Things seem to have gotten out of hand recently. This has always been a monthly newsletter, but I've been missing in action lately. I hope you will all welcome me back to your inboxes.

To explain my absence I can only plead life. So much has been happening and time just got away from me. It seems all of a sudden the whole Spring and most of the Summer was gone.

In March, I became a first-time grandmother when my stepdaughter gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.

My oldest son joined the Air Force, and my youngest son graduated from high school.

I've been working on new skills for my arsenal, and added new products and services to my business.

And, I was featured in a story on the local TV news about Twitter because my profile came up at the top of a search for Twitter users in this area.

My "15 minutes of fame" was very exciting, bringing new contacts and new clients. As my good friend (and client) Bea says, "public relations DO work."

I hope you're all having a great summer and as always, feel free to email or call; let me know what's on your mind.

Until next time,
Vanessa

Get help with your networking!
Visit Vanessa's Desk today and ask for a special deal only for newsletter subscribers!

Business Spotlight

Good health and good nutrition go hand in hand. Visit today for information on gardening, delicious recipes and the best herbal teas and seasonings around.

Would you like to be featured in the business spotlight? Contact me today about reserving your spot.

Summer, 2009    

Let's Be Friends

Recently I watched a friend interact with people as he went about normal activities. The auto repair shop, an outlet store, post office, bank, etc.; everywhere he went he had friends and made new ones.

This same fellow also recently decided against a local advertising package special deal, in part because it might be successful and he already frequently deals with the problem of too much work and too little time.

What does one thing have to do with the other? It's the making friends that gets him so much business.

Social media marketing. Interactive Web 2.0. Networking. Whatever you call it, it's all the rage these days in small (and not so small) business circles. And rightly so.

Networking is a very effective tool, and not just for finding new business.

Social marketing is also a good way to:

• Keep in touch with the needs and concerns of your target market
• Provide real time personal customer service
• Make new contacts for learning, referals and joint ventures

Some folks think social networking is a waste of time. And it can be if you get caught up in endless socializing without planning your activities, setting limits and keeping your goals in mind.

Others have a mistaken idea of what networking is; what it can and can't do.

Still others think that all they need to do is post lots of ads and promotional messages on every blog and forum they can find.

None of these is the right way to go about it for the best results. Posting nothing but self-serving ads will get you labeled a spammer. You'll be ignored at best, and possibly banned.

If you mostly just "lurk" or post inconsequential messages, you will waste time and have little or nothing to show for it.

So, what's the right way to go about social networking? There is no single correct formula. Some people have that type of personality and it seems to come naturally to them. And some of us have to work at it.

There are resources out there if you need help. Contact me today for a consultation.

This column focuses on easily confused words and common language mistakes.

Whole means complete, total or entire.
Hole is a gap, pit, opening or weakness.

I can't believe I ate the whole thing.
Every golfer dreams of a hole in one.

A Week is seven days.
Weak means fragile, or not strong.

The seminar will be next week.
Bad eating habits made him feel weak.

Your turn readers. What word foul-up drives you to distraction?