* Because they are real.

A couple of days ago I received a text message (SMS) to my phone informing me that my site was about to be de-listed from Google. It went on to say I needed to contact the sender within 3 days to keep my Google listing active. The good news is it would cost only $40 and they can assure me it won't happen if I hire them because they are Certified Google Search Partners. Yes, there are Google Partners. No, they do not have any special powers.

Today Mike and Ken (that's me) will discuss these types of scams and how to avoid becoming a victim.

Today's show is 30 minutes and you can either ask a question in the chat room or by calling in. Both require us to be live.

Ken is @thekencook

Mike is @mikemueller http://areweconnected.com

Always a huge thanks to Kevin MacLeod of INCOMPETECH for most of the music used during the show.

Today we're talking about how to have your small business prepared for disaster.

It's true, Ken met his granddaughter on Facebook a week before he met her in person.

Today Mike and Ken are discussing how deeply social media infiltrates our personal lives and how we can leverage that for our campaigns.

While we never suggest hijacking someone's life for your business purposes, it is important to know and understand how weaving into today's framework of living can help all of use together.

 

Ken is @thekencook

Mike is @mikemueller http://areweconnected.com

Always a very special thank you to Kevin MacLeod for the use of his great music available at incompetech.com

So, you're going to launch a new website and dominate the market! Possibly. If you really are then I bet there already has been a lot of planning, consulting, and even hiring of professional development teams. Not all ventures are huge, multi-million dollar launches--but even a solopreneuer needs to follow some simple guidelines to help reduce the likelhood of early termination.

Everything from message development to method of sharing the message can be critical for an early stage venture. Clarification and simplification of your message (you'd be surprised how many businesses I [Ken] have worked with over the years who cannot tell me in a short sentence what they do). Branding--colors designs--also is very important because it's the instant image of your message. Flow chart of how the process from interest to prospect to customer to referal agent progresses. And much more!

Both Mike and Ken have many years of experience working in business development with small to medium organizations. What we've learned from our own mistakes and the mistakes of our clients in spite of our direction could fill a volume. Today we're sharing it in a few minutes of talk time.

JOIN US LIVE and get in the chat room.

Always a huge thanks to Kevin MacLeod of incompetech.com for his amazing music.

Ken is @thekencook

Mike is @MikeMueller - areweconnected.com

It happens. You leave a comment on a business's page and they promise to hunt you down and destroy you. Or, you own a business and another business stalks your social media and pokes at you constantly. Here are some things Mike and Ken suggest you may try.

STARTING NEXT WEEK! Rapid Fire is going to become a "game show" segment. You'll be able to play along by Tweeting your answers to the Rapid Fire questions. We will announce the prizes sometime before that show on our Facebook page so be sure to LISTEN LIVE and have a chance to win!

Ken is @thekencook

Mike is @MikeMueller and http://areweconnected.com

Always a huge thanks to Kevin MacLeod of incompetech.com for any awesome music we use from him.

Ken rates Mike's show idea 5 stars. Ken was going to talk about Business Bullying (like 1 star ratings for no apparent good reason) but Mike wanted to talk about the importance of and how to get Five Stars. It's going to be fun because Ken is going to confess his star rating criteria.

Mike and I are both small business development professionals. Much of what we do revolves around public perception of our clients. We talk with them about things like Yelp and Facebook ratings. I have just completed a fairly involved online ratings system for real estate agents which has a couple of twists and curves. Last year I developed a pretty intense condo review site for Toronto which allows star ratings.

Today we're going to discuss the importance of understanding the power of ratings, why the BBB is still in business, and what you can do to increase your likelihood of getting 5 stars. Not 4, not 2, but 5. So basically all of them. All the stars.

Whether you are using WordPress or any other Content Management System (CMS), a development framework, or just good old HTML, you're going to need a 24/7 on computer to serve it to your visitors. First we'll define what a server is--many people don't understand. Then we'll discuss how the HTML on the server you are using gets to the people who are viewing your pages and content. Then we'll discuss other attributes and services that come on the web server. Did you know, for example, there are mutliple "servers" on the one computer we call a server?

Join us LIVE to get in the chat room or phone in your questions. Ken and Mike have been doing this show for many years and we, along with our core group of loyal listeners, welcome you to listen and participate.

Ken is @thekencook http://thekencook.com

Mike is @MikeMueller http://areweconnected.com

ALWAYS! A very special thanks to KEVIN MACLEOD for his great music used in spots throughout the show. Kevin is at http://incompetech.com

It's the age old question: How to I get people to buy my ____? The Internet changed marketing forever. It will never be exactly like it was in cold-calling, post-card mailing, Yellow Pages days. Even that we had nearly 100 years to figure out and people still struggled with it. So let's talk about the carnival barker or the hot-dog hawker. You'll see a common thread there and it's plainly seen: Sell what you have and nothing else.

"Hot dogs! Get your fresh red hots right here! Hot dogs!" That is *ALL* the hot dog hawker says.

"Cold beer! Get you ice cold beer here! Cold beer!" That is *ALL* the beer hawker says.

"Peanuts! Peanuts! Get your salty, crunchy peanuts!"

"Step right up, step right up! See the bearded lady! There's no one like her anywhere else in the world. She's the real deal, a one of a kind. Step right up!"

I think you're getting the point. Join Mike and me today as we discuss how these age old methods still work in the Internet age and why we've seen many people flop because they don't use them. We'll be talking about things like the 365 things to do that flopped for so many real estate agents. We'll be talking about major brands and how they succeed online. Then we'll be talking about how to use this method in Social Media without driving your *friends* nutso!

Ken is @thekencook http://thekencook.com

Mike is @MikeMueller http://areweconnected.com

As always a big thanks to Kevin MacLeod for the use of his great music!

Most likely you have heard the acronym CMS. In case you did not know that stands for Content Management System. We're speaking about Web Content, of course, and really CMS - whether the big ones like WordPress, Drupal, Geeklog, Joomla, etc. or custom created ones as I do for many clients - are the rule instead of the exception today. We generally no longer need to have a web developer or content developer on hand to "make changes to our webpage" because it has become so simple to do so ourselves. In fact even though Mike and I perform a preponderance of services to WordPress users, we don't often get the chance to create many static websites. It does happen and we will discuss the why and what for about that.

Join us today as we discuss more indepth what a CMS, how it works, why they are valuable, and maybe even if you should have one or not. Listen live and get in the chat room or phone in to ask your questions during the show.

Ken is @thekencook thekencook.com

Mike is @MikeMueller areweconnected.com

Today Ken and Mike will be discussing why we all need to disconnect; to step back and let things clear before re-engaging. We will address some of the fears of letting go of the control we believe connectivity provides us. We will also discuss how to deal with clients who expect you to be instantly available, 24/7 and how to prep all of your clients for your away time.

Both Mike and Ken spent the past weekend disconnected from the internet and fully engaged with nature. We will talk about how we handled that with our clients and prospects and how it affected us not only in business, but emotionally.

Ken is @thekencook

Mike is @mikemueller http://AreWeConnected.com

Always a big thank you to Kevin MacLeod for incidental background music used in the show and spots.