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Have you found your niche yet?

Posted on October 31, 2014 by Christine BuffaloeOctober 31, 2014

Have you ever thought of finding a niche`for your books? How about your art?

Well, I did. And I think I found it!

No, it’s not for my virtual assistant skills (I already have one), but it’s for my knitting. Yes, my knitting!

This past August, Starz launched it’s new Original TV series, Outlander. This series has been a long time in the making.

It is from the Outlander series of books, written my Diana Gabaldon. Set in Scotland in the 1773, the show highlights the costumes and styles that were worn back in the 18th century. Both the books (all 8 of them) and the TV show have been huge hits. I have to confess, I’m a bit obsessed with the books and the TV show. The cast and crew not to mention the writers have been phenomenal.

I read the original book and the follow up starting back in 1991 when Outlander was originally published. These books and the TV show hit all of the “food groups” as I like to call it, romance, thriller, sci-fi, history, and sex.

As I was watching the show, I noticed that Claire (the main character and heroine) wore many knitted items. They were very simple, but elegant. As you can imagine, it gets rather chilly in Scotland, especially in those drafty old castles. So, Claire wore hand warmers, shrugs, and wraps. I’ve been knitting these items for years!

I’ve been involved with Team in Training and with the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society for the last 4 years and it involves fundraising. Since I love to knit, I thought, wow! here it is, my knitting niche`. It could not be more perfect.

In the PR biz, we often talk about how we can piggyback onto a trend or event. That is exactly what I have done. I’ve taken something that I enjoy doing and piggybacked it into a viable fundraising source.

Sometimes it comes to us and sometimes we need to get hit over the head with an idea. I had to be hit over the head!

Do you need a Facebook business page?

Posted on October 21, 2014 by Christine BuffaloeOctober 21, 2014

I recently had a client contact me regarding whether she should continue to maintain her business page on Facebook. She sent me an article that was written by Erika Napoletano at Copyblogger and in the article she states all of the reasons they are saying goodbye to Facebook.

I don’t agree with that decision at all and for a number of reasons. The primary reason is it just doesn’t make sense. Whether you like it or not, Facebook is here to stay (no kidding!). What started as a MySpace alternative has turned into a multi-billion, multi-generational and multi-use marketing tool.

Yes, I said tool. That is exactly what it is, a tool. One of many you should have in your toolbox. Your marketing and PR toolbox, that is.

Now, I’ve had much success using Facebook in all different ways. I’ve used it for business and for personal use and I must say, I’ve also used it to fund raise for my Team in Training cause.

The one thing I would like to add is because of my success with using Facebook on a personal level, I’ve increased the traffic to not only my business page on Facebook, but to this website as well.

Here are just a few things I suggest you do if you find your interactions lagging on your Facebook business page:

Start engaging with folks from your personal page. Post personal items (no, it doesn’t have to be too personal). Let people get a glimpse of who you are. Who they would be doing business with.
Share other content, not just your own. Don’t be so pushy with your own content. We get tired of it.
Interact. Interact with folks on your page as if they are friends.

It’s worth the time to establish your presence there. How much you maintain it is another topic altogether. I think that is key, maintaining your presence on Facebook. Don’t ignore it. If you don’t have time, hire a competent social media expert, such as myself to maintain the page for you.

I have a few clients that have started using Facebook Groups. I love the power of the group. Be very specific though as to WHY your creating the group and what you are using it for.

Quality content marketing isn’t about spending money, it’s about investing time. Invest it wisely.

SEO Best Practices

Posted on June 18, 2014 by Christine BuffaloeJune 18, 2014

Graphic by Vertical Measures

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5 Questions to Prepare in and Interview with Reporters

redphone If you want to get your message across in media interviews, you can tip the odds in your favor by giving the reporter or radio talk show host a list 10 questions that you’d like to be asked.

That’s a common practice for authors when they are being interviewed by radio hosts. Some reporters will use them, some will use them as a starting point and jump off to whatever interests them (which is good for both of you) and some won’t look at them because they have their own ideas (which is fine too). Think of these questions as a FAQ. Here are examples:

Why did you write this book?
How does your book differ from other books on this topic?
What is one key point from the book?
What is one thing you should do?
What is one thing you should not do?

That’s just for starters. Use your own creativity to take these examples and personalize them.

If you’d like to brainstorm with Dan Janal of PR Leads, check out the info on his website.

Click here for info on PR Leads and their consulting services.

If you mention this newsletter article, I’ll cut the rate from $300 to $175 for an hour-long session. This offer expires on July 1, 2014, but you can use your purchased time any time in the next 12 months.

***Dan Janal, author of “Reporters Are Looking for YOU!” helps small businesses get publicity so they can sell more products. My clients get terrific results from my coaching, consulting, done-for-you services and do-it-yourself tools. For info, go to PRLeadsPlus.com or call Dan at 952-380-1554.***

Hashtags–What Are They and What They Mean

Posted on March 12, 2014 by Christine BuffaloeMarch 12, 2014

From Wikipedia: A hashtag is a word or an unspaced phrase prefixed with the hash symbol (“#”). It is a form of metadata tag. Words in messages on microblogging and social networking services such as Facebook, Google Plus, Instagram and Twitter may be tagged by putting “#” before them,[1] either as they appear in a sentence, (e.g., “New artists announced for #SXSMusicFestival “)[2] or appended to it. Hashtags make it possible to group such messages, since one can search for the hashtag and get the set of messages that contain it. A hashtag is only connected to a specific medium and can therefore not be linked and connected to pictures or messages from different platforms.

So, now you know the technical version. Here is what I have found. Hashtags can be used as a keyword, a search term or can be used for branding as well.

I have been working with a client for some time and her assistant contacted me regarding hashtags and how they work. I showed her this:

I used the search term “#leadership” and it came up number 3 in the search engines from a post from Google Plus. This is exactly what I had wanted to achieve.

If anyone asks you if using hashtags in posts for branding or keywords, point them in this direction!

Serenity VA Tweets of the Week–10 Amazing Google Search Hidden Tricks

Posted on January 10, 2014 by Christine BuffaloeJanuary 10, 2014

Here are my Top 10 tweets from this past week, great for retweeting! If you missed these, follow me on Twitter.

10 Amazing Google Search Hidden Tricks That Will Surprise You
I would be surprising to know the Google search also has some hidden surprises. For this article here we have included some fun hidden search tricks of Google which we are sure will surprise and charm you. Try and check them out yourself.

Expert Ebook Writing: Prepare or Just Do It?
List! Without smart preparation, you’ll find yourself bogged down with too much information and lack of focus. Fortunately there are online tools that will help you discover more about your ebook topic.

Is Ebook Writing Different than for Printed Books?
Most people I know, including many of my clients for whom I ghost write and edit, assume that all book writing is the same. They try to follow the rules of style and grammar learned in school.They could be wrong. If there’s one thing rapidly changing technology has taught us is to question everything. Don’t assume anything.

The Heart of Awakening: Searching for the New Paradigm
Today I was prompted to write about the most important day of my life. It was suggested that maybe that day was one when you got married, graduated or gave birth to a child. I spent a few moments brainstorming and came up with a list of about 5 important days. For some reason when I envision this type of piece, I think that it will be one that is joyful and important because of the excitement and inspiration of that day.

6 tips for your VA business and you’re sure to see what a difference they can make
Operating a successful virtual assistant business takes a lot of hard work. Done right, your hard work can prove extremely beneficial to build your business on a solid foundation as well as add to your bottom line. These tips are sure to help.

The biggest showcase of Hawaiian ki ho’alu music outside the islands
This is a must see if you live(or will be in la next weekend, 1/18) in the LA Area. The Southern California Slack Key Festival features the most respected names in Hawaiian guitar music today in the most prestigious Hawaiian music concert event in the mainland U.S.!

The Best of The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week of 2013: Yours to regift
If you want to ramp up your PR campaign, generate more publicity and really build the buzz on social media, here’s the gift that keeps on giving. It’s “The Best of the Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week of 2013,” a compilation of 34 of the very best tips from my popular ezine.

Goal Setting 2014: The One Book Marketing Secret That Will Change Your Life.
This time of year The One Thing That Will Make You Successful in 2014! people talk about goal-setting as though it were some sacred mission. Setting goals or New Year’s resolutions has become the thing to do these final days of the year. Though here is the kicker: turns out, only eight percent of us will keep them.

Entrepreneur tip – A is for Ability. [HINT, HINT decide what areas you are exceptionally good at
By definition ability can be described as talent, skill or proficiency in a particular area. When you market your business, it’s important to understand exactly what those abilities are so that you can make the most of them or hire help for those areas you are weak in.

Lazy Journalists Aren’t to Blame for Death of Print – or are they?
This week’s announcement that New York magazine was becoming a biweekly was greeted, in my profession, with the sort of cheer that might herald the announcement of a sewer line backup or a mid-honeymoon appendectomy.

Serenity VA Tweets of the Week– 5 steps for a Successful 140-character Conversation on Twitter

Posted on December 13, 2013 by Christine BuffaloeDecember 13, 2013

Here are my Top 10 tweets from this past week, great for retweeting! If you missed these, follow me on Twitter.

5 steps for a successful 140-character conversation on Twitter
Tweets are limited to 140 characters, which allows readers to easily digest your content. How do we put out amazing shareable content in such a restricted template? Read on for five tips you can use to create engaging conversations on Twitter.

101 Tips for Using Instagram For Business
I’ll start out by saying that Instagram for business is something I’m still exploring myself. I’m looking through the different ways it can work for my business and the businesses of my clients. There is no getting around the fact that Instagram has over 100 million users.It’s time to pay attention.

Unfollow your “friends” on Facebook, with this new button release
It’s actually happening. After years of waiting Facebook users will soon be able to unfollow friends whose comments and updates they’d like to remove from their News Feed.This button is available to users in the drop-down on posts in the News Feed. Now, with a click of a button you can just get rid of John’s rants about Black Friday or Michelle’s 10,000th photo of her puppy. The best part is that friends will not be notified if they’ve been unfollowed.

13 smart reasons to use captions on your YouTube videos
I started using captions on my YouTube videos about a year ago when someone reminded me that it’s just one more place where Google can find keywords. That’s Reason Number 1! Read on.

Social media has changed massively in the last five years.(Infographic)
Social media is never static. It is an an ever-changing array of tools and platforms built for any number of purposes.From becoming a resource for activists to showing us the earth as we had never seen it before, each year brought new social net.

Are You Following These Social Media Influencers?
Add them to this Twitter List! Vote up your faves, then discover and follow some helpful experts you may have overlooked. You can follow the list on Twitter by clicking the blue button at the top, and even embed this list on your own blog!

Top 5 Blogging Blunders You Can Avoid
I started blogging almost two years ago and since then, my blog has grown considerably.I have learned a lot in a relatively short period of time and I want to share five of my biggest mistakes so you can avoid falling into the same traps.

5 Steps to Supercharging Engagement on Twitter
Increasing engagement on Twitter requires constant care and great attention to detail. From your bio to the type of content that you tweet each day, the way to engage people is by constantly creating and sharing relevant, interesting and uplifting content that people will want to comment on and share.

Counting Down to a New Year… Do You Have a Social Marketing Plan?
With all that’s going on during December, sometimes it’s difficult to focus on your business, what’s important to get done before the year ends and create a social marketing plan for the new year.Thinking about what might support you to take the time to look at where you are and where you want to go, I decided to experiment with a way to make it easy and accessible for you to get a kickstart for the new year…

Serenity VA Tweets of the Week– Why You Should Write Quality Blog Content

Posted on November 22, 2013 by Christine BuffaloeNovember 25, 2013

Here are my Top 10 tweets from this past week, great for retweeting! If you missed these, follow me on Twitter.

Why You Should Write Quality Blog Content
Quality content scores high with readers, your target clients, and with search engines. If you want to get found, get known and get clients online, you need to write and publish quality blog posts that resonate with your readers.
There’s a lot of emphasis on publishing frequently. Most professionals and small business owners are told that once or twice weekly is a bare minimum. But none of that matters if what you write is boring, mediocre, confusing or poorly written and formatted.

How to Increase Blog Traffic by Repurposing Content with These 5 Steps
There are many ways to increase blog traffic but one of my favorite is by repurposing your blog content. It takes time to research, write and edit a blog post. So, why not make the most of the time you invested in that content by also publishing the same content in different formats.

Running a Business Online? You Need To Get Back To Basics
For millions of men and women, the Internet has been an unbelievably great way to build a business and generate massive revenues. Additionally, more now than ever before, you can voice your unique perspective and point of view in order to have a greater impact doing your life’s work.

Maximize your content marketing on GooglePlus
Today I have some resources to help you maximize your content marketing on Google Plus with four great tools. Here’s links with tips and tricks to kick start your Monday.

Hootsuite Tips and Tricks – Adventures in Visibility with Mike Allton via Denise Wakeman
In this episode of Adventures in Visibility, Mike Allton of The Social Media Hat, and I discussed the powerful social media management tool, Hootsuite.Mike Allton is the “Hootsuite Helper” as dubbed by Mark Vang during the Hangout.

Two Simple Twitter Tips to Virtually Dominate Your Niche
With over two-hundred and thirty million active users worldwide (read the Twitter pre-IPO stats), Twitter remains one the most powerful social media networks for business professionals./Not only is there opportunity to reach a whole new audience, but the chance to target your message to a group eager to consume your content. Below are a two quick and easy tips to help you virtually dominate your industry through the power of Twitter!

How to Find Great Blogs for Better Business Blogging
Writing quality content is key for your business blog. Never stop focusing on better business blogging. But what about reading great blogs yourself? It’s a great way of getting ideas and topic inspiration from other writers who have different views and perspectives.

Author items to include in your New Media Age press kit
I am no longer a big fan of the traditional physical press kit with its glossy paper folder and numerous information/photo sheets placed into the inside pockets of the glossy paper folder. Yet I do think that authors have to consider what could constitute a press kit for our New Media Age.To begin with, let’s think physical. And business cards used by authors can be a good idea for real life networking events. But be savvy — I know I wasn’t at first.

Two Simple Twitter Tips to Virtually Dominate Your Niche
With over two-hundred and thirty million active users worldwide (read the Twitter pre-IPO stats), Twitter remains one the most powerful social media networks for business professionals. With the massive potential Twitter offers, it is easy to miss a couple key ways to capitalize on this micro social network. Below are a two quick and easy tips to help you virtually dominate your industry through the power of Twitter!

7 things to help you be seen, heard, found, followed, recommended & hired
So many small business owners keep making the same mistakes when trying to devise a publicity strategy. They cobble together a bunch of tactics that never worked very well on their own, and they call it a “strategy.” They fool themselves into thinking that, at some point, everything will come together, they’ll get their lucky break, and they’ll be on the road to success. None of these seven things should be on your list: