Luscious Links – Catching Up with the Goodness

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I come across so much useful information in any given week that I’ve taken to these “Luscious Links” blog posts to try to share with you some of the best of the best that I find. Does this format work for you? Please let me know.

Google’s Focus on Quality and the PostRank Acquisition
This is an excellent & useful post from SitePoint clarifies the changing state of SEO & social media marketing. My take aways: 1. quality content rules 2. social media really does matter. 3. It’s the conversations, connections & relationships that matter most. Are you listening?

Why is Authenticity a Crucial Component of Internet Marketing?
As I’m re-grouping for the “next generation” re-invention of NewMarU.com, I was discussing with a friend, this ten-minute edited video conversation (linked above) with Robert Rabbin that came out of NewMarU’s first “guest” webinar. I LOVE what we said here and would really like more people to hear it. I sincerely believe that this is important information/perspective re marketing in the age of social media.

3 Smart Strategies for Book Promotion
Here are just a few smart ways that authors can promote their books with social media and PR. Practical steps any author can use for book marketing via SlideShare.

The “Talk Radio” Approach to Effective Email Marketing
I like the way that this CopyBlogger article underscores my core value that “it’s got to be fun.” Yes! In content marketing et al, FUN makes all the difference. Don’t you agree?

12 Awesome Facebook Stats, Charts & Graphs
Are you taking Facebook seriously as a marketing channel? If not, maybe you should check out these 12 stats via a nifty little Hubspot SlideShare presentation…

Learn How Your Website Can Be The Center Of Social Network Attention
My recent video comments on TheTVNews re social media marketing and a new solution that lets more active brands aggregate various social media conversations onto their website so it’s more of a “home base.”

How to Combine SEO and Social Media for Maximum Impact with Lee Odden
This is a good overview video interview that covers something I’ve been talking about a lot lately. It’s very important to understand the relationship between social media, SEO and content creation in order to produce effective marketing in today’s online environment. This is a valuable 5 minutes, IMHO.

Your feedback is encouraged. I’d love to hear any comments you may have.

Luscious Links: Online Video & Blogging Tips for Small Business Success

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I thoroughly enjoy mining the Web for useful articles that I hope provide you with insights that can help you build your business success. The most immediate way for me to refer you to these articles is my Twitter account and our ComBridges Facebook page. Please “Follow” and/or “Like” respectively if you’d like more of this kind of stuff more quickly. These “Luscious Links” blog posts are another way for me to share these tips and insights with you. If you are so moved, please let me know which you find the most useful and share some of your favorites in the comments.

6 Steps to Uploading Pro Quality Videos to the Web
As a long time video pro, I get lots of how-to questions about best practices for producing video clips for marketing. This post has a concise list of key must-do steps. A well done post.

At YouTube Boot Camp, Future Stars Polish Their Acts
And, yes, there is a business “there” there. As this NYTimes article illuminates, even YouTube itself is offering bootcamps to help small businesses succeed.

For Some, Blogs Also Pay the Bills
A passion and sustainable focus are key components of a successful online business. OK, they are a critical component of ANY business. Without a significant time commitment and determination—let’s tell the truth—you are doomed. This is another insightful NYTimes article that includes some modest (and some not so modest) success stories.

Five minutes with Steven Pressfield, author of ‘The War of Art’, ‘Do The Work’ and ‘Gates of Fire’
And, speaking of a sustainable commitment, Steven Pressfield is one of my absolutely favorite authors because of the clarity of his inspiration. His latest book, “Do the Work” is a must read, in my opinion. Amazon affiliate link is below. Enjoy!

 

Luscious Links: Free Resources for Effective Facebook Marketing

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Facebook marketing may well be the next “big thing” for marketers. Sure, mobile is huge, and Google still dominates search and pay-per-click advertising. But Facebook has more registered users than anyone, currently in the range of 600 million. And, more importantly, most of these registered Facebook users provide valuable details in their personal profiles— this is very accessible and relevant information (like “job title” for example) that savvy marketers can use to make their marketing particularly well-targeted.

Thus, (in what we hope will become a weekly style of blog post) this week in “Lucious Links” we offer three FREE resources that we found useful in improving our understanding of effective marketing via Facebook, as well as some “bonus” links below:

New From Hubspot: “The Facebook Marketing Update – Spring 2011“
If you are interested in do-it-yourself Facebook marketing, this is an excellent, up-to-date primer (it’s free, but registration is required.)

The 8 Success Criteria For Facebook Page Marketing
This is a solid strategic primer on Facebook Page Marketing; and it’s a free download without registration.

Facebook Publishes Guide to Social Marketing Best Practices
You could do a lot worse than this overview straight from the Facebook “horse’s mouth.” Solid, free advice. You can’t go wrong with the five core principles featured in this well-produced, 14-page PDF (direct download link above).

If you don’t believe that Facebook is important for marketing, how about these numbers showing dramatic increases in website traffic just from adding Facebook “Like” buttons?

And in other news…

Comcast Threatened To Pull Nonprofit Funding Over Tweet
This is a classic demonstration of what NOT to do via a real bonehead corporate move that backfired big time thanks to the Twitterverse and social media. Marketing Pilgrim covered it well.

Speaking of Comcast, I did a video commentary / review recently on TheTVNews.tv of the Comcast Xfinity iPad app as well as the HBO Go iPad app with what I viewed as an inevitable comparison to what I consider the state-of-the-art, the Netflix iPad app.

Enjoy and please comment. Do you like this kind of link aggregation? Did you find this post useful? Thanks!

Social Media Fun, Keynote Presentation with Prezi Software, On the Road in New Zealand

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I experienced more excitement getting ready for my current Social Media Marketing speaking tour of New Zealand than any recent business undertaking. For openers, this trip is a fulfillment of my vision of work being fun; and it’s almost impossible not to think of a trip to New Zealand as a “vacation.” But, this really is a business trip.

I’m doing a two-hour social media marketing consulting session with a government agency in Auckland. I’m keynoting at a social media conference in Hawkes Bay. And, I’m leading two lunch talks followed by social media marketing workshops in Wellington and Dunedin. It was also fun to get interviewed by a Kiwi business journalist and I thought it came out well. Do you agree?

Aside from the opportunity to discover New Zealand, along the way we are going to see what we can do to support the social media peeps in Christ Church, the scene of the devastating earthquake.

These gigs are also providing the opportunity for me to expand my keynote speaker offerings as well as to enhance my presentation skills. My new keynote called “Social Media Optimization” is taking some of my familiar key concepts from “What Every Business Should Know About Internet Marketing” and spinning them with rich ideas that leverage the “hot buttons du jour” surrounding social media marketing.

A corner of my new Prezi

Simultaneously, I am learning my way into being able to use a very cool visual communications tool called Prezi. I’ve been interesting in learning Prezi for quite some time. It’s a dynamically animated presentation software alternative to PowerPoint or Apple’s Keynote that uses a white board/mind-mapping environment. It has a pretty unique user interface, but with the support of their online resources and an occasional question to their tech support I’m getting up to speed very quickly. (FYI, initially I got support via Twitter until I actually bought it at which time their email support became available to me).

I’m excited to use this new style of presentation because I think it’s closer to the way I think and thus will make the presentation more conceptually clear and organically engaging. I look forward to sharing this new style with you all online. In the meantime, it’s a relief to be outside the frequently mind-numbing powerpoint presentation paradigm and to be using a tool that can work for mind mapping and a more spontaneous presentation style, while also enhancing the visual style of my keynotes and workshops. (Please contact me if you would like to learn more about how I can help to inspire and inform your organization or group.)

More soon, hopefully while I’m still in NZ. Thanks for reading.

New Video: On the Paramount Importance of Authenticity in Online Marketing

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As I discussed in the Tuesday, February 15th edition of TheTVNews.tv, authenticity has become not only the theme of our initial webinars on NewMarU.com, but it has captured my focus as a marketer because I believe now more than ever, that authenticity is the heart of the matter when it comes to Internet marketing and social media marketing in particular.

Robert Rabbin on NewMarU.com webinar

While we work on other products (future digital video and audio downloads and a possible ebook), I want to make my conversation with Robert Rabbin, the author of Authenticity Accelerator: How to Live an Authentic Life in Ten Words, as widely available as possible. At this point, there is a one-hour webinar which is only available to Founding Members of NewMarU.com (sign up here); but I’ve edited ten-minutes of highlight excerpts and posted that video below (via our new NewMarketingU YouTube channel) and I hope you find it as valuable as I do.

Bottom line, authenticity is essential because it helps to build relationships; and real relationships with your customers, audiences or other constituencies is crucial. It’s truly of paramount importance. Nothing matters more than your relationship with your circles of influence. Only with authenticity can your communications cut through the noise and the clutter of today’s media marketing environment.

In the ten minute video below, Robert and I talk about why this is true, including how authenticity builds:

  • Engagement
  • Trust
  • And, is an extension of your essential “I want”

In the one hour version, we also discuss how authenticity can lead to a real kind of magic and “miracles.” It’s exciting stuff. I hope this video gives you a taste and inspires you. I look forward to your comments and feedback. If you like this video, please share it and “Like” it etc. Thanks!

Another Authentic Link

Also of interest on the subject of authenticity and mentioned in the TheTVNews.tv video clip linked in the first paragraph is TheNextWeb’s article, Humanizing Brands with Social Media: An Interview with Benjamin Palmer. Palmer is “head of one of the hippest digital creative agencies in New York City” and very insightful on ways that marketing has dramatically changed as well as how businesses of all sizes can be successful by humanizing and making their marketing more authentic.

The Fast-Track Intro to Internet Marketing | Free Webinar Tues 1/18/11

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For those of us who more or less “live” online, it’s kind of amazing how many businesses and entrepreneurs are still struggling to understand and benefit from the amazing power of Internet marketing. If this is you, now there is a great way for you get up to speed, for free!

Jon has given his one-hour workshop, “What Every Business Should Know About Internet Marketing” in locations from Kona, Hawaii to Silicon Valley (as you can see in the video clip on Jon’s keynote speaker web page). Now, as just one of the benefits of registering for the free level of New Marketing University, NewMarU.com, this information-packed hour is being offered FREE via the Internet and phone conference lines on Tuesday, January 18th at 10:00AM PT / 1:00PM ET. Click here to register now >>

This useful and informative webinar includes a complete overview of the three main areas of Internet marketing, including:

  • The “Super Market-Trends” that have radically leveled the marketing playing fieldJon Leland at Web 3.0 Asia in Hong Kong
  • The two essential strategies upon which all successful internet marketing campaigns are based
  • The three main types of internet marketing: search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click search engine advertising (PPC) and social media marketing (SMM)
  • A comparative analysis of the time requirements for implementation, the kinds and quality of results, and the cost-per-lead that is derived from each main category
  • Valuable tips, tricks and resources that are based on real world experience

Why are we producing this event for free?

  • Jon LOVES to share information and people love learning this material. It’s important!
  • It helps to expose the expertise that makes ComBridges such a valuable marketing partner.
  • This is a “free sample” of things to come. We are working on a new educational website to be called “New Marketing University” that will have many more programs. We hope you’ll like this program enough to become interested in more. To learn more, please register now.

Mark your calendars for Tuesday, January 18th at 10:00AM PT / 1:00PM ET. We hope to see you there.

>> Please Click Here to Register Now <<
It takes just 30 seconds, really! And, even if you can’t make it live, by registering you will make sure that you get the link to the free recorded version.

Or view our 1-page PDF with the generic course description below . . .
What Every Business-Onesheet 03.25.10

New Twitter Website Press Conference, Live via UStream & Scobleizer

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Twitter called a press conference today. I caught wind of it on Twitter just minutes before it began.

I noted (yes, also via Twitter) that Robert Scoble a.k.a. @scobleizer was webcasting live video of the press conference via his UStream feed.

The announcement was delivered in a surprisingly incoherent, rambling style that included a presentation computer crash.

The big news was the “New Twitter” website (video demo is here). It should be live by the time you read this.

I was equally entertained (and informed) by the chat stream that accompanied the UStream webcast, and it was interesting to see Mr. Scoble’s webcast go from just a few hundred viewers prior to the event to about 4,500 simultaneous viewers about 40 minutes in.

The new Twitter web interface looks more interactive and feels inspired to me by the excellent Twitter iPad app.

Twitter founder, Evan Williams, @ev emphasized the volume of Twitter users who access Twitter.com vs the variety of third-party applications and he noted something that I think a lot of the general public does not realize: “You don’t have to tweet to use Twitter.” You can just use it to access information, links and whatever from just the folks that you find to be of interest. (If you don’t know, Twitter Lists is a good way to do this.)

The new Twitter website will include a more interactive second-column (or pane) that will allow you to learn more about the tweeter or view pictures or videos without having your click “open” a new web browser window. This will provide more convenient browsing via Twitter, for sure. Also, messages via Twitter @mentions will be threaded (I like this feature in HootSuite) which should help the overall user experience as well.

Bottom line, Evan said, in an uncharacteristically grandiose style, that the online Twitter.com experience has been “completely transformed” into “one of the slickest web sites anywhere.” Or something like that. We’ll see.

Bottom line, I think this is an intelligent upgrade that will make the Twitter.com website much more useful for those browsing as well as those tweeting. Twitter is continuing to grow rapidly and I believe this growth will continue for the foreseeable future.

Even though Twitter lags behind Facebook in terms of total users as well as time spent, it offers a faster-paced and much more search-able platform where you can “follow” people of interest without having to have them follow you back (i.e. become “friends”). That alone, to me, makes Twitter a worthy investment of time. And, the opportunities to monitor the social, public conversation via highly-visual web applications like http://paper.li and iPad applications like FlipBoard ensure that, at least as far as I’m concerned, Twitter will continue to be a “foreground” information and networking resource for quite some time to come. Stay tuned.
—–

Addendum:

I’m still not seeing the new design as of the time of this addition to this post. Apparently the roll out will take weeks. Meanwhile, here are a couple of other interesting perspectives (presuming you consider mine to also be “interesting”):

ComBridges’ Connections: Linky Goodness, Insights & Free Stuff 8.18.10

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A recap of recent resources and references  posted recently via my Twitter feed and our ComBridges Facebook page are below; but first, a small bit of shameless self-promotion albeit something FREE that I think you may well find to be valuable:

Watch, Listen & Learn: Free Webinar on Internet Marketing

Read It’s a Wonderful Web; ComBridges July e-newsletter

Marketing Lesson From the Grateful Dead: Loosen Up Your Brand
As they say, this is “what I’m talkin’ ’bout!” If you don’t know David Meerman Scott, you should. He’s a true thought leader & best selling author re viral marketing and creating “world wide raves.” This is an excerpt from his new book which comes out August 1st. Cool, eh? And valuable, right?

More On The Power of “Empowering” Your Viewers via Social Marketing
My VIDEO commentary from last week on TheTVNews.tv. Subject: those who are authentic with their internet marketing vs the fakers.

Social Media’s Critical Path: Relevance to Resonance to Significance – The Conversation – Harvard Business Review
Neat Harvard BizReview piece on social media’s ‘critical path’ by @briansolis http://ht.ly/2e5N1 I like. Thx 2 @johnbattelle 4 link

Viral Video Marketing with Dilbert
“only the truth is funny”

Video is Becoming a Must Have for Online Retailers
I’m getting ready to make a video about the critical importance of online video. Meanwhile… Yes, it’s pretty much a MUST HAVE now for any website looking to do real business online. Really. No kidding. Check out the stats in this article if you don’t believe me. And, did I mention that ComBridges has amazingly affordable video packages.

Have a Big Idea, Break it in Half | Jason Fried
Best business advise I’ve heard in a while from Jason Fried of 37signals

Beet.TV: Giant Convenience Store Chain Gone Viral: 7-Eleven Web Series Has 2 Million Views
Illuminating VIDEO story by @DaisyWhitney Big Brand Viral Video Marketing: 7-Eleven Web Series Has 2 Million Views

Hits of the Week: Early July 2010

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Welcome to a new feature of this blog. “Hits of the Week” (which we hope to offer weekly) will provide “linky goodness” i.e. valuable links posted to our ComBridges company Facebook page and Twitter feed. Here, we gather, in one place for your convenience, bunches of links to free PDF’s, articles and other resources. Please let us know if you find this service to be valuable. Thanks!

A Professional Research Perspective of Brand Engagement via Social Media
Highly recommended, Engagementdb is a very interesting resource, even for smaller companies who are interested in social media brand engagement. I especially recommend their excellent FREE PDF Report. It’s nice to see “engagement” made measureable at the highest level. Clearly, relationship/engagement is at least as important (and probably more important) than simply the gross number of “eyeballs”/visitors. The focus on these kinds of results is shifting appropriately from volume or quantity of “hits” to quality of engagement (at minimum, some kind of “conversion”). Are you tuned in to your organization’s quality of engagement? Click here to check it out.

Fast-paced Video Illuminating ROI for Social Media
Despite the annoying music, this video offers useful content if you still doubt the business-savvy economic value–in the vernacular, ROI (return on investment)–available from investing your time INTELLIGENTLY in social media.

A Peak Behind the Curtain of a Major Brand’s Social Media Command Center (VIDEO)
More mainstream social media… pretty cool music VIDEO too promoting Gatorade’s social media team, er, I mean “COMMAND CENTER”! Can your sports drink do this? Visit Gatorade’s Command Center to see more.

“It’s about the PEOPLE, silly.”
Via Seth Godin. As a business owner, I know that there is nothing more important than the highly capable, talented members of my team. Read valuable insights & perspective.

“Every company is now a media company.”
A great reminder, via Adam Ostrow & John Battelle

Great Graphics, Visual View of Social Media Today
You gotta love good Infographics. Especially when they tell a story. In this case, big companies are adopting social media. More are using Facebook and Twitter than blogs, but it’s a big majority who are involved. See what these charts tell you.

Influence vs Fame
I’d call it “Influence vs Eyeballs” but being clear about what it means to develop influence in today’s social media world makes this short ProBlogger piece well worth reading, IMHO. And in a related short blog post, Seth Godin reminds us that “If all you are doing is increasing number of digital spectators, you are unlikely to earn the conversion that you deserve.” Read more about “Fans, Participants and Spectators.”

Stay tuned and please comment and send feedback. Thanks!

Free Internet Marketing Webinar for Businesses, May 27 at 11AM PT

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If you are new to Internet marketing, we want to help you get up to speed, for free.

Jon has given his one-hour workshop, “What Every Business Should Know About Internet Marketing” in locations from Kona, Hawaii to Silicon Valley (as you can see in the video clip on our web page). Now, for the first time, it’s being offered free via the Internet, Thursday, May 27th at 11:00AM PT / 2:00PM ET. Click here to register now >>

This useful and informative webinar includes a complete overview of the three main areas of Internet marketing, including:

  • The “Super Market-Trends” that have radically leveled the marketing playing field
  • The two essential strategies upon which all successful internet marketing campaigns are based
  • The three main types of internet marketing: search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click search engine advertising (PPC) and social media marketing (SMM)
  • A comparative analysis of the time requirements for implementation, the kinds and quality of results, and the cost-per-lead that is derived from each main category
  • Valuable tips, tricks and resources that are based on real world experience

Why are we producing this event for free?

  • Jon LOVES to share information and people love learning this material. It’s important!
  • It helps to expose the expertise that makes ComBridges such a valuable marketing partner.
  • This is a “free sample” of things to come. We are working on a new educational website to be called “New Marketing University” that will have many more programs. We hope you’ll like this program enough to become interested in more. To learn more, please register now.

Mark your calendars for Thursday, May 27th at 11:00AM PT / 2:00PM ET. We hope to see you there.

>> Please Click Here to Register Now <<
It takes just 30 seconds, really! And, even if you can’t make it live, by registering you will make sure that you get the link to the free recorded version.