I don’t know about you, but I’ve had it up to my eyelids with people trying to pitch me on their business opportunities. Lately, it seems as though the intensity and frequency of solicitations have reached a stage of irritation for most.
It’s getting to the point that people are acting desperate (I’m not unsympathetic to the economic situation affecting many, I know some are desperate) and that desperation is causing them to treat people like a commodity. It’s causing them to put self above the needs of others when meeting the needs of others is one of the fastest ways to overcome desperate circumstances.
The irony is that the people who are finding success as a home business owner, using the Internet, are tired of the onslaught of ads… they are tired of being pitched! Engaging in conversation online only to have it go from “Hey, how are you doing…” to “I want to tell you about some so exciting…” is enough to make anyone want to hang up the phone, block people on Skype and remove “friends” from social networks. Nonetheless, there is a new wave of marketers coming.
Even the television news media is talking about Network Marketing (see here) and how people are turning back to MLM during the soft economy. This, of course, is going to bring a new wave of would be marketers, to the Internet, looking for a way to market their business to a larger audience than they can reach in their local communities.
Those of us who have been around the industry for a while understand that this wave of upstart entrepreneurs is going to bring with it tremendous opportunity. From experience, we know that those who are looking to the Internet to replace or supplement income (recently reduced or lost) are going need and be seeking information that will show them “the way.”
What does this mean for the new home business owner who is turning to the Internet as their market place? Hopefully it doesn’t mean heartache and frustration as it has in times passed. It’s actually gotten to the point, with me, where I’m not sure I want my name even associated with phrases like “Internet marketing” and “home based business” if the “norm” is going to be this continuous assault of unsolicited advertising and spam.
While I know that this industry is always going to have its “quirks”, I do believe that, with a concentrated effort, we can bring about a new way of thinking and doing to the world of Web 2.0 that defines it in its purest form… “Interactive marketing.”
Think about it. Twitter, Facebook, Ning (wow, how about the changes today, awesome), Plurk, Ping.FM, FriendFeed, and all of the resources that continue to bring us all together… those who are having success with these resources know that “relationships” are key. Social networking isn’t about quantity, it’s about quality. You can continue to chase numbers or you can come into direct content with the one key element that we all need to be successful… people. It’s the “interaction” we have with people, using these resources, that bring about results.
I’ve been telling my group for months now that when it comes to doing business in the world of Web 2.0, that if you do things correctly, business just happens… and it does! It doesn’t need to be forced, it doesn’t need to be pushy, rude or desperate. By simply using the right tools and resources you can set up a system of management that will allow you the opportunity to be part of the solution and not the problem.
I’m here to help however I can… look me up on Twitter: @rexharrislive.
Cheers!
Rex
Thanks Rex, Frank Tocco Twiiter Me!
Mar 14, 2009
Mar 10, 2009
Choosing Motivation Over Defeat
Each of us encounters hard times, hurt feelings, heartache, and physical and emotional pain. The key is to realize it's not what happens to you that matters—it's how you choose to respond. You can choose an inner dialogue of self-encouragement and motivation, or you can choose one of self-pity and defeat.
Your inner dialogue will be reflected in how you act.Keith Harrell, corporate trainer and the author of Attitude is Everything, says there are several steps you can take to improve your attitude.
Here are six to get you started:
Repeat affirmations.
Words charged with power and conviction, repeated several times a day, can reprogram your subconscious and trigger positive feelings that drive actions.
Discover what motivates you to take action to change your life.
Basic motives include love, self-preservation, anger, financial gain and fear. Self-motivation requires enthusiasm, a positive outlook and a positive physiology—walk faster, sit up and smile. Believe in yourself and your potential.
Visualize positive outcomes to enhance and focus your skills. Peak performers, from surgeons to athletes, use visualization. Now, it's your turn.
Be enthusiastic.
Enthusiasm is one of the most attractive qualities you can have. It's your burning desire that communicates commitment, determination and spirit. Enthusiasm puts you in motion.
Laugh.
The more laughter in your life, the less stress you will have. There are also health benefits to lightening up.
Exercise.
One of the best ways to gain a more positive mindset is to exercise.It's no secret that life seems to reward us most when we approach it with a positive attitude.
To read more from Keith Harrell, visit www.success.com.
Your inner dialogue will be reflected in how you act.Keith Harrell, corporate trainer and the author of Attitude is Everything, says there are several steps you can take to improve your attitude.
Here are six to get you started:
Repeat affirmations.
Words charged with power and conviction, repeated several times a day, can reprogram your subconscious and trigger positive feelings that drive actions.
Discover what motivates you to take action to change your life.
Basic motives include love, self-preservation, anger, financial gain and fear. Self-motivation requires enthusiasm, a positive outlook and a positive physiology—walk faster, sit up and smile. Believe in yourself and your potential.
Visualize positive outcomes to enhance and focus your skills. Peak performers, from surgeons to athletes, use visualization. Now, it's your turn.
Be enthusiastic.
Enthusiasm is one of the most attractive qualities you can have. It's your burning desire that communicates commitment, determination and spirit. Enthusiasm puts you in motion.
Laugh.
The more laughter in your life, the less stress you will have. There are also health benefits to lightening up.
Exercise.
One of the best ways to gain a more positive mindset is to exercise.It's no secret that life seems to reward us most when we approach it with a positive attitude.
To read more from Keith Harrell, visit www.success.com.
Frank Tocco--MLM Mentoring
Mar 5, 2009
What are Social Networking Sites?
What are Social Networking Sites?
If you are not familiar with them, then here is a brief explanation of what they are.
Social Network Sites: A Definition
Social Network Sites are innovative systems for meeting and working with people
who are involved in the same areas of business that you are involved in. This gives
you a very targeted audience to market your business to..
The Social Networking Sites that you will be using provide a safe, friendly
environment for Marketers, to come together in a Social setting to build
relationships, gain exposure, make friends, reach a targeted audience with your
businesses and products.
Popular social networking sites, including MySpace and Facebook, have changed the
human fabric of the Internet and have the potential to pay off big for investors.
MySpace, with 200 million visitors, has become the digital equivalent of hanging out
at the mall for today's teens, who load the site with photos, news about music
groups and detailed profiles of their likes and dislikes. It also became the next big
thing for marketers.
MySpace and Facebook, have opened the doors on newer and better Social
Networking sites that are business friendly.
The following Social Networking sites are geared for those who want to build their
business and they all offer great resources that will help you to contact and network
with 1,000's of other business minded people from all over the world.
Visit these Social Networking site and see what they can offer you in expanding your
business.
1. StartUpBiz - (Free to Join)
2. Social Networking Directory - (Free to Join)
3. Twitter - (Free to Join)
4.
- (Free to Join)
They are all free to join and to use their services to grow your business.
TIP: To make the Social Networking sites to work for your business, go to your
account, set up your profile page where you can tell a little about you and your
business. This is where you can tell all about your business or affiliate program.
Then you go into the browse or search section and add other members to your
contact list. This will enable you to contact 1000's of members using the social
networks system. The members you contact will visit your profile page with your info
and business presentation.
Also, after these members become your contact you can email them at any time and
leave comments on their profile page that will lead back to your profile page. Try not
to place ads directly in the comments section, this is frowned upon. Instead wish
them good luck in thier business or have a nice day and then ask them to visit your
profile.
Visit my profile page here to see how I set up one of my profiles and scroll down to
the bottom to see how the comment section works.
People when looking at other members profiles almost always go to the comment
sections to see what other members are saying. This is a great way to get extra
exposure and visits to your profile and business opportunities.
This is the best in online marketing, and one that should not be ignored by anyone
who wants to earn an income online.
How To Find 100,000 Products You Can Sell Online
If you've ever dreamed about being a super affiliate and wondered how people make
any money promoting products that pay them measly commissions, this is the
chapter for you
The real secret to affiliate commissions is promoting high end products. In this
chapter I'm going to show you where to find these products and how to promote
them.
Google has recently launched a new service called Froogle which you can find at
http://www.froogle.com/.
This service allows you to find all sorts of products people are selling. I guess you
would call it the worlds largest online shopping directory.
This is how the Google people describe their new service
"Froogle is a new service from Google that makes it easy to find information about
products for sale online.
By focusing entirely on product search, Froogle applies the power of Google's search
technology to a very specific task: locating stores that sell the item you want to find
and pointing you directly to the place where you can make a purchase."
Basically it allows you to find any product for sale on the Internet.
So what's so good about this?
If you know anything about affiliate programs you know it's HARD to find good
products to sell that nobody else is selling and Froogle.com will allow you to do that.
The best part is it allows you to search for products by price range.
So if you wanted to find and promote products that sell for over $100,000 you can do
that!
Ok, let's move onto the next step. Selling $100,000 + products on the Internet. How
do you do it? Do people actually buy products that sell for this price online?
Yes they do, big time.
The type of products in this price range could be jewelry, car's, holidays, real estate
and even boats.
The best way to sell these types of products would be to become the leader in the
field on the Internet. So when someone thinks about buying a luxury car or holiday,
your name will come up.
But how do you do that?
By becoming the expert in the field! You want to be first in the search engines, you
want to be in their face when they read articles about the subject at hand, you want
to be first when they go to message boards and ask questions. You want your name
and website to be there.
Selling large products like this isn't going to be like selling $25 ebooks online, you're
going to have to put in the hard work.
You should be aiming to create a site something like http://www.tractorbynet.com/
That site is totally dedicated to Tractors and it pulls in a fortune. Why? Because when
someone says I want to buy a tractor online or want more information about a
certain type of tractor, that's the place that comes up every time they ask those
questions.
Information Product Idea
One of the hottest topics on the Internet right now is that of people learning how to
create digital products, like ebooks and software that they can sell online and make
either a full time or part time income with.
People are looking for ways to make money online, either because they have or fear
they might lost their jobs, or they are sick of working 9-5 and constantly hear about
people who are able to work from home.
This business idea is all about teaching people how to create digital products, easily
and quickly. Like most people who get into this sort of business, I would be staying
away from the "Internet marketing" crowd big time and I would try and target people
who are new to the Internet and the business in general.
Not only does this make you stand out in the crowd, it will also make things easier
when it comes to creating the business itself.
You're probably thinking how can I create a business about creating digital products
if I've never done anything like that before, and that is a good question, but I have a
very good answer.
Some of the best products I've ever brought on the Internet were not created by the
owner of the business, they either got someone to create the product for them or
they brought in experts and interviewed them and turned their knowledge into a
product.
The best way to get started in this business is to hire an expert in the field of product
development and use their knowledge to create your own products.
For instance, for $19.95, you could sell an ebook on getting started in product
development, for $47 you could see a download video showing steps on how to
create your own digital products, for $97 you could sell a cd set with a
comprehensive guide to creating and selling your own digital products, for $297 you
could sell a complete set of dvd's with 1 or 2 hours of consultation on product
development and for over $500 you could even do a seminar.
This is another simple business idea. Create an ebook around the topic of
making money with your love of Golf for example or manuthing you are passionate about.
Show people how to make money with their passion for Golf and they will pay you
whatever you want.
You could show them how to become a Caddy,
You could show them how to become a Golf sports writer
You could show them how to get a job at a Golf course
You could show them how to become a professional Golfer.
The list goes on and on.
Selling Businesses On Ebay Guide
There are literally tens of millions of people with an EBay account that shop
periodically for everything from clothing to information. So why not create a business
around EBay!
You already have millions of customers at your disposal, so why not make EBay work
even harder for you?
The problem with selling physical products on EBay is that it's a hard business to sell
onto someone else. Inventory, shipping is a pain in the butt, so create a business
that is virtual and a product that can be downloaded instantly.
Of course, I'm talking about an ebook here, but you can create just about anything.
Most people don't associate EBay with digital products, but people are willing to buy
them if you know where to look.
In Conclusion
Before you get on with starting your internet business, I just want to say that there
are thousands of ways to make money on the internet! This guide only covers the
most basic and easy ways to start an online business, and once you get more into
the online business world you will discover hundreds of other awesome business
opportunities.
And now, it is time for you to start your online business. Because the sooner you
start, the sooner you can quit that job and start living the life you have always
wanted.
Let me be blunt with you:
Is it possible to make lots of money on the internet? Yes, much more possible than
making it in the “real” world.
But unless you get started, you will not make a cent! So the sooner you get started, the better!
If you are not familiar with them, then here is a brief explanation of what they are.
Social Network Sites: A Definition
Social Network Sites are innovative systems for meeting and working with people
who are involved in the same areas of business that you are involved in. This gives
you a very targeted audience to market your business to..
The Social Networking Sites that you will be using provide a safe, friendly
environment for Marketers, to come together in a Social setting to build
relationships, gain exposure, make friends, reach a targeted audience with your
businesses and products.
Popular social networking sites, including MySpace and Facebook, have changed the
human fabric of the Internet and have the potential to pay off big for investors.
MySpace, with 200 million visitors, has become the digital equivalent of hanging out
at the mall for today's teens, who load the site with photos, news about music
groups and detailed profiles of their likes and dislikes. It also became the next big
thing for marketers.
MySpace and Facebook, have opened the doors on newer and better Social
Networking sites that are business friendly.
The following Social Networking sites are geared for those who want to build their
business and they all offer great resources that will help you to contact and network
with 1,000's of other business minded people from all over the world.
Visit these Social Networking site and see what they can offer you in expanding your
business.
1. StartUpBiz - (Free to Join)
2. Social Networking Directory - (Free to Join)
3. Twitter - (Free to Join)
4.
- (Free to Join)They are all free to join and to use their services to grow your business.
TIP: To make the Social Networking sites to work for your business, go to your
account, set up your profile page where you can tell a little about you and your
business. This is where you can tell all about your business or affiliate program.
Then you go into the browse or search section and add other members to your
contact list. This will enable you to contact 1000's of members using the social
networks system. The members you contact will visit your profile page with your info
and business presentation.
Also, after these members become your contact you can email them at any time and
leave comments on their profile page that will lead back to your profile page. Try not
to place ads directly in the comments section, this is frowned upon. Instead wish
them good luck in thier business or have a nice day and then ask them to visit your
profile.
Visit my profile page here to see how I set up one of my profiles and scroll down to
the bottom to see how the comment section works.
People when looking at other members profiles almost always go to the comment
sections to see what other members are saying. This is a great way to get extra
exposure and visits to your profile and business opportunities.
This is the best in online marketing, and one that should not be ignored by anyone
who wants to earn an income online.
How To Find 100,000 Products You Can Sell Online
If you've ever dreamed about being a super affiliate and wondered how people make
any money promoting products that pay them measly commissions, this is the
chapter for you
The real secret to affiliate commissions is promoting high end products. In this
chapter I'm going to show you where to find these products and how to promote
them.
Google has recently launched a new service called Froogle which you can find at
http://www.froogle.com/.
This service allows you to find all sorts of products people are selling. I guess you
would call it the worlds largest online shopping directory.
This is how the Google people describe their new service
"Froogle is a new service from Google that makes it easy to find information about
products for sale online.
By focusing entirely on product search, Froogle applies the power of Google's search
technology to a very specific task: locating stores that sell the item you want to find
and pointing you directly to the place where you can make a purchase."
Basically it allows you to find any product for sale on the Internet.
So what's so good about this?
If you know anything about affiliate programs you know it's HARD to find good
products to sell that nobody else is selling and Froogle.com will allow you to do that.
The best part is it allows you to search for products by price range.
So if you wanted to find and promote products that sell for over $100,000 you can do
that!
Ok, let's move onto the next step. Selling $100,000 + products on the Internet. How
do you do it? Do people actually buy products that sell for this price online?
Yes they do, big time.
The type of products in this price range could be jewelry, car's, holidays, real estate
and even boats.
The best way to sell these types of products would be to become the leader in the
field on the Internet. So when someone thinks about buying a luxury car or holiday,
your name will come up.
But how do you do that?
By becoming the expert in the field! You want to be first in the search engines, you
want to be in their face when they read articles about the subject at hand, you want
to be first when they go to message boards and ask questions. You want your name
and website to be there.
Selling large products like this isn't going to be like selling $25 ebooks online, you're
going to have to put in the hard work.
You should be aiming to create a site something like http://www.tractorbynet.com/
That site is totally dedicated to Tractors and it pulls in a fortune. Why? Because when
someone says I want to buy a tractor online or want more information about a
certain type of tractor, that's the place that comes up every time they ask those
questions.
Information Product Idea
One of the hottest topics on the Internet right now is that of people learning how to
create digital products, like ebooks and software that they can sell online and make
either a full time or part time income with.
People are looking for ways to make money online, either because they have or fear
they might lost their jobs, or they are sick of working 9-5 and constantly hear about
people who are able to work from home.
This business idea is all about teaching people how to create digital products, easily
and quickly. Like most people who get into this sort of business, I would be staying
away from the "Internet marketing" crowd big time and I would try and target people
who are new to the Internet and the business in general.
Not only does this make you stand out in the crowd, it will also make things easier
when it comes to creating the business itself.
You're probably thinking how can I create a business about creating digital products
if I've never done anything like that before, and that is a good question, but I have a
very good answer.
Some of the best products I've ever brought on the Internet were not created by the
owner of the business, they either got someone to create the product for them or
they brought in experts and interviewed them and turned their knowledge into a
product.
The best way to get started in this business is to hire an expert in the field of product
development and use their knowledge to create your own products.
For instance, for $19.95, you could sell an ebook on getting started in product
development, for $47 you could see a download video showing steps on how to
create your own digital products, for $97 you could sell a cd set with a
comprehensive guide to creating and selling your own digital products, for $297 you
could sell a complete set of dvd's with 1 or 2 hours of consultation on product
development and for over $500 you could even do a seminar.
This is another simple business idea. Create an ebook around the topic of
making money with your love of Golf for example or manuthing you are passionate about.
Show people how to make money with their passion for Golf and they will pay you
whatever you want.
You could show them how to become a Caddy,
You could show them how to become a Golf sports writer
You could show them how to get a job at a Golf course
You could show them how to become a professional Golfer.
The list goes on and on.
Selling Businesses On Ebay Guide
There are literally tens of millions of people with an EBay account that shop
periodically for everything from clothing to information. So why not create a business
around EBay!
You already have millions of customers at your disposal, so why not make EBay work
even harder for you?
The problem with selling physical products on EBay is that it's a hard business to sell
onto someone else. Inventory, shipping is a pain in the butt, so create a business
that is virtual and a product that can be downloaded instantly.
Of course, I'm talking about an ebook here, but you can create just about anything.
Most people don't associate EBay with digital products, but people are willing to buy
them if you know where to look.
In Conclusion
Before you get on with starting your internet business, I just want to say that there
are thousands of ways to make money on the internet! This guide only covers the
most basic and easy ways to start an online business, and once you get more into
the online business world you will discover hundreds of other awesome business
opportunities.
And now, it is time for you to start your online business. Because the sooner you
start, the sooner you can quit that job and start living the life you have always
wanted.
Let me be blunt with you:
Is it possible to make lots of money on the internet? Yes, much more possible than
making it in the “real” world.
But unless you get started, you will not make a cent! So the sooner you get started, the better!
Mar 4, 2009
Once And For All, Let's Define Relationship Building in Network Marketing
Melanie Kissell challenges us on the whole concept of "make friends and build relationships with all the folks you prospect, talk to".Apparently, she's so sick and tired of hearing that she'll implode AND explode... at the same time!
___________________________________________________________________________
If I hear another person touting that network marketing is all about relationship building, I'm going to implode and explode ... simultaneously!
Are you in network marketing to make money? Or make friends?
Answer this question honestly. Why would someone try to get thousands of followers on Twitter or cram a gazillion friends on their Facebook roster? Does anyone need more than 2 seconds to think about it??
Most people I pose this question to give me the same old cookie cutter response - "I'm making friends and building relationships." No, you're not. You're building a LIST. And everyone on your list can look forward to receiving ads (in one form or another) for your products, services, or business opportunity.
Is there anything wrong with that? Of course, not. Anyone who produces a weekly ezine, for example, absolutely needs to have a LIST of subscribers to mail the darn thing to!
Seriously, folks, is it humanly possible to "build relationships" with thousands of people? The last time I checked, I had only two hands, two feet, one voice, and 24 hours in a day on my clock - and that's not nearly enough time to maintain relationships with my own children!
Some marketers are being led down a dead end road by being told that they need to work really hard on building relationships with their prospects. Oh, brother. There's only one thing and one thing only you need to do with prospects - Find out if your business opportunity and/or products are right for them. That's it. Nothing more.
Does that mean you should be rude? No. Insensitive? No. Disrespectful? No.
You should be polite, professional, and conversational, but crystal clear on your objective. This can be accomplished quickly and effectively by asking a few simple questions. A relationship with a prospect does not need to linger on for weeks or months. That would be time consuming, labor intensive, and downright ridiculous.
So let's define relationship building in network marketing.
The people that you need to build vibrant, healthy, lasting relationships with are the people that join you in your business or become your customers. That's when the relationship building begins. These are the folks that deserve your time, energy, and effort in getting to know, like, and trust you.
You have a vested interest in them and a responsibility to build a relationship with them. Hopefully, one that will transform into a friendship and last a lifetime.
To Your Network Marketing success,
Melanie Kissell
Thanks Melanie for this insightful article.
Now Chris Nwakobi has this comment add. What do you believe most?
___________________________________________________________________________
If I hear another person touting that network marketing is all about relationship building, I'm going to implode and explode ... simultaneously!
Are you in network marketing to make money? Or make friends?
Answer this question honestly. Why would someone try to get thousands of followers on Twitter or cram a gazillion friends on their Facebook roster? Does anyone need more than 2 seconds to think about it??
Most people I pose this question to give me the same old cookie cutter response - "I'm making friends and building relationships." No, you're not. You're building a LIST. And everyone on your list can look forward to receiving ads (in one form or another) for your products, services, or business opportunity.
Is there anything wrong with that? Of course, not. Anyone who produces a weekly ezine, for example, absolutely needs to have a LIST of subscribers to mail the darn thing to!
Seriously, folks, is it humanly possible to "build relationships" with thousands of people? The last time I checked, I had only two hands, two feet, one voice, and 24 hours in a day on my clock - and that's not nearly enough time to maintain relationships with my own children!
Some marketers are being led down a dead end road by being told that they need to work really hard on building relationships with their prospects. Oh, brother. There's only one thing and one thing only you need to do with prospects - Find out if your business opportunity and/or products are right for them. That's it. Nothing more.
Does that mean you should be rude? No. Insensitive? No. Disrespectful? No.
You should be polite, professional, and conversational, but crystal clear on your objective. This can be accomplished quickly and effectively by asking a few simple questions. A relationship with a prospect does not need to linger on for weeks or months. That would be time consuming, labor intensive, and downright ridiculous.
So let's define relationship building in network marketing.
The people that you need to build vibrant, healthy, lasting relationships with are the people that join you in your business or become your customers. That's when the relationship building begins. These are the folks that deserve your time, energy, and effort in getting to know, like, and trust you.
You have a vested interest in them and a responsibility to build a relationship with them. Hopefully, one that will transform into a friendship and last a lifetime.
To Your Network Marketing success,
Melanie Kissell
Thanks Melanie for this insightful article.
Now Chris Nwakobi has this comment add. What do you believe most?
__________________________________________________________________________
Relationship Building Sounds Less Threatening than List Building
If any of us called some prospects and said; "Oh, I want to add you to my list", the phone will must likely be slammed on us. If, on the other hand, we offer something to establish some trust, credibility may be established - building relationship.
List building is temporary, will almost look like coupons to stores that last a definite time period. Conveying the message of trust in relationship building with business associates, friends, relatives or social networking groups is at the very center of relationship building and successful network marketing.
Successful doctors go into medicine, to heal and the money comes and not for the money. teahers go into that profession to educate and not for the money.
So, if we go into network marketing, but make friends first; don't you believe we will be more successful?
I agree that we are all in this for the money, using the list mentality, will be like hunting. When animals are hunted, they run away. While, if we use the relationship mentality, it will be like fishing. When you put the right bate, the fishes will bite.
Chris Nwakobi
Both are great points of view... Tell us what you believe by posting a comment below...
Feb 21, 2009
10 Steps to a Thriving Direct Sales Business
From MLMWoman.com
Whether it’s your first direct sales business or you’ve been down this road before, everyone could use a few tips to make their business successful. So here are 10 tips that will go a long way in helping you to create a profitable business.
1. The Products – Know, love and stand behind the products you sell. If you know how it works, why it’s worth it and actually like it yourself, you’ll do a better job selling it to others. Know what similar products are all about as well. If your competitor sells a product like yours, be able to tell your customers why yours is better even if it costs more.
2. Network, Network, Network – It’s important to build a business network. Be yourself and take the time to build friendships and other contacts beyond just potential customers. Join your local Chamber of Commerce or a business networking group like Leads or BNI.
3. Online Presence – Create a website or a blog for your business. Nowadays, you are missing a huge opportunity if you’re not doing business via the Internet. One of the first places people go to find something they need is the World Wide Web and your product is no different. Even if you sell a lot locally, broaden your horizons by going online too.
4. Take Your Business Seriously – Your website, business cards, products, presentation and everything else you do in your business should exhibit that you’re serious about your business. Sometimes this will take a bit of money, like hiring a web designer to put your website together if you don’t know how. However, most of your professionalism will show in you personally, so treat it like a real business and you’ll reap the benefits of doing so.
5. Honesty is Key – When your customers feel like they can trust you they will be back. Don’t be shady or pushy in order to make sales or gain team members. When you make a mistake, admit it, correct it, and move on. Remember people buy from those they know, like and trust.
6. Accept Rejection – In the direct sales business, the word No is one you’ll hear frequently. Don’t take it too personally and realize this is just a part of this business. Keep working hard and you’ll get positive replies and more sales too.
7. Attend Meetings – Take the time to attend meetings for your team. Not only will you learn about new products and sales techniques, but you’ll receive some needed encouragement from others who’ve been where you are. Even better, you will be able to help some of the newbies on your team eventually.
8. Set Goals – This tip is extremely important when it comes to the success of your direct sales business. Setting goals and constantly working toward them will help to make your business more profitable. Set big goals and then break them down into smaller easier to achieve steps. As you work your way through your list you’ll feel like you’ve accomplished something and your ultimate goal won’t seem so out of reach. Be realistic with your goals, but don’t be afraid to set them high either.
9. Be There for Others – You will some day remember what it was like when you first started out. The help you received from others was invaluable and once you’ve worked your way up, be sure to lend a helping hand to others too. Being a mentor is both rewarding and educational. Remember: "What goes around comes around."
10. Work Hard and Stick with It – There will be hard times when you just want to quit. But remember, any business takes work and nothing happens overnight. Just keep moving forward taking small steps every day and you'll find yourself on the road to success.
Whether it’s your first direct sales business or you’ve been down this road before, everyone could use a few tips to make their business successful. So here are 10 tips that will go a long way in helping you to create a profitable business.
1. The Products – Know, love and stand behind the products you sell. If you know how it works, why it’s worth it and actually like it yourself, you’ll do a better job selling it to others. Know what similar products are all about as well. If your competitor sells a product like yours, be able to tell your customers why yours is better even if it costs more.
2. Network, Network, Network – It’s important to build a business network. Be yourself and take the time to build friendships and other contacts beyond just potential customers. Join your local Chamber of Commerce or a business networking group like Leads or BNI.
3. Online Presence – Create a website or a blog for your business. Nowadays, you are missing a huge opportunity if you’re not doing business via the Internet. One of the first places people go to find something they need is the World Wide Web and your product is no different. Even if you sell a lot locally, broaden your horizons by going online too.
4. Take Your Business Seriously – Your website, business cards, products, presentation and everything else you do in your business should exhibit that you’re serious about your business. Sometimes this will take a bit of money, like hiring a web designer to put your website together if you don’t know how. However, most of your professionalism will show in you personally, so treat it like a real business and you’ll reap the benefits of doing so.
5. Honesty is Key – When your customers feel like they can trust you they will be back. Don’t be shady or pushy in order to make sales or gain team members. When you make a mistake, admit it, correct it, and move on. Remember people buy from those they know, like and trust.
6. Accept Rejection – In the direct sales business, the word No is one you’ll hear frequently. Don’t take it too personally and realize this is just a part of this business. Keep working hard and you’ll get positive replies and more sales too.
7. Attend Meetings – Take the time to attend meetings for your team. Not only will you learn about new products and sales techniques, but you’ll receive some needed encouragement from others who’ve been where you are. Even better, you will be able to help some of the newbies on your team eventually.
8. Set Goals – This tip is extremely important when it comes to the success of your direct sales business. Setting goals and constantly working toward them will help to make your business more profitable. Set big goals and then break them down into smaller easier to achieve steps. As you work your way through your list you’ll feel like you’ve accomplished something and your ultimate goal won’t seem so out of reach. Be realistic with your goals, but don’t be afraid to set them high either.
9. Be There for Others – You will some day remember what it was like when you first started out. The help you received from others was invaluable and once you’ve worked your way up, be sure to lend a helping hand to others too. Being a mentor is both rewarding and educational. Remember: "What goes around comes around."
10. Work Hard and Stick with It – There will be hard times when you just want to quit. But remember, any business takes work and nothing happens overnight. Just keep moving forward taking small steps every day and you'll find yourself on the road to success.
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.
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.
Feb 3, 2009
Update: How The Economy Is Effecting Our Industry...
I've been watching the home business industry closely over the past few months to determine if our niche was going to grow or contract with the current decline in the economy, and I finally have enough data to come to a conclusion which I'd like to share with you today...
It's no secret that we're in the beginning stages of a grand super-cycle in the global economy that's never been seen before.
Right now, the biggest question isn't whether things will get worse, but how fast... Thankfully, we're in one of the only industries that has the potential for growth. Logically, I've been expecting the work at home world to see a nice bump in growth now that so many people are needing to supplement their income or replace a job, but the question remained... Would these people still spend money on a business or related training materials?
So I've been watching the numbers and waiting for some real data before coming to any kind of conclusions, which I now feel comfortable making...
Here's what I've seen...
Our industry is definitely benefiting from the bad economy in a very big way. Over the past 13 months, Magnetic Sponsoring as a company has seen an increase in sales of 470%, and January 2009, was the biggest month in our 4 year history.
I compared numbers with my friend Jay who runs a marketing system that's tied to a top-tier opportunity, and they've seen the same thing.
Yesterday, they had their best day in over six months for total daily leads generated.
Last month, they had a 65% increase in sales over last Quarter of 2008. More people are coming into the networking industry, and they're spending money... BUT...
I know several big internet marketers out there who have been experiencing a large increase in refunds. People are willing to buy, but they are looking for quality, and they'd prefer to buy from people they purchased before in the past.
There is little patience in the market for sub-standard products, and the relationship you form with your prospects and customers is now more important than ever.
So here are 4 tips that will help you take advantage of this massive influx of new people into our industry...
1: Put yourself in their shoes...
If I'm brand new to this industry, my biggest challenge will be information over load. With 100's of opportunities in the market, and 1,000's of potential sponsors found on Facebook, YouTube and Adwords, my biggest questions are...
Who can I trust?
Which business is best?
Which products should I buy?
The single best way you can answer all of these questions as a marketer, is with "social proof". If I'm brand new, and researching you as a potential sponsor, how do I know if you're the real thing or not?
Simple...
I'm going to look at your videos and see how many views and ratings you have. I'm going to see how many friends you have on Facebook, and followers on Twitter. I'm going to look for testimonials from customers and distributors.I'm going to look for pictures and screen shots that show results.
All of these things will instantly show me that I can trust you, that you have value to offer me, and that I can feel safe doing business with you, before we've even spoken on the phone.
And PLEASE...
2: Pick up the phone and call your leads!!!
If someone's shopping for an opportunity, they're probably going to fill out 3-10 capture pages for different businesses. Who are they going to join?
Simple... The person who took the time to call them and establish a relationship. If you don't call them.
The next guy will, and that's who's going to get their business. Don't be needy. Don't sit there for an hour and compare your opportunity or comp plan to others over the phone.
Establish a rapport. Position yourself as a leader, and tell them what to do next.
3: Educate yourself.
This is THE opportunity of a lifetime for you in this industry. This is as good as it gets, but the only way you'll be able to take advantage of it, is to learn the skills and strategies required to do so. You must know how to brand yourself.
You must know how to get traffic, and you must know how to market your business to your prospects. If you do not own a copy of Magnetic Sponsoring or Traffic Formula yet, how do you honestly expect to compete against the people who do know these techniques?
You can't. There are no short-cuts here. Get educated or get run over.
4: Make your offer "Risk Free", whenever you can.
Give your prospects the opportunity try out your products risk-free, as often as possible. For example, we increased the money money back guarantee period on the Magnetic Sponsoring course from 3 months, to 12 months.
If someone buys the course and doesn't like it, they have a full year to request a no-questions-asked refund. We're giving our customers all of the power because that makes it even easier for them to choose our products instead of someone else's.
Once someone experiences the quality of our products, they usually purchase 2-3 more because they know they can trust us to deliver the best information out there.
Make it as easy, and as risk free as you can for your prospects to do business with you.
Talk to you soon,
Frank Tocco
It's no secret that we're in the beginning stages of a grand super-cycle in the global economy that's never been seen before.
Right now, the biggest question isn't whether things will get worse, but how fast... Thankfully, we're in one of the only industries that has the potential for growth. Logically, I've been expecting the work at home world to see a nice bump in growth now that so many people are needing to supplement their income or replace a job, but the question remained... Would these people still spend money on a business or related training materials?
So I've been watching the numbers and waiting for some real data before coming to any kind of conclusions, which I now feel comfortable making...
Here's what I've seen...
Our industry is definitely benefiting from the bad economy in a very big way. Over the past 13 months, Magnetic Sponsoring as a company has seen an increase in sales of 470%, and January 2009, was the biggest month in our 4 year history.
I compared numbers with my friend Jay who runs a marketing system that's tied to a top-tier opportunity, and they've seen the same thing.
Yesterday, they had their best day in over six months for total daily leads generated.
Last month, they had a 65% increase in sales over last Quarter of 2008. More people are coming into the networking industry, and they're spending money... BUT...
I know several big internet marketers out there who have been experiencing a large increase in refunds. People are willing to buy, but they are looking for quality, and they'd prefer to buy from people they purchased before in the past.
There is little patience in the market for sub-standard products, and the relationship you form with your prospects and customers is now more important than ever.
So here are 4 tips that will help you take advantage of this massive influx of new people into our industry...
1: Put yourself in their shoes...
If I'm brand new to this industry, my biggest challenge will be information over load. With 100's of opportunities in the market, and 1,000's of potential sponsors found on Facebook, YouTube and Adwords, my biggest questions are...
Who can I trust?
Which business is best?
Which products should I buy?
The single best way you can answer all of these questions as a marketer, is with "social proof". If I'm brand new, and researching you as a potential sponsor, how do I know if you're the real thing or not?
Simple...
I'm going to look at your videos and see how many views and ratings you have. I'm going to see how many friends you have on Facebook, and followers on Twitter. I'm going to look for testimonials from customers and distributors.I'm going to look for pictures and screen shots that show results.
All of these things will instantly show me that I can trust you, that you have value to offer me, and that I can feel safe doing business with you, before we've even spoken on the phone.
And PLEASE...
2: Pick up the phone and call your leads!!!
If someone's shopping for an opportunity, they're probably going to fill out 3-10 capture pages for different businesses. Who are they going to join?
Simple... The person who took the time to call them and establish a relationship. If you don't call them.
The next guy will, and that's who's going to get their business. Don't be needy. Don't sit there for an hour and compare your opportunity or comp plan to others over the phone.
Establish a rapport. Position yourself as a leader, and tell them what to do next.
3: Educate yourself.
This is THE opportunity of a lifetime for you in this industry. This is as good as it gets, but the only way you'll be able to take advantage of it, is to learn the skills and strategies required to do so. You must know how to brand yourself.
You must know how to get traffic, and you must know how to market your business to your prospects. If you do not own a copy of Magnetic Sponsoring or Traffic Formula yet, how do you honestly expect to compete against the people who do know these techniques?
You can't. There are no short-cuts here. Get educated or get run over.
4: Make your offer "Risk Free", whenever you can.
Give your prospects the opportunity try out your products risk-free, as often as possible. For example, we increased the money money back guarantee period on the Magnetic Sponsoring course from 3 months, to 12 months.
If someone buys the course and doesn't like it, they have a full year to request a no-questions-asked refund. We're giving our customers all of the power because that makes it even easier for them to choose our products instead of someone else's.
Once someone experiences the quality of our products, they usually purchase 2-3 more because they know they can trust us to deliver the best information out there.
Make it as easy, and as risk free as you can for your prospects to do business with you.
Talk to you soon,
Frank Tocco
Jan 20, 2009
Did you know Obama is an Internet Marketer?
Did you know that 25% of all the people who voted for Barack Obama had already signed up to one of his sites or had become his friend in an online social networking group?
Obama extensively used all the same techniques I teach on my weekly live show and I believe it won him the election. I'm going to give you an inside look at exactly how Obama used Internet marketing to dominate politics & win the presidency.
Tune in TONIGHT to my weekly live online marketing show: It's live tonight at 6:30 PM Pacific Standard Time tonight (Tuesday).
Come by and say hi! Just go to: http://www.billmcintosh.tv/live
I'll be there answering live questions about online marketing. You should come by and ask me any questions that you have. I'll open up my call in lines during the show & take your questions. When I do, you can call 1-714-795-2504 to reach me live on the air. Later, this number will also forward through to my team during normal business hours.
A quick favor to ask:
If you are a fan of my live show and are on social networking sites like Twitter, Myspace or Facebook, please send an announcement out telling people about the show. I'd love to see a TON of viewers on tonight's show. Thanks!
I'll also be giving an update on my new social marketing tool:
TweetManager. It's currently in closed private beta testing now. I'll be giving an update on the status of the tool & handing out invites to start using it if you aren't already in. Just click this link when it's time: http://www.billmcintosh.tv/live I look forward to seeing you there!
All the best, Bill McIntosh
http://www.billmcintosh.tv/live
Follow me on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/billmcintosh
Obama extensively used all the same techniques I teach on my weekly live show and I believe it won him the election. I'm going to give you an inside look at exactly how Obama used Internet marketing to dominate politics & win the presidency.
Tune in TONIGHT to my weekly live online marketing show: It's live tonight at 6:30 PM Pacific Standard Time tonight (Tuesday).
Come by and say hi! Just go to: http://www.billmcintosh.tv/live
I'll be there answering live questions about online marketing. You should come by and ask me any questions that you have. I'll open up my call in lines during the show & take your questions. When I do, you can call 1-714-795-2504 to reach me live on the air. Later, this number will also forward through to my team during normal business hours.
A quick favor to ask:
If you are a fan of my live show and are on social networking sites like Twitter, Myspace or Facebook, please send an announcement out telling people about the show. I'd love to see a TON of viewers on tonight's show. Thanks!
I'll also be giving an update on my new social marketing tool:
TweetManager. It's currently in closed private beta testing now. I'll be giving an update on the status of the tool & handing out invites to start using it if you aren't already in. Just click this link when it's time: http://www.billmcintosh.tv/live I look forward to seeing you there!
All the best, Bill McIntosh
http://www.billmcintosh.tv/live
Follow me on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/billmcintosh
Jan 15, 2009
Top 10 Blog Writing Tips
Written by Salwa from Blogriffic
With the ever-increasing popularity of the blogosphere, it can be hard to keep up with the competition. However, there are a few tips that can propel your blog to the top of the heap. Here are my top 10 blog writing tips.
1. Make it your own. This is the absolute number one item to remember if you want a loyal readership. Never claim someone else’s work as your own. Too often today we do a search for a specific article key phrase and half a dozen articles pop up that are exactly the same but attributed to different authors.
While there are many authors that will sell the same article with private label rights to anyone, it is usually not a good idea for a blogger. In order to draw a loyal following and gain your readers trust, you want a blog post that is unique, original, and all your own. You want your readers to come to you as the expert.
2. Write for your reader. Don’t write for yourself. While it is certainly easier to simply write about what you know, you also want to write what your reader wants to know. Take the time to do some research if your readers want information that you aren’t already familiar with. By venturing into areas that your readers are looking for, you will only make yourself a better writer.
You may also need to adjust your writing to your audience. Different blogs will have different levels of readers. If you are a mature adult writing for a childrens blog you will need to use a different type of writing. Adjust your writing for your readers or you will lose them.
3. Choose your niche. This can be a very fine line. While a wide niche may draw more readers initially, they will eventually move on when you blog about a topic they aren’t interested in.
Remember, a blogger can’t be everything to everyone.
In the same vein, you also don’t want to have too narrow of a focus or you will simply run out of things to post. You may also turn-away potential readers if you don’t broaden your niche.
4. Keep things simple. Don’t make things overly complicated. You want your blog to be easy to navigate and easy to find. Don’t clutter it up with ads or overused sales gimmicks. Provide the information your readers are looking for and that they will find valuable. Don’t clutter your sidebar with icons or overly long blogrolls. Use a simple color scheme and avoid large graphics. Blogs are not websites and the two are distinctly different. Keep them separate and keep your blog simple.
5. Always respond. Respond to comments and questions as soon as possible. Even if you disagree with a comment post a response. This is the essence of blogging. Free exchange. Not everyone will agree with your views but, if they take the time to disagree, you must take the time to respond.
You must also make sure you answer any questions that are posted. Your reader would not have taken the time to ask the question if they didn’t expect an answer. If you don’t know the answer, say so. Do some research and then respond but don’t simply ignore the question.
6. Use a personal touch in your writing. You will gain a loyal readership by adding that personal touch. Blog readers will come to see you as a trusted friend. They will be able to identify with you if you chat with them as a friend would. A personal touch doesn’t mean to “get personal” it simply means that you don’t need to be too formal with your readers. Formality is not needed when writing blog posts. This can be difficult for some writers who have been formally trained and work hard to ensure there are no grammatical errors in their writing but it is important to present your own personal touch.
7. Check out other blogs. Spend almost as much time reading other blogs as you do writing your own. Don’t be afraid to mention them in your postings and don’t be afraid to present your own counterpoint to someone else’s blog post. This is a great way to get links and trackbacks for your own blog.
See what is working (and not working) for others. Expand upon their success by adding more value to your own blog. Discover what is missing on other blogs and make sure you don’t make the same mistakes. Blog writing is a continuous learning experience. Don’t ever stop learning.
8. Blogging is about writing. Remember that blogging is not about sales. Don’t use your blog simply as a self-promotion tool. It is about providing information and value to your readers. Don’t worry about graphics and logos and ads. Use the written word effectively and you will have an effective blog.
You must also remember that blogs are short. Don’t waste words. Make sure each word is necessary and that you get your point across succinctly. If your words don’t relate to your topic and add value to it then leave them out. Readers don’t care if you’re late for work and haven’t eaten breakfast.
9. Have a clear priority. Don’t try to cover too many topics in one post. If you have twenty things you want to write about, don’t try to cover them all in one post. It is usually acceptable to write about two or three related topics if they fit nicely together but more will simply create confusion. Blog posts are short and to the point. Save those twenty topics for other posts. Twenty topics should give you between ten and twenty posts. You may even find that one topic is broad enough to provide you with the content for several posts.
10. Clean up your old posts. Your blog writing will inevitably improve as you gain experience. As you become a better writer, go back over your original posts and clean them up. In addition to improving the post, a refresh may bring new life to it and bring you increased traffic
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!
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
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
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
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