In This Issue

Dear ,

San Francisco Rocked! This last week I had the good fortune of attending the TSS (Teleseminar Secrets) Reunion in San Francisco. There were 150 of us from a possible 500+ that made the trip to connect first hand and experience Alex Mandossian in person. We had all graduated from his 8 week teleseminar training in the last few years. It was outstanding.

Best experience ever! Never have I attended a live event where the participants were so open, connected, tuned in and turned on. I made a lot of valuable contacts and even more importantly some delightful new friends and colleagues. I also learned a revolutionary new goal achievement system, MAINLY^(TM) by Raymond Aaron. This was particularly extraordinary as his life's work dovetailed with my concept that a goal (as we have learned to set them) leads to almost certain failure and it is desires we must focus on overall. His system is flawless, simple to apply and proven. Wow!

Gurus galore! Of course one of the highlights was meeting Alex in person. I have had the privilege to learn from him off and on over the last decade but this was to the next level. I also got to catch up with Mari Smith, "the Pied Piper" of Facebook, and my private instructor on social media. (Yes, I learn from the best, so I can share it with others like you!)

New initiatives and launches in the works! Got refocused and targeted and will be initiating new tools, great educational systems, and much more in the weeks upcoming. I also had the delight to meet Gail Doby, a design colleague and the prestigious head of Design Success University. You can never have too much education in the mastery of success!

Prospering by Design, ALWAYS!

Melissa Galt
The Six Figure Design Professional
Your Interior Design Business Systems Specialist
Devoted to Your Design Business Success

Building Your Nest on Twitter!

Join us for a Webinar on March 17:
In this hands on webinar, you'll get the inside look at an active Twitter account and be able to get your own account up during the call. You'll learn valued shortcuts and tools that maximize your results in minimum time online. Already on Twitter, but feeling overwhelmed? You'll get tips to:

Don't miss this one of a kind webinar just for DESIGNERS, STAGERS, ORGANIZERS AND OTHER CREATIVE PROFESSIONALS!

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Building Your Nest on Twitter!

Date: Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Time: 8PM EST
Place: The Comfort of Your Home or Office
Recommended: Your Laptop or Desktop Computer

To Register:

Follow This Link!

IF ALREADY REGISTERED, CLICK HERE FOR QUICK START ACTION GUIDE AND CONTRIBUTION:
http://melissagalt.com/webinars/registration-march2009.html

3 Proven Ways to Turn PR into Prospects, Projects and Profits!

Getting published offline or featured online isn't as tough as you think; what can be the challenge is knowing what to do with that PR once you get it! PR by itself isn't inherently useful, it is critical to have a plan for distributing your feature or article in a meaningful way both online and offline. Very rarely will your phone start ringing off the hook with a single feature, instead it is a valuable opportunity for you to let your prospects and clients know that you've been showcased. Here are 3 proven ways to turn PR into prospects, projects and profits!

PR Tip #1 To Reinforce Your Value and Talent with Clients and Prospects
ONLINE: Send a link of your featured work or article to your contact list with a short note sharing your excitement. Your list should include current clients, past clients, and prospects you haven't yet gotten on board. (For more ideas on prospecting, see Melissa's Favorite Resources.)

OFFLINE: Request a hi-res PDF of the feature that you can email to your contact list, at the same time get a printed piece (either your local printer or often there are specific services available through the publisher to provide a truly professional mailer) and mail it by postal service to reinforce your value. REMEMBER these days everyone's email box is overflowing but our postal boxes are getting emptier so you have a better chance of standing out though it will cost you in printing and postage.

Read the Rest of the Article Here!

How to Get Active with Groups on Facebook!

So you've climbed online, built your profile, now what? Get active! You'll be invited to join many groups, be selective. There is no obligation. And it doesn't make sense to join if you aren't going to be active. Active means commenting on discussion regularly, posting your own discussions, sharing photos if invited, and making relevant wall posts.

The whole point is to widen your circle, being a silent groupie isn't going to serve you! Make some noise, make it relevant, share tips, best business practices, a favorite resource, or just compliment another member. Being of value and pleasant requires little time and can yield major results.

When you are looking for prospects realize that you need to join a group that is not peer based. As a design professional I belong to design groups to network with peers and colleagues. When I want to locate prospects I refer to my ideal client profile and research groups that my prospects will likely be a part of. This will vary depending on your ideal prospect. The better you have defined that person, the more targeted you can be in your group search and participation.

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For more proven tips on social media success for designers and other creatives be sure to check out www.todaybydesign.com. If you are ready to launch your business or take it to the next level be sure to check out www.mystrategysession.com for a FR<E strategy session designed to address your biggest business challenge today.

List Building

If you want a quick and cost effective way to jumpstart your prospecting, consider renting or buying a list. I've used a number of different services over the years and found that Concept Marketing is one of the best. They are available directly at www.marketingsource.com (this is not an affiliate link).

Keep in mind that traditionally to get any kind of response you must mail at least 7x to your list and provide a time sensitive offer (limited time isn't enough, get specific with dates) and make it trackable with either a code or special word so you can measure results. Relying on someone remembering where they heard about you is, well, unreliable! This is by no means the only way to go but a good option to consider in conjunction with online marketing.