Monday, April 30, 2012

Update - Minor Break Time

I only started this blog as a recreational thing to do in my spar time to assist people in changing their lives.  I have received so much positive feedback from you all and I enjoy reading your success stories.  The blog traffic has been amazing.  Over 100k+ visits in such a short time.  I need to take a minor break from the normal posting schedule and assist in the GCP marketing.  If you don't know about GCP or "Emotobooks" please click the link above in the bar.  April was the first month they launched and they have a great month but they need to ramp up and hit it strong.  Normal posting will resume in a few weeks so don't freight.  If you have any questions about your ventures don't hesitate to ask.  I will still be available, just won't be posting for a bit.

Stay Tuned and Don't Go Anywhere :)  I will be back soon

Monday, April 23, 2012

Blog Update 12 - 10 Laws of Social Media Marketing

Leveraging the power of content and social media marketing can help elevate your audience and customer base in a dramatic way. But getting started without any previous experience or insight could be challenging.
It's vital that you understand social media marketing fundamentals. From maximizing quality to increasing your online entry points, abiding by these 10 laws will help build a foundation that will serve your customers, your brand and -- perhaps most importantly -- your bottom line.

1. The Law of Listening
Success with social media and content marketing requires more listening and less talking. Read your target audience’s online content and join discussions to learn what’s important to them. Only then can you create content and spark conversations that add value rather than clutter to their lives.

2. The Law of Focus
It’s better to specialize than to be a jack-of-all-trades. A highly-focused social media and content marketing strategy intended to build a strong brand has a better chance for success than a broad strategy that attempts to be all things to all people.

3. The Law of Quality
Quality trumps quantity. It’s better to have 1,000 online connections who read, share and talk about your content with their own audiences than 10,000 connections who disappear after connecting with you the first time.



4. The Law of Patience
Social media and content marketing success doesn’t happen overnight. While it’s possible to catch lightning in a bottle, it’s far more likely that you’ll need to commit to the long haul to achieve results.

5. The Law of Compounding
If you publish amazing, quality content and work to build your online audience of quality followers, they’ll share it with their own audiences on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, their own blogs and more.
This sharing and discussing of your content opens new entry points for search engines like Google to find it in keyword searches. Those entry points could grow to hundreds or thousands of more potential ways for people to find you online.

6. The Law of Influence
Spend time finding the online influencers in your market who have quality audiences and are likely to be interested in your products, services and business. Connect with those people and work to build relationships with them.
If you get on their radar as an authoritative, interesting source of useful information, they might share your content with their own followers, which could put you and your business in front of a huge new audience.

7. The Law of Value
If you spend all your time on the social Web directly promoting your products and services, people will stop listening. You must add value to the conversation. Focus less on conversions and more on creating amazing content and developing relationships with online influencers. In time, those people will become a powerful catalyst for word-of-mouth marketing for your business.

8. The Law of Acknowledgment
You wouldn’t ignore someone who reaches out to you in person so don’t ignore them online. Building relationships is one of the most important parts of social media marketing success, so always acknowledge every person who reaches out to you.

9. The Law of Accessibility
Don’t publish your content and then disappear. Be available to your audience. That means you need to consistently publish content and participate in conversations. Followers online can be fickle and they won’t hesitate to replace you if you disappear for weeks or months.

10. The Law of Reciprocity
You can’t expect others to share your content and talk about you if you don’t do the same for them. So, a portion of the time you spend on social media should be focused on sharing and talking about content published by others. 

Keywords:
How to Change your Life, Entrepreneur, Make Money Online, Fast Cash, Online Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, Grow Your Business, Business, Business Start Ups, Fast Money, Quick Ways to Make Money Online, Online Money, Make 6 Figures in a Year, How to Make Money Online, Social Media Marketing, Make Money with Twitter, Make Money with Facebook, Work from Home, Change Your Life,Quick Cash, Quick Money

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Product Review 8 - FaceBook Influence

Facebook represents a huge marketing opportunity. Approaching 800 million users some argue it has changed not only how we communicate and connect, but our vocabulary and very culture as well. Marketing on Facebook, done right, requires a lot of trial and error. Those who know me, understand I’d much rather learn from the trial and error of others than only my own :-) … Which is why I was looking forward to taking a look at FB Influence (aka Facebook Influence), and writing this review. In this post, I’ll cover what FB Influence is, who is behind it, who it’s for, what’s included, what I like, and what I don’t like. 

FB Influence Review (Facebook Influence)

Facebook is a marketing opportunity that cannot be ignored. The ‘stick rate’ of visitors is nearly as amazing as the return rate. Many of us get the fact that Facebook is huge, and some of us have run some ads campaigns, tried different things to get more engagement, but wonder what’s working for others. Are there better results to be had for marketers? The creators of FB Influence think so, and based on what I’ve seen in the course, there’s much for me to learn as well.

Overview of Facebook Influence 

What is Facebook Influence?

Facebook Influence (or fbinfluence) is a series of  training videos spanning four modules of what it takes to be successful marketing using Facebook. The content is delivered by Amy Porterfield who has partnered with Lewis Howes and Sean Malarkey to help with promotion and support. There are also a handful of bonuses that come with the course, designed to help people implement the strategies and tips taught in the course.

Who is Amy Porterfield?

She’s the instructor and voice on all the videos in the course. I first met Amy at BlogWorld in 2010 in Las Vegas. More recently we both attended a private marketing event in San Diego. She worked with Tony Robbins years ago directing content and marketing for his events, and has also authored Facebook Marketing All-in-One For Dummies, worked with top online marketers where she was project manager for some very large product launches. She was also the community manager for SocialMediaExaminer.com.

To be honest, the few encounters I’ve had with Amy I find her to be pleasant and sharp. However, what I learned  from her watching some of the videos in the course, along with the PDF downloads and bonuses, has left me even more impressed. She knows her stuff!

Who is Facebook Influence For?

Facebook Influence is ideal for small business marketers and solo-preneur marketers who are struggling to tap into Facebook as a source of traffic, leads, and customers. If you value your time, or are frustrated with your results thus far, what Amy teaches will save you a ton of time implementing proven Facebook marketing strategies.


What’s Included in Facebook Influence?

There are a total of 4 modules

FB Influence Modules

  • Module 1 – The Foundation for Facebook Success: Amy covers the approach she’s proven over the years when it comes to marketing on Facebook, how to properly create a branded Facebook page for your business with the clever Welcome Tab, important stuff in the Facebook dashboard, and how to find a community manager for your Facebook page.
  • Module 2 – Growing a Lucrative Fan Base: In this module Amy covers “5 Proven Strategies to Grow Your Fan Base” along with tips and strategies for using Facebook as a lead generator for your business, getting into your friends newsfeed for more growth, social plugins and tools that work.
  • Module 3 – Creating Massive Engagement: Amy says that creating engagement is key to building relationship with fans and friends on Facebook. There are also some common mistakes many make when looking to build engagement, she shares those and “surefire strategies” for creating engagement. She gets into how to use and promote events on Facebook as well as monitoring tools to help you track your progress.
  • Module 4 – Fans Into SUPER FANS: From customer service, to using page photos as free Facebook ads, to running more profitable Facebook ad campaigns, to building an online store for your Facebook page as well as an action plan to go along with this module, Amy seems to cover all the bases for grooming fans into “Super Fans”.
Facebook Influence Review
Amy Porterfield shares Facebook marketing strategies in an easy to understand way.

 

FB Influence Bonuses

In order to help customers successfully implement what is taught in the modules, they have also included several bonuses. See if FB Influence is for you.
    fb influence review
  • Bonus #1 – How to Create Your Social Media Strategy to Rapidly Increase Exposure: Don’t want to be a social media expert? In this 34 page straightforward PDF presentation, Amy suggests taking the “social media” pressure off yourself so you can focus on your expertise.
  • Bonus #2 – The Three-Step Lead Generating Facebook Blueprint: Moving fans from Facebook to your newsletter or email list is key to growth. Amy shows you her blueprint in this single page PDF.
    Turning Fans into Super Fans (from fbinfluence sales page)
  • Bonus #3 – “Change Is Good” – Exploring Facebook’s New Features: In this 54 page PDF covers recent changes to Facebook, and what small businesses can do to leverage the changes to their advantage.
  • Bonus #4 – How to Cash in on Facebook Places and Deals: This is outstanding for local businesses, but contains strategies every business can consider. This 51 page presentation also covers how to leverage the 4 type of deals.
  • Bonus #5 – Turning Fans Into Super Fans: This single page PDF is helpful in describing visually the progression from Potential Fan to Super Fan. Learn more about FB Influence.

    What I Like About Facebook Influence?

     The training is laid out in a non-overwhelming (very important) manner. I find Amy’s delivery of content efficient, and with zero fluff. It’s apparent that she knows why people fail with Facebook marketing, and starts things off helping you develop a strategy for your own Facebook marketing.
    I found myself coming away knowing what needs to be done to take my Facebook marketing to the next level, but I’ve taken training courses before and inevitably there are questions you have when I start implementing… This is what I find to be the best part of this course. Claim your copy instantly here.
    Bonus #6Similar to what was offered with Video Traffic Academy  customers also get access to a private Facebook group where they can ask questions and learn from others in the community. This allows you to see what is working and tweak your efforts to leverage what works.

What I Don’t Like About Facebook Influence?

While I haven’t yet finished every nook and cranny of the entire course, there are no real blunders to speak of. Sure they could offer DVDs to mail to customers, but that would certainly put the price out of range for many, so in that way I’m glad they didn’t offer that option.
While not a deal breaker for most, if there were one thing I’d like to see, it would be downloadable versions of the videos. When possible, I prefer to listen to training at 2x-2.5x normal speed to get through the material faster.

Bottom-Line on Facebook Influence

review-of-facebook-influenceFor someone who is either considering Facebook as a marketing platform, or want to take their Facebook marketing to the next level this has to be the most valuable course on the subject. It accounts for some of the recent changes to Facebook, as well as the ones coming. Amy indicated there there also going to be update videos added to the course as Facebook introduces changes that impact marketers.
At the current launch price ($97), this is probably one of the most valuable courses on Facebook I have seen. I’ve seen similar courses (with less ‘real-world’ actionable content) priced 10x and 20x higher than this.  

Get your copy here.



Keywords:
How to Change your Life, Entrepreneur, Make Money Online, Fast Cash, Online Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, Grow Your Business, Business, Business Start Ups, Fast Money, Quick Ways to Make Money Online, Online Money, Make 6 Figures in a Year, How to Make Money Online, Social Media Marketing, Make Money with Twitter, Make Money with Facebook, Work from Home, Change Your Life,Quick Cash, Quick Money

 


 

 


 

Monday, April 16, 2012

Blog Update 11 - Social Media Wrap Up

Those 3 weeks flew by!  I hope you guys can understand a little better how important the three main social media outlets are, and how to properly use them now.  Let's just do a minor run down of each again.

Twitter - Millions of users world wide.  Limited to 140 characters per tweet, which is decent to get your message across.  Very important for a business or an affiliate marketer to have.  Can gain mass followers who can view your tweets and have the chance to retweet to their followers.  Very powerful tool in marketing.

Facebook - More of a personal use.  Real friends that you know or you have met.  Don't want to clutter up your wall with your ad's and drive your friends crazy. However, the Fan Pages are powerful outlets to get your business name out there.  Gain "Likes" and target your clients.  Run some promotions and advertise your products.

Google+ - Newest form of social media.  Growing faster then Facebook did.  G+ is a good place to meet new people and share share share.  Find people in your targeted niche group and just run with it.  Start a hangout and promote your products. 

There are a few other social media outlets out there that I didn't toss in the mix.  StumbleUpon, Digg, Myspace, and many more.  You should really look into all of them and get a feel for what works best for you and your company. 

Overall, Social Media is a very important part of business.  It's 2012, not 1970 anymore.  Times are changing, technology is advancing, and you need to get your name out there.


Keywords:
How to Change your Life, Entrepreneur, Make Money Online, Fast Cash, Online Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, Grow Your Business, Business, Business Start Ups, Fast Money, Quick Ways to Make Money Online, Online Money, Make 6 Figures in a Year, How to Make Money Online, Social Media Marketing, Make Money with Twitter, Make Money with Facebook, Work from Home, Change Your Life,Quick Cash, Quick Money

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Blog Update 10 - Google+ Tips to Success

The launch of Google Plus brings yet another avenue to the fore for marketers to promote their products and services. The only difference here is that Google Plus comes with the backing of a brand as big as Google. Google Plus has been built to meet the communication needs of people in a way that they can interact through their messages with people in general, as they do while tweeting and also to create a more personal space for interaction with friends, akin to a platform such as Facebook. As Google Plus marches ahead gradually in terms of numbers of users, it offers a great platform to marketers which they can only ignore at their own peril.
GooglePlus-Marketing-for-Brand

1. Reach Out to People through Google Plus and Gmail

Google Plus offers excellent opportunities for e-mail marketing apart from the very obvious platform that it offers for content sharing and interaction. Marketers will do well to understand the myriad opportunities it holds. Communicate your message directly to those who follow you and e-mail it to others on your contacts list. Make the most of the multiple avenues on offer for promotion.

2. Build and Share Circle Specific Content

Depending on how popular your product or service already is your interaction will happen broadly along two lines. Your existing customers who have added you to their circles form one set of people and the others are potential customers you communicate with through public messages meant for everyone’s consumption. Use your discretion to share the message with the specific group. Build exclusive channels for communication with clients.

3. Interact with Consumers


This is expected of any platform when it comes to promotion. In a market saturated with products, the way you differentiate your service from others, gives you an edge over your competitors. If you have not established your presence on Google Plus already, do it now. Reach out to consumers and get the first mover advantage on a platform that your rivals may be neglecting for now.
GooglePlus-Marketing-for-Brand

4. Use Analytics to Get a Measure of the Traffic and ROI

When it comes to business, the talk of revenues is inevitable. Use Google analytics or other tools to quantify the reach of your brand communication. Compare that against the kind of response your product has generated in the form of sales and revenues. Analyze and pitch for a more result oriented approach.

5. Stay Prepared for the Integration of Google Plus with Google Search

Google is a powerful name in the virtual world. The popularity of its search engine makes available ample opportunities in terms of new features. It would not be far-fetched to expect Google to integrate its search facility with Google Plus. The platform will then gain more popularity and as other marketers make a beeline for this platform, you will be better placed to cater to more people after having already established a foothold.
Just as Google experiments with its search tools in order to bring convenience to its users, innovation can be expected for the already features packed Google Plus. It is up against tough competition from the established brands such as Facebook and Twitter but for marketers the kind of audience that Google Plus offers is also large enough. As long as they can convey their message, the more the number of avenues, the better it is.



Keywords:
How to Change your Life, Entrepreneur, Make Money Online, Fast Cash, Online Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, Grow Your Business, Business, Business Start Ups, Fast Money, Quick Ways to Make Money Online, Online Money, Make 6 Figures in a Year, How to Make Money Online, Social Media Marketing, Make Money with Twitter, Make Money with Facebook, Work from Home, Change Your Life,Quick Cash, Quick Money

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Product Review 7 - Lump Sum Profits

I have posted a program like this before a few weeks ago.  A few people purchased it and have done well for themselves.  I received numerous emails and messages a day about the product reviews and I love it.  Most people give me praise for bringing these process into their lives. This product is another "flip" site guide that will show you how to flip websites with ease.

You see, Lump Sum Profits shows you in indepth detail how to build a small website that can rank on the first page of Google within days using clever methods. With traffic coming in, you can quickly sell it on flippa or elsewhere for a couple of hundred dollars.

These types of websites can be built very quickly, ranked very quickly and sold fast for high dollars. Some marketers strictly do this and make a huge amount of money every month.

In addition, Lump Sum Profits also tells you how, step by step, to buy websites at low prices, fix them up a bit and sell them for HUGE profits. Sorta like flipping houses — but with websites instead.

Again, many marketers have made a killing in buying and selling websites! You can too if you copy this process.

Lump Sum Profits Review Tells You What To Do First If You Buy

If you decide to buy Lump Sum Profits, then I recommend you immediately do the following to gain the MOST out of this incredible product:
      * Read the Ditching The Stress Monkey Guide
      * Listen to the interview with John about how he sells little, ugly sites for $3k – $7k.
      * Watch Ryan Moran Video about the secret source for buying websites for pennies on the dollar, even though they are already earning steady monthly incomes.
The above three pieces of Lump Sum Profits will REALLY get your mind flowing on incredible possibilities of buying and selling websites.
Once you finish going through the above Lump Sum Profits content, you will quickly begin to know and understand …

» That you can build tiny, little sites and FLIP them for lump sum paydays (depending on their traffic and income), which you can reinvest or pocket.

» You can buy established websites and hold onto their income or FLIP them for lump sum paydays.

» Ryan Moran’s secret source for finding sites that are just begging to be bought for cheap!

The above 3 pieces of content alone, found on Lump Sum Profits, is WELL worth the price of this product. Yet, there is a TON more information including indepth Case Studies of actual Lump Sum Profits buyers success, that reveal their secrets on getting huge amounts for selling website!

Visit Official Lump Sum Profits Webiste [ Click Here ]



Keywords:
How to Change your Life, Entrepreneur, Make Money Online, Fast Cash, Online Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, Grow Your Business, Business, Business Start Ups, Fast Money, Quick Ways to Make Money Online, Online Money, Make 6 Figures in a Year, How to Make Money Online, Social Media Marketing, Make Money with Twitter, Make Money with Facebook, Work from Home, Change Your Life,Quick Cash, Quick Money, Lump Sum Profits Review, Lump Sum Profits, Make Money with Lump Sum Profits, Website Flipping, Make Money with Website Flipping

Monday, April 9, 2012

Blog Update 9 - Google+ Marketing Tips

It was just a matter of time before Google created some real competition for Facebook. My prediction for Google Plus is that the technically more savvy and early adopters will flock to it, while the majority of people will continue with Facebook. However, there is much to be said about an early mover advantage yet! And, since Google rules the search engines, it may well be in your interest to setup a home on Google Plus. Here are 10 ways you can market using Google Plus. Google Plus also just launched their Business Pages.  Sort of like the Fan Pages that Facebook has.  Your personal page and your business page are both strong social media outlets you need to be apart of.

1. Setup a solid profile. Your entire Google Plus experience starts with the profile. Just like on Facebook, your profile is key, so spend some time building it correctly. Start with a good head shot. And, if you think the advice is commonplace, just look at some of the pictures on Google Plus now. When you show up in people’s steams, all they will see is a thumbnail. So, choose something where you really stand out. Craft your introduction well. Make it so that people would want to add you to their circles. And, Google Plus allows for live links in the introduction itself, so make the most of it. Add links to your website, blog, LinkedIn profile, etc. These links will also help index your main websites as well as give you some strong back links.

2. Add relevant and remarkable images. My hunch is that Google will index the pictures you share (unless you’ve kept them private). So, use images you want found in the search engines. If you are a speaker, add pictures of you speaking. An author? Add pictures of you at your book signing. The idea is to convey the right brand image.  It's important to have pictures.  It makes you look real and not some spam bot just trying to push your product across the internet.  Company logo's are a must.

3. Make sure your profile is OPEN to search. This is key, since Google reigns supreme in the search world, the chances are that your profiles will be indexed VERY quickly. When you hit edit profile, the very last item on your profile is “Search Visibility.” Make sure you have checked the box that says “Help others find my profile in Search Results.” Make sure you aren't hiding yourself from your fans or consumers.

4. Optimize the links to the right of the profile using keywords. Again, a great SEO feature. What are the chances that Google will value these links highly? Pretty good, I’d say. If only to encourage people to use Google plus. On the right hand side of your profile, you can add links and the text that goes with it. Make sure you use the RIGHT keywords to connect to your website. Don't use a phrase like "My Website"  Use a strong keyword that goes along with your site or product.

5. Use “Circles” to communicate with clients, prospects, media, etc. This is perhaps Google Plus’ greatest selling point. Most people’s lives have layers – professional, personal, acquaintances, etc. And, Google Circles allow you to make the most of the layers. For example, you can create a circle for prospective clients. And, then cater specifically to them with industry news, a solid case study, etc. (Tip: While Google will inform a person that you have added them to a circle, it won’t tell them which circle.) This is great if you have more then one target niche.  Sports, Outdoors, Health and Writers could all be different circles of people you are targeting.  Don't send an ad out for authors that has to do with sports.

6. Use +, Comments, and Share to boost relationships. At the heart of all good social media marketing and networking lies the power of relationships. As you interact with others, show support for their ideas. The +1 on Google is akin to “Like” on Facebook. You can also +1 and comment when you see fit, and you can also SHARE within your own stream. Someone posted a great article on your stream?  Make sure you "share" it and show interest in what others are saying.  This way they will spend more time looking at your stuff.

7. Add videos to your profile. If only from an SEO perspective, the chances of your videos being indexed into Google’s search is higher. So, if you have online video, share it. For example.  For my blog, I do a webinar every Wednesday.  I then post it on my Facebook Fan Page, My Facebook Personal Page, My Twitter, and then Google Plus.  The video is on YouTube, but it gets indexed a lot faster due to the fact that I post it on Google Plus.  Drives more traffic to your page and more consumers will be interested.

8. Add your industry or business name as a “Spark.” Sparks is a new Google Plus feature, and still in development. But, something tells me that this will also tie into search results or effect them in some way. For now, use it like you would a Google alert, and setup SPARKS for your name, company name, and industry terms. You can also always follow industry news using SPARKS. For example, I have technology and business as my SPARKS, and I follow the top articles in those areas.  This will let new people find you faster.  You always want to reach out and find new customers and fans daily.  Keep the ranks fresh.

9. Market research –ask questions and use Hangouts as needed. Google Plus is a hot bed for market research right now. People are a LOT more engaged there right now because it is a new playground. It reminds me of Twitter in the early days. Google hangouts incorporates video chat with circles. Want to invite all your sales people for a quick Monday morning meeting? How about a Hangout? Hangouts are also cool for promoting products or even just talking to your fans about your current products.

10. Get a custom URL to share your Google Plus profile. Just like the early days of all social networks, there will be a huge rise initially as people try to fill up their circles. And, as time goes on, this will slow. Make it easy for people to follow you, get a custom URL. You can do so at http://www.gplus.to. Even though it's a 3rd party site you should still set it up.  Google Plus doesn't have a feature to do it and it should be done.  It's better to have a name for your profile URL, rather then 8848495956030. 

Keywords:
How to Change your Life, Entrepreneur, Make Money Online, Fast Cash, Online Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, Grow Your Business, Business, Business Start Ups, Fast Money, Quick Ways to Make Money Online, Online Money, Make 6 Figures in a Year, How to Make Money Online, Social Media Marketing, Make Money with Twitter, Make Money with Facebook, Work from Home, Change Your Life,Quick Cash, Quick Money, Google Plus Money, Make Money with Google Plus

Friday, April 6, 2012

Blog Update 8 - Facebook Marketing How Too's

Can Facebook actually be used to bring in leads, opportunities and sales to your small business? The Answer is Yes! Myself and my clients do it every day.

You can’t use Facebook for your business the same way you use it for your personal life – you need a clear social strategy in place before you’ll see results. This isn’t hard to do, and can easily be achieved in 10 minute sessions a few times per week. Automate your status updates, then visit your Facebook page to produce discussions and answer questions.

Here are some of the most common questions my clients ask me about Facebook marketing:

Do I have to use Facebook’s paid advertising?
Nope, but if you have the income, it doesn't hurt in the long run.  Depending on what type of business or product you have. Everything I teach in my blog is mostly free, minus some product reviews that do cost little to nothing.  You can use Facebook to bring in leads without ever touching their paid advertising features but if you want to target certain groups or audiences, then the Facebook Ad's aren't too shabby.

photos iconWhat are a few Facebook marketing tips?
Engage with your audience. You’d be surprised a small amount of time has on the number of fans on your Facebook page. Taking a few minutes a day to interact with the people on your page will make you see huge results from Facebook. Another tip is to use photos on your Facebook page. The new design displays photos prominently. Most businesses don’t feature photos. Upload a few today!


What’s a basic Facebook marketing plan?
Here’s my 3 step overview to Facebook:
First, send people to your Facebook page. No one will like your page unless they know you have one.
Next, use automated social media tools to schedule content and status updates.
The third step is to jump in and engage. Make your page a fun and lively experience by encouraging fans to interact on your page. Don't forget to use the added tabs feature to give your users free content or promotions!

Does Facebook offer business accounts? Can I create a business profile on Facebook?
You’ll need a personal profile in order to create a page for your business. “Pages” are the Facebook equivalent of Facebook business accounts. Fan Pages are easy to set up and are a must.

pagesWhat’s the difference between a Facebook page and a Facebook profile?
Facebook profiles are for personal use and you are only allowed one profile per user. You can always recognize a profile page if you see the “friend” option. Only personal profiles have friends. Facebook pages on the other hand were designed to be used for businesses and you can create as many pages as you like. You’ll know your on a Facebook page if you see a “like” button.

How can I see who is looking at my Facebook page?
Facebook offers in-depth user data about your page, called Insights. You can access this by going to “edit page” in the top right corner, then clicking on “Insights” on the menu on the left-hand side. Insights includes information on the gender, age and location of who is looking at your page, as well as which types of status updates are the most popular.  This is a great Free feature that Facebook has, so you can track who is actually looking at your page.  It's all about numbers!

What’s unique about Facebook when compared to other marketing channels?
Unlike traditional marketing, where you can only hope that a small percentage of people you are trying to reach will pay attention to your message, on Facebook, they’re already paying attention.

You’re not popping up a billboard on the highway in the hope that you will capture someone’s interest as they drive by. Everyone who Likes your page is raising their hand and expressing their interest in learning more about your business. Your customers are already on Facebook, so why not plant your business where they already are?

friend finderHow many friends can I have on Facebook?
Facebook use to only allow you to have no more than 5,000 friends. Once you reach 5,000 you’ll simply be unable to accept new friend request. This has changed however in the past as Facebook likes to play with their own numbers. However, Facebook pages allow an unlimited number of “likes”. This is one of the many reasons you want to use a page and not a personal profile to promote your small business on Facebook.

How do I get a custom URL on Facebook?
Custom URLs also known as “vanity URLs” are made available once 25 people like your Facebook page. This allows you to create an easy to remember facebook URL such as http://www.facebook.com/PittsburghCWS instead of the long numerical URLs that are initially assigned to pages. You can find this option by clicking on “Edit Page” in the top right corner of your Facebook page, then choose your username in the “Basic Information” section. This makes your page look more professional.

How can I create a custom landing page for my Facebook page?
My favorite free app for creating custom landing pages is called Static HTML  and you can find it by searching for it from within Facebook. This is a great app because it’s completely free, has no ads or branding from the app, and even allows you to create distinct content for fans and non-fans. That means you can create one of those cool “click like to get our exclusive content” landing pages for free. You can insert any HTML into your custom landing tab including videos, images, or opt-in forms. Right now, you can have a maximum of 3 custom tabs.

notificationsHow do I post on Facebook as my company’s page instead of my personal profile?
Facebook allows you to switch between your personal profile and your page. To make the switch, go to Account in the top right-hand corner and click on Use Facebook as Page. In the pop up window, click Switch to (your page’s name). That’s it! You’re now using Facebook as your page and can leave comments on your own or other pages. This is a very strong tool.  You can go to other Fan Pages, under your company name and make posts.  Driving traffic back to your own Fan Page.


Keywords:
How to Change your Life, Entrepreneur, Make Money Online, Fast Cash, Online Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, Grow Your Business, Business, Business Start Ups, Fast Money, Quick Ways to Make Money Online, Online Money, Make 6 Figures in a Year, How to Make Money Online, Social Media Marketing, Make Money with Twitter, Make Money with Facebook, Work from Home, Change Your Life,Quick Cash, Quick Money

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Product Review 6 - Grit City Publications Promo

Yes, I know I have mentioned them a few times.  Today's product review will be short and to the point!  Grit City Publications just launched their three newest titles on April 1st!  It's time to get the word out and get on board.  You don't know what an Emotobook is?  You need to check this out.  It's the new rage and the fan base is growing huge in numbers.  Don't be left in the dust and out of the conversation.  More titles will be coming soon over time.  As the community grows, the fan base grows, and hence the Revolution is born. 

Grit City Publications is based out of Pittsburgh, PA.  Great community to be apart of.  I, myself, are not a very big reader, but even I jumped on board and fell in love with these things!  This new medium of fiction is just awesome.  There aren't any other words for it to be honest. 

Here are the 4 titles right now.  You can always view the main site to see what it's all about!

Grit City: 7-Part EmotoSerial --> Mystery/Urban Fantasy
The story is called Grit City. It's a mystery based urban fantasy story that follows a freelance journalist through this malicious city. It seems the main character is rough and tumble, but I think he may encounter some supernatural powers. It's a series of stories and I've only read the first one so far. But I'm really impressed with it. You can find the direct link here!

Swing Zone: 10-Part EmotoSerial --> SciFi/Romance
The story is called Swing Zone. It's a sci-fi/romance story about this kick ass woman named Mia Blacharde. She's an archeologist and finds this cool artifact that has something to do with these two cities. One is a big metropolis and the other is a farming community. Mia is torn between a hunky guy in the rural area, but her brother is a military honcho in the big city. It's intense. You can find the direct link here!

Lingering in the Woods: 1-Part EmotoSingle --> Viking Fantasy

The story is called Lingering in the Woods. It's a viking fantasy story about this Shaman named Chrigle in ancient Findland. This guy has spiritual powers and has to use them to get his tribe through this forest and also protect the tribe's hunters. I don't want to give anything away, but it's a really cool take on the old good power vs. evil power. The illustrations they use are really something. Great story! You can find the direct link here!

Suburbians: 1-Part EmotoSingle --> Violent Thriller
The story is called Suburbians. It's a sick and twisted thriller story about these teenagers who are all about racist hate and violence. It really had me on the edge. These kids murder someone and then it's all about the coverup and finger pointing. It's like Stand By Me on crack, if you've ever read that book or watched that movie. Crazy intense. You can find the direct link here!

When I first looked into emotobooks, I thought they would be like some kind of e-comic book. They're not! They're a brand new medium of fiction which portrays character emotions in abstract art. I'm hooked! You should really check it out today and spread the word.  Even if you don't like reading, like myself, I guarantee you will get into these!


Keywords:
How to Change your Life, Entrepreneur, Make Money Online, Fast Cash, Online Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, Grow Your Business, Business, Business Start Ups, Fast Money, Quick Ways to Make Money Online, Online Money, Make 6 Figures in a Year, How to Make Money Online, Social Media Marketing, Make Money with Twitter, Make Money with Facebook, Work from Home, Change Your Life,Quick Cash, Quick Money, eBooks, Emotobooks, Grit City, Lingering in the Woods, Suburbians, Swing Zone, Fiction, iPad, iPod, Apple, Mac





Monday, April 2, 2012

Blog Update 7 - Facebook Marketing

Everyone, absolutely everyone, seems to be using Facebook now. According to Facebook's own statistics, people spend more than 700 billion minutes monthly on the platform.

Therefore, it's essential that your company explore ways that your audience segments are using the social networking platform and develop a corresponding plan. Too many companies merely configure a Facebook Page, randomly post to it until they get bored, and then leave it to gather dust for months at a time.   
What would it mean to your business if you instead developed a clear Facebook Marketing strategy and then executed on it with precision? What would it mean to your business if you thrilled your prospective clients on Facebook? The potential marketing opportunity on Facebook is tremendous for many businesses, and quite possibly for yours!


It's not that Facebook replaces your other forms of marketing. But your prospective customers are spending time somewhere. And you want to connect with them and increase the time they spend with your brand. And so if they are on Facebook, and if they are on Facebook a lot, it behooves you to develop a plan to interact with them on Facebook in a way that adds value to their experience.

To that end, here are 15 ways to better Facebook Marketing for your business:


1. Decide Why You Have a Facebook Page

As with any marketing vehicle, to maximize returns for your business you want to understand why you are doing the marketing in the first place, define your marketing goals, and develop a corresponding strategy. Your audience may value Facebook as a customer service vehicle for your business. In other cases, it might be an appropriate content or news source. In other cases, an appropriate sales source. In other cases, your fans may just want to "talk" with you and feel a part of it all. Align your Page to your strategy, and define associated success metrics.


2. Create Custom Tabs

When you start your Facebook Page for your business, your Page has a standard set of "tabs," including a Wall where posts and comments are published and an Info tab with general information about your company. You can extend the capabilities of your Facebook Page by creating custom tabs. For example, the Creative Web Solutions Fan Page includes a "Welcome" tab  with links to various types of content and products, and with a could have a place for a promotion for your product.


3. Edit Your Tab Order

Your Facebook tabs appear in vertical order on the left side of your Page. Right under the list of tabs is a small "Edit" option. You can use this to customize the order of your tabs (outside of the Wall and Info tabs). This is useful especially if you want a certain tab towards the top, or all the way at the bottom of the list so that it stands out more. With the CWS Facebook tabs, for example, the "Welcome" tab has been placed just below the Wall and Info tabs, and the Blog tab at the bottom of the list.


4. Post More Than Once a Century

We've all seen them. Facebook Pages where the business was overly excited when setting up their Page, with 7 posts the first day, and then no more posts the following three months. Just as with any marketing for your business, if you are going to do it, then do it well. By ignoring your Facebook Page for months at a time, you send a message to your audience that you just don't care. So decide if a Facebook Page is something your business needs, and if the answer is yes then at least stick to some type of posting schedule.


5. Use Facebook Ads

Paid advertising in Facebook is a great opportunity for your business in that Facebook enables you to target your audience for your ads in many ways. You can specify the age group, gender, and geographic area of those that will see your ads. Not only that, you can specify the specific interests of your audience as broadly or as narrowly as you'd like. You can set your bid price and campaign budget, and test as many ad images, headlines and ad copy as your heart desires. And if you decide that your campaign is just not working, you can stop the campaign immediately, thus lowering your risk of overspending on your campaign.


6. Get 'Em to Sign Up

Giving your audience something of value in exchange for a registration or sign-up can be valuable to your business, as it enables you to have an ongoing conversation with those who have expressed interest. So, hold a competition or sweepstakes, or simply offer a sign-up form for something of value in return.


7. Send an Update

Facebook Page Administrators are able to send messages to everyone who "Likes" their Page. So when you have something of value to let your fans know about, send out an update and make them aware. Just be very prudent with the frequency of this technique. Send stuff to your fans only when it really matters. Doing it to often will just upset people and you will lose fans faster then you can gain.


8. Have a Dialogue

If someone takes the time to comment on your Facebook Wall, answer them. Think about it, if someone calls your business, you answer the phone and you answer their questions. Same with email. Same with a form submission from your website. And it's the same with Facebook. Building relationships is a huge part of business.  If you can't take the time to answer questions of your fans, they will simply just leave your page and not come back, thus hurting your profits.


9. Go Beyond Your Page

Facebook now enables you to navigate through Facebook "as a Page." Therefore, you can post to other Facebook Pages that you "Like." (Note, this is only for Pages for which permissions have been configured to allow third-party posts.) Just be extra careful with this, as you should post to another Facebook Page ONLY when you have something of true value to add. And be very respectful of the Page owner. DO NOT SPAM. It's just bad marketing. And also serves the risk of your own Fan Page being flagged and ban.


10. Use It as a Content Platform

Use Facebook as a publishing platform and as a channel for extending the reach of your content. If you write a blog post, update your Facebook Page and let the world know about it and have access to it. Not everyone is going to visit your blog everyday. The more that you can write once and publish in multiple locations, the more likely that your valuable content is going to reach your audience. Take for example the CWS empire.  After I publish this new blog post, I will then update my Fan Page, My personal Wall, my Twitter, and my Google+ to get a huge out-reach to let my fans know that a new post has been made.


11. Make it "Shareable"

What can you offer your audience that's of value? That they would want to tell their colleagues about? Facebook is all about sharing and interacting with others. If you truly focus on giving as much value to your prospective customers as possible, they will return the favor by letting others know and providing their own network with the opportunity to experience such value. For example, this could be an eBook, an exclusive offer, a cool competition, etc. It can even be just deliciously awesome content. Doing this is just simple math.  1 of your fans, share your post.  That said fan has 3,000 friends.  That's 3,000 people that aren't your fans yet that have now seen your post.  Now what if someone shares your post again to their wall with there 2,000 friends? The viral aspect of this is huge.  1 Fan shares your updated post could out-reach to millions.  Sharing is very important.


12. Make Some Stuff Exclusive

We humans are funny. We often want what's just out of reach. (Heck, it makes life more fun that way!) So dangle something of value to your prospective audience but make them "Like" your Page in order to get it. They win. You win. Everyone wins. For an example of this, with the CBMall tab in the CWS Facebook Page, prospective entrants can get a free access to over 100,000 products just for liking the fan page.


13. Turn Fan Activity into Advertising

With Facebook Sponsored Stories, a business can essentially turn fan activity into advertising. Sponsored Stories, available in the Facebook self-serve ad tool, enables you to promote your business by displaying positive fan updates that specifically mention your business, or to promote news feed stories about a viewer's friends "Liking" your Page.

14. Leverage Facebook Insights

Facebook Insights is a set of analytics that tracks usage and interaction with your Facebook Page. It's available free to every Page administrator. Leverage the Insights data by seeing how people are using your Page. What content is of most interest? What is just not resonating? And then adjust your Page activities accordingly.


15. Integrate, Integrate, Integrate

As with any marketing, individual efforts in a silo are rarely the most effective way to go. Instead, integrate your marketing wherever possible. For example, with CWS Fan Page, the look & feel as well as the messaging, etc. are consistent across the website, Twitter feed, email newsletters and Facebook Page. Your campaign is sure to be more successful, the more integrated you make it.

So in closing, figure out how your Facebook Page can best serve your audience, and then knock 'em out with amazingly valuable stuff. Be crazy good! Your customers and prospective customers are sure to appreciate the enhanced experience, and your business is sure to benefit. Whether you have your own product, or you want to dedicate an entire fan page based on an affiliate product, it's a good marketing aspect to get involved in.  You can have as many fan pages as you want, just be sure you can manage them all.


Keywords:
How to Change your Life, Entrepreneur, Make Money Online, Fast Cash, Online Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, Grow Your Business, Business, Business Start Ups, Fast Money, Quick Ways to Make Money Online, Online Money, Make 6 Figures in a Year, How to Make Money Online, Social Media Marketing, Make Money with Twitter, Make Money with Facebook, Work from Home, Change Your Life,Quick Cash, Quick Money

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Blog Update 6 - Twitter Take 2

I know Wednesdays are reserved for the mini-webinars.  However, I decided that the next few weeks are more important to discuss Social Media outlets then you guys seeing my ugly mug talking.  So for the next few weeks, instead of a weekly Webinar, You guys get a double treat and double update.  Since this week we are focusing on Twitter, I will go more in depth on the topic.  Monday's post was a huge guide to Twitter.  It will take you some time to go through and read all about everything you need to know.  This update will be simple and to the point!

I hear the debate all the time, and no, I'm not talking about the Presidential debate - I'm referring to Twitter.

Should we consider Twitter to be a marketing tool or is it just for people who have a lot of time on their hands and the need to jibber-jabber all day long?

I will be honest, I was an early adopter of Twitter and then I walked away from it. I couldn't see the value. Recently, my viewpoint has changed. For the past year plus I have been addicted.  Not for the social aspect, but for the marketing aspect.

Think of Twitter as a means to get instant public messages out to your audience, whether it is an audience of colleagues or potential customers.

Twitter is becoming an increasingly important platform for online communication and, yes, conversation. TechCrunch reported that Twitter is receiving 8 million unique visitors per month and about 3 million messages are posted daily.

How can we use Twitter as a marketing tool?

Good question. Let me see if I can help you guys get a general understanding.

Twitter As A Learning Tool:

As I mentioned, over 3 million messages are posted everyday. Are you mentioned in any of them? What about your company? This might be a good time to find out. Twitter provides a search engine that allows you plug-in company names, brand names, topics and even personal names. How is your buzz level? Are there any negative comments out there? If I were you, I'd use the search engine to check in a regular basis.

Today, I found out that BMW made a customer unhappy and he Tweeted about it. I learned that Weather Underground has some really cool iPhone applications and that the chocolate cake at Macaroni Grill is deadly.

All that was posted today, along with hundreds of other trending topics.  Justin Beiber is HUGE right now.  So, whether you are engaging on and participating in Twitter or not, someone may just be tweeting about you or your company.

Use Twitter as a Media Outlet:

You can use Twitter to post news or updates about your company or products. However, please don't do this before you become familiar with the format and etiquette of Twitter. The best way to do this is to post a link to the full content of the news or update. Think of what's valuable to your consumers and let them hear about it first on Twitter. You'll be amazed how your following will grow.   

A Promotional Palace:

It's not uncommon for companies to post promotions, sales, or specials on Twitter. An example would be Dell, they do it well. It's important to remember that Twitter is about conversation and breaking news, so be sure if you are posting promotional information that you make it conversational and personal. If I want an ad, I'll turn on TV. 

Create Character in Your Brand :

Twitter is a fantastic tool in giving your brand a voice and a personality. Being successful in Tweeting, you will have to put forth your personality and a unique style. That's what makes the difference and can increase your Twitter following and make it a successful marketing tool for you. Remember you only get 140 characters per tweet.  So make sure you can get the message across without just spamming product links!

Customer Service and Chit Chat :

As you begin to use Twitter you will notice that it's all about conversation. It's about talking to your prospects and consumers, interacting with them. If you are not going to do this, don't use Twitter as a marketing tool, it simply won't work. Make friends, be a friend and reply. Show your followers that you want to engage and be involved with them - this provides optimal customer service and that you are, in fact, personable.


Keywords:
How to Change your Life, Entrepreneur, Make Money Online, Fast Cash, Online Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, Grow Your Business, Business, Business Start Ups, Fast Money, Quick Ways to Make Money Online, Online Money, Make 6 Figures in a Year, How to Make Money Online, Social Media Marketing, Make Money with Twitter, Make Money with Facebook, Work from Home, Change Your Life,Quick Cash, Quick Money,Twitter Marketing,Twitter Guides, Ultimate Twitter Guides, Twitter Makes Money, Twitter for Business Use

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Product Review 5 - The Millionaire Society

As promised, I told you guys that I would not only do product reviews on products that I use and that I have bought and would recommend, but also do product reviews on some products you will want to stay away from.  Today is one of those days were we will look at a product that is very sub-par and that you should really shouldn't purchase.

The Millionaire Society is a program designed to show you how to flip domains names and drive unlimited traffic to your sites.  The price tag use to be pretty heavy at around $400, plus a $47/month VIP membership option.  I see now the price has dropped to $97.  When I first purchased this product I was excited to get started and to drive traffic to my numerous websites.

There are a total of seven modules and tons of videos in the program.  All the information was pretty decent and the videos were high quality.  However, the downfall was that most of the information provided wasn't anything that you couldn't already find by yourself by doing research.

Domain Flipping by Millionaire Society is a good guide on how to flip domain names but this is not for everyone, just like every product out there. My first piece advice is don't waste your time watching the video on their sales page. It is a waste of time hearing another rags to riches story. If you want to feel all warm and better about how things can turn around if you are in a tight spot... then you definitely should not watch it and just get to work!

If you are new to Internet marketing or online business then it will be very hard for you to make any money for the first 6 months to year. You will need to put in a lot of time watching domain auctions, selling some small domains, and spending time with other work to make some money while you get a good grasp of domain values. If you try to go beyond making $1000 to $3000 per month and try to get into the bigger stuff without a good understanding of domain values then you can lose a lot of money fast.

If you feel you have a good grasp of domain values but you have not taken the time to get into domain flipping then you can use this guide to pick up a few pointers to get you started making decent money flipping domains.

Overall domain flipping is something I would not recommend doing full time but if you don't have a solid understanding of domain values then you will need to put a lot of time in before you can make good money at this. You will need to decide if you can put the extra time into learning this. Once you have a good understanding of domain flipping then I would not spend more than 1 day a week plus maybe 30 minutes a day keeping up with it. This is something I would do on the side. I have a good sense of domain value and I buy a lot of domains anyways so I was able to pick up enough information that I will be able to turn many of my inactive domains into some good money and maybe spend 15 minutes a day seeing if I can pick up any good names to flip. Trying to concentrate on just this as your main way to make money can be very inefficient. This is something you could learn so you can do it on the side as you use other business models to make money online.

We will also look at the over all sales/squeeze page of the page itself.  Even if you aren't interested in buying the product, you still might want to market it for others.  I myself, do not promote this product due to the fact that I have used it, didn't like it, and refuse to promote something that wasn't useful to myself or overs.  The video is pretty basic and he uses the normal sales pitch.  No real information.  The page over all is pretty weak with information.  When I go to buy a product I want to see a good strong video and decent facts about your program.  So when you look at this as a marketer, you know you won't make a lot of sales on it.


In closing, Mack Michaels has a made a few products over the past few years (since 2009)  Make sure to do your own research before buying any products.  They are rather lacking. 


If you want to take a look at one of the Millionaire Society Products -  Here is the latest one for Traffic Generation



Keywords:
 How to Change your Life, Entrepreneur, Make Money Online, Fast Cash, Online Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, Grow Your Business, Business, Business Start Ups, Fast Money, Quick Ways to Make Money Online, Online Money, Make 6 Figures in a Year, How to Make Money Online, Social Media Marketing, Make Money with Twitter, Make Money with Facebook, Work from Home, Change Your Life,Quick Cash, Quick Money

Monday, March 26, 2012

Blog Update 5 - Ultimate Twitter Marketing Guide

In an attempt to find the best way to go forward with my own marketing efforts on Twitter, I recently realized that I’d collected a fairly valuable list of killer resources along the way. Would you like to know how to start marketing your business on Twitter? How about more advanced approaches to getting more retweets, more followers, and more prospects for your business? If there are secrets and special formulas that can magically unlock the power of social media out there, I don’t know them. What I do know, is exactly what the experts are doing — day in and day out. And now, you will too!

What is Twitter?

Twitter in Plain English
Entertaining and easy to follow, this video from Lee and Sachi LeFever of Common Craft show ways of understanding how Twitter works and fits into your daily workflow and lifestyle.

Setting up your Twitter account:

The Beginner’s Guide to Twitter
Michael Hyatt shares a tutorial on how to set up Twitter for your cell phone. He also goes over some basics on how to tweet with third-party tools.

Newbie’s Guide to Twitter
Rafe Needleman shares a step-by-step process of getting started on Twitter. His steps include basics like the initial account set up, getting started on your mobile phone, following and joining friends and even mindset ideas for new Twitter users.

Twitter and Personal Branding: The BIG Mistake I See People Make Every Single Day
David Meerman Scott shares secrets you can use to setup your Twitter profile with your personal brand.

Why You Need a Kick Ass Twitter Background
Marian Schembari shares a few profiles on Twitter and why they represent their brands so well.

It’s OK to Have Multiple Twitter Accounts
In fact, it’s necessary if you have multiple departments in your business. Christian Collard explains how he uses multiple accounts for his business to target followers and build relationships.

New twitter users start here:

Social Media Workflows Part 1: Awareness and Capture
Setting goals before jumping on Twitter will get you farther than any other strategy. Chris Brogan discusses how you’re going to use Twitter for your company and how to put a plan in place.

How to Start On Twitter Without Looking Like a Newbie
Marian Schembari created a new Twitter account for sharing her experiences in her new town of Auckland, New Zealand. Instead of throwing any old thing up there and opening the doors for people to interact with her on that account, she walks through what she did before inviting followers.

7 Tips for New Twitter Users
Shel Israel’s evergreen post has some of the best tips for approaching Twitter when you’re a newbie.

Use Twitter for Your Business the Right Way
Aira Bongco’s tips give you a solid basic approach to Twitter. Also, find the one way you can use Twitter to set your business apart.

How to Twitter
Wall Street Journal’s Julia Angwin shares her first few Twitter experiences before she got the hang of it and gained followers. She writes about how to use Twitter’s greatest strength to your advantage.

Moving from Social Media Tactics To Your Social Business Plan
Instead of floundering on social media networks, being tossed from wave to wave, David Armano shares foundation-building steps. When your company is ready to tap social media, David’s post will help you find secure footing.

Twitter Experiment Results — Swapping Person To Brand
Adam Singer makes a case for creating content that is community focused. Find out why creating great content drives traffic from social media networks to your “hub.”

What’s up with the whole #Hashtag thing?

The Twitter Hash Tag: What Is It and How Do You Use It?
Tech for Luddites gives a great clarification on what a hashtag is, and how to create one.

Twitter Vocabulary:

The Ultimate Glossary: 101 Social Media Marketing Terms Explained
Every definition and term you needed to know around social media in one place. How convenient is that?

Can Social Media Buzz-Words Kill Your Profits?
J.P. Micek shares his impressions about buzzwords in new media marketing. In this article, he gives you a different way of looking at the mindset for using social media to gain the most from words like authenticity and transparency.

Ten Things You Must Know Before Using Twitter
Ten must-know terms and tools.

25 Social Media Buzzwords … Explained
Jim Tobin put together the top social media buzzwords with thorough definitions so you won’t be in the dark when someone says “social graph” or “mash-ups.”

Why you need to be on Twitter:

12 Reasons to Start Twittering
Start with the 12 reasons to start Twittering. Michael Hyatt’s insights are spot on.

How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live
Robyn Twomey of Time Magazine discusses Twitter and conversation. The fact that a conversation in your head can lead to real-life conversations and connections is changing the world. This post brings up questions surrounding the standards of interacting with others — instead of staying in your head or continuing a one-way conversation plan.

Social Media Marketing: 2011 Trends Report
Is Twitter just “too six months ago” for you? Michael Brenner goes over the 2011 Trends Report with his own thoughts about what’s coming next in social media.

5 Reasons I use Twitter – (and you should too)
Jeff Delp, a K-12 administrator, says using Twitter can help you as a personal learning tool in five areas of communication. Using Twitter can improve your current work style and future learning.

35 Ways Social Media Can Make Your Life Easier
Alli from BlogWorld shares how Twitter makes it convenient for you to find valuable, real-time information. Besides using it for business, you’ll get insights into thirty-five other uses for Twitter, making it perfect for the pursuit of #winning.

How a Few Tweets Led to a 370% Increase In My Traffic
Tom Meitner shares his Twitter experience with Chris Brogan on Problogger. He says anything is possible if you take action.

Twitter User Statistics Show Stunning Growth
Catharine Smith from The Huffington Post illustrates how much Twitter has grown over the past five years since its launch.

The Ten Ways Twitter Will Permanently Change American Business
Douglas McIntyre from 24/7 Wall Street wrote this evergreen post about how Twitter is evolving into a major marketing tool in ten different areas of media and marketing.

Big companies are doing it … You Should too:

Coca-Cola VP Talks About the Keys to Social Media Success
Cynthia Boris interviewed Wendy Clark about Coca-Cola’s strategy with Twitter. The tips from this post at Marketing Pilgrim are incredible.

40 of the Best Twitter Brands and the People Behind Them
Jennifer Van Grove interviewed forty major brands on Twitter for Mashable. She came up with the best reasons to be on Twitter and how to create your company’s strategy based on these interviews.

The Government is doing it too …

Cornyn: Lawmakers Having to Conquer Fear of Social Media
Michael O’Brien of The Hill’s Twitter Room reports about how Sen. John Cornyn uses social media. In this post, find out the number one reason using Twitter will help your business efforts.

Barack Obama on Twitter
He follows back, or so I’ve heard. I haven’t seen him accept my follow yet. Other high class profiles are on Twitter as well.

What you need to know:

An Insider’s Guide to Social Media Etiquette
Chris Brogan has plenty of etiquette tips for keeping the conversation going, disclosure, promotion, content production, and sharing.

Twitter Etiquette For Agencies/Freelancers
Tony Bloomberg from Diva Marketing Blog shares more than just a few tips for etiquette and Twitter behavior.

Twitter, Facebook, Groupon, and Social Media – What Online Advertisers Need to Know
Hollis Thomases delivers the real deal on social media. She goes over the cold, hard facts based on research and reports so you don’t have to.

What the heck is a retweet and how do I do it?

How to Get More Retweet Action on Twitter
The magic on Twitter happens in the retweets. David Cantone will get you started with several simple but important strategies.

How to Increase Your Retweets, Twitter Followers & Klout
Kristi Hines gives you a few easy steps to getting more retweets now. You want more retweets, right?

How to Get Retweeted
Getting retweeted is one of the ultimate goals for marketers using Twitter. Guy Kawasaki’s plan for ultimate retweet domination is on the other side of this link.

5 Steps to Going Viral on Twitter
Dan Zarrella analyzes the specific language and techniques that create more retweets for your Twitter content.

The Twitter Mindset:

1,000 True Fans
The mindset behind any sustainable business. You can gain popularity, coolness and style, but without 1,000 true fans on your side, all the rest fades. 

The Four Stages of “Getting” Twitter — Infographic
See, everyone goes through these stages. Cool infographic from The Chris Voss Show.

The Six Twitter Types
Guy Kawasaki posted on the American Express Open Forum about the different types of people that use Twitter and which ones are the most effective. Check out which one resembles you and what each of them do. I’m a Mensch, by the way. If you were wondering.

How to get Twitter Followers:
Looking for Mr. Goodtweet: How to Pick Up Followers on Twitter
Guy Kawasaki’s post offers insights on getting more Twitter followers. He uses these strategies himself.

Who You Gonna Follow Now?
Guy Kawasaki shares three sources that will help you decide who to follow.

Writing Killer Content in 140 Characters or Less
Killer content on your blog can get people to stick around. Twitter only has 140 characters. How do you create killer content in 140 characters? Marly shares a complete list on crafting a message in 140 characters or less.

Brand management on Twitter:
The Evolution of Brands on Twitter
Jeremiah Owyang shows you exactly how to get up and running on social media.

Twitter, Customer Service, and Good Brand Management
So many marketing gurus are predicting social media as the future. Valerie Maltoni shares a list of tools and ways to monitor your brand and respond to conversation in a matter of minutes. By doing this, you increase web presence and provide excellent customer service.

Lean, mean Twitter marketing strategies:

62 Ways to Use Twitter for Business
If you think you know everything about Twitter, I challenge you to read this post by Meryl Evans. Even the most die hard Twitter users will find at least one action step in this list to use immediately.

How to Use Twitter as a Twool
Cut through monkey talk running around in your head about Twitter. Go read Guy Kawasaki’s post and get clear on a Twitter strategy you can put in place now. It’s a few years old, but still applies.

TweetWhen: The Science of Timing
Dan Zarella shares three years of research and a free tool that’ll show you exactly when to tweet. Watch his webinar to see customized graphs for getting the most retweets.

Prospecting on Twitter:

How to Use Twitter for Sales Prospecting
Use this post as your prospecting tool and mindset helper in one. Short and sweet, it has real value for getting to prospecting on Twitter right away.

Actively Prospecting with Twitter
Geared toward real estate professionals, the Rainmaker Masters Circle blog shares the benefits you’ll receive from prospecting on Twitter and the value you’ll add to potential clients’s lives by providing a needed solution.


Craft eye-catching Twitter headlines:

The Art of Writing Great Twitter Headlines
Brian Clark gives you a must-read recipe for writing headlines that get clicks and retweets.

Managing Twitter:

Manage Multiple Accounts Without Medication
If you have quite a few social media accounts to keep up with, Erika Napoletano gives you the full disclosure on how to manage it all.

Top Ten Social Media Tools for Daily Use
Mari Smith shares her faves for making social media manageable across multiple platforms. Besides Twitter, Mari’s website features plenty of posts on Facebook as well.

50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Business
Chris Brogan’s ways to use Twitter for business. It’s a printable list of fifty of the sharpest ways to use Twitter today. If you’re stumped on getting started, read through this list and get to it.

Why There’s Nothing Wrong with Social Media Automation
Twitter purists beware! Danny Brown gives excellent reasons why it’s perfectly fine to use automation tools for Twitter. I mean, geez, you can’t grow eight arms so why not automate where you can? With Danny’s tips, you’re set..

Twitter social proof:

What Your Twitter Numbers Say About You, part 1
Marian tells it like it is regarding your Twitter stats. You can get more followers or let people find you, but if you read her post, you’ll find out why she recommends going out and getting more.

What Your Twitter Numbers Say About You, part 2
Marian shares her strategy for managing Twitter through Hootsuite. She makes it look easy!

How do you increase social influence? Don’t think about the score
Not into self-promotion? Brian Solis gives you tangible advice on building a community the human way.

Avoid being an annoying twit:

Ten Things You Need to Stop Tweeting About
The Oatmeal shares his hilariously true views about what you need to stop tweeting. Don’t say you haven’t done at least one of these if you’re on Twitter. Remember, we can all look up your tweets .
Don’t Be That Guy
Are you that guy? Shannon Paul can help.

12 Twitter Mistakes You Should Avoid
We all make mistakes. If you can admit them, you’re on your way to improvement. John Paul Aguiar will teach you to avoid some of the biggest Twitter mistakes around.

Don't Stop There....

There are numerous guides and resources online.  Do your own research.  Learn how the Twitter market works and apply your business to it.  Twitter is a very successful source for marketing when done the right way.  With millions of users right at your finger tips, the crowd is endless.  I realize this guide was huge and it will take you weeks to months to go through and learn everything.  But that is a good thing.  You want to do it the right way, and avoid the mistakes early.  Don't get discouraged if you don't succeed right away.  It will take take to build your Twitter Network.  It's like one giant high school game.  This person followed me today so I will follow him back... then three days later they unfollow you, so now you have to unfollow them to keep your numbers balanced.  You have to constantly keep your numbers balanced otherwise you will end up digging yourself into a hole that you can't get out of.  Twitter can cause a lot of headaches, but in the long run it is truly one of the best free markets in the world you have access to.  To your success!

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Friday, March 23, 2012

End Week Update - Intoduction to Grit City Publication

I have received numerous emails and messages about the links on my blog regarding GCP.  I just wanted to take the time to post a small write up on what it is about and how you can get involved.

GCP is an independent publishing group of emotobooks, the first fiction medium designed exclusively for tablets. Our creative teams immerse our fans in the thick tapestries of amazing stories and visualized character emotions. This winning combination of fiction and art enraptures the soul, and proves:

Emotobooks are not a pastime; they’re a way of life.

The GCP Promise:
Quality assurance is the only sincere method to ensure the emotobooks we publish are held to the highest standards. The loyalty of our fans is paramount to our publishing group and the success of our new medium.

GCP accepts only the best materials for the creation of emotobooks. Authors’ stories endure rigorous evaluation and transformation. Illustrators and editors have proven abilities and noted achievements.

It’s our promise to never waver from our quality assurance. We will always deliver superior entertainment to those who place their most valuable commodities in our hands: money, time, and trust.

Ways to get involved:
Join the Cult - Members of the GCP Cult are special fans that experience emotobooks and share the good news with their friends. These men and women are wonderful people, who give us reason to do what we do.

In return for that enthusiasm, GCP will keep you in the loop with discounts on new emotobooks, news about our Revolution, and interesting updates from creators. Complete the form below to help us create the best emotobooks.

Read the Blog - The blog that presents the musings of those tied into fiction writing, editing, pop culture, and the visual arts. GCP gathers a diverse array of voices for commentary on the evolution of entertainment.

Marketing Opportunities - How would you like to contribute to our emotobooks Revolution in a vital and special way that will shape the future of fiction in our society?

We’re seeking a few good Affiliate Marketing Pros.

Amazon is the largest online retailer and the main sales venue for emotobooks. Cafe Press is the most powerful retailer for our custom-made EmotoSwag. One way these companies maintain their lead positions is to offer sales opportunities to those who use blogs, message boards, and social media as marketing venues.

That’s all fine and good, but GCP takes it one step further. Emotobook Affiliates don’t just sell things, they become part of our larger Community and have the opportunity to earn much more.

Be sure to check the main site out for all information.  A new medium of fiction only comes around every so often.  Don't be left in the dust!  Don't be the last of your friends to find out what an Emotobook is.

Main Site
Twitter
Facebook Page
Affiliate Facebook Group Page 

I hope this clears up some confusion! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. 


Keywords:
Amazon, Cafe Press, eBooks, Emotobooks, Grit City, Lingering in the Woods, Surburians, Swing Zone, Marketing, Publications, Grit City Publications, Fiction, Romance, Horror, Sc-Fi, New Medium of Fiction, Apple, Mac, i{ad, iPad 2, iPad 3, iPod, iPod Touch, iPhone, Kindle, Kindle Fire