The following is an ongoing compiled list:

1. "Always date a girl with a good reputation." When buying a previously owned URL make sure it has a good reputation, as years of cached links may show up on the search engine that you don't recognize.

2. "Be yourself." Google's Panda update is cracking down on content farming.

3. "Why buy the cow, if the milk is free?" Be careful not to give away too much of your service that you should be paid for in your social media marketing.

4. "There's always more fish in the sea." Watch your ROI, if your efforts to get a prospective client's attention on social media are falling on deaf ears ... or blind eyes, move on. Social media can take up a lot of your time and money - a big picture strategy should go hand-in-hand with focus.

5. "Don't move too fast; take your time to get to know each other." A sudden influx of SEO activity can actually hurt your search engine rankings in the long run. Also, being hasty can allow mistakes to go unnoticed. It is more important to take your time to be accurate and strategic where your website's information and links will be placed.

6. "It's not nice to lead people on." Make sure the links that you post with your content on social media or websites go directly to the page with the information you are talking about. You will lose people along the way in a string of links.

7. "If you like it, put a ring on it." When liking an article by a higher profile company or individual, make sure you comment with something compelling that will result in views to come back around to your website or social media page.

8. "Beauty is skin deep." Your website may be attractive and innovative, but if it is filled with shallow content, grammatical errors and is hard to navigate, the viewer will lose interest.

9. "Stay away from Lover's Lane." Don't park your website's URL while you are building your website. Sure, you may make a few bucks, but you have no control of what is going to be linked to your parked domain by the registrar. You may have cached links and content that can harm the brand image you are trying to portray once you go live.
 
Can you think of anymore?

Yesterday, I drove through the pharmacy window, which is quite routine for me as a mother of five.  But, I am not only a mother of five, I am a mother of four children who each have or have had their own significant health problems.  As I signed my initials over and over again for the prescriptions I was picking up for my large family, the familiar face in the window whispered "It's Azsi's last day today."  I looked through the window and could see Azsi, the pharmacy manager, was on the phone.  So, I scribbled "Azsi we will miss you!!!!", instead of my last initials.

Just in time Azsi hung up and ran over to the drive through window to tell ME how much she would miss me.  She started to tell me how they loved when I came to the pharmacy because I always had a smile on my face.  How most people get so frustrated with their one or two kids, but I have five and I always have a smile for them.  As she is going on telling me where she is relocating across the country and where I can visit her ... the last seven years come flooding back to my mind.  It was her smiling, happy, exuberant "hello Mrs. LeClaire!" that would greet me and give me the strength for the rest of the day as I drove through her window to pick up prescriptions after being up all night at the hospital with one of my children.  I have counted on her happy-to-see-me over the years to pick my spirits up after the letdown of doctor visits where the realization of a chronic condition in one so young hit hard.  Over the years she was even greeting my children by name, noticing how they had grown older, and that they looked healthier.  I don't know whose smile came first, but I happen to know she cared about every "patient" of hers.

I don't need the pick me up so often anymore, my kids are older, healthier and stronger enabling me to grow my business and really enjoy satisfaction and success in my own life.  I guess I have just come to take for granted Azsi's smiling face.  But, yesterday it hit me hard to lose her.  I never thought I would cry like a baby at a drive-through window with the face on the other side.

Azsi asked me if I would still be using her pharmacy after she left, my response was "are you kidding?  I wouldn't dream of going anywhere else!"  I have seen how she has passed on her loving nature to her staff.  I could go anywhere for the medicine, maybe (and that's a big stretch) someone else could fill my orders more accurately, but that really isn't why I chose their store.

Social media has become a lot like that drive-through window.  I have observed with local businesses that word of mouth is really the most powerful new business driver.  A business owner with the same care and love for their customers can translate that to the online world.  Genuinely caring about the individual behind the like or follow and following up with sincerity can go a long way.  I couldn't help but tell you the story about Azsi, and that's what we human's do, when we experience an out-of-the-ordinary connection, we have to share it! I have experienced this give and take with many of my own clients who are thousands of miles of way.  

Here is my newest website design project.  This website was custom made from top to bottom.  I loved experimenting with 3-D dimension and shadows.  It was so much fun brainstorming with Jeanine Kinzie on this one.  I learned a lot about insurance and finances!  She is amazing at what she does and explaining these complex matters in a way everyone can understand.  I hope her website makes you feel as much at ease she does in person.

Now on to marketing www.jeaninekinzie.com online!