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Sunday, April 8, 2012

Dealing with Facebook time line

 For most people Facebook is a major part of their Social Media Marketing Plan.  However the recent change to the timeline format on March 30, 2012 has many business owners mystified.  Hopefully this post will shed some light on how to utilize the new timeline.

One of the first things you will notice is the cover Photo. This is the large space that appears at the top of your page. You will want to use this space to engage your audience.   However you must follow certain rules for your cover photo. The maximum space for this image is 851 x 315.  You must not include arrows, prices, or calls to action such as telling them to like your page. Also do not include contact information, websites or any other information that should go into the "About" section

Your profile picture is placed just below your cover photo, in fact it slightly overlaps the cover photo and many savvy artists have used it as part of the cover photo.  This is a great spot to place your brand or logo.  The space requirements for your profile picture is 180 X 180.

Although this change may seem to be a major inconvenience there are some great things you can do with it.

Remember  social media marketing is all about building relationships and the new timeline format allows users to tell a story. Your stories will be posted in chronological order therefore your fans will be able to see the history, growth, and achievements of your company.

There are some stories that you may feel are more important than others and therefore may want to highlight them. By hovering over the story and clicking  the star in the upper right hand corner of that post you can expand it to the full width of the page.

Some posts you may want to keep at the top. By clicking on the pencil icon next to the highlight star on your post you can edit that post. You can change the date, delete posts or pin them to the top.  This is great if you have contests, or calls to action.

By using milestones your fans will have a chance to take the journey of growth along with you. Just click the book icon in the status update box and enter a headline, location, date, photos, and any information about your achievement.

You are still able to use tabs with this new format however now they are called apps.  They will be located next to the "about" section right under your cover photo.  To see all or to add a new app just click the arrow at the end of your apps.

Another new feature added is a new message box that allows fans to have a private conversation with you.

Facebook is in no way done with this new change. Soon they will be rolling out Facebook offers and you will be able to use this feature to send offers to fans

So make the most out of this new and exciting change in Facebook and remember to download your free copy of "Success in 10 Steps" by Michael Dlouhy. Just click the book on the left

 "Change is inevitable you can either roll with it or get rolled over by it" Sevauhn

Monday, March 19, 2012

Internet Marketing Strategies #3: Online Video Marketing

None of the other Internet marketing strategies have the ability to produce a message as clear and concise as online video marketing.  YouTube, which is owned by Google is the second largest search engine online.  Keep in mind YouTube is a Social Network so remember your Social Media Marketing Plan.  Articles are limited in truly conveying the emotion of the message, so people are turning to online video marketing to relay the messages needed for success.

However, before you go flocking to your webcam for that "Award Winning Presentation" there are a few things you should be aware of.  Since YouTube is owned by Google and gets over 800 million unique users each month it makes sense to use their services.  But keep in mind that there are many other  video sharing websites out there to get your message across. Remember, viral marketing is all about getting your message in front of as many eyes as possible.

When creating your video keep your audience in mind.  Try to make your message clear, concise, and to the point without being pushy or commercial.  Many of your audience will be mobile users therefore you want to make sure your video can be viewed on any format as well as mobile devices.

      Make sure you do your Organic Search Engine Optimization. Videos are now searchable just like any article or website, so make sure you have your relevant keywords.  Make sure the keyword you want to be ranked for is first in your title. YouTube only shows the first few lines of your description before you have to click the "show more" button.  Therefore, when filling out the description make sure the URL linking back to your website is the first thing to appear.  Use the full amount for your description because search engine spiders can crawl it so make sure you fill it with keyword rich content.


The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra. -- Jimmy Johnson

Friday, January 6, 2012

Top 5 Internet Marketing strategies #2: Blogging

One of the great internet marketing strategies is Blogging.    Most internet gurus tend to leave out blogging in their internet marketing strategies.  It could be because there is a little work behind it.  But blogging is definitely something you should do when trying to grow your eBusiness.  It does take a bit of time but the rewards are priceless.

When starting a blog you will want to take into consideration the design of your blog.  What type of experience will your readers have?  If you are using a free blog site such as Blogger, templates are provided for you.  Just choose one that is professional and that matches the theme of your blog.  There are many plug-ins available for better functionality but keep in mind having  too many "extras" will create longer than normal load times.  Most of your readers will simply not read your blog if it takes too long to load.

Before creating content for your blog you will want to find the right keywords for your niche.  If you are unsure about keyword research take a look at my post organic search engine optimization.   Choosing keywords that are most frequently searched, relevant to your post, and have low competition is a great way to optimize your blog.

Now that you have found your keywords, it is time to pick your title.  You will want to pick the keyword you have the best chance of Ranking for.  Your title should be two part.  The first part should be your keyword and the second part is to intrigue the reader.

Now that you have a title that will pull in your reader and keywords sure to get you locked in on the first page of Google it's time for some killer content.  Think of what your target audience might need to know and might interest them.  Never post just to post.  Always make sure your content is of  high quality.  Remember, you are branding yourself as a leader in your field and if you start posting garbage you will soon find your following thinning out.

 Your readers come to you because you are giving away free information that they need.  They in turn will want to "pay it forward" by sharing it with their friends, who share it with their friends who... you get the point. This is called Viral Marketing.  You will want to make it as easy as possible for your readers to share your content by adding share widgets.   There are many different widgets available  I like using "add this" I have no particular reason I just do. Using share widgets makes it easy for your readers to share your great content on a number of social networks such as Facebook, twitter, Delicious, Digg and many others.

You definitely want to set  your blog up for Content syndication by setting up Your RSS feeds.  RSS stands for Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication.  Once your RSS feed is placed, it automatically syndicates your content for you.  Which brings me to my next point.  Update your blog on a regular basis. Give your readers a reason to continue coming back.

  In this post I have given you # 2 of my Internet marketing Strategies, I have also talked about Viral Marketing and content syndication but you must understand the most important aspect of this is Trust.  Give your readers a reason to trust you and they will have a reason to check out what you have.

 
"You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want" Zig Ziglar

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

visualization techniques: What is your focus?

If you focus on "lack" your life will be filled with lack.  It is not your "lack of" that is the problem.  It is your dwelling and focus on the lack which creates the problem.  What ever you place your focus on your subconscious will try to fulfill.  If you dwell on lack of money your subconscious will repel money from you because it feels as if that is something that you do not want.  The same goes for relationships and success.  However if you dwell on abundance, that is what your subconscious will strive for.  That is why I use "visualization techniques"  to help propel me towards success.  It consists of thinking of positive things such as my dream house and my dream cars, the schools I want to open and the checks that I will write for recreation centers and other things that my business will afford me.  I also have a vision board which contains images of those things so that I have a constant reminder of where my focus should be. 

Now many of you may call me materialistic for wanting such things and say that you only want the simple things in life.  If all you want out of life is to get out of debt and maybe have a few dollars left over after you pay your bills then great for you.  Only you can decide where your focus lies.  I can't call you selfish for not wanting to make enough money to where you can open up homeless shelters or write a check for the full amount to open  a center for battered woman.  No it is not my place to say that because those are my goals.  Those are the things that help me to continue working when my friends want me to come out and party.  You have to crate your own focus and visualization techniques.  I have someone that I mentor whose dream is to take his wife on a 2 week vacation and to make up for lost time with his children.  So I instructed him to place those things on his Vision board.  He has images of cars on his board as well because those help him to focus on making his business better so that he can afford to buy them for his children.

That is what he needed for his life.  You have to decide what will motivate you to continuously strive to make your business better.  Think of the man riding the donkey with the carrot.  No I am not calling you a donkey but the image of it works as one of my visualization techniques.  The man needs to get to a destination and he knows that the donkey likes carrots so he places it just out of reach so that the donkey will keep striving forward towards the destination. When the destination is reached the donkey gets the carrot.  Such as when you reach your goals in business you should reward yourself with those things placed on your vision board.  Does it make sense?

I understand that this may be a lot harder than I make it seem that is why I extend my helping hand to you.  I will give you a free copy of Michael Dlouhy's book "Success in 10 steps"  Its over in the column to the left.  Just click on the image and let me know where to send it.  Then after you read it I can help you get on the "30 day mental cleanse" .   There are a lot of things that will distract you from your goals such as the news, gossup, and tv in general.  But if you are networking with like minded individuals and learning "how to think"  you can dispel those distracting thoughts so that you can achieve success.  To quote Jackie Chan in "The Karate Kid" "Your focus needs more focus". So now that you are finished reading this post I thank you for your time, I hope it helped and don't forget to get your free copy of success in 10 steps today.



Obstacles are those frightful things you notice when you take your eyes off your goal. ~ Henry Ford