Post Doug Gfeller’s rallying presentation at the Chapter meeting, you may already be taking action and creating new alliances.  This month we thought we would look into the ones we can create online, aka The Virtual Alliance. 

This week had me investigating scrapbooking blogs. Stay with me here..In looking for a new point of connection with groups of women, my partner and I pondered activities where women would naturally congregate and ‘BAM!’ (very Emeril Lagasse of us) we had the idea. Wouldn’t it be fun to introduce the talented women who spend hours committing memories to paper to the world of envisioning the future too!

In order to connect with these avid scrapbookers, of which is it estimated there are 25,000,000 in the US (who knew!!), we started looking at the blogs they write. These women were sharing their ideas, their lives, and their New Year resolutions with a vast online community. So we started to post our idea.

You may already have a newsletter or blog that you send out, but do you actively introduce yourself and post on blogs and sites other than your own?

There are alliances to be had on the World Wide Web and blogs are a great way to engage and dialogue with a broad audience. Blog participation is an organic process, as well as posting comments you can offer to connect an author’s blog or weblink to your site and ask them to do the same for you. By doing this a reader is now enabled to access your content across multiple sites and they may also want to be part of the discussion. Before you know it, you have a community of virtual alliances all talking about you and your business.

Some virtual world tips and pointers –

- If you don’t have a website, blogging is a great way to get connected.

- If you are going to post on another author’s blog – keep it relevant!

- Keep your content fresh so readers return.

- Research online topics that are relevant to your business and use the weblinks to enhance your blog content.

- Don’t forget where you have been posting comments (so easy to do).

- Don’t expect an overnight community. Virtual alliances like any other, take time, attention and nurturing. Who would you like to connect with today?

RESOURCE AT : Intrigued? http://www.wikihow.com/Start-a-Blog, http://www.buildabetterblog.com Ready to dive in? http://wordpress.org or www.blogger.com. And just for fun, start with http://childsplayx2.com then discover all the hilarious, heartwarming inter related blogs…

Virtually yours,

Candice

candice@redbarncoaching.com