2010 off to a slow start?

I don't want to admit it, but I'm behind this year. As the organizer of many-a-things, I am disappointed with how long it is taking me to get going this year on planning our first event. So....please accept my apologies.

In result, I figure that there should be some type of resolution for this situation, and that's where this blog comes into play. Resolutions are things that can be made at any time of year, because they are essential like a to-do list. So how do we make effective resolutions? ..Well, I'm glad you asked, as I write (or maybe a few minutes after I complete this blog) I will be writing a list of resolutions for TheCircleLA.

There are definitely some key tricks to writing good resolutions, so I thought I would share with you all; so that you can make 2010 your BEST year yet.

1. Figure out what you want to accomplish! - Ok, this may be self-explanatory but it has to be said. Take some time for yourself one day, sit down and really think about where you would like to be by the end of the year or even in the next three months.

Don't think about where you are today - that will just throw wrenches in your plan. Plan like everything is possible.

2. Be realistic - It may sound good to say you're going to make $250K this year, but are you really going to do that? Make sure that your resolutions are something that you can stick with and really give effort to. If you think that $100K is a reasonable number then go for it; only YOU know your limits. If your goal is too ridiculous in any area, you'll be more likely to forget it or give up.

3. Having measurable goals - Be sure that you are setting some expectation for yourself. Saying to yourself "I'm going to start a business this year" doesn't really say much at all. Remember, these are for yourself for the most part.

Put numbers and details on your goals like; I'm going to develop my business plan by February 28th or I'm going to find a business partner by March. Putting dates and numbers on your goals gives you some feasible motivation to work towards. You don't have to make it ridiculous, its not a competition.

4. Tell people about your plans - Does a tree make a sound when it falls in the woods if no one hears it? Tell someone about your goals/plans, this is probably someone close to you or maybe even a friend that you're writing resolutions with. That way, someone is a witness and possibly may ask you how your getting along at certain points. If you have someone to share it with, it's easier to keep your resolutions throughout the year.

5. Keep them visible - Have your resolutions handy. I generally have mine on a half sheet of paper in my planner. Sometimes when i'm flipping through to check something else I run across and re-read them. This is a great reminder of what you have to accomplish and keeps them in your head. It's not surprising that you won't have them memorized. Another good place is your wallet.

6. Check-in mid year! - Right before summer hits, check in with yourself. If you check-in mid year and you kind of put some of the items by the way side, you still have about 6 months to accomplish some of your goals. Most of our goals won't take a whole year to get to, but we give ourselves that much because we've gotta live life. This is a great time to check things off your list (my favorite) so you can see what you have left and how much progress you have made!

7. Celebrate yourself - There's never a bad time to celebrate. I generally see new year's as a time of celebrating the past year and really seeing all that I have accomplished. But along the way, have small celebrations when you accomplish each smaller goal so that you continue to feel good and have something to look forward to.

8. Keep it short! - Last but not least. Having 100 resolutions for the year is a little out of range. Create as many as you think is important to really get to that year. I generally have about 10 main goals for the year, other stuff comes up; both those 10 I make sure to keep top of mind.

Good luck and let's get going! TheCircleLA is going to try a lot of new things in the new year and we are excited to share our plans with you. See YOU in TheCircle!

Social Media who? Getting with the times for your business!

Does anyone remember when we used to call people to get in touch with them for business? To invite them over for dinner? Get directions? The fact that there is a couple of generations out there that will never know that feeling is crazy to me. I didn't actually have a cell phone until I was 18, which was late in my neighborhood. Now, I can't imagine living without one, mainly for the fact that I don't even know my parent's new phone number. The only number(s) I know for sure are the ones I had to dial before I got a cell phone (and of course my own cell #). Crazy isn't it?

I have spoken with several small business owners that know about social media platforms, but haven't quite adapted to the new wave of communication. Since social media has become an important business tool to reach target audiences and elevate business goals, it is important to know what it can do and how it can work for you.

Things to know:
Facebook has 300 million users
YouTube has 13 billion videos/month
LinkedIn has 36 million business represented
There are 112 million blogs on the Internet
Twitter has 10 million users and is growing at 40%/month

What are the social media 'must haves'?

Facebook - Facebook can be used as a critical branding tool to reach your target customers and act as a public forum. It will be important to be active on your Facebook page, engage your fans/friends and update your page regularly. Virgin America does an excellent job of this.

Twitter - This is the perfect venue to post news, expert thoughts, industry trends and follow/be followed by customers and partners. This is also a great way to follow industry thought leaders and engage in casual conversation on a professional level. This is also a chance to position yourself as a thought leader and/or expert. The Ellen Show has a great example, plus a celebrity name to it, but you'll get the idea.

Blog(s)- If you are trying to position yourself as an expert in any industry you must have a blog. The key to blogs is content. Content should be refreshed on a regular basis. When you are creating your blog there are some key things to keep in mind:
- Focus - determine your blog's focus. You don't want your blog postings to be willy nilly. Decide ahead of time if your blog is going to be a personal blog about your life, about transformers, about antenna technology or about men's fashion trends. This way your blog becomes a reliable source for some kind of specific information.
- Frequency - make sure you have a consistency in your posting, whether its everyday, twice a week, once a week, etc. You also need to be careful of posting TOO much on your site, you want to leave the reader wanting more, not wanting to mark you as SPAM.
- Flavor - be sure to keep your voice when you're blogging. If you're not sure that your writing skills are up to snuff, then take a first draft at it and have the same person edit your writing to maintain a consistency in the writing style.
- Following - the only way to develop a real following is to follow others. Stay in touch with your audience and respond to them regularly. Keeping your followers engaged is the key to getting more fans. It is important communicate and stay 'reachable'.

4 ways social media helps your business

1)Enhancing business productivity by providing business collaboration tools.
Social bookmarking (delicious) organizes your web, Facebook is a rolodex on steroids, and wikis and blogs are virtual journals that can be utilized in an infinite number of ways.

2)Cheap and efficient virtual marketing research

Companies can get very comparatively precise data about what your potential customers are thinking and searching for. You can also find out what their customers are doing on their websites. Why are so many customers clicking away here? Why are we losing customers on our e-commerce site? How can we make our site sticky so? How are our competition beating us?

3) Low cost and risk

It is easy to get started in social media from anywhere from $0- $5000 (blogs, websites, maintenance and design costs, etc.) Social media is a affordable, low cost communications solution for business.

4) SEO and marketing

Social media leverages the network effect of the web. How do you get information? Most people these days get their information two ways on the web: searching and recommendations from friends or trusted associates.

Proceed With Caution!

Whenever entering a new realm of communication you should factor in both the benefits and risks. Although few, there are definitely risks to social media if you are not careful.

1) Transparency - Social media forces your company to be more transparent, you have to be ready to be clear with your online communications. Online'rs can see holes through anything. Don't be defensive, engage conversation it creates more discussion points and openness.

2) Be careful with the company information that you are sharing. If you are unsure, DO NOT SHARE!

3) The rash affect - Social media spreads like wildfire. Something that happened in a remote area of Japan, may be communicated throughout the world in minutes with the use of social media.
4) Monitoring - Make sure that you are steadily monitoring your social media presence.

5) Get your company involved - It doesn't bode well if there's only one person in the office on the party train. Get your employees, families and friends involved in your online communities to promoted interest, discussion and contributed content.


In this day and age, business without the presence of social media is very difficult, unless you have already been in business for decades. Even then, to keep up with the times is very important to keeping your business edge. Start building your social media strategy, if you're not sure ask someone. In the past few years there have been an abundance of social media experts that have surfaced to help businesses with just this critical area of business.