Social Networking for Business made easy by ping.fm. Picked up a tip from No Fee Referral Network today…..”one post does it all”

Greater Atlantic City Chamber Mixer

Michael Stark of TV Atlantic in Northfield, Ken Schaffer of Atlantic Broadcasting in Linwood, and myself, David Finch, Sign A Rama of Egg Harbor Township attended the Chamber of Commerce After Hours Business Mixer at the Accent Aesthetics Spa inside of Tilton Fitness of Galloway Township last evening.
It was a terrific opportunity to network with other local area businesses.
Attendance was great and our hosts did an outstanding job. Free wine sampling and appetizers as well as some nice free door prizes.

Hello again.

You may have noticed I’ve taken a little break from updating the Letip of the Shore blog. In the past 7 months there have been many changes, sooo… let me take a moment to re-introduce myself.  David Finch, owner of Sign A Rama of Egg Harbor Township, and Vice President of the Letip of the Shore chapter of Letip International. We’ve established this blogsite to promote the Letip organization,and  our chapter members’ businesses.

One important change is our meeting venue, we meet every Tuesday  at 6:45 am at the Point Diner on the Somers Point Circle.  Come see how we can help put Dollars In Your Pocket.

From our Vice President

Thanks  to Sandy Atkinson for the following post:

Spring has sprung and so has LeTip of the Shore Memberships……Today, we’ve  sprung from 12 Members to 15 Members.  I would like to extend a warm welcome to:

Dr. Jennifer Fresh
Fresh Start Chiropractic
Linwood, NJ 08221
Category: Chiropractic

Mark Brine
Heartland Payment Systems
Galloway, NJ  08205
Category:  Credit Card Processing

Rich Manin
Richard S. Manin Insurance
Mays Landing, NJ  08330
Category:  Insurance – Health, Life, Disability

Some other occupational categories that members are looking to give business to are:  Accountant, Web Designer, Painter, Massage Therapist, Mechanic, Apparel Printer, Restaurant Owner, Banker, and Appraiser. If you know of any of these business owners that may be looking to increase their business, have them come out to our meeting on Tuesday mornings at 7 a.m. at the Atlantic City Country Club in Northfield.  They won’t be disappointed.
In other LeTip News, we are looking for a restaurant to host our upcoming Business Mixer.  Michael Stark has many restaurant contacts and will be asking them.  If you are a restaurant owner and would like to host our event, please contact Michael Stark at (609) 338-8156.   Jim Griggs, our Business Mixer Chairperson, will be keeping us on track with choosing a date, location, and publicizing the event.  Keep posted to find out when and where.

LeTip…….90 Minutes a Week, Endless Opportunities!!!

Time is Money,  So Make The Most of It.   Join Us and Reap the Rewards of Solid Leads!

WARNING: Credit card scam through email.

“Below is my payment and the shipping address details.Split the total amount on the cards below”
This seems to be a common phrase in the latest email scam I’ve been receiving.  The messages are characterized by terrible grammar, and the senders always ask for an order that will need to be shipped and the orders typically total between 3 and 8 thousand dollars. I’ve been asked to provide authorization codes for the charges, and /or tracking numbers for the shipping.

Fortunately, I have a great relationship with my Merchant Service Provider and have never been stung by this scam, but have heard stories about others who have. I must admit I do enjoy playing along and seeing how long I can keep the dialogue going, as I forward all the e-mails to my card processor.

The latest is from someone claiming to be Susan Wilson, and she is ordering $3000 worth of HP Toner cartridges (which I don’t sell). I’ve been dragging it out for over a week and a half and have been given five different credit card numbers with different addresses. All of which have been forwarded to my card processor.

Here are some telltale signs you should look for:

1. The sale was too easy.    If  you quote the price and they instantly reply with their credit card info the sale was too easy.
2. The grammar is atrocious.  Megan, our graphic designer, thinks it was witten in a foreign language and translated with Google Translator,  I’m inclined to agree.
3. The addresses are fake.   Use Google maps and do a search on any address they provide, especially if they add USA, or United States to the end of the address.
4. They supply more than one credit card number at a time.
5. They ask for the credit card authorization codes.
6. They do not supply a telephone number they can be reached at.

Remember, if it seems to good to be true…

Do some research, call your credit card processing company, give them the card numbers, and forward them the emails.

What’s my age again?

My Linkedin profile is connected to my website I’ve got multiple phone numbers, and multiple URL’s, and I’ve got blogs, with widgets, one widget even checks for tweets on twitter, and I ask myself not only What’s my age again?, but…  what language am I speaking? We’ve got Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Flickr, Meetup, Bebo, and Xing, to name a few.  Look up social networking sites on Wikipedia and there will be more than a hundred different names.

Social networking is changing the way people communicate, it’s changing the way we do business. Skittles became the hot topic for a week because they turned their website into a Twitter page, I don’t know what that means, but if the world does a double-take it must mean something.

I grew up as part of the generation that watched the technologically miraculous become commonplace. We played Pong, and Centipede, we knew what B.A.S.I.C. programming was.  We may be the last generation that actually used a phone with a dial on it. We can remember the first portable phone, the first portable computer, and the first portable tv, none of which gave any indication that they would lead to today’s Ipods, Iphones, and Blackberry’s.

St. Patrick’s Day

A double holiday,  of sorts,   St. Patrick’s Day,  and Letip Election Day, of course even with both events falling on the same day we’re still not able to stay home from work.  Great attendance at the meeting  all but two members were present, and  Dr. Thomas H. Miller of Miller Chiropractic Wellness Center in Pleasantville attended as a guest of Jim Griggs.

Sandy reminded us to keep Kathy Brady in our thoughts with warm wishes for a speedy recovery. Chris Jones was our speaker and he educated us about Brian’s proposed Butterfly Garden,  and he said a few things about trees as well. Chris’ speech was followed by the ballot and we elected a full Board of Directors.

President- Chris Jones      VP- Sandy Atkinson    Tipmaster- Brian Ernst   Secretary- Rich Martucci     Treasurer- Chris Mooney   Membership Chair- Roger Mussa

Congratulations and thanks to our newly elected Board of Directors.

Committee Chairs  are appointed by the Board, and Michael Stark has been appointed as our Ethics Chair, and I will be continuing in my role as the Chapter Mentor.

Mentor Minute

Having trouble getting motivated?  Motivate someone else.  The natural tendency is to find someone to commiserate with and share your pain, fight that tendency!  Instead say something encouraging to the people you come in contact with, good words bring good feelings, when you hear them and when you say them. Seeing someone you just encouraged go out and close a deal may be just the motivation you need.

It’s Much better to overDO it than Overthink it.    (a perfect St. Patrick’s Day sentiment)

Letip Blog List

Check out some of the blogs Letip of the Shore members have published. Listed under Blogroll on the right hand side of this page you will find blogs by Roger Mussa, myself, and the newest blog from our vice president Sandy Atkinson. Please check out these links, if you like what you see, post a comment. If you have a blog or website you would like to see promoted please contact me.

The combination of social networking, blogging, and posting comments to discussions and blogs is providing businesses with a unique opportunity for free internet advertising. Let’s take advantage of this opportunity before it goes away or becomes something we need to pay for.  If you are uncertain how to proceed, ask Sandy, Roger, or myself.  Just one more benefit of belonging to a group like Letip is having business associates you can turn to with technical questions.

Chamber of Commerce Mixer

Another terrific networking event by the Greater Atlantic Chamber of Commerce, for those Letip members who attended the mixer Great Job! Letip of the Shore definitely had a strong presence, members in attendance included:

• Michael Stark – TV Atlantic
• Sandy Atkinson – Custom Printing & Marketing
• Roger Mussa – Morgan Stanley
• Brian Ernst – BE Home Improvements
• Jim Griggs – Mercado Lending Corporation
• And myself – David Finch – Sign A Rama

Sandy had a stack of business card magnet schedules and Letip free breakfast cards and was promoting our group and her company at the same time. For anyone who had read an earlier post regarding Constant Promotion, take a lesson from Sandy.

Indulge me for a moment as I share a feeling I experienced at Red Square.

Who can dispute the power of Letip networking?  We worked that mixer like a real team! I was at times an observer and a participant as Letip members introduced each other to new prospects. There was no other group of business owners at the mixer who networked as well as Letip of the Shore.

Thanks go out to the staff of Red Square, the Chamber of Commerce, and to my fellow Letip members. Think about what we do for each other and ask yourself what business would not want to benefit from that type of relationship.

Nominations for Board of Directors

The Nominations for the Letip Board are as follows:

President:  Chris Jones

Vice President:  Sandy Atkinson

Treasurer: Chris Mooney

Secretary: Rich Martucci

Membership:  Jim Griggs   &   Roger Mussa

Tipmaster:  Brian Ernst

Congratulations to all those nominated, we will be voting Tuesday March 17th,  St. Patrick’s Day.  Please make a special effort to attend and show your support for our nominees.

On Another Topic:

We all want more business, otherwise we would stay in bed Tuesday mornings.

I challenge every member of Letip to build their businesses.

Build your business by building your sales force.

Build your business by promoting it in every venue available to you.

• Promote your company website
• Promote the Letip organization
• Promote the Letip website www.LetipOfTheShore.com
• Promote this blog
• Promote your fellow members
• Attend the Chamber of Commerce events (Red Square 3/11, 5-7pm)
• Join Linkedin

If you do these things you will get more business. Become a Constant Promoter, you will get more business.   To become a Constant Promoter you just need to promote constantly.