Love it! It’s small, heavier than I expected, and very sleek. Once I powered it on the vibrant display walked me through a few simple steps to setting up my new device.

Ease of access is smooth and extremely user friendly. My daughter—who has a lot of iPhone and iPod experience under her belt—has no problem maneuvering her way around Kindle Fire.  The apps available for the Kindle are from the Android market, and just like the apps on your smart phone, there are plenty of free ones to choose from; some of our favorites are Facebook, AllRecipes, Amazon, Words with Friends, and Hangman. There’s also a Newsstand that brings you all the most popular magazines and Newspapers; there’s everything from Fashion and Entertainment to News, Finance, and Technology. I recommend National Geographic and Bon Appétit!

Of course the books! I’m an avid reader, I love my books, and I’m sure there will be times when I read an actual book again, but since having my Kindle, about a month, I’ve gone through  4 “books”! There’s SO MANY to choose from, ridiculously affordable, and a Lending Library for prime-members, in which you get a 30-day trial, and I’m leaning towards becoming a full-time member. The benefits of the Lending Library: Borrowing books rather than purchasing, discounted shipping and handling at Amazon, and more! The not so cool part: You can only “borrow” one book a month from the Library, so if you’re a fast reader like me it might get a little aggravating, but you can always purchase it from Amazon and it’s still cheaper than going out and buying a book.

Music apps like Pandora are also an option on the Kindle Fire, along with an earbud plugin. Although I don’t use it often, it is a very nice option.

Video such as TV shows, movies, etc. are also available. And of course I’m using the Netflix app which is handy on road trips or just something to keep the little one occupied.

You can view documents on the Kindle Fire, search the web, book mark web pages, check email, and SHOP! Seriously, what’s not to love?

There is not much I would change about the Kindle Fire. I love the look, the quality, the usability, and everything I can do with it!

Let’s tie your Facebook Page to your website.

Step 1: Choose which Facebook Badge best suites you.

As you can see there are four different types of badges to choose from: Profile Badge, Like Badge, Photo Badge, and Page Badge (only available to application and page admins). And each serves its own purpose. Profile Badges are great if you just want to share your personal profile page on another website of yours; A Like Badge will highlight your favorite Pages on Facebook; A Photo Badge shows off your Facebook photos; And a Page Badge is a way to let your website followers see your Facebook Fan Page so they can follow or “like” that as well.

Step 2: Follow the wizard to customize the badge.

Facebook gives you a couple of commonly used options (Blogger and TypePad) to add a badge to or you can choose “other” to add the badge to your website. If using Blogger or TypePad once you choose one it automatically takes you into a sign-in page to begin the badge process. When you choose “other” you’re given an html code to paste anywhere on your website. I don’t recommend going crazy with the badge, but a couple of places to add it would be your home page and then your contact page.

Voila!

As we dive deeper and deeper into the social media frenzy I’m finding that the different options for creating eye catching pages are becoming more and more available. I’ve tried a few different services for our pages and am quite pleased with the outcome. But of course there will come a day when I’m ready to change those up again too and like I said, the options are definitely out there!

Using Catchfree I found a list of top rated Facebook building sites, I’ve had a chance to only go through the first five:

Wix
Fanzila
Cool Mojito
Pagemodo
Stiqr

Again, I love Catchfree because they’re always keeping up to date on this stuff; if a better one comes along, they’ll tell you!

The Benefits of Having a Facebook Welcome Page

• Appearance
  • Clutter free
  • Easy to read (stay away from funky fonts)
• A friendly hello
  • Welcoming and Inviting
• Informative
  • About you and/or your business
  • Product/Services information
  • Contact information
• Call to action!
  • Words that urge the reader to take an immediate action, such as “Call Now” or “Like Us”.

When crawling through Facebook fan pages I find myself more drawn to the well thought out pages; the ones that flow smoothly, starting at the welcome page. In order to intrigue your audience you need to engage with them. Welcome readers to your page–introduce yourself; tell us about your company and the benefits of your services and/or products; and always put your contact information where it can be easily found. TIP: People generally do not want to read a short novel about your business—keep it short, simple, and straight to the point. If there’s anything else they want to know, they’ll ask. And last but not least, include a call to action. People are more likely to “like” your page or contact you if you tell them too!

A conversation between two amazing VAs prompted this post. It was about what a virtual assistant can do to help ease the stress of the holiday season. The answer – a VA can help or even take over some of the things you don’t have the time to do.

• Gifts – Researching and purchasing gifts for family, friends, and business associates.
• Holiday Cards – Hand sign, address, and mail your holiday cards. Send a holiday email to your contact list.
• Holiday Party - I can help in selecting the menu, providing the recipes and the grocery list. Or, find you a caterer.  Going bigger? I can research and secure a banquet room and food service.
• Holiday Travel – Are you planning to travel this holiday season? Let me handle the flight and accommodation details for you and your family.

If you have holiday needs that are not listed above, contact me to discuss them.

I’m in the process of completely rethinking my business model, and that will be my primary focus as I plan this year’s business retreat for myself.  Your business model doesn’t have to be at all complex, but should provide the guiding force for all that you do, like guiding you to the opportunities to accept (and those to decline), the joint ventures and strategic alliances to pursue, and the new ideas you should retain and develop, as well as those to let go of.

Here’s are the 4 steps I’m following as I create the blueprint for my business model:

1.  Make clients pay well for your most valuable commodity — your time.  I see many service business owners tying themselves up with (and tying themselves down to) far too many 1:1 clients.  You have only so many hours in the day, and at some point you’ll hit the wall and not be able to expand the number of 1:1 clients you see.  Sure, you can hire and train additional staff to handle the overflow, but in many cases, you make less money in this model while tripling your headaches.  Make your 1:1 time with clients your highest-fee service, charging a premium fee to dispense your expertise.

2.  Ongoing recurring revenue is key.  Feast or famine seems to shape the life of the service business owner, regardless of industry.  Wouldn’t your life be much more sane if you knew that you could count on recurring revenue each and every month, rather than having to  constantly go out and find new clients?  This was one of the models I adopted early on in my virtual assistant practice, i.e. working exclusively with clients on retainer rather than a “pay as you go” model.  What is it that your clients need from you that you could provide on an ongoing basis with them that isn’t time-intensive for you?

3.  Always have an upgrade.  Never offer a stand-alone product or program that doesn’t have a natural tie-in to the next level of program or service that you offer. If there’s no way to leverage what you’re offering into some type of upgrade, don’t offer it! For example, a free teleclass can lead participants to enroll in a paid short-term group program.  From that program, plan to enroll a certain percentage of those participants into a recurring revenue continuity program. You can then upgrade a percentage of these participants into a live event or small ongoing mentoring program, and from there make an upgrade offer to your premium 1:1 time.

4.  Design the blueprint.  Brainstorm all of the types of programs, products, and services you might offer in your business.  Your list might look like the one below:
 

• Consulting

• 1:1 Service Provision

• Group Coaching/Mentoring/Continuity Programs

• Sale of Info Products

• Private Retreats

• Strategy Sessions

• Live Events

• Speaking

• Information Products or Books

• Licensing/Certification Training

• Teleseminars/Webinars

• Subscription Membership Website

Pick 3-5 of these items that will make up your business model, and then determine what percentage of income you want to derive from each.  Your total needs to equal 100%. Then, determine the order in which you offer the components of your program over the next 1-2 years.  This becomes your blueprint for action.

How do you determine your success? If your business still suffers from feast and famine, take a long, hard look at your business model for the solution. Every offer you make in your business should flow seamlessly into the next, which will result in a steady, predictable income that you can increase over time as you become more expert at designing and following your blueprint.

Online Business Coach Donna Gunter helps baby boomers create profitable online retirement businesses by demystifying the steps needed to successfully market a baby boomer business online. Would you like to learn the specific Internet marketing strategies that get results? Discover how to increase your visibility and get found online by claiming your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, at == > http://www.TurbochargeYourOnlineMarketing.com

It’s called “The 11 Most Crucial Emotional Triggers That Convert Prospects Into Customers.”

(In a hurry? Sign up for this complimentary call now here)

The important thing to know is that Sue’s methods work – she’s helped everyone from home-based moms to seasoned business owners double or triple their revenues by ramping up their business marketing.

You see, there’s a monumental shift happening in marketing, and in business.

Previous marketing models are failing and fading. Entrepreneurs who are continuing to operate as they have previously are finding the same old strategies are not working anymore. In fact, they are likely hurting their business.

The “traditional” paradigms for marketing are collapsing. And those who know will be leading the way as they listen to Sue talk about…

Sue will explain it all on this one-time call.  Again, learn more and register for this free teleseminar on August 18 here.

Register Now!

I read an article yesterday that came through my Facebook or Twitter about social networking squatters. Today I’m not able to find it. If you posted about this yesterday, please let me know and I will give you the kudos for this one.

Maybe you’re on LinkedIn or Facebook, maybe more. But have you considered or even know about all of the other networking sites out there? Even if you aren’t doing the social networking thing right now, you’ll want to register your name on the various social networking sites. Why? Because if you don’t someone else will!

Imagine your potential or current customers looking for you and finding someone else using your name or your business name. You have no control over the content coming out with your name on it.

Quickly check the availability of your name or your business name using KnowEm.

My friend Mike Michalowicz, of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, has combined a list of 155 strategies to eliminate distractions while working at home, called The 155 Ways To Work At Home Without Distraction.  Great ideas if you work from home!

I watched a video yesterday that Ashton Kutcher tweeted. It’s a great video, see it below. When I watched there had been about 5000 views. This morning I get up and Good Morning America is promoting a story about this couple and their video. I check the views and it has gotten more than a million views since last night. Say ‘Thank you Ashton.’

It’s not easy getting Ashton’s attention. He has almost 3 million followers on Twitter, but follows less than 200 people. So you can’t count on him to get your message out there. So, how can entrepreneurs and small business owners get this type of hype? Piggy back off of a hot or popular story is a great way to drive traffic to your blog (this post).

Blogging and social networking are more important than ever. If you’re not spending some time each and every day working your network, you’re missing out.

Don’t have the time? Hire a virtual assistant to help you out.

Check out the video…

Whether it’s a natural or man made disaster, you want your business to survive a disaster with little disruption.  How quickly you can get back to business depends on the emergency planning you do today.

1. One of the first things you will need to do is to determine which staff, materials, and equipment are absolutely necessary to keep your business operating.
2. Create procedures for all aspects of your business in case someone has to step in and cover another persons duties.
3. Contact your insurance provider to review your coverage for things like physical loss, business interruption, and flood coverage.  Ask what records they will require after an emergency and include them in your emergency supply kit.
4. Create a contact list that includes all of your suppliers and business contacts.  Include back-up vendors in case your primary is not able to supply you after a disaster.  Keep this list in your emergency supply kit and at an off-site location.
5. What will your business do if you are not able to access its location?  Can you run the business from another location?
6. Define procedures for a crisis.  Make sure everyone knows what they are supposed to do.  Include emergency preparedness information in your internal communications, newsletters, employee email.  Designate an out-of-town number employees can call to leave a message saying they are “OK.”  Provide emergency information in the form of a card that can be placed in a purse or wallet.
7. Review your emergency plans annually. Your business may change as well as your procedures. 

With a little preparation you should be able to minimize the interruption in business in the event of a disaster.