In my past life as a youngster and then teenager I was an athlete. I loved playing basketball, volleyball, and running in track. For me winning was always a bonus and what we went out there to do, but the high I received was not from the winning. My high came from the game itself. I just liked to play. That is “Why” I was there.

That all changed for me when I started high school. High school it is all about the win. The school wants it, the coach needs it, and a majority of the players want a sports scholarship. I never thought about a sports scholarship. It wasn’t that I wasn’t any good, because I was. I just didn’t want to play sports for a living. I wanted to do something that involved a bit more creativity. Favorite classes: Writing and Drama. My career path was not ever going to involve dribbling, serving, or running a 6 minute mile, (that all happened when I a got married and became a parent), so I didn’t participate in any sports in high school past my Freshman year.

Some say it was because the demands of the sports were more intense in high school and I just couldn’t cut it, maybe so. But…I say the reason I quit was because I had lost my “Why”. No one likes being yelled at during practice for just being present. The coach of the track team kept putting me in events that were just not my skill set, like the softball throw. I had never played softball or baseball, the closest I ever came to throwing a ball was in dodge ball and we all know the intense training that takes (insert laughter here). I was a runner, specifically long distance, the whole “field” part of “track and field” was not my area. I let the attitudes of the other people involved overtake my “Why” and replace it with something else. Making my desire to participate a memory.

What does this have to do with Business? A whole lot in my book. When a business large or small starts to focus totally on “winning” and forgets about the “Why”; they will lose their best employees and loyal customers. I am not saying that you should not increase your profits, expand your business, or try out new ideas. You are running a business, not every day can be a party day. What I am saying is: Don’t put so much emphasis on the end result that you forget “Why” you are in the business you are in. Or, “Why” your employees work for you and not your competition. Your loyal customers keep coming back, “Why”? If you always stay true to your “Why”, the successes you have will just be a huge bonus!!

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Every month for the last three months I have set up and scheduled a Coeur d’Alene Meetup. What is a Meetup you ask? According to Wiktionary it is: An arranged informal meeting. The purpose of the Meetup’s that I have been having are to promote local business and get to know other members of our community. I completely believe that supporting our local business owners helps to stimulate the economy and people get to find out about a place that maybe they didn’t even know existed. When I get the chance to watch new people meet for the first time and interact with the business owner or their employees it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling!

Every month another venue in and around Coeur d’Alene will be chosen to host a get together (meetup) where local people can find out about a local business and also get to know each other in a relaxed environment.

There is no charge to attend the Meetup, all that is asked of you is that you purchase something (food/beverage/merchandise) from the business that is hosting the event. Great way to stimulate the economy; even if it is just one night per month!

The most recent one was held at Studio 107 on Fourth St. in downtown Coeur d’Alene. My husband Tom thoroughly enjoyed the fact that he was the token male and we all had a really good time while getting to taste some great wines and sample some of the olive oil’s that they have.

Jocelyn, Me, Tom, Kelly, Laura Jean, and Bretta (Kim is taking the photo)

Here is something from Studio 107′s website:

The Studio wine bar is the place to go downtown Coeur d’Alene for wine! Gather with friends and enjoy a glass of wine in our warm, intimate gallery. We have a new selection of wines selected each week for tasting by the flight or by the glass, as well as a unique collection of bottles from wineries around the world. For our beer loving friends, we offer a selection of beer in bottles and 6-packs.

All our wines have been hand-selected to give you something special to taste each time you visit, and we are always happy to help you select just the right bottle for any occasion. Looking for your favorite vintage? Just let us know, and we’ll make sure we have it for you, with discounts for case purchases.

Haven’t chosen the spot for next month, but I am looking forward to another really good time! (Taking suggestions on where it should be. Only rule is that it has to be a locally owned business)

You can also RSVP for the Coeur d’Alene Meetup here: I Want IN!

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Today it is going to be brief and to the point. Here are my Facebook for business tips:

Facebook: YES

1. Facebook “Like” Page for Your Business or Yearly Event.

2. Be Interactive (yes, this means you have to talk to people)

3. Ask questions (Fun facts about your business, the area, trivia, get creative)

4. Grow your “like’s” organically (don’t trick people into liking your page or running contests just to gain followers-this is a blog post all it’s own)

5. Favorite Pages of Business Partners and Co-operating Businesses (Ask them to do the same)

6. Wall settings should be set to “Show All Posts” not just yours.

7. Get your unique URL as soon as you reach 25 Likes (ex: http://facebook.com/welovecda)

8. Update your Fans once a week or at very least once per month via Direct Message (specials, events, milestones)

Facebook: NO

1. No Personal Profiles or Group for a Business (Personal Profile: People or Persona’s, Groups: Well they are for just that Groups)

2. Post too much. Spread your posts out over the day and try to not go overboard. (ex: 20 posts in two hours)

3. Just push your message out and not engage your “liker’s”

4. Have your posts from Facebook also post to Twitter (auto posting to several networks with same exact message is no no)

5. Not finding Business Partners to Co-operate with

6. Deleting negative messages (it is best to respond and show that you are trying to resolve the issue, but don’t start a fight)

7. Reward frequent sharer’s and fan’s of your business with special discounts and prizes. Make them feel special

8. Not letting your personality come through. You are a person and not a robot! Even corporations can have a personality!

There are so many more YES and NO tips, but they usually don’t come to mind until someone asks me a question or I am in the thick of it all. So feel free to comment or ask questions. Maybe we can all learn a new thing or two!

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The other day Twitter went down for almost 3 hours and I honestly felt like I had lost my connection to the outside world. Now some of you may be saying “She needs to get a life!”, but what I say to you is:  If you were using Twitter correctly for your business you wouldn’t think I was so crazy!

Let me walk you through a day of my life on Twitter (not only for me, but for my clients as well).

I open up Hootsuite where I have the Tabs and Columns set up so they can be the most useful to me, which is why I love Hootsuite as a posting,monitoring, and engagement tool. (I am only going to talk about the Twitter Accounts in Hootsuite, but on a daily basis I can post and check all my Facebook, Linkedin, and Foursqare Accounts.)

1. I check my Twitter Direct Message Tab where I can see all the direct messages that have been sent to all the Twitter accounts I have and see if there are any I need to respond to.

2. Then I move over to my Twitter @ Reply Tab to check and see if anyone has sent a message that way to the account,  if someone has RT’d something I have posted, or someone has included @jamiemorgancda to an article or post they would like me to see.

3. Next, I check my two Lists Tabs so I can check on all the people I have added to my various Twitter Lists to see what they are talking about and if there is anything I can respond to or RT.

4. I check my Search Tab where I have set up columns based on keywords that I am looking for. Ex: Coeur d’Alene: Every time someone mentions it in a tweet it shows up in my column. Now I don’t see every tweet that happens, but I only want the ones that are happening at the time I am able to respond anyway.

5. Finally, periodically throughout the day I am posting tweets to all the accounts or scheduling tweets to go out at a later time.

I spend more time in my account than a lot of people, because this is part of what I do for a living.  You don’t have to be in there all day, but you do need to set aside time in the morning, (possibly afternoon), and evening. You can miss a day periodically, but consistency is important.

Now on to why I Love Twitter. It is my source for local, national, and industry news. I interact with other professionals and business owners sharing ideas, tips, and help each other by sharing each others information. Finally, with the Searches I have set up I can be the resource for people who are visiting Coeur d’Alene, find customers for my clients, and meet some really interesting people. What better way to practice my Relationship Philosophy?!

Because,  I find it such a great tool and big part of my marketing plan for myself and my clients, I am constantly amazed at is how many business owners are obviously not using it correctly or just not at all.

Here is one example for you (keep in mind that there have been 15 similar incidents that have happened just this last week):

Through my Coeur d’alene search I see that someone is talking about how beautiful their hotel they are staying in is.

I respond by asking them something about the hotel getting them to respond.

I then let them know that if they are looking for places to eat or things to do that they should go to http://fyinorthidaho.com or I would be happy to suggest some things.

Next message is them asking where locals usually go for dinner.

I respond with 3 choices and short directions to each.

They then want breakfast suggestions.

I send them a couple choices and then before they ask, also send them lunch places.

This back and forth went on for about a half hour. During this time; the hotel never responded, no other restaurants responded, NO ONE else responded and the entire conversation was out there for anyone to see.

Now this is obviously not a business breaker for anyone, right? I mean what does one customer do to their bottom line? Well…what if this person is the assistant editor for two magazines from the Western Washington coast. One of those magazines reviews travel destinations and they have a blog. Hmmm…

A report just came out about Twitter users that said they are more likely to be talking about brands/companies/etc. online via social networking site, blogs, and articles. So even if they are not an editor for a travel magazine, they are going to talk about you! If you don’t even offer them the chance to do that by interacting; how many potential customers have you just lost? Not just one.

I Love Twitter! That is all.

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(Before I get started: I know that ain’t is not proper English, but sometimes it just fits)

I do believe I live in one the most majestic and beautiful places on earth. Moving from Montana 19 years ago was one of the many decisions of my life that I don’t regret. How many other people can enjoy all four seasons, have access to any outdoor activity you could imagine, and see wildlife walking through town while sitting on your porch in the evening? I dare say those places are far and few. The fact that this is such a wonderful place prompted my adventure this morning and subsequently triggered the idea for this blog post.

Upon waking this morning to get ready to attend a meeting for the North Idaho Tourism Summit I looked outside at the wonderful day and decided I would ride my mountain bike. Unfortunately, the meeting was canceled and moved to next week, but I convinced my husband Tom to still go out with me to run some errands.

The temperature was perfect and now that I have figured out how to use those gear thingies hill climbing has gotten much easier. As we traveled north on Government Way we passed houses and businesses, but today one in particular caught my eye. Most likely it stood out because I am doing a presentation for the Idaho Department of Labor Partners in Business Group tomorrow and my brain is in idea mode.

The presentation is going to center around how to promote your event or special via social media, but the way I am going to go about it will include some ideas that may be outside the usual marketing box. I want people in attendance to get their imaginations working and come up with some non-traditional ways that they can market themselves and stand out from their competition. That is why this business caught my eye. I have passed by it 100′s of times and have always known it to be a Nursery. Looking at the brightly colored plants and flowers as I am driving by makes me smile.

I am not a green thumb, so stepping into a Nursery is the last thing you will see me do. In my home there are three plants and I am hear to tell you that they are the hardiest plants you can buy. They droop when they need water (which is good-or they would probably never get any) and I have yet to kill them. As has been the fate of many more unfortunate plants in the past. Since I am not a frequent nursery goer; I had never noticed that this Nursery included a Cafe. Brilliant!!! What better way to keep your customers hanging around then to have a place for them to eat and enjoy a cold beverage on a hot day (there is a reason Cabela’s has a restaurant).Heck, I am a plant murderer, but the Cafe looked mighty inviting as I was peddling by.

Today, what little thing could you do to make you stand out from your competition? You don’t have to build an addition and add a Cafe, but I am sure that with a little imagination you could find something to show how unique you really are!

Think outside the “usual marketing box” and maybe next time it will be you who inspires me to write about you!

PS The Nursery is Vanhoff’s on Government Way and the name of the Cafe is Terrazzo.

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