be on November 15th after interviews are conducted, references are checked and the chapter presidents are notified. Chapter Presidents will be challenged with assembling their local chapters of up to 30 women business owners in non-competing businesses that are willing to work together to generate business and help each other grow personally and professionally. The Chapter Presidents will have the support and infrastructure of WNA, allowing them to concentrate on the formation of their teams.

"WNA isn't just about the referrals, we want our members to support one another with new ideas and through the ups and downs of being business owners. It's truly amazing what can happen when you bring real, genuine women together," adds Quintana

For additional information, please contact the Women's Networking Alliance. Debbie Quintana can be contacted via www.debbiequintana.com or directly at debbie@debbiequintana.com. Debbie Quintana is the owner of Gourmet Gifts, a gift basket company supporting your gift needs personally and professionally.

Social Media Bookshelf

Social Media Bookshelf was launched on September 7th. The purpose of the site is to be a resource for the best books about social media networks, social media strategies for PR and marketing as well as tips and tricks for social networks and application. They have everything from "Social Media Success" to "Twitter for Dummies"

Words from the Founders....

"With Social Media Bookshelf, it is our intention to bring together the best resources available in social media. Here you can find books and other materials on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and social media in general. While not a definitive collection, we believe some of the finest, well-respected authors in the industry are represented.

In the coming months, we will also include guest posts from our authors, white papers and e-books. We want to offer the best social media insights available today all in one easy-to-navigate location.

We also welcome your comments and suggestions, as this – like most things in life – is a work in progress.

So, take a few minutes and browse our bookshelf and select a few books and leave a comment or two."

6 Ways to Attract Twitter Followers

No it’s not another Twitter pyramid scheme. This is about attracting real, useful followers to your Twitter network.

Be interesting and unique
Share your own perspective on news or new information you find. Do you scan a pile of blogs for information? Share it, but look for things that aren’t mainstream. I mean, I love ReadWriteWeb, Mashable and TechCrunch but everybody tweets those posts. Find something original to share. Use services like LazyFeed, Feedmill or My6Sense to quickly scan blogs for new content to share.

Re-tweet
Keep an eye out for interesting information to share with your network. Look for the people the rest of your network might not know instead of retweeting the usual suspects. It’s a great way to give kudos to people who are good information sources.

Problem solve
When a question comes up in your network see if you can answer it. Google it if you have to. You’ll learn something and so will they.

Make connections
When you see somebody with a problem or question you can’t answer, look to your network and connect them with somebody who can.

Add to the conversation
Re-tweeting is good, but don’t you have more to say? Can you share some links to other information to keep the conversational ball rolling or take it in a new direction?

Respond when people Re-tweet or @ you
It’s just plain courteous to respond when somebody talks to you. Don’t be rude or we’ll just think you’re stuck up.

originally posted by Janet Fouts

Are you using video to Market your Business?

Why is video so important? Because today, the average attention span of a web user is measured in seconds. Once delivered to you on a red carpet by a major search engine search query, or by a recommendation link on a review blog, the new web visitor applies only a very limited effort and time to see whether they can make sense of what you are selling and to decide whether you have what they were actually looking for. If you can engage their interest right there and then, and offer a fast, highly visual way to let them discover what your "message" is, you are ahead of the game.

I know what you are thinking.....

Don't know the first thing about videos or editing?
I personally hate being in front of a camera, but I know how important video marketing can be. So I decided to create small 30 second commercials using a web service called Animoto. This is a great video making tool. You simply upload the pictures you want to use, add some text, add music, click "submit", and voila! - you have a professional looking video! You can see examples of what Animoto can do by going to my YouTube channel.

If you have a webcam or a family video camera - you have everything you need to make a video. Fancy equipment and green screens are great - if you have the budget, but don't let lack of funds or knowledge stop you from using inventive means to promote your business. You can find very cheap editing tools that will help you create the perfect video for your business. Visit this Video Editing Software Review for more info.

Here are a few video ideas.....

Video introduction can be a firm handshake!
One of the best ways to market your business is to have your customers see you as a person not just a business. A great way to do that is to add a 30 second introductory video on your homepage. Introduce yourself, send a welcome message, talk about upcoming sales or promotions. Show them how passionate you are about your business and why they should buy from you.

Add video testimonials!
Add real customer testimonials to your site. Have your customers send you a video of them enjoying your products, share stories or create mock commercials using your items. A great way to get these videos is to have a contest where the "best video" wins a prize :) Here are some examples of video testimonials from a friend of mine’s website.

Create FAQ videos!
Instead of creating a basic frequently asked questions page, why not create videos? You can create a step by step video on how to buy a product from your store – showing the checkout process, or how to apply a coupon code. If you have a product where assembly is required, why not create a video that shows your customers how to put it together.

Promote your videos
Adding your videos to your website is only the first step. You need to promote them to reach a wider audience to your online store. Upload them to your Facebook page, Twitter account, blog - every social networking site you have. You can also upload them to online video sites. Here are some video sites that I use.

• YouTube
• eSnipes
• Kewego
• MetaCafe
• Photobucket
• Revver
• MotionBox
• Megavideo
  

Making videos can be fun. Be creative and show your customers just how much you love your business. You'll be glad you did :)