The Solopreneur Blog has moved to SimplyFearless.com!

The Simply Fearless Solopreneurs Blog has moved! We are now publishing via the Solopreneurs Channel at SimplyFearless.com and you are invited to check it out here.

We are also looking for contributing bloggers, authors, and solopreneurs. If you are interested in being published in our Simply Fearless web community, then please send me an email at Cassandra@SimplyFearless.com

Use Twitterfeed to Automatically Publish Your Blog Posts to Your Twitter Stream

If you blog and tweet for your business, then link them up. I use Twitterfeed to automatically post to my Twitter account the title of my blog posts and a link to read and comment. It's really simple. To get started now, click here.

That being said, Twitter might be more powerful for you if you pose a question instead of automatically posting just the title and link to your blog posts.

But, the fact that Twitterfeed makes this process automatic is priceless. As a solopreneur, we can easily spend way too much time on social networking. This is one way to get the internet to work for you instead of vice versa.

Plus, if you make your blog post titles questions, then you can tap into the power of both of these strategies!

Now that's cool.

Import Your Blog Posts into Your Facebook Profile

If you have a cool blog with content that your Facebook friends would like, then import your blog entries into your Facebook profile using notes. Here are the instructions copied & pasted from the Facebook help library:

Facebook allows you to quickly and easily import an external blog from another website.

1. On the Notes page, select the Import a blog link on the right side of the page.
2. Enter the URL (web address) of your blog into the text box, and check the box underneath that states that you agree to our Terms of Use.
3. To complete the process, click on "Save Settings." Once you do this, your past posts will be in notes and any new posts you make will automatically display.

I have found that FB instructions tend to be vague and not give you all the information you need. So here are step-by-step instructions for how I did it:

1. From my FB home page, I clicked on "notes" in the "Applications" box on the right hand side of the screen. {note: I had to click "more" in order to see "notes"}
2. On the right hand sidebar, there is a section titled "Notes Settings" and there is an option to "Import a blog". Click it.
   
3. Read the text, then enter the RSS feed in the Web URL box {this is NOT your blog URL. It is the RSS or feed URL - click here to learn about RSS}
4. Check the box to give FB permission
   
5. Click "Start Importing"
6. You will see a preview of what it will look like - check it out and make sure you like it.
7. Click "Confirm Import"
8. You should see "Your notes have been imported." on the top of the next page.
   

Free Teleclass: Deepening Your Relationships Through Conflict

Just last week I hosted a party for my clients and one of the topics that came up was how do couples come together and get along when they have opposite personalities and at times, completely different agendas. People were wondering how my husband and I - who really are polar opposites - manage to not only make it all work, but rock out our lives together. Here I was connecting with people I care deeply about and I could feel their confusion, frustration, and yearning for a better, easier way. It was in that moment that the wheels of inspiration began turning in my head and heart and I am excited to invite you to January's FREE teleclass:

♥

7 Simple Ways to Reconnect Teleclass
led by Coach Cassandra Rae
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
11:30am – 1:00pm Pacific Standard Time
Cost: FREE {long distance charges may apply}

♥

In this 90 minute teleclass I share my personal process for how I resolve conflicts and use them to deepen my relationships with my husband, my teenage daughter, and everyone else I care about. So dedicate a lunch hour to yourself and join us where you will:

• Learn how to use disagreements as a way to deepen your connection


• Receive a worksheet that you can use any time you'd like to gain clarity and confidence to move forward in resolving conflict with anyone (including parts of yourself)


• Connect with like-hearted people who champion the same goal

This 90 minute teleclass is perfect for men, women, teens, couples, and parents who are:

• ready to invest in themselves and their relationships


• willing to receive support and encouragement


• open to learning new perspectives and skills

Registration Required
To register simply enter your name and email address below. Once you click on “Register” you will receive an email to verify your intent to participate. After you click through the link in the verification message, you will receive a confirmation email with the class materials and call-in details. If you do not receive the confirmation email within 24 hours of registration, then please email me at Cassandra@SimplyFearless.com or call me at 408.206.1662. I look forward to connecting with you!

Some Damn Good Advice from the Tech Coach

I attended a femalepreneur.com teleclass led by Jan Marie Dore and featuring Sandra de Freitas who is the tech coach for coaches. One of the things she shared with us is a termed called "above the fold". Basically, it refers to all of the content you would see in a newspaper on the front page before opening it up. She encouraged bloggers to have their opt-in box or monthly featured item above the fold, which in the blog-o-sphere means:

• Put your entire opt-in box at the top of the page


• Make sure that viewers do not have to scroll to enter their info

I now have some redesigning to do. But, I have to admit. It's worth it.

I must add:

• Make your opt-in box worth-while with rockin' content


• Be up front about what people are receiving including how often you will be emailing

Now go look at your blog or website, see where your opt-in box is, and make sure it is front and center, above the fold.

Would you like to expand your Twitter following? Allow Obama to show you the way...

This evening I opened up my email and found that I had a new Twitter follower. So I clicked through the link to check out their profile. Their latest tweet was about Obama's Twitter campaign. That sounds interesting. I think I'll check it out...

Okay, my first thought after reading the article is that I am deeply troubled Obama has a brand recognition strategy. He's not a brand. He's a person with an extremely important mission. But, I also recognize the importance of "marketing" and building a brand in political campaigns. So here's the article for you to check out for yourself:

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Obama08 Leveraged Twitter to Drive Traffic to Their Website and Help Win an Election Part 2 – Twitter Action Plan for Small Businesses

By Obama 2.0 Marketing

This is the second part of an article about how the Obama08 presidential campaign leveraged Twitter as a marketing tool. The first part was about how Barack Obama promoted his marketing message and built his brand awareness on Twitter.

Increase Their Number of Followers

By Election Day, Barack Obama had over 115,000 followers. That is the largest number of followers that anyone has on Twitter.

Barack Obama has excellent name recognition and is very popular. This was the primary driving force behind his 'super-sized' follower count. But Obama's activity on Twitter was...

{click here to continue reading}

I found the suggestions in this article extremely helpful in building a Twitter following. I already have some of them in place and I plan on adding more of them. If you are just beginning with Twitter or you aren't satisfied with your number of followers, then you've gotta check out this blog post. Let's just hope that Obama maintains his "following" now that his marketing campaign has proven to be extremely effective.

Happy Twittering ~
Coach Cassandra Rae
Follow me on Twitter
Simply Fearless

7 Simple Ways I Have Grown My Business

Owning and running your own business is challenging enough even in a healthy economy. So as the fear, doom, and gloom abound in the media I thought it would be helpful to publish an article about how I've managed to grow my business during a financial maelstrom.

7 Simple Ways I have grown my business are:

#1 Talking to and meeting as many peeps as possible
I belong to multiple in-person networking groups where I am consistently asked, "What do you do?" Just having someone standing in front of me, looking me in the eyes, and listening to me has been incredibly valuable. Each time I share I learn more about where I am and where I'd like to go. {Note: be selective about the groups you join to make sure they are in alignment with your personal and professional goals - I sense another article coming on!}

#2 Blogging every day
I am committed to sharing my personal and professional process on my blogs and not only do I receive value by doing so, but I'm also creating an on-line community of people who support me and my efforts. Now, I don't mean that they are all hiring me. I do mean that they listen, provide valuable feedback, and some subscribe to my blog and newsletters. Oh yeah, and of course my SEO is growing up in the process :~)

#3 Offering a FREE eCourse as a subscription bonus
I am so excited about this because not only does the eCourse provide an incentive for people to sign up, but I am honoring my wisdom and knowledge by sharing it. How cool is that?!

#4 Twittering
Twitter is one of the fastest and easiest ways I've grown my on-line community. It is short, sweet, and to the point. I love connecting with others and you don't have to sift through a ton of content because people are only allowed to post within 140 characters - which is really short! By far, Twitter has been one of the biggest impacts on my blog traffic and new subscribers.

#5 Continuing to grow personally
I believe that as long as I grow personally that my business will also grow so I take classes and join groups for my own personal development. Currently I am taking a teleseminar series called Know Your Purpose that is helping me both personally and professionally because I am exposed to how another coach/trainer is structuring his program. What a phenomenal experience!

#6 Learning from others who already have what I want
It is so important to learn from others who have already been where you are AND successfully moved forward. There are certain coaches who I follow because I admire their work (all of them have helped me personally) and I want to learn from their business development process how I can move forward in mine. I look at what they did to get to where they are and I adopt bits and pieces that resonate with who I am. The key is to always incorporate it into your personal values and offerings because the all-time best thing you can do to grow your business is...

#7 Just be yourself!
That's right, folks. The most important thing I have done to grow my business is to be willing to share with people who I am, where I'm at, and what I stand for even when I don't have it all figured out. As challenging as it is to put my real and authentic self out there for all to see, it is also the most rewarding. The bottom line is people hire me because they like me. {Wow! People like me? Really?} Yes, people like me and they are willing to pay me to help them. I really am that good!

As you know, it's important not to boast and brag about yourself just for personal flattery. However, it is important to stand tall and proud in who you are right now in this moment. Now, I know you are awesome. And I know you have valuable information to share with others. So get out there, blog, publish newsletters, meet people, continue to learn, and most importantly just be yourself. The world is waiting for you! Success is yours for the taking.