Article Marketing & Online Marketing Strategies from IdeaMarketers - Where Your Ideas Shine

Using Social Media to Build Your Business

Each month, IdeaMarketers.com is hosting panel discussions with our team of experts on various topics. Last night's discussion was "How to Use Social Media to Build Your Business." Visibility, online marketing and article marketing experts joined the call to discuss ways they have used LinkedIn, MySpace, Facebook and Ning to build their businesses. The call was recorded and is available for you to listen to at http://www.ideamarketers.com/experts/calls/socialmedia.cfm  

The experts defined social media and explained why it's so popular. For example, our exclusive visibility expert, Nancy Marmolejo says, "When you have a social networking page it's like this wonderful at-a-glance view of who you are and what you're doing as opposed to somebody going to your web site where they have to click around, look at your blog, and other information. You can go to somebody's MySpace, LinkedIn, or Facebook page and get this at-a-glance idea of who they are, who they associate with, who they consider important, and what they think about x, y and z. I think for our attention deficit society, it's like shopping at Target. You can walk in and get underwear, a hammer, a greeting card and a couch. Social networking pages are very similar to that. It's everything under one roof, and I think that's because it came from the younger generation and that's how they operate. They don't really want to sit around and click to all these various pages. They want it all right there. That's one of its most attractive points. It's easy to 'get it.' The minute you see it you say, 'ok, I get who this person is. I understand what this company is about.'" 

Also discussed on the call were examples of how social media has increased the experts' revenues. Michele PW, the official online marketing and advertising, gave this example, "Just after starting I was contacted by three different people to do teleclasses which resulted in sales. Not only have I connected with new people, but also I've reconnected with two people that I met several years ago. One of them bought one of my products and the other one became a client. It's about more than meeting new people. It's being able to reconnect with people you haven't seen in years." 

Topics such as proper etiquette were also discussed, Jeff Herring, the official article marketing expert, gave this advice, "One of the things you see often is someone joins a social media site and then immediately begins to sell and market. At the very least this is going to turn everybody off, and on some sites it will get you booted out right away. So go slow. Network, connect with people, have discussions, join in the party before you begin to sell. Think long term. You're going to be a presence on these sites for a long time. So you don't have to jump in right away. Spend a month getting known, answering questions, and developing a following and a connection before you begin to market yourself." 

In summary, Jeff Herring suggests, "Step 1: Get started. Step 2: Pick one site to get involved with and build it out. Get it to where it's basically managing itself. Step 3: Pick another one and do the same thing again." 

To listen to the recorded call, go to here . On this page you may also enroll to receive updates on other informative calls with official IdeaMarketers.com experts.

Using Social Media to Build Your Business

Each month, IdeaMarketers.com is hosting panel discussions with our team of experts on various topics. Last night's discussion was "How to Use Social Media to Build Your Business." Visibility, online marketing and article marketing experts joined the call to discuss ways they have used LinkedIn, MySpace, Facebook and Ning to build their businesses. The call was recorded and is available for you to listen to at http://www.ideamarketers.com/experts/calls/socialmedia.cfm  

The experts defined social media and explained why it's so popular. For example, our exclusive visibility expert, Nancy Marmolejo says, "When you have a social networking page it's like this wonderful at-a-glance view of who you are and what you're doing as opposed to somebody going to your web site where they have to click around, look at your blog, and other information. You can go to somebody's MySpace, LinkedIn, or Facebook page and get this at-a-glance idea of who they are, who they associate with, who they consider important, and what they think about x, y and z. I think for our attention deficit society, it's like shopping at Target. You can walk in and get underwear, a hammer, a greeting card and a couch. Social networking pages are very similar to that. It's everything under one roof, and I think that's because it came from the younger generation and that's how they operate. They don't really want to sit around and click to all these various pages. They want it all right there. That's one of its most attractive points. It's easy to 'get it.' The minute you see it you say, 'ok, I get who this person is. I understand what this company is about.'" 

Also discussed on the call were examples of how social media has increased the experts' revenues. Michele PW, the official online marketing and advertising, gave this example, "Just after starting I was contacted by three different people to do teleclasses which resulted in sales. Not only have I connected with new people, but also I've reconnected with two people that I met several years ago. One of them bought one of my products and the other one became a client. It's about more than meeting new people. It's being able to reconnect with people you haven't seen in years." 

Topics such as proper etiquette were also discussed, Jeff Herring, the official article marketing expert, gave this advice, "One of the things you see often is someone joins a social media site and then immediately begins to sell and market. At the very least this is going to turn everybody off, and on some sites it will get you booted out right away. So go slow. Network, connect with people, have discussions, join in the party before you begin to sell. Think long term. You're going to be a presence on these sites for a long time. So you don't have to jump in right away. Spend a month getting known, answering questions, and developing a following and a connection before you begin to market yourself." 

In summary, Jeff Herring suggests, "Step 1: Get started. Step 2: Pick one site to get involved with and build it out. Get it to where it's basically managing itself. Step 3: Pick another one and do the same thing again." 

To listen to the recorded call, go to here . On this page you may also enroll to receive updates on other informative calls with official IdeaMarketers.com experts.

Car Buying, Online Dating and Christian Coaching

Please welcome our new experts to IdeaMarketers.com!

Official Car Buying Expert - Peter Robinson
Peter W. Robinson is the founder of Movinmetal, a family-owned car buying and consulting service located in Escondido, Ca., just north of San Diego. He is the creator of CAR FU: Self-Defense for Car Buyers, a low-impact/high-yield system for car buyers. http://car-fu.com

Official Christian Coach  David Evans
David Evans is an Innovation Coach, who specializes in helping Christians find those breakthroughs of the Spirit that can lead them to a deeper life of faith. Are you looking for an innovation breakthrough in some area of your life? Find out more at DavidEvansCommunications.com

Official Online Dating Expert - Stephany Alexander
Dating Expert Stephany Alexander is the founder of one of the most popular women's websites (top 5%) receiving millions of hits per month. WomanSavers.com is a revolutionary woman-to-woman networking system with thousands of men's names and descriptions entered by women globally to promote safer dating worldwide. It's FREE to search and free to post so make sure you screen your dates! She is the author of the dating book Sex Lies and the Internet

Testimonials - The Upside and the Down

According to Visibility Expert, Nancy Marmolejo, "Word of mouth referrals are perhaps the strongest way to build a business. Think of all the times you ate at a restaurant, or tried a service based on a referral from a trusted friend. Testimonials are a type of word of mouth referral, allowing your prospects and clients to hear for themselves how others enjoyed working with you.

An effective testimonial will encapsulate the client’s experience with specific examples. It will give prospects the chance to connect on an emotional level with you and your business. That emotional connection is what makes testimonials such a powerful tool.

Getting a testimonial isn’t too hard. Getting a GREAT testimonial takes a bit more thinking but delivers far more powerful results. It involves asking open ended questions and being specific."

Nancy suggests 6 tips in her "crash course on getting great testimonials." Her first tip is

Ask the right questions

"People need helpful structures to write great testimonials. If you ask, “Did you have a good experience working with us”, then they can answer in a single word, “yes” or “no”. That is called a closed ended question. Asking open ended questions (questions that can’t be answered with a yes or no) will open the client up to be more authentic. Here are some great examples of questions to ask (you may need to vary them based on the type of business you have):

1. What were the three best things you experienced while being our client?
2. If you were to describe your experience to a friend, how would you phrase it?
3. How did we help you reach your goals?"

Get Nancy Marmolejo's other 5 tips at A Great Testimonial is Like Money in the Bank.

When it comes to testimonials and endorsements, it's important to be honest and ethical. I've been reading the last few posts on business authoring expert Glenn Dietzel's blog. It seems some underhanded marketer is out there claiming to be the secret behind Glenn's success. He's posted on his information product that Glenn is his client and taking credit for Glenn's success. The fact is Glenn's never even worked with the guy! So not only are people stealing identities on the web, it looks like they're stealing endorsements too! Gimme a break!

In his recent post The Etymology Of Black Hat Marketing With Media Releases, Glenn defines some important terms for us to remember when a) buying anything on the internet and b) selling anything on the internet:

"A Black Hat Marketer is someone who manipulates marketing techniques and strategies to undermine some else’s promotion or leverage another’s success for their own success. I refer to this person as a marketer and not entrepreneur as I do NOT consider unethical practices to be a part of entrepreneurship.

A White Hat Entrepreneur is someone who puts value and one’s prospective clients first. This person combines one’s passion and expertise and creates incredible value from the person’s unique perspective (UPP) and one’s system for solving defined problems (USP).

A Black Hat Virus is the worst kind of virus. It combines elements of truth with elements of dishonesty. It does what Mark Joyner discusses in his book, Simpleology, which is to get the market place to agree upon some basic truths, and then take them down a path that simply cannot be verified. (Note: I am not saying that Mark’s book has anything to do with black hat marketing!)" Glenn Dietzel The Etymology Of Black Hat Marketing With Media Releases

So... the next time you're looking at laying down a significant amount of money for a product or service on the internet, you might want to ask for some references you can actually email or call on the phone. If you're a major expert in your field, you may wish to do periodic searches to make sure no one's using you as their fake endorsement!

Finally, as you use testimonials on your site, here's an idea to increase credibility from our official Dating Expert Stephany Alexander, CEO, WomanSavers.com, the World's Largest Database Rating Men: "Getting endorsements from quality people for your product or service is an absolute necessity.  Get endorsements from experts, leaders, successful business people and even celebrities if you have access to them.  Even better, place a photograph of yourself with the endorsee holding your product or place a digital photograph of the two of you next to the endorsee's quote.  Now that's a believable endorsement that people won't think is made up."

A Holistic Look at a Life of Joy

So, you've decided that something is amiss in your life. Perhaps it's your career. Working in that corporate environment where integrity can be lacking is wearing on your soul. It's no longer bringing you joy and you think you'd like to become an entrepreneur and own your own small business or home business. Self employment very well could be the answer. Unfortunately you've got a stack of bills that need to be paid and you'd really love to become financially free and experience ultimate prosperity. Did you know there are laws that govern prosperity? If you lived in harmony with them, you could really build wealth. Then you could buy that new car you've always wanted or purchase the home you've dreamed of owning.

If you could thoroughly grasp the principles of prosperity, you might even get into real estate investing. Hey, you might even buy a piece of Manhattan real estate. That area of the country seems to be thriving in spite of the collapsing real estate bubble.

Then again, life is more than just your career and money, isn't it? That niggling feeling that's weighing on your mind may have more to do with parenting your teenager or a loved-one who's a functioning alcoholic. Perhaps it's that you haven't yet learned to live by faith. Maybe you need a Christian coach. Have you discovered your unique mission yet? If not, then that's really the place to start. If you nail down your unique mission and message you'll live with purpose and passion. Then it will be much simpler to select the right name for your business and brand yourself in the marketplace. You could create a whole platform around your mission and your message and really make an impact on the world. Wouldn't that feel wonderful, knowing you're making a difference?

You could uncover your million dollar story and author a book or perhaps build a speaking career. You could have a whole line of information products and services around your unique message. Think of the impact you could make for good! All of it would be neatly packaged and marketed online via advertising, article marketing and promotion and visibility. Think of the fantastic customer service and value to the world!

As you bring all parts of yourself (spirit, mind, career, & body) into harmony with your unique message and mission, you'll be living up to the full measure of your creation and finding joy along the way.

 

The Big Idea - Millionaire Secrets

This video is great. Dani Johnson gives 5 tips for being more productive and making more money - 5 Millionaire secrets:

Ideas - Have Too Many or Too Few? Start Here for Solutions

Do you have so many ideas you don't know what to do? For starters, jot them all down in a master list. This is something my former coach taught me to do about eight years ago and it's made a HUGE difference for me. Once you have that master list, take self employment expert Terri Zwierzynski's advice.

Terri says, "Here’s a trick that works for me…I pick no more than three items off the “master” list at one time to focus on. I choose what to work on based on what will have the greatest chance of bringing me income the soonest. Once I’ve selected, I put the master list away. I can confidently clear my mind of the everything but those three projects or ideas, and let go of the fear that I’m forgetting something." To read her entire blog entry, go to Success Challenge: Focus.

Stephanie Chandler, our entrepreneur expert shares her secrets for managing ideas in "Ideas: What to Do When You Have Too Many." She gives tips for organizing your ideas and deciding which ones to take action on first. Two key questions she suggests you ask yourself are:

* Does this align with my personal values?
* Does this align with my personal and business goals?

Many people never take the time to solidify their message -- to really know what they stand for or what they want to be known for in their businesses. This is why you get people starting businesses on the internet "to make money" and end up putting up a cheesy site that links to thirty affiliate programs. They sell nothing because they stand for nothing.

Speaking of standing for something, branding and naming expert, Phillip Davis draws an interesting correlation between the current presidential race and branding principles: How the branding of presidential candidates can benefit your business

But what if you're totally stumped and ideas aren't flowing? Perhaps you're already in business and things are slow. You've wracked your brain to no avail. It may all come down to looking at your situation from a different perspective. In her blog, Need a New Idea? Try Changing Your Perspective, Michele PW, our online marketing and advertising expert explains how asking yourself the right question could give you your next big idea.

Ideas: Generating and Implementing Your Ideas

Creativity is a huge factor in business success. Whether it's overcoming creative block or coming up with a descriptive name for your business, ideas are everything and following through with them is just as important. As prosperity expert, Leslie Householder wrote, "Your prosperous ideas are so fragile. They are quiet, powerful packages containing unlimited opportunity. A single opportunity, the smallest thought… the decision you make on what to do with the thought can either take you closer to your goal or leave you drifting further from it. The idea pops into your head and can change your life, or it can be discarded, or rejected in a fraction of a second." (From her blog entry "Fall Forward into Prosperity".)

Here's a few of our experts' most recent blogs that can assist you in generating and following through on your ideas:

In The Potential Danger of Brand Extensions, naming and branding expert Phil Davis gives an excellent example of why names are so important to your business and how you should (or should not) name spin-off projects.

Glenn Dietzel has an excellent set of tips for those with writer's block: 10 Secret Ways to make Your Brain Get the Write Idea . One suggestion he gave that I've found to be true is, "Write in the places where you are most inspired and where you go to relax and rejuvenate yourself. If you write in these places you will increase writing time because these are the places you frequent in order to make sense of life. Inspirational locations bring out the best in you."

What about when you're stuck for a good marketing idea? Are you like many business people who hate marketing and only get around to it when cash flow gets tight? If so, our online marketing expert, Michele PW, has some marketing ideas that will help you smooth out cash flow in "3 Ways to Overcome Marketing Overwhelm."

Then once you've implemented all those nifty ideas, how do you tell whether they're working? Or which one should be implemented first? It comes down to ROI (Return on Investment.). Visibility expert, Nancy Marmolejo, teaches us how to create our own visibility return on investment criteria. Once you have your criteria solidified and an opportunity comes your way, all you need to do is run it through your ROI criteria and see if it’s worth going for.

Information Marketing Expert

Please welcome our new official information marketing expert, Adam Urbanski

Official Information Marketing Expert Adam Urbanski
Adam Urbanski, teaches service professionals and business owners about information marketing and how to develop better marketing strategies to attract more clients, increase sales and profits. His website offers more how-to articles and free tips to create a winning marketing action plan at www.themarketingmentors.com

 

After much thought about which category best fit my expertise, I've chosen the Inspirational Category.

Official Live by Faith  Expert - Marnie L. Pehrson
Are you struggling under a perpetual mounds of bills? Constant relationship challenges? Chronic health problems? Now YOU can finally overcome your toughest problem with mountain-moving faith. Using these faith principles, My income tripled, I've been able to pursue my dream as an author and teacher, and my husband was able to retire at the youthful age of 43! If you're ready to overcome your greatest challenges, give me just five minutes and I can explain how...

Best Articles: Housing to Football to Business

I thought today I'd share a few of my favorite articles posted to IdeaMarketers:

 

Don't Blame the Market for Housing Bubble
by Presidential Candidate, Ron Paul
Summary: The U.S. housing market, long considered vulnerable by many economists, is now suffering a serious collapse in many regions. When the bubble finally bursts completely, millions of Americans will be looking for someone to blame. Who is? Learn more about Ron Paul's views on the Housing Bubble.

Personal note: Count this as my official personal endorsement of Ron Paul for President! If you're serious about our economy, protecting the internet, and keeping ever-larger chunks of your hard-earned revenues from being paid in taxes and social security then you owe it to yourself to visit www.RonPaul2008.com .

Confessions of a True Southerner
Why my mother spent the night before my wedding teaching me to make cornbread.
by Jennifer Youngblood

Personal note: Being a Tennessee-born Georgian who writes Southern fiction, I absolutely love this article. It captures the South with wit and humor.

 

What Football Has to Do with Your Business
by Michele PW
Summary: I've had the opportunity to watch Favre over the years, and I realized how his career provides some valuable business-building lessons. How? Because success is success, whether you've built a multi-billion dollar company or are a famous quarterback.

Personal note: This is a very insightful article as is the companion article to it Business Lessons Learned from Brett Favre