Tuesday, January 31, 2012

How Twitter Can Be Like The Annoying Orange



There are plenty of good uses for Twitter, but I am going to focus on one of them.

Have you ever heard of the Annoying Orange on YouTube?  One potentially effective technique that you can use on Twitter reminds me of this video (under 2 minutes).


Yes, this IS a hilarious video (I think!  How can you NOT laugh when this piece of fruit starts sticking out its tongue while making senseless noises?), but I probably need to explain how this can relate to a Twitter technique.

How does the Annoying Orange relate to Twitter?

Monday, January 30, 2012

Are you missing YOUR Big Opportunity?



Are we really just unlucky, or is it something else?

I was talking with a business owner today, and he was telling me about a few different people who approached him while they were looking for work.

Person #1: She had a unique skill that could really help his business.  The owner offered her a part-time position with the potential of going full-time.  This worker was talented and very detail-oriented, but this person had a bad attitude.  This person is no longer on the payroll.

Person #2: This person was offered a much higher than market rate to complete a certain task, and he was

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Want More Customers? Keys to Sales Presentation Videos



There are many ways to get more customers, and one of those ways is to put together a sales presentation video.

However, this is not as easy to create as it is to say.
There are so many people trying to get your attention on the Internet.
People have all sorts of options on the Internet.  In fact, they have too many options but not enough time for anywhere near all of these options.

How can I make people WANT to watch my sales video?

Friday, January 27, 2012

7-year-old Boy Teaches How to Create a Buzz through Compassion



Owen Shure is one of my most favorite people, ever.  His dad should win father of the year, too!

In one of my posts yesterday, "Marketing Tip: Branding Yourself through Helping," one of the things that I mentioned is to help someone who really needs it, even if he or she cannot help you.

I was going to write about something else today, but then I was distracted by a headline in Yahoo, "7-year-old’s note to NFL Player."

(NOTE: Link to article is no longer active.)

When I read this, I saw that this is a PERFECT example of my point within that blog post.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

17 Ways Rich People and Poor People Think Differently



This is a list that was created by J and A Home Buyers, but I thought it was pretty good, and figured that it would benefit anyone reading this.

As I get older and more experienced (or sometimes just older :), I notice that there really IS a difference between the way that a rich and poor person think.



Here is the list of the 17 differences they list within the video:

Marketing Tip: Branding Yourself through Helping Others



Throughout my life, I've accidentally discovered a technique that is extremely effective.

I help people before they might be in a position to help me.


When I say help, I mean things like

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Review: WCCCD Event: Bryan Eaddy: Selling on Amazon



Bryan Eaddy spoke at the Wayne County Community College District (WCCCD) event this past Monday (1/23/12).

Bryan has talked with the group many other times, and he ALWAYS provides value.  It is amazing how much money he makes online, and he started from NOTHING.  Today, he makes his living by selling things online in the Amazon marketplace.

Bryan Eaddy gave a talk at WCCCD discussing how to sell on Amazon.
Bryan Eaddy was a programmer previously, but today he earns money online.  This allows him more freedom to devote time to his ministry.

Bryan had some goodies to share.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Marketing Tip: Promote Yourself Indirectly by Promoting Others



Besides being a "good" thing to do, promoting other people is a SMART thing to do.

Most recently, Chris Brogan, a really awesome internet marketing genius reminded me of this.  Within his blog post, 97 Ideas for Building a Platform, he reminds us that "Promoting others does more for your reputation and reach than promoting yourself."


Check this quick video of a sample of why we should be paying more attention to Chris Brogan.  Within this video, he explains how many of us marketers are missing the boat.  We have all of these tools to guide us, but many of us (including me) keep ignoring them.

What are some different things we can do to promote people?

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Cool Music Pick: The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly



Sometimes, someone tips you onto something really cool.

I never heard of The Ukulele Band of Great Britain.  Truthfully, I'm not usually in the market for finding reasons to listen to ukulele music, but this is really cool.


Not only does it sound really pretty, toward the end, they have some really cool vocalized sounds they make to accompany this piece.  It really is very clever.

Mark Maupin gets credit for telling me to check out this one.

To visit The Ultimate Analyst company website click HERE.


Review: Workshop Event: Glenda Norris: How to Sell on eBay



Glenda Norris, Powerseller on eBay,  led a workshop at the Atrium Cafe in Livonia, MI this past Saturday (1/21/12).

Glenda is a retiree who supplements her income from selling online.
Glenda Norris led an eBay Workshop on Saturday, January 21, 2012.
In order to become an eBay Powerseller, a person needs to have a combination of enough sales, customer feedback, and other criteria.  In other words, you need to know what you're doing, do it well, and know how to keep your customers happy.

She told us that you do not start with a store, but once you generate enough sales transactions, eBay will contact you and offer to help you set up a store.

For an example of a store, you can click HERE.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Video Editing Tip: Take ad Edit Short Videos Separately



Lesson Learned (Reminded?): Do things in small chunks.

I learned something the hard way the other day.  I was working with a video project for someone, and I have learned a lot in the recent past, but I got a reminder how much more I need to learn, still.


I was working with someone on a presentation-style video.

By making a mistake, I learned something valuable.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Anti-SOPA Demonstrations in Pictures



Today, January 19, 2012 is a worldwide anti-SOPA day. 

SOPA is causing a big debate.  Today, several major Internet sources are protesting.  (See below for examples--in Pictures.)

SOPA is the Stop Online Piracy Act and is part of a law that the US government is looking to sign.  Well, actually there is a debate.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

8 Tips to Become an Authority: Taken by Eric Enge



One of the good things that I got from Twitter is an article link that Rosh Sillars posted on there.
Eric Enge made this helpful info-graphic within his blog post about how Google reacts to backlinks.

The article, "The End of Link Building as We've Known and Loved It" by Eric Enge brings a lot of good points and education about backlinks to a website and weighing them by trust, effort required to enter (press a button or doing something more actively), and topic relevance.

If we want people to accept us as a authority about an information topic, there are several things we can do for ourselves.  Below are extremely useful suggestions by author Eric Enge.

I'm new to Twitter, and it's confusing me.

At the urging of several of my internet marketing friends, I joined Twitter the other day.

So far, I'm just not getting it.  All I see is people making some quick, one-line comment, or I see a reference to a link (some of which seem to be cool, I admit).

I wish that I could gain better insight into how this helps promote the "social" in social media.

Any suggestions?  I'd love to learn more.

Right now, I'm just confused.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Review: Great Example of a Fun Blog: IAMCARISU



Today, I am presenting a great blog: IAMCARISU.

IAMCARISU is a great example of a fun-to-read blog.
For those of you who have heard of blogs, but don't know where to start, this blog is an excellent example.

Friday, January 13, 2012

Review: WCCCD Event: Mark Maupin & Chris Wechner: SEO Internet Marketing Q&A Session



Mark Maupin and I spoke at the Wayne County Community College District (WCCCD) event this past Thursday (1/12/12).

Actually, we hosted an SEO Internet Marketing Q&A Session.

We experimented with this for 30 minutes before my presentation during the last event at WCCCD, and it went really well.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

3 Marketing Tips We Can Learn from Successful Election Campaigns



I'm sure that this will not be the last time I refer to the election--not because I am very interested in politics, but if you are a business owner, there is something to learn.

Have you ever heard these words before?
Yeah, there might be some issues that they raise that could affect you, but that is not what I mean.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Cool Link Share: Facebook is Cool but Don't Count on It



While checking out LinkedIn, I ran across an author with a really spot-on blog post:

Title: Why You Shouldn't Care about Friends and Followers
Post Link: http://fixcourse.com/social-network-marketing
Author: Brad Smith


He basically outlines how none of us really own any of the Social Media Marketing (SMM) platforms: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or any of the other ones.

Great Way to Learn Internet Marketing - Take Projects - Try Things



People who are trying to learn internet marketing from scratch often need structured learning, and that makes sense.  Most of us need a foundation before we can build anything significant.

However, many people still are afraid of taking action, even after they have been exposed to internet marketing basics.

Some people are honestly lazy, but that probably does not explain as many people as the cynical side of us might be tempted to think.  Ironically, it is our lazy thinking process that dismisses so many of these people (as being lazy) so quickly.

Most people are not confident using what they just learned.

Why aren't they confident?

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Using Social Media Marketing (SMM) to Prepare in Advance of a Pink Slip



Social Media Marketing (SMM) can help save us when we really need it.

Nobody enjoys getting the "pink slip" letting us know that we lost our job, our form of financial security, but there are things that we can--in advance and ONLINE--to improve our chances of surviving it gracefully.

This post was inspired by the blog post, "The Dreaded Pink Slip Part II - How to Deal with It" by Subhorup Dasgupta.

Within this post, Subhorup gave some good advice on things to do OFFLINE, including building a rainy day savings fund, in case we cannot find work quickly.

How can Social Media Marketing (SMM) help us here?

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Motivational Tip: Think How Good Things Will Be When You Succeed



I ran across an idea within a book that spurred another that serves as a good motivational tip for me.

While I continued reading the book, "The Magic of Thinking Big" by David J. Schwartz, I keep seeing really good ideas, but one specific phrase seems to keep grabbing my attention.

Action cures fear.

Many people are afraid of what "might" happen--if they do it wrong.

What causes this fear in the first place?

I kept trying to figure what causes this fear in the first place.

As I looked into my own past, I realized that there are times that I was very good about taking action, but there were plenty of other times where I "never got around to it."

What was the difference between those times that "I did" versus times "I should have?"

Friday, January 6, 2012

Good General Advice Applies to SEO Internet Marketing - Being Spectacular vs Being Consistent



I have a story that delivers a simple message to people who want to become good at SEO internet marketing.

I attended an event last evening, and I usually learn something or meet someone interesting.  Last night was no exception.

During one portion of the event, one of the hosts addressed the audience by asking the question, "What went well (for you) in 2011?"

What went well for you in 2011?

Thursday, January 5, 2012

How a boring buisness like a dry cleaner benefits from Social Media Marketing (SMM)



Social Media Marketing (SMM) has really changed the expectations of many businesses expect from their marketers.

Social Media Marketing has changed the way we can connect with customers.
For a lot of non-business, non-technical people, this really changed the game in their favor.  Many people who were not all that interested in using anything computer-related suddenly had easy access to platforms that are fun for them.

Once the "regular" person started wanting to use a computer every day, the already huge online market potential spiked.  This created an even bigger demand for businesses to get on the web.

In fact, it increased the number of businesses that benefited from advertising on the web.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Hidden SEO Internet Marketing Secret: Classified Ads Really Work--Just not how you expect!



How would you like a secret SEO Internet Marketing tip that is cheap and easy?

One of the easiest forms of internet marketing is through Classified Ads.

This makes sense, because they closely resemble one of the older, cheaper forms of advertising that most people already know.  Classified ads in newspapers, neighborhood fliers, and even simply classified ads on the bulletin board at the local city hall, grocery store, etc.

But Classified Ads Are Boring!

I agree.  Classified ads are boring...if you don't know something really important about them.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

All Successful Internet Marketers Use This 1 Idea



Today, I have just one internet marketing tip.

While I was reading “The Magic of Thinking Big” by David Schwartz, I ran across a lot of really great thoughts. (Actually, I was re-reading it at the suggestion of another book, the 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss.)

However, one thought, in particular, is prompting this post.

One section of this book kept stressing the difference between the way mediocre (average) people and successful people see things.

Internet Marketing: White Hat SEO vs. Black Hat SEO



Nobody on the Internet likes SPAM. People want to read good, valuable things. They don’t want to have to sift through garbage.

Yet, there still is a lot of SPAM. Why is that?

We will need to answer something else, first.

What is the difference White Hat SEO and Black Hat SEO?

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Marketing Tip: Social Media: Yeah, you're loud and clear, but do you hear them?



Social media often seems to include more "ME" than "You" socializing.
Most people seem to be cheating themselves.  They seem to be missing a key part of social media.

Only recently have I been making any effort to become part of the social media trend.  Actually, I'm not sure, yet, whether it is a trend or a craze.  It's definitely a buzz.

I did some social media work for someone else a while ago, and I remember making some observations then.