Other than tonsillitis and a hernia as a small child, a fractured shoulder a decade ago and the occasional cold or flu, I have been blessed with good health. As a teen, I was a cheerleader and played tennis almost daily. In college, I walked practically everywhere I went. But law school and practicing law…
Details
For those of you who don’t know, in addition to teaching and speaking about small business leadership and success, I also lead IBN, a trade organization for manufacturers of health, beauty and lifestyle products. Recently, the business building conversations at IBN’s private networking area have increased considerably. If you haven’t visited for a while, today…
Details
Last year, at my invitation, several members of IBN gathered in our private online networking area to discuss how we could support each other on Twitter. It was decided that on Fridays, each participant would select a person, comment on one of their blog posts and then ReTweet the post on Twitter. The goal was…
Detailsit’s that time again, time for Sunday Soup! Tomorrow’s radio show features Deborah Douglas, a CPA and the author of “Ripe: Harevesting the Value of Your Business. Deborah will take your questions and share tips about how to position your growing business to fully realize the rewards of business ownership! Join us at 1:00pm New…
Details
Publishing comments at influential blogs in your field can help expand your sphere of influence efficiently and effectively. I call this “comment blogging” (I think I made up that phrase?), and I do it regularly. If done over a period of time, comment blogging can result in new client prospects, exciting collaborations and valuable features…
Details
Donna Maria shares tips on integrating different media outlets for maximum engagement with your customers, clients and friends.
Details
Recently, I interviewed Shiv Singh live on Indie Business Radio. Shiv is the author of Social Media Marketing For Dummies (affiliate link). He is also the Global Social Media lead at Razorfish, a brand engagement company. Shiv thinks that, in some ways, the term social media is a misnomer. In fact, in his social media…
Details
The week is off to a fantastic start! It started off with the early morning publication yesterday of this week’s newsletter. I love publishing early on Mondays because my readers see the inspirational story of one of my IBN members as quickly as possible after the start of a new week. It’s amazing how much…
Details
Podcast (indie-business-podcast-vault): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 49:13 — 90.1MB) | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | iHeartRadio | RSS
The Vault is an archive of my first podcasts so there is a record for you to enjoy. Welcome to the Vault Episode 180 featuring my interview with Tris Hussey. Tris is the author of “Create Your Own Blog: 6 Easy Projects to Start Blogging like a Pro.” With a blogging journey dating back to 2004, he’s…
Details
Blogging has enhanced my life in many ways. A blog is an extremely versatile platform and can be used by small and independent business owners in many ways. I recently suggested that startups could use blogs as a business planning tool. As Tim Berry, author of The Plan-as-You-Go Business Plan (affiliate link), pointed out in…
DetailsIt’s that time again, time for Sunday Soup! We had freezing snow and rain here Friday night, so this is a weekend of hot chocolate and sledding. How’s the weather where you are? You asked some great questions last week and I am here again to answer more. Ask me about social media, leadership, small…
Details
Last week, I shared some tips to spruce up your FaceBook Fan Page. Yesterday, I asked people at the Indie Business FaceBook Fan Page to share their Fan Page links, along with their tips and questions about attracting more people to a FaceBook Fan Page. My goal was to crowd source some new ideas so…
DetailsI agreed with many of the things President Barack Obama said in yesterday’s State Of The Union address. We do need health insurance reform. We do need to tackle the issue of childhood obesity. We do need to invest in the skills and education of American people. We do need to increase our exports to…
Details
Donna Maria shares commentary on using social media and new technologies to be everywhere your customers are.
Details
Today was one of the rare days where I preempted my radio show so I could capitalize on a difference kind of opportunity. I spoke on leadership at the 2010 Social Media Telesummit, hosted by Leesa Barnes. This was a virtual event featuring some of the leading names in social media. I enjoyed sharing with…
Details