I'm also getting pinged on new JV deals, affiliate deals and lots of opportunities to work with great people I wouldn't have had the time, energy or even know-how to pursue.

Last week I posted on Twitter about one of my customers successfully bringing his ebook to market, within minutes I had an offer for an online radio interview that would put me in front of 100,000+ targeted prospects – where else can you get that kind of opportunity that quickly without spending a ton of time trying to get to point A with potential partners.

Are you on social media/social networking sites yet?

Are you learning how to be and lead a community online and how that relates to online business?

Are you learning to take advantage of multiple formats like video, streaming, short posts, Facebook wall posts? 

If not, then you are already behind – and with each ticking minute, you will be further behind.

As social networking and media follower Gary Vaynerchuck sais near the end of this video update – "When people ask me what is the ROI (Return on Investment) of social networking, I ask them what is the ROI of your mother?"

In other words, businesses that don't have one have a much lower chance of success and will unlikely be around 5-years from now

Watch his video here:

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About 3-months ago we decided to get serious and really begin to experiment with Twitter, commit to engaging with our market and using the tool to really foster relationships, get involved and where we could, spawn dialog relevant to our interests and business.

Since then, we have noticed some very interesting trends:

1. A 5X increase in our follow rate – not a great statistics in itself, but it's always nice to be followed. We went from ~ 1000 to nearly 5000 followers, again this is only important in so much as these are meaningful, productive relationships

2. Much more engagement – we went from the occasional retweet or reply to our content each week to daily responses sometimes as high as dozens…each one of these show us that our market is inreasingly engaged with us, that they are watching and that we really are beginning to brand ourselves on social networking online

3. Our website traffic from Twitter has grown by a factor of 10! To me, this was the real interesting part of the experiment…and one that demonstrates to me that social networking IS highly relevant to business — onward and upward. 

WHAT HAS WORKED TO IMPROVE OUR TWITTER RESULTS?

1. Be Active…we went from the occasional weekly post to consistent, daily posts of at least 5 each day.  I am convinced that you need to have a certain level of activity to be successful.  After all, as in any relationship, if you are not visible or active, you will be forgotten

2. Be Engaged…we search daily for convesations going on around topics related to our business and we make it a point to get involved in those discussions with replies, helpful tips, answers to questions, sometimes just a funny response, etc…  This is CRITICAL – people on social networking want to be involved in conversation, they don't want to JUST be hammered with one-way dialog

3. Be Interesting…to really connect with your audience you need to understand them don't you?  Know what they like, what they want, what they dream about, what they are frustrated with and what concerns them.  It's not really about always having the latest scoop — only about giving them content that is related to what they want to see

4. Free Content And Offers…the #1 question businesses have about Twitter (or any social networking platform for that matter) is how do you get people back to your website where they can hopefully see what you have to offer?  The answer we have found is posting links to interesting/free content (videos, an article, blog post, image, etc…that is highly relevant to the discussion) or a free give away (report, chapter of a book, case study, etc…) Once you gain the trust by giving your followers something of value, your crediiblity improves and reciprocity comes into play…now they have become part of your sales funnel. 

5. Multiple Twitter Accounts:  If you cater to multiple niche markets, then separate your discussions by account.  Nothing is worse than to build a large following and seem scattered as to your interests and dialog

6. Ask Questions:  Each day we make it a point to not only provide content and access to valuable resources, we also ask questions…questions that tap into emotional issues our prospects have.  The goal is to initiate conversations

7. Most Tweeted:  Keep an eye on the most tweeted topics, hashtags and keywords and WHERE RELEVANT go ahead and post against those keywords…this can really give you a bump in attention, re-tweets and actions

8. Subscriber List, Blog and Twitter – Mix and Match:  We have also found a great technique for getting dialog going on Twitter is to steering our weekly newsletter subscribers or blog readers over to Twitter to carry on a dialog around something we wrote.  Thisresults in several new posts and dialog elements tat catch the attention of first-time Twitter readers and bring them into the fold

We now know that social networking is a critical part of how online marketing is evolving, we know that NOW is the time to get moving and we have started to see the results of a consistent, directed effort…

How about you, do you have a social networking plan using Twitter or Facebook for your oline business?

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When you get started on Twitter, you will notice there is so much noise and what I call "shouting" going on, where people and businesses alike are trying to push information on you.

Even so-called social media and marketing geniuses are guilty of this major offense.

In the early days, people get away with annoying things, but as platforms mature, people will simply tune you out – remember email when you used to actually read each one?

So there are BIG changes coming where search tools get better at filtering out noise, users get less tolerant of low quality content and the platforms penalize offenders which means the winners will be those who learn how to add value and use social networking platforms like Twitter as they are meant to be used.

Instead of pushing information blindly into the Twittershphere, shouting hoping that someone listens, try using these techniques to build loyal, responsive, meaningful followers:

1. Tweet frequently - at least once a day, you must be and appear to be committed to your community
2. Interact with the community (in the beginning this means finding discussions and getting involved where later you can do more conversing with your followers) .  This also means ask questions, learn to spawn participation and jump in.
3. Know what your followers interests are and stick close to those interests.  Be relevant, be interesting and be on target
4. Cross-market - use other platforms in concert with Twitter such as seminars, YouTube videos, articles and press releases, your blogs, etc… they should all work together instead of being isolated silo's

We have had terrific results on Twitter and have helped others do the same…if you are interested in marketing, self-publishing and/or social networking, then we would love to see you on Twitter!

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Listen to Gary Vaynerchuck's interview with MSNBC Morning Joe — let me know if you agree with what he is saying:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Gary's ideas may be especially important for the top 20% of your customers who bring in 80% of your profit. Imagine if you can know much more about your top 20% customers…maybe the scalability issue is a red herring!

Really interested to know what you guys think of taking marketing micro!

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Embracing Social Networking

I'm sure by now you are aware of the rapid growth social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook are experiencing.

It's no longer possible to hold on to the belief that these are temporary "fads" that will disappear in a year or less, instead they have become more mainstream, larger and have even become a challenge for the major search engines as an alternative way that people will find what they want online.

Wait a minute…"an alternative way to find what they want online!"

That sounds interesting doesn't it?

After all, that means if you are building relationships, targeting niche markets, building subscriber lists and selling online…then what you always want are ways to reach your niche markets ESPECIALLY at the stage where they are searching for what they want online, right?

WHY SOCIAL NETWORKS ARE WORTH YOUR TIME

Every online marketer has a decision to make, do they invest the appropriate time and energy into building their own social networking platform or ignore it in favor of more traditional marketing techniques?

Because social networking is not a drive-by internet marketing technique, but rather can only be used for marketing in a more subtle way based on the core principles of business (such as knowing who your target customer is within your niche, building value-driven relationships with your marketplace and being both interesting and relevant to your market) a decision to become involved with social networking cannot be taken lightly.

But here are 3 reasons why you cannot ignore social networking stall-worts such as Twitter and Facebook:

1. They provide an alternative way to reach your market – while there is an art to creating relationships on social networks, if you do it correctly, then it can be a great way to reach another 20-30% of your market

2. They are being taken seriously by the search engines. Yes, there does seem to be a trend toward Google (and other search engines I'm sure will follow) to look at your reputation and relevance within sites like Twitter and Facebook when ranking your sites…Google have admitted as much in recent updates

3. In the end, they are a good way to create a relationship with your market – it then becomes a fine art how to you transition those relationships into action, but it certainly can be done. For example, you build 10,000 followers on Twitter and then answer some Q&A relevant to your audience (on the network) – into which you may insert a recommended resource ( your own or an affiliate product) that has helped you…that can convert quite well, BUT it really needs to be in the context of broader dialog for this to work, NOT just spamming out links and recommendations cold.

Most important, as social networks become more and more relevant to YOUR customers, how can you ignore the growing reliance on these platforms as THE way your customers search for solutions, engage with businesses and buy products and services online?

Have you started using Twitter or Facebook yet?

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What sorts of videos might you stream on Ustream?

• A weekly TV show you put together for your marketplace
• A weekly Q&A (either prepared in advance, taking live questions via chat or a combination of both)
• Group coaching sessions where you assist a small group work through one of your infoproducts
• Communication out to affiliates, partners or follow up with customers
• An interview – where you interview an expert and allow interactive chat just like a call-in show

Ustream itself has been growing rapidly and allows a terrific way to brand your business, expand your market coverage, interact with your marketplace and provide some high quality back-links to your website

Ustream Is Even More Powerful – Partnership With Facebook

Today, Ustream announced a new app that can be installed on Facebook that gives you the ability to closely integrate your Facebook page with Ustream.

For example, you can setup your streams to feed right on your Facebook fanpage, allow promotion to your Facebook Wall (announcing an upcoming Ustream for example) or blast notice of your new Ustream event to your Facebook contact list…all with the push of just one button once you install the app. 

Here is a quick video showing you how to set up your new Ustream application on Facebook:

Video streaming by Ustream

I have been asked many times over the last few months which social networking sites information marketers should be focusing on…my answer is as follows:  Twitter, Facebook and Ustream…now you can get an even bigger advantage through the Ustream application for Facebook. 

Give it a try…I know we will be using our Ustream account within Facebook over the next few days.

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But in reading the article it struck me that in many ways, Justin Bieber (and the mass exodus of those who will follow his lead) has led the way in the new "Engagement" marketing model combing talent with engagement to create the perfect storm. 

As Mark Suster rightly points out – you need a combination of…

1. Talent & In-Demand Product – we can certainly say that is the case for Justin's brand of low-risk, high-reward catchy pop with a little hip-hop attitude thrown in all bundled with a great look and sold using ample self confidence.  Same goes for any business, you have to start with a good product (not sure anyone is going to call Bieber "great") packaged in a way that taps into a high demand in the marketplace
2. Work like a Dog! Not sure where that expression orginally came from, but you get the point – you have to work your butt off and be 110% behind what you are doing to really hit it big
3. You engage your audience so they feel you are "one of them" at the same time as you are adored by them.  As with anything you sell, they must love you first and then they will listen to what you say.  Letting them participate in your life and business is a major shift too – no longer is it just business, the lines between personal and business are blurring in this new era of "Engagement" marketing.  We have entered the era of "Pull vs Push Marketing" for sure. 
4. Do the right thing – giving a damn about your customers amplified by exposing yourself directly to your market means massive good will, trust, credibility and will only lead to more word-of-mouth as well as incredible response from your marketplace

So it turns out Bieber Fever is really a combination of talent, timing, packaging and social marketing – otherwise known as the "new norm" in business…so yes we can learn something from Justin Bieber after all.

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Think about it, when we go to buy a book online, we pay attention to the Amazon reviews and increasingly look inside the book and may even watch a video from the author. 

When we book travel online, who doesn't visit TripAdvisor (or a similar social networking site) to find out the latest reviews, view pictures from visitors, etc…

For many of us, we now find out about world events, new products, new opportunities via relationships we have on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter before we hear them on TV, radio, newsprint or even on most new portals today. 

Amazingly, in less than 2-years many of us have stopped paying attention to Push media dn Push marketing and more often now are influenced by the Pull influence where we choose who we want to pull information from and make good use of those relationships.

The ultimate Push marketing is the used car commercial that screams in your face, but think of that versus a group of your friends, peers or those that you aspire to be like having a discussion about cars – which one are you most likely to be influenced by? 

How Do You Get "Pull?"

So, what does "Pull" marketing really mean – and how do you position yourself to be an influencer in this new market?

1. To influence, first you must be involved.  That means becoming engaged with your market wherever they are online.  That could be Amazon, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, eBay, etc… – wherever they are, you need to be there, first listening, then being involved

2. Listening:  Just like great communicators, you listen, empathize and carefully internalize both the words and then the thoughts that are behind the words of those within your area of interest.  Great listeners know that everything said tells you much more about the state of mind of that person and market than just the words will tell you. 

3. Enter at their level – become involved.  A peculiar thing about the current "Engagement" model of marketing is that you become first "one of" your market and then influence from the inside out instead of talking "to" your market from the outside telling them what to do.  You need to "infiltrate" your market (with good intentions in mind of course) rather than bash them in the head.    This often means getting involved in their conversations rather than starting one of your own.  Or, if you do start a conversation, do so with the intent of getting others involved rather than making it one-sided.  Nobody cares what you know until they know WHO you are.  That statement has never been more true than with engagement marketing. 

4. Invest & Prosper.  Gain your market's trust by a) Being a constant participant, b) Actually giving a shit about what they are saying and asking 3) Work hard to give extra value and 4) Don't be afraid to ask for their support after you have engaged them. 

Pull marketing means that you work from the inside out within your market…that way you pull them along with you rather than appearing as an outsider who tries to push them into taking action. 

Have you recognized signs of "Pull" marketing?  Share them with us by leaving a comment.

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This time it is different though, the recent change to nearly 12% of online search impacts a much wider swath of results and targets a number of article directories and content farms that have, for years, gone from Google darling to top of the most hated list. 

A good example is EzineArticles.com that was once treated extremely well by Google with a high page rank, much of its content ranked exceptionally high and provided solid inbound link juice to websites who would link back through article resource boxes. 

In the recent changes though it seems EzineArticles was one of the hardest hit – they were even forced to admit that on their own blog here.

What is interesting about their response though is that they blame a small % of their article writers for the Google changes when in reality what Google is doing is changing its focus from these wide scope article directories because 99% of the material is rather useful and not typically what people are looking for. 

Granted, EzineArticles is better than most article directories – but really, is an article directory a natural type of website? 

Instead, wouldn't it make more sense to raise the ranking on sites that are highly focused on the topic people are searching for instead of returning one Ezine article of millions that deal with other topics? 

Which one serves the user better?

But that's not the only reason Google is making these changes, what they are doing is lowering the rank of these content farms and increasing the rank on content that IS in higher demand such as Youtube videos, Facebook and Twitter realtime information - so what we have is Google literally re-structuring 12% of its search to be more relevant in today's internet.

Take a look at this blog posting by Danny Sullivan and note the winners and losers in the latest search engine changes -

Biggest Losers:

1. ezinearticles.com
2. associatedcontent.com
3. suite101.com
4. hubpages.com
5. buzzle.com

Biggest Winners:

1. youtube.com
2. ebay.com
3. facebook.com
4. instructables.com

Notice how the content farms are losers and newer, more interactive, social networking sites and e-commerce site Ebay are the winners?

Fail to include social networking sites in search and risk being irrelevant in a very short period of time – that is the real message here!

Make no mistake, this Google search change is entirely about making sure they remain highly relevant, is anyone screaming for Ezine article content?  Not exactly.

Is anyone screaming for Facebook, Twitter or YouTube content – Yah!

As internet marketers, that means we also need to stay relevant, and that means we must learn social networking – how it works, why it works and put that to action right now if we want to stay relevant and keep traffic flowing to our sites. 

Are you active in social networking?  Leave us a comment and let us know which social networks you are using most.

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People are fed up with being TOLD what to believe, do or buy and instead want to be engaged, have a chance to become part of the process of interacting with who they may eventually buy from.

So, you get celebrities adopting social networking tools en masse to reach their audiences, individual bloggers who have come up from oblivion in their basement to become major online personalities (guys like Darren Rowse of Copyblogger and Gary Vaynerchuck of the "Wine Guy" blogging fame) and you get major corporations such as Volkswagon designing social networking campaigns that are designed to engage their audience, not blast a message at them.

In this new world of engaging and conversing with your marketplace, what could that mean for your online business?

1. Know Your Market Extremely Well!

The first rule of this new world of online marketing (and indeed marketing in general) is that you MUST know your market extremely well…who they are, what their goals, dreams and objectives are, what their irrational passions look like and what frustrations and obstacles often stand in their way. 

Have you ever engaged in a conversation with someone that seems nearly effortless – you know them, they know you and exchanging ideas seems so simple?  You want to get to that stage with the active portion of your marketplace so that you can quickly and easily engage and interact with your marketplace on their level. 

2. Give A Damn…Listen And Engage

Look, social networking, blogging, interacting with your audience via video and real-time via Ustream, Twitter, Facebook or other social networking platform means that you need to be real, you need to listen before you talk and that you are able to quickly adjust to conversations and situations that allow you to engage – on a deep level – with your audience. 

 To do that, you need to care about your market.  You must try hard – very hard to enage them, keep them tuned in and keep providing them with value until you break through the "trust" barrier that will turn them from skeptic into admirer, and if you are lucky, a champion.

3. Identify Opportunities To Help…For Profit

The good news about becoming more engaged and interactive with your market is that you will very quickly see opportunities to contribute high value to them helping your market toward achieving their ultimate goals…for that they will pay you for your time. 

Learn to identify these opportunity triggers (something we focus on heavily within InfoMarketer'sZone sharing dozens of ways to identify hot information, training, consulting and subscription options within markets)

4. Look Toward Paid Communities and Subscriptions…

In a recent blog post, Chris Brogan highlights his take on Media Trends listing paid subscription delivery of media and content as a key opportunity – I agree 110%.  In fact, many of first generation information entrepreneurs (book and ebook authors, speakers, trainers, bloggers and others who share information) are now expanding their business options and profits by adopting engagement-oriented subscription delivery of content to their markets. 

Imagine identifying a core group of people that share a passion and desire, you engage them through a mix of formats including social networking, blogging, videos, email lists, ustream streaming updates, question and answer teleseminars, etc… and from that they understand you truly give a damn, that you want to help them achieve their ultimate desired goals, dreams and passions. 

Now, imagine if you create the #1 resource for helping them not only become informed on their topic of interest, but that you bring the best content from a multitude of sources, that you let the participate, comment, praise and critisize the content they see out of which comes even more meaningful content…and that they pay you $5, $10, $30 or more each month for the platform you have designed to help them be engaged progressing toward their goal. 

This should not seem so far fetched, there are micro-niche businesses growing like crazy based exactly on this model today – if you are starting or growing your business today, this is the model you should be taking very seriously.

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