Month: October 2014

Increase Audience Engagement with Google Hangouts

If you haven’t created your Google+ profile yet, Google Hangouts might be the best reason yet to go ahead. Many marketers have already caught on to the usefulness of the Google Hangout. One reason marketers love Hangouts is because they are a great way to hold low, or no-cost webinars.Google Hangouts allow up to 15 people to have a live, video conversation with unlimited viewers. In addition, it is automatically streamed and recorded on to YouTube, which allows you to easily offer replays to your audience. You can also have the video transcribed for extra value.
How to use Google Hangouts for Webinars
It is important for you to know that Hangouts on air don’t work by themselves, primarily because they don’t allow you to schedule a hangout for a future date.Don’t despair. There are several software programs such as Stealth Seminar, Webinar Jam and EasyWebinar Plugin that offer methods for scheduling webinars, registering participants and placing them in a ‘waiting room’ before the Hangout starts.Both WebinarJam and EasyWebinar Plugin allow you to create registration pages. In addition, EWP is easy to integrate with both LeadPages and OptimizePress. It is tougher to integrate WebinarJam with LeadPages, but it features more attractive landing pages than EWP.You can present either a live webcam recording or a slide presentation at your webinar.How to set up a Google HangoutOne reason Hangouts are becoming so popular, is that they are easy to set up and are more reliable that a lot of other webinar services. It is a good idea to use the Chrome browser for your webinar. Chrome was created by Google, so there compatibility issues will be minimal. You will also need to download and add the hangout plugin to your Chrome browser.

You can create an event through your Google+ account. You can play the webinar live through a blog post, or publish it later. You can also send people to the YouTube link for your video. You will need to make sure that your Google+ profile is associated with your YouTube account. This is how Google will automatically save the video to your YouTube channel.

To embed the video on your event page, or in a blog post, simply copy the URL by clicking the ‘embed’ link to the right of the URL. To prepare, click the ‘Start a Hangout On Air’.

You can then customize your hangout with the ‘edit event’ menu item found in the details drop-down menu. Add the free ‘Hangout Toolbox’ app so you can brand your event by adding logos and presentation slides using the ‘Slideshare’ app. You also have the option of using PowerPoint along with the ‘screenshare’ app. If you want to allow participants to comment or ask questions, you’ll need to turn on the Q & A feature. You also have the option of taking questions via your blog post comments or Google+ event page.

Google Hangouts is a free, stable alternative to expensive webinar providers. You can use Hangouts to increase your communication and engagement with your audience.

Monitoring the social media marketing landscape is vital to your success. If you’d like to have access to even more powerful marketing tips, as well as a way to generate conversion-ready Internet marketing prospects each month, click here to learn about my done-for-you system.

Diversify Your Social Media Marketing

As a serious marketer, you should have a complete social media strategy. One that is more than just the occasional post on your Facebook page. There are many, many different social media outlets, and each one reaches a different audience in a distinctive way. Every business is unique, so there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all social media strategy.For this reason, it’s wise to make your social media strategy about goals, not particular social media channels. You should use data to guide your social media decisions. All social media outlets provide some form of analytics that you can use to figure out which channels are working best for you.
Check out the competition
Examine your competitors’ social media strategy. Visit your competitors’ social media accounts and look at how they engage with their audience. For example, does your competitor respond to comments with likes or comments?Try to identify what your competition is doing well, and areas that could be improved.This can help you gain insight into what works for your niche and also discover ways to use social media that you might not have thought of. It’s never a good idea to copy a competitor. Instead, use the information as inspiration for your own social media strategy.

 

Gather data using promotions

Promotions are another great way to gather the social media data you need.

Here is a method for using promotions to gather data from your social media channels.

Step 1: Start with a goal in mind. For example, collecting survey results, demographic information, or email addresses.

Step 2: Build a campaign and host it on its own website with a unique URL. Make sure that your campaign site is mobile friendly.

Step 3: Feature an exciting give-away. Use the prize as an incentive to encourage participation.

Step 4: Link to your campaign with all of your social media channels.

Step 5: Study your results. For instance, track which social media channels brought the most traffic to your offer. Figure out which channel was the least responsive. You might want to consider eliminating poorly performing channels so you can focus your energy on the social media that works best for you.

blog pic

Along with content and backlinks, social media is one of the most important aspects of good SEO. Used the right way, social media can drive high-quality traffic to your website. However, a social media strategy that works well in one niche, may be completely wrong for another.

The best thing to do is try several social media outlets. Then collect as much data as possible and study the data closely to find the social media channels that work the best for your niche and audience.

Monitoring the social media marketing landscape is vital to your success. If you’d like to have access to even more powerful marketing tips, as well as a way to generate conversion-ready Internet marketing prospects each month, click here to learn about my done-for-you system.

What is Programmatic Ad Buying?

Programmatic advertising is a trending topic in the world of marketing. However, it is not well-understood because it is complex and shrouded behind a wall of industry lingo like SSPs, DSPs, RTB and DMP. This article will offer a quick overview of programmatic advertising in order to demystify the subject.Programmatic advertising is the next logical step past the traditional system of media buyers and sellers.
Using emerging technology, programmatic ads are bought and sold through auctions via automated systems – or bots. At the moment, online ads are mainly being sold programmatically, but all advertising will be bought and sold this way in the future.Most of the process is automated, from generating insertion orders, trafficking the ad to collecting data. This allows advertisers to buy ads that target specific audiences by using data to figure out when, how, and where to place the ads.This method improves efficiency, and reduces cost. In addition, programmatic advertising allows marketers to fine-tune their targeting to reach their exact audience. An advertiser will set up parameters such as network reach, and bid price. The service will automatically match the parameters with audience data to make targeted ad purchases.

Some benefits of programmatic advertising are, transparent pricing, and the ability of buyers to use third-party data to optimize their advertising campaigns.

Ad-retargeting is an example of how programmatic advertising works. Retargeting works automatically to help marketers reach out to the majority of visitors who bounce off of a site before making a purchase.

Contrary to popular belief, programmatic buying is not remnant ad buying. It is an extension of traditional ad-buying that uses automated systems to maximize efficiency.

photo 4

Programmatic advertising lingo

Here are some common terms and definitions commonly used in connection with programmatic advertising:

Ad exchange: This is on online marketplace where eligible buyers purchase impressions from participating vendors such as publishers and ad networks. The marketplace will announce individual impressions in real-time and ask buyers to purchase the impression at a specific price.

ATD – Agency Trading Desk: This is the department within an ad agency that handles programmatic buying for that agency.

DMP – Data Management Platform: This is a centralized place to integrate a marketer’s own data with third-party data, that is, data collected by other websites. This helps marketers to understand their audience in order to more precisely target their advertising.

DSP – Demand Side Platform: This is an automated purchasing platform that works by using algorithms to target ad impressions. These are usually integrated into ad exchanges or other supply sources.

RTB – Real-Time Bidding: This is an automatic process that allows marketers to trade digital media assets in real-time, via auction.

SSP – Sell Side Platform: This is a method for selling a publisher’s inventory using agency trading desks, advertisers and ad exchanges.

Programmatic advertising allows marketers to make smart, efficient and targeted advertising purchases. This helps marketers get the most impact for their advertising dollars.

Monitoring the social media marketing landscape is vital to your success. If you’d like to have access to even more powerful marketing tips, as well as a way to generate conversion-ready Internet marketing prospects each month, click here to learn about my done-for-you system.

Make Your Content Bite-Sized

With the emergence of social media and micro-blogging, many marketers and business people are neglecting their own blogs.Is this wise?No, for several reasons:

  • You own your blog

Third-party blog sites and social media sites are subject to change or closure, along with the content. Think about the fate of sites such as Friendster, MySpace, or Geocities. At the moment, people are actively searching for replacements for Facebook. For example, the recent exodus to newcomer social media website Ello made headlines.

  • A blog re-enforces branding

One primary goal for many marketers is to drive traffic to their primary website. A fresh, frequently-updated blog shows visitors that this website is up-to-date, which adds to its authority. A blog is also an excellent place to re-enforce your brand message.

  • Better analytics

While social media sites and third-party blog sites offer analytics tools, nothing compares to the data you can gather from your own, hosted website. A blog is the perfect place to publish and study content at a very detailed, or granular, level.

In addition to the analytics tools available on your webhost, there are several high-quality analytics services such as crazy egg and Kissmetrics help you gather even more targeted data. However; all this begins with your own web property, including your blog.

  • Google loves blogs

Blogs are great for SEO for a couple of reasons. One is that blog content offers ongoing opportunities for keyword ranking. In particular, long-tail keywords. Blog posts are the perfect place to insert keywords and key-phrases where they will fit in naturally.

Additionally, Google gives websites with fresh content higher ranking priority over websites that are not updated on a regular basis.

Are you convinced that blogging is still relevant and important?

If so, read on for tips on effective blogging.

Blogging Best Practices:

Blogs are much more than a place to put keywords for SEO purposes. The real goal of a blog should be to engage with your audience and display your expertise. There are several things you can do to make sure that your content is interesting and appealing.

Get inside the mind of your audience

Perhaps the most important thing to do is get inside the mind of your audience. Some companies take the step of creating personas to help them visualize and relate to their customers. The better you understand who your audience is, the better you will understand how to write for them.

Show some personality

Many people write in a dry style that is very different from how they would speak to a friend or colleague. What makes a blog interesting; however, is the writer’s personality. Try to write the way that you speak. One way to do this is to record yourself speaking on a topic. Then transcribe your recording. This will help you bridge the gap between how you speak and how you write. Your personality will help to set your blog apart.

Be consistent

Try to write at least one blog post per week. It also helps to post at the same time on the same day. Experiment to find the day and time that most of your readers are likely to read your post and then make that your time to post every week.

In spite of the rise of social media, blogging continues to be an important content marketing tool. If you write interesting posts with lots of personality on a consistent basis, you are sure to increase both engagement and traffic.

Monitoring the social media marketing landscape is vital to your success. If you’d like to have access to even more powerful marketing tips, as well as a way to generate conversion-ready Internet marketing prospects each month, click here to learn about my done-for-you system.

Why Blogging is Still Important

With the emergence of social media and micro-blogging, many marketers and business people are neglecting their own blogs.Is this wise?No, for several reasons:

  • You own your blog

Third-party blog sites and social media sites are subject to change or closure, along with the content. Think about the fate of sites such as Friendster, MySpace, or Geocities. At the moment, people are actively searching for replacements for Facebook. For example, the recent exodus to newcomer social media website Ello made headlines.

  • A blog re-enforces branding

One primary goal for many marketers is to drive traffic to their primary website. A fresh, frequently-updated blog shows visitors that this website is up-to-date, which adds to its authority. A blog is also an excellent place to re-enforce your brand message.

  • Better analytics

While social media sites and third-party blog sites offer analytics tools, nothing compares to the data you can gather from your own, hosted website. A blog is the perfect place to publish and study content at a very detailed, or granular, level.

In addition to the analytics tools available on your webhost, there are several high-quality analytics services such as crazy egg and Kissmetrics help you gather even more targeted data. However; all this begins with your own web property, including your blog.

  • Google loves blogs

Blogs are great for SEO for a couple of reasons. One is that blog content offers ongoing opportunities for keyword ranking. In particular, long-tail keywords. Blog posts are the perfect place to insert keywords and key-phrases where they will fit in naturally.

Additionally, Google gives websites with fresh content higher ranking priority over websites that are not updated on a regular basis.

Are you convinced that blogging is still relevant and important?

If so, read on for tips on effective blogging.

Blogging Best Practices:

Blogs are much more than a place to put keywords for SEO purposes. The real goal of a blog should be to engage with your audience and display your expertise. There are several things you can do to make sure that your content is interesting and appealing.

Get inside the mind of your audience

Perhaps the most important thing to do is get inside the mind of your audience. Some companies take the step of creating personas to help them visualize and relate to their customers. The better you understand who your audience is, the better you will understand how to write for them.

Show some personality

Many people write in a dry style that is very different from how they would speak to a friend or colleague. What makes a blog interesting; however, is the writer’s personality. Try to write the way that you speak. One way to do this is to record yourself speaking on a topic. Then transcribe your recording. This will help you bridge the gap between how you speak and how you write. Your personality will help to set your blog apart.

Be consistent

Try to write at least one blog post per week. It also helps to post at the same time on the same day. Experiment to find the day and time that most of your readers are likely to read your post and then make that your time to post every week.

In spite of the rise of social media, blogging continues to be an important content marketing tool. If you write interesting posts with lots of personality on a consistent basis, you are sure to increase both engagement and traffic.

Monitoring the social media marketing landscape is vital to your success. If you’d like to have access to even more powerful marketing tips, as well as a way to generate conversion-ready Internet marketing prospects each month, click here to learn about my done-for-you system.

Use Infographics to Make an Impact

Infographics are effective marketing tools for several reasons. One of their main strengths is that they can make complicated ideas and data easy to understand and consume. As a marketer, one of your main goals is to capture an audience with high-quality content.However, you are working against several factors. One is the fact that the human brain filters out an astounding 99 percent of the information that it encounters. The other is that there is a ton of competition for that one percent of information that a person’s brain will retain.

Infographics have a much better chance of getting through the filter and sticking with someone.

How to Use Infographics for marketing purposes

Start by collecting data

Look through the content that you already have and study trends in your niche to identify a topic that is data-heavy. Next, collect data about that trend. One excellent source for this is Pew Internet. They have a ton of useful data, and unlike other research companies, most of its data is free to use.

Next, convert the data into graphical form

For this, you should invest in professional graphic design. There are some designers and websites that focus entirely on infographics. Look through a few portfolios and choose a designer who makes attractive-looking, useful infographics. Keep in mind that there are many ways to represent data outside of attractive pie-charts and graphs.

Turn your data over to your designer to be converted into an infographic. Make sure that your website is incorporated into the design. You’ll want to use the infographic for back-linking purposes.

Don’t forget the embed code

In most cases, you will want your infographic to spread, go viral even. The best way to encourage others to share your infographic is to place an embed code right beneath the infographic so people can easily cut and paste the code to embed your infographic on their site.

Set up correctly, your embed code will attribute the infographic to you and link back to your original post. Read, high-quality back-linking. You can find a widget to create an embed code for you on SEOmoz.

Add your infographic to directories

There are several directories that you can post your infographic. This greatly increases the chances that your infographic will go viral. Here are a few places to post infographics:

  • Flickr
  • Visual Loop
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram
  • Infographics Showcase
  • Daily Infographic

These are a few of several different infographic directories and social media channels that you can use to spread your infographic. A simple Google search will return several more options. Images are a powerful form of communication and infographics bring together images and data for a perfect content solution. Consider making infographics a regular part of your content marketing strategy.

Monitoring the social media marketing landscape is vital to your success. If you’d like to have access to even more powerful marketing tips, as well as a way to generate conversion-ready Internet marketing prospects each month, click here to learn about my done-for-you system.

Learning to Earn

Everyone wants to make money online.  They dream of sitting at home and raking in the millions.  While it’s not quite that easy because it does take a lot of work, you actually can sit at home and create a truly profitable business.  The key is to find the right educational resources that will point you towards your dreams.

The biggest obstacle with this, however, is the sheer amount of information on the web.  The internet was created to share information, so it should come as no surprise that there are mountains of text to sift through.  Some information is simply better than others while a small percentage is absolute garbage.

Knowing who to listen to and who to ignore is the key:

Good: Books

Books are always a great place to start learning something new.  Sometimes you may have no idea where to start.  You know you want to make money online but you just don’t know what to start learning about first.  Books are great because you can flip through a few of them and get a better understanding of the subject without having to scavenge for information piecemeal.

After a bit of research, you’ll know exactly what books to track down and what subjects to focus on.  Once you pay for a book, it’s yours forever so they can also be great investments.  With the rise of e-readers, books are now cheaper and more portable than ever.

Better: Videos

Books are good, but some people are visual learners.  They need videos and demonstrations to really be able to wrap their minds around something.  Fortunately, there are tons of videos on the web that cover nearly every subject imaginable.  Some videos are made by professionals while others are created by amateurs.

There is a big difference in quality between these two different types of videos.  Professionals will be able to describe the intricacies of a subject while amateurs can only give a basic overview.  Keep in mind, as well, that many videos only show one person’s way of doing things.  They might not teach you a different method.

Best: Mentors

Mentors are, without a doubt, the absolute best way to learn something.  When you have a mentor you actually have a dedicated, professional teacher who can take you through every step of a process at a speed that works for you.  Since most mentors have years of experience in a certain subject, they are a treasure trove of information.

The biggest problem people run into, however, is that effective mentoring can often be rather expensive.  These are experienced professionals who can make plenty of money without needing to teach anything.  They become mentors because they want to help others, not because they need to.

A good mentor can help you get an online business up and running faster and more successfully than any other option.  If you’re worried about finding a good mentor or being able to pay them well, then you really need to look into my personal 1-on-1 coaching with one of my Top-Tier Coaches. All of my coaches are 6-figure earners and bona-fide online marketing experts—check it out!

Powerful Link-Building with YouTube

As you may or may not realize, YouTube is much more than a video-sharing website, it is the second-largest search engine in the world with over 1.6 billion searches per year. Because of this, it is a great way to get traffic to your website.

In this article, you will learn how to use YouTube videos to generate traffic.

The first step, like any other SEO project is to do keyword research. Once your keyword research is done, you can move on to creating your video. For maximum impact, you should make your video five minutes long, or longer.

Some ideas for video content are, how-to videos, product reviews or customer testimonials.

Once your video is created, it will be time to upload the video and add your keywords.

There are several places where you can put in your keywords:

  • In the video filename.
  • In the title of the video.
  • In the tags.
  • Inside the description.

A note about the description. You should write a description that is at least 200 words. Place your keywords in the description in a natural fashion. In other words, avoid keyword stuffing.

SEO for your Video

You should take a few steps to send traffic to your video. This will improve the ranking statistics for your video and ultimately send more traffic to you site, your ultimate goal.

Here are some great tips and tricks for driving traffic to a YouTube video.

Visit forums and Q&A sites and answer relevant questions and include a link back to the video. Make sure that you are adding value to the conversation.

Embed your video on your blog. This will help your video to rank better, since views from your website are counted in YouTube’s total.

Share your video on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Google+. You can also piggyback on other related, popular YouTube channels by adding your competitor’s channel name as a tag for your video. If you do this, your video is much more likely to get recommended as a related video when people watch videos on your competitor’s channel. Very clever.

One often-overlooked tool is the ‘featured video.’ You can use this setting to drive additional traffic to your high-priority videos. To do this, you’ll need to log into your YouTube dashboard. Then click on ‘Channel Settings.’ Next, select ‘In-Video Programming’ from the sideboard on the left. Look for ‘Featured Video.’ Then select the video that you want to feature, the start time, and then click ‘update.’

Many marketers underestimate the power of the second-largest search engine on the internet. With a little bit of knowledge, you can use YouTube videos to drive traffic to your website.

Monitoring the social media marketing landscape is vital to your success. If you’d like to have access to even more powerful marketing tips, as well as a way to generate conversion-ready Internet marketing prospects each month, click here to learn about my done-for-you system.