About

Welcome to the Colorado Marketing Coach Blog. I’m Laura Benjamin, a Colorado Springs coach, small business owner and President of Pinehurst Press Ltd. Communication and Career Strategies. I also teach classes on social media, search strategies and blogging to help you promote your company, career, membership club or trade association.

How I Was Bit by the Blogging Bug

First off, I am NOT a tekkie. But way back in 2000, I knew I needed a website for my business, so I took a class and bought a copy of Microsoft Frontpage. With the help of a friend who showed me how to set up my first page, I was off and running. The site grew over time, along with my ego, and a few years later I graduated to Dreamweaver.

Little did I know how helpful those early experiences (and mistakes) would be. I learned how to create pages with keyword phrases to attract traffic and use the right words so people would pick up the phone and hire me. In January 2006, I figured that if one website produced great results for my business, a blog or two would skyrocket me to fame and fortune! (Well, not really. It just seemed like cool technology and I wanted yet another way to influence the world! BWAHAHAHAHAAA!.) So I gave blogging a whirl and before long I had more than one.

From Fumbling User to Social Media and Blogging Coach

Soon I could apply what I’d learned from building basic websites to the exploding social media phenomenon. People started asking me to teach them the “in’s and out’s” – so I did. There’s nothing better than helping others learn and leverage something you’ve tested for yourself. And the great thing is, if you love the language, enjoy people and know what words can do, social media and blogging are a natural fit!

Since starting my business in 1997, I’ve had to learn how to market myself and my business to put food on the table for those young ‘uns. Yes, there were slip-ups and a LOT of “adjusting the rudder” to see what worked and what didn’t. I almost bailed a few times when things got tough, thinking perhaps a “real job” would be easier! But somehow it has all worked out fine and here’s what I’ve learned that hopefully you will see reflected in my blog posts:

Marketing is…

• easier when you know what you’re good at, communicate clearly with those who have a need and are able to deliver good results in a consistent manner
• being straight with people – if you can’t do what they need, then don’t risk the relationship
• the discipline to eliminate what’s not paying the bills, what people don’t value or what you don’t enjoy
• the desire to keep learning in anticipation of changing market conditions; it’s crucial to adapt – to look towards the horizon and spot trends as quickly as possible if you want to remain viable
• a test to not take it personally when people don’t hire you – there are a multitude of reasons why they can’t or won’t make that decision and often it has nothing to do with you!
• an ability to bounce back, think “next” and move on when you have a bad day, lose a client or fail to impress a prospect
• the never ending effort to keep that pipeline full, so you can remain optimistic that the next “yes” is right around the corner!
• the joy of making friends and building relationships with folks who like you, trust you, refer you and are able and willing (one day) to do business with you!

I hope you enjoy this blog. It is definitely a labor of love and a work in progress!

Warm regards, Laura Benjamin

BRIEF BIO:

Laura Benjamin was a mid-level manager one Friday morning in 1997 and a self-employed single parent later that afternoon. She served in the US Air Force as a paralegal and is Mom to three great young adults. In a former life, she was a senior employee benefits specialist, career coach, customer service rep and phone center sales team manager. She coaches, consults, speaks, trains and facilitates for clients throughout the US, writes from a historic log cabin at 7200 ft., publishes three blogs and an email newsletter. She is the creator of the CARLA Concept Communication Model and author of a forthcoming book to be self-published in 2011. Laura has cleaned stalls, chopped wood, hunted elk and to this day, loves chocolate ice cream. She’s tolerated by two cats and a few pesky squirrels.