The Wax Blog

For entrepreneurs, small business owners and experts, the daily query boards like HARO and ProfNet can be incredible resources for gaining media placements. From major news broadcast shows to popular niche bloggers, these sites host queries from journalists and producers looking for specific sources for current stories.  Despite how great these resources are,  reporters tell me most  folks  blow their chances completely by the time they write the first sentence in response to a query. Here are some ways to up your chances for getting the media to email you regarding a query, and hopefully get mentioned in a major story! (more…)

Bart the Dumpster Dog

I realized right away that @bartthedog was gaining followers at a much faster rate than @waxgirl333 , my twitter handle. Not to mention the fact that he has more than ten times the number of Facebook fans for his Bart the Dumpster Dog fan page. Neither of us are megastars in the social media stratosphere (yet!) but I thought taking a look at how @bartthedog pays attention to his social media might give you an idea of how he’s added more than 3000 followers in such a short time – with very little effort.

1. Bart has a GREAT back story. Not everyone can say they were rescued starving and frozen from a dumpster on an Indian reservation.

2. Bart has a unique and consistent voice. This is probably because I have anthropomorphized Bart and his brother for the past three years to such an extent that I’m fairly fluent in Dog.  His followers call him “cutey” and “sweetie” and “lovey” so I guess it doesn’t matter that he’s over 90 pounds – his voice is crystal clear to them.

3. The dog lover niche, particularly for rescued dogs, is really strong, if not zealous. I told a car dealer once that if he supported his local humane society in a big way he’d have more customers than he could handle and I was right. One woman drove from South Dakota to Minnesota to buy a car from the guy – for helping rescued animals.

4. Bart’s not selling anything. He’s just a friendly guy that sends out tweets about interesting dogs for adoption on petfinder, cool doggy news and stuff he’s been doing lately.  He’s also very good at RT’ing information for animal rescue groups, so there’s a certain altruistic side to the boy.

5. Finally, Bart is always positive and never controversial. He doesn’t take sides and has no politics.

I started Bart’s accounts as a way to test some of the programs and apps for Twitter and Facebook, not to grow his profile.  Before long he’ll be writing a book and signing pawtographs.

You don’t get big muscles after just one workout and you can’t expect big marketing results right away either.  Lots of small business owners worry constantly about the ROI of their marketing investments. Instead, schedule time to review the results of what you’re doing on a weekly or monthly basis, depending on your sales cycle. (For some of you online marketers it needs to be daily) Otherwise don’t worry about it. Trust your judgement!

If you’re not sure how to measure your results, go back to Step 1 and review. And please share with me any new ways you might be measuring results particularly with social media. We’re all learning on this one!

Up until December 25 of 2008 I hadn’t taken a break from working online for at least five years, not counting a panic-filled couple of days when Louisiana humidity shut  down my phone.  Last year I decided to turn my cell phone for one Saturday and missed a call from a celebrity manager who wanted HIS client to wear MY client’s product on the red carpet at the Academy Awards. Luckily the next morning we still made it happen.

Still, responding to pressure from friends who insist that I do not live “in the moment” I did go off the grid the last week of 2008. I have to admit it was hard, especially given my newfound addiction to Twitter (follow me at www.twitter.com/waxgirl333 now!) But guess what? I didn’t feel “cleansed” or “relaxed” or any of that stuff.  Although I was skiing and having fun with my friends, there was a part of my life that was missing. The worst was trying to get back in the swing of things this past week. I felt like that little old lady sitting in the left lane at 50mph with everyone else whizzing by me like it was the info-autobahn.

So forget it. I’m not doing it again. Donald Trump doesn’t need vacations from his work and neither do I. Tried it, hated it, lost a week coming back. I’m not missing life because I may be tweeting at a party, or checking emails at midnight, or answering my phone on Saturdays.  A big part of my life is ON the internet now. It’s not the only part, but it’s an important part. And I refuse to feel guilty about it any longer.

By the way, I added about 30 followers on Twitter while I was gone. Still trying to figure out how that one works.