Showing posts with label Frank Tocco. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Frank Tocco. Show all posts

Nov 29, 2009

Explosive Social Media Tactics

First, let's define the term explosive results for our use.

When you visualize something explode, think of a burst of energy, often associated with fire, for some reason - probably the fault of our favorite action movies.

I love watching things fly as long as I know nobody really got hurt - not only films, but in promoting the website. And a smart strategy for social media not only takes several thousand links to various social sites. That can provide visibility Web Premium, more targeted visitors, and bring you closer to your existing audience.

A social norm of the media campaign helps spread the word about you and encourage other people too.

An explosive social media viral campaign of inherent exposure, inspires community-driven media, helps the web a better place, and even bring joy to people, however fleeting.

When sharing in social media, if the goal is to get more people to see your links, you are in the right direction, but at the same time, it is limiting its potential. You may think that getting explosive results of social media will take more time, energy and money, but this need not be the case.

If you own a business, you know that working more is not necessarily better results - What if you are working hard in the wrong?

Sometimes the remedy is working smarter. Here are a few small changes you can make in its approach to social media that can boost their performance of social media warm to hot smoking.

Explosives Social Media Tactic # 1 - Hot Content

The cornerstone of any social media campaign is the content. If you get this part wrong, no matter if all other elements are right. Study what is happening in their specific subject heat and find a unique angle to fit your content into what people already know how, without stealing their ideas.

Explosives Social Media Tactic # 2 - Red Shades niche

The focus of most submissions to social media sites, most likely to be viral, if you share links with others or your own. Here's the logic.

People follow others with similar interests. They are on sites like Google, Yahoo, StumbleUpon, Delicious and Digg actively looking for new content. Put the two together and have a whirlwind of clicks happening. The only question is, will your link is clicked it happened?

An average of 5,000 connections on Twitter or Facebook is useless if you are connected to people who do not want your broadcasts, and you're as useless to them unless you want to hers. If my focus is on improving my existing business and is trying to get me to sell their products network marketing no matter how many times you ask me. If I do not care, continued broadcasting will be ignored, or worse, completely blocked.

It's about the perfect balance between quality and quantity.

And if I'm not paying attention to you, I can not spread their message. If you are in network marketing, why not go after people who love the concept of network marketing, but can not seem to find the right company? That is a perfect combination, and can drastically reduce their search for suitable partners and prospects.

Explosives Social Media Tactic # 3 - Simplifying Sharing

It amazes me how many people miss this one.

You have great content. You have a vast network of niches.

Why feed them content that is difficult to share? Makes the report must be in PDF format? If so, it must be behind an opt-in the wall if you spread it among people who have already opted in? Anyone connected to your business through its Facebook page, Twitter or your flow is also part of its delisting. Yes, it would be better if they were on their list of BBS, but what quicker way to reach your destination to show that it is necessary to keep prisoners there?

If the white paper is of great value such that you do not want to spread, well, that's something different. But if you are sharing it for others to spread, making it easy for others to share.

Send your link su.pr for all they have to do is click the thumbs up button.

Put an exchange of a few links on the page.

Make it easy for them ReTweet.

The easier it is for them to share, the more likely they are to do so.

Explosives Social Media Tactic # 4 - Consistency

And now we come to the area not at the most. One of the things I know I have to do, but I have not quite gotten the fall brainstorming on how to create and distribute content on the consistency of quality, and yet provide better service and support to my clients and customers . I always err on serving people who bought from me, thinking that the next blog post can wait until tomorrow.

Then at some point, I noticed a decrease in the return traffic - people do not come back, because I had heard all he had to say. The solution? It helps me for my content creation process. The ideas are still mine, but I was able to barter support for research, transcription and editing. I can also get audio and video polishing a much lower cost than I thought, though not always use this option due to time constraints.

The other thing that helped a lot was over my perfectionism complex. Free your content as soon as possible. I can not tell you how much money they have left on the table of my old fear of the errata and the grammar police. Not to mention the fact that I felt like I was hanging out of my public.

He subscribes to something because you want to get regular updates. If your favorite daily news began to arrive once a week, probably will change channels. If you are incompatible, without explanation, the audience numbers and the fall of the network will vanish.

Explosives Social Media Tactic # 5 - Think of commitment

Measuring the outcomes of his visit to a page by itself is a thing of the past. When the web was mostly text and pictures, it made some sense of how many pages a visitor found on your site was a true measure of engagement.

Today this is not the case. You want to look instead of how long people are in place. The exception, of course, is when customers come to your site to buy, and order processing system takes them off the page. But if people are not leaving your site because they are willing to purchase or subscribe, you really should look for those who are not paying more attention to its contents, and changes can do to make them stay.

This is very important in understanding the content will naturally viral. What jobs are people staying on your site to comment on? When taking a few extra seconds to retweet? Are they watching their videos across the road?

Once you know the contents of your audience is more connected, and why, you can do more of it.

Explosives Social Media Tactic # 6 - three-way connection and communication

That's not a typo. Three-way communication is when the way you conduct yourself online that you look at someone else, who is also, indirectly, is managed by its form or statement. I wish I could credit the author correct this, but I do not remember who was the first to observe that three people are positively affected by an act of kindness - giving person, the person receiving it and the person observing.

An example of this in action is to have a conversation with a colleague about your new product in a social media site. Your friend is likely to want to tell anyone about the testimony you just get, but do not want to be rude or too humble to brag. Ask at the front of your audience, and the conversation is exposed to the connections and re-exposure.

The connection is so important - if communication is the transmission of information, the connection is to do it in a way that the bonds. Several hundred contacts closely linked to spread their message faster and farther than several thousand distant aquaintances.

Explosives Social Media Tactic # 7 - What's for everyone?

In the '80s, we all think about what was in it for ourselves. In the 90s we decided to focus on others, therefore, what is for them. Today, we are in the era of win-win-win. Tell them how it benefits and tie it to their advantage.

Want someone to help publicize their stories? Make sure they know how important it is for you, why did you come to them for help, and how they will be perceived to be the bearer of good news.

You can check the list above and the feeling that is intimidating, but it has to be. Concentrate on doing just one of these things better every day for a few weeks, and before you know it, you'll be doing them regularly. The results obtained will help those new habits stick.

Nov 6, 2009

Discover Profitable Niche Markets

Looking for a profitable niche market or two?

Then I think you'll like this piece called 'Simple Four Step System To Discover Profitable Niche Markets' because it's simple without overlooking important steps.

Enjoy...

Do you want an easy way to find profitable niche markets online?

If you answered yes to that question then you should focus your market research efforts on people's wants and problems.

You need to realize that one of the most common reasons people use the Internet is to find solutions to their most pressing problems and to find ways to fulfill their deepest wants and desires.

You can profit from niche marketing by providing these people with information, products and services that helps them get what they want. The following method will help you uncover several of these problems, wants, and desires in several niche markets.

Step 1. Find A Good Keyword Suggestion Tool
There are many keyword suggestion tools online but the only one I use is a paid service offered at...
http://www.wordtracker.com

In my honest opinion it's the best niche marketing research tool on the planet.

With this service you get to see how many times any keyword or phrase has been searched for within their vast database over the past few months as well as a prediction of how many times a keyword or phrase will get searched for across all major search engines over a twenty-four hour period.

They even have a free trial so you can test their service.

There are also several free keyword suggestion tools available online. I recommend the one available at Digital Point Solutions since it returns the first fifteen results from WordTracker's database and even more results from Overture's Keyword Suggestion Tool at the same time.

You can find this free tool here...
http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/suggestion

Step 2. Do The Research
In this step you will discover several problem and want types of keywords. You can do this by entering broad keyword terms into either of the keyword suggestion tools mentioned above.

Here's an example of some broad of keywords...

- tutorial
- guide
- how to
- instructions
- plans

Go and do some keyword research on any of these and you will get lots of data showing you exactly what people want to find "tutorials" about, "guides" to, and "how to" information for.

Here are some other broad keywords that will help you discover what consumers are looking for online.

-buy
-purchase
-learn
-training
-need
-step by step
-problem
-solution
-want

Using this very simple strategy you'll be armed with a literal gold mine of niche marketing information that you can use to build more profits by creating products and services that solve some of the problems, wants, and desires of people all around the world.

Step 3. Ignore Non-Profitable Markets
During your research you'll come across some keywords that have very little or no market value. Many of them may even have extremely high search counts but as the saying goes quality is more important than quantity.



Some examples of niche market keywords you may want to avoid are celebrity names, fads terms, song lyrics and adult oriented keywords. Those markets are very hard to sell to profitably since they are focused more on entertainment rather than problems, wants and deep desires.

Step 4. Don't Ignore Tiny Niches
Many people may ignore a keyword or phrase that only gets a small amount of searches per-day on the major search engines when this is exactly where the easy profits are. These are the markets that everyone else is overlooking so it is a lot easier optimize your pages to rank highly for they keywords that you want to target since there is less competition.

And even more importantly there are probably very few websites that are actually selling to these specific markets so your competition factor dwindles even more.

Nov 4, 2009

Mass PPV Will Slap Google, Yahoo and Bing Back.

Ok so you have tried most paid marketing platforms such as ppc marketing adwords, media buying and what not. The affiliate marketer’s tool box for promotions is ever growing resulting in mass confusion. You will find more and more wannabe Gurus advocate the next best thing since sliced bread when it comes to making a quick buck online.

If you've got more SEO tools than money coming in, it’s time to take a look at your marketing strategies and pay close attention.

Years ago adwords was king with most internet marketers trying to master adwords to make a killing in their niche. Some very smart marketers have made millions using PPC and adwords, Perry Marshall being the classic example.

The problem I see daily is that unless you know what you are doing with paid ppc you will see your campaign budget literally disappear overnight.

There is a science to adwords that not many people can master in a short period of time. Especially newbie’s who are setting up campaigns left right and centre.

With the hefty cost per clicks involved in any adwords campaign you need to be looking at the ROI you are getting for your troubles and money invested. The trouble here is keeping up with Google’s changing algorithms, constantly being slapped and sent to implement black hat underground techniques, which don’t work in the long run.

Yahoo MSN and Bing are following the trend. Although it's been said that MSN and Yahoo have great conversion rates. There is a better way of getting fast targeted results.

What if you knew of a secret marketing strategy that allowed you to buy traffic at insanely low prices? I’m talking cents here and not $10 dollars a click.

The Internet marketing industry is becoming more a more aggressive with thousands of people joining the online community every single day, backed by wannabe gurus who are teaching them that they can make quick money online. Leaving them out in the cold while they rake in 6 figure commission checks in their sleep.

Forget the Buzzword make money fast. The New Buzzword is Mass PPV at wholesale prices.

You can make money fast if you know the secret marketing techniques used by the real Gurus in the know, quite frankly you will not hear about their secret techniques that they use to rake in thousands of dollars a month.


Massive Traffic




    GetResponse Email Marketing

    Nov 1, 2009

    How To Get A Top Ranking Article Listing On Google

    I have found that the best results for articles I´ve written create a long-lasting resource for a new lead or sale.

    For example, if you Google right now this:

    powerful social media users you´ll see an article that I wrote months ago that´s still in the top 5 listings for that search.

    Search influencing powerful social media users ranks at #3 position the day of this posting.

    This isn´t to brag, it´s to show it can be done and...

    This is how I did it for starters...

    numbers 5, 6, and 7 were crutial in getting these results.

    1. Be original.

    2. Offer something of value and interest to your reader.

    3. Build trust so the reader sees you as an expert on your topic.

    4. Build curiousity so the reader feels compelled to click on your resource box link.

    5. Select 2 or 3 keywords to include in the title and body of your article so the search engines can find you when people are searching. This makes your article easier to find when people are searching for that information.

    6. Research the 5 main competitors. Google your keywords and see what comes up before writing your article so you know what the top listing look like as far as content.

    7. Promote your article. Twitter it, Ping it, Digg it, Blog it etc. and add it to your autoresponder messages so people will read it and respond to it.

    The results of this top ranking article has not allowed me to quit my day job, but it has created a steady flow of pre-qualified, pre-interested prospects and customers and helped me build a quality list while I´m out doing other things. And it keeps doing this day in and day out. All in all, the time writing it was well spent.

    Hope this helps someone get the most out of their article writing efforts.

    Sincerely,
    Frank Tocco

    May 2, 2009

    THREE TACTICS TO SURVIVE ONLINE

    by Jani Roski

    Affiliate marketing is one of the most hands free methods of generating income online. Don't get me wrong, it's not "click a button and wait for the cash". It's easier in the sense that you don't have to create the products, and that you can promote lots of products that you know do well, very fast.

    What separates the super affiliates from the $0 commissions' affiliates is the fact that super affiliates treat affiliate marketing as a regular business. Or better yet, as part of their marketing funnel.

    "3 Things All Affiliate Marketers Need To Survive Online"

    Every affiliate marketer is always looking for the successful market that gives the biggest paycheck. Sometimes they think it is a magic formula that is readily available for them. Actually, it is more complicated than that. It is just good marketing practices that have been proven over years of hard work and dedication.

    There are tactics that have worked before with online marketing and is continuing to work in the online affiliate marketing world of today. With these top three marketing tips, you will be able to able to increase your sales and survive in the affiliate marketing online.

    What are these three tactics?

    1. Using unique web pages to promote each separate product you are marketing. Do not lump all of it together just to save some money on web hosting. It is best to have a site focusing on each and every product and nothing more.

    Always include product reviews on the website so visitors will have an initial understanding on what the product can do to those who buys them.

    Also include testimonials from users who have already tried the product. Be sure that these customers are more than willing to allow you to use their names and photos on the site of the specific product you are marketing.

    You can also write articles highlighting the uses of the product and include them on the website as an additional page. Make the pages attractive compelling and include calls to act on the information. Each headline should attract the readers to try and read more, even contact you. Highlight your special points. This will help your readers to learn what the page is about and will want to find out more.

    2. Offer free reports to your readers.
    If possible position them at the very top side of your page so it they simply cannot be missed. Try to create autoresponder messages that will be mailed to those who input their personal information into your sign up box.

    According to research, a sale is closed usually on the seventh contact with a prospect. Only two things can possibly happen with the web page alone: closed sale or the prospect leaving the page and never return again. By placing useful information into their inboxes at certain specified period, you will remind them of the product they thought they want later and will find out that the sale is closed.

    Be sure that the content is directed toward specific reasons to buy the product. Do not make it sound like a sales pitch. Focus on important points like how your product can make life and things easier and more enjoyable. Include compelling subject lines in the email.

    As much as possible, avoid using the word free because there are still older spam filters that dumps those kind of contents into the junk before even anyone reading them first. Convince those who signed up for your free reports that they will be missing something big if they do not avail of your products and services.

    3. Get the kind of traffic that is targeted to your product.
    Just think, if the person who visited your website has no interest whatsoever in what you are offering, they will be among those who move on and never come back. Write articles for publication in e-zines and e-reports. This way you can locate publications that is focusing on your target customers and what you have put up might just grab their interest.

    Try to write a minimum of 2 articles per week, with at least 300-600 words in length. By continuously writing and maintaining these articles you can generate as many as 100 targeted readers to your site in a day. Always remember that only 1 out of 100 people are likely to buy your product or get your services. If you can generate as much as 1,000 targeted hits for your website in a day, that means you can make 10 sales based on the average statistic.

    The tactics given above does not really sound very difficult to do, if you think about it. It just requires a little time and an action plan on your part. Try to use these tips for several affiliate marketing programs. You can end maintaining a good source of income and surviving in this business that not all marketers can do. Besides, think of the huge paychecks you will be receiving...

    Talk soon,
    Frank Tocco--Marketing Mentor
    Get Paid To Generate Responsive Leads--Free Videos
    Free Website Traffic Tips
    Social Media Networking Tips

    Apr 6, 2009

    Networking Newbie With Zero Experience Replaces $90,000/Yr Income In Just 23 Days...



    Wow it feels good to be back at work! I know that might sound a little nuts, but after spending the last 3 days moving into a new house, going to work is like taking a vacation ;) I'm going to take some pics of the new pad today and will send them to you later this week!



    Anyway, I have TONS of really cool stuff to share with you later this month, but TODAY is about celebration... Yep... We're celebrating another family that's been set free from corporate America, and who now lives a life of freedom, and without limits thanks to a little ebook you've probably heard of ;) So please help me congratulate John Seiferth, (who's never been involved in networking before), on replacing his corporate income in just 23 DAYS.



    (And you'll never guess where he worked before!!)



    THANK YOU John for sending me your story and allowing me to share it with the rest of the world.



    Here's his story for you... - Mike



    It Was The Summer of 2007...
    I had been working for about six years as the IT guy at The Rich Dad Company for Robert and Kim Kiyosaki. That’s right. I know what you are saying because I get it all the time, “That must have been awesome! What an experience!



    Well, you would be right. It was awesome and it was one of the most educational and exciting periods of my professional life. I learned more working for Robert about business and investing, than I did in my Bachelors AND Masters degree programs combined!



    And those were Business degrees!



    Needless to say, when it comes to money, real business, entrepreneurship and investing, you don’t learn jack in school. And I found that out when I came to work for Robert and Kim.



    Actually, the way I landed the job was an accident. I had never heard of Rich Dad Poor Dad or Robert Kiyosaki and had no idea what this business was about. Well that changed quickly.



    From the first day, it was clear that this was a different kind of company. In fact, one of Robert and Kim’s goals is that everyone working for them will eventually leave and start their own business and put their education to work.



    Well, that is where this idea of “networking” really comes into play.
    I met someone, who introduced me to someone, who introduced me to a guy by the name of Mike Dillard. At the time, that didn’t mean anything to me. Who in the blazes is Mike Dillard? Again, I was completely clueless.



    I had always been allergic to network marketing, direct sales, and all of that garbage. I felt that if I did not REALLY believe in the product, there is no way I am going to be able to sell someone else on it.



    Call it my sales/marketing conscience. I don’t know.



    But here was this guy Mike who was making more money in a month than I would make in five years! There HAD to be something there.



    So Mike and I started talking. I asked him for some feedback on some Rich Dad stuff we were doing and he was gracious enough to help out. He never pushed anything on me. In fact, the first time we met, he came to Scottsdale, AZ to the Rich Dad offices so we could talk about doing something together. Well, he walked into that office in true Alpha Dog style. (He actually took that picture of me above during his visit).



    Here I am thinking he’ll be impressed that I work at Rich Dad and be falling all over me, just like everyone else does that walks in the door.



    NOT!



    I’ve never seen anyone so confident and on task. Over the next 1.5 hours, he completely tore apart the Rich Dad website and found an estimated $30,000,000 in sales revenue we were missing out on.



    It was like watching someone with X-Ray vision who could just see all of the missing pieces without effort.



    Obviously that made a big impression on me.



    Now fast forward 12 months.
    In July 2007, I was finally ready to put my training and on-the-job education to the test. Could I literally jump head first into a entrepreneurial venture and make it work?



    Well I was about to find out, because that week I put my job at Rich Dad behind me. I was officially on my own, with no other source of income.



    The first call I made was to Mike. He was the smartest, most successful business owner I had ever known. He should be able to steer me in the right direction.His first assignment for me? Read



    Magnetic Sponsoring.
    What? You don’t understand here my friend, I just left a $90K a year job to start something from scratch and you want me to read a book? This does not sound promising.



    All I can tell you is that my mind made a QUANTUM shift that day. I was staring down the gullet of an entirely new paradigm. One that I had no idea existed.



    Remember, I had no network marketing experience, no internet marketing experience and I’m scared out of my mind! Not to mention the fact that I am taking my family along for this ride as well.



    No pressure.
    Well, the secrets, mindset, techniques, education I gained from Magnetic was PRICELESS! I can’t put it any other way. That book saved my life. Literally. I know that sounds corny, but it is true. So what's the bottom line here? By implementing the things I learned in Magnetic Sponsoring (as well as Black Belt Recruiting, Traffic Formula, Building on a Budget, all of which I picked up immediately), I was able to FULLY replace my income from The Rich Dad Company within 23 days of getting started.



    And since then, I’ve been averaging over $10K a month. Remember, I had no idea what the heck I was doing. I simply followed the training, Mike’s advice, and maintained my “do whatever it takes” attitude.



    In fact, I received a leadership award from the Co-founders of our company at our recent event in Lake Tahoe, CA. How cool is that!?



    There is no question in my mind that without Magnetic Sponsoring, the community and my friendship with Mike, I would have failed miserably and taken my entire family down with me.
    I was thrilled when Mike asked me to share my story with the Magnetic Sponsoring community. I am so grateful for everything Mike has done for me and I want to publicly thank you, Mike for your mentorship. I hope you don’t think it is too strange that I now refer to you as MY rich dad (even if you are 9 years younger than me). ;)



    With gratitude - John Seiferth



    =====================================

    So how did John pull off such a feat? Well I can tell you because I watched him every step of the way, but you might be disappointed because it's not sexy or unique.



    John simply did everything I told him to do without question or hesitation. He'd go through the training courses, implement what he learned every night, and never make excuses. 23 days later, he had replaced his income.



    I wish there was something new and cool that I could tell you about, but there wasn't, and there still isn't. It's all sitting right there in the pages of Magnetic Sponsoring. Please understand that the training in that course isn't experimental. It is THE blueprint for achieving success in this industry, and John's one more living case study that proves it, which is why I'm not going to sit here and waste my time trying to sell you on it. If you can't see the value in this kind of knowledge on your own, there's nothing I can say that will change things.



    I'll just say that if you haven't read it yet, I'd urge you to give it a chance. You can have it in your hands within the next 5 minutes, and it comes with a 12 month, no-questions-asked guarantee so you have nothing to risk.



    The call is yours to make... http://shop4dreams.magneticsponsoringonline.com/letter.html


    Apr 3, 2009

    How do you Use Social Networks to Market your Business?

    This is a question, without understating the obvious, that "appears" to be without a relevant answer. I say this because the simple fact that 98% of the people working in the world of Web 2.0 are not doing things correctly points to the statements proof.

    Log in to your inbox on ANY major social network. I'd be willing to bet that you can't do it without finding more spam than value.

    Most of what we have been shown concerning the use of social networks to market a business has been theory. Many people "think" they have it figured out, but are not getting any results.

    One of my favorite "newbie" mistakes is the comment board posts (for example) that read, "Hi, it's great to see you here! Have you heard of...?" Sound familiar? Of maybe, "Hi, welcome to our network. Would you mind taking a quick look at this and let me know what you think? Here's my link...

    "This is NOT social marketing... it's spam. It doesn't matter how you word it... if you are not GIVING value as a network marketer then you are spamming... period. By definition, spam has been tagged with the UCE title (unsolicited commercial e-mail) for years. However, Web 2.0 has given spam a whole new meaning. Just because you aren't posting or sending a blatant ad does not mean that it isn't spam. It's, most likely, creative spam.

    So, what is the right way to marketing a business effectively using the social networks?

    One word... GIVE! That's right... GIVE! Give and give and give and give some more and just when you think you have given enough, give more. Here's why...

    1.) Internet marketing is about branding.
    I cannot build a brand effectively if no one knows who I am. If all I am doing is posting ads everywhere, people will get to know me alright, but instead of being attracted to me, they are going to run.

    Think about what it's like when you walk onto a car lot or retail outlet where the sales force works on commission. In many cases, people feel like a piece of meat. They go out of their way to avoid being spotted by sales people. Posting spam on the blogs, forums, groups, comment boards and messaging system of the social networks isn't going to attract people, it's going to send them running in the other direction.

    Those who GIVE are respected, thus helping your brand.
    This is the basic fundamental of attraction marketing.

    Solution: The next time you get the itch to post something about your business opportunity or (Lord forbid) money making scheme, take a different approach. Take a couple of minutes to run over to Google and find some information, of true value, and then create a message, forum discussion or blog post based on that. You might even take a look on YouTube to see if you can find a video that actually teaches people something, and just share it.

    Social networking is about building a reputation as a GIVER and INFLUENCER in your network.

    2.) Take this same information sharing strategy and apply it to your blog, Twitter, Plurk, Rejaw, Friend Feed, Jaiku or the like and watch what happens.

    If you want a huge following on Twitter, that's the way to get it! If you see someone who has requested a retweet, then help them out, send the retweet! If the information is solid and you continue this in practice, your followers will refer their followers to follow you.

    Twitter Strategy: Take a minute and go to YouTube or one of your favorite informational resources. Do a search and find a video that offers value to those in your niche market. Open up notepad on your computer and start creating a series of Tweets that you can distribute randomly throughout the day, that point to the information you found.Once you've done this for a few days and have a buzz created, create some decent blog content around your niche market.

    For example... if I'm selling a mangosteen based product, create a blog like "10 health benefits of mangosteen." Once you have completed the blog post, use something like Ping.FM to let your network know that you have updated your blog with "10 health benefits of mangosteen." If Ping.FM is set up correctly, you can send the message to Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Jaiku, Friend Feed, Plurk, Rejaw and numerous other resources with one click. This will not only save you time, but because people are already seeing you as a giver and influencer in your network, they are going to come read what you have to say.

    At this point, if your blog is set up with a few "niche oriented" ads and links, you will begin to see affiliate sales, sign ups and RESULTS!One more thing before I wrap this post up for today. When you have the opportunity to comment on a blog, rate a video, or do something to help another, do it!

    That's what social networking is all about. If you're only here for the money, you will find yourself disappointed when you try to force it. Put the laws of attraction, abundance and reciprocity to work for you.

    "That much gathers more is true on all plains of existence! - Charles Haanel"

    Remember, attraction marketing is about GIVING! Giving is LOVE in action! Share the the love and it will come back to you!If you would like to learn to use Twitter, Facebook, Plurk, Jaiku and more to build your business, you are invited to download my new e-book/report entitled "Micro Blogging Muscle" and no charge by either clicking here or visiting muscle.twittermethis.net.

    Best of success and God Bless!
    Rex - RexHarris.NET

    Mar 2, 2009

    Twitter Viral Marketing Strategies


    Here's a great article from Naomi Trower that will help you discover how to use Twitter to propel your marketing to go viral. Twitter me!




    Oh Twitter how I love thee! Let me count the ways…Although you might not hear those exact words said very often online, you know it’s true when you login to your Twitter account or visit someone’s blog.


    The question posed by Twitter, “What are you doing?” has become almost as popular as AOL’s “You’ve got mail.” So much so that it has even caught the eye of offline news mediums such as USA Today, CNN, and ABC. This helps to make the application popular all on its own.


    Twitter, twitter, twitter...Everyone is asking What is Twitter? How do you use it?


    I've heard people say that they signed up but didn't catch on to it. Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users' updates (otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length.


    Many people use this for fun to meet new people, some use Twitter to get traffic to their blogs or websites and some use Twitter to gain more knowledge from well known experts in a certain field.


    Here are some Twitter tips that I implement that brings me new followers and customers every day.


    1. Post Some Interesting Things Going on In Your Life - people are interested in learning more about you as a person.


    2. Target your market by searching for your niche area - find and follow people of interest that you can learn and grow from in your niche market.


    3. Join Professional Social Networking Sites - find the Twitter groups and write a blurb about yourself. People that are interested will follow you.


    4. Post a question with a poll - of course your poll will be on your website or blog but announce on Twitter that you have a poll.


    5. Ask for help or direction in an area where you need clarification - people love to share their experience and knowledge to help others.


    6. Don't just post tweets, get involved with conversations - it may seem awkward at times but join in and respond to tweets. The more involved you are, the more friends that you will establish.


    7. Review your followers and decide if you want to follow them back - some people may unfollow you if they feel you aren't responsive or engaged. You don't have to follow everyone but it's a great idea to follow the ones that you feel would be a great asset to your knowledge base.


    8. Sign up for TweetLater to help with automation - you can set it up where an instant thank you message is sent to all of your followers.


    9. Post your Twitter link in your social networking sites like SUP.biz, Myspace, Facebook (has an application that automatically shows all of your Twitter updates), LinkedIn, etc.


    10. Search for a big name/successful person in your niche market - go to their followers list and start following them. Most of these people can be potential customers that are looking for more information. You can follow a max of 2000 people until 2000 people are following YOU. Then you can get past the 2000 mark.


    11. HAVE FUN WITH TWITTER!
    Thanks for this post Naomi and please leave your comments to this blog.

    Feb 17, 2009

    60 Minutes Interview With Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg

    Mark Zuckerberg
    Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Facebook

    Mark Zuckerberg is the CEO of Facebook, which he founded in 2004. Facebook is a social utility that helps people communicate more efficiently with their friends, families and coworkers. Mark is responsible for setting the overall direction and product strategy for the company. He leads the design of Facebook's service and development of its core technology and infrastructure. Mark attended Harvard University and studied computer science before moving the company to Palo Alto, California.



    Jan 20, 2009

    Pledge to Take Ownership of Your Life

    For more than 200 years Americans have watched presidents and vice presidents get sworn into office on Inauguration Day. It's a day of national renewal and leadership. Make this historic day one of personal renewal in your life.Stedman Graham, educator, business leader and author of the new book

    Diversity: Leaders Not Labels —
    A New Plan for the 21st Century, says defining your personal relevancy is the key to taking ownership of your life. Here are his nine questions to help you discover what matters to you most and to achieve success:

    Step 1: Check Your ID -- Who are you?
    Step 2: Create Your Vision -- What is important to you?
    Step 3: Develop Your Travel Plan -- How will you get there?
    Step 4: Master the Rules of the Road -- How will you meet obstacles?
    Step 5: Step Into the Outer Limits -- When should you take risks?
    Step 6: Pilot the Seasons of Change -- How will you grow?
    Step 7: Build Your Dream Team -- Who will you take along?
    Step 8: Win by a Decision -- How will you make choices?
    Step 9: Commit to Your Vision -- Where will you go?"

    The nine-step success process helps you see yourself differently, based on investing in yourself, so you're constantly evolving and changing for the better," Graham says.
    See Stedman Graham live at the SUCCESS Symposium. Learn more at SUCCESS.com/Symposium

    Jan 7, 2009

    Why should Video Marketing Be Included In Your Marketing Mix?

    Why should Video Marketing be included in your marketing mix?

    Online video is one of the best venues to engage an audience - don't even think about excluding it! This new medium allows the video creator to communicate a message on multiple levels - via visual imagery, the spoken word, music and visual text. It may sound like a commercial for a Montessori school - but this is the way people learn, and consequently, the way legendary brands are created. As a case in point, think of traditional internet marketing; when was the last time that a paid search listing or banner ad raised your blood pressure or induced you to forward something to a friend? Get the point?

    With online video you can also reach a huge audience for a minimal investment, thus the ROI of online video marketing can be astounding. Consider that according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau; more than 50% of the US population will watch video online next year. That's 155.2 million people, and we're just talking the US! Increasingly, people are watching a lot of video as well.

    According to comScore, Americans watched 9 billion online videos just in the month of July.
    Like everything else, there is no "free lunch" - the video-sharing sites don't charge to host your content, but getting your target audience to watch and forward your video is no easy feat. That's where we come in. Since we are tracking videos across the major video-sharing and social networking sites, we know a thing or two about what works and what doesn't.

    "Secret Formula" - .50C + .15M + .20T + .15P = Success
    Alright, we admit that an exact formula may be a bit over simplistic, but when it comes to deciding how to allocate time and resources on a video intended on marketing something virally, the weighting of these four components should follow closely to something like this: That's it. Write down the formula above on a cocktail napkin and you have the code cracker for getting people to watch and forward your video. The formula above says that creating a video is a weighted function of four components:

    50% C = Content and Production - this is storyline, style lightning, production, etc.

    15% M = Metadata - the text title, keywords, descriptions, and categories that help people find your video

    20% T = Thumbnail - the packaging which draws people in when displayed on the page15% P = promotion - just good old fashioned marketingThese aspects help communicate your message far and wide in a way that makes an emotional connection with the viewers in a way that motivates them to pass it along to others. Now we will dive into each component of the secret video marketing formula.

    Content and Production - (.5C)
    We know now that 50% of creating a great viral video is about content and production. The goal in this stage is to create something remarkable, literally, something that causes people to remark - and in doing so to effectively convey your message. We've noticed that certain categories tend to garner the interest of large audiences. Regardless of your message, utilizing a proven content category to package your message is a good way to spread your message wide and far.

    The remarkable comes in many shapes and sizes:
    Humor - everyone loves a laugh, but many of us like to make others laugh as well; this is what makes comedic videos so viral.

    Avant-garde videos - videos that push the boundaries of what is acceptable can be incredibly viral - especially since this content never makes it to network TV. But be careful not to damage your brand and to obey by the terms and conditions of the respective video-sharing sites.

    Talent - true talent is rare and fascinating. If you can showcase true talent people will forward your video.

    Celebrities - we are fascinated with celebrities, and any videos featuring a celebrity are very viral, in part because there are hundreds of websites that follow celebrities and will embed these videos. Beyond virality, celebrities endorsements have a powerful influence on decision making.

    Kitsch - don't kill the messenger, but a remarkable number of the most popular videos we are tracking also contain one or more of the following qualities:

    Special effects - the Ray Ban sunglass catching video is a great example. In general, any video that generates debate generates viewers

    Animal/pet tricks - man is drawn to animals just as he is to fire… it's hard to explain, but it seems to have to do with primitive wiring in the brain

    Cute kids - one of the draws of online video is that real people capture real moments, and nothing is as straightforward as a child just being herself

    Repetitive, catchy music - certainly not a new concept, but with infinite channels come many more opportunities to put up the experimental jingle

    Physical injury - thank goodness it's not me!

    Pranks - thank goodness it's not me!

    Spoofs - ride the coattails of the tried and true

    And of course, sex always sells

    The trick, as with any marketing effort, is to both be remarkable AND communicate your message. Use the right package to make your video a hit, but don't create a vehicle without passengers. Make sure the content is doing what it supposed to do. In the online video community, discussions around production are typically in reference to video quality - as it relates to camera, sound, compression, and editing. Some believe that higher production quality is an important component in gaining popularity for ones online videos, while others believe that the popularity of the medium is authenticity, and that lower quality video has a genuine nature that gets lost with higher quality.

    Given the plethora of widely seen videos over the internet, this concept of quality hasn't seemed to correlate with audience size or popularity. One thing is for certain: high quality human components of production, such as shooting and editing, make any video more watchable. Paying attention to lighting, framing the shot, and crisp editing is not only more pleasant, it's often required to make the picture viewable in a small window and on sites with file size restrictions.

    Bottom line: choose production components that fit with your message, content, and intended audience.

    Some great resources for tips on video production can be found at such sites as:
    http://videomaker.comhttp://studio.metacafe.com/ (along with many of the sharing sites)http://ourmedia.org/learning-center/videohttp://www.theshirtlessapprentice.comhttp://www.digitalvideosolutions.com/

    Metadata (.15M)
    Each video-sharing site let's you create "tags," which are words that describe your video. These tags, along with the title and description of the video, are the basis for how your video is located by end users on video-sharing sites like YouTube. This is a simple concept, so it's remarkable that so many content creators screw it up.

    Good use of metadata for video has recently become a requirement. Search engine optimization and search engine marketing used to be the realm of text only, but with search engines like Google and Ask adding video to their search results ("Universal" and "3-D" search, respectively), optimizing the metadata around your videos is increasingly important. This means creating rich and relevant video titles, descriptions and tags.

    There are only a few specifics that you need to know about tags. First, max out the tags, title and description for every site. The more metadata describing your video, the more likely someone is to find your video. It's surprising to see so many uploaders let so much opportunity go to waste by adding few or non-descript tags. Second, your tags, and particularly the category you choose, should be relevant to your video. We have seen video creators go from little viewership to becoming regularly featured producers simply through a better choice of category.

    If you are hosting a video on your own site, the same rules apply. But in such a case, be sure to create a relevant file name for your video. It is also advisable to have just one video per page with a simple text title and description place near the video itself. It's important to keep in mind that most videos are watched in social networking sites, blogs and content sites - not video sharing sites. This means that while you may post your video to YouTube or MetaCafe, many of the views are a result of people embedding that video into another site. The implication is that your video should be hosted on both your website and the video sharing sites for maximum exposure.

    One more hint on tags - the TubeMogul "Load and Track" tool shows you how your tags will look on each site as you are uploading videos, and soon will show you the most popular tags and video search terms to help you select appropriate metadata.

    Promotion (.15P)
    Videos that have relevant and rich tags and descriptions will be found and will be forwarded. But there is nothing wrong with supercharging this process, and this is where promotion comes into play. This is especially important as many video sites employ a "bubble up" methodology that promotes videos and content creators that receive the most views, subscribers, comments, ratings and forwards. Thus, then "bubble up" to the top of video sites and become even more popular. So in the video world, popularity begets more popularity.

    Building a community is the single best method for promoting a video. This isn't an overnight process, but can be done by using the infrastructure of the various video-sharing and social networking sites. This means subscribing to people's videos and leaving creative comments so that people click on your profile.

    Also, it's important (and fun) to befriend people and invite them to subscribe to your video channels. You can also join and be a meaningful contributor to various newsgroups and chat rooms. If you can pull off these things, you've just created your own set of groupies that will watch your content just because of the relationship, and this applies to both companies and individuals.

    Yet another way to build community is to write an interesting blog and create a following, as well as responding to the blog posts of others. Also, you'll be surprised how open bloggers and category experts will be to plug your video in exchange for a "sneak peak" or an interview.

    Also consider submitting your videos to other "Web 2.0" websites that employ voting systems to promote content. Some of the most popular sites are Digg, Reddit, Del.icio.us and StumbleUpon. As your video or article gains more votes, the video will attract even more attention and may even end up in a featured or "top 10" type category which can generate hundreds of thousands of views in a day.

    Generally, deploying videos to multiple sites makes sense as different sites have different content niches and audiences. Essentially, each site represents a community opportunity that you can tap into. TubeMogul "Load and Track" is an easy tool to deploy to multiple sites at once.

    Thumbnails (.20T)
    The last component of our secret formula, and often the most overlooked, is the thumbnail. A thumbnail is the single image that represents your video. This is the image that someone will see before they decide whether or not to watch the video. If your thumbnail is bad it often doesn't matter if you got all of the other components of the formula right.

    So what makes a good thumbnail? Typically thumbnails that are relevant and match the video title, description and tags are all you need. Beyond this, try to select the image that best captures the essence of your video. Unfortunately, each of the video-sharing sites has a different methodology for determining which frame will comprise the thumbnail. At one point, for example, YouTube used the frame that is in the very center of your video as the thumbnail, then they used 1:20 into the video, and now you have a choice of three frames. Other sites give you more options. It will pay off to invest the time to understand how the thumbnail is determined for every site where you deploy your video.

    If you have any doubts about the power of thumbnails just check out this video on YouTube - http://youtube.com/watch?v=nhSZs-aAZbo. The video features a thumbnail of Britney Spears topless, but the viewer is soon disappointed to see that the video never delivers upon its promise. In fact, the video has no content, just two frames played over and over - this hasn't stopped close to 7 million people from watching the video!

    CASE STUDIES
    There are thousands of successful commercial videos that have gone viral, but we thought we'd share with you a few of our favorites:
    Nike - "Touch of Gold" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsO6D1rwrKc

    This video features Ronaldinho - one of the most famous footballers in the world. He is sitting on the practice field and all is quiet, when he is presented with a gold box containing a pair of gold Nikes. After putting on the shoes he goes on to hit the crossbar with a soccer ball four times without the ball ever hitting the ground. You find yourself wondering, "Did he really do that?" At the end, the url nikefootball.com is displayed - the message comes across loud and clear. As of 9/24/07 this video has been viewed closed to 17 million times on YouTube alone and continues to garner around 30,000 views daily.

    Video characteristics: grainy quality, celebrity, special effects

    Blendtec's "Will It Blend?" video series - www.willitblend.com

    Think blenders can't be viral? Blendtec created a video show, complete with theme music and a host that feature their blenders pureeing everything from iPhones to Chuck Norris dolls. The videos are hilarious and definitely convey the message that Blendtec blenders are bad ass. While the videos are distributed on video-sharing sites, the company also built an entire website around the concept. As of 9/24/07 the videos have generated well over 30 million views! Think about what that would cost on network television.

    Video characteristics: humor, special effects, integration with retail website, building community (they take requests of what to blend)

    FrenchMaidTV's "How To Register A Domain" - www.frenchmaidtv.com

    Think of the last trade show you attended - the most popular booth was probably the one seeded with scantily clad and beautiful women. Take that same concept, inject steroids, and you have FrenchMaidTV where sexy French maids demo products. In this video, the maids show us how to register a domain on GoDaddy. Beyond the obvious attraction, the videos are well produced and feature over the top humorous French accents and interesting story lines, reminiscence of an old Benny Hill comedy spoof.

    Video characteristics: Sex sells, humor, pushes boundaries

    SummaryOnline video is a powerful medium for marketing because of its engagement potential, SEO value, and measurement opportunities. There are specific steps one should take to maximize the chances of producing a wildly popular (and widely viewed) web video campaign, and specific tools to help manage those steps. Remember to choose content that is remarkable and incites an emotional connection with the viewer, recognize the value of metadata to help your videos get found and thumbnails to draw in viewers, and last, use the platforms at your disposal to build communities around your video messages. Online video is a powerful marketing tool if you use it to the fullest!

    Talk soon,
    Frank Tocco--Marketing Mentor
    Get Paid To Generate Responsive Leads--Free Videos
    Free Website Traffic Tips
    Social Media Networking Tips