My main concern with diving headlong into the world of social media, has been the need to find something valuable to post - regularly. And, of course, by that, I mean valuable to my readers, not to me!

My main vehicles for Words By Wendy right now are this blog, Facebook and Linked In.

The blog is self-explanatory, as this is where I will post all the lessons I'm learning, but I think I really need to differentiate the Facebook and Linked In pages - give them each a distinct flavour and purpose.

In the balance I have decided to keep the Facebook page as more personal; this is where I'll talk about what I'm doing with the business, what I'm working on and so on.

The Linked In page will be a place where I provide short tips, advice and suggestions.

Plus, of course, both will have links to this updated blog.

In terms of frequency - I really do believe that posting too often can be as hazardous as posting infrequently. I've settled on weekly, unless I have something time-sensitive to say (such as blog updates)

Oh, and by the way, the Greentree Landscapes facebook page is now up and running, although it doesn't yet have much on it. Please make sure check it out.

My third subject is Larchwood Nurseries, a tree growing operation based in Camrose, Alberta.

Larchwood has, until now, been supplying trees in relatively small numbers to the Calgary landscaping community and some homeowners. As the farm has increased in size, Larchwood now has an inventory which requires more aggressive marketing.

Larchwood has no website, which will undoubtedly have to be addressed, but for the moment the trees are being promoted to personal contacts in the industry and via regular emailings to target landscapers.

Facebook will be an important tool for Larchwood as Tarance lives and works in Calgary, but grows the trees up near Camrose. When he is up on the tree farm he hopes to take advantage of sales opportunities there, and Facebook will be a great way to provide that information. In support of that, postcards are delivered to new homes and builders in Camrose, promoting the Facebook page.

So, although there will inevitably be some hard costs, such as for the postcards, social media should be able to provide a solid platform for providing information on availability.

Greentree Landscapes, my second test subject, has been in business since 1992. They specialize in upscale, residential landscape design and construction.

Owner, Tarance, is a landscape architectural technologist (designer), and has kept the company staffing tight so that he can maintain control of their very high construction standards.

Greentree used to do the Home and Garden Show every Spring, but for the past five or six years have been getting as much work as they can deal with, primarily from referrals and word of mouth. They also have a very effective flyer (written by me!) which they hand deliver to highly targeted residences and which gets them a steady supply of very well qualified leads.

Greentree has an old, and not very user-friendly website, www.greentreelandscapes.com which is really going to have to be completely redesigned before we can get close to 'no-budget'.

I also think it would be madness to abandon the leaflets (although that cost is fairly low as they don't blanket-deliver, they may only hand out a couple of hundred a year to get the leads they need).

Greentree's main challenge right now is keeping the momentum going at a time when landscaping has become a luxury that most people are cutting back on. Budgets are smaller, and many potential clients are shopping around for the cheapest contractor, who is not always the most qualified or professional.

We are having to work harder than usual to generate the kind of leads who are willing to pay for Greentree's creativity, experience and technical expertise.

Online marketing will be very much used to support Tarance's personal approach to sales and customer service.

Before I introduce you to Greentree Landscapes, I want to share an insight which is going to keep me sane, and which might help you in your business, too.

At an E-Women networking meeting this evening, Tamara Pulles from Inspired Coaching Design talked about breaking your goals into turtle steps, and that's exactly what I've been trying to do here.

Although I can write all the content we need for websites, articles, blogs and so on, I'm totally intimidated by the business of integrating media and tools, creating links, implementing auto-responders and all those other technicalities which are going to make or break this project.

It's tempting to get overwhelmed by all I need to learn, but instead I'm making sure I take it a small step at a time. That means setting up facebook accounts and familiarizing myself with everything we can achieve with them. I'm already on Linked In for Words By Wendy, and now the blog.

But at the same time, I'll keep reading and researching how to maximize all those tools. And as I learn, I'll share it all in this blog.

So stay posted. In the meantime, please check out my website at www.wordsbywendy.ca

Introducing Words By Wendy

In this first post, I'm going to introduce myself and explain what my own objectives are for this project.

I'm Wendy Zak, of Words By Wendy. I'm a freelance direct response copywriter, with a long (very long!) background in the industry. I really know my stuff when it comes to how people read and how to motivate a purchasing decision. I write copy that is very readable, and which creates a reaction and response.

I also offer strategic advice to my clients on the tools and techniques that will help them achieve their objectives. I can write killer copy for those tools, but just don't ask me any technical questions about how the tools are created!

I have been freelancing since 2003 and, building the business mostly through networking. I quickly got to the point where business became self-sustaining through word of mouth and referrals. I like to think that's because I do great work.

But, now I'm ready to grow my business to the next level - and I need to use broader tools to branch beyond my network.

I currently have a website - which is a highly effective sales tool, but this project will see to what extent I can generate traffic to that site using social media.

Despite the lofty goal of achieving 'no-budget' marketing, there are obviously some on-going expenses for stationery and networking that won't go away.

That's Words By Wendy in a nutshell. I'll introduce you to Greentree Landscapes and Larchwood Nurseries in the next two posts.