The Kevin Bacon Game
A.K.A. Using Social Networks
to Get Business

IN THIS ISSUE

1.   New Brainy Tidbits Format
2.   The Kevin Bacon Game
3.   Spring Subscriber Contest
4.   Mailbag Ideas
5.   Brainy Challenge
6.   Quote of the Week
7.   PR & Networking Opportunities
8.   Resources for Entrepreneurs and Marketers
9.   A Little Fun
10. Smell the Coffee

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


1.   New Brainy Tidbits Format

Last week's newsletter was quite lengthy. I'm sure this was overwhelming to many of you. So I'm experimenting with another format this week to see how you like it.

Instead of putting the entire article in this newsletter, I'm only including some of it. Then I'll give you a link to my website so you can read the entire article if you want, or click to the next article.

Please email me at lcf@marketingideashop.com?subject=format and tell me how you like this.


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


2.   The Kevin Bacon Game

A few years ago there was a big push toward one-to-one relationship management, creating a network of trusted business associates on whom you could rely. Getting to know them, up close and personal. Or at least using software to generate personalized messages. And getting to know your prospects and customers is, of course, still a very good practice...probably your best way to succeed.

But in the impersonal world of computers and technology, getting personal is a difficult thing to do. You may have never met your client or the folks you joint venture a project with. But it's likely that you have communicated via email, perhaps spoken on the phone, read articles they've written or kept up with what they have said in discussion forums.

Making it Personal
Now there's the many-to-many approach, more commonly called social networking. Of course you've heard of Match.com, primarily designed to connect those who are interested in dating. For this membership site you don't need to be "invited" in and you can try it out for free.

Quickly, many other such sites have jumped into the social networking arena, garnering tons of publicity. There's Friendster, LinkedIn, Ryze, Tribe Software, Orkut, MeetUp and probably others. The "market" has virtually exploded with companies that create networks to help you connect through others with the people you want to meet or do business with.

Kevin Bacon
If you're a follower of the TV show Friends, you'll know the characters on the show played "The Kevin Bacon Game," in which they had to connect Kevin Bacon to another famous person in 6 or fewer connections.

For instance, Cuba Gooding, Jr. is in Home on the Range with Judi Dench, who is also working with Roseanne on Home on the Range, who worked with John Goodman on the Roseanne Show, who worked with Dan Akroyd on Saturday Night Live, who worked with Jim Belushi on Saturday Night Live, who was John Belushi's brother, who worked with Kevin Bacon on the film Animal House.

Creating Your Network
It's a variation of the old "6 Degrees of Separation" theory that has been around forever.

Most of these social networking groups create networks based on various common interests and for some, on trusted connections--which is much greater help to business folks. LinkedIn and Orkut are this type of network. You create your network link by link by link so your social network is bound to be a higher quality network than one in which anyone can join and contact anyone in the network.

Fast Company's blog has a running commentary on social networking here:
http://blog.fastcompany.com/archives/2004/03/15/the_aesthetics_of_social_networks.html

Here are the websites for the social networks I mentioned:

Match.com
Friendster.com
LinkedIn.com
Ryze.com
Tribe.net
Orkut.com
Meetup.com


If you like these resources, you're going to LOVE my ebook BUSINESS SUCCESS SECRETS: HARD-WORKING TACTICS & RESOURCES. It is filled with over 135 hyperlinks to great resources and marketing ideas like these. 37 pages. Read more about it or order it here:

http://www.marketingideashop.com/documents/bizsuccess.htm


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

3. BRAINY Contest: Springtime Subscriber

Last week's newsletter announced a brand new Marketing Idea Shop contest. It's easy to win. All you need are friends. And I know y'all have friends. Get 'em to help you win! Read on for details:

When?

From April 6-30, 2004

How Many Winners?

Any number!

How Do You Win?

• Ask your friends and business associates to sign up for
  BRAINY Tidbits newsletter.
  
• Your friends must:

**Sign up at http://www.marketingideashop.com
**Confirm their subscription when the request to confirm email is sent to them.
**Let you know they have confirmed their subscription.

• Then...
  
  When 10 of your friends or associates have successfully signed up
  and let you know, you send me an email with the complete list of
  their names and email addresses in the body of the email.
  
• Your friends must continue to be subscribers until the
  winners are notified May 4th.

What Can You Win?

• The person who signs up ***the most new*** BRAINY Tidbits
  subscribers during the contest period will win a FREE copy of
  my two ebooks, MARKETING PLAN ESSENTIALS: ONLINE & OFF
  and 52 READY-TO-GO SALES MEETINGS, plus one hour of free
  consulting (via phone) with me.
  
• Anyone who successfully signs up 10 or more new BRAINY Tidbits
  subscribers during the contest period will win their choice of ONE
  of ANY of my ebooks, special reports or booklets. One prize per person.
  

How Will You Know if You Win?

Winners will be notified by email during May 2004.

The Fine Print

• As always, we value your privacy. We never rent, sell or give your
  information to anyone.
• Marketing Idea Shop is not responsible for lost entries. If they are
  lost, we don't know about it, so we can't fix it.
• If you have successfully subscribed 10 or more new folks to the
  BRAINY list, followed the contest instructions and you have NOT
  HEARD from me by June 1, send me an email or call 800-203-8660
  to check on your prize.

Okay? Ready. Get set. Go.

Have your friends and associates sign up right here in the box on the left!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

4. Mailbag Ideas

Last week I told you that I've started to actively use my sorting and filtering options in Outlook Express and because of this change, I asked you to whitelist (or add to Friends or Buddy list) the following address:

editor@marketingideashop.com

If you haven't done so, please do it now.



As a result of this announcement, one of my faithful Brainy readers, Jay Trybalski, sent this question:

"I would like to actively use my sorting and filtering options in Outlook Express. My request is that you would be so kind, as to email me the step by step procedures, that will allow me to do so."

Jay, for you and all my Brainy readers who would like to do this, here's how you can set up your filters in Outlook Express and I believe that Outlook works very similarly:

• After you have received an email message in your inbox, highlight it (with or without opening it)
• Then go up to your toolbar (just below the blue bar that says "Inbox - Outlook Express") and left click on "Message." That will bring up a dropdown bar with several things listed.
• Click on "Create Rule From Message" (or if you want to stop the emails from getting to your email box, you can click "Block Sender" instead.)
• A box will pop up with several choices. Here, you'll need to decide what you want it to do in each section (1-3) so that it can filter your mail. Do you want certain emails, like emails from discussion forums, to be put in a special box? Then you can click on "Where the From line contains people," and in the next section, click on "Move it to the specified folder." Then in #3, choose where you want it to go. Hint: you may want to create a new folder in your inbox that says "A-Discussion" (folders are filed alphabetically). When you look at this pop-up box, you will see your choices.
• Name the rule in step number 4.
• Click "okay."

Now all emails from that particular email address will be filed immediately in your "A-Discussion" folder. You can also have your emails copied automatically to your "My Documents" folder as a permanent record for you.

I hope this helps you get control of your email box.



*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

5. Brainy Challenge

We're still taking responses to our Brainy Challenge from last week.

In today's business climate it is almost a given that a business will have a website. Those that don't are being left in the dust by their competitors...even businesses that haven't traditionally used them, like restaurants.

Last week my friend Shel Horowitz of http://www.frugalmarketing.com offered several terrific ideas about how a restaurant can use a website to increase its business. We'd love to hear YOUR ideas about how a storefront business, such as a restaurant, can increase its traffic and profits with a hard-working website.

I'll include the best answers in next week's Brainy Tidbits and Shel promises to put the top ones into an article for his Monthly Frugal Marketing Tips, which is distributed to 6,000 subscribers. We'll both include website links and brief descriptions of each responder, so you could get double play here by sending in your ideas. What great PR!

Email your ideas to me.

You KNOW you need more publicity. This is a great way to get it.


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


6. Quote of the Week

Success is... "work that I love, income to support my family, and free time to enjoy life."

Christine Nicholls
Creative Kids at Home


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


AND NOW, A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSORS...


What's your definition of success? Email your comments to me.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

7. PR & Networking Opportunities


April 27: Small Business Procurement Expo, Washington, DC

9-4:30 pm, Center for Association Leadership, Ronald Reagan Building, Washington, DC. For more information or to register, visit http://www.womensbusinesscenter.org or contact Susan Kuhn by email or 202-785-4922.

April 28: E-Learning Expo, Pittsburgh, PA

Learn how to make e-learning work. How do you know when an organization is ready for e-learning? Are you looking to make more informed decisions about e-learning? The Pittsburgh Chapter of the American Society for Training and Development is hosting an E-Learning Expo on April 28, 2004 at the Radisson Hotel, Pittsburgh Green Tree. To find out more or register, contact Rose Martin by email or 412-215-3661.

May 19-21, SBA Expo '04, Orlando, FL

Three incredible days of networking and learning cutting-edge business practices. Great procurement opportunities. Business matchmaking. Over 300 exhibitors from both the public and private sector. Early-bird discount through April 16. Read more here.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


8. Resources for Entrepreneurs and Marketers

Thanks to Kim Komando for this one:

Are you worried about possible Microsoft security problems? Want to be notified when the latest patch comes out or a problem arises? Sign up for your own Microsoft email alert here:

http://www.microsoft.com/security/security_bulletins/alerts2.asp

Kim Komando offered this tip, too:

Here's a program that helps you organize your web browser's bookmarks. It can eliminate dead links and duplicates in Internet Explorer, Netscape and Opera. You can also back up your bookmarks to a ZIP file. It's F*REE.

http://www.aignes.com/press/deadlink140.htm

Are you looking for a service to send out your email newsletters? Here are three options:

Octeth
Constant Contact
Lyris

Do you like these resources? There are plenty more like these in my ebook BUSINESS SUCCESS SECRETS: HARD-WORKING TACTICS & RESOURCES.

Read more about it or order it here


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

9. A Little Fun - Best Headlines of 2003

Thanks to Don Crawford at Shickel Corp. for these funny REAL headlines:

• Crack Found on Governor's Daughter
• Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says
• Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers
• Iraqi Head Seeks Arms
• Is There a Ring of Debris Around Uranus?
• Prostitutes Appeal to Pope
• Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over
• Teacher Strikes Idle Kids
• Miners Refuse to Work after Death
• Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant
• War Dims Hope for Peace
• If Strike Isn't Settled Quickly, It May Last Awhile
• Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures
• Enfield (London) Couple Slain; Police Suspect Homicide
• Red Tape Holds Up New Bridges
• Man Struck By Lightning Faces Battery Charge
• New Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group
• Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas in Spacecraft
• Kids Make Nutritious Snacks
• Chef Throws His Heart into Helping Feed Needy
• Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half
• Hospitals are Sued by 7 Foot Doctors
  
  
• And the winner is ... Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead
  

Help keep the smiles coming...please send me your marketing, PR or sales jokes. I'll be happy to give you credit and list your website! Email me. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


10. Smell the Coffee...

It's been raining buckets for two days now. I really need a cup of coffee, a good book and a fire in the fireplace.

Easter was very pleasant for our family. We roasted a leg of lamb (organic, of course), had oven-browned potatoes, corn and green beans, topped off by Nessa's favorite, lemon meringue pie. Yum.

Our new neighbor joined us for dinner. It was enjoyable getting to know Steve a little bit. We even swapped house tours, and that's always fun. The kids are getting older, so their Easter baskets consisted of a little candy, gum and face wash for their teenage complexions. They seemed to like that.

How was your holiday?


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

MORE PRODUCTS

I encourage you to look around our Marketing Idea Shop website for lots more information. Plus, you'll find a lovely picture of me on the home page! There are free articles, past copies of Brainy Tidbits, resources, ebooks and special reports. Remember, we are constantly adding brainy ideas and information to the site for you.


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

THE FINE PRINT

© 2004 Marketing Idea Shop. All rights reserved.
This publication is registered with the
Library of Congress in Washington, DC.
ISSN 1545-035X


THANK YOU!
We appreciate your business.


PRIVACY STATEMENT/COPYRIGHT
We value your privacy. We will not distribute your email address or personal information to anyone. Period.


PERMISSION TO REPRINT
You may reprint any items from "MarketingIdeaShop BRAINY Tidbits" (except those with a copyright listed from another source) in your own print or electronic newsletter. Please be kind and send us a copy so we can see it in print. Also, you must include the following paragraph:

Reprinted from "MarketingIdeaShop BRAINY Tidbits," a FREE ezine from Marketing Idea Shop and Lois Carter Fay featuring brainy ideas and resources for marketers and small businesses. Subscribe today at http://www.marketingideashop.com and receive FREE by email "67 Ways to Promote Your Business."


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Published by:
Lois Carter Fay, APR
Founder, Marketing Idea Shop
411 Rainier Road, Massanutten, VA USA 22840
Voice 540.289.3840 or 800.203.8660
lcf@marketingideashop.com
http://www.marketingideashop.com

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
You can receive Brainy Tidbits each Tuesday in your email box.
Sign up in the box on the left.


*********************************************************************************

NOTE, VERY IMPORTANT: When you sign up to receive this ezine by email, you will need to
CONFIRM your subscription to be fully added to the list. When you sign up, you will be sent
instructions on how to do this. If you are on AOL, please add us to your buddy list. Also, if you have
a spam filter, to make sure you receive your subscription, please immediately WHITELIST these
email addresses: lcf@marketingideashop.com and editor@marketingideashop.com or simply whitelist
the entire domain name: marketingideashop.com

**********************************************************************************