Sue Varty's blog

I began micro-blogging on Twitter when I started my business full-time. At the time I was ghost writing for other blogs and didn't have a lot of time for my own blog. Plus, I really wanted to get paid for what I wrote.

Now that I'm a little further along in my business journey, I have been able to reflect on how Twitter, face-to-face networking, and just providing information for free has increased my sales.

It's what Michael Banofsky said: "your brand is what you give away for free". This statement has had a great impact on me since I'm very focused on sales and so are my clients. It was actually very shocking to hear since I thought my true brand value was only available to (paying) clients.

It was this time last year that I started a monthly electronic newsletter sent by email to my clients and business associates. My goal was to bring something of value to my subscribers every month - something from a business person's perspective.

Elie Kochman, owner of Optimal Upgrade Consulting, is a prolific and articulate writer who also happens to be a technology guru (who’s not afraid of a challenge). I found him on AdviceTap.com and the name of his company intrigued me. Contact Elie before you upgrade that system and be sure to read his own blog at Business and Networking: Advice to Home-based and Small Businesses.

In January 2009, I launched my consulting company, Optimal Upgrade Consulting. As part of the launch, I created a website that described my background and the services I offered. Additionally, the site had a blog, which quickly became the focal point of the entire site.

Initially, the topics I wrote about were as varied as the schedule, but after a couple months of wandering through a variety of topics, I settled on writing about issues facing the owners of small businesses. Not a huge surprise, considering that my target audience is small business owners.

On "Technology Day" at Seneca College (last Monday), I attended a workshop where the whole "class" was provided with an HP tablet.
 
The experience of using a stylus, tablet screen and the software behind the wired classroom had a profound impact on me as an educator and consultant.
 

One of my favourite collaborative tools is writeboard.com.

It's a very basic wiki that helps me work with clients without using attachments or even a login.

I've set one up that everyone can try in celebration of "Wordtree week"; A week to focus on my business.

So....write me a Wordtree tale!