Several Winners* Announced In This Video

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All Winners: Claim* your prizes here: http://ggenesisllc.com/contact-us/talk/

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For Audio Podcast Link on BlogTalkRadio – Click Here - for first 15 minutes of today’s show. Then watch video below for second half of show.

This video serves as our podcast show season finale for The GGene S.I.S. Journal. Please watch to learn more about us, what we have been doing and what we are planning to do in season three, which starts in 2013.

*Complete the contact form to claim your winnings. Remember to state that you’re claiming your prize in the comments section.

The post Video of Season Finale – Grand Prize Winner Announced appeared first on The #GGeneSIS Community.

Five Questions Your Financial Planner Should Ask

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Week After Week, our guest, Lakesha Womack has brought value to

this awesome community of entrepreneurs, The #GGeneSIS Community.

Please leave a comment

and let us know how her guest articles impacted you and your business.

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One of the joys and pains of being an entrepreneur is having complete control over your business destiny. A joy because you control what happens in virtually every aspect of your business. A pain because you are also in control of one aspect that transcends the lifespan of your business: your retirement.

Five Important Questions

There are several factors to consider when thinking about retirement such as:

When do you want to retire?

• This is important because it will determine how many years you have to plan and save. Many people in the current workforce cannot count on Social Security as a supplement to their savings, so it is necessary to plan as if those funds won’t be available.

What will you do during retirement?

• For some people, their ideal retirement involves traveling all over the world, while others want a beach house in Florida. The difference between those visions also require a different amount of money for living expenses.

How much do you plan to spend anually during retirement?

• Consider the vision that we just discussed. How much will you need each year to do the things that you envision?

How long will you stay retired?

• Many retirees end up reentering the workforce because they don’t have enough assets to allow them to stay retired, so they have to go back to work so their funds are not depleted.

Where will you save for retirement?

• As you get closer to retirement, you will want to maintain a more conservative portfolio whereas when you are 30-40 years away, your portfolio can tolerate more risk (as much risk as you are comfortable with).

Let’s take a look at what this scenario might look like:

In 25 years, I want to be retired with a house that is paid for on a golf course in Florida and take one international trip per year. I don’t like to take a lot of risk in life, so I would probably prefer a more balanced portfolio (not all high-risk stocks but not all bonds or cash, a combination). I anticipate being retired for approximately 25 years and to spend about $50,000 per year since my house will be paid for. At a baseline, I would need $1,2500,000 on the day I retire. Working with a financial advisor, I can find some creative ways to save this amount as well as develop a strategy that will allow me to draw funds each year without depleting my assets.

I know you may be thinking that this is a lot to consider, but these are some of the questions that a financial advisor should ask when helping you set up a retirement plan. Consider it a

red flag

if you are working with someone who does not think about your financial goals, but is just interested in investing your money.

SUGGESTED RESOURCES

Gwen Moran wrote the following article for Entrepreneur.com, listing five retirement options for your business. Review these and be prepared to discuss with your financial advisor.

Owners of small and midsize businesses don’t save enough for retirement. A March 2010 report released by the SBA found that only 36 percent have an IRA and only one-third of those contributed to it. Less than 20 percent participate in 401(k) plans.

Finding the right plan can be confusing, “especially if the business changes or grows,” says David Boucher, senior vice president of corporate benefits at Longfellow Benefits, an insurance brokerage and consulting firm in Boston. But something is better than nothing.

Click here to see the chart so you can get familiar with the options.

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In 2013, We Will Feature More Savvy Women Business Leaders, Like LaKesha,

To Help You Keep Learning How To Make (& Keep) More Money In Your Business.

To See Our 2013 Featured Leaders Will Be – Click Here.

~~~

Click Image To Visit LaKesha’s Site Now

LaKesha Womack is an author, blogger, business consultant, minister and radio show host. She writes and speaks about a variety of lifestyle, relationship and business topics. Her goal is to help you develop personally, professionally and spiritually because she believes…You can have it all! Visit her online at WomackCG.com. Also, to visit her Featured Leader #GGeneSIS page – Click Here

The post Five Important Retirement Planning Questions Could Help You Prepare For What Comes Next In Your Business appeared first on The #GGeneSIS Community.

Giving Back To Be A Blessing To Your Host Is Also Strategic Marketing For Your Business / Brand

Our #GGeneSIS Guest, Author and Strategist LaKesha Womack, Has Been Sharing All Month Long – Click Here To See Her Whole Series

Most people don’t realize that when someone asks them to be on a radio show, offers to write about them on their blog site or requests a written interview, the host is not only doing it to promote that person, they are also doing it to promote themselves and expand their networks. Most of the time, the people sought for promotion have an extensive reach/network or they are experts on a subject matter. Either way, the host is attempting to build their credibility as much as yours.

It almost seems taboo to say that because many of us try to make it seem like it’s a selfless effort, but we are all trying to expand our networks. The best way to do that is to reach new people who are connected with like-minded individuals (that would be you, the person we are interviewing).

How To Help Your Host Promote You?

I have an unwritten etiquette when it comes to being promoted as well as promoting using social media, and these are the top tips that come to mind:

• If you are going to promote someone through your social media network, let the person know and provide them with links. You can either mention the person on Twitter, tag him/her on Facebook or send a personal message. When I check my website’s analytics,  I can see a list of keywords that people searched to get to my site. Some of the people who I interviewed years ago are currently being read about through my site because people don’t always want to hear what you have to say about you, they want to know what others are saying about you. Be courteous, and let your subject know when you write or post information about them so they can be sure the information is correct.

• If someone provides you with links to content they have posted about you, check it out. You may not be able to edit the information posted about you, but you should be aware of its content. Also, consider using Google Alerts to receive email notifications of information about you on the Internet. Your brand is not just the information you post about yourself but also the information that others are posting about you.

• If you have consented to being interviewed or having a write up posted about you, help the host promote the content. This is not only beneficial to your brand by showing that you are someone who others find worthy of promoting, but you are helping the host build their viewership. I am more likely to promote an article or interview about someone who is also willing to promote themselves than someone who acts like it doesn’t matter to them. You are not obligated to promote the content for the rest of your social media life, but you should at least promote leading up to the event (if it is a live event) and at least a week following the event (once the information is posted).

• Subscribe to the comments if the post is on a blog. Whenever someone posts about me on a blog, I leave a comment and subscribe to them because I want to know what others think of the write-up and to engage with the blog’s readers. What is the point of someone promoting you if you are not going to take advantage of the opportunity?  I am amazed at the number of people who I have written about that haven’t left a comment, even a thank you. When additional opportunities come along to expose them to my network, they are usually on the bottom of the list because I want to work WITH people who see the opportunity as mutually beneficial.

• Don’t think the other person owes you anything, unless it was previously agreed upon. The tips above are nice gestures that will allow both of you to maximize the promotional activity, but neither of you are obligated to do anything in terms of promotion, commenting, engagement with readers, etc. unless previously agreed upon. If you have expectations of your guests, you should let them know up-front. The same is true if you are being interviewed. If you have expectations of the host, then let them know up-front. Don’t wait until after the event to get mad because you didn’t get any business from the opportunity or feel as though the project wasn’t properly promoted. Also, don’t be afraid to ask what their plans are in terms of promotion and make suggestions if you feel more should be done.

Bonus: If you are a serial entrepreneur or blogger/host with multiple sites, be sure that the opportunity is appropriate for your brand. Someone having a large following is no guarantee that they will support your products/services, especially if it is not in line with the target market.

Did you know that LaKesha made a generous strategic offer to the #GGeneSIS Community? To Learn More – Click Here and Scroll Down.

Click Image To Visit LaKesha’s Site Now

LaKesha Womack is an author, blogger, business consultant, minister and radio show host. She writes and speaks about a variety of lifestyle, relationship and business topics. Her goal is to help you develop personally, professionally and spiritually because she believes..You can have it all! Visit her online at WomackCG.com. Also, to visit her Featured Entrepreneurs page – Click Here. 

The post #GGeneSIS Strategic Marketing – Online ‘Guest-iquette’ – How to Help Host Promote You appeared first on The #GGeneSIS Community.

Thank you for visiting the#GGeneSIS Journal Community!

Link to Podcast Thank You Show – Click Here

We will show our thanks to YOU today because we appreciate you for joining our newsletter community and paying attention to what we’re doing here on the show and online. Our drawing for today was done by our Junior Assistants here on the#GGeneSIS Team (our kids), and we’re truly grateful to them, too.

WINNERS FROM OUR NEWSLETTER COMMUNITY WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON THIS SHOW!

4 Drawing Prizes for 11/21/2012 include:

*(2) 12 Month Free Business Listing In The GGene S.I.S. Journal eZine for 2013

*(2) 90 Minute #GGeneSISPower Marketing Session Intensive {These are hands-on meetings with Team#GGeneSIS where we actually do your marketing project for you after we plan it with you, all in 1.5 hours}

NOTICE: NEXT WEEK’S GRAND PRIZE DRAWING WILL INCLUDE A SPECIAL DRAWING JUST FOR THOSE WHO ARE OPENING AND READING OUR NEWSLETTER

JOIN OUR NEWSLETTER AND FOLLOW OUR FAN PAGE ON FACEBOOK TO SEE OUR UPDATES. (See video for details on how to connect with us on Facebook.)

Happy Thanksgiving From the #GGeneSIS Community from The GGene S.I.S. Journal on Vimeo.

PRIZE SPONSORSHIP

If you’d like to sponsor a prize (Amazon.com ecards only) contact us at your earliest convenience so that we can get you registered as a sponsor. Use this form to send your information: Contact.GGeneSISLLC.com

Every week The GGene S.I.S. ™ Journal eNews Community sends out email newsletter updates and featured guest articles. Also, members receive exclusive access to private, targetted networking opportunities and online marketing learning resources.

WINNERS REVEALED

We stay busy about…

Inspiring and Informing You As You Strive To Revive Your Life, Family, Community and/or Business.

The post WINNERS REVEALED – PODCAST – Thank You #GGeneSIS Community appeared first on The #GGeneSIS Community.

{If you missed our #GGeneSIS Journal podcast interview with LaKesha, click here to access the archive now.}

Every year you should have a seasonal strategy and a road-map of what you will be doing for the coming months.

For those of you who understand the importance of business planning, which is not the same as writing a business plan, you know it is time to start (if you haven’t already) making some assessments about what your business is going to need in the coming months (and years). Reflect on what you have achieved so far, what you wish you could have or should have done differently, and begin creating some specific, targeted, dated goals.

Business planning takes time; it should not be something that you jump up today and say, “I want to add a new product to my mix” or “I want to start offering xyz service.” If you are going to make changes to your business, then you need to think about how those changes will be integrated with your current offering. You need to have an idea of how it will generate revenue, if it will be profitable and how you will market to your customers.

What are some things to consider when doing true strategic business planning?

• {A} Human Resource Needs. Do you need to add or remove any team members? Are there roles that need to be redefined in order to make your business more efficient? Are there resources such as policy manuals or codes of conduct that need to be drafted? The beginning of a new year is the perfect time to put such changes in effect because it allows you to start the new year fresh and with a clean slate. Rather than hastily try to implement these changes at a time that could end up extremely busy or interrupted by “life happens” down-time, spend the next couple of months crafting your plan and be prepared to execute on right at the start of your goal period.

• {B} Marketing Strategy. I know you did some things really well this year in terms of getting the word out about your business, but I am sure there are some things that you wish you had done better. Take an honest look at your prior year’s marketing plan, the strategies that you were able to execute, and contrast them with the results. Where did most of your business come from at that time? Is this consistent with where your marketing efforts were focused? The answer to those two questions should give you some idea of what you can do to improve next year as well as what you should continue and/or ramp up. It’s great to create a laundry list of things we would like to do to promote our businesses, but we have to be realistic and focus on the things that are generating revenue and building our brand.

• {C} Cash Flow Projections. You should be tracking your monthly cash flow so that you know exactly how much money is coming in to your business and going out each month. Based on that information, you should be able to identify some trends. Which months were more robust? Which months were slower? Which months did you spend more money? Which months did you spend less? Take those numbers, and create some projections for your upcoming year. Consider some things that you can do to increase revenue during the months that sales were low (take into consideration that the strategy should be implemented at least one to two months prior to the month that you want to see results). Cash flow projections differ from budgets because they are usually drafted on a month to month basis. Your revenue and expenses are probably not consistent each month, and you should be aware of those trends.

“Each year, I create a wish list of conferences and events to attend along with a budget of how much it will cost, including registration, hotel, travel and entertainment/food.”

• {D} Networking. There were a lot of events I wanted to attend this year. I was able to attend some and missed quite a few. Each year, I create a wish list of conferences and events to attend along with a budget of how much it will cost, including registration, hotel, travel and entertainment/food. As the event draws near, I assess my budget to see if it is feasible for me to attend. In some cases, it is not, but in many cases, it is. Having this type of plan for 2013 will help you to assess the opportunities in advance rather than waiting until the last minute and wasting money on an advance registration to an event that you may not be able to attend or attempting to spend money that you don’t have. Make sure you have identified at least three organizations that you want to be involved with — whether locally or nationally — and focus your efforts on building relationships within those groups rather than trying to be all over the place and not cultivating any relationships. Networking offline is vital to the success of your business. Many people want to put a face with a brand.

• {E} Processes and Systems. Take a step back and look at how your business is operating. What are some things that you can do to become efficient? Do you need a scheduling assistant to better manage your time? Do you need to spend more or less time on social media? Do you need a better system to manage your leads? Whatever those things are, you should spend the next few months making some assessments and then creating a strategy for implementation. This includes adding or subtracting products/services. Create a timeline of the product/service roll out and make sure that it is consistent with your marketing and cash flow projections while ensuring that you have the team members available to make it a success.

GENEROUS OFFER FROM OUR GUEST

LaKesha has offered a complimentary consultation to the #GGeneSIS Journal Audience. Remember to reach out to her soon for help with creating a plan that makes sense and gets results for your business.

The post Business Planning – What It Is NOT and 5 Items You Must Include In Your Strategy appeared first on The #GGeneSIS Community.

As Your RoadMap to Get You From Your Purpose to Greater Impact

Developing your strategy roadmap starts with understanding

how to avoid some of the potholes.

So, I encourage many (not all) small business owners to use social media as ONE of their marketing strategies, but I must say…Some of their strategies suck! Yes, that word was “sucks”, and it just feels right to describe what I have seen, at times.

How do you know if yours is on that list? Ask yourself if you are doing one or more of the following things…

SELF-CENTERED 

• Everything you say, post and do is all about you. Okay, we get that you have a fabulous business, you are living a fabulous life and doing fabulous things, but ummm….How does that help me? How does that make me want to buy your product/service? Yeah, I may want to be your online “friend,” but is that enough to make me give you MY money for your fabulous life?

MYSTERIOUS & UNCLEAR 

• I get trying to be clever, but in the world of social media, it’s better to be concise. Most people don’t have any intentions of investigating the name of your business/product/service or trying to decipher your code. I know that all of those exotic spellings are cute, but consider sticking with your business name, which will help you rank higher in search engines. If your name is taken, consider adding a number at the end, preferably one of significance that can be a part of your marketing story.

MISLEADING

• Yeah, so about all of the “special opportunities” and adding me to your list (without my permission) if I attend one of your events… I think that it’s great that you want to build your list, but why not do it the old-fashioned way by providing good content people want to receive. If your offer is so great, why can’t you just tell me about it instead of making me click some unknown link that could be a computer virus. If you are providing such great information, then add a sign up button, and let me decide if I want to receive your daily emails (see more with #4).

QUANTITY SACRIFICING QUALITY

• I know that we like the idea of having thousands of followers/friends/subscribers BUT are they customers? If you are trying to use your social network to build your business, you need to have a focus on the quality of people you are trying to engage. Does your community respond to your call to action? One way to find out is by checking your Klout score. Although I’m not sure of the algorithms used to calculate this number, I like to look at the data they provide, which shows the reach of your posts and tweets. Are you generating content that people are responding to?

UNFOCUSED & UNCOMPELLING

• Yeah, okay, BUT who is coming? Many people that I speak to talk about the difficulties that they have getting business from their social network. Ultimately, they find that it is because they are preaching to the choir. This can be attributed to several factors:

1. You’ve built a network filled with people like you; your peers will support you, but they probably won’t buy from you;
2. Your network is filled with unqualified leads, people who think your fabulous is really cool, but they have no need or money for your product/service;
3. You haven’t given them a reason to buy from you. Your messaging about your product/service should be to establish a need that your prospect has and to position your brand as the only one who can fill that need. Social networking allows you to craft brief stories that remind them of their situations and then to present a call to action, such as download this free ebook or sign up for my teleseminar. Most people go straight to pitch (download this, come to that, etc.) without establishing the need.

{show them why the need / want what you have!}

NO TIMING STRATEGY

• When developing a social media strategy, you should have some application that controls the timing of your message. One of the most frustrating things for me is to see 10 messages in succession from one person. I get that we are all working with limited time, but applications like HootSuite allow you to schedule posts to your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and WordPress sites so that you can space out your messages. Consider this: If all of your messages come through between 10:00a and 10:15a, but I log on at 11:00a, I have missed you. However, spreading them out throughout the day will give you a greater probability of being heard/seen by a greater percentage of your network. Don’t forget to schedule some to post overnight if you want an international audience (some countries are just getting up when we are going to sleep).

UNFRIENDLY AND NON-RESPONSIVE

•  Just because you have a lot of friends/followers doesn’t make you friendly. I can gauge your friendly-meter by how you interact with your audience. You post, they respond, then nothing… Hellooooo, I’m talking to YOU, and you can’t respond, but I should buy what you’re selling?? Really? I know some people think it’s cute to have 15,000 followers, and they only follow 248. That tells me that you don’t really care to hear what I have to say, you don’t really care what’s going on with me. You want to say what you want to say, and I should just take it and go on about my business. If you don’t have time to adequately manage your social media, then hire someone or get out of the game. Many people don’t realize that they are hurting their brands by not being responsive to their prospects.

I really hope that your social media strategy doesn’t suck (really, I do…), but if it does, and you need some

help creating a your strategy roadmap,

contact me for a complimentary consultation.

Visit her at WomackCG.com

LaKesha Womack is an author, blogger, business consultant, minister and radio show host. She writes and speaks about a variety of lifestyle, relationship and business topics. Her goal is to help you develop personally, professionally and spiritually because she believes…You can have it all! Visit her online at WomackCG.com. Also, to visit her Featured Entrepreneur page – Click Here

The post ONLINE MARKETING STRATEGY TIPS – How To Use Your Strategy As A Roadmap To Make Greater Impact appeared first on The #GGeneSIS Community.

This video shows you how hundreds of people are helping the families who are Hurricane Sandy Survivors and making the process simpler and faster than what you might expect because “Many Hands Makes The Work Light”. Watch The Video Below.

                  {Video Direct Link}

Know that this organization, Samaritan’s Purse, is well-established, has a stellar reputation and is well-known for being consistently active with global/worldwide and national/US-based relief. They are known by many local churches and community organizations, even in your community, as the go-to Christian disaster relief org to support for larger scale relief efforts.

Here are

THREE SIMPLE WAYS

you can help them, no matter where you live:

1. For a mom and her baby, buy Blanket From Their Catalog for only $6
2. Use Part of Your Upcoming Thanksgiving Vacation To Volunteer in the Region Affected
3. Share This Article and Spread The Word.

To donate financially and see other ways you can help, go to SamaritansPurse.org.

Click to Give At SamaritansPurse.org

Thank you, in advance, for keeping these families in your prayers and for helping in whatever ways you can.

The post Video – Three Simple Ways You Can Help Sandy Survivors appeared first on The #GGeneSIS Community.

If you have been listening to The GGene S.I.S. Journal podcast show, you may have heard our announcement that we will be sharing excerpts from past interviews and articles we have been gathering since the Summer of 2011.

If you are a member of our newsletter community, you will receive The Wisdom Vault Series in your inbox every week during November, separately from the main newsletter. This is another way that we’ll be saying…

THANK YOU

…during Thanksgiving month here in America.

We are very grateful that you have joined us here and hope what we are sharing is as valuable to you as it is to us.

QUESTION: What Value have you gotten out of our interviews and articles over the past year and a half? How have they helped you? PLEASE LEAVE YOUR COMMENT BELOW (or simply reply if you received this by email).

The post New Series – The Wisdom Vault Archives appeared first on The #GGeneSIS Community.

LaKesha, what do you do and when did you start in that field?

• I am a Business Consultant with over 10 years of training, management, marketing and business development experience. I specialize in helping entrepreneurs start and grow their small business through seminars, workshops and one-on-one consulations.

What is your story for how you got started?

• I was introduced to the consulting industry by some friends in business school. They told me how they would go into corporations, assess the needs of the company and provide solutions for the company to operate more efficiently. I realized that there aren’t very many people providing those types of services for small business owners, and many entrepreneurs desperately need the guidance.

Who influenced your career and business path the most?

• I was influenced to take my business to the next level, making it full time, by my son. When I became a mother, I knew that I didn’t want to go back to the traditional workforce because I wanted the freedom and flexibility to be an active part of his life. Working as a work-from-home-mom allows me to take part in programs at his school and to spend more quality time with him in the afternoon.

Click Image To Visit LaKesha’s Site Now

LaKesha Womack

Visit her website at WomackCG.com

What is your biggest or newest project right now that you would like for our readers to know about and where can they learn more about it?

• My most exciting project (I think lol) is the series of “My Money Matter Workbooks”that I recently published  We are constantly seeing statistics that show many Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, have little to no money in savings and are bombarded with debts. The workbook series teaches kids, teens/young adults and adults about the Basic Money Management Principle — I will not spend more than I earn — while providing weekly money management tips and budget sheets. I have been extremely encouraged by the people who have told me what an impact the workbooks have already made in their lives.

Some of your articles are going to be featured on our blog this month. What is the main topic of your guest blog articles?

• Branding — The four posts will provide practical advice for anyone wanting to build their personal and/or professional brand.

What tips and advice do you have for women entrepreneurs?

• 1. You can have it ALL, but first you have to define what “all” means to you and live those priorities.
  2. Always put your family first because there will be a day when a family member may no longer be around, and you don’t want to have the feeling that you sacrificed time with them for a business.
  3. Make your business legitimate. Don’t operate it like a hustle; do the things necessary to make your business a serious venture, and don’t compromise your integrity for a profit.
  4. Keep accurate financial records. It is so important to know your numbers and to operate at a profit by keeping your expenses low and ensuring your pricing is competitive. If you don’t know the cost of doing business, then you could be making money, but how will you know if you are making enough?

The post November eNews Guest Author: LaKesha Womack appeared first on The #GGeneSIS Community.

Announcing Our 2013 Featured Leaders

On The #GGeneSIS Journal Podcast

~~~

OUR 2013 FEATURED LEADERS WILL BE

Stephanie LH Callahan | Brandi Starr | Kim Beasley | Kemya Scott

Here are your voting results. Thank you for letting us know which leaders you would like to hear and read about in 2013.

Note that the last decisions will be made by our review board, and your voting makes up a very important part of our decision process. We will announce who we’ll be featuring in 2013 before the end of November 2012.

Congratulations to all of you, no matter what your place was in the leader-board. You were all already winners even before you accepted your nominations.

P.S. Remember to also vote next week to help shape our nations government and laws.

Voting Results Chart

Congratulations To You All! (TO ENLARGE – click image)

The post UPDATED – ANNOUNCING 2013 Featured Leaders For #GGeneSIS Series appeared first on The #GGeneSIS Community.