Sunday, December 25, 2011

Outsourcing: Have You Explored In Sourcing as an Option? | Small Business Odyssey

Is Outsourcing the Right Option or Should You In Source?

 

Small business owners frequently turn to outsourcing instead of in sourcing for their online small business marketing.  However, it has been my experience that in sourcing is a great option.

Have you considered what your staff or sub-contractors are capable of doing in terms of marketing your small business online?  

Everywhere we are encouraged to outsource our online activity to increase our productivity. Have you thought of insourcing as an alternative to outsourcing for your small business marketing? The benefits of insourcing over outsourcing are many (besides saving you money). You may find that your staff have hidden talents that you can employ not only for small business marketing, but also in other arenas of your business.

Posted via email from Ronpass posterous

Friday, December 16, 2011

Marketing Style: How Do You Market Your Small Buiness? | Small Business Odyssey

What is Your Marketing Style?

Small Business Marketing StyleAre you aware of the marketing style that you use in promoting your small business?   Developing a consistent and congruent marketing style is one aspect of effective business branding.

This point was brought home to me by Nancy Marmolejo, a visibility expert, who teaches small business owners to “step into the spotlignht”  by understanding and developing their preferred marketing style.  She suggests that if you use trial and error to develop your style it will cost you time, money and effectiveness.   Your marketing style is what you use to persuade people to take action (basically, your influencing style)

Nancy Marmlejo introduces us to three styles of marketing that people tend to adopt. Do you know your own marketing style? I think these styles tend to line up with personality differences and associated influencing styles. The trap is to copy someone else's style without thinking. Have you ever wanted to "follow" some guru but felt uncomfortable with their marketing approach? Nancy's core message is to stay true to your own marketing style and you will tend to attract the people you want to attract. If you mindlessly adopt the marketing style of someone else, you can easily deter your own target audience. This is particularly true for marketers offering coaching or consulting but has general application across the board.

Posted via email from Ronpass posterous

Social Bookmarking: Marketing Small Business through RedGage | Small Business Odyssey

RedGage: Social Bookmarking with a Difference

RedGage Social Bookmarking

 

Social Bookmarking is designed to create online bookmarks that store information about your small business.

Sites that provide social bookmarking often have a high Page Rank with Google so information bookmarked on these sites can provide quality backlinks to your own small business website/blog.  This, in turn, increases the value of your own site in the “eyes” of Google.

RedGage is a social bookmarking site with a difference:

RedGage offers social bookmarking in the form of images, videos, links and a unique blogging platform. One of the distinct advantages of this social bookmarking site is that it encourages cross-posting - using various forms of bookmarking to promote the one article or blog post.

Posted via email from Ronpass posterous

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Posterous Alexa Ranking and Demogrpahics

Meritsolutions_-_shortlistings
      I was just checking the Alexa ranking for Posterous this morning and found the following information:
 
Traffic ranking globally:       506
Traffic ranking US              453
Traffic ranking UK              349
 
Compared to the general Internet population, the site appeals to people who have graduate education, browse from work and have no children.  Additionally, age groups 25-34 and 35-44 are over-represented on Posterous and over 65's are greatly under-represented.
 
Ron Passfield
Brisbane Australia

Posted via email from Ronpass posterous

Sunday, November 06, 2011

How to Create Quality Backlinks for Small Business Websites | Small Business Odyssey

Backlinks: To Buy or Not to Buy, That is the Question!


 

Backlinks are one of the core measures that Google uses to evaluate a small business website/blog and determine where the site will appear in search engine results. 

Unfortunately, many small business owners have been convinced by some Internet marketers to buy links to build up the ranking of their websites.

Internet marketers are reporting that Google is on the warpath over artificially created backlinks. Some websites have been sandboxed by Google where the owners have bought numerous links, others have been removed from the search engine results (SERPs). This post discusses the issues.

Posted via email from Ronpass posterous

Wednesday, November 02, 2011

smallbusinessodyssey.com - Part 2

Social Media: Where Are Your Customers Conversing?

Yosemite Valley

 

With the growth of social media, small business owners face new challenges in terms of locating their clients/customers.  Added to this is the fact that recent estimates show that 80% of people who have access to the Internet start their search via the Web, not via printed media (e.g. Yellow Pages or newspapers).

Discusses the importance of knowing what social media your small business customers are using and knowing how to locate them and connect with them. The blog post stresses the importance of participating in the online conversation.

Posted via email from Ronpass posterous

Tuesday, November 01, 2011

Turn Photos into Animated Music Videos

Turn Photos into Video to Promote Your Small Business

 

One of the easiest ways to market your small business is to turn your photos into video.  You must have lots of photos lying around that you can use for this purpose.  However, if you want to make the most of this highly effective marketing option, you can be more deliberate about what photos you take and the videos you create.

Here I discuss how to use Animoto to turn your photos into videos for the purpose of business marketing. The steps are simple but the results can be quite stunning:
http://animoto.com/?ref=tzolcekr

Posted via email from Ronpass posterous

Friday, October 28, 2011

Check Your Business Listing in Local Business Directories | smallbusinessodyssey.com

Are Your Listings in Local Business Directories Accurate?


I was checking the search results for my business name, Merit Solutions Australia, in Google and was surprised with the results from local business directories.

A lot of the entries in the first two pages of Google results were listings from local business directories.

These directories create business listings (much like Google and Facebook have done recently) by scraping content from the Internet.  The only problem with the local business directories, as I found, is that a lot of the information is incorrect (because it is out of date).

While it is great to have your small business automatically listed on Local Business Directories, one of the problems is that the information is often inaccurate and this can be a real problem when people are searching on your business name. This blog post looks at the impact of the local business listings and what to do about them.

Posted via email from Ronpass posterous

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

smallbusinessodyssey.com - Part 2

Small Business Marketing: A Personal Odyssey

Human Resource Consultancy

Our small business was created in 1996 and following the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) in 2008, we found that we had to become actively engaged in online small business marketing.

Up until the GFC, our gross income had been growing at around 20% per year and we did not have to actively market our small business.  Most business arrived by word of mouth through the professional services provided by our HR consultants.

However, with the GFC, our business income dropped by 50% in six months.  So we had to look at ways to improve the income from our small business.

This is the post that launched my new blog, http://www.smallbusinessodyssey.com

I am sharing my journey into online marketing of my offline small business. I'll share the strategies and tactics I use in day-to-day marketing of our business:
http://www.meritsolutions.com.au

Posted via email from Ronpass posterous

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Google Plus and Google +1



Google has recently started to change the Search Engine landscape,
partly as a response to Facebook.

Google is in the process of a fundamental paradigm change:
  • from content to people
  • from "page rank" to "author rank"
Google has established its own social network in the form
of Google Plus which is only open by invitation at the moment
(ask your friends or contacts for an invitation!).

It has also introduced the concept of "author rank" via the +1
buttons that you see proliferating the Internet.  This rating
scheme operates similar to Facebook "likes", although it
has more powerful effects.

You will soon start noticing members of your Google Plus "circles"
appearing in your search results because they have indicated
a +1 rating for the relevant search result.

Author thumbnails will also appear in the right hand column of searchresults where the author is part of your circle and has indicated
(by coding) that they are a real person and the actual author of the
content.

The impacts of the new Google Plus and Google +1 are explained
in these resources:

Ed Dale Video - The Google Revolution That Changes Everything

Michelle MacPhearson - Getting Your Thumbnail in Google's Search Results

Ryan Malone - Google Author Markup Tutorial


The best how-to training resource I have come across so
far is listed below (not an affiliate link):


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

Ron Passfield, PhD, Giant Squid100, Co-Founder of Wizzley
and Director of Merit Solutions Australia.



Friday, June 03, 2011

Wizzley: A Writers' Community Launches




Wizzley, a new writers' community, has been in public launch for just over a week.

There are now over 350 authors and more than 350 original articles.

Wizzley is an article site with the option to add images and video and
other modules to enrich the article content.

There is a strong emphasis on quality with the minimum requirement
of 400 words per article.  The site has inbuilt duplicate content checks
to ensure the originality of the content.

Wizzley is very much a community so members contribute to the
community as well as write articles.  Community contributions are by
way of forum posts, commenting on articles and contributing to
improvements of the site.

The Wizzley community is a dynamic group of writers who respect
each other and collaborate in the process of creating a great site
and building each others confidence and competence as a writer.

Wizzley members can earn revenue from direct affiliate links as well
as from the following income modules:
  • Adsense
  • Amazon
  • Allposters
  • Zazzle
Revenue from these four modules is shared on an impression basis -
50% of impressions will show the author's affiliate ID and the other
50% will show Wizzley's affiliate ID.

You can also earn income from referrals - 10% of the impressions
from referrals' articles will show your affiliate ID's (for life). This
share comes off Wizzley's 50%, not your referral's.

Wizzley's Alexa rank at the time of writing is:
  • US   -   17,511
  • Germany  -  9,418
  • Global   - 135,953

Come and join us at Wizzley - the fun, fast and friendly site for authors.

 




Wednesday, May 18, 2011

YouTube - Nicholas Christakis: The hidden influence of social networks

Nicholas Christakis: The hidden influence of social networks

Social networks shape our thinking, our lives and our actions.
They are arenas of influence. Nicholas Christakis in this video
presentation shows how social networks can explain the growth
of philanthropy, obesity and drug use.

His visual presentation of the forming and re-forming of a
social network over 15 years is stimulating and enlightening
It will change your perspective of social networks and
their power for creating good in the world.

Nicholas maintains that social networking is embedded
in our genes and that one only has to look at our offline
social networks to confirm this.

The question for us as business owners and online
marketers is. "How are we going to use these arenas
of influence?" Will the world be a better place as a result
of our actions on Facebook, Twitter, Squidoo, RedGage
and other social networking sites?

 

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Traffic Dashboard Review: structured guide to traffic generation



Marlon Sanders has just released his Traffic Dashboard
which gives you 16 ways to generate traffic to your
website, blog or Squidoo lens.

The rows in the Dashboard represent 6 broad traffic
sources:
  • article marketing
  • search engine optimization
  • social media marketing
  • banner ad marketing
  • email marketing (incl. solo ads)
  • affiliate marketing (for your own product)
I purchased the system after very strong support
for the product in the Warrior's Forum.

The whole system is designed as a point-and-click
access point with each icon representing a source
of traffic or another step in an already introduced
traffic source.

For example, the first row of the dashboard discusses
article marketing. Each of the icons in this row
provide a stage in the process in the form of
detailed step-by-step instructions. Icons cover
keyword research, writing the article, the resource
box, landing page, submission and editing and
outsourcing. Each stage is illustrated with
screen shots and examples.

The social media row of Traffic Dashboard is
different in terms of the level of detail provided.
This row, for example, covers Facebook Ads,
YouTube, Video Sites, Squidoo Lenses,
The Epiphany and Images. ["The Epiphany"
is Marlon's personal insight into how to really
generate traffic.]

Thus the level of detail for social networking
in the social media row is a long way from the depth
and comprehensiveness of my SquidooRoo Program.

However, Marlon does provide an easy entry point
for someone who is not used to using some of these
aspects.

There is something in Traffic Dashboard for both the
newbie and the advanced.  I know I certainly learned
some things on my first run through.

Strengths of Traffic Dashboard
  • range of areas covered
  • step-by-step process
  • very well illustrated
  • motivational (encourages you to "have a go")
  • builds confidence as you master each step
  • strong support for newbies
  • introduces some new approaches to generating traffic
  • "The Epiphany" - worth the cost of the product.
 Weaknesses of Traffic Dashboard
  • product tries to cover both newbies and advanced
  • some areas (such as social media) are not comprehensive
  • the depth across topics varies considerably
  • the Squidoo instructions are inadequate
I mention the last point specifically in the light of the
Google Algorith Change and Squidoo's response.
Squidoo is now putting a lot more emphasis on
original content and lenses that lack original content
(that were tolerated before) will now be locked.
Traffic Dashboard does not make this point
clear.

Despite some of it's limitations, Traffic Dashboard has
some real merits.  If you are a relative newbie, or at the
intermediate level of Internet marketing, it has a lot
to offer through its systematic approach and
step-by-step instructions.  More advanced Internet
marketers may find that they are already doing
60% of what is covered (and more besides).
However, there is very real value in "The
Epithany" which shows you how to leverage your
content creation.

Check out this product - it may be just what you
need to introduce some system and discipline to
your marketing efforts:
Traffic Dashboard

*****************************************
Ron Passfield, PhD, is the creator of SquidooRoo.com,
a 24 weeks (6 months) training program in
social media marketing which covers content creation,
promotion and social networking including Facebook,
Twitter, Squidoo, Flickr, LinkedIn, YouTube, and
RedGage.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

3 Things That Can Block Your Motivation


In this audio I discuss three things that
can get in the road of your motivation at
work or with your online activity or, more
specifically, with your social media marketing.

These barriers to motivation are:
  1. your mindset
  2. your comfort zone
  3. your past experiences
The audio discusses how these things dampen
your motivation.

In the my Social Media Training Program, I
address these issues and encourage you to
change your mindset, go beyond the limitations
of your comfort zone and to break free
of the constraints of past experiences.

The SquidooRoo program is as much about
your inner journey as it is about the mechanics
of social media marketing.

In this training program in social media marketing,
I explore multiple ways to improve motivation
and increase your productivity.

Why not join us on this learning journey
and find your true motivation and capacity?

Related Resource:

http://www.squidoo.com/WonderfulWizardofOz

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Facebook Changes: New iFrame Facebook Pages


Facebook will be replacing FBML Facebook Pages
(Facebook Markup Language) with the new
iFrame Facebook Page with effect from 11 March 2011.

You will no longer be able to use FBML to build your Facebook
pages.  You will have to host your own Facebook Pages.

This means that you will have to learn about iFrames and get access
to some templates to speed up the process of making
Facebook Pages for yourself and/or your clients.

The iFrame Pages will be more powerful but there are less guides,
templates and software available to assist you with this process.
However, if you want to make Facebook Pages in the future, you
will not have any choice as you will have to use iFrames.

Daniel Tan and Phil Benham have come up with a great solution
to the new iFrame Facebook pages.  FBMaxed gives you:

  • Three (3) HTML 5 cusomizable Facebook iFrame templates*
  • Step-by-step video instructions
  • Recorded video webinars (downloadable)
  • Email support
* Optimized for Mobile

The templates incorporate the "reveal" function - the "reward" page
is revealed only after the reader "Likes" the page.  You have the
option of displaying an alternative page for those who don't "like"
the landing page.

The new iFrames Facebook pages can hold video and
lead capture opt-ins. You can show full websites with or without
the reveal option.  So this is what you can have on your Facebook
Page:

  • Multiple pages on one Facebook Page
  • PHP email contact forms
  • HTML5 videos.
  • Photo galleries
  • Extended Facebook Pages (3000 pixels)
  • Lead capture opt-ins
  • Sales pages & Landing pages
  • Reveal Splash pages

Daniel Tan has provided a wide range of great products and even
Traci Gregory, who has developed her own iFrames application,
recommends Daniels's FBMaxed as easier and more flexible.


P.S. There will be webinars every few days for people who purchase
this product with Q & A sessions included. - so heaps of support.

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

Ron Passfield, PhD, is the creator of SquidooRoo.com,
a 24 weeks (6 months) training program in
social media marketing which covers content creation,
promotion and social networking including Facebook.

Tuesday, March 01, 2011

Ezinearticles.com - New author guidelines 2011

Info PR: 3 I: 3,180,000 L: 0 LD: 204,748,582 I: 323,000Rank: 7 Age: Oct 12, 1999 I: 0 whoissourceRobo: yesSitemap: no Rank: 1586 Price: 989030 Density


Quality Criteria for Authors

In response to the Google Algorith Change 2011, Ezinearticles.com
has now finalized its new Quality critieria for authors.

The list is provided here:
  1. Doubling the time for editors to make quality checks
  2. No longer accept article submissions via WordPress Plugin and API
  3. Two weeks limit for removal of identified dead links (vs 35 days)
  4. Only 10 additional submissions to reach Platinum Level (vs 25)*
  5. Minimum 400 word count (vs 250)

* Note: if you do not make the quality grade (platinum member) after
20 submissions you will no longer be allowed to submit to
Ezinearticles.com

The NoFollow Link Debate

There has been a heated debate over the suggestion by
Ezinearticles.com that they would introduce a nofollow link
process for the Resource box area of an article (they already
have this in place for "within article" links).

Blog comments became quite heated over this topic
(50 + pages of comments). There was a very strong resistance
to this proposed change as it stopped authors from generating
quality backlinks via Ezinearticles.com.

The effect of the no- follow tag on links is that search engines
will not follow/index the link and no "link juice" or anchor text
will pass from Ezinearticles.com (now PR 6) to the
author's website.  Thus the author would not gain a quality
backlink (see Matt Cutt's video below explaining Google's
position on no-follow links).

Christopher Knight argued that using the "no follow" tag
for the Resource Box links, would show Google that
Ezinearticles.com were not "gaming" the search engine
system and would improve its quality score.

Other commentators pointed out that Articlebase.com
had a 100% "no follow" policy and still were hit very hard
by Google's 2011 Algorith Change.

The debate then turned to, "What is the fundamental purpose
of Ezinearticles.com?"  Christopher Knight argued that the primary
purpose is to serve the reader with content that helps them
solve their problems/issues - Ezinearticles.com does not exist
to provide quality backlinks for authors.

Many of the commentators then argued that authors submit for
two purposes - to get traffic and quality backlinks. They suggested
that if the second benefit was taken away, many authors would no
longer publish on the Ezinearticles.com article directory.

Christopher Knight, Owner of Ezinearticles.com, then
withdrew the suggestion of "no follow" links from 
current quality considerations.

The discussion, though, highlighted Ezinearticles.com absolute
commitment to improved quality (necessary for its survival)
but genuine willingness to engage in discussion and consultation
with its members.

It also highlights the need to be continuously vigilant about quality
and innovation, even for an organisation that holds a premier
position as the No. 1 article directory of the Internet.

Related Post:

The 2011 Google Algorith Changes: Ezinearticles.com Response



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

Ron Passfield, PhD, is an expert author/Platinum author
with Ezinearticles.com with 40 published articles.
Ron is the creator of a training program in social media marketing,
covering content creation, social networking
and promotion:
http://www.squidooroo.com

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

Matt Cutts from Google on "no follow" links

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Ezinearticles.com Response to Google's new "Farmer Algorith"


Google bots on-the-move

If you thought it was difficult in the past to get your article
published on Ezinearticles.com, things are going to be
even tougher in the future.  Ezinearticles.com is
predicting that it's current 40.6% rejection rate will
climb to at least 60% because of new measures it is
putting in place to improve the quality of the site.

These changes have come as an immediate response to
what is being termed as Googles's "Farmer Algorith"
changes.  Google has decided that it is time to
change its search engine algorith to dump poor quality
sites from high rankings:

This update is designed to reduce rankings for low-quality sites
—sites which are low-value add for users, copy content from
other websites or sites that are just not very useful.

Google plans instead to give more value to what they consider
to be high quality sites:
...it will provide better rankings for high-quality sites—sites
with original content and information such as research,
in-depth reports, thoughtful analysis and so on.

Unfortunately sites like Ezinearticles.com, who go out of their
way to create quality through human editing and other measures,
have been among the hardest hit.

Ezinearticles.com has already recorded the immediate downturn
in traffic it experienced after the changes were announced:

While we adamantly disagree with anyone who places the
“Content Farm” label on EzineArticles.com, we were not
immune to this algorithm change. Traffic was down 11.5%
on Thursday and over 35% on Friday. In our life-to-date,
this is the single most significant reduction in market trust
we’ve experienced from Google.

There has been an immediate response by Ezinearticles.com
which has signaled the following changes:

1. tighten the software mechanism that detects copied content
2. no longer accept submissions directly from WordPress blogs
3. reduction in number of ads per page (to keep article reader focused)
4. 600-850 words may become the new normal with 400 being the minimum
5. increased rejection of "advertorials"
6. tightening up on categories that tend to encourage spam or poor content
7. may start rejecting content that is not unique to
EzineArticles.com alone. (this is in line with some news release outlets.)


So you can expect a whole lot of tightening up on Ezinearticles.com
but also on HubPages, AssociatedContent.com, Suite101.com and Buzzle.com
- all of whom have been negatively impacted by the Google Algorith Changes.

Some of the winners in the aftermath of the Google Algorith Changes are:
  1. eHow.com
  2. youtube.com
  3. ebay.com
  4. facebook.com
  5. instructables.com
...plus Sears and Walmart!!
  
Dan Abbamont who compared some stats before and after the change
based on Google Canada suggested that Squidoo too lost 15 places
in search results.

This is not supported by other stats supplied by researchers.

Squidoo's recent appointment of large numbers of GiantSquids
as SquidAngels to do quality control over allocated
topic "neighborhoods" (sub-categories) was probably done in
anticipation of these Google Algorith Changes.

Whatever, the final fall-out is, the whole arena of article marketing
and content creation has changed yet again.

Related articles:

PotPieGirl gives her perspective on these 2011
Google Algoritm Changes changes:
http://www.potpiegirl.com/2011/03/my-theory-on-the-google-algo-change/trackback/

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

Ron Passfield, PhD is the creator of SquidooRoo.com, a 6 month
program in social media marketing.  The Program covers,
content creation, social networking and promotion including
press releases.

Friday, February 25, 2011

Strategic Plan Document | Don Crowther

Here’s a link to the Two Page Strategic Plan Template
It’s a zip file that contains the template and a sample of it filled out for a fictitious business in both a Microsoft Word document and in PDF format in case you don’t have Word.

And here’s a video that describes how to do fill it out.

The key here is that it’s not the form that makes the difference, it’s the thought behind it. So, I recommend that you plan on spending at least 2-3 hours in a quiet room, with no distractions to think about the elements asked for in this form.

Don Crowther does it again with this excellent tool for developing your own strategic plan - 2 Page Strategic Plan

===============================================
Ron Passfield, PhD, Giant Squid100 and creator of the SquidooRoo Training Program in social media marketing.

Posted via email from Ronpass posterous

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Social Media Training: Lesson 24


I've just completed the 24th PDF Lesson in my 6 month
training program on social media marketing.

This Graduation Lesson titled, "Where to from Here?",
is designed to help participants explore how they can
best use the ideas in the SquidooRoo Program which
covered content creation, social networking and promotion,
including press releases and social bookmarking.

In the final Lesson, we explored how to create a Fixed
Term Membership Program and offered a process for
evaluating your own Internet marketing activity.

The final Graduation Bonus is an MP3 I developed in which
I share what I have learned in creating the SquidooRoo
Program as a Fixed Term Membership. While Lesson 24
covers the mechanics of creating such a Program, the audio
focuses on the inner journey and ways to overcome
obstacles.

It has been a long haul researching and writing weekly PDFs
over 6 months and locating or creating bonuses to go with each
week's Lesson.  However it was a rewarding experience and
members of my Fixed Term Membership Program have
commented that the Program is excellent.

Here's a testimonial from Allan James, the Start Business Mentor:
For someone like myself, with over 5 years experience online
and a fair degree of success, it's rare for me to find a
membership site and tutorials that adds to my knowledge,
stimulates my thinking, and provides practical ways and means
that I can put into action immediately to grow my business. 
Your excellent SquidooRoo course does all of that!

If you want to  master social media marketing for your own
business or to devleop your skills as a social media manager,
this Program is for you.

Click the link below to find out how you can grow in confidence,
competence and income with the SquidooRoo Program:
http://www.squidooroo.com

Ron Passfield,PhD, is a Giant Squid100, social media
consultant and dedicated educator with 30 years experience.

Tuesday, February 08, 2011

How To Research Facebook To Find Profitable Topics - Entrepreneurs-Journey.com by Yaro Starak

Press the PLAY button on the video below to begin watching.

Text Transcript of Video

In the video you see one way to gather live feedback from real people about potential topics and also gauge how popular topics could be. The video above helps with Milestone One (Topic Selection) from the The Roadmap to Become A Blogger:
http://www.becomeablogger.com/roadmap/

Visit the SquidooRoo Program for focused training in social media marketing:
Social Media Marketing

Wednesday, February 02, 2011

9 Traits of Successful Marketers (Pt 2) - Get Rich Click With ClickBank

9 Traits of Successful Internet Marketers (Part 2)

play

As promised, 5 more traits of successful marketers from Neil Hartley and Dush Ramachandran’s presentation at the Internet Marketing Party – a gathering of like-minded Internet marketing entrepreneurs and marketing professionals held the second Tuesday of every month in Austin, TX and run by Dave Gonzalez.

  • They take action. Inevitably, we all face tasks we would rather put off for another day. Successful Internet marketers understand that getting those tasks done now can translate into more sales today AND tomorrow. Procrastination can, and will, prevent you from becoming successful.

Some list building insights from Clickbank executives along with 5 traits of successful Internet marketers. The list of traits is a good basis for reflecting on your own Internet marketing. The five traits discussed are - take action, believe in yourself, don't be afraid of competition, pursue multiple revenue streams, invest in your own skill and knowledge building.

Posted via email from Ronpass posterous

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Twitter and Facebook help Queensland Flood Victims

I am writing this post from my evacuation location
following flooding in Brisbane.

The Brisbane River broke its banks two days ago and
now thousands of homes are flooded and the river has
entered the CBD of Brisbane, Queensland's capital.

The CBD and 115,000 people are without power as a result
of the need to cut power to flooded areas.

Boats and pontoons have been racing wildly down the river,
totally out of control.

Queensland Police kept people informed via Facebook and
the Twitter #qldfloods messages kept information
flowing from people being affected by the floods. The tweets
also provided safety information and were running
at a couple of hundred tweets per minute. Queensland Police
also monitored the Twitter posts and were very quick to
make tweets to correct myths or rumours that were passing
on inaccurate information.

Current indications are that 11,900 homes had water througout
the entire property and 14,700 were partially affected by the
Brisbane floods. 2,500 businesses were flooded over the entire
property while 2,500 were partially flooded.

While the flood level in Brisbane ended up 1 metre lower
that of the 1974 floods, the damage is still devasting
as the population is twice that of 1974 and there has been
a lot of riverside development since.

Many homes have the flood water at roof levels and people in
the upper reaches of the river experienced flood levels greater
than the 1974 floods.

The flood in Brisbane is mirrored throughout the whole State
as 75% of Queensland is under water (Queensland is 6 times the
size of the UK). The city of Ipswich is 30% under water with
homes and buildings destroyed.

Some of the more devastating floods are out West in towns like
Chinchilla, Dalby and Condamine which have been totally evacuated
twice in ten days. Cities in the north like Marborough, Bundaberg
and Rockhampton have also had thousands of people evacuated.

The most dramatic, frighteneing and emotionally disturbing floods
occurred on the range above Brisbane at Toowoomba and the foothill
towns of Grantham, Helidon and Withcott.

People were walking down the main street of the major city of
Toowoomba when a 7 metre walk of water raced through the CBD
drowning some people, throwing cars and containers around like
corks and leaving cars piled up on top of each other.

The 7 metre wall of water then raced down the range gathering
speed and smashed into a number of country towns such as Grantham.
The devastation at Grantham is beyond belief. It has been totally
razed as if a bomb blast hit it. One house with a faimily of three
in it was lifted off its stumps and smashed into splinters with
no visible evidence of the house remaining.

12 people are now confirmed dead and 43 missing.

Hundreds of people have been saved from the fast running
flood waters via Army and SES helicopters, some
plucked from the roofs of cars and houses.

Brisbane and surrounding areas are now in shock and face
a huge cleanup and rebuilding task - with much of the
infrastructure destroyed (roads, bridges, water treatment
plants, etc.).

Thanks to wonderful support from NZ and interstate
and the Defence Forces. The Queensland Police and
State Emergency Services (SES)were courageous and
amazing. Community volunteering and collaboration
has been outstanding.

As the Premier said, "This flood may break our hearts
but will not break our will!"







Sunday, January 09, 2011

Social Media Strategy: What will you give up in 2011?


Social media strategy implies a direction, a path or purpose.

Fundamentally, it implies a choice - choosing one focus other
another.  So, social media strategy implies exclusion as well as
inclusion.

The challenge is to make the choice - decide what you will focus
on and what you will give up (or exclude).

If you try to cover all social media for example, you are not
being strategic.  You will not achieve your goals because your
focus and energy will be too dispersed.

Two top marketers have gone public recently to explain what
their marketing strategy is for 2011.

Seth Godin has stated that (after 12 New York bestsellers)
he is giving up writing books for traditional publishing
to focus on publishing "in whatever form" works for his readers.
The Wall Street Journal suggests that this will take the form of
"electronic books, via print-on-demand or in such
formats as audiobooks, apps, small digital files
called PDFs and podcasts".  Seth indicated that the majority
of his blog readers have never bought one of his books
in a bookstore.

Dr. Mani - Infopreneur, heart surgeon and creator of The
Children's Heart Foundation - has decided to give up
traditional email marketing as a primary marketing approach
and focus more on social media marketing. He expressed
considerable disappointment at the low opening rate of
his emails in 2010.

These two top Internet marketers have changed their
social media strategy to reflect changes in audience response
experienced in 2010 and earlier.

So the question remains about your social media strategy:
What are you going to focus on in 2011 and what will
you give up to make this happen?

If you want some guidance in that choice, why not join
us in the SquidooRoo social media training program where
we take you through the choices re content creation,
social networking and promotion - all elements of
social media strategy.

***********************************************
Ron Passfield, PhD, is a Giant Squid100 and
social media consultant.

His 6 month social media training program
is available at:
http://www.squidooroo.com

Sign up now for a FREE ecourse
in social media marketing:
Social Media Marketing Tips

Saturday, January 08, 2011

Social Media Marketing: How Squidoo Builds Community



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***********************************************
Ron Passfield is a Giant Squid100 and
social media consultant.

His 6 month social media training program
is available at:
http://www.squidooroo.com

Sign up now for a FREE ecourse
in social media marketing:
Social Media Marketing Tips