Social media offer many potential benefits. Any social media enthusiast can talk all day about “engaging with your customers,” “permission-based marketing,” and “listening and monitoring” and how they may help. But most small businesses are sitting on the sidelines waiting for the answer to that bugaboo question, “What’s the ROI?” Best practices will emerge and benefits will become clearer as time goes on, but there’s one thing that time can’t give you – the appeal of doing something...

When I feel crummy (like I did this morning), I look around for things that will inspire me and change my perspective. Today, I found my inspiration from you – via twitter. Thank you! Please add more inspirational ideas in the comments. LisaHoffmann: Where do you turn when you need inspiration? about 2 hours ago Thu Apr 30 13:01:14 +0000 2009 Narciso17: More often than not: MUSIC…I use it when I paint, write and get my groove on…! about 2 hours ago Thu Apr 30 13:02:20 +0000 2009 BeeRealty: I turn to the great outdoors for inspiration....

Everyone knows a fantastic blogger who hasn’t yet been discovered by the masses. Today, I’m inviting you to post a link to and short blurb about your favorite not-yet-discovered-but-awesome-just-the-same blog. Forget the rules usually observed for posting links in comments – just tell me about the best blog I’ve never read. Thanks to Jessica Gottlieb for the idea. Photo credit: McBeth via Flickr

Thank you to everyone who has made this past year so spectacular for me, both professionally and personally. I’ve been lucky enough to meet many of you in real life, and I hope to meet more of you in 2009. Because no matter how miraculous technology becomes, nothing takes the place of a warm smile and a hug or handshake. Which leads me to my gift to you: a simple suggestion. Go offline. For at least a day. Resist the temptation to go back online when you run out of things to do, because in that time void magic can happen. Mindless chatter over chopping...

When I heard Taylor Davidson was coming to Charlotte (thanks, Lyell) and checked out his website, Unstructured Ventures and blog I knew I had to meet him. I mean, here was a strategy and finance consultant for start-ups who had recently quit a miserable job in corporate direct marketing to hit the highways and travel across the country. I met him through twitter. Surely he had an amazing social media plan for attracting budding entrepreneurs along the way. Um, no. “I’m just heading in the direction of friends and seeing what happens,” he...

A year ago I was completely oblivious to the way the Internet was changing marketing and PR. I wasn’t even blogging. A few weeks ago I stood in front of more than 100 people at Charlotte WordCamp and spoke confidently on blog promotion and twitter. How is this possible? Because of you. I am continually amazed at how generous the online community is and at how the social media community embraces newcomers. At every turn I’ve found encouragement, motivation and generous information sharing. So many people have helped me. Here are a few who stand...

In my never-ending quest to understand this world we live in, I stumbled upon Stever Robbins’ post about the mortgage crisis. Stever makes the case that financial professionals should be held accountable for writing all those high-risk loans that are now leaving families homeless across the country. He doesn’t pull any punches in his decidedly opinionated post, and one point in particular found its mark directly in my solar plexus: "…the marketing of these mortgages was designed to persuade people to take them out. Well, it worked....

A fellow introspective gal, @overthinker (aka Alexis Levenson), a smart and witty PR/communications/marketing blogger, tweeted an entire blog post today. Clever girl! Check out her 6 “twips” – tips for making the most of twitter.

Many of my clients think twitter is what birds do, links are in fences and friending is reserved for backyard barbecues. But I predict things are going to change. As marketing budgets contract, businesses will be on the hunt for cost-efficient ways to get the word out. Enter social media marketing. Business Blogs Go Bigger Despite all the hype, blogging is not dead or dying. In fact, we’ll see a surge in small business blogs as the economy sinks and the word gets out that blogging is very effective SEO. And better yet, it’s SEO everyone can understand....

In her latest post, Jennifer Laycock  mentions Bangarang Bake Shop, a small Illinois bakery that sells cupcakes for – frugal folks’d better take a seat – $6.50 each! Ready to launch into a lengthy diatribe about what spendthrifts we’ve become, I clicked on the link…and was rendered speechless by pictures of impossibly delicious-looking tender little cakes layered with swirls of creamy frosting. I caught myself just before I licked the monitor. According to this savvy mompreneur, she posts her seductive inventory (sold in...