Some of you might remember that last year I attended Blog World Expo.  If you are at all interested in learning about how social media strategy can help your businesses at warp speed, then this is the conference for you.  It is the essence of drinking from the firehose.

I recently wrote a post  on my company’s blog, Square Martini Media,  Blog World Expo Changed My Life in 2008! And It Could Change Yours in October 2009! This post talks in detail about what I love so much about this premier blogging conference.  Additionally, on the Blog World website, you can review a schedule of over 250 speakers who will present in over 80 sessions in various tracts.

You can also listen to my interview of the Blog World Founders on Boost Your Business Radio with my Co-Host Rieva Lesonsky.  Boost Your Business Radio airs live every Wednesday at 11am PDT just before Twitter Talk Radio at Noon PDT which I also host every week.

After attending Blog World Expo last year, I came home and changed my career.  I wonder what might happen to you and your business.  I urge you to spend a few minutes reviewing their speaker offering.  It is truly an eye opening experience for any working mother or  business professional.

An update on live meetings in San Diego….

Stay tuned for some other exciting events coming up the first week of November regarding Flexible Work and Gary Vaynerchuk! =-)

On April 8, I’ll be live on the air with two internet radio shows on www.wsradio.com. The first show is about entrepreneurism and the second show is….you guessed it, Twitter Talk Radio!

It’s my great honor to co-host a show about small business owners with Rieva Lesonsky.  Rieva is truly amazing.  She is a small business expert and she writes, speaks and helps small businesses all over the country.  We’ll be interviewing successful entrepreneurs and experts and talking about three major themes:

1. How despite all the negative economic news, now is one of the best times in history to start a business due to the opportunities available right now.
2. How to transition from Corporate American to an entrepreneurial lifestyle (sound familiar?  ie, my book, QUITTING IS EVERYTHING?)
3. Using Social Media to launch and support your entrepreneurial business.

Twitter Talk Radio will focus on Twitter of course but will slant largely to using Twitter for business.  You likely remember that my twitter affair started right here on Six Figure Moms Club last fall and progressed into a blog, Twitter Attraction.  Twitter Attraction and Twitter Talk Radio will work in tandem together.

But let’s get to the important stuff.  What’s in this post for you, Working Mothers?  I mentioned my best childhood friend Shelley Swisher above.  Shelley and I met in six grade and there would be weeks where you would never see one of us without the other.  She knew me better than anybody else. When my family moved to another town in the middle of ninth grade, we often got into trouble for having long distance phone bills for outrageous amounts.  If she knew me best and she thought I was going to be a broadcast journalist, then there was probably something important to that.  Why?  Because every career book out there will tell you that there are messages from your teenage years about what you are supposed to be doing with your life.  I know not all of you are searching for something new but a lot of you who talk to me are.

I loved journalism, writing, speaking, editing and all of the things I’m doing now back then.  I also didn’t like to do most of the same things I don’t like to do now too. What did you love back then and how can you turn those things into a business?

One last really fun thing about my talk show with Rieva, we’re doing a fun contest with listeners to name the show.  Look for a press release and an email blast on Monday

I woke up thinking about writing this post for Six Figure Moms Club today and what I was wishing for you working moms.  Yesterday, we saw great love sharing on Twitter which you can read about on my sister blog Twitter Attraction.  I wanted the same warm, enveloping feeling for you.  So, I decided to share a few things that have made me feel great today.

1. This article, A Vow of Love for Yourself written by Tama J. Kieves.
2. An article I wrote for the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) that might help you with your business: Promoting Your Business Using Social Media
3. Your On Ramp, a great company offering resources for moms who want to get back into the workforce owned by my friend Catherine Clifford.  Catherine wrote a terrific article this week on staying current, OMG, I’m obsolete!
   

I enjoy Valentines Day because of all the Red and Pink but mainly I love it because of the spirit of speading love.  When I was a little girl, my grandmother, my mother and my aunt all really loved Valentine’s Day and they spoiled me with lots of goodies.  (In fact, they still do   I hope I’ve spoiled you just a little today.  Now, go have an affair with yourself today.  Even if you stop for a quick latte for only 10 minutes or so, remember to honor yourself today, okay?

• I don’t publish pictures of my daughter on the internet….period. Not anywhere.
• Since this has not always been my policy so I ask friends and family to alert me if they come upon a picture that I’m not aware of so that I can promptly remove it.
• I don’t use my daughter’s given name when writing about her and my family. I’m sure there are people I meet in the public who ask her name and I answer. However, with regard to the internet, I don’t publish her name.
• I advise my friends not to publish their children’s pictures or names on the internet.
• I realize there are times when I may be in the public eye and events covered by the media may include pictures of me and my daughter. I will limit my daughter’s exposure when I can but realize this is inevitable.

You might be thinking, “But Angie, you of all people are a Social Media Evangelist who is having an affair with Twitter, How can you be so against using one of it’s best features to share joy with loved ones and friends?”. My answer to your question is a simple one. There’s no possible way that I can conceive of the same thoughts that a child killer/abuser can. I don’t think it’s possible for me to rationally assess the situation because that would require me, being able to stand in the shoes of the exact person that is a threat to my child. It’s just not possible. Thus, I am unprotected, because I live in a world of false security. I do believe there are wackos out there living in society ready to snap at any minute. I can’t protect myself or my family from them 100% but I can take the proper precautions and these are some of them, why wouldn’t I?

If you need more convincing, just read this article about how the US Army is worried that terrorists might use Twitter as a competitve war advantage.

President Obama’s ability to reach out and connect with Voters, specifically Generation Y is due to the fact that he embraced their language: texting and communicating with social media tools. Compare this to John McCain, clearly a novice, and it’s easy to see how a younger generation might feel they have only one clear choice for President. They just can’t relate to someone who can’t communicate with the tools of today. It’s a text book example of the generation gap.

So you say, interesting enough but how does this impact me, the working mother?

Think about it for a minute. If Barrack Obama can use Social Media to have a landslide competitive advantage over his competition, then why can’t you? If you’re an entrepreneur or you’ve been thinking about starting a venture, what can you learn from this recent presidential election? What can you implement for your own business? What can you plagiarize from Barack Obama’s presidential campaign? If our President used Linked In, Facebook, My Space, Twitter, why wouldn’t you? After all, he did spend millions on his campaign, likely the largest budget for market research this year. Why wouldn’t you maximize the research that he’s already done and copy that for your own business?

Clearly, I am a Social Media evangelist. I believe that Social Media is the path for working mothers to flexible work. In fact, I believe that it’s the path for not only working mothers but for anyone looking to lead a more independent lifestyle. Think about it. For the first time in history, the playing field has been equalized by the internet. We’ve all got the power to step up to the plate and hit a home run. Why shouldn’t it be you?

So, go see what your new President did to get elected and copy, copy, copy. Working moms, the man just showed you exactly how to do it. All we have to do is watch, listen and implement for our own businesses. How lucky are we to be living in these times?

Got examples of things you’ve already done? Love to hear from you so that other moms can learn! Leave a comment and if you like this post. Please stumble it!

Here are a few other interesting articles covering our new President’s Social Media success and predictions about how he might continue to use it moving forward:

Mashable: How Will President Obama Use His Massive Social Media Influence?

Search Marketing Gurus: Barack Obama: The First Social Media President?

Advertising Age: Obama’s Rivals Should Steal From His Social Playbook

Read Write Web: Obama’s Social Media Advantage

I haven’t ever talked with my mother about Twitter but she reads my blog so I guess she knows about the affair. Likely, she thought she better get more informed to see if an intervention is necessary

My mom has never been the stay-at-home, PTA president type. She’s always worked and been a career woman. Over the years, I’ve wished that she had stayed home with me and sometimes resented that she hadn’t. This summer, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about my relationships with the people in my life. This included the one with my mother. As you guys know, mother-daughter relationships are always complex. We daughters put a lot of pressure on our mothers don’t we?  I often think about what’s coming back to me from my daughter in the future…I’m sure in volumes to the nth degree.

What my summer of reflection has brought me to with my mom is that she supports me in all kinds of ways. Ways that are her own. No, she’s not a PTA mom but that’s not who she is. As I wrote in my last post, this seems to be the age of authenticity. My mom’s been living that message for a long time. She’s been steadfastly her as long as I can remember…Independently Nina. Here I am striving to be as clean and real as I can be and I’ve had a role model doing it right in front of me for as long as I’ve been alive. What do you know?

My mom gave me the coffee cup in the picture above sometime during my sophomore year in college. I’ve had it in every office I’ve ever had. She likely never knew how many times I shut my door, grabbed it during a tough afternoon in the office, had a soothing cup of tea in lieu of losing my temper over a negotiation gone sour. It really is the little things that keep us going sometimes isn’t it?

So, this week, I’ve received another new gift from my mom. One that, until now, she didn’t know how much it means to me. Because, after all, I’m really in love with Twitter and the magnitude of it’s power for all working moms and business owners.

My mom is following me on Twitter. Amazing! Thanks for everything Mom!

(Note, my moms twitter name isn’t Angiesmom.  I’ll protect her a little until she gets the hang of things.  Didn’t want her to have 500 followers overnight!  You can, however, follow me @aaswartz on Twitter)

You see, Rachel so graciously agreed to be a guest lecturer for a Six Figure Moms Club event in San Diego. Rachel and I spoke to a room of folks fairly new to social media about the almost endless benefits and ways to make money on the internet.

I spoke before Rachel arrived and started with a live Twitter feed up on the screen. The group was very inquisitive about Twitter and wanted a casual overview of how it works. We talked about the following:

• The feeling of confusion many people experience when they first sign up for Twitter. We discussed how many of them (me too) had signed up, sat there looking at the sceen saying, “Okay, I don’t get it. Now what do I do? How do I figure out who to follow?” or ” These people that have asked to follow me seem like stalkers. How do I block them? How do I make sure to protect my privacy and make sure I’m safe?”
• @PHDBRE was Tweeting away and had four posts in a row on the twitter feed. Everyone wanted to know why so many? Was she just really talkative? An overpromoter? What was she doing? I read her tweets aloud and explained that she was in the midst of conducting an online survey. Also, that @PHDBRE and I had communicated through DM’s earlier in the day about bloggers and my guess at their potential MBTI type of NT. This lead to a discussion of What is a DM? and Next, “Wow, Angie, Do you know her?” “Well, No, not face-to-face, but I hope to soon, and we did have a business related conversation (140 characters of course) earlier today”. They were amazed, glossy eyed and somewhat enthralled.
• Next we discussed how @AshleyMahaffey who was in the room, came because she found out about the event through connecting with me on Twitter. Next, we discussed a potential Tweetup between Ashley, me, @AnnVertel and @MariSmith sometime in the next few weeks…all as a result of Ashlee following me on Twitter.
• The group asked how do you learn Twitter lingo. @AshleyMahaffey offered a great resouce I can’t remember (so I’m hoping she’ll post it in the comments here) and I refered again to @MariSmith ’s Twitter LIngo Demystified.
• We also discussed that although several folks were interested in starting a blog, there were only a few folks in the room (in addition to the folks mentioned above) that had blogs like www.sandiegobargainmama.com, and www.healthwisewomen.com. This took us to a discussion of the untapped market of opportunity awaiting these six figure moms if they chose to embrace it.

Ok, back to Rachel, the main speaker. She presented, “Creating a FAPulous Website” and talked about how websites must have a clear Focus, contain a call to Action and be Personal. She then discussed the elements of a great website and maximizing the user experience. I twitted as she presented in hopes that any Tweeps not able to attend could get a taste of what she was talking about. (You can see what I tweeted by going here). Rachel also discussed how easy it is today to develop alliances with people using social media. Specifically, she discussed how she and her husband felt lucky to be corresponding with Guy Kawasaki, famous author/blogger.

We started a discussion in tandem both in the room and on Twitter about preferred Contact Management Systems/Autoresponders (aWeber vs. IContact) that continues today online. Meanwhile, Rachel’s husband, @webocsupport was twitting me, “Is the presentation over and what have you done with my wife?” from her home over an hour away. The night was a great success.

Today, just before writing this post, I finished my work day ordering some printed goods from a vendor I learned about at the event last night. When I called, she said, I know you, I follow you on Twitter and I offer discounts to all my Twitter friends. Check out @vpg_printing. She’s even offering some fabulous bonus to whomever is lucky enough to become her 1000th follower which she expects to happen by November 1. Perhaps that could be you?

One last note. If you are still wondering what you can do with Twitter, check out this great blogpost written by Dahna M. Chandler about Warren Whitlock, who she deems “Dr. Twitter” ” Why Do I Need Twitter and How Do I Use It? A Twitter expert tells you”.

Maybe, I’ll deem myself, “Mrs. Twitter” and see if that sticks….but alas, I think I might be getting ahead of myself a bit in our relationship…

So, again, can you see just a little why I can’t help but continue my affair with Twitter? I’m smitten.

I just returned from an 18 day trip last night. My last stop was Blog World Expo ‘08 in Las Vegas. I went to the conference to enhance my understanding of the New Media industry and to learn how to better serve you, my readers, as a writer/blogger. Little did I know of the almost limitless benefits that this little four day trip would bring me. I’m still digesting everything I learned over the past few days and I know I will be for quite some time. However, the one gem of the conference is this:

“If you’re a blogger, you’ve stepped up to your life, addressed your issues, cleaned things up enough that you’re willing to put yourself on stage to the world. You’re an entrepreneur, you’re authentic, you’re passionate, you’re open, you have a genuine desire to help others. You think outside of the box about life options.”

Those of you that know me or who have been reading my blog, know that this is my message to my clients and readers. Can you imagine how lucky I felt to be in a room with 1,000+ other likeminded people? SOOOO amazing!

That in itself would have been enough but in addition, I personally met and talked to at least ten bloggers on Technorati’s Top 100 list and I’m not talking about “Hi, How are you?, Nice to Meet You”…but real, genuine, meaty, helpful conversations. These folks are down to earth, modest, pioneers of their industry and they are ready to help open doors for the next generation to step through and join them. Crazy! I’ll be writing about some of them in the future in more detail but here are just a few of the folks I met, attended class or twitted with during the conference:

• Gary Vaynerchuk (Wine Library TV),
• Tim Ferriss (Author, 4 Hour Work Week),
• Mike Shinoda (Lincoln Park),
• Brian Clark (CopyBlogger),
• Guy Kawasaki (Alltop),
• John Chow (John Chow),
• Jeremy Shoemaker (ShoeMoney),
• Wendy Piersall (eMom)

So, the list of things we six figure moms can learn from the blogger community is long. This is a whole community of people making a living via flexible work options. They work long and hard but they love what they do and they live passionately. They are pioneers just like you can be. I feel like I just hit the jackpot.

As soon as I get a little sleep and collect my thoughts, I’ll share some more with you and we’ll continue on our journey together. In the meantime, feel free to email me with any specific questions.