Managing Your Employees And Forming Business Alliances

Since you're reading this article, I know for a fact that you would like to make more money in your business. And there's nothing wrong with that. You don't have to feel guilty about making more money - it's just a natural thing that goes on in a business owner's mind. So if you're in business looking for money, you should know that there is money all around you.

Quite easily, the fastest way to earn more money in your business is by selling to your repeat customers. If you have a large customer database, you want to make sure that you're selling to these people on a monthly basis. These are the people who know you and like you, so it's important that you focus on creating a relationship with this group of people.

In this article, we're going to take a look at some ways that you can have success in your business right away. I personally use these tips, and they have made me a lot of money. So I'm passing these strategies here for you so that you can implement them in your business. Here's the first marketing tip:

1) Manage your employees

Assuming that you have a franchise or a business with employees, you will want to make sure that your employees respect you, and are willing to do a good job for you on a daily basis. There are a lot of ways to make your employees like you and make them want to go above and beyond for you. One of those things is the employee of the month award.

Analyze each of your employees progress and see which one of them made the most effort this month to make customers feel happy, and that is making you a lot of money each and everyday. Another way to do this is with free gifts. You can purchase a gift card from a popular retail store, and hand it out every month to the employee who gave you the best effort this month. All of these are great ways to make more money in your business, all while making your employees feel special also. Let's take a look at another tip:

2) Create new alliances

Get out there and start mingling with similar business owners in your city. The first place you will want to start your search at is your local chamber of commerce. There are a lot of business owners there who are successful, and there are some people there who aren't as successful. It's your job to link up with these people to form new alliances in your business.

Even if you're shy, you can still benefit from using the chamber of commerce to connect up with fellow business owners. The first thing that you will want to do is to hand out your business card. Make sure your business card is designed to get new people to call you, and to make yourself look like an expert of some sort. This way if a fellow business owner comes across someone who could use your services, they can just hand them one of your business cards.

Top Reasons To Form A Strategic Business Alliance

A strategic alliance is when two or more businesses join together for a set period of time. The businesses, usually, are not in direct competition, but have similar products or services that are directed toward the same target audience. Below are ten reasons to create a strategic alliance.

1. You could offer your customers a larger variety of products or services. This will allow you to spend less time and money developing new products to sell.

2. Your number of sales people will increase because you're combining with other business. You won't have spend to time and money hiring new employees.

3. Your marketing and advertising budget will increase. When you form a strategic alliance with other businesses you both will share the advertising and marketing costs.

4. You can now offer your existing customers more back-end and upsell products. This will increase your sales and profits.

5. Your business will gain a larger number of skilled people working on the same project. You will gain the knowledge of the other businesses employees.

6. You will be able to beat your competition by selling to a larger target audience. You will also increase the total number of existing customers you can sell your products and services to.

7. You can exchange endorsements with your alliance partners. You'll add more credibility to your business and gain your potential customers trust to buy.

8. You can expand your business more rapidly. You can develop new products and services faster with a larger work force.

9. You'll be able to solve your customer's problems faster with a larger base of customer service people. You'll also learn new ways to improve your customer service from your alliance partners.

10. You'll have a larger number of "strategic thinking" people. This will allow both businesses to come up with profitable business ideas quicker than before.

Power and Profit in Strategic Partnerships and Business Alliances

You cannot build a successful business alone. In order to build a strong profitable business, you must rely on and be of service to others. Building strategic partnerships and alliances is a powerful way to do this quickly. There are three main reasons to partner strategically.

1) Build a stronger selling proposition When you align with another business, you expand your ability to be creative. For example, Stephanie, a financial planner that targets women who desire to create financial independence, aligned with a nail salon to offer manicures while attending a seminar on investing. This created a stronger selling proposition and created more value because she was able to offer more than just the seminar. The participants could relax and get pampered while they learned to take control of their finances.

2) Boost Customer Referrals Naturally, when you align with another business, you increase your visibility to your ideal customers. With both companies promoting to their own target, each business is exposed to a larger audience. Using Stephanie's example, the salon advertised the seminar to their clientele and Stephanie advertised the pampering nail service to her list. The result...MORE people attended than if they were to promote two separate events.

3) Increase Revenue with Less Effort The BEST part of building strategic alliances and partnerships is the increase credibility you receive. This is important because it is a fact that people buy from those they know and trust. When you align with another respected business, you are endorsed as "The Person" to buy from. If you can get someone else to promote your service or product, it is incredibly valuable. Again, because the nail customers had an existing relationship with the salon, they trusted that Stephanie was "the one" for their financial needs.

So, begin to think about who you can build strategic partnerships with to boost your business while creating value, as well, for your partner. Be creative!

Jo Della Penna is an entrepreneur, coach, national speaker, author Her company, The Business of YOU, is a company devoted to empower, motivate and educate entrepreneurs to be courageously authentic in their business and take it from a challenging "j.o.b." and turn it into a well run, enjoyable and profitable company.

Strategic Business Alliance - Ten Reasons Why

1. More Variety - You will be able to offer your customers a larger variety of of products and services.

2. A bigger Sales Force - The number of sales people will increase when you form this alliance. You will spend less time on hiring new employees and still increase your sales force.

3. More Marketing Dollars - Your marketing and advertising budget will increase and both businesses will share the marketing and advertising costs. You will add products and services to your existing customer base.

4. Batch Products - You can increase your sales and profits by combining products with your strategic partners. Adding new products and services will help you increase your profits.

5. A bigger Work Force - Your business will gain a larger number of skilled professionals. This will help you grow your business faster.

6. Beat your Competition - You will be selling to a larger target
audience, thus beat your competition by selling more products and services. You will increase your existing customer base.

7. Add Credibility - You will exchange endorsements with your alliance partners thus adding credibility with your existing customers and potential new customers.

8. Faster Growth Path - You can expand your business at a faster pace. You will develop new products and services because of the larger sales force.

9. Problem Solving Partner - You will solve your customer's problems faster with the larger base of customer service people. You will learn from your alliance partner how to improve your customer service.

10. A Think Tank - You will have a larger number of people to bounce ideas off of and have a sounding board to solve problems and gain new ideas to grow your business.

How to Build Better Business Alliances

Judging by the popularity of instant message programs, chat
rooms, and discussion forums, it would seem logical to
conclude that people enjoy interacting with one another in
an almost anonymous, virtual environment. Although people
enjoy the anonymity they still crave attention and
relationships with other people. Sometimes, the internet is
so impersonal, and cold that getting a nice email from an
actual person that doesn't want your money is almost
exciting.

People especially enjoy interacting with those of similar
interests. Why not use this to the advantage of your
business? Internet marketers don't usually have anybody in
their lives that shares the same passion. And, as a whole,
Internet marketers are very passionate about what they do
and love discussing it with others who share that same
passion. By creating friendships with other online
marketers in your niche you open yourself up to a world of
possibilities.

The ability to build an alliance with someone powerful and
successful in your field is literally priceless. A lot of
businesses survive on their contacts alone. With a good
contact you open up to joint ventures, exchange of
information and ideas. Affiliate partnerships, market
research, years of experience, links to your site These
friendly contacts, all which are call "alliances," can
provide you with the leverage that you need, not only to
learn quickly, but to market your product to large
audiences of people fast.

Having an alliance is many times better than just proposing
a joint venture to someone for several reasons. First, a
joint venture proposal to someone you don't know will be
treated with so much skepticism that your chances are slim
to none. Whereas getting a JV proposal from a trusted
contact whom you have been exchanging emails with regularly
for a couple weeks will get much more consideration.
Building up a friendly alliance with someone online is a
lot like making friends in the real world. People don't
like to be badgered, they don't like know it alls, they
don't like back-stabbers, they don't like needy people, and
they don't like it if you follow them around and use up
their time.

It is recommended contacting someone for the first time via
a short email. Compliment their site, explain who you are,
and then ask them a simple question that wouldn't
compromise their business. This way, you won't use up too
much of their time but your inquiry demands a response.
When they email you back, follow a similar format but offer
more information about yourself. Write a longer email. Try
to keep a volley going back and forth and after a while see
if they have an IM name. Infuse your emails with your
personality and become curious about them, their
motivations, and their life. Before long, you will have a
friendly business contact with someone that could pay off
in infinite ways.

Getting business alliances to promote your product Before
seeking to ask a business alliance for any favors, such as
blasting your ad their list. You must already have a
powerful, proven sales process in place before you seek
their counsel and/or assistance. Do not become overzealous
and assume that someone has the same belief and passion for
your product as you do. All too often we become prideful
and think that our product is the best when, in fact,
others do not share the same appreciation. If you are
seeking to have someone with a big list send out an
advertisement for you product you would have to be careful
in how you went about it.

Someone with a big list and a successful business is, most
likely, busy. They probably get hundreds of emails a day.
Unless your proposal is credible and attractive to them it
will not get consideration. The majority of people and
especially entrepreneurs are cautious by nature. They will
not undertake a joint venture unless you can prove that you
can make them money, that you are reliable, and that your
product will not tarnish their reputation. Make sure that
you don't waste their time. Don't insult them with a hyped
up sales pitch about how much money they can make if they
sell your product. If you are trying to get them to mail
something to their list about your product include
statistics, documentation, and, if possible, your actual
product.

Find an ad that pulls extremely well, through testing. Know
the conversion ratio and have everything documented. Let
them know that you are legitimate and that you are selling
a high quality product. Nobody wants to get involved with
someone who is going to tarnish their reputation. Give them
specific, documented conversion statistics from similar
advertising campaigns Make sure and state what is in it for
them. Are they going to get a share of your backend
profits? Are you going to sell their product to your list?
Tell them that promotions for your product have been going
well.

Tell them that your particular ad converts at a specific
ratio. Tell them that you think they should give it a shot.
You do, of course, want to be sure that what you are
recommending will turn out to be profitable for them.
Otherwise, they won't ever work with you again. And don't
just pop this sales pitch out of no where or the person
will feel used. It might be a good idea only to mention the
idea and then if they sound interested fill them in with
the details.

Since When Are Blogs Not Social Media?

by Brian Clark founder of Copyblogger and CEO of Copyblogger Media. Get more from Brian on Twitter and Google+.

"...At least once a year, various pundits declare ponderously that blogs are dead … usually killed by some platform that we label as “social media.” One year it’s Facebook, another it’s Twitter, then it’s Google+. The platforms seem to change a lot more quickly than the arguments. 

Those declarations are built, at least in part, on the mistaken notion that blogging and social media are different and distinct things...."  Read Brian's blog here

Which Social Sharing Button is Right for Your Brand

Originally posted on The Search Agents by Heather Sundell

There are just so many darn social sharing buttons these days, and content marketing is more important than ever. As a user, it has created a moment of decision of choosing which channel  to share a particular news story, or cute video. The goal is to have as many network peers see the content, enjoy it, and re-share. There’s no shame in admitting gratification in people liking something you share.

As a marketer, its important to help users make this decision easily, and also ensure that your content is shared with the appropriate audience on the right channels. The best way to help users along the content sharing path is social sharing buttons. There are so many buttons to choose from, but highlighting them all can cause confusion the open the possibility of sharing to the wrong demographic.

Next time you want to share a piece of content, whether it be an article, blog post, video, or image, think about who you’d like to see it. Take a look at our infographic to learn about which buttons play well with girls, boys, nerds, jocks, and class clowns alike.

Online Business Alliance Review

Online Business Alliance is a new online program designed for those looking to earn income through affiliate marketing. The turnkey automated business was created for those with little or no experience to experience multiple streams of revenue. Here is my honest review.

If you have been searching for an online business opportunity lately, you have probably come across thousand of these like systems. They offer a turnkey automated program that is almost fool-proof.

The cost is usually minimal and includes a plethora of Ebooks and videos trainings. Well OBA is no different. Along with the replicated affiliate websites used to promote the business and a back office to track your sales it also includes;

- A copy of the EBook Stack Income by Dean Gray
- Turn-Key Internet Business
- Unlimited supply of high-demand products
- All are downloadable, so no shipping costs
- Members receive 100% commissions on all sales
- Free website hosting
- Free website, lead capture pages, & auto responders
- 24/7 Online support
- Internet Marketing Training Program

Wow, sounds like you get everything but the kitchen sink? So how much does this cost your ask? Only $5 with no monthly fees. Members will help the company's bottom line by recruiting new members into the system while they market their products online.

Members will earn commissions on the products that the system teaches them to market and promote.

The OBA is a legitimate and inexpensive way to break into an online business. Be careful, because you usually get what you pay for. Do you due diligence prior to investing the $5 to see if there are any hidden fees to upgrade or a monthly fee to unlock the secret back office trainings.

It is hard to imagine that anyone can earn a substantial income with such a small investment required up front. There will be some who accomplish this, but most will not. It takes time and the knowledge of how to properly promote your business online to create the success we all desire.

RELEASE: Internationally Celebrated Charlotte Artist Donates $3000 Painting to Business Alliance Rally Raffle

Stefan Duncan’s original impressionistic painting “Lady Tree Dancer” will be awarded the raffle winner at the Women's Power Networking Business Alliance Rally in Raleigh.  A portion of the events’ proceeds will benefit Alzheimers.

  

Raleigh, NC (May 8, 2012): On May 19th Women’s Power Networking will present their fourth annual business expo. This year, the day-long Business Alliance Rally 2012, will take place from 10am – 5pm at the McKimmon Center located at 1101 Gorman Street on the NCSU campus in Raleigh. A portion of the proceeds from the event will benefit Alzheimer's Association - Eastern North Carolina.

"Stefan Duncan [http://stefanduncan.com/] is leading the contemporary impressionists in becoming the ‘American van Gogh,’” says David Work of VanGoghGallery.com. Duncan is noted as being one of America's best artists in Art Business News and selected as among the top 30 Best National Plein Air Artists in the Invitational Wekiva Springs Plein Air Paint Out 2011. Plein air  is a French expression meaning "in the open air."

Having sold roughly 1000 original paintings, Duncan is internationally known for his impressionistic styles of 'Squiggleism' and 'Illuminism'. 

The 30” x 48” acrylic artwork Lady Tree Dancer  is painted in his unique style of Squiggleism.  Duncan says, “Squiggleism is a new branch of Impressionism. It is an impressionistic dash with a twist or curl, usually unblended, and applied side by side or layered. A squiggle to squiggleism is like a point to pointillism.”

Leslie Flowers, Rally committee member said, “We are excited and honored that Stefan has donated such a fabulous work of art for our raffle. And doubly thrilled he will have a selection of his pieces for sale and be at his easel painting during the event.”

Designed to be part expo and part business education event, the Rally accomplishes both by providing a spacious exhibitor floor along with 12 Spotlight Speakers leading breakout sessions, and a "Meet the Media” Luncheon.

Marilyn Shannon, co-founder of Women's Power Networking added, “The Business Alliance Rally is intended for everyone. It provides a chance for businesses to network with one another, sell their products and services, learn how to be more successful, and expand their alliances; fulfilling the promise of Women's Power Networking: "Alliances for Business–Alliances for Life."

Businesses, non-profits, organizations and individuals interested exhibiting; attending or purchasing raffle tickets should visit www.WPN-BAR.com.  Admission tickets are $10 and free with $25 luncheon purchase. Discounts for multiple ticket purchases are available. Raffle tickets are $5 each and 3 for $10.

About Women’s Power Networking (WPN)

Founded originally as Coffee and Contacts in 2007, Women's Power Networking "Alliances for Business - Alliances for Life" is a growing, national women's business referral network. WPN is the umbrella organization for Power Lunches, the Women Executives Roundtable and the after hours networking event, Cocktails and Contacts. Weekly Coffee and Contacts chapter meetings offer women a positive environment to grow personally and professionally.  The WPN Speakers Bureau arranges professional keynote and business speakers for conferences, business meetings, retreats or galas. Visit: http://www.WomensPowerNetworking.com

Media Contact:

Eileen Batson 919.413.2318

Eileen@BGMPR.com

Tips on Networking

Excellent article on connecting with folks at events by Franny Oxford

How to Talk to Strangers at Professional Events 

If you ever go to a professional conference, here’s what you see: 90 percent of the people attending have their phone at their ear or their fingertips, avoiding eye contact at all costs. 

It’s weak, y’all. 

The true gold of a conference is the opportunity to create or widen a professional network. These are folks you can learn from, bounce ideas off, meet for an occasional happy hour, and maybe even work with someday. Making connections is crucial to your career, your well-being, and your learning. 

So, how do you do it? First, get over yourself. Not to be mean, but nobody cares—if someone doesn’t respond to your small talk, it doesn’t matter. This isn’t reality TV, no one is watching. Just go chat with someone else. 

Second, recognize that most people want to connect, find a commonality, have a laugh. Reaching out is a little gift that you’re giving their day. 

Here are some harmless ways to start a conversation: 

Compliment something (if you mean it). 

People often work to look their best at conferences, so if you truly like someone’s bag or shoes or dress, tell them. It’s a good way to get a conversation started. It doesn’t cost anything to be nice. 

Note: This can be a little awkward. Once, an acquaintance came up to me at a national HR conference and, I guess, finding nothing else nice to say, exclaimed: “You got waxed! Your eyebrows look great.” 

Not a lot of opportunity for follow-up there. 

Go with the context. 

What seminar are they thinking of attending next? Did they go to the conference bookstore and have a look around? What did they think of the keynote? 

Find commonalities. 

She likes jewelry made from bottle caps; you make jewelry from can tabs. See? You have lots to discuss. 

Go meta—if you must. 

For example: “I know I’d like to meet some people here, but it feels awkward to meet strangers. How have you typically networked at things like this?” 

Basically, just relax, make eye contact, and listen. Look for an opening, something that makes the other person’s eyes light up a little, and ask more about that. 

BFFs now? Great! But before you end the conversation, let them know you’d like to get in touch again, and give them your card or tell them where they can find you online. If they don’t give you one back, don’t worry—they may not have any available just now. 

Make a note of their name in case they get in contact. If you get a card or contact info, follow up two weeks to a month later with a brief note about something relevant to your conversation and see where things go from there. Keep it light. 

If you’re getting a lot of people looking around for an escape when you introduce yourself, you might be falling into one of the insecurity traps associated with meeting strangers. Here are a few traps to watch out for. 

• Don’t brag. “I’m the youngest VP of the largest company in Florida. Here’s my business card.”
• Don’t humble-brag. “You have two kids? And no help? I don’t know how I could raise my three without my nannies.”
• Don’t name-drop. “Oh really? You just started as an HR clerk at Walmart? Then you must know Prithi W. She’s the VP of Supply Chain for Walmart Corporate. I think she reports directly to Bill Simon, Walmart’s CEO. We’re great friends.”
• Don’t complain. “Yeah, these conferences are OK, but the food is terrible. I wish we could get better sandwiches, after all, we’ll never eat again and we couldn’t possibly bring our own or go off campus. Let’s whine about the chips together.” 

You look insecure and weak when you show that you feel you must establish dominance through status, people you know, or criticism something you didn’t create. You may think you’re playing it off, but you’re not. Nobody is impressed, and you just made them either judge themselves for not being such a rock star, or judge you for showing your insecure side. 

You want both parties to walk away from the conversation feeling good. The best conversationalists are secure enough to make the conversation mostly about the other person, and are gracious and supportive. 

Franny Oxford is the vice president of HR for Leedo Cabinetry. She was named one of the Top 100 HR and Recruiting Industry Pros to Follow on Twitter (@Frannyo) and her blog Do The Work was named one of the Top 25 HR Practioner Blogs of 2011. Franny works and lives in Houston with her wife and 4-year-old daughter. She's a terrible but enthusiastic gardener and a beginning runner. This story first appeared on PR Daily in August 2011. 

Online Business Alliance (OBA) - Affiliate Review

Pros and Cons - Online Business Alliance is a business where members sell information and advertising spaces.

Members join by purchasing one of the $5.00 e-books created by business owner Dave Gray. These are professional, well written documents that reveal much needed information about internet marketing that you won't find anywhere else.

All Members then have the option to resell the pre-created information products for 100% commission. In OBA's back office members are also presented with the Opportunity to lease advertising space from their sponsor. These advertising spaces are a one time only fee. Through OBA Ad Space Leasing program members build a strong reoccurring income from the programs advertised in the ad spaces. Members succeed by utilizing the open forum Dave provides. All members work together to make the program the success it is today.

Dave Gray is a hands-on leader. He takes part in the forum daily. He has formed a company and a business concept that will last a lifetime. He has created a group of strong, dedicated workers. Dave is resilient and will bounce back from any problem that might occur. He is constantly reworking the program and making it better based on his keen business acumen, and his business knowledge. He also utilizes feedback he receives from his team in making positive changes to the entire program.

Dave has also provided an open support centre for all his members, you can head on over and take a look and take the time to read some comments. You will find that the support that you receive not only from Dave himself, but also from any of his members is hard to find.

To take part in this business, head over to the URL listed below. This will provide you with more information for the company and an opportunity to purchase the E-book for $5.00. Be sure to read the reviews from many of our members.

Recommended? Yes. The only out of pocket money you will ever have to spend is $5.00 for a good e-book. Then you just turn around and resell it. By collecting a few $5.00 e-book payments and saving the money, you can then take part in the advertising aspect of the company with no further out of pocket expenses. Since the owner is available at all times you can be assured that this company is rock solid and will be here to allow you to continue building an income for as long as you may need to.

Is Online Business Alliance (OBA) a Scam?

How many times have you surfed the Internet looking for business opportunities and found websites which promise you the sky overnight?

OBA belongs to this online wild world where we get lost trying to discover if what those found sites offer is for real or we will get into another money making scam which we all try to avoid. The review and test time dedicated to analyze the offer is worth invested because when we have found one of those sites we have to decide if it will be worth give them a try or not and we doubt because we are not sure of it. So, let's take a close look at Online Business Alliance.

1. OBA is easy to analyze from the very beginning. It is an online franchise business and the products are e-books and software ready to be sold and downloaded worldwide keeping the franchise owner the 100% of the profits. Those products are sold at $5.00. This low price gives the opportunity to everyone to download not one, but all the e-books and software at no additional cost. This way the costumer can read, study and use them and take an appropriate decision about if this will be worth the time and the effort. This way, the potential future franchise owners know by their own the items before trying to sell them. The opportunity seekers will see first hand if this interests them or not because they have accessed first to the products so... no hype here.

2. Honesty as proof: They claim this is a long-term business opportunity, not a get-rich quick scheme and work is involved to achieve the goals. This means, "hey, don't join if you are not ready to work".

3. If the costumer decides to join the business, no more investment is required and the access to the tools, materials and support to resell those products and be a franchise owner is guaranteed.

4. As owner of the franchise, the costumer will have ad spaces to lease to other costumers if he decides to, and in every ad space there is a proved and tested program advertised. Here is where the major money can be made.

5. Finally, the support. Here is where most of the online businesses fail and to build a great company where all the people is glad to belong to, the personal support and training is the ABC, the key. The Administrator and all the staff are always available and ready to help and clear doubts. There is also a good interaction among OBA business owners, helping one another altruistically.

So, definitely, OBA is not a scam, just a well studied and established international online opportunity for everyone seeking to build a solid long-term business.

Press Release: Business Alliance Rally 2012 Lends Support to Alzheimers NC

Join local businesses in support of Alzheimers North Carolina at Women's Power Networking "Business Alliance Rally 2012” vendor and business expo in Raleigh, NC May 19th.

Raleigh, NC (April 18, 2012): The Women's Power Networking  (WPN) "Business Alliance Rally 2012" is offering area business owners the opportunity to exhibit their company's products and services at their 4^th annual networking and vendor event. The B.A.R. expo will take place on May 19, 2012, from 10am – 5pm at the McKimmon Center located at 1101 Gorman Street on the NCSU campus in Raleigh. A portion of the proceeds from the event will benefit Alzheimers North Carolina, a 501(C)3 non-profit organization.(http://www.alznc.org)

A significant lead-generating resource for businesses, the expo offers business owners and their representatives the opportunity to network with more than 100 exhibitors and 1000 attendees.

“It’s a great place for B2B and B2C networking,” said Vicki Parks, the 2012 Rally co-chairperson. “The Expo showcases a variety of businesses in one location enabling the public as well as other businesses to see what types of products and services are available locally.”

Designed to be part expo and part business education event, the Rally accomplishes both by providing a spacious exhibitor floor along with 10 Spotlight Speakers leading breakout sessions, and a "Meet the Media” Luncheon.

Parks went on to say, “This is a great way for businesses to promote who they are, what they have and how they can help solve problems. Exhibiting at live events is one of the most effective strategies to meet and talk with potential customers in a relaxed environment.”

Marilyn Shannon, co-founder of Women's Power Networking added, “Each year we choose a non-profit organization to receive a portion of the proceeds. This year we selected Alzheimers North Carolina to benefit from the expo because it was a favorite charity of Sallie Matlack, a much loved founding member of WPN, who passed away in October.  All of the exhibitors and speakers are local business owners who take pride in giving back to the community."

The Business Alliance Rally is intended for everyone. It provides a chance for businesses to network with one another, sell their products and services, learn how to be more successful, and expand their alliances; fulfilling the promise of Women's Power Networking: "Alliances for Business–Alliances for Life."

Businesses, non-profits and organizations interested exhibiting should visit www.WPN-BAR.com as tables, booths and corner booths are filling up fast. Businesses and individuals do not have to be affiliated with Women's Power Networking to exhibit, lead a breakout session or attend the expo.  Admission tickets are only $10. Discounts are available for multiple ticket purchases.

About Women’s Power Networking (WPN)

Founded originally as Coffee and Contacts in 2007, Women's Power Networking "Alliances for Business - Alliances for Life" is a growing, national women's business referral network. WPN is the umbrella organization for monthly Power Lunches, the Women Executives Roundtable and the after hours networking event, Cocktails and Contacts. Weekly Coffee and Contacts chapter meetings offer women a positive environment to grow personally and professionally.  The WPN Speakers Bureau arranges professional keynote and business speakers for conferences, business meetings, retreats or galas. Visit: http://www.WomensPowerNetworking.com

About Alzheimer's North Carolina, Inc.:

Alzheimer's North Carolina, Inc. is a tax-exempt 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation dedicated to providing education, support and services to patients, their families, health care professionals and the general public while raising awareness and funding for research for a cause(s), treatment, prevention and cure for Alzheimer's disease and related disorders. The organization was founded at Duke University in 1980 and relocated to Raleigh in 1985. Additional information is available at http://www.alznc.org. 

Media Contact:

Eileen Batson

BGMPR

919.413.2318     

Eileen@BGMPR.com

PRESS RELEASE: Raleigh’s Business Alliance Rally 2012 Spotlights Industry Experts to Lead Breakout Sessions at Expo

Women’s Power Networking’s annual event features breakout sessions with local business owners and entrepreneurs at the WPN Business Alliance Rally May 19^thbusiness expo.

Raleigh, NC (April 5, 2012): On May 19^th Women’s Power Networking will present their fourth annual business expo. This year, the day-long Business Alliance Rally 2012, has assembled a group of outstanding industry experts to lead sessions in the breakout tracks.

“We are excited to offer a great selection of breakout sessions. The speakers are outstanding,” said Leslie Flowers, breakout session coordinator for the Rally.

The first round of spotlight speakers include:

• Bill Davis, Owner, Team Nimbus of North Carolina. His timely business growth topic is “Opportunities not Conversion is the Name of the Game”  
• Sherrie Wilkolaski, Founder and President of Author's Boutique will cover “Authors Crash Course to Publishing”
• Geanine Thompson, CEO of Live Your Personal Legend will present “Answering the Call to Adventure: Your Life Purpose Awaits!”
• Honey Beth Wiggs, Certified Health Coach at Take Shape for Life will speak to achieving optimal health in her talk “Are You as Healthy as You Think?”
• Clare Luffman, Owner, Dream Unlimited will coach attendees on “Common Mistakes of Running an In-Home Business”
• Danielle Cooley, Financial Advisor at Edward Jones. Her topic is “Invest In Yourself First, You Are Worth Every Penny.”

The annual business expo offers a balance of shopping, networking, learning and fun. Re-named the “Business Alliance Rally,” the event underscores how by building alliances in business and in life everyone succeeds.  The “Rally” is the organization’s premier business event of the year and is anticipated to attract over 1000 attendees.

The 2012 expo will be held Saturday, May 19th at the McKimmon Center on the North Carolina State University Campus, 1101 Gorman Street in Raleigh, from 10am–5pm.

To apply to register for an exhibitor space or to be a Breakout Session Spotlight Speaker go to http://www.wpn-bar.com/

Tickets are on sale now for admission to the Business Alliance Rally and the “Meet the Media Luncheon” at http://WPN-Business-Alliance-Rally-Tkts-2012.eventbrite.com/. Group discounts are offered.

Sponsorship opportunities are currently available. For more information on sponsorships contact Marilyn Shannon at marilyn@powerofdialogue.com.

About Women’s Power Networking (WPN)

Founded originally as Coffee and Contacts in 2007, Women's Power Networking "Alliances for Business - Alliances for Life" is a growing, national women's business referral network. WPN is the umbrella organization for monthly Power Lunches, Women Executives Roundtable and the after hours networking event, Cocktails and Contacts. Weekly Coffee and Contacts chapter meetings offer women a positive environment to grow personally and professionally.  The WPN Speakers Bureau arranges professional keynote and business speakers for conferences, business meetings, retreats or galas. Visit: http://www.WomensPowerNetworking.com

Media Contact:

Eileen Batson

Batson Group Marketing and PR

919.413.2318

Eileen@BGMPR.com

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Your Time To Tweet

Content may be King [or Queen], but timing your tweets plays a big part. 

Great article by Matthew Royse - a marketing communications manager for a global IT firm in metropolitan Chicago. Read more from Royse at his blog Knowledge Enthusiast. Follow him on Twitter @MattRoyse.

According to data compiled by the marketing firm Lemon.ly, the most traffic on Twitter occurs from 9 to 11 a.m. ET and 1 to 3 p.m. ET. Research from HubSpot’s Dan Zarrella found that the best time to tweet is 5 p.m. ET. 

The takeaway: Spread your tweets out throughout the day with an emphasis on late afternoon.

KISSMetrics pulled data compiled by Zarrella to show the breakdown of tweets in the United States:

• 48 percent of tweets are from the East Coast;
• 33 percent of tweets are from the Central time zone;
• 14 percent are from the West Coast.
• Nearly 80 percent of the U.S. population is located in the Central and Eastern Time zones. 

The takeaway: Think East Coast time.

Day of the week

According to Zarrella’s report “How to Get More Clicks on Twitter,” your Twitter links will get the most attention from your followers toward the end of the week and on weekends. 

The takeaway: Don’t forget Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Tools

Tailoring your tweeting schedule is essential to reaching the greatest number of followers. Here are 13 tools to help you. An asterisk next to the description indicates it's not free. 

1. WhenToTweet helps you determine when most of your followers are online.*

2. TweetWhen shows you the best times to tweet based on your last 1,000 tweets.

3. Tweriod looks at tweets that you and your followers have sent and provides times on when you should tweet.

4. TweetStats  offers a detailed analysis of your best tweeting time.

5. Timely creates a schedule based on your last 199 tweets.

6. Tweue is basically a Twitter queue that will evenly space up to 10 tweets, from 15 minutes to eight hours apart.

7. TweetReports gathers the stats from your top 25 influential followers and analyzes the times when keywords are most discussed, and when you might want to participate in these conversations.

8. Lookacross identifies the best time to reach people.*

9. 14Blocks analyzes your followers’ activities to find out the best times to tweet each day.*

10. Socialflow publishes your content when it will resonate the most with your Twitter followers.*

11. Hootsuite is a Web-based social media dashboard in which you queue up and post updates in a timely fashion.

12. Buffer is an app that enables you to add articles, photos, and videos, and it automatically shares them throughout the day.

13. TweetDeck enables you to schedule tweets and can help you manage your social media platforms.

Frequency is a key part of timing

Timing based on tools and metrics goes just so far, of course. Clumping all your tweets in the 4–5 p.m. hour won’t do much good. To reach your wide array of followers, post at least five times a day, spaced throughout the day according to the analytics above, and your tweets will achieve their maximum impact.

When do you tweet?

Press Release: Raleigh’s Business Alliance Rally Accepting Applications for Exhibitors and Spotlight Speakers

Women’s Power Networking invites Triangle area business owners and reps to exhibit and be breakout session speakers at their annual business expo. The day long Business Alliance Rally will be held at the McKimmon Center Saturday, May 19, 2012.

Raleigh, NC (March 26, 2012): Celebrating its 4th year, the Women’s Power Networking (WPN) annual business expo offers a balance of shopping, networking, learning and fun. Re-named the “Business Alliance Rally”, the event underscores how by building alliances in business and in life everyone succeeds.  The “Rally” is the organization’s premier business event of the year and is anticipated to attract over 1000 attendees.

“Exhibiting at live events is one of the most effective strategies to meet prospects as it gives business owners many advantages over other forms of marketing,” said event co-chair Vickie Parks. She went on to say, “this year’s event is twice the size of previous years with hundreds of exhibitors, nine breakout sessions and a ‘Meet the Media Lunch and Learn’.”

Co-chair Melissa Reynolds added, “We know from our prior expos that everyone who participates—from exhibitors, sponsors, and volunteers to attendees, experiences a sense of empowerment by being involved. The 2012 Rally is a true celebration of businesses and communities coming together to honor their commitment to the betterment of the Triangle.”

The 2012 expo will be held Saturday, May 19th at the McKimmon Center on the North Carolina State University Campus, 1101 Gorman Street in Raleigh, from 10am–5pm.

To apply to register for an exhibitor space or to be a Breakout Session Spotlight Speaker go to http://WomensPowerNetworking.com

Tickets are on sale now for admission to the Business Alliance Rally and the Lunch and Learn at http://WPN-Business-Alliance-Rally-Tkts-2012.eventbrite.com/. Group discounts are offered.

Sponsorship opportunities are currently available. For more information on sponsorships contact Marilyn Shannon at marilyn@powerofdialogue.com.

About Women’s Power Networking (WPN)

Founded originally as Coffee and Contacts in 2007, Women's Power Networking "Alliances for Business - Alliances for Life" is a growing, national women's business referral network. WPN is the umbrella organization for monthly Power Lunches, Women Executives Roundtable and the after hours networking event, Cocktails and Contacts. Weekly Coffee and Contacts chapter meetings offer women a positive environment to grow personally and professionally.  The WPN Speakers Bureau arranges professional keynote and business speakers for conferences, business meetings, retreats or galas. Visit: http://www.WomensPowerNetworking.com

Media Contact

Eileen Batson

Batson Group Marketing and PR

919.413.2318

Eileen@BGMPR.com