I’m going to plug a product today that I actually think is worth spending a little money on. (And yes, the amount is pretty low, so it won’t be too painful for anyone to buy it). Raise your hand if you’ve purchased ebooks or digital products that was just a waste of both your time and money? I only have two hands, but if I had 50 or so, I’d raise all of them. I’m not a gullible person, but even I get suckered into some of those cheesy sales letters, and regret it later.

Luckily, every now and then, the cheesy sales letter leads to worthwhile information, so I don’t have to feel like a total loser, because I occasionally stumble across the good ones… Continue reading

Posted on April 2nd, 2008 by DazzlinDonna
Filed under: Forming Connections | 1 Comment »

from weirsdo

Every day this week, I’ll be posting based upon a random Flickr image that inspires me. Here’s one now.

This photo exudes happiness, freedom, confidence, and joy. Each of us has experienced such boundless expression at some point in our lives, when we shed all inhibitions, danced simply for the joy of it, and really allowed our true colors to shine through. Infusing this colorful freedom of expression into not only our “play time” but also into our work time is critical to success, in my opinion.

You don’t have to be colorful, playful, joyous and creative in every blog post or every site article, but that side of you needs to shine through on occasion. Your joyful spirit can embody your ebusiness… Continue reading

Posted on February 28th, 2008 by DazzlinDonna
Filed under: Forming Connections | 2 Comments »

Facebook, StumbleUpon, Twitter, Digg, Delicious, Mixx…need I go on? There are too many social networks to even begin to list them all these days, and keeping up with them can be a chore. But the advantages of networking and connecting with others via these sites far outweighs the hassles. You just have to find the few that you like best and concentrate on spending time there, rather than dividing your time up between too many places.

One of the things that happens once you start participating in a few social networks is that you start to form what I call Friendship Pockets. As you befriend people on each network, you see that you have lots of overlap. The same friends you have on one network may… Continue reading

Posted on January 14th, 2008 by DazzlinDonna
Filed under: Forming Connections | 20 Comments »

Now is the perfect time to communicate with your readers. You could send them a Christmas card (or Holiday card if you want to be P.C.), or a note of thanks for sharing this year with you. Let them know how much you appreciate them. While you can certainly stick with the standard tried-and-true methods of communication, I’d like to suggest that you do something just a little more modern and fun. Here’s the perfect example, as I wish you happy holidays.

I’d like to thank all of you for spending time with me this year by giving you this little holiday greeting. You’ll see I prepared it just for you directly from me. (Yes, that’s me grinning at… Continue reading

Posted on November 27th, 2007 by DazzlinDonna
Filed under: Forming Connections | 2 Comments »

Each of your site’s visitors is important, and you should welcome and embrace them all. That statement sounds like an obvious one, generating a Duh! response, but it actually is one that needs to be considered. There are webmasters who don’t appreciate every visitor, and although their reasons may seem logical, I must disagree with them. Let’s take the following as an example.

Some people prevent certain users, such as Digg visitors, from seeing their site, using the theory that since many of these visitors use ad-blocking scripts, then they should not be allowed to view the site’s content.

Sure, a visitor uses bandwidth, thereby costing the webmaster a bit of money. In return, the webmaster expects that the… Continue reading

Posted on November 25th, 2007 by DazzlinDonna
Filed under: Forming Connections | 4 Comments »

While reading an interview of an online acquaintance of mine, I realized that he said some things that I needed to share with all of you. Since I couldn’t have said this any better, why try.

During this interview, the interviewer, Tom Critchlow, asked Hamlet Batista this question:

Further to that - what are your goals for your blog? What would you like to achieve?

and Hamlet’s reply was:

I am a serial entrepreneur, and sharing my ideas and experiences in my blog accomplishes several positive things:

1. I can build up authority in my domains of expertise.
2. I can create/improve products/services based on the feedback/critiques I receive via the comments to my posts.
3. I can gradually build a following that can potentially buy and/or recommend my products/services to others, as I have established a relationship

Posted on November 10th, 2007 by DazzlinDonna
Filed under: Forming Connections | 4 Comments »

Because I’m sick and may be out of sorts this week, I wanted to point you to a resource that might be useful to you. Although we haven’t talked about sending email newsletters to your users yet, (we will), I didn’t want you to miss out on some good information about it that is coming up shortly.

There is a free video training seminar coming up this week that I recommend attending. It is called Reaching the Inbox: How to Avoid the SPAM Folder and is being conducted on Wednesday, November 7, 2007, from 2:00 - 3:00PM Eastern Time. This is similar to a teleseminar, in that you call to listen in, but it offers one extra advantage in that you watch along via video as well… Continue reading

Posted on November 7th, 2007 by DazzlinDonna
Filed under: Forming Connections | 1 Comment »

This may not work for everyone in every situation, but it could work well for some of you. Once you’ve established a loyal following of readers, and you have some kind of relationship with them, you could successfully pull off an extended “watch while I do something” exercise. What does that mean? Let me explain.

Are you overweight, or just want to get in shape? Do you want to quit smoking? If you have those are similar problems and you’d like to do something about them, you could blog about your progress as you attempt to make the changes. If you are using products to help in your quest, and those products also have affiliate programs, you could also make a little extra money while… Continue reading

Posted on October 27th, 2007 by DazzlinDonna
Filed under: Forming Connections | 1 Comment »