Splitting!? Really!? Yep… actually in TWO different ways. Splitting in a business-sense, and splitting as in “outa-here.”

You gotta watch the video to see how BIG of a move this really is. And we’ll share a little known fact that will forever transform your goal-setting — at New Years and all year long.

Watch it now, enjoy the warm Trade Winds… then we want to hear from YOU!

So what’s your BIG move for 09′… and your 7-year target

So now you know what our plans are for helping solopreneurs and business owners like you in 09′. And you know the most common mistake people make in setting and achieving goals — they over-estimate what they can achieve in one-year, and under-estimate what they can achieve in seven.

So now it’s time for YOU to take action…

Action, winners & reward

Why do we always share our BIG moves publicly with family and friends? Simple! It’s because it helps to hold us accountable in taking action.

It’s a practice I learned from a mentor when starting my 2nd business at age 20. It was instrumental in my selling two businesses, Deb leaving her Corp job and our moving 5,000miles to Hawaii. We use it all the time for added leverage on ourselves.

See, the problem is most people dream in silence, in their head. Winners create an environment where they’re accountable for action.

So with that in mind – what is your BIG move for the next 12-months, and the next 7-years? Don’t let your life be defined by “what coulda been.”

We’ll be rewarding the owner of the best “BIG move” posted 60-days paid membership on the http://BLOGi360.com Hub Site system! But be prepared to be held accountable. We want your life to be defined by the journey to “what will be.”

Happy New Year!

Brand You!

Brand New You!

Are you ready for a Brand New You in the New Year?

Are you ready to go BIG TIME in ‘09?

When people see or hear your name, what instantly comes to their mind? Do you know? Do your clients know your niche/speciality and how you can help them best? If not - the time is now to get that laser focused message across in a big way for the new year. Who’s with me?

I thought it was easier to share my thoughts via video of a major distinction I made in 2008 that has catapulted me for going Big Time in ‘09. My wish for you is to make similar distinctions so you can go Big Time in ‘09!

I’ve met so many wonderful people this year on Twitter and all the different places I spoke throughout the year, that I wanted to set up something special for the followers/fans/friends who’ve asked me for a private coaching session to help them with their brand, their business and their goals.

Since I’m in the giving spirit - you get to take advantage of crazy low private coaching rates and grab them now before the New Year is up, and before the clock strikes midnight. I’m looking to Coach 12 phenomenal business women and a few good men who know 2009 is his/her year. If that’s you - you’ll especially love this video and this post, because you get the opportunity to lock up a consulting session (or two) at crazy holiday rates. (Yes, I’ll honor this special for current private coaching clients as well - since it’s a limited offer and time for these sessions.)

Normally I don’t do single 30-minute coaching sessions, but I’m in the holiday spirit, and wanted to give my followers what they’ve been asking for. So - you’ll find a quickie coaching session is available as an option along with a special 60 minute session rate, if you want to go long. I even included a special “6-pack” if you’re a heavy “success drinker“.

Grab these New Year Coaching specials now - before JP Micek discovers what I’ve done, and takes this post down!

NOTE: I can only meet with about 5-7 people from here to the new year, but you can still lock in the rate today, and then Deborah Carraro (our new business manager) will schedule your session for mid-late January - depending on when your order comes in. Just call her up after you’ve grabbed what you need using the links below and she’ll call you back when she’s in the office in the order the calls and orders are received.

Office line: (415) 723-9715

Deborah Micek is a co-founder of the international business coaching company RPM Success Group ® Inc. She and her partner John Paul are authors of the hit book Secrets Of Online Persuasion. They are creators of the ONLY Web site system to put New Media to work marketing FOR you — BLOG i360™. Also known as “The Twitter Queen” she co-authored the first published book on Twitter, available now in bookstores everywhere: “Twitter Revolution” Grab your copy now on Amazon and get the edge on the hottest social network!

Go behind the scenes with Coach Deb at Splash Media Studio
in Dallas, Texas as she was getting prepped for a TV interview for
a new network: Elevision TV “TV that takes you to a higher level”.

Mari Smith was co-conspirator here and took some behind the scenes
footage while Bill Hibbler from eCommerce Confidental was in the blue
room with me interviewing me about Twitter & the Twitter Revolution
book.

Elevision is a new TV channel that will be on next year. I was
honored to be among the inaugural crew that was in the studio for
a series of business building interviews. Topics discussed in the
interviews for the different shows ranged from social media to growing
your business using best practices with some of the world’s best
business minds.

It was a blast, made brilliant connections for BLOGi360 among other things I’ll be excited to share with you in the New Year… but for now… I’ll give you a sneak peek at what Mari Smith and I were up to this month in Dallas.

You’ll see the panic they almost put me in… and I hope there are other Tweeters out there who share my pain. Afterall… how can you do an interview highlighting the power of Twitter and not be able to tweet about it. Right?! C’mon now - who feels my pain? (please stand up - and comment below if you felt my pain/anxiety in this video… just a lil’ bit? Or if you think I’m TOO much of a TwitAddict. I can take it. Really! I can

My latest column is up for you at Entrepreneur Magazine:

When Blogging Advice is Bad for Business Owners

Read the column and let us know what things have held you back from using a blog more effectively for your business. What are some of your wins? Who do you learn from to use a business blog more effectively?

Enjoy!

Yesterday @TerryBean asked a question via twitter that many entrepreneurs worry themselves sick over (and thereby hamstring their success), not just on Twitter, but on many Social and New Media Marketing channels.

Terry asked; “Do you worry about losing followers? If so do you think you lose them from not tweeting enough or tweeting too much?”

My multi-Tweet reply addressed a core issue WAY more important than too few or too many updates. I answered Terry:

• Msg 1 “If your not strong enough to turn some people off, you’ll NEVER be strong enough to attract a Tribe of true Loyals (cont)”

• Msg 2 “You need to establish your Persuasive Selling Platform - then stand boldly on it. Too many/few Tweets is least of concerns. ;-)”

My first statement there got picked up and used by Ken Burbary in a post yesterday discussing unfollow tools and their impact: “Twitter: Unfollow me, it’s not personal.” Ken correctly touches on the fact that Twitter has a “culture.” But that point has much larger ramifications to the way you do business. In fact; emotions and interactions tangled up in “culture” is the entire basis for Tribal Marketing.

Unfollows will never hurt you, but beating yourself with sticks will break your business bones

“Twitter culture” is no different than any other human interaction, online in New Media or off-line face-to-face. People with jobs dabbling in Social and New Media to gain friends and “converse” can afford to get sucked into a never-ending downward spiral of narcissistic analysis.

But for entrepreneurs, marketers and business owners; analysis of this type without a benchmark or platform against which to judge reactions creates a self-imposed profit killing death sentence.

Contrary to what you’ve heard? Not surprising when most Social Media “experts are corporate refugees with a worker mindset, brainwashed to “get along” at all costs.

Here’s the danger in that “careful not to offend anyone” approach…

If business people begin altering their behavior, words and statements to avoid “unfollow sting”, the ramifications are no different than trying to fit into a high-school clique. Even if the group accepts you, you will always be the outsider… the poser. NOT a good position for an entrepreneur who is (or should be) looking to be seen as a knowledgeable leader.

To attract and retain a Tribe of raving fans (Loyals) means taking strong positions. The stronger your positions, the stronger the bond between you and your Tribe… and among the Tribe members themselves. It’s human nature that the mundane and the luke-warm are either ignored or spit out.

Only in politics every two years do “moderates” get any attention. And when we look at their actual numbers (average only 2% of voters via Battleground Poll for the last 10 years) — we see the fact that the vast majority of people DO have opinions. They just may not have the kahonas to state those thoughts.

The entrepreneurs and business people who take strong stands in their niche or industry, who make bold pronouncements for the benefit of their Tribe — they will get the respect, loyalty and patronage that people are waiting to shower on a true leader.

The question is not “too many or too few Tweets.” It is “do you know your Tribe?”

YOUR Tribe, YOUR Loyals — they are ALL that matter!

If you don’t know your Persuasive Selling Platform well enough to know what may have turned someone off, (and to know that, in many cases that unfollow is a good thing) — then any “tool” like Qwitter http://useqwitter.com/ that lets you know what words triggered an unfollow will only serve to further shake your confidence and throw you off track.

If you have your Loyals Profiles and Tribal Factor firmly established as two of the four foundation stones of your Persuasive Selling Platform, the ability to keep your focus allows you to be in total control of your emotions.

That control for you can mean ignoring, or even celebrating unfollows as you continue on a profitable path of New Media Marketing. But YOU are in control… not some tool or technology.

What’s your take?

• How do unfollows on Twitter or friend drop-offs on FaceBook or MySpace impact you?
• Do you just ignore those unfollows, or do you revel in the fact they’ve occurred?
• How do you know when an unfollow is a good thing vs. a “learning opportunity”?

Leave your thoughts in some graffiti down in the comment area below.

Oct 27th Coach Deb will be on stage in front of a LIVE studio audience talking about Twitter & Tribal Marketing. Mari Smith will be presenting about Facebook, and Denise Wakeman from the BlogSquad will be talking about blogging for business.

Will you join us as VIP or guest and be in LIVE studio audience that will be in the next hottest social media learning DVD set in the world?

Social Media Simplified is the LIVE event held in Ventura this Monday, with an optional VIP dinner at a local winery where you’ll be able to strategize with Coach Deb, Mari Smith and Denise Wakeman plus two other special guests in a casual setting.

Simon Leung (Google Insider) will be our special guest panelist along with Nancy Marmolejo when we take questions from the LIVE studio audience.

Join us by registering directly at: Social Media Simplified and leave a comment below if you’re able to make it to this rare event where 5 of the Top 50 Influential Social Media experts will reveal secrets not shared anywhere else!

PS: For those of you who know Coach Deb, Mari Smith, Denise Wakeman (BlogSquad) Simon Leung and Nancy Marmolejo, you may be shocked to see how affordable this event is compared to their usual speaking gigs where you pay $2,000 to get in the door. That’s because the Technology Development Center is underwriting the costs of the live studio production and creating a DVD set that they’ll be using in order to train their students.

This is the speakers way of giving back to the community while at the same time giving YOU a rare opportunity to learn everything you can about the hottest social network, and how to market your business or non-profit online using the free advertising channels available to you.

Saturday night Deb and I stopped at Ala Moana mall before heading out to dinner in Honolulu. As Deb was doing her “shoppinnnng” thing I was on the hunt scouting for examples of Tribal Marketing. I found it at our second stop — the Jimmy Choo store.

With my shoe fetish in control I “dragged” Deb into the store. (Yeah, kicking and screaming. lol) And within two-minutes I was struck by a Tribal Seduction marketing principle I failed to pick up on in previous visits. The profit-producing power of story.

Why is that Jimmy Choo shoes command $400 to $4,000 and more?

Sure Jimmy Choo shoes are hand made (first in London by Choo himself, then after 96′ in Italy.) And yes Jimmy Choo Ltd. has a team of four designers who’s only job is to create to-die-for shoes and handbags.

But what’s the real profit power behind the Jimmy Choo brand? It’s something that as a Jimmy Choo lover you might not have realized, because it’s something that is never said. It just is. (A key in effectively using Tribal Seduction marketing.)

Ultimately the Jimmy Choo brand is not only the story of the man behind the name, but also the fortuitous linking of his story with the greatest real-life fairy tale of the 20th Century.

Jimmy Choo was born in Malaysia in 1961 to a family of shoe makers and made his first shoe when he was 11 years old. OK, authenticity. Good start for a story.

After attending college in London he opened his own workshop in 1986 and gained international fame when his creations were featured in a record eight pages in a 1988 issue of Vogue magazine. Public recognition of passionate pursuit of excellence. Another good element of the story.

But the real boost in the Jimmy Choo story comes with the loyal patronage (and vocal sharing of passionate love for hand made Jimmy Choo shoes) by Princess Diana. The real-life fairy tale Princess became the catalyst for dozens of other celebrities to become Jimmy Choo Loyals as well; spreading the story, passion and love of shoes even further.

Jimmy Choo = beauty, elegance and sexiness… protected by price

Today the Jimmy Choo philosophy, as stated on jimmychoo.com is:

… to create exclusive shoes and accessories that are both luxurious and practical for all occasions, while at the same time creating a look that’s instantaneously recognized as “Jimmy Choo”. The understated distinctiveness of the brand, and its integrity, is controlled with the limited distribution of the products to a few select retailers.

Jimmy Choo shoes are void of obvious labels and logos. Yes, you are marketing and reinforcing the brand when wearing the shoes. But with a Tribal Marketing approach it’s subliminal and seductive, not in your face. It takes a true shoe lover to know and recognize Jimmy Choo’s. You know you’ve met another member of your Tribe when someone recognizes your Jimmy Choo shoes.

The story behind the brand is protected and kept intact by the unique use of materials and exclusivity of both pricing and distribution.

Sure customer service and the experience of buying Jimmy Choo shoes is part of the aura. But the true profit-producing power of the brand remains the authentic story of the founder imperceptibly linked with the fairy tale stories of the rich-and-famous Jimmy Choo Loyals. It happens when you first slip your foot into the shoe… or watch your lady slip her’s into a pair.

What about you?

• What’s your story? Have you given thought to how it relates to your business?
• Do you agree that the Jimmy Choo story teamed with the fairy tale is a big part of profit-producing power of the Jimmy Choo brand?
• Are you passionate about Jimmy Choo or any other brand because of the story behind it?

Share your thoughts in some graffiti below.

You don’t need to have a techie or online business to benefit from the power of New Media marketing. A bigger prospect list, more sales, and higher profits are possible for just about any business — even the oldest profession in the world. The difference between winners and losers when using New Media marketing strategies is not in intelligence, technology, or industry — it’s in the strategy, mindset, and skills of influence employed.

The world’s oldest profession shows you how to (and how NOT to) market with New Media

As some of you know, the way we got to live our ideal lifestyle in Hawaii is by my starting, growing, and selling two 7-figure companies in the horticulture industry. Both were generating healthy cash flow, but my passion was always with the design/build work we did for affluent clients and owners of private estates.

Because of that, I still keep my finger on the pulse of the Landscape Design/Build industry. That includes monitoring how companies are using New Media to market their off-line business. This case study is based on one of those companies and will show you how virtually any company in any industry — online or off-line — can use New Media to market and sell more.

If you were to pick the most unlikely industry to use New Media, why not chose the oldest profession in the world. And if you’re thinking prostitution, that’s not it. Besides, I’m sure you’d agree that industry pretty much figured out how to use the Internet.

The world’s oldest profession is actually gardening. After all, that’s what God had Adam doing to keep busy before Eve ever