A while ago “Second Life” was a big deal, and everyone was talking about the virtual world and how it would change everything. It didn’t. Now, we are all excited about Twitter. I’ve become addicted to it.

I have HootSuite, and Twitter my comments on a timely basis, and answer everyone…and maybe it is doing something for my agency…but I’m not sure yet. I spent a lot of time on it over the weekend, and then looked at my results.

It was amazing for me to see that the one tweet that got the highest response was one I wrote about direct mail, sending people to Michael McCormick’s blog, http://gutsofaburglar.com

The funny thing about that is …our agency still gets most of our new business from targeted direct mail programs.  We weave a great story into a letter, include an offer and a time limit…and Voila! People call us.

Of course, I know that Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr will all eventually work for us too. It is just a matter of testing different strategies. The important thing is to build relationships and the best way to begin that is to work on a “knowledge level”,
understanding who your prospect is, and something about him/her. These social media sites help us that way, because when you read someone’s tweets …you get to know them better.

So, keep on Twittering, and Facebooking, and emailing…and always remember to continue to test the “tried and true” direct mail program. It will work even better now, because our mailboxes at home and at work…are really quite empty.

Meanwhile, visit me on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/loisgeller

I was recently interviewed by Steve Garmhausen for Crain’s New York Small Business about ways to save on business travel.  I think the article came out great. Here’s the link… you might get helpful ideas for your own travel.

Every day the news blasts are about the economy and job losses get me down. Then I watch my brokerage account plummet. Topping that off, new business is not as active as usual and everyone is talking about cutting their budgets. So how do you keep your spirits up, and the enthusiasm going?

Well, one of my friends said “just fake it until you make it”. Another friend said that you need to think of the alternative, and figure ” … well I’m alive.”

When I was very young my Mom took me to the Marble Collegiate Church in New York City and we heard Norman Vincent Peale talk about the Power of Positive Thinking. We knew that it worked, even before Rhonda Byrne The Secret.

Then this week I read in the New York Post about the fact that happiness is contagious. When you interact with a happy person, it increases the likelihood that you are happy by 15% (according to The British Medical Journal).

So the more happy people you know, the higher the likelihood that you’ll be happy too. The study from Harvard Medical School used 4700 people and the findings said that happiness is more contagious than unhappiness.

I have to be happy each day because I have a great guy who works with me, and he’s always upbeat and has a smile on his face. His name is Pepper Huff, and even if our business should get slow he’ll always put a smile on my face. He adds energy to our office.

So, get rid of the sourpusses in your life, and get together with positive folks. The economy? It will take care of itself, either way.