Social Media Woman - July Edition

BI●MONTHLY VIRTUAL MAGAZINE

socialmediawoman.com

Internet Marketing Mind Map FREE From James Schramko

7 Golden Rules For Productivity MaryEllen Tribby Gideon Shalwick Shares tips on …

Why Video Blogs Rule!

PLUS 7 Tips to Creating A REAL MARKETING PLAN! July 2010

Do

Have The

MOMPRENEUR

Carrie Wilkerson

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social media woman ceo pam brossman Issue #2 with Carrie Wilkerson & many amazing contributors Welcome to social media woman virtual magazine.

The vision and purpose of this magazine is to bring you the most up-to-date social media tips, tools, strategies and interviews from leading social entrepreneurs in the one spot to learn, understand, implement and grow a successful social network and business online.

Advertising spots and feature articles Opportunities to advertise in this bi monthly magazine are available please contact Pam Brossman pam@socialmediawoman.com for advertising rates and JV opportunities.

If you wish to contribute to this magazine please forward Pam your details, background and area of expertise for consideration for future issues. * Disclosure: some links included in this magazine are affiliate links whereby if you purchase through this magazine I may be entitled to a commission. I only recommend products/services that I believe will personally benefit you and your business.

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OZ The Oz Factor is about leadership principles.

I was fairly new on Twitter and Facebook and before I turned around I had this big following and I kept wondering why.

―Where do these people come from? What do they want from me? I don‘t understand. I really don‘t understand.‖ ―Why would they be following me? Let me question that.‖ The Wizard of Oz music, that munchkins song, ―Follow, follow, follow, follow the yellow brick road,‖ kept going through my head. Why did they follow Dorothy?

The same applies to social media as to business leadership. These are leadership principles and I call this The Oz Factor, as in the Wizard of Oz. Now, let’s think about Dorothy.

Dorothy had a plan, she had a path, the yellow brick road, and she had a purpose, she needed to get to Oz because the Wizard could get her home.

That was her whole focus, keep the shoes on, stick to the path, get to the Wizard.

People are very attracted to that. People love to know that you have a plan, a path, and purpose. They are naturally drawn to the people with a plan, so that‘s why they follow Dorothy. From the minute she landed in Oz the munchkins were following her. Why? Well, she had a plan, she had to get home. Then as the story evolves she‘s followed by more people.

Then there‘s what I call the Scarecrow Factor.

Why did the Scarecrow follow her?

The Scarecrow wanted a brain, so he wanted to follow Dorothy. Not only was he pretty sure she had a brain, but he thought she could probably get him to the Wizard that could give him his own brain. So, this is the content part of leadership. People want to know that you have a brain and that you‘re not afraid to use it. That‘s the Scarecrow Factor.

So, the Tin-man Factor.

Do you remember what he was looking for?

He needed a heart. So, not only did he follow Dorothy because he knew she had a heart, if you remember the Wizard of Oz she laughed, she cried, she felt for them, she was very tenderhearted, but he was pretty convinced she could also lead him to one of his own and she was able to model why he needed a heart.

So, people love to know not only are you passionate about what you do, not only do you love what you do and love where you‘re headed and love your plan, your purpose, and your path, but that you love them. She loved the people that were following her. She did, she was just downright attached to them. carriewilkerson.com

Then there was the Lion. Yes. The Lion wanted courage. Now, Dorothy had fear, but she felt the fear and did it anyway. There‘s even a book by that name. Dorothy had fear, but she kept putting one foot in front of the other and following the path. Now, one thing that gave her courage was the fact that she now had these followers. What I love is that she didn‘t say, ―Walk behind me. Follow me behind me in a straight line, I‘m better than you.‖ She linked arms with them and walked with them. That is also the mark of a leader, not being afraid to walk alongside the people that are following you, that need you for answers.

He wanted courage, not only did Dorothy display courage, but he was pretty sure she could help him find some of his own. So, there‘s those factors. In social media I think it‘s so easy to show your realness, to show your rawness. The buzzword for that this year is authenticity.

It‘s authenticity, it‘s your true self, and I am one of the most authentic people you‘ve ever met because I don‘t know how to be anybody else. My momma taught me when I was little she said, ―If you‘re honest all the time you have a lot less to remember.‖ So, I‘m just going to be me just because that‘s what works.

You either love me or you don‘t love me, that‘s okay. It‘s really okay with me. I‘m not going to get my feelings hurt if you don‘t dig me. I‘m pretty secure in my skin now about that.

Dorothy didn‘t beg these people to follow her, Dorothy didn‘t go out recruiting them, but she was a natural leader and they wanted to figure that out.

Then there‘s what I call the Wizard Factor. Now, the Wizard Factor is that they didn‘t think Dorothy had all the answers, but they were pretty sure she was headed to the guy that did have all the answers.

So, the Wizard Factor is when people say, ―Okay. Carrie is an influencer, but who influences Carrie?‖ There‘s that one degree of separation. People want to get closer to the master influencer or the person that has the heart, the brain, and the courage, the one who is the bestower of the gifts.

What‘s really true about that whole scenario is that Dorothy didn‘t have the answers, they all already had the heart, the brain, and the courage. She just helped them see that for themselves. I think that‘s such a great principal of leadership.

Now, to be true, there are witches and flying monkeys and trolls and icky people, negative people, and people that want to stop your dream. But, if you surround yourself with your own Wizard, Scarecrow, Lion, ToTo, the munchkins, and Glenda, you surround yourself consciously with people that support you in your goals, your dream, and your vision, they will enable you to be a better leader if you are just really authentic, there it goes again, if you‘re really true to yourself, true to them and help them be true to themselves, not afraid to stay on the path one foot in front of the other.

So, that‘s it in a nutshell. I could go on and on about that and all the parallels. That helped me see.

My rules then for social media are…  I need to not be afraid to show what I know. Content is important.  I need to not be afraid to show that I care. Character is very important.  I need to not be afraid to show that I‘m just real. Conversation is very, very important.  I need to not be afraid to connect other people.

So many people are afraid to connect their networks, because, ―I‘m not going to introduce Carrie to my audience.

They‘re going to like her better than me and they‘re going to go be in her audience.‖ Well, you know what? Don‘t be afraid to connect people to other people because people really love the connection factor too. So, then after the Oz Factor we lead right into connection, conversation, content, and character. Those are the ingredients for effective social media growth and social media leadership and all those things.

When we overcomplicate it with software, when we overcomplicate it with ratios, numbers, quantitatives, and traffic measuring, click through rates and all that, you‘re defeating the whole purpose. It‘s about relationships. If I have one meaningful relationship that I didn‘t have before because of this amazing medium then is it worth it to me? Absolutely.

Now, the flip side is I can trace about half a million dollars to social media. That‘s not in teaching social media, that‘s in business connections, stages, product sales, mastermind groups. You name it and I can trace it there.

That‘s not because I‘m developing big social media products or developing my whole platform on social media. My platform is on people and based on gathering people. Social media is just one of those tools, one of those techniques.

That‘s kind of the Oz Factor in a nutshell. Like I said, it doesn‘t just apply to social media, it applies to leadership. I wish somebody had taught me that when I was 16 year old drum majorette of my high school marching band. I was a junior put in a leadership position and the truth is I didn‘t know what made a good leader.

I thought it was about volume, I thought it was about ‗because I said so,‘ I thought it was about because the band director put me here. People that are exercising those same leadership principles in social media, flexing their muscles so to speak, are not going to have as effective a result in my opinion. carriewilkerson.com

Dirty Laundry is Good for Your Business By MaryEllen Tribby ―I love working from home, I get so much laundry done and today I even cleaned out my refrigerator.‖ This was a comment I overheard the other night while waiting for the PTA meeting to start at my daughters‘ school.

Unfortunately that was far from the first time I have heard a work at home mom say something like that in the last couple of months.

When I hear this, my first question is ―how‘s your business going?‖ And inevitably I hear ―well I just don‘t have time to focus on developing new products or work on my marketing plan.‖ Is it any wonder?

I know I did not start my business so I could get more laundry done.

I started my business so I could turn my passion into income helping other working moms make more money and live a healthy more balanced life.

If you talk to successful entrepreneurs most will tell you there are three main reasons people start their own businesses. They are: 1. Money 2. Freedom/flexibility

3. Cause/passion Of course there are other reasons. But nowhere on the list will you find laundry.

The reason most entrepreneurs fail is because they focus on the wrong tasks, usually tasks that don‘t yield revenue. It is human nature to work on tasks that you can easily accomplish. These are generally the tasks that you don‘t feel overwhelmed by or fear. But by no means does that mean they are automatically important to your business.

In order to get your business soaring to the next level you need to break out of your comfort zone. To take on new challenges that will bring you more revenue. This also means discipline and getting into habits. By following just a few simple rules you will notice a big change in your productivity, which can increase profitability in your business.

MaryEllen Tribby

is the proud Founder and CEO of Working Moms Only.com,

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MaryEllen Tribby Seven Gold en Rules for Prod uc tivity Your business day starts the night before. Each evening after the kids are in bed, after the school lunches are made and the dinner dishes are clean I plan my next day‘s business activities.

I write out a good old fashion ―to do‖ list. I do not put my list on my computer or BlackBerry.

I use a note pad. I list everything I think I need to accomplish the next day. After I have done a complete ―brain dump‖ I prioritize each item. Not only am I ready to go the next morning, but I also sleep a whole lot better at night.

As my day progresses I cross off my completed tasks as well as write down any that may have come up unexpectedly that I needed to address. This way I have a full record of how my time was spent.

Set an alarm clock. Many entrepreneurs think because it‘s ―my‖ business they don‘t need a schedule – that they can do what ever they want – wrong. I have seen this over and over. I hear complaints from people that their business is not where they want it to be. I ask a basic question like ―what time do you set your alarm‖ and I hear – I don‘t use an alarm clock, I just get up when I wake up. This is counter-productive. You need to take control from the start of your day.

Never work in your pajamas. Your mind set is one of the most important factors in determining your success. You need to respect your self, your customers and your business enough to dress appropriately. By doing so you will notice that you are more confident and assertive therefore getting more done in the same amount of hours.

Do not schedule meetings or take phone calls before noon. You are at your best first thing in the morning. Get your important things done first. Scheduling meetings and conference calls in the morning is counter-productive. Interruptions are the biggest factor in not completing tasks. Let your employees, colleagues and friends know that you will speak with them in the afternoon if need be.

Take a mid day exercise break . A study by Jim McKenna from the University of Bristol showed that exercise during the workday improves job performance. Participants returned to work more tolerant of themselves and their performance is also consistently higher, as shown by better time management and improved mental sharpness.

I like to take a 30-minute bike ride or speed walk around in the afternoon (I do my hard core work out first thing in the morning). By this time my important tasks for the day are usually complete. I let my mind wonder and this is where ideas hit me; ideas for content or marketing or new joint ventures deals. This is one of my favorite times of the day.

Have lunch with a mentor, colleague or protégé once a week. We can all get caught up in our own little world. We are so busy with our families and careers. But by having a lunch with someone smart and energetic you will be exposed to new ideas and different viewpoints. Your ideas become stronger making them easier to implement. This one lunch will make a huge difference in your productivity not only in your business but in your family life as well.

Reconcile your ―to do‖ list. At the end of your workday look at what you had planned to accomplish that day and look at what you actually accomplished. If you accomplished 75% or more on your list – you had a good day. We all have to adjust for emergencies and ad hock situations whether those emergencies and situations arise in our business or our family life.

However if you fell below the 75% you need to make some changes. Because this means you are not in control of your business, instead your business is in control of you.

When you examine the list above what should be obvious is that these are very fundamental rules. Rules that everyone can implement in one form or another. None of these rules require any monetary commitment, but they all call for a mental and emotional commitment.

Start today and in just seven days from now I bet you see a big difference in your productivity.

ANN HANDLEY Ann Handley is the Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs, which provides strategic and tactical marketing know-how for marketing and business professionals. She also writes for The Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ann-handley/), AmEx OPEN Forum (http://www.openforum.com/connectodex/marketingprofs) and plays around at her personal blog, Annarchy (www.annhandley.com). She is the author, with CC Chapman, of Content Rules, to be published by Wiley later this year. Preorder a copy here (http://www.amazon.com/Content-Rules-Podcasts-WebinarsCustomers/dp/0470648287). Follow Ann on Twitter at twitter.com/marketingprofs.

30 Lessons for B2B Marketers 1.

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In social media, not every measure of influence and engagement can be quantified.

Reward people who are sharing valuable information in your customer communities.

Create an editorial calendar for your content creation; use it to drive your social media activities.

When creating and maintaining your social media program, always be thinking about SEO. Take advantage of traditional, proven techniques of PR, while leveraging those techniques in social media.

Make sure your internal news platforms allow for comments, the same way you would for an external blog.

When people opt in to your email, be sure to send them a thank you message that reinforces your value proposition.

Our brains are hardwired to notice what is different. Differentiation is key to your branding message.

You want to be on the second page of Google as well.

Adding a call to action at the end of a blog post can become a significant source of leads.

Focus on landing page ―experience‖ (not just a form) to earn 2-10X on conversion. A page two can work.

If you listed out all your competitors‘ marketing messages, would you be able to differentiate your own?

Give your customers a reason to buy from you that goes beyond price.

Marketers are paid to say how great our companies are, but customers are not.

The key to participating in social conversations is to be helpful.

Mobile marketing is evolving to be truly ―in the moment‖ marketing.

Re-purpose your content across channels to optimize utility and value.

No technology or tool makes you smart, helpful, interesting or valuable.

Use email and blogs to introduce ideas, and spark conversations on forums where you‘re not in control.

Think of email tests as starting wide and getting narrow. Or choose the opposite starting point.

Have realistic expectations about building a community. You can‘t be everything and do everything.

Have a clear goal before you market or you‘ll diminish your ability to prove effectiveness.

Loyalty and satisfaction are not the same thing.

SEO is easy to screw up, hard to do.

Control your keywords. Overuse can reduce effectiveness.

Send out embeddable code that contains your keyword anchor text.

Data means nothing without applying key performance indicators.

Pay attention to keywords in social status updates.

Bing should not be ignored. Quality of leads are much better than you might think.

Listen to your sales force to know what content brings in the best kinds of leads, then optimize

www.annhandley.com

Click here for full article

How To Create a REAL Marketing Plan What was your plan last year if you had one? What were the results? What did you do right? Wrong? What could you do better?

What is your core target audience? Secondary? Tertiary?

Do some research on your target audience. The first phase in Social Media and marketing in general is to LISTEN! Go join the social media platforms where they hang out. What are they saying? What is competition saying? What is the tone? What are they asking? What do they need? Why are they asking the questions? Is there a gap you can fill that no other biz is filling?

Why are you in business? What is it you do that is better than anybody else? If you need inspiration go read Seth Godin’s Purple Cow or Linchpin. Read something that motivates you to be better than average. Take a risk. Do something different. It is the only way you will survive in this economy.

What are your objectives? Get real with this? Quantify them. What equals success? Yes, qualitative measures are needed too. However, they won’t keep the lights on.

What are your goals both short and long term. What do you want to be 6 months from now? When you grow up? Or do you never want to grow up? That’s okay. Remember a GOAL must be SMART-Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant & Time Bound!

If you have trouble answering the questions above and are by no means motivated to go find the answers then I challenge you to read the books I mentioned above. Add Gary Vaynerchuk’s “Crush it” to the list too. If these don’t help then you may be in the wrong line of business. You must have passion for what you do or you’ll never do a good job at it and you’ll probably never be happy!

For all 10 Marketing Tips view full article here

Pam Moore CEO Fruit Zoom FRUiTZOOM is an experiential digital marketing, brand, and social media agency that helps business leaders inspire and connect with target audiences to nurture authentic

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rochelleveturis.com How to set your business and brand apart with content that's natural and trustworthy People can't get enough of interviews, plain and simple. They love getting interviewed, they love watching them, and they enjoy reading them in a Q and A format. Sound bites enrich your content in a way that builds trust and credibility. Plus, they break up the monotony of one on-air personality and serve as a vehicle to bring fresh information to your tribe. Below, are five easy tips that you can implement immediately to set yourself apart in a manner that's authentic and completely you.

5 Tips to Easy Interviewing that Shines 1) Ask them to share something they've never shared before When interviewing high level influencers chances are they've already been interviewed many times before. By asking them to share something special, just for your tribe, you'll uncover some incredible gems. Plus, you're asking on behalf of your tribe and they can feel that. There's something very "pay it forward" about this question, and that's probably why I like it so much.

2) Watch your fillers It's not uncommon to use fillers when we speak. Some of the more popular include: like, um, you know, etc. The best way to nix this habit quickly, is to get started interviewing and watch and/or listen to yourself afterward. When hearing your filler of choice --I said wonderful 40 times during a 30 minute show back in the day-- you can pin point it, and consciously use alternatives the next time around. Awareness is key here. Don't give others a reason not to fully ingest your communication. The fillers must go.

3) Leave your interviewee on their terms At the end of each interview, you've spent time with your subject, you've smiled and built a rapport. For your final question, ask them if there's anything else they were dying to tell you that they haven't already shared. This gives your interviewee a final opportunity to share a thought or story that is important to them. You'll get incredible content with this question. Or, they'll say, we've pretty much covered everything. And you can focus on the stand out sound bites you already received.

4) Do your homework and don't over script Be sure to do research on the person you're interviewing if you can. But don't go crazy preparing questions in advance. When you're interviewing you're basically fishing. Fishing for those stand out sound bites --and you know them when you hear them. If you're constantly looking at your paper to ask questions, you're losing eye contact and breaking the natural flow of conversation. Be really present with your interviewee. It's about them, not you and they'll feel that. If you're worried that you'll freeze up and run out of things to ask, be prepared with a few safety questions (see #1 and #3).

5) Use, reformat and use again Interviews can be a fantastic way of getting in the door to people you typically may not have access to. Don't be afraid to ask. In life, you don't get what you don't ask for. If there's a celebrity, CEO or media contact you want to build a relationship with, ask them if you can interview them for your tribe. Take their interview and have it transcribed, to share again via print. Or better yet, pull a collection of your interviews together, reformat them and re-share as an e-book, e-zine or in your e-mail newsletter. You can also embed raw video and audio interviews into a Social Media Release (SMR). This provides background for reporters while giving them what they need to pull their own sound bite, if they'd like, directly off the subject.

Interviewing others gives you the opportunity to meet incredible people, learn from them and share with your loyal tribe. The best way to sharpen your skills is to get over your fear of how you look on camera, and get started. As you conduct more and more interviews, they'll become easy and second nature. With Interviews you can continue to polish and refine yourself, while building credibility and in most cases, using your influence for good.

To Tapping Into The Tribal Age of The Internet Wonderful Web Women CEO Janet Beckers 1. Listen To The Song in Your Heart: Social media allows your customers to get to know you on a much more personal level than in the past. They can tell if you do not truly and passionately believe in what you do and say. Spend the time to clarify for yourself first..What do you really value?

2. Know what a business really is: At it‘s most basic, a business exists because you solve people‘s problems. If you can provide solutions to these problems that people are willing to pay for, then you have a business. It really is that simple, yet so many people can‘t tell you what problems they solve.

What problems do you solve?

3. Understand whose problems you solve. Don‘t rush this. You need to really understand how your ideal customer thinks, who they are and what their problems are. Take the time to get inside their head. Before I started Wonderful Web Women I spent months talking with my target market. And where did I find them? In the queue in the Women‘s bathrooms at Internet marketing Events! Now you can do it easier. You can find them on Facebook groups, blogs and forums.

4. Get to Know Who Already Solves Your Customers’ Problems: I grew my business very fast through the power of Joint Ventures. At it‘s simplest, this means finding people who already solve problems your ideal client has. So think. What other problems does my customer have and who is already successful at helping them? I specialize in helping my clients form Joint Ventures with experts.

5. Create a Tribal Platform: To really harness the power of The Tribe they need a place to communicate with you and with others in your community. Importantly, you need a place to call home so you can invite them back to your place, after you‘ve met in places such as Facebook, Twitter etc. The Hub of your platform is your blog. This is how they get to know what you really think. Even if you don‘t have a business yet, start a blog and start writing what you think. At least it will help you define the very first step I mentioned ―Listen to the song in your heart‖

6. Challenge Your Customers: We are in the Tribal Age of the Internet and people need opportunities to demonstrate they are part of a tribe. A fun and simple way to do this is to provide opportunities for your customers to take actions to reach their goals, with a challenge to do it publicly. Sort of like a double-dare-you to do this. At it‘s simplest, ask your friends on Facebook to define their biggest goals / ideal customer / submit a photo or video. They have a time limit and it must be ―all about them‖.

7. Plan To Change Lives: If you are creating a business around your passions you have the capacity to change lives. Even one person at a time. So ask yourself this question in every marketing step you take. Can I change this slightly so that people can benefit simply by being exposed to the way I do business? I teach a test I call the 4 th Win Test. It is very simple but incredibly powerful and is based on that one question.

Janet Beckers is the founder and host of Wonderful Web Women, an award winning on-line community recognised for generous and honest marketing advice for women on the internet. A sought – after international speaker and international bestselling author, Janet has inspired thousands of people world-wide to follow their dreams and realise their potential by building a profitable business on the Internet based on their passions. She is a multi-award winning entrepreneur, most recently Australian Marketer of The Year 2009. Click for full article.

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Gina Parris is an internationally sought-after peak performance speaker and coach who has been helping people reach their full potential for over 20 years. She is the founder of Built To Win Coaching, where her clients range from professional athletes to motivated entrepreneurs. You can find her highly imperfect blog at www.GinaParris.com

Gina Parris Getting Ove r the FEAR of Putting Yourse lf Out The re on Video So, you are finally convinced that video is the way to touch lives and get your message out there. Yes! You find yourself inspired by the Pam Brossmans of the world, you get a camera, you even shoot a video or two and then you endure the hard part: You actually WATCH IT! That‘s when the Little Voice (who can be so darned loud) pipes up. “Oh no! What am I thinking? I can’t put this out there?

When did I get so wrinkly? Am I really this fat? Why do I either laugh too much or sound too dumb? What kind of comments will this get? What if no one ever watches it, and I feel even stupider?...blah, blah blah!”

At that point, it is easy for our excitement to turn to disappointment. Ultimately, you were right the first time. The time is NOW to get your message out there. I want to encourage you to get over the fear of just doing it.

So, here are three easy tips…

Aim for Rejection!!

Listen: Your videos should REPEL a certain person in order to truly ATTRACT the ones who are genuinely called to your space. This is a huge comfort. I know there are certain people who look at my videos and turn up their nose and think, “Ugh, I can’t STAND HER!” Yay! I love that. You know why? Because I don‘t want those people in my space! This way, I never have to deal with the discomfort of getting them off the phone in a strategy session, or having them send me hateful email. They just turn off my video. Sure, sometimes people post ugly stuff on a video, but don‘t you think that makes it fascinating? Not only that, but sometimes their unsavory opinions help us grow by showing us facets we truly can change. The more rejection you can create, the closer you are to those people who need you. Your strength under pressure helps them.

As Bill Cosby used to say, ―I’m not sure I know the secret of success, but I’m pretty sure the secret to failure is trying to please everybody.” To avoid that failure, step one is to Aim For Rejection. Along those lines you will want to…

Embrace Your Imperfections!

Stop right now and think of the people in your life that you love the most. Now, do you love them because they are perfect – or do you appreciate them because they are real? Tip: Nobody is ever cherished for being perfect. It‘s our authenticity that gives other people permission to be themselves in our presence. That is incredible power. Will everybody realize that? Of course not – that‘s why we start with tip 1. There is always a risk that certain people, with small self esteem and big ego, will make fun of us. So what? They make fun of superstars too!

Do your imperfections make you want to run from the camera? We all have them, so let‘s embrace them. I don‘t love the fact that I have a giant vein running down my forehead! In fact, I wasn‘t even aware of this before I started making videos, (now THAT was depressing) but what‘s the point in stopping now? It gives me a reason to chuckle at myself, and I‘ve found people love me for my laugh. They love you for your special traits too. Embrace your imperfections!

As you get going, you will get better, so it helps to know that…

You can always take videos down as you improve!

It’s true! As you get used to making videos, you will get better. You will begin looking into the camera lens the same way you would look into the eyes of a friend. You will connect. You will shine. You will grow. Then you may watch your earlier videos and decide to take some down. Perhaps they no longer represent where you are. You are not trapped in any way. The important thing is just to start. I have a feeling that you will be surprised how good you are right away, but it helps to know you can take stuff down!

So what are you waiting for, go grab the camera!

7 Actions you can take today to give you more time to be Social 1. Write a list of all the newsletters that you subscribe to that come into your email box every week or day. Ask yourself why do you like getting these communications, what do you get out of them? Make a shorter list of the ones that you want to continue to get info from in the future – then delete ALL newsletters that come into your inbox – no folders – no filtering – delete ALL. 2. Open a google reader account http://www.google.com/reader and now subscribe to your newsletters again – this time through the RSS feeder (Really simple syndication) – this is a family of web based feed formats that are used to publish frequently updated works such as video, news, blog entries and audio podcasts. Having your reading material coming into one central location stops the interruption of those communications coming into your email stream which can be distracting.

3. Create an appointment in your diary for reading time – block this time out. I like to do this first thing in the morning with a cup of coffee I scan the headlines and read what I am interested in then if I think it is of value to my twitter or linkedin community I will share it online.

Sometimes I see something that I want to send to a friend/colleague and I will email that to them directly.

4. To help you manage your twitter account more effectively I recommend installing Tweet Deck – www.tweetdeck.com - it is your own personal browser to help you be organised with your twitter account.

5. Create lists and group people according to their industries or expertise, eg Marketing, Public Relations, Australian Retailers, Comedian. Again ask yourself why are you following this person, what value do hold for you in their tweets and the information that they share, if none then stop following – they are only noise to you and soaking up time.

6. Create searches for topics that you are interested in. If you are interested in topics like Inbound Marketing then do a search for what is being talked about and you will find that there will be a hash tag created which helps you find information about this topic quickly on twitter – it will look like this #inboundmarketing – save this search.

7. The major tip I have for anybody who wishes to participate in social media that I can give to people is write down your Social Media objectives – are you getting involved in the conversation to learn, to share, to create, to generate connections, to establish yourself as an expert in your field, to increase brand awareness?

When you have completed your tasks – shut down – yes that‘s right – once you have achieved your goals close twitter, linkedin, tweetdeck whatever it is and then continue on with your main core work. If you want to return later in the day that is fine – In – complete objectives – Out !

Clodagh

HIGGINS

As I talk to more and more people on the topics of Inbound Marketing & Online Media I hear the same sentence over and over again, ―I don‘t have time for Social Media‖. Which I do totally understand that the perception is that to achieve results for your business you need to be tweeting, blogging, linking-in, re-tweeting, posting, commenting all day every day. I can assure that while this is what some people will choose to fill their days and nights, this is not what is needed to have a successful social media strategy.

What is key is consistency and if that is every day for you – great and if it is only once or twice per week then that is fine too.

When starting out on this path I recommend to my clients to just start with one or two social media platforms – like twitter and Linkedin – have your twitter account connected to your linkedin account and they when you tweet your linkedin profile will be updated too.

To help you find more time in your day to invest in developing your online habits.

getfocusedconsulting.com.au

7 Id ea s to Insp ire Yo ur Blo g Co ntent Leading Social Blogger Denise Wakeman www.buildabetterblog.com Tip #1: Set up Google Alerts With Google Alerts, you can set up alerts for topics and subtopics in your niche to see what‘s making news and what‘s being said by others. Monitoring online news and conversations can inspire ideas and introduce you to new content sources.

Tip # 2: Search Blog Directories In the context of blog outreach, I mentioned Technorati and Alltop in my article on The Secret to Growing Your Blog Following. Both sites are also great sources for finding what other bloggers are posting about your topic.

Tip #3: Subscribe to blogs Monitor blogs in your field by subscribing to influential blogs by email or subscribe to blog feeds with your preferred feed reader. You want to find out what your competitors and other experts in your field are discussing.

Tip #4: Share from other blogs Other bloggers‘ posts are often useful jumping-off points for writing your own. Some bloggers simply report on somebody‘s post, link to it, and that‘s it. A more strategic way to do this is to either agree with the blogger you’re citing, disagree, or add your own perspective. Adding to the conversation makes your blog more valuable.

Tip #5: Post a poll This is a great tool that can boost readership and encourage people to come back to vote and share with friends.

Set up a poll as a blog post or in the sidebar, and ask readers to vote on their biggest challenge, their worst nightmare—you name it—as long as it‘s relevant to your topic. What do you want to know from your readers? Ask them.

Tip #6: Toot your own horn Announce your own live events, speaking appearances, products, and services. Any time you have something new going on, let your readers know about it by writing a post for your blog.

Tip #7: Share information Share information and tips you think might interest readers. Do it in a way that provokes a conversation, rather than reporting on topics as a journalist. This is also an opportunity to ask your readers for their perspective.

Click here to read 6 more blog content ideas.

smokinhotpr.com

Tatyana Gann is an online PR consultant, a business coach, a professional business connector, a mom of two great boys and an amazing hostess. To get instant access to Tatyana‘s free tips on Online PR methods, business and creative marketing ideas, subscribe to her “Online PR Traffic― newsletter.

Discover how you can write a press release for your home business, your brand info product, and your brand new published book in few steps and become ―The TOP GUN‖ in your niche!

A while back I did marketing training on how to write a press release for a home business and I wanted to discuss with you the importance of internet press releases in your personal branding and as one of the best lead generation methods. I shared my story of generating 4.3 million hits to my press release in 8 months. Of course not every press release I wrote got so many hits, but press releases are still my favorite method. I have used press releases to promote my previous business.

Here is how you can write press releases in 11 steps: 1. Determine what you are going to write about. It could be event with your company, your personal achievements, announcement of the partnership with a particular company etc. Tell a story that is compelling!

2. Research keywords you want to target. Make sure they are buying keywords not some generic keywords. You want to use keywords that a customer or a business seeker would be looking for on Google or other search engines. I recommend to use services such as Web CEO, Market Samurai or WordTracker. I think they are great tools to use 3. Make sure your press release is about 5-6 paragraphs with 4-5 sentences each to make it easier for you than counting words. Keep close to 500 words!

4. Use your most highly targeted keywords in the title (2 keywords) or headline then a summary of your press release. Repeat headline sentence in the summary then in the first paragraph.

5. Put the main keywords you plan to use to the left of each paragraph and if you have an option to hyperlink that keyword to your personal site or a blog then do it. That will help with your optimization. Do not overuse your keywords. Create natural flow of keywords without too much repetition and relevant to what you say. Use ONLY 2 primary keywords per each press release.

6. Include your link to your website with a compelling offer to get your FREE report, free ebook, free consulting session and also include the information with your website for media contacts. Do not forget these two important sections in the press release, which I call “Magic Calls To Action” 7. After you write your press release, you need to review it and submit your press release to online press release distribution sites. Some sites are free press release distribution sites and some will offer paid options.

8. Another important step- submit to social bookmarking sites such as digg, technorati, stumbleupon and more.

I recommend to use services called ―Social Marker” 9. Share with your friends, business colleagues via Twitter, Facebook or forums. Ask them to share them with their friends and ask to leave comments after reading the press release. Remember comments are very important for search engines to crawl your press release and get more exposure! The press release that got a lot of traffic had many comments that turned into heated debates and it was actually fun because it allowed me to post my answers and create more curiosity among my viewers. I was receiving calls about my business every day just from my press releases that they saw online.

10. Write a press release at least once a week and if your time allows you write more. Just imagine you will collect over 50 press releases in one year just with one press release. Talk about incredible online presence!

11. Make sure you share press releases on Twitter and Facebook. Twitter loves news.. This is YOUR news.. Make sure you share it. Plus it gives great traffic to your press release for FREE… Ask people to re-tweet and share with others…syndication is very important. (c) Copyright 2009-2010 Tatyana Gann. All Rights Reserved Click here to read full article

Who is Sica Martin?

I am the president of http://www.vasolutionsnow.com and I am a certified Virtual Assistant who resides in beautiful New Hampshire with my 4 year old daughter, Briana. I have been a certified VA since 2004 and love it! It is such an incredible career. I have clients that are in Hawaii, California, Florida, New Hampshire and throughout the USA. What I find to be the biggest reward and benefit is that I get to work with fantastic people that have unique businesses.

As I help them accomplish their task, I also get to enjoy being creative whilst sharing in their accomplishments. As a virtual assistant I offer a myriad of services however my true passion lies with interacting, counseling, and creating content. Building Social Media pages such as facebook, Twitter and more. Setting you up so you are linked to the world successfully.

Virtual Assistance, (VA), What exactly is a VA? Can They Really Help Me? What are the benefits of having a VA? One of the many benefits of having a VA is that you can pay them by the job that you need to have accomplish or you can have them on a retainer. You now have the option to pay them by the hours they work and/or by the job they take on for you. You can have one or a team of VA‘s working for you and you might not have to have that large office space anymore. Yes, that is a huge benefit.

So… What is a Virtual Assistant (or VA)?

In a nutshell a VA is your right arm as they say, who specializes in various administrative office support services from secretarial work to technology - virtually via phone, scanner/fax, and using cyber space technology. We are a team (whether 1 or more) that help, empower, and support your business and personal efforts by easing your workload and freeing up your time.

The key steps to finding a VA that you can work with, you need to do a few things:

1. As busy as you are it's imperative that you slow down for just a moment and really think about the tasks that you are looking to delegate to a virtual assistant.

2. Write down everything you would like your VA to do to make sure you select the right VA that has the experience to get the job done for you.

3. Thoroughly interview the virtual assistant during your initial consultation and ask questions about each task you may be looking to assign. Having trouble thinking of what tasks your VA might be able to take on? Check out our list of Ways You Can Better Utilize Your Virtual Assistant.

4. Communicate making sure there is a clear understanding of what you want done. Once you begin working with a VA this is essential to a great working relationship.

I hope this information helps you accomplish your task for finding the Virtual Assistant that meets your needs and of course, if you have any further questions, please contact me, Sica@VAsolutionsNOW.com.

Remember…“Life is too short to spread yourself too thin by doing all the tedious work yourself” I am only a click away…Sica Martin For a copy of full article click here

Interview with

NATALIE LEDWELL Natalie can you tell us your background and how you came up with the idea of Mind Movies?

My husband Glen and I are what you would call ―Serial Entrepreneurs‖.

We‘ve owned a mail house, a nightclub, 3 coffee franchises…you name it, we‘ve owned and operated it.

In late 2006 our friend Ryan Higgins showed us a movie he had created that was a combination of affirmations, photos to reinforce those affirmations and really inspiring, upbeat music. I still remember the euphoric feeling I had when I saw it for the first time.

Of course I pestered him to help me make a movie of my own and as it turns out I wasn‘t the only one. It wasn‘t long before Ryan approached Glen and I to partner with him in a business of setting up a website so people all over the world could create their own movies.That was the birth of the Mind Movies Creation Kit. We moved to the US for 6 months in 2008 and orchestrated the monumental launch of Mind Movies to the world and turned the little website into a multi million dollar enterprise.

What is your interpretation of the meaning of ―The Law of Attraction‖?

The Law of Attraction states that what you focus upon regularly and FEEL DEEPLY about you can manifest.

The thing is the Law of Attraction is only 1 law of many universal laws. Thought and focus alone do not materialize things in your life.

To successfully use the principles of the Law of Attraction you need to…

1. Be clear about what you want and commit it to paper as a list of positive, present tense affirmations.

2. Consistently focus upon your list and visualize WITH EMOTION you already being in possession of those things you want to manifest.

3. Take ACTION in the direction of your goals. This action will activate the universe to supply the right people, places and events you need to achieve them.

4. Consciously adopt daily habits that will raise you to a positive vibration and turn you into a manifesting magnet for everything you want to do, be and have. Basically regularly do things throughout your day to make you feel good.

Is mind movies for everyone or only those who believe in the ―Law of Attraction‖?

The Law of Attraction is present and working all the time, positively or negatively, whether you are aware of it or not.

Have you ever got up ―on the wrong side of the bed‖? Ever had a day that goes from bad to bad?

I hate to be the one who breaks this to you but that is LOA at work just not the way you would like it to. You start the day off in a negative frame of mind and all day you are attracting negative situations and negative reactions from other people. You see every emotion has a different energy vibration. Down the bottom of this scale are emotions like frustration, disappointment, worry and impatience. These low vibration, negative emotions attract negative situations.

At the top of this scale are emotions like enthusiasm, love, passion, joy and appreciation. These high vibration, positive emotions attract…well…positive outcomes and events. You just need to incorporate some positive habits or mindset changes to attract a positive day. Focusing on what you want or your Mind Movie is a very important habit to adopt. Remember LOA is always present and working…you just want it to work to your advantage.

Launching August 2010

“Wow Natalie there is no limit to what you can create with this tool including Video marketing movies for your products and services too!”

Pam Brossman

interview with Natalie continued…

Is a mind movie similar to a ―vision board‖ except digital and why is it so powerful?

The key to the Law of Attraction is to be able to visualize WITH EMOTION you already being in possession of those things that you want.

Some people are able to do that easily by just closing their eyes or by looking at a photo of the thing they want.I am definitely not one of those people. A Mind Movie is more dynamic. It has your positive, present tense affirmations of not just the material things you want but also descriptions of what you want to do and be as well. This can be hard to portray in photos alone.

The ―secret sauce‖ to Mind Movies is the inclusion of music. Music can instantly change your mood from blue to happy. This is why your music choice is very important. You want to anchor the picture of the life you want to a song that absolutely stirs an emotional response in you.

The song I originally used was Clocks by Coldplay. Every time I hear this song I am instantly in a feeling of gratitude and empowerment even without my Mind Movie playing in front of me.

What do you love the most about mind movies and how have you used them in your own life personally?

First and foremost I love how well they work. I think a big part of that is actually taking the time to sit down and figure out exactly what it is that you want in ALL areas of your life. I wish I had a dollar for every time I have received an email from someone who had already started to manifest things they put in their Mind Movie as they were making it. Just committing to paper those things you want is powerful in itself but then add to that the images, the music and the feeling of belief and empowerment you feel just putting your Mind Movie together…it‘s a very potent combination.

Plus I love creating Mind Movies for specific goals like the one we created just for our Mind Movies launch in 2008 included:  The number of visitors to our site during the launch  The number of new members joining us during the launch  The people who would make up our team  The number of sales we would make  The type of customer we would attract  The amount of revenue we would raise  What we would do with that income and how it would change our lives We did hit all our targets and it was an exhilarating experience knowing that through focus, massive action and perseverance we could reach our goals.

There is a new version of the Mind Movie program launching in June what changes are there from the first one?

Up until now the Mind Movies Creation Kit has consisted of an editing program, our video tutorials on how to use that program, templates for powerpoint, a video helping you to get clear about what you want and instructions on where to find images on the net. Even with these clear, video instructions it was a technical challenge for some people to create a Mind Movie. Our intention was to eliminate that challenge and make it SUPER easy for ANYONE to create their own Mind Movie.

So after 12 months and over $100,000 later we have taken it to a whole new level. Now when people enter the member‘s area they will find whole libraries of photos, affirmations and music plus they will still have the ability to upload their own.

The affirmations are general but can be edited to include your specific goal or you can easily type your own. We also still have a video from me leading you through a process to help you become clear about what you want.

All you need to do now is drag and drop. Transitions are automatically added for you and a Mind Movie can be created by a 7 year old or a 70 year old in less than an hour!

We are so excited about 2.0 and the feedback and endorsements we have been getting from people like Bob Proctor, John Assaraf, Joe Vitale and others has been incredible. People honestly look at the page and without us even explaining what to do, they know what to do.

Natalie how can people find out more about the mind movie version 2.0 and how to get started?

Well 2.0 is in beta at the moment and we have a few thousand people bashing around in there making sure we iron out any bugs. We are planning on releasing 2.0 to the world towards the end of July 2010 so keep an eye on your inbox and I‘m sure Pam you will keep your readers up to date on the latest developments.

5 tips to creating powerful When choosing your images and music, like wine, they are a personal preference. The toughest thing about creating a Mind Movie is getting clear about what you want. So here are my top tips on that…

1.

Divide your goals into the 5 common key areas in your life and give equal time and energy to thinking about each area: 1. Money and material possessions 2. Relationships and Partners 3. Health and Weight Loss 4. Career and Business 5. Personal Development and Spirituality.

Then draw 3 columns on a sheet of paper and title the columns as…

1. What I Don’t Want, 2. What I Do Want, 3. Why I Want It.

2. When filling in the ―What I Don‘t Want‖ column ask yourself ―What don‘t I want based on past experiences?‖ Sometimes it is easier to identify the qualities you don‘t want in a situation because they have been your focus. This is especially true if you have just left a job, business or relationship. Write these things in column 1 then write the opposite, positive statement of this in column 2.

For example:  I don‘t want to be broke – I have an abundance of money  I don‘t want a job I hate – I love my job  I don‘t want to be alone - I am in a loving relationship  I don‘t want to be fat - I am trim, taut and terrific 3. When filling in the ―What I Do Want‖ column ask yourself ―If I had $10 million and I knew I couldn‘t fail, what would I do, be and have? ‖This column contains the opposite statements from column 1 and your dreams and desires.

For example:  I have $1 million in the bank  I am the number 1 salesman in my industry  I cheerfully exercise every day  I have a fulltime housekeeper  I donate 10% of my income to worthy charities.

4. When filling in the ―Why I Want It‖ column ask yourself ―Once I achieve this goal, who will benefit? How will that make me feel?‖ Here is where you focus on your motivation to achieve these things. Focusing on your WHY gives creates a “volcano” of burning, internal motivation especially if your WHY is something outside of yourself, greater than just you alone.

For example:  My partner falls in love with me all over again  I make my parents proud  I have the love and respect of my children  I attract my perfect partner  I have the freedom of choice.

5. Next step is to arrange column 2 and 3 into a list of short, powerful, present tense statements.

When you read and recite this list each day you want to achieve the feeling that these things exist NOW (which they do) and it‘s just a matter of time before they materialize in your life through focus and action.

Meet Proud New Dad & Video Blogging Expert

Gideon Shalwick In two short years, I became an international author with my books on entrepreneurship, lead

generation and blogging distributed and read all over the world. My latest work, The

Roadmap To Become A Blogger has been downloaded over 26,000 times...come learn about

my latest project you‘ll love it!

@gideonshalwick www.gideonshalwick.com

GIDEON SHALWICK.COM Article excerpt from Gideon‘s Free Report on

The Power of Video Blogging The New

and easy way Of Blogging To Totally DOMINATE Your Niche!

Gideon’s Success Formula…

7 Steps for dominating your niche using RAPID Video Blogging

Click here to get Gideon‘s Rapid Video BloggingTM free report!

TM

Video Interviews

With Experienced TV Host Steve Brossman

Video Interviews And Why They Work!

This would have to be one of our most powerful video marketing strategies that we highly recommend for our clients. Below is a list of the key reasons why video interviews are so powerful and why you should start using them as a strategy in your marketing plan.

Video Interviews work because…  Being seen as an interviewer of experts in your niche positions you higher in the eyes of your target market  It gives you the opportunity to build a rapport with other people’s target market  It allows you to promote others and create JV opportunities  It enables you to provide value to your customers, subscribers and followers by bringing them information and experts of interest to them and their business  People connect and engage better when they can see and hear your interview  SEO video benefits and promotional benefits for both parties  Can be used as a list building opportunity  Can be used as a product creation or bonus gift for both businesses It is a very strong relationship building tool. By interviewing experts and introducing them to your client base it allows you to build a rapport and relationship with leading experts in your niche.

The more you give and help others to promote their area of expertise, without asking for anything in return, the stronger relationships you build. It is about helping others to succeed and promoting others for mutually beneficial outcomes.

Steve Brossman has a background in TV and is now recognised as a leading interviewer both nationally and globally.

Email Steve to enquire about recording

your own professional interview

What is Fast Web Formula?

And 7 Ways it Can help YOU!

James Schramko

James Schramko is another Sydney based friend of ours who has been quietly mastering the art of Internet marketing. Known for his strategic mind he has crafted a formulaic approach to IM (internet marketing) that makes a lot of sense. We have been brainstorming various aspects of our business with James and we kept coming back to the 'formula' as he calls it. I thought you would benefit from this brilliant mind as we have!

How the Fast Web Formula can help you 1. The formula starts with mindset. With the right filters in place you need never chase a false opportunity again. This is tremendously helpful when you consider how much stuff piles into our inbox on a daily (hourly!) basis. With the right 'filters' set you can easily identify the gold and throw away the junk.

2. Systems. Software, hardware and online services can add up so it is nice to know which ones give you the best bang for buck. James has identified some key 'MUST HAVE' items that propel his seven figure business that he could not do without. He only got to this stage by testing and testing all different types of solutions. (One thing I found out is that James hardly ever reads an instruction manual so you can bet they are easy to use).

3. Research. The real key to saving your valuable energy is to spend it 'doing the right things'. James learnt this idea from reading about Peter Drucker the great business mind. There are certain resources and tools you can use to ALWAYS get the edge on the market BEFORE you move forward. This essential step guarantees you are moving in the right direction with certainty.

4. Content. Text, audio and of course our favorite - VIDEO is highlighted here. Content drives the web and also the way people react to your message. Part of the formula is not just creating the content (and making sure people pay attention to it) but also the syndication of the content. Once you get your amazing content how do you leverage it to make sure people get it in front of them? The formula covers this.

5. Traffic. The formula recognizes you need more than just one traffic stream. Free, Paid and Borrowed traffic are all accounted for in this formula with extensive resource lists and techniques.

6. Conversions. Most people know about copywriting and turning visitors into buyers. Where do you go beyond that? In the formula there are number of techniques and strategies you can deploy to increase conversions.

7.

Leverage. This is perhaps the most powerful business concept for extreme profits. In reality this part of the formula is where most average marketers never get to. The formula covers several leverage strategies that can result on dramatic profit increases.

Click here to opt-in and get your FREE Fast Formula MindMap Fast Web Formula Mind Map

James put all the most essential components you need for growing a business into a large 'mindmap'.

The map labels all the segments in a logical format.

We recently obtained a copy of he map and you can too by clicking on the image or the link below its fab!

YouTube Engagement BRING IN THE POW! There are several advantages to using YouTube to market your brand. For one, your market can see you—this is as personal as you get. There‘s a reason why television still enthralls people despite the existence of other media. Moreover, some people are visual, while others are oral—and television gives you the best of both worlds. And don‘t forget that videos are the best way to go viral—remember the pomegranate?

The same rules apply with creating a buzz through YouTube, with a few quirks to take advantage of this medium‘s unique features.

IT ALL STARTS WITH GOOD CONTENT. Whether they‘re slides turned into a catchy video, a video blog (or vlog as it is called) or an instructional video, make sure to put a lot of thought into it. There‘s a lot of interesting videos out there, so give your followers a reason to spend 1 to 3 minutes of their time to watch yours.

Click pic to visit my blog

On the flip side, while it‘s great to come up with a flashy video with the intention of going viral, don‘t go overboard and over think things—this may result in something corny and sloppy. Stick with what you know and what you do well. Although, once in a while, it would also be nice if you can test something new and experiment with a few things to keep things fresh—see how your followers react to it.

DON’T FORGET TO ENGAGE! Reply to any query and thank people who commend your content. But be vigilant about spam and offensive comments—nothing turns people off than rude comments.

It‘s one thing for somebody to disagree, but it‘s another to be hateful and disrespectful.

YOU ALSO NEED TO CUSTOMIZE YOUR PAGE—OR CHANNEL As the lingo goes. You can change the color scheme and even add an interesting graphic for your background.

TRY TO VISIT OTHER PEOPLE’S CHANNELS, TOO Again, it‘s not ―social‖ without networking and engaging other users. And it‘s also a great way to promote your own content (just don‘t spam other people‘s channels!). If you truly want to promote, leverage by promoting your videos through other social media sites—Twitter, Facebook and even LinkedIn great places to share your videos.

These are just a few simple tips to get you started with using YouTube to promote your brand. See how it goes and let me know how it‘s working for you.

craighcollins.com

Deano Power Here was my challenge. Market the world's most famous conference concept in Australia's favourite playground using Social Media but there's a catch. The event is non profit and so is the budget. The volunteer organisers have very limited time and speaking of time, the event in on in 9 weeks Since 1984, some of the sharpest minds in the world have gather in Long Beach California for the annual TED conference.

Videos of past TED talks (available at TED.com) have become some of the most shared content online. TEDx is a program licensed by TED to allow small groups of people all over the world to organise and run a TED-like event in their community.

TEDxByronBay is one such event. When I met TEDxByronBay licensee Ten Chay over looking the beautiful Richmond River in Ballina, I immediately wanted to be involved. Chen needed a Social Media Strategy that would be very simple to use, would serve delegates leading up to the event and a broader audience (those that can't make it to Byron) during and after the event. I proposed a Cascading Social Media Stream with a few power properties and simple content.

Platform

Purpose For The TED Byron Bay Campaign

Wordpress Website

http://tedxbyronbay.com The hub of the presence. Out of the box Wordpress is highly SEO optimised, highly configurable. It can be easily integrated with all other components.

Facebook Page

http://www.facebook.com/tedxbyronbay Facebook is becoming the primary attention dashboard for many people, it's also Chen's favourite social network site

Posterous

http://tedxbyronbay.posterous.com Posterous is such a powerful publishing platform and is beautifully set up to cross post to other networks

Youtube

http://www.youtube.com/tedxbyronbay Youtube is a powerful search engine in it's own right, a linking building tool for SEO, and an important tool in sharing the legacy of the event.

Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tedxbyronbay/ Flickr hosts 4 billion images and has a giant community. If done right it's a traffic source and has a blogging tool that allows you to post direct from Flickr.

Friendfeed

http://friendfeed.com/tedxbyronbay Friendfeed is a Social Media Swiss Army Knife. In it's simplest form it's a aggregator connect all your web presences to Friendfeed and Friendfeed makes one sweet stream with all your stuff.

Building out your own Cascading Social Media Network fast; 1. Start with a Gmail account, this will give you 1 click creation of Google Docs (for collaboration), Google Analytics (for website stats), Youtube, and Friendfeed.

2. Use Posterous to publish quick updates and control post crossing on a post by post basis. Because it's email based, your publishing workflow has very few barriers to posting.

3. Link your Facebook Page to Twitter to keep bring people back to Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/twitter 4. Feed all your web properties into a Friendfeed account. Friendfeed get's indexed by Google really quickly and makes a superb aggregator taking the heavy lifting out of tweeting new content.

5. Cover all modalities. Text, images, audio, and video.

6. Think Cascade. Make each touch work for you, involve as many platforms as possible. i.e. got a good idea for a tweet?

Send it from Facebook. That will update you Facebook audience and bring twitter peeps back to Facebook.

If you're not in the Stream...

In the last 18 months Social Media use has become more popular than email and more recently search. What does that mean? If you're not in the Stream, you're not being seen.

The numbers don't lie, stats tell us that online most people's attention most of the time is spent consuming web content in a stream. OK so what is a stream? A stream is a way of consuming content in a continuous feed. It could be text, images, audio or video most likely a mix of all 4.

Because it's a continuous feed to be relevant, to be seen, you need to be showing up in the stream regularly. To show up regularly you need to build a Cascading Social Media Stream to leverage every little effort that you make.

Interview with Pam Brossman & Video Marketers David Power & James Wedmore I was fortunate enough to sit down and interview a VERY unique marketer by the name of Dave Powers (of RCPowers.com) and his business partner James Wedmore. Dave has been in the unique niche of Remote Controlled Airplanes for the past five years, and has built up an incredible virtual-business powered 100% by Youtube. He has his own ebooks (.PDF plans of custom airplanes) and he promotes affiliate products just like the rest of us, BUT what Dave has been doing is QUITE different than most of us have ever seen. With over +41 million total views, Dave Powers has built up a strong cult-like following on Youtube with his weekly videos that leave his +60,000 fans eager to see what Dave has to say next.

I have introduced Dave and James to you so you can see just how EASY this model is to replicate in your business as well! (Heck, if you can do it in RC airplanes, anything's possible, right?)

What is your "Video-Marketing" Story?

DAVE: Five years ago I started in the RC airplane niche by building and shipping my own planes & parts. I discovered Youtube to help me promote my products, but quickly gave up the "physical products" model of the business. Now we only promote affiliate planes and sell digital downloads of our .PDF plans. And on top of that, we get paid BY Youtube just for having our videos online. BUT the biggest thing I realized early on was that it would take something MORE than a simple flipcam and a smile to sell & promote these products using video.

WHY Should others be using Video?

JAMES: There is no excuse for NOT using video in your marketing today! The medium is the greatest form of communication that we have on the Internet-nothing helps convey your message more clearly than a properly-created video. And truthfully, video is the ONLY tool that can be used to BOTH increase your traffic (Youtube views, Google rankings, etc) AND increase your conversions (video salesletters). So whether you are reviewing a product, giving a video tip of the week, or promoting your next launch, you can't ignore video!

What are the biggest mistakes u see marketers making with video?

DAVE: To be honest, we see a lot of mistakes in how marketers are using video AND in how they are using Youtube! You may have spend HOURS on a content-rich informational video, but it sits on Youtube with 26 views for 6 months-that's not good. People are NOT taking the time to properly optimize their videos (proper headlines, eye-grabbing thumbnails, effective descriptions, etc) We also see that people are too afraid to get their hands dirty. Youtube is a community just like Facebook and Twitter. You have to get in there and interact with other users, comment on their stuff and give, give, give before you can receive. But I think the biggest mistake of all is that marketers don't understand why people are going to Youtube. Viewers want to be entertained FAR MORE than they want to be informed. Instead of a boring, monotone video, include some humor, excitement or deep emotion. This will help get your video to spread virally.

What is your BIGGEST secret for creating EFFECTIVE videos?

DAVE: The big secret is that you still need to know how to overcome all objections and build rapport with your viewers just like if you were "selling" to them in person. (Human nature has not changed in the past 5 years-or the past 100). Only now, with online video, you need to crank up the energy and be FAR-MORE entertaining. It is easier than ever for your viewer to get distracted and click away from your video. BUT, our big advantage with video is the power to combine audio, visual, text and images. Use all four in combination with each other to increase the attention-rate and keep people interested. Think MORE energy and SHORTER is better!

What do we you see for the future of internet video?

JAMES: As more and more people jump on the "Social Media Bandwagon," the big complaint will continue to be that "everyone is talking and no one is listening." The only TRUE separation from the experts and the leaders from the "rest of the group," will continue to be video. The true authorities in a market will be the ones who can properly use video to convey their message in a way that is both informative and entertaining. Because video will only get bigger and more effective, it is the individuals who are using video NOW who will rise to the top and have influence over those who wait another year or two.

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