This month..

This month I write about social networks. Seems like almost every day I hear about another one.

Also, remember the book launch from last month? I'm doing one for my own book which will be launched at Amazon very soon.

• Social Networks - can you get enough?
• "Worth More Than Rubies" Amazon book launch
• Thought for the Day
• Need a speaker for your event?

Social Networks - can you get enough?

I have tried hard to resist every single invitation that comes my way. After all, there's only so many networks you can join, aren't there? And so many hours in a day. I don't want to be spending all my time moving from one network to another and asking all my contacts to do the same.

I see the networks as two distinct types - business and social. For me, at this stage, LinkedIn.com is my preferred business network and my direct connections are now in excess of 1,000 and my 3rd level over 8million, which is rather mind blowing. But through LinkedIn I have gained new clients for my team, new team members in different countries, located resources (such as my publisher for my book) and even learnt how to do things (like how to hold a book launch, or how to modify a blog) through the Answers forum. LinkedIn has many spin off discussion forums, mainly through yahoogroups so I've made lots of new contacts and many new friends - people I feel I'll know for the rest of my life. Some of those people have had an amazing impact on my life and it never ceases to amaze me how networking via the web has far-reaching effects. If you haven't joined Linkedin, or perhaps have but don't understand how to use it, then why not pop over to my blog SOHO-Life.com and read about it there? In the menu on the right-hand side, under Categories, you'll find one for LinkedIn and a number of posts and images on how to make use of this fantastic way of networking.

Now social networks. You will have heard of Facebook and MySpace amongst others. I am a member of Facebook but have kept it mainly for family and friends contacts as it doesn't have a business look or feel about it and people tend to pass 'viral' games and emails amongst their lists. I also have a MySpace page but again, I set this up in relation to a particular network I belong to online and all the members there had MySpace pages and they wanted me to have one too, so we could connect with one another more. I don't look upon either of those as serious networking for business, although I know that some people do.

I recently explored Ning. There you can create your own social network and do all sorts of things with it. The reason why I decided to explore this (after declining for a long time) was that a dear friend on the other side of the world had grown quite a sizeable network through LinkedIn and yahoogroups and he felt this took it a further step where we could all 'see' each other with our photos and really connect with each other and have discussions, support one another and set up spin off groups. This person has recently fallen on hard times and so many of the people on this forum (there are over 8,000) have set up a new group within the group specifically for lifting this person up (sending messages of encouragement) and for providing him physical and financial support. He had dedicated many, many hours over the past 4 years to build up this group and now when his hour of need has arrived, so many are giving back to him through this medium. Absolutely wonderful to see.

I was looking at the types of networks set up there and some people have even used this to set up their own business websites to promote their books or services and as a way for clients to connect with them and with each other. Topics cover all sorts of things from Kayaking, to British Theatre, to residents of a particular city, recipe swapping, followers of The Law of Attaction, fans of different movies and so on. If you've been thinking about setting up your own web based community and a board forum or yahoogroups email based set up just doesn't meet your vision, then perhaps Ning is exactly what you need.

I decided I'd explore how to set up a network using Ning and have used one of my blogs as the basis for it. Many of you know that my book "Worth More Than Rubies" is based on The Proverbs 31 Woman (from the Old Testament) and I have brought her into today - the modern day business woman and work at home mum. My blog still gets many thousands of visitors on a monthly basis, although I'm not writing to it as often as I was in the past. I thought that perhaps these visitors (primarily women as that is who blog is aimed at) would like to connect with one another and get to know one another, discuss the challenges of working at home and managing family and business, and become a support group to one another. I've added subscription buttons on the blog and the book sites and have included it here for anyone who might be interested in joining us. Sorry men - don't mean to leave you out and if you have an interest in this topic, you are still most welcome. Many of you will have wives, mothers or sisters who fit this model and they might like to hear about it too. Hope to see some of you there!

Visit Proverbs 31 Woman
 

Have a great month everyone!

Kathie M. Thomas

"Worth More Than Rubies" Amazon Book Launch

I'm thrilled to announce that in the next few weeks my book "Worth More Than Rubies: The Value of a Work At Home Mum" will be available through Amazon. Yay! To celebrate I'm holding an online booklaunch, to be held over a 24 hour period and I'm offering you an opportunity to be involved. This is how it will work:

If you have something you are willing to offer, free or discounted, I'd like to add you to a webpage that each purchaser at Amazon will be directed to, in that 24 hour period. You might have an ebook, an MP3 file, webhosting, a membership subscription, something else.

I expect that the bulk of the purchasers will be women or perhaps others buying for women in the 25-45 age group, which my book is mainly targeted at. Women who want to work from home, or perhaps already are.

What do you get in return? For every person who comes to that page, they'll click on a link that will be led to a page you have set up and they will need to enter their name and email address to gain access to what you have to offer. This potentially increases your list.

And I'd love to have you promote this offer to your list as well. Imagine if just 30 people with a minimum of 1,000 on their lists participated, that means you get exposure to 30,000 people! Not that many will buy the book (I wish!) but it could mean you could grow your lists by a couple hundred or more.

Please email me direct if you are interested in participating and I will send you more details as soon as I have the launch date.

Thought for the day:

"Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that amateurs built the Ark. Professionals build the Titanic."

Author Unknown

Need a speaker for your event?

“Worth More Than Rubies is a great starting place for moms who desire to work from home. Packed full of practical, useful information as well as the story of Kathie's own journey, I know this will bless many, many women.”
~ Jill Hart, CWAHM.com

"Kathie is a brilliant woman! I belong to a common forum with her. She is a huge inspiration!"
~ Dawn Lawson

Kathie M. Thomas gives women permission to return home and shares with the audience how she did exactly that, bringing up 5 daughters, while establishing a new industry, using skills she'd developed in the corporate world for over 20 years.

Where is Kathie speaking this month?

No bookings for June as yet, however I am speaking at many places in July.

8 July 2008
VBG Seminar - details to be advised

12-13 July 2008
Business Mums National Conference 2008 ,
Holmesglen Conference Centre, Chadstone, Victoria
Keynote Speaker with workshop

19 July 2008
Discover Church @ 6pm
31 East Boundary Road, East Bentleigh

21 July 2008
MCEI Mini Expo & Seminar
Metropole Brunswick St, Fitzroy

25 July 2008
CVAN Seminar
How a Blog Can Help Your Business

29 July 2008
Executive Assistant & Personal Assistant 2008
Kings Park Function Centre, Perth, Australia
Topic: Succeed Through Networking

30 July 2008
Morning tea for Virtual Assistants in Perth. Venue to be advised.
Cost: whatever you buy on the day. Please advise if you plan to attend.

Kathie can speak at your next meeting, seminar or conference on:

• Email Etiquette
• Blogging for business or a book
• Hidden Benefits of Working at Home
• It's a Virtual World

About Our Organisation…

What is a Virtual Assistant?
It's a term for home-based secretaries, administrative and secretarial support, and others who supply remote or virtual office support.

We are as close to you as your computer and can do almost anything traditional support staff do - except virtually. You don't need to provide office space, equipment, software or furniture - we have our own!

Location no issue as the work is carried out 'virtually' no matter where you are!  However, if you need someone locally we can supply. See our list at VA Directory

We have a new resource for the VA Industry called VANetwork News. If you're interested in what's happening, or would like to know more about the industry, then please do visit! There are opportunities for suppliers of services and products to sponsor the newsletter.

Make sure you visit OIVAC for their upcoming convention in May! A fantastic 3 day online conference with speakers from many different countries - there is sure to be a topic of interest to you!