Note: This is a guest post by Rebecca Zwar. Rebecca is a Marketing Tech Coach and the owner and founder of Marketing Geeks Intl. She is passionate about the way the Internet combines creative and technological possibilities for even the smallest of businesses to market themselves online. Marketing Geeks offers coaching and virtual assistance packages to help entrepreneurs create web-savvy marketing plans, and provide the tech-smarts to connect the “what to do” with the “how to do it.”

Rebecca has been featured in the print book “The Business of Being Virtual” and has been a speaker at the 2009 IVAA conference, the Summer Speaker Series and other online telesummits. She grew up in Chicago, but now lives on the shores of Lake Michigan in Michigan with her handsome husband and two gorgeous, brilliant children.

Do you like working out? I do. I especially like running. It’s my quiet, me-time for thinking. But even though I enjoy it and know I should be working out most days, I get busy and it doesn’t always happen. And my tendency is to try to make up for a whole week’s worth of exercise in one or two sessions.

Unfortunately, that’s just not the way it works. Weight loss comes from a consistent calorie deficit. If I try to lose weight by working out for 2 hours once a week, my results will never be as good as they could be if I worked out even just 20 minutes a day 5 times a week. That consistency sets up a system in my body to burn more calories all the time.

The same thing goes for online marketing. Posting a couple posts on your blog one day while you’re thinking about it, or tweeting a bunch one morning and then disappearing for a week will not get you regular traffic to your site. Nor will it help you make connections with other bloggers, possible JVs or potential clients.

Online marketing, done regularly, can do wonders for your web traffic and filling your client funnel. And it doesn’t have to be hugely time consuming. Here are a few ways you can fit it into your schedule:

• Take one day per month to write several longer articles (think: 500-700 words). If you’re keeping a list of ideas, this probably won’t take you much more than an hour or two. But don’t do anything with them just yet.
• Once a week, take one of those articles, and break it into 2 or 3 blog posts. Preschedule these into your blog. Should only take about 15 minutes.
• Once every week or two, take the previous week’s article, and post it to 2 or 3 articles sites. Should only take about 20-30 minutes.
• Set up an RSS reader with the blog feeds from industry leaders, people you’d like to partner with in the future, or blogs that have a similar target market to yours. Once a day, find one post that you can comment on. Now, you can’t just say “Great post!” You have to add something to the conversation. But this shouldn’t get too overwhelming if you know you’re only looking for one to comment on. Time? Probably no more than 10 minutes.
• Use a service like SocialOomph.com or Hootsuite.com to schedule in some tips, links, articles etc. (your own, or good ones from your RSS reader) to go out throughout the week on Twitter. Then you’re maintaining visibility, even if you haven’t stopped by yet that day. When you do stop by, you can focus more on conversation and relationship building, knowing that you’ve already shared some great content. If you are very clear on your purpose for social networking, you should be able to come up with ideas pretty easily. And since you’ll be looking at your RSS Feeds daily, you’ll be able to grab good articles to share quickly too.

So while it’s tempting to tell yourself that you’re on top of your online marketing because you took 3 hours one day last month to do some, you’ll be a lot more happy with yourself and your results if you make it happen regularly. And you’ll get that web traffic sleek and sexy in no time!

Like this post, and want more? Check out the Social Media Content Creation Kit, a step-by-step system for quickly creating lots of content for your blog and social media. It lays out a simple strategy for creating a content calendar, generating original ideas for your own content, finding & repurposing other people’s content online (you’ll love this!), and automating your social media. You’ll design your own “almost-hands-off” system while taking advantage of all the new traffic, clients and sales that come with having an Expert presence in social media!

Few things will help you keep your focus and kick things into higher gear than having a good buddy along for the ride.

You remember the “buddy system” from grade school—someone you paired up with who was supposed to help you stay in line, learn how to swim or keep your stuff picked up. In turn, you were required to do the same for your buddy.

When you have your own business, it pays to have at least one reliable buddy who can relate to your situation and make sure you’re heading in the right direction.

The Buddy System 2.0 goes by lots of names—mentors, masterminds, coaches and gurus. However you like to think of it is fine! The main point is to use the power of two or more people to  challenge yourself and make continual improvements.

Here are six tips for choosing and working with a buddy:

Find Someone Who’s “Been There and Done That”

Ask any successful business person, and chances are pretty good that at some point (probably throughout their career), they turned to others for advice. Jack Canfield (co-author of the Chicken Soup series and numerous other bestsellers including The Success Principles) recommends finding people who have already achieved the level of success you are seeking. You will be surprised how many people “above you” will gladly and willingly share their expertise if you ask nicely.

But don’t abuse the privilege; they may be happy to give you some of their time and tips, but recognize that what they have to give you is valuable. At some point, you have to be willing to pay for their time or their training products or services (if they offer any).

Make A Commitment

Just finding someone you can spill your guts to is great, but what you really want is someone to hold you accountable. Sit down and map out your goals with another person (or a group of like-minded people) and make hard commitments to take specific actions by specific dates. Force yourself to stay on track and avoid making excuses why you don’t get things done. Ask your colleague to check in with you at regular, frequent internals to gauge your progress and provide guidance when you hit the inevitable roadblocks.

Give Something In Return

Determine what is a fair exchange between you and your buddy or other partners. That may be an exchange for your dollars for their counsel, or it may be a barter situation where you give them your expertise in another area. Another idea is to find out what causes your mentor supports and offer to donate part of your earnings or time to support one of his or her favorites. Be creative in figuring out ways to demonstrate your appreciation.

Teach Others

Often the best way to learn something is not simply to glean knowledge from others, but to actively seek it out yourself. Pick an issue you are trying to solve and commit to teach someone else how to do it—even if it’s just your buddy. In doing so, you will be forced to stretch yourself, acquire new knowledge and apply new skills. Remember the old agage that if you just read five books on a subject, you’ll know more than most people about it. Choose those five books wisely and really study intently and put into action the information they provide. Supplement your learning by subscribing to blogs on the subject and seeking out podcasts, e-books and all the training classes (both online and offline) you can afford.

Remember to document everything you discover during your studies, especially meetings and discussions with your buddy and other advisors. Personally, I find that I’ll forget a lot of excellent advice if I don’t write it down! I use Evernote and Delicious, among other tools, to keep notes and bookmarks of important resources.

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

I appreciate the Catch-22 of wanting to learn as much as you can with limited resources. Especially when it comes to something as broad as Internet marketing, the choices for information are literally overwhelming. The good news is, with unlimited time you can pretty much find out about how to do anything for free. The bad news is, you don’t have unlimited time. Nor would it be wise to hunt-and-peck around aimlessly. Ask your mentors and others in your area of interest what products they have bought that were truly worth the money. For example, several people have told me how good Jeff Walker’s Product Launch Formula is (if you’re looking to launch a product or service online). I personally haven’t bought it (and I can’t now anyway, until Jeff’s next release), but they validated that it was worth shelling out close to $2,000 for it. If you don’t have that kind of money, you might look for a monthly subscription based members-only site. Two that I have been part of and gained both expertise and contacts from include Internet Business Mastery Academy and Third Tribe Marketing. A word of warning: you tend get what you put into these sites. Don’t expect to simply pay the monthly fee and magically see your income skyrocket. You have to diligently work these sites, which means consuming and digesting the content and engaging with other members.

Never Undermine A Mentor

Never, ever seek advice from someone in order to compete with them. Professionals can spot this from a mile away, and it is one of the easiest ways to make enemies.

If you are trying to set up a business you feel may be competitive with a potential mentor in any way, state this upfront when you approach them. Tell them you respect them and want to ensure you are not asking for proprietary knowledge, and that you are not looking to steal business from them. Often, you may find the person is actually receptive to “competition.” I have found people, for example, whom I could actually outsource work to—things I might be able to do myself, but that I can’t due to scheduling or other commitments. Another approach is to ask for the mentor’s advice on how you might become a specialist in the field, take on work they don’t want or perhaps even serve as an apprentice or intern to learn their business. Seek ways to complement and work together with others rather than compete with them.

Buddy, Can You Spare Some Advice?

If you have worked successfully with a mentor or coach, what other advice do you have? Please share your comments below.

It’s been awhile since I wrote a post. You probably didn’t miss me, but boy have I felt I was letting someone down. Mostly myself.

It happens to the best of us from time to time. We get super-busy with stuff and find all kinds of excuses not to do the things we know we should. Or we get lazy. Or we get scared—of running out of things to say, or not measuring up to ours or others’ expectations or whatever. That’s usually when it’s time to change your perspective.

Personally, I have the dual challenge of trying to do too many things at the same time, as well as waiting sometimes until I have something brilliant to say (which is rare). I get so envious of others for whom blogging, for example, just comes naturally.

Truth is, even for some of the most prolific writers out there, they don’t have über-genetics. They just work hard at it.

One person I admire a lot in this regard is Denise Wakeman (@DeniseWakeman on Twitter). She wrote a great article on how to create and stick to a schedule. She also lists several ways to generate ideas so you’re never at a loss for things to talk about relevant to your business.

Another thing for me is using different techniques to shake things up when they are not working. As an example, I just downloaded some new software (MarsEdit for the Mac; look for a PC alternate for your desktop/laptop) that makes it easier for me to write posts. This is one of those “duh” moments, a.k.a. “why didn’t I think of this before?” I use WordPress like so many, but I find it tedious to log in and work within the constraints of the system. I typically find myself working in some plain text editor first, manually adding HTML links and things that of course there are better tools for at this point.

So maybe using new software will help me—certainly it gives me something new to play with, and so far it seems much easier and less work. That’s another secret of the blogging stars.

I also downloaded and will try out a voice dictation software. That’s really outside my comfort zone, to dictate vs. type. But it struck me as a possibility after reading Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuk, a great book in which he admitted he read out loud and someone else compiled it for/with him. I thought, that’s not lazy…that’s smart. (Especially since he’s a big talker in the first place.)

There you have it. A new blog post in under 30 minutes (which Denise preaches). Now all I need is a good image to go with it and I’m set. See you again real soon.

Photo credit: chefranden

First, a confession.

I’m a PR guy and have been for years.

When I started my career in public relations in the late ‘80s, I imagine the profession was a lot like it was when pioneers like Edward Bernays and Ivy Lee got things started at the turn of the 20th century. Which is to say, it hadn’t advanced all that much. Most people I talk to still associate PR with the same thing they did in the ‘80s: media relations. And the chief weapon in the PR person’s quiver remains the anachronistic press release.

The Century-Old Challenge For Public Relations

It took decades for public relations as a discipline to earn the respect of corporations, namely corporate management. Along the way, PR professionals worked hard to demonstrate the value of comprehensive initiatives aimed at building trust among companies and the “publics” they depend on.

Yet those same pros have remained Rodney Dangerfields within the communications suite, constantly seeking respect among their colleagues. While that respect has largely been earned, the profession as a whole continues to suffer from a lack of understanding and disagreement about what exactly PR is, both among its practitioners and the public at large. Nevertheless, in spite of these issues, public relations is an established, accepted practice.

Social Media: The New Kid On The Block

Now, just when PR people thought they didn’t have enough to contend with, along comes the greatest revolution since the dawn of the Internet: social media. In just a few short years, social media has achieved an unrivaled level of excitement and demand. Social media is suddenly the hottest thing going. And it is both challenging and reinvigorating an industry that, by many accounts, had become moribund next to Web marketing. Authors Brian Solis and Deirdre Breakenridge sum up what’s happening in the title of their bestselling book: Putting the Public Back in Public Relations: How Social Media Is Reinventing the Aging Business of PR.

They got it half right, I think. Social media is certainly putting the public back in public relations—along with a lot of other disciplines (sales, marketing, advertising and customer service). However, I’m not sure social media is reinventing the PR business. More likely, social media is gaining traction because smart PR people recognize that, number one, it falls under the public relations umbrella and, two, it provides a fantastic opportunity to use technology to connect with audiences like never before. Particularly since the linchpins of the PR trade—media relations and the press release—are quickly working their way to the communications morgue.

Of course, marketing, advertising and IT folks can argue that they should “control” social media. But social media needs surpass those areas. And those other disciplines haven’t mastered the crucial skills of empathy, constituency building and comprehensive communications strategy and execution as PR professionals have. (The good ones, anyway.)

Public relations is entitled to be the ring leader for social media activities, as Jason Falls, Jason Keath and other social media pundits have observed. It’s already happening—because public relations has a proven track record in serving as a management function that establishes and maintains the relationships necessary for an organization’s survival. At the same time, a lot of social media experts are running circles around PR people, who haven’t grasped some of the fundamental differences needed for social media vs. traditional public relations.

The Challenge For Social Media

Social media matches up well with the standard definition of PR. It’s also easy for people to grasp the underlying principles behind social media, which boil down to the three T’s: Trust, Transparency and Two-Way Communications. Yet social media faces huge hurdles: convincing management of its overall value, and establishing a seat at the boardroom table.

While some companies have embraced social media, the vast majority are taking a more cautious approach. They are asking whether social media is a fad, or if it’s here to stay—and in the meantime relying in large part on time-tested techniques for gaining awareness and responding to customers and prospects. Social media frankly scares the bejesus out of many companies, and for good reasons—lack of control, unknown ROI, insufficient manpower and legal risks, to name a few.

So now we’re at this odd but exciting crossroads. In this direction is public relations, a known and proven entity, albeit dusty and boring and in need of a shot of adrenaline. Over here, we have this shiny new contender, social media. Seemingly the Holy Grail of Communications, it is fueled by constant barrage of messages, tools that primarily belong to someone else and mostly younger people without the scars to prove their worth. It feels a whole lot like the mid-to-late ‘90s, when crazy young bucks (like me) were starting web design firms and ranting like street preachers about how the Internet would change everything. It’s irrational exuberance all over again.

Do All Roads Lead To…Social Relations?

Where is all this headed?

Like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, public relations and social media seem destined to join forces. They are two great things that work even better together. PR desperately needed a hero, and social media swooped in like Superwoman at just the right moment—offering cheap, ubiquitous, direct communications tools to battle the Great Recession.

Ironically, the savvy new social media experts realized they needed PR to broaden their appeal beyond Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and blogs (the social media equivalents of press releases). They are now seeking the maturity and wisdom of PR practitioners, as well as pursuing broad acceptance by people who control the communications’ purse strings.

PR and social media are in a virtual online horse race, without a clear winner. Google “public relations” and you get 35,000,000 results. “Social media” is close behind with 31,000,000 results. Note that the latter results were garnered in the last 2-3 years, compared to PR’s 100+. Granted, the web as we know it has been around since about 1996—which should still give PR a much larger lead than it currently enjoys.

My solution is for public relations and social media to walk down the aisle and join in holy matrimony as social relations. Google search results for “social relations”: 4,170,000

I predict that both of these professions can’t co-exist forever. Recall that social media started its short life as “social marketing.” Since those golden days of yesteryear, circa 2008, it has already had an identity crisis.

Both of these crafts/professions/disciplines would benefit and profit from a more unified moniker. Public relations is too stodgy to carry the flag for both, in my opinion. Hey kids, what would you rather study in college—social media or PR?

On the other hand, social media is too self-referential to tools (online media properties) vs. the actual usage of the tools and the holistic approach to “social media” as an evolutionary communications practice.

Social relations has a nice ring to it. Public media? Not so much. Ditto for social media relations.

Social should move to the forefront, replacing public and representing the new overarching framework for creating ongoing dialogues between companies and consumers.

Convincing proponents in either camp to accept a combined term will be challenging. PR will argue that it’s the proven profession. Social media will claim it is usurping the “old man.” But both can’t continue without forfeiting certain bragging rights and revenue to the opposing side. Years ago, integrated marketing was all the rage, then vanished when the Internet showed up. Suddenly everything splintered, with web design and later SEO firms and other specialists taking away big chunks of creativity, production and money from advertising, PR and marketing agencies.

If PR firms aren’t careful, they stand to lose out to social media experts. Likewise, social media professionals are at risk for becoming niche players.

Social relations would be the start of a beautiful new partnership, with companies and consumers as the real winners in a new era of open communications.

In the fifth episode of Web Business Freedom, Brandon Uttley interviews attorney, speaker, author and home-based business advocate Donna Maria Coles Johnson. Donna Maria is the founder and CEO of the Indie Beauty Network, a trade organization representing small manufacturers of soaps, cosmetics, candles, jewelry and other health and lifestyle products. She is also co-owner with her husband of Indie Business Media, which provides media training services for small business owners. Her forthcoming book, “The Media Is You,” is slated for release in 2010, along with her signature “The Media Is You” training conferences designed to help small business owners be effective, primary media outlets for their businesses. Originally from Washington, DC, Donna Maria lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with her husband and their children. She blogs at www.IndieBusinessBlog.com.