Now that I have the website set up in a somewhat organized manner and I understand how some of the mechanics of it work, I started spending more time checking out forums, different groups and reading some articles from the top gurus on the internet.  I did join BlogHer which is another blogging community and it does look very interesting.  Also went to my Amazon account and began checking out the communities there, added myself to we follow which is an organized directory of Twitter users categorized by interests.  I mentioned "I started spending more time" - actually, the past two days were devoted to sitting in front of the computer for the majority of the day and looking at the sites I joined and realizing the involvement level required to get noticed in any community.  You can't just join a group and expect everyone to know you are there - you need to get involved!  So the objective is to choose which groups you want to devote your time to and start out by introducing yourself.  It will also take time to figure out how the group works, so be prepared for that.  A large amount of the past two days was spent on Twitter (they just released two new features, lists and retweeting, so that took some time to understand).  My purpose on Twitter is to find like-minded people and follow them, read what they blog about and learn more about the subjects that interest me.  Seems alot of people are there for the number of followers, but can you really follow thousands and thousands of people?  That's where the internet gurus came in; they have techniques and all seem to write and share information on how to best achieve certain goals.  I set up a list on Twitter that I made private and titled "daily".  These are the people that I want to see what they have to say daily and usually the ones I end up retweeting.  There are hundreds of gardeners, crafters and motivational people so I set up a list for each which are public lists so others can also follow them - some of them are also on my daily list.  The list feature at Twitter made tweeting much more enjoyable and will save TONS of time!  Sitting in front of the computer day after day every single day can really get to you and bless those that do it!

So what did I realize after two days of computer searching and attempts at building my presence? 

Actually I have spent years surfing the internet.  These last two days were intense and full of purpose, which I realized after the fact. If you plan to use the internet to market your business, you absolutely need to use the tools available; websites, blogs, facebook, twitter, communites, message boards.  The trick is to find an organized system that doesn't eat up all your time since you also need to spend time on your actual business outside of the computer - working on your product, writing your book, tending your garden, etc.   

Spend your time on the internet with purpose.  If you plan to post a blog entry, make sure it has quality content.  This is extremely important because others will read your entry and send it along the channels of the internet by reposting your entry and after time you will build your presence by sharing good quality information.  Also make sure the content on your website is high quality - I realized my own website needs work in this area, but for the next week I need to step away from the computer and work on outside projects.  Taking time completely away from the computer will result in a refreshed sense of self ... everyone will still be here when you return and you will have some good quality information to share....Good Quality Information

                                                                  (to be continued)

Till next time,
the girl @ TheRunningGarlic