Suzanne Vara is the owner of Kherize5, a small business advertising and social media marketing agency. Her passion for helping small business owners is what drives her each and every day. Suzanne is also a die-hard METS and JETS fan.

Who do you look up to?

I look up to women who are standing right next to the men in running companies, speaking engagements; the ones who “forget” there are gender biases and are making a difference each day. I also look up to some of the men in social media who are here to teach and share their knowledge.

How do you build blog traffic?

Pay attention to your surroundings and you will grow within yourself and also your audience.

Traffic  is built by having a strong presence on LinkedIn, Twitter, some forums as well as engaging within in the online community.

I find that the more active I am in reading, sharing comments on other blogs, the more engaged readers I bring over to the blog. Writing great content that is interesting, useful, sharable and consistent with the Kherize5 brand has played a big role in the building of the blog traffic.

What are some of your passions?

I love helping small businesses.

Bringing their dreams to life in the design of the logo, the marketing materials, the message, the website, in brick and mortars getting the shop set up, the happiness in their eyes and voice when they get the business up and running and they develop relationships with new customers.

Why do you enjoy blogging?

I enjoy blogging as it is an opportunity to give back to the clients to keep them in the know of what is going on as well as see a POV that they did not consider.

The research, the thought process as well as that little piece of me that goes into each article is what motivates me to blog and aim higher with each post so they resonate with the regular reader as well as new readers.

How can social media become more powerful?

Social media can be used in a more powerful way for many industries and individual businesses.

Each and every profile that a business has on one of the platforms is a means of advertising. When they wrap their arms around this notion that every single tweet, every single FB update or wherever they are updating that the mere fact that they are updating is an advertisement they are better suited to engage in social media. They are not focusing on their message as much and trying to get their products/services in front of people in a direct sales way. It is easier to engage when you are talking and not selling. However, the mere fact that you are talking is selling as people see you and learn what you do.

Offering help to people when they ask questions, sharing articles or examples of how others use social media, taking part in chats, checking in on people just to see how they are doing or for a big brand following up with people who reached out for some help or recently purchased for some feedback. Social media is not like traditional advertising where you publish your message only, the message in social media is what you do for the community.

How do you become a better blogger?

To be better in blogging, read, read and read some more.

Talk to people, comment on other blogs and get some conversations going. We learn so much from one another and it is not a one man team. It is shared throughout the entire online community as people want to share their thoughts but to those that are listening. Talking about other blogs in your blog, the spark for the inspiration to write the article, the comment that became a blog post. That is how to become a better blogger.

Pay attention to your surroundings and you will grow within yourself and also your audience.

How do you find happiness?

I find happiness from within, my friends/acquaintances and also my son.

He brings so much joy to my life with his wonderful personality. He is so full of life, energy, is so inquisitive, caring and loving that watching him and his quirkiness makes me so happy every single day. My other means of happiness is how I interact with people.

When others are happy and good things happen for them, I share their happiness as it shows how much we care.