A long hiatus to develop some new projects on the horizon. Will be sharing more about them as they continue to evolve and launch. Stay tuned...

Meanwhile, it strikes me that it is becoming increasingly important to gather your "name" (business and personal) in every available Social Media outlet you can -- while it's free. Much like domain sharks, persons are trolling the internet and new business records to snatch up names, only too eager to sell them back for a tidy profit.

If you haven't already, grab your name (again, personal and business) on Twitter, Facebook, Facebook business page, Linked In, and Google pages. All are free. It only takes a few minutes. And you don't have to worry about doing anything with them... yet.

Great Resources for Social Media Newbies (and Oldbies)

Social media marketing is the process of promoting your site or business through social media channels and it is a powerful strategy that will get you links, attention and massive amounts of traffic. Here are just a very few of my favorite resources to point to people just getting started in the world of Social Media. Something for everyone....

SOCIAL MEDIA
Michael Stelzner, author “Writing White Pages”, has put together one of the most important resources for Social Media today, read it here: Social Media Marketing Industry Report

Mashable.com -- THE resource for Social Media information, tips and tools. Check out their 15 Free White Papers and Ebooks about Social Media

Quantcast Want to know how big Social Media really is? The latest stats on traffic and demographics on any site.

Chris Brogan - one of the best Social Media bloggers

FACEBOOK
Mari Smith - Facebook for business guru

It's a little hidden, so here's a quick link to Create a business page for Facebook

Great resource on Facebook Pages & Groups for business:
Facebook Pages vs Groups: What are they? What’s the difference?


LINKEDIN
LinkedIn to Business blog -- Maximize your Linkedin presence

LinkedIn Intelligence -- Maxwell Smart would be a big fan

100 Smart Ways to Use LinkedIn

TWITTER
Hubspot -- Some of the best Twitter, Social Media & Marketing resources

Twitter for Marketing Webinar - A Hubspot gem


PC Magazine: Top 10 Twitter tips

TwiTip: How to Use Twitter

Intro to Social Media presentation - May 28 OP Library

So you've been hearing all of the hype about Social Media.

You've been receiving invitations from friends and business colleagues to join them on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

And you're thinking I don't have enough time to keep up with day to day business, much less particpate in "trivial banter."

Seriously, what possible use can all of these be to building my business?

Join me and Matt Baron (PR expert of Inside Edge PR) as we walk you through an introduction to the world of Social Media and how you can use these powerful resources to expand your network, increase your knowledge base, build your business, and have some fun along the way. We'll explain how you can put these online resources to work for your business, generating buzz and reaching out to a broader customer base than you may have ever thought possible. As experienced pros in both marketing and social media, we will also be sharing some valuable insights and advice from the trenches.

Join us on March 28, 7pm at the Oak Park Public Library (on Lake Street just east of Oak Park Avenue) to see what all the internet talk is about!

My Twitter Mosaic

An amazing visualization of the power of Twitter: 700+ people I wouldn't have a connection with otherwise. (this is just some of them....)

Get your twitter mosaic here.