Tactical Execution

There’s a lot of talk about how to leverage the internet to grow your business.  Different people have different strategies and they all seem like tricks you have to do just right to see results.  And while some of that may be true, there’s value in understanding the concepts behind Internet Marketing, allowing you to apply the same concepts to dozens of different strategies.  Besides, I always like knowing what it is I’m trying to accomplish rather than just knowing a sequence of steps to follow.

Before jumping into the meat of this post, I also want to address the fact that the internet has changed a lot over the past decade and the concepts behind Internet Marketing have changed as well.  Although the modern realities all have roots in those early years, the dynamic was very different in the mid to late 90s.  Today, the internet is starting to mature with people using it in predictable ways.  And perhaps more importantly, the internet has become more social; hence the new buzz words like social media tools, social networks and social bookmarking.

The driving force behind modern Internet Marketing boils down to one simple phrase: conversations are markets.  If you want to access a particular market, you have to find that conversation and participate in it.  Let me say that again.  If you want to access a market, you have to participate in the conversation.  Simple.  But let’s dig a little deeper and see how we might accomplish this.

MySpace is a huge conversation.  In fact, there are thousands or even millions of individual conversations taking place on MySpace.  Same with Facebook.  The blogosphere is one massive conversation.  Forums are conversations.  Bulletin boards are conversations.  Twitter is a conversation, as is Utterz.  All the social bookmarking platforms like DIGG, delicious and StumbleUpon are all conversations.  People are interacting.  And if you want to sell a product or service to those people, you have to participate in that conversation and establish credibility within those circles.

If you’ve spent any time on the platforms just mentioned, you’ll know that within each certain users stand out as authorities.  Perhaps they have more posts or more friends or more content or more bookmarks.  In general, those who are active are quickly recognized as authorities.  So what does that actually mean?  It means you can be an authority yourself by just selecting the conversation that best matches your business and becoming an active user.

For most people, there are two problems.  First, people are fickle.  Second, they have no discipline.  Go to a gym in January and it will be packed.  Go in March and it will be quiet.  Why?  Because everyone had a New Year’s resolution they soon abandoned in favor of other healthy activies like watching TV or drinking beer.  Bottom line; those who stand the test of time will win in the end.

Never before has the formula for success been so clear cut.  It’s a simple formula.  Participate.  Be active.  Establish yourself within a community and you’re almost guaranteed to succeed, or at least make progress.

Let’s move on to fickle.  Every single day, new platforms are launching on the internet and they all allow and even promote interaction within their users.  Every day, there’s a new fad.  The problem is that if you constantly follow these new fads, you never become established anywhere.  At some point, you have to pick a particular conversation and focus on that.  Even if something flashier comes along, there’s value in sticking to your plan.

Now, am I saying that you have to limit yourself to all the old-school platforms that are no longer attracting fresh visitors?  No.  All I’m saying is that you shouldn’t be too quick to jump from one to the other.  Put some time into the initial selection process.  Find the conversations that apply to your business.  Find the best forums.  Find the best blogs.  Find the best groups on social networks.  Look at them all and decide which ones you want to focus on.  Then stick to it for a while and see how your efforts pay off.

There’s another level to this discussion.  There’s something even more powerful than participating in conversations and that is facilitating conversations.  This might include becoming an organizer for an online group.  It might include adding a forum to your website.  It might include creating a wiki and then opening it up to your audience.  It might include using Ning to create your own social network around your particular business.

The possibilities are endless but you have to ensure you have an enthusiastic audience before you pull the trigger.  There’s nothing worse than a forum with no posts, a wiki with no contributions or a social network with no members.  But let’s look at an example of someone who has truly capitalized on the axiom: Barack Obama.  Now, I am not referring to his politics at all.  That is not my concern here.  But in terms of participating and facilitating conversations, he’s done more than any other politician in history … by orders of magnitude!

If you go to his website, you can create a profile and accumulate friends just like any other social network.  You can create a neighborhood and stay updated on events or even organize your own events.  You can obviously donate to his campaign or you can offer to match someone else’s donation, and even stay in touch with that other person.  But most interestingly of all, you can create your own blog within his web platform.

As of this writing, the Barack Obama website has over 40,000 active blogs, all written by individual supporters.  All these people are thoroughly engaged in his campaign and are contributing buckets of unique relevant content to his website.  They’re interacting with each other and getting more and more intertwined with the Barack Obama “change” movement every single day.  There’s no question he has capitalized on the “conversations are markets” moniker and I personally expect his dominance in this area will carry him through the November election.

Take some time and think about the conversations taking place in your field, in your business.  Do some searches on Google and Technorati and Big-Boards.  Find the conversations and begin participating in them.  You might be surprised how quickly you become a known quantity and how quickly you can start promoting your own products or services to the people you meet.

Last night, at my Lamorinda Toastmasters club, one of the Table Topics questions was, “if you could live in any time in history, what time would you pick?”  My answer to that question is TODAY.  I can’t think of a single period in history that I’d rather live in than today and social media tools are a major reason why.  Actually, social bookmarking is a more specific culprit.

As you probably know, social bookmarking platforms aggregate the bookmarking activity of all their members, allowing users to search for tags and find the most popular websites bookmarked under those subjects.  That sounds a lot like a search engine, doesn’t it?  Well, there’s one big difference.  Search engines deliver search results according to a sophisticated algorithym developed by Google, Yahoo, MSN or whoever.  Social bookmarking platforms deliver results based on the preferences of the peer group.

This is a monumental distinction.  Social bookmarking is the ultimate democracy.  Never before have we had such real-time visibility of our own peer group.  And although some people believe it only fuels the Britney Spears generation, the opposite is true.  You can search for the tag “Mozart” or “fly fishing” and find the top rates sites according to other people who are also interested in those subjects.  But there’s an even bigger implication than that.  Social bookmarking and the internet in general have put the focus back where it belongs: content.

Back in the good old days, people looked at the SOURCE first and the CONTENT second.  Today, the reverse is true.  Today, they look at the CONTENT first and the SOURCE second.  Do you know what that means?  Do you see the implications?  I am willing to bet this one simple change will, over time, create a wholesale shift in our culture.  I believe this one change creates more opportunities for early-stage entrepreneurs than any other shift of the past century.

What’s that change?  Well, it means that people with good quality content can get noticed, even if they doesn’t have fancy titles or extensive experience or some heroic feat under their belt.  Even someone brand new in a particular field can rise to the very top if their content is good enough.  The titles don’t matter anymore.  The experience isn’t so important.  The heroic feat that justifies our status as an “expert” has become largely irrelevant.  If your content is good, your content is good.  Period.  You’re an expert.

The moral of the story is this: figure out what you’re an expert in and then demonstrate that expertise.  Whether you realize it or not, you’re already an expert.  You know more about something than most other people.  If you haven’t already done so, figure out what that something is.  Figure it out.  And then start building your knowledge and demonstrating your expertise on the internet.  If your content is good, it will rise to the top and get recognized accordingly.

Social media tools like social bookmarking are making it easier and easier to sift through the endless piles of content to find exactly what you’re looking for.  Although more content is being produced today than ever before, it’s becoming easier to find the good stuff.  The cream rises to the top.  That’s an opportunity; for me, for you, for everyone.  The real question is, “who will take advantage of it?”  Personally, I intend to.  That’s what I’m doing right here.  And I suggest you do the same.

Whether it’s blogging, micro-blogging, podcasting, social networking or posting videos, the time has come for you to show your stuff.  Speak your truth and show the world where your passion lies.  And then let your peer group spread the word.  It’s an exciting time.  Don’t let the opportunity pass you by!

Let’s take a look at the power of email in modern internet marketing.  Obviously, the best thing about email is that it costs absolutely nothing to send out.  Back in the good old days, you had to put a marketing piece together, even if it was just a letter, and then spend buckets of money on postage to get it out into the hands of your target market.  And many people continue to take that approach.  But email allows you to get your message out with absolutely no delivery cost.

Now, there are a lot of issues with spam filters but most of them can be avoided by using a sophisticated email platform like Aweber.  Also, there are a lot of tricks to building a massive email list quickly but that’s beyond the scope of this post.  Right now, I just want to identify some of the opportunities email marketing affords you.

As you probably know, I am the organizer of the Entrepreneur & Small Business Academy and as of this writing, it has over 570 members.  Once my membership rose above about 400, I started to notice all these people coming out of the woodwork, asking me if I could promote their programs over my email list.  While it’s true that some of those programs weren’t very good quality, others were and their purveyors were willing to pay me a commission on any sales that resulted.

This is a perfect example of how you can grow you business with email.  Not only can you use your list to promote your own programs but you can also use it to promote other people’s programs.  Now, there’s a balance of how many emails you want to send your audience but if you have a good program that delivers great value, you can make some nice commissions promoting other people’s programs.

That opportunity alone opens some interesting doors.  For starters, you don’t have to be an expert in the field where you’re making all your money.  The only thing you really need to be an expert on is building email lists.  If you know how to do that, you can quickly find other people whose products you can promote and earn commissions on.

You also have the power to help others.  When you own an audience, you have what everyone else wants.  The hardest part of any business is marketing.  If you own an audience, it’s a license to print money.  The cast of the popular TV show Friends each got paid $1MM for each episode for the last two seasons.  Why?  Because they owned a huge audience.  And when you own an audience, you create an opportunity for advertisers.

You may have noticed that all my blog posts close with a button directing you to my free 1-year e-course.  I run this 52-email program through Aweber and it’s all automated.  But the content is excellent.  In fact, given the sequencing of topics as well as the content itself, I think it’s some of the juiciest material I have.  If you haven’t already done so, please subscribe.  You’ll like the content.  I promise.

This free e-course is obviously my way of building an email list.  And over time, the rate at which people sign up increases, perhaps because early subscribers tell their friends or because the traffic on my site has been growing for other reasons.  Either way, it always puts a smile on my face when I get a notification email that someone new has joined my list.  It benefits them.  It benefits me.

Email marketing is a very powerful tool and I highly recommend you start accumulating email addresses if you haven’t already done so.  Use an autoresponder like Aweber and set up a program people will want to sign up for.  You might be surprised how quickly you build up a sizable list.  And once you have it, it will probably change your business forever.

Regardless how you answer this question, you’re right.  If you think you’re capable of success, you are.  If you think you’re not capable of success, you’re not.  Success doesn’t grace those who aren’t ready to accept it.  The world gives you exactly what you can handle and no more.  If you can’t handle success, it won’t find you.

I had a great conversation today with a friend of mine: Jeffrey Howard.  He’s a Law of Attraction expert who is now combining the metaphysical realities behind the Law of Attraction with the tactical strategies of Social Media Marketing.  He and I are planning to partner up for an initial audio recording discussing the various aspects of those two specialties.  He’s an expert in the Law of Attraction and I’m an expert on Social Media Marketing.

Jeff’s had a very successful year so far and has co-hosted a number of large events, both online and in person.  In preparation of our conversation, he spent some time on my website and commented that he had no idea how much content actually resides right here on Tactical Execution.  It’s true.  As of this writing, this website has over 270 pages of educational content and I wrote every single word.  Turns out, I have a lot more content on my website than Jeff has on his, yet he has had a more successful year than me.

We talked about it for a while and I explained my side of the story.  He’s right.  I have a ton of content and substantial expertise.  But the process I’m going through is intended to benefit ME more than my audience.  I mean; of course it benefits my audience but the primary target is myself and my self-image.

When I started in the Internet Marketing field, I wanted to build an indisputable foundation, establishing my credibility and building my own confidence within the field.  I had a plan.  Right from the start, I had a number of things I needed to do.  First, I had to build my expertise; a process that will never actually end.  Next, I had to build an authoritative website.  After that, I needed product to sell.  And finally, I needed a published book.

During the past year, I have done precisely that.  I have learned a ton, and continue to learn more every single day.  My website is huge and I’m thrilled with how its developing.  I have recorded a total of 11 CD products and have them all available for sale in the Store tab.  Eight of them are also available on Amazon.  And finally, I’m working through the last round of editing for my first full length 240-page book entitled “Make Yourself Useful; Marketing in the 21st Century”.

The point is that I’m almost there.  I’m approaching the finish line.  And the foundation I have built has solidified my belief that I deserve to be here, and that I can truly help people.  All that work was primarily designed to adjust my own self-image.  There’s a mental cycle that some call the process of manifestation.  It goes like this:

Beliefs > Decisions > Actions > Results > Beliefs

And around it goes.  This cycle explains how our belief systems serve to save us or destroy us.  Why?  Because it’s your beliefs that determine what decisions you make and your decisions lead to your actions.  Your actions determine your results and your results come back and feed into your beliefs again.

The interesting thing is that you can start working on any quadrant you like.  Jeff works with people to adjust their beliefs using visualization techniques.  Other experts including Anthony Robbins start by encouraging people to make a decision; a decision that could change their life forever.  There are even some who pretend the results have already happened, hoping their belief systems change before their money runs out.  For me, I have always started in the action corner.  By taking enough action, I eventually get the results I want and that filters through the cycle to drive me forward.

Everything I have ever achieved has been a function of brute force.  I’ve muscled my way into everything I’ve ever done.  Straight-up horsepower.  My strategy?  I overwhelm my opponent, to the point where my success is finally secure.  But I also know my biggest enemy is myself.  I know my life doesn’t have to be as hard as I make it.  I know I could work on my “inner game” and get better results with less effort.  And I’m committed to investing some serious effort to the cause … just as soon as I finish my to-do list!

I’m working with Jeff for a reason.  He has expertise I need.  He can help me in the areas where I struggle.  Meanwhile, I have expertise he needs also.  I’m really good with the tactical stuff; hence, the name of my company.  I can put his metaphysical techniques into action.  The timing is perfect and I’m really excited about it.  He’s coming over next Tuesday and we’ll be recording an initial conversation.  It’ll be great!

Bottom line; we all have to do what’s necessary to prepare ourselves for success.  Regardless which quadrant you start in, you need to work through that cycle again and again until your subconscious mind is ready for the success your conscious mind desires.  For me, I had to build an enormous foundation of expertise and educational content.  By doing so, I’m convincing my subconscious mind of exactly what my conscious mind has known all along – that I’m ready for success.

Take some time to think about that cycle.  Beliefs.  Decisions.  Actions.  Results.  Which quadrant works best for you?  Which will give you the means to improve your “inner game”?  Once you figure that out, start working on the process.  Start working through that cycle, with tiny baby steps at first.  Don’t do anything too difficult.  It’s important you establish a pattern of success.  Make your goals easy at first.  Get some successes under your belt.  And then, as your confidence grows, start raising the bar and taking bigger steps.

I know how hard this can be.  Believe me; I’ve failed at more things than anyone I know.  Out of every 10 things I try, eight or nine deliver disappointing results.  But I always find one or two that show promise and then I focus on those.  The way I’m going, I’ll fail my way to success!  Because everytime I take a hit, I get right back up again and try something different.  Don’t give up.  Go out there and build the success you deserve.  And once you get there, hold your head high and know you fought the good fight.  You deserve every penny you have.

This article was featured on the Law of Attraction Notebook Carnival.

PLEASE NOTE:

I have not used this website since 2010. Please visit my new website for current information.

Thank you!

If you’ve spent any time in internet marketing circles, you know the importance of killer sales copy.  You’ve received the emails describing some incredible product and telling you how much better your life will be once you’ve purchased it.  On a few occasions, you’ve probably clicked through to the website where the process starts all over again, explaining the superiority of the product, listing all the valuable features and offering dozens of glowing testimonials.

The objective, of course, is to sell the product and the art of writing killer sales copy has become a science.  In fact, every aspect of this process has been tested and optimized by seasoned internet marketers and a clear process has emerged as the leader.  It’s a motivating sales sequence that has consistently tested higher than other approaches.  And the best part is that even if you’re not a great writer, you can follow the sequence and see real results just by following the sequence.  Let’s take a look.

Step 1: Get their attention.

The beginning of your copy needs to capture the attention of your audience.  There are a variety of ways you can do this but here are a few ideas.  You could ask a provocative question.  You could make a shocking statement that appears unbelievable at first glance.  Or you could simply make a very specific statement.  People love specifics.  Quite often, including a specific number (like a percentage of statistic of some kind) will dramatically improve the conversion.

Step 2: Identify the problem or need.

Now, don’t just talk about the problem in isolation.  Talk about it as it relates to the person.  Always address the prospect, not your product.  Describe the problem and how it affects a person’s life.  If your readers experience those problems themselves, they’ll keep reading.  They’ll identify with what you’re writing.  The more detail, the better.  Present the problem front and center, so you can almost touch it.  You might even magnify the problem by describing what might happen if the problem isn’t corrected.

Step 3: Position your product as the solution.

This is where the selling begins.  Explain how your product solves the problem.  Specifically.  Tell them exactly what your product does to alleviate their pain.  Stress the benefits they receive by having your product at hand.  Don’t focus on your product’s features.  No.  Focus on the benefits.  Even go a step further and describe the emotions your readers will feel when they have your product and have a way to eliminate the problem from their lives.

Step 4: Differentiate yourself from the competition.

What makes you better?  What makes you different?  This is where you need to present your unique selling proposition (USP) and explain the importance of your differentiating features.  Don’t be shy – about your product OR your competitors.  Address them by name.  Be specific.  Tell your readers exactly who your competitors are and why your product is a better choice.  A lot of people don’t want to name their competitors by name.  Don’t worry about it.  Your readers are thinking about them anyway so you might as well step up and address the issue head-on.

Step 5: Establish credibility and build value.

This is where you justify yourself.  Tell them about your experience and describe all your guarantees.  Build value into your product by describing other products that do the same thing but are priced higher.  Talk about the financial impact of the product; how much money it could save the reader.  If a product could save your thousands but only costs $149, that’s a good deal.  If you offer a no-questions-asked 100% guarantee, that lowers the risk for the buyer.  And if you’ve been doing this for 16 years, you must know what you’re doing.

Step 6: Provide proof (statistics & testimonials).

Bring out the big guns!  Tell them about the awards you’ve won.  Give them statistics of how your product has preformed.  Get as specific as possible, describing your product’s advantages in tested mathematical terms.  That all represents factual proof.  But human proof is often even more powerful.  List a bunch of testimonials.  Include photos of the people if possible.  Photos dramatically increase the trust factor for readers.  Even include links to the websites of those same people.  For many, it’s the testimonials that end up closing the sale.

Step 7: Close with a call-to-action.

Tell them what to do.  Your readers are in the submissive position.  They are receiving your information.  That’s not an empowering place to be.  Give them direction.  Tell them how to take action.  They will rarely do so on their own.  They’re looking for direction.  That’s why they’ve read through your entire sales sequence.  They’re still reading.  That means they’re interested.  So step up and tell them what to do next.  You’re doing them a favor.  If they’re interested, that means they have the problem your product solves.  So give them the direction they need to take that last step.  Without those final instructions, all your efforts are wasted.

Effective sales copy is at the center of internet marketing.  In most cases, your readers are by themselves when they receive your email or visit your website.  That means they’re making the purchase decision all by themselves.  Your sales copy has to lead them through that process.  It has to give them the information they need to justify the purchase.  And if you’re truly confident in your product, your customers will be thrilled once they receive it.

I grew up in Canada and moved to the United States in 1998.  And like so many others, I have found tremendous opportunities (and great weather) in this country.  Although I wasn’t aware of it until I was 27 years old, I am an American citizen (it’s a long story but is a result of my father growing up in Philadelphia) and am very grateful to be able to live down here in California.

But with the good comes the bad.  Ever since I moved here, I have been shocked by the narrow focus of American news programs.  In Canada, you commonly hear the European perspective, the Asian perspective and the American perspective.  It makes sense.  Although Canada is the second largest country on the planet based on geographical area, it has a very small population (about 33 million people in 2008) and is affected by the actions of major power centers around the world.

The European power center is comprised of many different countries (the EU has 27 member countries) and the Asian power center also has a few major players including China, Japan and Korea.  But America is a single country – one huge country – which continues to boast the single largest economy in the world.  As a result of that reality, there’s very little need for American news to talk about things happening outside of its boarders.  Indeed, the average viewer just doesn’t care.

Since moving to the United States, I have chosen to get much of my news from the BBC, PBS’s NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and Reuters – not exactly the usual American favorites.  But I have also found a small handful of journalists and news programs that I really like – right here in the United States.  Among them is Meet the Press with Tim Russert.  I won’t pretend to be a regular viewer (I don’t watch very much TV in general) but I have always enjoyed Tim’s comprehensive approach and candid evaluation of the American political reality.

Yesterday, while writing my last blog post, a CNN Breaking News email popped up on my screen, informing me that Tim Russert had died of an apparent heart attack while recording voiceovers at the NBC studios.  At just 58 years old, he was the NBC Washington Bureau Chief and the 17-year moderator of “Meet the Press”.  His death has devastated colleagues.  Brian Williams, managing editor and anchor of “NBC Nightly News” described it as a “staggering, overpowering and sudden loss.”

I am no expert on journalism or Tim Russert per se but I can tell you that I will miss him and his coverage of American politics.  Tim Russert was a serious but believable figure in American news and I frequently reserved my own judgements until I had listened to his.  And there’s no question that the historic 2008 election contest will lose a valuable contributor.  Election night between Barack Obama and John McCain will certainly be different without Tim Russert following developments throughout the evening hours.

My thoughts are with the Russert family.  I read they had just returned from a vacation in Italy where they celebrated a son’s graduation from Boston College.  This must be an incredibly difficult time for them and I hope they can eventually get past their loss and take pride in the contributions Tim made to people all over the world.  Thank you, Tim Russert, for helping me understand American politics.

PLEASE NOTE:

I have not used this website since 2010. Please visit my new website for current information.

Thank you!

I have a neighbor who always thinks people are cheating him or being unfair to him; that he is somehow a victim.  Is it true?  Let’s take a closer look.  First, is it true that most of the neighbors dislike him?  Yes, that’s true.  But why?  The answer is simple.  People don’t like him because he’s unreasonable and chooses to live his life differently than everybody else.  He also has a conniving way about him and is always sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong.

Bottom line; he sees himself as the victim of the exact same behavior he exhibits himself.  He is unkind and unfair to others and the world responds by showering him with the same sentiments.  The world is a direct reflection of his own character.

When I still lived up in Vancouver Canada, I lived on 12th Avenue and Oak Street, relatively close to downtown.  I would take the bus to work each morning and got to know the bus driver for the 7:45 pick-up.  He was a super nice guy.  He was always happy and cheerful, and on the rare occassions when I didn’t have the exact change for the bus fair, he always let me on and I paid the difference on the following day.

One day, I got on the bus as usual and stood near the front.  Because I lived near downtown, the bus was always full by the time it reached my stop so I almost always had to stand near the front.  Anyway, two stops after mine, a guy got on the bus and was immediately rude to the bus driver.  He was mean.  And the bus driver was mean back.  There was no big scene.  It was a simple exchange.  But it struck me that this bus driver who had always been so kind to me could just as easily be mean to someone else.

I remember that day well because it taught me an important lesson.  The world is a reflection of yourself.  If you are a kind person, you probably live in a world full of kind people.  If you are a mean person, you probably live in a horrible world full of mean cruel people.  If you try to cheat the system, you probably think the system is cheating you.  And if you always play by the rules, you probably see justice in them.

I was listening to a radio program once that was all about relationships and why some of them always fail.  The “expert” who was being interviewed said that most people who are paranoid about their partners cheating are actually cheating themselves, or at least yearning to.  Their minds are full of their own thoughts and it’s only natural to project those same thoughts onto others.  After all, if YOU think about those things, everyone else must be thinking the same thing.

The reality is quite different.  Your mind is unique to you.  We all have different views of the world and we each create stories in our minds that justify the existence we live.  We all have to look at ourselves in the mirror each morning and we all find ways to be content with the person we have become.  And if that requires that we blame the world for our hardships, so be it.  If it requires that we see others as cruel, that’s just fine – as long as it’s not OUR fault.

I believe my neighbor lives a very unhappy existence in a very nasty world; a world completely different than my own.  My world is full of nice people.  I’m always amazed at how kind people can be and I have never had a hard time finding a helping hand or a shoulder to lean on.  But that is not true for my neighbor.

He even knocks on my door from time to time, looking for a favor.  It actually amazes me that he is comfortable doing this.  I mean; we’re not friends.  Yet, he has no problem asking me to borrow my printer or water his flowers while he’s away on vacation.  And what do I do?  I try to avoid it.  I don’t want to do those things for him.  He annoys me.  Why should I go out of my way to help him?  Look at me!  I’m playing right into the theory.  I’m usually a nice person.  Really.  But to him, I’m mean.

I spoke with another neighbor just this morning and she wants to lodge a formal complaint against the guy.  I disagree.  He’s already paying a heavy price for the way he lives his life.  He lives his punishment every single day.  Any complaint we lodge against him will only fuel his victim complex and make it worse.  I actually feel quite sorry for him.  I would hate to live his life.

If you’re reading this post, you’re probably alone in front of your computer.  Take a few moments and think about your world.  Is it full of nice people?  Or is it full of mean people?  The only thing you have control over is yourself.  Could you make a conscious effort to be nicer?  I promise the effort won’t hurt.  It can only benefit you and I encourage everyone to be willing to take a look in the mirror to see if their hardships are, in fact, of their own making.

This article was featured in The Fourteenth Edition of the Carnival of Improving Life

On Monday, June 9th, 2008, I finally picked up my brand new Smart ForTwo Passion at the Mercedes dealership in San Francisco (500 8th Street).  I’ve been on the waiting list since March 2007 and am really excited to finally drive the car I’ve seen for so long in other countries!

Not surprisingly, the fortwo has been available in Europe for years.  I grew up in Vancouver Canada and go up there regularly to visit friends and family.  The fortwo has been up there for about 2 years and you see them everywhere.  But down here in the United States, bureaucracy and red tape has kept the tiny car off the shelves … until now.

It’s funny because people actually wave at you when you drive it.  Some people (including my neighbor) had no idea what it was when I first showed her.  When you park somewhere, people immediately walk up to ask questions and you can usually look around and see most people smiling or chuckling as they look at it’s tiny dimensions.  Overall, this car brings happiness to the people who see it.

Let me tell you a little about my new toy.  It’s manufactured by Mercedes in a factory located in France.  In 2007, it boasted 40 MPG in the city and 45 on the highway.  But the restrictions on US auto sales required a more powerful engine and a variety of other enhancements, lowering the MPG to 33/40.  It runs on a 3-cylinder engine and has 70 horsepower.  The car weighs only 1800 pounds.

The car only seats 2 but the inside is actually quite roomy and the back trunk area is enough for an average Costco run.  I elected to get all the available options (except the convertible) including the reinforced “Passion” frame, a premium sound system, an iPod jack, A/C and heated seats.  It also comes with regular automatic as well as paddle shifters on the steering wheel.

The car was recently tested for collision safety.  Amazingly, it did really well, achieving a higher score than a number of other common cars.  The frame is quite rigid but it has a bunch of airbags inside, all designed to protect the driver.  The passenger has an airbag as well but it’s only activated when there is more than 80 pounds sitting on the seat.  Yes, it’s attached to a scale.  So you don’t have to worry about turning the airbag off when you have a child as a passenger.

As I said, I’ve been on the waiting list for over a year.  And today, the wait to get a new one is over 19 months.  I paid $17,319 for the car and that price included taxes registration and a $645 delivery fee.  My model is currently selling on Craig’s List for $22,500.  That would leave me with a $5K profit and I have considered selling it myself.

I got the blue outside color with silver detailing and the red interior.  They call that color combination the Superman.  It’s sporty and really fun to drive.  In Walnut Creek (where I live now), I have the very first one and that becomes obvious when you drive it through the downtown streets.  I’d recommend it to anyone.  Not only will it save me money on gas but it makes driving fun again.

I’m quite proud of my new car, as evidenced by this blog post.  If you have any questions about the car, please let me know.  Also, if you’d like to get on the waiting list, you can do so at SmartUSA.  It will cost you $99 and that money is fully refundable if you later decide against the purchase.  To me, there’s a limited downside to a car like this and I hope to see more and more of them as time passes.

Google and the other search engines have all updated their algorithyms to increase the value attributed to video content.  Already, an estimated 40% of internet bandwidth is used to accommodate video content and that’s expected to grow over the coming years.  And although many of us probably believe that YouTube is already overrun with competition, the fact is that there just aren’t that many people doing it right yet.

There’s a huge opportunity for people to use video as a way to build their following and push value to their audience.  You can use the medium to demonstrate your expertise and give people a sample of your approach.  Heck, they’ll even know what you look like!  People don’t trust governments.  People don’t trust companies.  People often don’t even trust websites.  What do they trust?  People trust other people, and video is a great way to put a human face on your business.

Let’s start with some groundwork.  First, don’t think your video has to be super slick.  Absolutely not.  In fact, studies have shows that super slick videos are trusted far less than lower quality amateur-looking clips.  The more “real”, the better.  You don’t have to spend a lot of money on this.  Just get yourself a video camera with a microphone jack and then get a directional microphone that will deliver good voice quality.  Between the two, you’re probably looking at about $350 worth of equipment.

Another thing: people love lists.  The top 10 of this.  The bottom 10 of that.  The 7 biggest mistakes people make.  The 5 things you need to remember.  Whatever it is, structure your content into a list.  It injects automatic structure to your presentation and makes your content easier to understand.

When uploading your video, make sure to include your URL and/or business name in the description.  That will help your business name get indexed higher on the search engines.  Also make sure you include your keywords in the description as well as the tags.  Both will help your video come up higher and faster on the search engines.

Don’t make just ONE video.  A single video will quickly get buried amongst thousands of other videos, never to be seen again.  Instead, make a series.  Make these videos on a regular basis.  YouTube and all the other video platforms allow you to create a profile and then attach all your videos to that profile.  When someone finishes the video they’re watching, the platform will display thumbnails of all the other videos you’ve produced.

That’s where the opportunity lies.  If you have a series of videos up on YouTube, people will find one or another depending on what they’re searching for.  But after that, they’ll quickly see the breadth of topics you cover and will likely browse a while longer, getting to know you and your expertise.  Before long, their trust level has grown dramatically and they’re ready to do business.

You might be reading this and thinking that this is just one more thing you’re supposed to be doing.  One more thing piled on top of all the other things sitting on your desk.  You’re too busy already!  How could you possibly do this also?  Well, if you’re blogging, your job is done.  Every single blog post is perfect content for a video and you won’t get knocked for duplicate content because one is in text format while the other is in video format.

I recommend writing your blog post first.  Write it out, structure it into a list and publish it on your website.  Then turn on your video camera with your computer right beside you and relay the same information into the camera.  Don’t even worry about memorizing it.  You can reference back and forth.  Nobody will mind.  It will be mor casual and more “real”, making your audience feel at ease.

Every day, there are more and more video platforms on the internet.  Rather than uploading your video a dozen times, each at different platforms, I recommend using a distribution service like TubeMogul.  There, you can upload your video once and automatically distribute it to all the major platforms in one step.  And it’s well worth the effort because different platforms feed different communities.  Also, some get indexed quicker than others and the search engines LOVE fresh new content.

Most people think YouTube has nothing more than rock bands in concert, Britney Spears getting out of a car, amateur fights and people falling off bicycles.  It’s true that these topics are well covered on YouTube but there’s far more out there than you might think.  You can learn how to play guitar on YouTube.  You can learn how to speak German.  You can learn how to install WordPress or record a podcast.  You can learn just about anything on YouTube.

That represents an enormous opportunity for all of us.  Think about your expertise.  Think about the value you could push to your audience.  Think about the lists of juicy nuggets you could deliver on video to a waiting and appreciative audience.  Take some time to write down the different topics you could cover and if you find that you have a lot, go out and buy a video camera.  It might be the best investment you’ll ever make!

Search engines like Google look at a variety of different factors when evaluating your website.  Although the specifics of these algorithyms are difficult to nail down, the major factors include the following:

1. The amount of unique relevant content on your site.
2. The newness or freshness of the content on your site.
3. The number of inbound links pointing to your site.
4. The number of links to the sites that are linking to you.

These 4 factors are the primary contributors to a strong search engine ranking, but there are others as well.  One under-utilized contributor is anchor text.  And what’s that?  Well, it’s the words used as the ‘anchor’ for a link.  So, if I used the words free articles to click to the 70+ free articles on this website, the anchor text for the link is “free articles”.

Let’s think about this.  By using the words “free articles”, I am saying that the place to find free articles is the location the link points to.  Or if I used sports news to link to ESPN.com, I am saying the best place on the internet for sports news is ESPN.com.  I am defining my endorsement.  Any link I put into my blog or website is an endorsement for the website I’m pointing to.  And when I put the link on certain words, I’m adding clarification to my endorsement.  The search engines know that.

Turns out, the words used to link to YOUR website play a significant role in the ranking your website gets for those specific words.  We all have specific keyword phrases that we’d love to ranking high for on the search engines.  For me, I’d love to rank high for phrases like “internet marketing”, “small business marketing” and “entrepreneur resources” among others.  And article marketing is one of the easiest ways to create those inbound links all by yourself.

Article marketing is the process of writing 500+ word articles (demonstrating your expertise) and then publishing them on the internet.  There are dozens of article distribution services that will distribute your article to hundreds or even thousands of article directories and online publishers for cheap or even free.  The beauty is that you can talk about yourself in an area called the author resource box and in that area, you can include a link to your website.

Most article authors go through the process and put the link on the name of their website address.  So for me, the link would be put on Tactical Execution.  That’s a major missed opportunity!  Instead, these authors should select one of their ideal keyword phrases and put the link on those words.  For me, I could put the link on a phrase like small business marketing.  By doing so, I am creating an inbound link to my website with the anchor text directly aligned with my marketing objectives.

As you may know, the hallmark of my business success is that I test everything I preach.  And in that effort, I did an experiment in the fall of 2007 where I targeted the phrase “growth marketing” and published a number of articles with the inbound link anchored on that phrase.  Within just 17 days, I already had my Tactical Execution listed on page 2 of a Google search for that phrase.  And today, my site usually comes up first or second.  You can see where I come up today by clicking here.

The primary strength of article marketing is the ability to target specific keyword phrases by using them as the anchor text for your link in your author resource box.  Personally, I use iSnare to distribute my articles and today, they show up on literally thousands of different websites.  Best of all, the service only costs me about $1 per article.  Take advantage of the opportunity and start targeting specific keyword phrases today.