Here’s an article about the Misconceptions of SEO. Worth a peek to see what’s what.

Here are eight ways to ruin your social media strategy. Excellent article!

The best and worst of 2009 via HubSpot

Social Media as a Catalyst

Oh, just about everything. Think about it. The culture that a company maintains is just as important as everything else that they do. What is the culture of the company you work for, whether it’s a large company, or just yourself. Is the focus fun and personal growth, or is it bottom lines and profits? Here’s a cool glimpse of corporate culture

What is your culture? Are you living up to your potential? What changes could you or should you make in your life to create a culture that sings to you? Or, are you already living it?

If you are familiar with the InSights Group, how would you describe our culture? I’ll start with Free Hugs.

Free Hugs in Hollywood

CONTACT:               Victor Banta, Photographer,  734-417-1930

                            Victor@VictorJBanta.com,  www.VictorJBanta.com

 “FROM HELL TO HAITI”

Humanitarian Aid Volunteers to Give Visual Presentation

Hell, MI—A presentation sure to touch the hearts of all who experience it, titled “From Hell to Haiti” and featuring emotional photos and videos taken during an eight-day humanitarian mission just three weeks after the earthquake that devastated the Caribbean nation, will be given at 6:30pm, Saturday, March 6, 2010, at InSights Group, 7187 Grand River Road, Brighton, Michigan. The free presentation is open to the public.

When the 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti near the town of Port-Au-Prince on January 12, 2010, the destruction was severe, with an estimated 750,000 Haitian children orphaned, three million Haitians left homeless, and another 200,000 dead. Soon after the earthquake hit, Hands of Light in Action (HOLIA), a local nonprofit grassroots organization established to assist Haitian earthquake survivors, went into action and sent a team to help wherever they were most needed. Five HOLIA volunteers made the week-long trip to Haiti on February 2, 2010, assisting victims in a MASH-like disaster hospital and visually capturing the devastation.

Among the volunteers were physical therapist Nancy Malone of Canton, Michigan, HOLIA’s president and founder; photographer Victor Banta of Hell, Michigan; physical therapists Tiffany Bacon of Charlotte, North Carolina, and Kerstin Benya of St. Louis, Missouri; and Ashley Brewer, also of St. Louis, Missouri.

“Two future HOLIA trips are planned for June and August 2010, during which we will provide medical care and offer any other assistance that becomes a priority,” said Malone. “Beyond going down for that initial week, our team is committed to help for months to come.  We’ve learned that when you open your heart and give, you can touch many, many people.”

Malone began assisting in disaster relief following 9/11. A single parent of three and a physical therapist in home health care, she drove to New York City alone, with just construction clothes and boots. Discovering no victims were coming out of the tragedy alive, she stayed and hauled debris with the firemen, performed basic medical care, and served food for four days, working around the clock and resting only for short periods. During her breaks, firefighters sat with her and told their stories, many in tears. When the news of Katrina broke, she again traveled south as a volunteer. Following the earthquake in Haiti, Malone decided to expand her mission and established the nonprofit that would enable others to give generously as well.

Banta joined the first response team of HOLIA volunteers in Haiti to increase awareness through his photography, by sharing captured moments of the relief efforts. His photographs tell the tragic Haitian story in a way words can’t in an effort to encourage ongoing assistance for Haiti’s earthquake victims.

“It’s hard to sum up what it was like to spend time in Haiti after the earthquake,” Banta said. “The trip was intense and rewarding. While it was hard to witness the injuries, it was a positive experience for me to see the HOLIA team spreading joy and happiness throughout the hospital camp.”

Donations will be accepted at the presentation and will go to Hands of Light in Action. One hundred percent of all donations will be used to directly assist Haitians in need. Learn more about the presentation and how to help the people of Haiti at www.HandsofLightinAction.org or email Nancy Malone at Nancy@HandsofLightinAction.org.

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Resources:

Victor@VictorJBanta.com

http://www.VictorJBanta.com 

http://www.HandsofLightinAction.org

http://www.InSights-Group.com

Related story: From Hell to Haiti: “It’s not like anything you’re used to” (with photo gallery)

http://www.livingstondaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2010100218003

Click here to reserve your seat at the March 18th-19th 2010 and kick start your social media strategy!

SO many marketing choices. What is the right way to promote your business in today’s market? How can you spend your time and money in the best way possible, to get the best results with a minimal dollar investment?

Find out how to navigate all your media choices, and start achieving your specific results by attending the Setting Your Media Strategy 2 Day Boot Camp at the Insights Group, and rewrite your advertising and marketing rules. You’ll find out how to create a personalized system to get you top results with a low investment. Develop a strategy that will build your business, grow and change as you do, and respond quickly to market conditions.

Overview of topics covered in this involved 2 day, hands on, guaranteed

business building course with emphasis on the Psychology of Marketing

Click here to reserve your seat at the March 18th-19th 2010 and kick start your social media strategy!

Setting a Media Strategy Boot Camp Program Testimonials

Boot camp has totally revolutionized my brain. We celebrated personal strengths, identified our target market, got tools and skills to design a step-by-step practical strategy to take our goals to the next level. Complete with follow-up support and accountability, all while connecting with like minded, inspirational professionals among the best in their fields! Super fun-not only the information “priceless,” you will walk away believing, knowing success is for you. -Jen McClure, Senior Sales Director with Mary Kay Cosmetics

I went from “I don’t want anything to do with social media” to “how exciting is this!” I can’t learn the skills fast enough. Website, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In, YouTube, my vision for my business went from local to worldwide! How belief blowing is that? Plus I am scaring my kids! Always Fun! -Sherri Richards, Rise Consulting

I believe that the social media scene is in its infancy stage. Attending the Social Media boot camp at InSights with Sandy and Al was such an eye opening experience for me. Until the boot camp experience I could not see the big picture and the value of social media in my marketing mix. The information they presented should be heard by all. I could have not figured this out without the InSights Team, their help and guidance. Thank you Sandy and Al, you’re the best!  Great program! -Linda Houston, Houston Photography

It gives you the tools to market your business while also educating you about why you are in business and reminds you what you are passionate about. -Besty Rackliffe, Smiling Eclectic Designer of openDesigns

Running a business can be so overwhelming. Boot Camp helped me create a picture of what I wanted my business to be and how I could get there. It helped connect all of the pieces of marketing to create my message, therefore creating MY brand! -Christa Braun, Coupons4Livingston.com

Traditional marketing is not working. Boot Camp gets you to think out of the box. Social Media is intimidating and InSights is a great home to learn how to use it. -Amy Iverson, Finished Basements Plus

The reason to come to boot camp is because you leave having a more specific idea of who you are, what you do and why you do it. The education on social media is just icing on the cake. -Nicole Doyle, Entertaining at Home

The people that believe the statement “You can’t teach an old dog a new tricks” have not yet attended the Insights Group Marketing Boot Camp with Sandi Maki and Al Curtis and trust me they should! I don’t consider myself “old”; however, I am experienced in the marketing field and thought I knew everything about marketing until I attended the boot camp. After working for a large corporation as a Marketing Specialist, I knew how to market but with the support of a large budget. Now that I am a small business owner, my marketing budget is limited.  At boot camp I learned how to market my company in an organic way that fits within my budget.  The information that is taught at boot camp is so impactful and a great way to benefit any company.  I highly recommend  boot camp as it is an outstanding program that teaches how to market  in an organic, low budget and very powerful way. Great job Sandi and Al for developing a program that will help business owners reach the ultimate dream of having a successful company. –Marcy Hornsby-Mohr, Solutionologist, Your Insurance Solutions

We sometimes hear, “My business or profession is not what I AM, it’s what I DO.” But is your business really some completely separate entity?

If you’re a one-person business, I will argue that your business is, at the very least, an extension of you, a reflection, a representation, of what and who you are. Your business embodies your personal value system, beliefs and principles.

Your business will never express values or principles that are significantly different from your own. Nor would you ever want it to.

And you must make sure that your business never, in the interests of making more money, violates or misrepresents your values and principles.

Of course, for one-person businesses, this is pretty easy to do. But if you have a business partner, or employees who have contact with your customers or clients, then it’s somewhat less easy to do, because your image becomes a composite of different people’s values and principles, and becomes another thing that needs to be “managed”.

In any case, everything about you, and about your business, carries an “energy signature” – a perception of what you and your business ARE. Why is it called an energy “signature”, and not just “energy”? Think of it this way – if you speak your name, it’s pretty quickly gone (assuming it wasn’t recorded). But if you SIGN your name, it’s kind of permanent. And impressions (especially first ones) tend to linger and not be forgotten very quickly.

Every part and piece of your image and persona matter, because all carry an impression, a signature, which tells people whether they want to get to know you, whether or not they will end up liking you, and whether or not it’s a safe to trust you.

So get really clear on your values and principles, and write them down. And make them the foundation of your business.

 This is a guest post by Tom Harris, Your Marketing Coach. Tom helps entrepreneurs and small businesses develop and execute marketing plans. He specializes in website usability and effectiveness.

Social media can be overwhelming. There are thousands of social media sites that you can get involved with, but there are just a few that you really need to become very familiar with early on. We teach, at the Insights Group, to lean into the process. Pick one that makes sense for you. Learn about it. Become actively involved in it. And then from there, build profiles on several other sites. But start small; you don’t have to change the world today, but you will impact your world by becoming involved and doing the proper things which do require that strategy.

Robert Anthony Dusseau
(January 23, 1983 – February 23, 2010)

What is the process you go through  to determine what is right for you? Do you analyze a scenario to death before you act or do you just jump in and do it? In the world of business, you almost need to do both. There are times when immediate action is best but there are also those times when analysis (and I mean lots of it ) are needed. Just be careful to not get “paralysis by analysis”. It is the leading destroyer of creativity.When in doubt, Take Action!