What Are You Going To Do To Improve Your Productivity in 2010?

Well, here in Australia it is New Year's Eve - with 2010
fast approaching.

It's the time for New Year Resolutions to cover all aspects
of your life (so that you can achieve some balance).

However, I just want to focus here on improving personal
productivity in your online business.

I've been reading some great resources lately to help
me overcome information overload and to improve
my productivity.

Here's two of them:

Scaling Yourself 
(a superb blog post from Pro-Blogger, Chris Brogan,
that lists the ways he has been trying to improve his
productivity - we all suffer from the same temptations!!)

IM Productivity Secrets
(New membership site from Lance Tamashiro &
Robert Plank that addresses the issue of Information
Overload.  Focus is on time management for productivity
improvement - with free email course and excellent
hints in the sales page.)

My 2010 Goals and Activities

Well I've been thinking of how I'm going to put some
of these ideas into practise. So here's my first cut
(it's not New Year's Day yet!):

GOALS:
(allowing for my full-time job as an
organizational consultant):

1.  Build my Joint Venture with Squidster (Anne)
and Chef Keem (Achim)
(focused on helping small business to brand themselves
effectively through social media)

2.  Use my Internet Marketing expertise to promote
my HR consulting business, Merit Solutions:
http://www.squidoo.com/merit-solutions-brisbane

3.  Focus on promoting (via social media) 
two Affiliate Products/Services that I can personally
vouch for:
12 Second Commute 
(A suite of Internet marketing tools - I have known the CEO
for a couple of years and I can vouch for his generosity,
genuineness and quality offerings which I have used
since 2006.)
One Week Marketing Plan
(PotPieGirl's marketing plan incorporating Squidoo,
article marketing, blogging and other social media. I've
proven the effectiveness of this plan though marketing
the product itself using PotPieGirl's approach.)

4.  Produce 3 E-books/Reports
(linked directly to goals 1 & 2 - one is well on the way)

5.  Write 3 Blog Posts per week
(incorporating both this blog and my JV blog)

6. Provide a free, fortnightly webinar on
Squidoo and social media marketing, for
12 Second Commute members.


RESOLUTIONS:

1. Create one piece of original content per day
(blog post, article or e-book chapter)

2. Write original content each day before
processing email 
(to avoid getting side-tracked)

3. Spend 5 minutes each day accessing the power
of concentration system:
http://powerofconcentration.net/

Well that's my focus and goals for 2010- what's yours?

*********************************************

Ron Passfield is a Top 100 Squidoo Lensmaster and
Giant Squid100. He provides free resources
for Squidoo marketing on his Squidoo authority
site:
http://www.squidoo.com/squidoomarketingstrategies

To learn more about Squidoo Affiliate Marketing
check out:
http://www.squidooaffiliatemarketing.com

Subscribe to Ron's free Squidoo Marketing e-course:
http://www.smsecourse.squidoomarketingstrategies.com/

Ron is the author of the e-Book:
Squidoo Marketing Strategies

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Adwords "Bulls Eye" Profit Report - define your best customer

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The Adwords "Bulls Eye" Profit Report by Alex Goad is one

of the most comprehensive and valuable free reports that

I have accessed in some time.

It's not only relevant for people engaged in PPC campaigns,
but also for anyone involved in any form of Internet Marketing
for affiliate products or their own small business.    

Alex's central premise is that if you define your "best customer"
then your advertising and promotion will be truly targeted
and you will hit the "Bulls Eye" - you will gain truly
targeted traffic and sales.

He takes you through a number of steps to help you define
your best customer and then guides you in the process of
choosing core keywords that are relevant to your "best
customer".

This process can be exacting but the results will make it
well worth the effort.  This exercise alone is invaluable
and highlights the fact that we rarely really know who
our customer is.

I have been working through this "best customer" process
with a new service that I am going to promote.  It is very
enlightening and makes me confident that I will be targeting
the "Bulls Eye".

For those who are interested in PPC marketing. Alex takes
this process a whole lot further and provides his formula
for developing PPC Ad Groups.

His four measures to separate out PPC ADGroups are:

1. action - how will customer take action?
2. root - what is the core thing being promoted?
3. modifier - who to exclude (people with certain attributes)?
4. sources - where is the service/product being provided?

These measures are explained in detail with valuable
illustrations and examples.

The clarity of this report, it's visual presentation and
detailed examples, make it a valuable addition to any
Internet Marketer's library.

Adwords "Bulls Eye" Profit Report contains many lessons
for affiliate marketers and small business people alike.

Get your free copy of the Adwords Report HERE

*********************************************

Ron Passfield is a Top 100 Squidoo Lensmaster and
Giant Squid100. He provides free resources
for Squidoo marketing on his Squidoo authority
site:
http://www.squidoo.com/squidoomarketingstrategies

To learn more about Squidoo Affiliate Marketing
check out:
http://www.squidooaffiliatemarketing.com

Subscribe to Ron's free Squidoo Marketing e-course:
http://www.smsecourse.squidoomarketingstrategies.com/

Ron is the author of the e-Book:
Squidoo Marketing Strategies

*********************************************




    

Building Social Equity 2.0: the road to success

Garrett Pierson has just released a new
training product, Building Social Equity.
[BSE for short herein]

As part of the product launch, Garrett offers
free access to a number of interviews (both mp3 &
PDF) with leading social media marketers.

By signing up under my affiliate link below you
will have access to free interviews with
Alex Mandossian, Dave Lakhani, Martin Wales,
Justin Brooke, Mari Smith, Mark Murnahan and
Joel Comm:
Building Social Equity - Interviews

In the first interview Alex Mendossian explains how
he and Garret Pierson learn from each other.
Alex looks to Garrett to build the social equity
necessary to sell his books.

One of Garrett's comments gives some insight into
the concept of social equity:
I wanted to build a relationship of trust with Alex
Mendossian so that in return I could build up my
brand and my business, and for Alex, help him to build
his business...We've just built a relationship and
again, that's what building social equity is; building
those relationships of trust.

Social media marketing involves using new channels
to deliver the message about your product or service
at a time when people are suffering "email burnout".

Garrett explains how to build the requisite trust
relationships:
...by delivering valuable and fresh content
for your target market, through submitting
this content to the worldwide web, via social
channels [such as Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon]
so that your target market can find your content.

He states that building social equity involves
bringing SEO and social media together - it means
driving targeted traffic to your small business
or affiliate product website by using social media.

Garret's Building Social Equity Course [BSE] is built
around 6 core steps:

1. Keyword research - finding the keywords that people
are searching for.
{BSE provides video training and a keyword tool for this
step}

2. Understanding your target market - finding out the
conversations that are occurring in relation to your primary
keywords (two or three core keywords) - identify the
problems that people are seeking to redress.
{BSE has specific video training on this often
overlooked step}

3. Writing articles - creating and submitting keyword rich
articles addressing the problems of concern to your target
market.
{BSE gives video training on how to write the articles
the right way to attract targeted traffic}

4. Submitting content to social media - re-purposing the
articles for submission to social media sites
{BSE video training covers this aspect in depth for each site -
HubPages, StumbleUpon, Zimbio.com, Squidoo, Scribd.com,
WordPress.com, EZineArticles, Technorati, Gather.com,
PRWeb (press releases) and others}

5. Social networking - building the relationships, having the
conversations, contributing to social networks, being an active
community member, giving advice, making friends.
{BSE's step-by-step video training covers this aspect as well}

6. Consistent action - "Just do it!" on a consistent basis
{BSE provides the motivation and insight to help you
be consistent}

There are lessons in this interview for everyone and heaps
of motivating comments and sound advice to start off the
New Year.

Here's some quotable quotes from Alex Mendossan
in the interview:
* A spectacular achievement is always preceded by
unspectacular planning
* Google is not a search engine...Google is a
social equity builder
* Building social equity is a process and an evolution
* A lack of consistency is not a lack of time or a lack
of motivation. It's a lack of expectation.
* When you have social equity with someone, that
person has priority.  That person has a place in your heart,
in your mind, in your business, for you to say yes to.

Click here for more on Building Social Equity

Related Posts:

Internet Marketing Success - the road less travelled 

Branding: how are your perceived in the marketplace? 

Just Do IT!...Take some targeted action

*********************************************

Ron Passfield is a Top 100 Squidoo Lensmaster and
Giant Squid100. He provides free resources
for Squidoo marketing on his Squidoo authority
site:
http://www.squidoo.com/squidoomarketingstrategies

To learn more about Squidoo Affiliate Marketing
check out:
http://www.squidooaffiliatemarketing.com

Subscribe to Ron's free Squidoo Marketing e-course:
http://www.smsecourse.squidoomarketingstrategies.com/

Ron is the author of the e-Book:
Squidoo Marketing Strategies

*********************************************

Branding: how are you perceived in the marketplace?

How are you currently branding yourself as a small business or

affiliate marketer?  What perceptions are you creating in the market-place?

Branding can create recognition, positive customer perceptions and  loyalty.

So, how do you create your small business brand or brand yourself

as an affiliate marketer?

Cindy Ratzlaff, Brand New Brand You, suggests that there are

four key branding elements:

1. Voice
2. Visual
3. Value
4. Variation
   

1. Your brand voice

This is very much about your brand message and how and where

you speak.   Do you send a consistent message or are you confounding

peoples' perceptions of who you are and what you stand for?

What kind of personality do you portray (serious, humorous,

light-hearted, generous)? Is this personality congruent with your

message and your niche?  Congruence is easy when you are

being yourself; it's difficult when you are not speaking from your

real self and personal truth.  Is your message consistent across the

various social media platforms?

2. Your brand visuals

This is often overlooked.  Branding visuals have to do with the

colors you use, your logo or avatar, the presentation of your

Squidoo lenses, websites and blogs.  It even comes down to the

typeface you use.  Are you communicating a professional image

or a sloppy one? What image is appropriate for your branding

message and your niche?  Sometimes it is appropriate to use

an image of yourself across multiple social media platforms so

that you gain recognition.  However, this recognition is

undermined if your message is not consistent and your

behavior incongruent.

3. Your brand value

Brand value is very much about what your brand offers - your

USP (unique selling proposition).  You need to know what your

value is and what you are offering.  Can you present your value

in an "elevator speech" or a brief statement that you can make

in the time it takes to travel five floors of a building?   You build

brand value through what you contribute in line with what

you claim to offer.  In other words, when people associate

with you, or connect with you, do they take away something

of value that is consistent with your stated offering?  Are you

sharing your expertise in line with what you claim to offer?

4. Your brand variation

So what sets you apart (refer Seth Godin's "Purple Cow")?

Brand variation is about differentiation, how you stand out from the

crowded marketplace.  Why is your offering better than the next one

or the one before?  What is unique to you - your life experience, your

accomplishments, your personal  insights, your humorous portrayals,

how you share, what you share, how you comment, how you listen,

how you specialize, what social media platforms you use (and why),

what you value, what you spend your time on, your expertise,

your creativity, the media you use (text, voice, video)?

What are the components that make up your brand differentiation

... and what can you do to strengthen these components?

Note: A special thanks to Cindy Ratzlaff for her stimulating

telesmeniar presented via the International Social Media Association.

which provides free weekly teleseminars on social media marketing.

Cindy has a superb blog on branding and social media marketing.

*********************************************

Ron Passfield is a Top 100 Squidoo Lensmaster and
Giant Squid100. He provides free resources
for Squidoo marketing on his Squidoo authority
site:
http://www.squidoo.com/squidoomarketingstrategies

To learn more about Squidoo Affiliate Marketing
check out:
http://www.squidooaffiliatemarketing.com

Subscribe to Ron's free Squidoo Marketing e-course:
http://www.smsecourse.squidoomarketingstrategies.com/

Ron is the author of the e-Book:
Squidoo Marketing Strategies

*********************************************

Internet Marketing Success - the road less travelled

Well I have just listened to Mike Litman's
The Force That Creates Your Future track on his 'Greatness
Held Hostage' CD.

He makes the point that the difference between medicocrity
and greatness has a lot to do with habits:
People form habits and habits form futures

But it is not just any habit that makes the difference, it's a
distasteful habit:
Successful people make a habit of doing
what they don't like doing

Why would you want to have this habit? Because this habit
determines success.  Just think of all your New Year
resolutions that stay on the shelf or in your diary
(e.g. lose weight, improve your public speaking, etc.)

Why don't they happen? Because you don't want to do
the things that would guarantee your success - changing
your eating habits, going for a walk, getting out of bed early,
taking a course...there are always excuses for not doing
what you don't want to do.

So how come successful people create the habit of
doing what they don't want to do...and unsuccessful
people create the habit of avoiding the unpleasant, difficult
or routine?

Mike's answer is very clear on this point (the essence of his
message):
Unsuccessful people focus on process, successful people
focus on the reward.

Unsuccessful people focus on the unpleasant things
required to achieve a goal (process) while successful people
focus on the end result or desired state (reward).

Mike Litman  offers 3 strategies to move forward
and achieve success:

1. Ask yourself the question, "What is one thing I
don't want to do today that if I did it would
move my life forward?"

2. Ask yourself the question, "How will I benefit from
doing this one action I don't want to do?"

3. Do it NOW (Just Do IT)!

Mike is an energetic and inspirational speaker, so it is well
worth listening to what he has to say in his own inimitable
style:
The Force That Creates Your Future

Related Posts:

New habits can be personally transforming

Just Do IT!...Take some targeted action.

*********************************************
Ron Passfield is a Top 100 Squidoo Lensmaster and
Giant Squid100. He provides free resources
for Squidoo marketing on his Squidoo authority
site:
http://www.squidoo.com/squidoomarketingstrategies

To learn more about Squidoo Affiliate Marketing
check out:
http://www.squidooaffiliatemarketing.com

Subscribe to Ron's free Squidoo Marketing e-course:
http://www.smsecourse.squidoomarketingstrategies.com/

Ron is the author of the e-Book:
Squidoo Marketing Strategies

*********************************************

Squidoo: Squidoo Lens Design - Merit Solutions Brisbane

Here I am following the framework I developed for Squidoo lens design:
7 Top Strategies for Lens Creation.

1. Purpose of the Squidoo Lens

I developed this lens to promote Merit Solutions Brisbane,
a networked organization of human resource consultants
based in Queensland, Australia.  The global economic crisis
had impacted heavily on the organization's income because
of a major reduction in consultancy contracts in its
traditional market, Queensland Government Departments.

2. Concept of the Squidoo Lens

I wanted to show Merit Solutions Brisbane as a highly
professional human resource consultancy organization.
Associated with this was the need to highlight the
strategic response of Merit Solutions Brisbane to the changes
in their market.  This involved reflecting the diversification
of both markets (to move from local to global and include the
private sector) and products (widening the product range
and increasing flexibility of delivery).

3. Lens Design to Meet Concept and Purpose

Here I set about highlighting the professional qualifications
and experience base of each of the 20 consultants in the
Merit Solutions network.   Additionally, I highlighted each of
the human resource services offered by Merit Solutions
Brisbane and emphasized flexible delivery of relevant
services, e.g. via Skype coaching, webinars and podcasts.

4. Keyword Research

I undertook keyword research for my tags by using the
Google Adwords Keyword Tool. This tool provided plenty
of keywords that I could use. Of particular note are the
long tail keywords I used throughout the lens
in module titles, sub-headings and module text.

5. Develop Content

The content flowed from my purpose and lens concept.
So integral to the lens design was the Photo Gallery module
presented as a Slide Show with timed display.  This enablesd
me to highlight the two groups of consultants - Principal HR
consultants and Senior HR consultants - and their qualifications.

I used the Orange Box (Black Box Module) to act as a highlighter
for each of the core human resources services offered by
Merit Solutions Brisbane.  This color was chosen because it
reflected well the original colors of the Merit Solutions website.

I also used HTML and CSS script to change the color of the
text modules to reflect the colors of the organization's website.
I had extracted the color codes from the HTML source code
for the website (visible by clicking the "View" menu item and
then "Page Source").

6. Source Images

I sourced the consultants' photos and Logo from the
website.  I will have to add images to the text
modules and this may take the form of pictures of Brisbane
and/or of the individual consultants.

7. Revisit, Refine, Link and Promote

The Merit Solutions Brisbane Squidoo lens is one element
in a total social media marketing plan for the organization.
This will incorporate LinkedIn profiles for each consultant,
blogs, videos, podcasts, Facebook and Twitter.  The Squidoo
lens will be refined and updated to reflect these elements as they
are developed.  The lens will also form the centerpiece of
a planned lens ring designed to highlight the core human
resource services provided by the organization.  These lenses
will then be linked via the Featured Lens Module.

Key Lessons:  Squidoo lenses are a powerful way to brand
and promote local businesses. You can integrate a lens for a local
small business into an integrated social media marketing plan.
This requires a concept plan that is broader than the single lens.
However, the lens can be progressively refined to reflect
implementation of the social media plan.

Related Posts:

Top 7 Steps for Squidoo Lens Design
Long Tail Keywords and Deep Indexing of Squidoo Lenses
Squidoo Lens Design - Tropical Rainforest
Create a Squidoo Lens Ring

*********************************************
Ron Passfield is a Top 100 Squidoo Lensmaster and
Giant Squid100. He provides free resources
for Squidoo marketing on his Squidoo authority
site:
http://www.squidoo.com/squidoomarketingstrategies

To learn more about Squidoo Affiliate Marketing
check out:
http://www.squidooaffiliatemarketing.com

Subscribe to Ron's free Squidoo Marketing e-course:
http://www.smsecourse.squidoomarketingstrategies.com/

Ron is the author of the e-Book:
Squidoo Marketing Strategies

*********************************************