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February 05, 2010

Exciting Projects: Internet Business Coaching and BlogTalk Radio Show Comeback

2010 has started off with exciting ideas and projects in the works!

As an internet marketer by profession, I've decided that it's finally time to share my knowledge and connect with people to help them realize their dreams of starting an internet business.

I recently launched my internet business coaching program, so if you're interested in getting your business up and running, I'd love to help you out!

Click here to find out more about my internet business coaching program...

If you already have an internet business and just need help with marketing, I'm available to help you with that as well.

Also, I've decided to bring back my Studio 747 BlogTalk radio show for those of you who need inspiration and help with living a more successful life.  Whether it be your business life or personal life, I cover various topics that hopefully will spark the fire that propels you to reach all of your goals. 

So far I'm staying focused on my vision of helping people live their passion...I sometimes get overwhelmed because there are so many ideas floating around in my head!  I want to do everything right now, but I'm still in the process of learning to slow down and just have fun with it all.

Listen to Studio747 on Blog Talk Radio

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October 21, 2009

Taking Business and Life To the Next Level

It's been a whirlwind summer.  My writing business has really taken off with client projects coming in - one after another.  This has been the first week in a couple months that I've actually had the time to just mellow out and catch up on blog readings and books. 

Although I am very grateful for the business, I've come to realize that I prefer to have an internet business that is more automated - the kind of business that many experienced internet marketing entrepreneurs talk about.  I'm aiming to create my own product and have a system set up so that I can have a stream of income that comes in without any real effort on my own part. 

Continue reading "Taking Business and Life To the Next Level" »

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August 06, 2009

What To Do With Big Ideas


I’m currently working on a project with my best friend that, in my mind, is the “next best thing”.  I’m thrilled and very excited about this project because it is very much in line with my vision in life…to bring people together in peace and unity.  

That’s all I can say right now about this project as my friend and I have decided to keep it hush hush until we finalize everything and get a concrete business plan in place.  

Have you ever had an idea come to you that made you jump up with electrified excitement?  That’s how I felt when this idea came to me.  Now, I have many ideas that come to me throughout the day, but this particular idea really sent a surge through me.  It’s a BIG idea.  

Right after the idea came to me, another thought came:  Wow, this is big.  Do you want to invest the time?  It’s going to take a lot of work.  I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one that this has happened to.  That little voice of doubt and fear creeps up.  

I’ve learned, though, to counter-act those questions of doubt with one single question:

Continue reading "What To Do With Big Ideas" »

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July 22, 2009

Setting Priorities

Quote on Priorities by Stephen Covey

Between spending time with my family in Lemoore, chugging away at my ebook, and working on client's projects, a month has passed and I haven't updated this blog.  All I can say is that there is never a dull second in my life.  But don't take this as a complaint, I am surely grateful for having a very busy and productive life.  That's the lifestyle choice I made. 

For the past couple weeks I've been getting my life organized, revisiting my visions and dreams, and making sure my priorities are straight.  I must give a big shout-out and thank you to my business coach, Maureen Orey, for helping me stay on track.  If you ever need someone to help keep you mentally focused on what needs to be done to get your business going, then you should check out Maureen's website or follow her on Twitter. 

Continue reading "Setting Priorities" »

Posted by Maria Palma at 03:46 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

June 13, 2009

Mission: Get Out of the Rat Race

Doing Work at StarbucksBeing the entrepreneur that I am, my mind is non-stop when it comes to business ideas.  I also have friends who are realizing the skills that I have and are asking me to help them with their businesses. 

Yes, people are beginning to feel the power of the internet and social networking.  What used to be thought of as frivolous activities (i.e. blogging or hanging out on Twitter and Facebook) have become opportunities to make money. 

My friend told me the other day, "If I had listened to you three years ago and started my own blog, I would probably be making alot of money right now and spending more time with my kids!"

Well, it's definitely not too late to make money on the internet!  If you've come across this blog looking for tips and ideas on starting an internet business, check out my online business blog. 

I read about people who are losing their jobs due to the economy and it's motivating me to get my ebook finished.  I know that there many people waking up to this idea of having their own internet business.  If I could help even one person get away from the rat race, I will be happy.  People have to stop relying on a 9-5 job for their income and start taking charge of their abundance!

Continue reading "Mission: Get Out of the Rat Race" »

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April 09, 2009

Less Work, More Play (And Money!)

A Day at the ParkThat's been my mantra since the beginning of the year.  I've set the intention that I'm going to work on my business versus working in my business.  I'm referring to my blog network, Studio 747.

I want to take Studio 747 to the next level...and in order for me to do that, I'm going to have to get help.  I love writing and blogging, but having to write on 10+ blogs does take a great deal of time!  I have taken one step towards my goals and outsourced a small portion of my blog writing. 

Today I came across Leo Babauta's post, Don't Have Time For Your Goals?  Simplify Your Commitments.  Of course, it was a timely post as I have been thinking of ways that I can cut the things that I feel obligated to.  (Really?  I don't have to post to my blogs every week?)  I've noticed that I've been watching more TV and spending more time on Twitter than usual, so I'm going to work on spending less time on unproductive activities.  Not to say that Twitter is unproductive because I think connecting with others is beneficial to my business.  I'll spend 30 minutes on Twitter from now on versus 1 or 2 hours.

Continue reading "Less Work, More Play (And Money!)" »

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April 15, 2008

Have I Told You "Thank You" Lately?

When I worked at Nordstrom we were required to write two Thank you Cards a day to our customers.  Back then it seemed like such a hassle - after all, any time away from the floor meant that I was losing sales.  However, it wasn't until I left Nordstrom and began working on my own business did I realize the power of Thank You.

I haven't been consistent in saying Thank You to my customers lately, but today I'm committing to reviving the art of the handwritten thank you note.  Here's an example of what I would write in a thank you card to a jewelry client:

Dear Miss Customer,

I just wanted to drop a note to thank you for your jewelry purchase.  I hope that you are enjoying the necklace!  If you have any feedback, please don't hesitate to call or write to me. 

All the Best,
Maria
"Salon de Maria"

Very short and sweet, but hopefully it puts warm fuzzies in people's hearts.  It's rare to get a thank you note these days - and handwritten to boot!

If you just don't have the time to create your own cards like I do, CardsDirect has Thank you cards that you can purchase online.
Thank You Card
However, you don't have to have a business just to send a card - why not send a Thank You to a friend just for being a great friend? 

By the way, have I told you "Thank You!" lately for reading this blog?  I appreciate you! 
Thank-you-signature.jpg

Posted by Maria Palma at 02:33 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

April 10, 2008

Maria Palma: Designer, Writer, and SEO Geek

Maria Palma, SEO Geek As an entrepreneur and artist, I have many jobs and wear many hats.  What you may not know about me is that besides being a jewelry designer and writer, I've also designed all my blogs and do the marketing for every one of them.  This means one of the many hats that I wear is SEO Geek. 

I'm proud to say that I'm a SEO geek.  For those of you who don't know, SEO stands for "Search Engine Optimization" which basically means that I work on designing and marketing my websites so that the search engines can easily find them.  Any and every person who owns a website or blog should be familiar with some SEO techniques and tactics - especially those who create their own content. 

I've spent countless hours researching all the different ways to rank high in the search engines.  It's great to come across other artists and designers like the ones over at this seo blog who have a passion for what they do.  All the reading and research has been worthwhile as I am now able to help the clients I write articles for become more knowledgeable about search engine optimization. 

If you need help getting your website indexed and ranked in the search engines, feel free to contact me:  maria [at] salondemaria [dot] info

Posted by Maria Palma at 02:38 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

March 09, 2008

Living My Childhood Dreams

The other day I watched this video that Steve Olson put together where he talks about living your childhood dreams...

My mind went back to when I was 4-years-old and asked my parents for a typewriter.  I wanted to be a secretary "when I grow up".  Even when some of the keys had fallen off from excessive use, I was still tapping away at that typewriter!  Thank God for computers because it was so frustrating to have a typo and have to put white-out on the paper.  Then you had to wait for the white out to dry!  I'm sure some of you can relate ;) 

My aha moment came the other day when I realized that I had taken for granted the fact that I have reached my dream of being a writer!  I somehow never did become a secretary...Well, actually, in some ways I did become one because my first job out of high school was working as a telemarketer for an insurance agent.  I also answered the phones and entered info into the computer. 

Those dreams of being a secretary were replaced with dreams of being my own boss and doing something I love.  It was five years ago that I was working at Nordstrom thinking, "Wouldn't it be great if I could be paid to write all day?"

Continue reading "Living My Childhood Dreams" »

Posted by Maria Palma at 09:46 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

August 28, 2007

Life As A One Woman Blog Network

It's almost one in the morning and I've barely done anything I wanted to do today.  I should know better than to depend on a To Do list to measure my accomplishments...Yet, I feel overwhelmed - so overwhelmed that I'm frozen - unable to do anything period. 

And for what reason?  It's not like a have a boss breathing down my neck wondering why I decided to watch Nanny McPhee instead of work on building traffic to my blogs.  It was supposed to be a month of following bliss and yet, I feel guilty of doing just that!  Why, or why?

I could hire bloggers to contribute to my blogs and that would certainly take some load off, but that's a task in itself and just another thing to add to the To Do list.  I could also blog less...But would that affect my traffic? 

I keep coming back to this thought:

"It's not what you do...It's how you do it."  Exactly what does that mean and how does it apply to what's going on with my business right now?  What is The Universe trying to tell me? 

Excuse my "babble", but writing out my thoughts has helped me get a little more perspective on my feelings and is steering me in the direction I need to go...

This is all supposed to be fun, remember, Maria?  Nothing you can't handle and a cup of wine can't cure ;)
 

Posted by Maria Palma at 01:51 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

August 23, 2007

New Items in the Gift Shop!

I've been up until the wee hours of the morning still adding new products to my gift shop over at CafePress.  I figured this would be the perfect way to bring in some extra cash for the Christmas season!

I like sitting down and making handcrafted greeting cards, but right now I seem to be having more fun making graphics with Photoshop.  I like the idea of being able to create something within a matter of minutes.  Instant gratification! 

BBQ cooking apron To the left is a BBQ apron with a picture of yellow daisies on it. I took the picture one day as I was strolling through the neighborhood... San Diego mugThe picture on this mug was taken in Balboa Park in San Diego. I love the architecture of the museums and of course, what's a San Diego picture without palm trees!  Click on the pictures to purchase...

If you would like a product custom made for you, drop me a line:  maria [at] salondemaria [dot] info.

Posted by Maria Palma at 11:19 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

July 30, 2007

Marketing Your Art Business

marketing art.jpgIf you're looking for a very inexpensive way to get exposure for your art, take this idea from Barbara Rush. [via the Art News Blog] This is a very good idea to get seen by hundreds of people a day - depending on how much you drive, of course. I've actually done this with my old car. All I did was buy those letter stickers that you can get at any office supply store and put my website address on the back window of my car. Not only is this a very good for marketing vehicle (no pun intended), but now your car has become a tax write off! Ask your accountant how this could work for you...

For some more ideas on how to market your art business, I published an article over at Associated Content which offers a couple ways to get more exposure as an artist.

Also, here are a couple more tips to market your art business:

  • Get free business cards from VistaPrint and always, always have them handy.  This is one way to market your art business that is so obvious, but is often overlooked.   You just never know who you're going to meet on a daily basis. 
  • Print your art and website on a few t-shirts and give them to friends and family to wear around town.  CafePress is currently running a promotion - buy 3 t-shirts and get 1 free!

Do you have any marketing ideas to share?



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