My summer has not worked out exactly how I planned. My son and I traveled north to visit with my mom, what a cutie she is! We spent some time at the beach and visited some sites we had on our “list”. We came back to Virginia in early July and the heat and surprising new business (yeah!) have kept us busy since then.

Until Tuesday, when I was invited to join a new friend, Dewey Houck, on a visit to West Virginia, to his home town. On first glance, Dewey is an intelligent southern gentleman. Then you talk with him just a bit more to find he is a man possessed by a mission to serve. He is driven to make a positive difference in the region of his origins, the coalfields of southern West Virginia.

We spent the day on a whirlwind tour of places and projects and meeting people who are making things happen! Dewey is the energy behind RAIL, Rural Appalachian Improvement League, based in his home town of Mullens, West Virginia. At the Mullens Opportunity Center, in the old Mullens Elementary School, there is a bustle of activity. Businesses are renting space, other nonprofit groups have offices, there’s a garden growing food, plus an outdoor entertainment center with indoor and outdoor stages. This is also homebase for visiting volunteers who come to provide labor, equipment and funds to local projects.

On Friday, August 6, RAIL is hosting a community health fair at the Mullens Opportunity Center. There’s a flea market and gun show plus health professionals providing checks on blood pressure and information on healthy eating. I’m sure there’s much more going on but like I said in the beginning, my day with Dewey was a whirlwind. We did get to visit one of the major projects receiving attention right now, the historic Mount Grove Baptist Church in Wyco.

I’ll be working with RAIL in the coming months, helping them access funding and other organizational efforts. This is a group doing BIG things, things that need to be done where so many others have looked away. Visit here to make a donation and know any amount will go a very long way to making lives better for the people of southern West Virginia. If you’re traveling in the area, be sure to check out the Coal Heritage Trail.

I’m always surprised what I can learn on a little day trip right in my own backyard…

New programs, services, applications and tools are coming to market at a dizzying rate. There’s not enough time in anyone’s life to do it all. So, you have to choose what works best for what you want to get done.

During May, my team and I participated in the Hootsuite University program, achieving the Hootsuite Professional certification. This is a membership program with a monthly subscription fee providing an introduction to Hootsuite’s tools and best practices. We completed our certification May 28 and loved the program!

Hootsuite is an easy to use online new media service helping users maintain multiple media streams (social media accounts, blogs, etc.) from one screen. You can send messages to one or all registered accounts, and view multiple columns of replies, keyword tracking and much more. Hootsuite allows users to schedule messages for sending later, which is the feature I like the most. It makes it convenient for businesses who want to maintain their online visibility to send messages when they are actually busy running their business, best of both worlds!

Hootsuite is an online service, no downloads, no upgrades, no hassles. It is the service I recommend to new users because of the simplicity and a service I recommend to experienced users because of the layers of data that can be mined. URL shortening, keyword tracking, conversation management, Hootsuite has it all! If you think this is an advertisement, you are wrong. I really believe in this tool and the value it provides to users. (After achieving the Hootsuite Professionals certification, I did discontinue that membership but only because I felt I reached my goal and got the results I wanted for my investment.) If you have a Hootsuite success story or challenge, please share it by commenting here.

What services are working best for your business? Individual professionals each have a technology comfort zone. Do you prefer to post live direct to services like Facebook and LinkedIn or do you manage your new media from a desktop application like Tweetdeck or SocialOomph? Limiting time spent online has led me to greater focus and better results. Using Hootsuite has allowed me to focus on creating timely messages that meet my goals and provide value to my networks.

Thanks for reading and I look forward to hearing about what is working in new media for you!

If you haven’t heard, some social media services have been cavalier with users’ privacy recently. There are investigations, changes in terms of service, and media coverage with talking heads expressing everything from complacency to outrage.

It’s also the 25th anniversary of AOL, the service that gave us all that wonderful welcome to electronic connections, “You’ve got mail!” Everytime I heard that, even on my sloooooooooooooow rural connection of 28,000BTS in the beginning, I felt welcomed, comforted that someone was reaching out to me. With time, that feeling passed into concern then distrust as the level of spam increased. AOL is now a struggling company, a relic of the not so distant online past.

Fast forward to the present and there has been a torrent of new social media services emmerging lately, and those that have been around only a short while have numbers of users previously unimaginable, which is why I’m writing this post. We can’t see the future!

If you are doing business of any kind on line, it is imperitive to learn how to use the tools and services available. It is also imperitive to understand NOTHING, and I mean really NOTHING is FOREVER! What is popular, top of the search results, most talked about, highest number of users, WHATEVER! may only be “all that” for a very short period of time. Even more important is that when you are connecting online, it is the individual relationships that you develop that have the real value.

I treasure my online networks! The relationships that I have developed with my followers and friends are positive, uplifting, inspiring, and encouraging. My focus has been and will continue to be to promote my brand, my core principles and be open-minded when connecting with social media. My service of choice is Twitter (I’m @bgreen) and I can be found on many others as well.

If you have any comments about this topic, any news on up and coming services or tools you would like to share, or have a question about social media, please share below. Thanks for taking the time to stop by!

For anyone who may have missed me recently, I moved again. It seems like many people are moving these days. My move was because the property where I was living is being sold. Other people I know are moving to take new jobs, are selling their homes and some even losing their homes to foreclosure. It’s a time of change, spring seems to bring that on…

In my case, the move is temporary, just getting through until the end of the school year for my teenage son. This is his last year before high school in our area. Translation, this is the last year I’ll have his attention as a child before he transmutes into his next phase. Parents, you know what I mean!

So, after school gets out, he and I are going on the road. We’ll be visiting people we have missed and places we have not been for a while. Going to see my Mom at the Jersey shore is the first stop. We also have planned a visit to Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee. I believe it’s a right of passage to pay homage to The King. There’s talk of mining for gold and other treasures, fishing at a variety of spots as yet only seen on TV and in magazines, and spending time outdoors, on the road, together.

Does this sound selfish? Sometimes I think it does, but most of the time as I anticipate the months to come, I think this is one of the smartest choices I’ve ever made. Time is short and time with those you love is always way too short. Travel has been a great teacher for me, exposing ideas and lifestyles and cultures I had never imagined, most times completely by surprise. I want to share that sense of exploration and adventure with my son and watch as he is surprised by what life has to offer.

I’m making some big shifts between now and when we leave on our adventure in June. The “stuff” that has followed me is being shed, sold, donated and stored. Only the bare, naked minimum will be packed for this road trip. I’ll probably go through some withdrawals, and have some free time on my hands that I used to spend looking for stuff in the stuff (mostly paper and Ebay inventory LOL) but it’s a good process, letting go. The real challenge will be not to collect more stuff on the road!

If you have a good road story, please share! I’ll be posting more as preparations continue… today, be present!

I’m one of those crazy people who enjoys living in the quiet of the mountains and yearns for the connection of neighbors and being able to walk to a local community shopping area. No, you can’t really have both at the same time but you can connect with your local community and be informed about the closest place to get the products and services you need.

Using social media resources, businesses can capture the attention of online searchers with a few simple steps. My friend, Patsy Stewart of Entwine Inc., has put together a clear set of steps that take a business from invisible to neon bright! These steps are exactly what is detailed with the Get Found in Your Town project, launching later this week.

It doesn’t matter if you are searching to shop in your neighborhood or have a business reaching out to shoppers in your region, claiming your online real estate is an essential piece of 21st century life. Connecting to other members of your community leads to friendships, supportive relationships both personally and professionally and makes life fun. Yes, I’m an enthusiastic participant in new media and you may see that if you catch my scheduled appearance today on NBC affiliate WSLS 10’s new 12noon program in the Roanoke market, Our Blue Ridge.

Local communities are the heart of our economies, with local businesses providing the essentials of life, food, transportation, homes and jobs. Traveling is interesting but coming home is always comforting, knowing who will wave as you drive down the street, who will be happy when you step through the door. No matter the size of your community, searcher or business, connecting online to offline is making communities stronger.

Trends these days are easy to spot. Every one is getting into social media. Print publications as profit making businesses are going the way of the Betamax. Jobs are hard to find and there’s lots of competition if you’re lucky enough to find one that’s actually hiring. As a result, many bright and resourceful people have decided to use their skills and knowledge to start their own businesses.

It’s a tough climate to get started in but one of the best chances for success is to join with a group of people who support each other, led by someone who already has achieved measurable results. This is the situation with the Portable Empire Coaching program created by Pat O’bryan. He wrote a book sharing his journey to success a few years back. He’s created hundreds of products in digital and hard copy formats and he is a generous and caring mentor.

Pat’s Portable Empire Coaching program has a core group of participants that have formed strong, supportive relationships, evidenced by the Unlaunch Radio program success. This Thursday, February 18 at 8:00pmCST, Unlaunch will again take to the airways, on Blog Talk Radio, TweetChat and on Twitter. Coaching participants are hosting the program, sharing stories, interviewing guests, and promoting products created by coaching students all in a party atmosphere. Geographic location is no barrier when using online tools so there are participants from the UK, all over the US and several other countries. You can jump into the conversations by phone, send a tweet or listen live online and submit comments. It’s the perfect way to learn from people who are doing online business as it’s going on!

After joining the Portable Empire Coaching program a few months back, I was hesitant to jump in and participate. As social as I am online, it took me some time to get into the flow of how Pat and the group worked. Now, I’m very grateful I worked through my fear, took the risk and I’ll be on the Unlaunch show on Thursday, 9:15-9:25pmCST talking about my own business.

Are you considering launching your own business? Do you have a mentor or group of supporters to help you through the rough spots? Leave a comment below with your challenges and successes. “A rising tide lifts all ships…” Let’s do this together!

I’ve had an online presence for a while now… and I’ve been using the internet since way back to 1992. It’s only recently that I’ve gotten over some ridiculous fears about technology. I have been promoting delegating tasks to others with my consulting clients for years yet have held my own success hostage, trying to learn how to do everything myself. Those days are over, YESTERDAY! Big changes are coming for my business and I’m here to share some of what I’ve learned.

Each Monday I co-host Business Chick Chat, a Blog Talk Radio Show with my friend and fellow online business owner, Jill Freeman. Early this year, Jill and I decided we would have a monthly theme for our shows. We planned out each month to meet the needs of small business people who are short on time and money. Our goal is to provide extreme value to this target market in a way that is actionable, cost effective and fun. It ends up I’ve learned much more than I ever expected from the professional and generous guests we’ve had on the shows.

February is Social Media Month on Business Chick Chat. Back on Feb. 1 we learned about creating a “digital footprint” with Patsy Stewart of Entwine Inc. On Feb. 8 Janice Teeter shared some of her LinkedIn strategies that are helping her grow a successful international business. Today at 1pm EST, Martha Giffen, one of my fellow Portable Empire Coaching friends, will be talking #Unlaunch. Next week we will do a wrap up of all the resources we’ve discussed, what success Jill and I and our listeners have experienced and what may be next on the social media horizon.

Check out each of the links I’ve included here to learn some strategies you can easily use TODAY to grow your business. Whether you listen live or when you have the time, each of the shows this month will provide you a foundation for using social media marketing and networking that can make you more money this year.

Do you have a pressing social media question? Leave a comment or question here and we may use it next week as we wrap up February and Social Media Month.

Thanks for checking in!!!

This past weekend I participated in the 3rd annual Roanoke Regional Writer’s Conference at Hollins University. In the two previous years, I’ve learned from experienced professional writers who shared their passion for the craft and determination to maintain quality in the field.

After two days of reflection on this year’s event, I must share it has gone deeper. I was asked to present on a topic I am entrenched in, Twitter, as just one of the workshops on Writers and Social Media. Social media has overtaken many conversations relating to communications, business and personal connecting, but this weekend’s gathering of well-versed and well-read writers had quite a diverse attraction or aversion to it.

Twitter is not easily explained or even demonstrated. You have to have a desire to understand and participate. I had created what I thought was an easy how-to for new Twitter users, but quickly began to see that seasoned writers may not appreciate the immediacy of a message that is thought, entered, then gone. There is little editing and proper grammar and correct spelling are not requirements of tweeting.

What I now have clarified in my mind is that Twitter is an art form of its own. It is the 140-character invitation to connect. It is a headline to shock, mystify, share, comfort or cajole. It is a beginning, a bread-crumb bird trail to further words which will inform or incite you.

I just wish I had come to this realization last week. So for today, I share my epiphany and announce there are more coming because great writers inspire and encourage. I’m grateful I live in a community overflowing with brilliance!

The “National Energy Education Development (N.E.E.D.) Project is a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating students, teachers, and the community about energy and energy issues.” That’s the formal description of the program, but I met the students in this year’s NEED class at Thaxton Elementary yesterday. They are bright, fun and inquisitive young people who are learning and doing great things. Their teacher, Mrs. Viola Henry, had brought the class to the Green Living and Energy Expo at the Roanoke Civic Center to be recognized for participating in the Expo event for all 10 years it has been held. Their school program has been in place even longer, since 1993! They are creating products from recycled goods and selling them to support their program and their creativity amazes me!!!

Over the course of the day I met more students from local schools, regional business owners and managers, educators, and lots of people who are looking to improve their lives and the planet by taking action. It is an honor to be participating in this 10th annual event as it continues to grow and improve each year.

If you’re in the Roanoke area today, stop by and take a walk through, free admission and open 10:00am to 4:00pm.

This is how I feel most days… if you can’t see the picture here, it’s a green dragon dressed in full metal holding a sword at ready. If it’s not a mom thing, like today submitting the H1N1 form to my son’s school stating that under no circumstances are they to administer any vaccine to him, it’s a business thing, like trying to be in two places at one time or making a handful of people happy in the same day, it’s just life.

But today is even more important. Today I’m in warrior mode as part of a global action to bring attention to climate change. This is something I strongly believe in and want to do my part personally and professionally. That’s the best any of us can do.

In a letter from Bill Mckibben co-founder of 350.org, he says “The number is 350, and it’s now the most important number on the planet. 350 is the number that leading scientists say is the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide in our atmosphere, measured in parts per million. Since we’re at 390 ppm now, it’s a tough number, and getting back to it will require remarkable efforts. The good news is that people all around the world are mobilizing around 350 in a unique and beautiful movement to solve the
climate crisis.”

On a global level, I support 350.org and their efforts to bring attention to this critical issue. On a local level, I’m part of a small group of energetic people who are taking action in our own community with Sustain Floyd. My son & I were there for this picture below taken to submit to the UN next week. I’ll also be at the Split Rail Eco Fair on Saturday, October 24 in downtown Floyd, Virginia, recognizing how community, local or global, can come together for a common purpose. Join us!