Building My Business Posts of the Day 4/25/07

• Oh Cash talks about the benefits of networking.
  

Building My Business Posts of the day 4/6/07

• Time For Blogging reminds us to use Privacy Policies on our websites.
  

Monthly Stats (3/07)

Hits/Page Views (increase/decrease):

Personal Finance 101 - 457/1,304 (-15%) I've been focusing on the blogs and my move.
Personal Finance 101 blog - 122/212 (started 3/10)
Building My Business - 73/144 (started 3/25)
Things to do before I die - 20/23 (started 3/30)

Biggest Referrers (check them out please!):

Bankdeals
The Paper Bull
My Money Makeover
DINKs Finance
Google Webmaster Central


Feeds:

Personal Finance 101 blog - 3 (first month)
Building My Business - 0 (first month)
Things to do before I die - 2 (first month)

Income:

AdSense: $20.98 (first month)
Commission Junction: $16 (first month)

What are your life dreams?

The Paper Bull posted today asking What do you want to do before you die?

This really hit home with me because I have a *huge* list of things to do before I die. I've been thinking for a long time about starting a blog to talk about the things on my list but I've been putting it off to focus on my business. Well, as the saying goes, all work and no play makes pf101 a dull girl. So, with that in mind, I've established a new blog.

I just launched Things to do before I die. I'll post 10 things per day that I've done or want to do as well as details about something I've done. Now, I realize that this blog is pure ego (as is posting here) but I think that if you have a blog then, by default, you have a decent sized ego. :-)

I don't expect that my new blog will change your life but I hope it'll remind you to slow down a bit and enjoy life. It isn't all about working and making money it's also about living.

Building My Business Posts of the day: 3/30/07

• John Chow tells us how to increase RSS subscriptions.
• Google Webmaster Blog talks about how to build your audience.
  

Business Cards and Networking

I've been doing a lot of reading about how to use business cards appropriately and how to network.

I've gotten some great suggestions on what to have on my business cards and ways to use them. My current cards have the following on the back:

Everything you need to know to manage your money
www.personalfinance101.org

I think I'm going to change that to:

How to save for retirement:

1. Contribute to your employer plan to get full match
2. Contribute to a Roth IRA
3. Pay off consumer debt
4. Fully fund your employer plan
5. Save in a taxable investment account

Want to learn more? Mention this card for a 10% discount on Financial Coaching services.

From what I've read, this will increase the odds that people will hold onto my business card because it gives them useful information and offers them an incentive. I'd love to hear any feedback you have about this plan.

Networking has always been a bit of a downfall of mine - I'm not good at sales and am hesitant about following-up with people since I don't like to be pushy. This is even when people have shown a strong interest - I wait for them to contact me. So, this will be a new focus for me. Since I'm moving to a place where I only slightly know one other person, networking will be a must so I want to make sure I'm doing it right.

I've been trying to do some advanced research and so far I've come up with a few leads:

• BNI - this is a definite. I attended one meeting in DC and got lots of great contacts and ideas so this will be done soon.
• Mindshare - a local Portland networking group. I signed up for their e-mail list so we'll see how that pans out.
• Portland SBA - I'll have to figure out all the requirements for setting up shop in Portland so I'm sure I'll be visiting these offices.
• Portland Bizwomen - I've signed up for their e-mail newsletter
• Alliance of Portland Neighborhood Business Associations - I'll have to see what neighborhood(s) I'll be working in most
• OMEN
• Professional Services Council
• SBE Council
• NFIB
• Association of Home Businesses
• Governor's Small Business Council
• Portland Business Alliance

Any Portland, OR locals who can recommend any other resources?

Building My Business Posts of the day: 3/29/07

• (EMP) E-Marketing Performance has a good post on Link Baiting.
• Jozzua talks about the benefits of using mybloglog to generate traffic. I just added mine.
• Articles That Sell reminds us to make use of our Resource Box.
• Harpzon has a good post about how to get into the swing of blogging.
• Find out how to blacklist low-paying AdSense ads.
• Make Money With Your Blog talks about opt-in lists and affiliate marketing.
• North x East lists 9 essential posts every blogger should know.
• WebProNews talks about how to get email marketing right.