I mentioned the ULTIMATE PLAN [Link] was the first post on here recently - it's the next one down guys. For the social networkers - this post is UBER Important.
There's two videos you guys really have to see. If you just get your blog started now, and you just start interacting with one person... you'll grow big time, over time. It's like growing a tree - plant the seed now. It's not like growing a tree only because you've got to keep watering it like a flower, but if you're doing something you love...
Watch:
http://garyvaynerchuk.com/2008/08/05/content-and-community-how-to-build-a-good-show-on-the-internet/
Then watch:
http://garyvaynerchuk.com/2008/06/05/when-do-you-know-you-have-a-community/
Now for the optional videos - there's one here, and one in the post below this one: My Ultimate Plan
If your name is alex, dave, or steven, I highly recommend you goto Gary's blog and watch every video he's posted - it will take about 2 hours, but it's very worth it and inspiring and goes perfectly with the thirty day challenge.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
My Ultimate Plan
This is a while we're waiting kinda post - sometime in the fall I want to have the social networking challenge ready - but you never know when things will come to pass, so in the meantime, I'm posting up my ultimate plan.
I've had this plan for a while now, but I saw a video tonight that added a whole dimension to it I hadn't anticipated. After looking at the statistics of successful 30 day challengers (low), I'm beginning to think this plan could take a lot of time to come to completion.
The plan is fairly simple - have about 10 markets beginning PPC / 30DC testing at a time. Those that show promise get the majority of my time, and further testing and expansion is applied. A niche that does really well ends up going to different mediums of advertising and expands into a full thriving business, and is eventually outsourced so I can have the time to dedicate to the other markets.
The idea is that there is ALWAYS 10. And the total failures only make it about 10 days. I continually rotate markets in the search for ones that will show signs of a profitable niche. Eventually, I should end up with 2-4 major businesses that bring in all the money, and niches that turn into profitable businesses after that will mostly be given away (hence, my business inner circle.)
But, it could be a long and hard road. I expect a lot of big bumps in the road. And today was kind of a wake up call as I faced the statistics - and the fact that I have to get back to working for my dad again this week.
I got kind of the missing ingredient for my plan tonight... as obvious as it is, this guy said it with the right spirit. I'll be putting up one business a day for months, maybe years until I find some that I can expand. To keep doing something every day for a year, you need this spirit:
...and just to kill time, here's another video (test):
I've had this plan for a while now, but I saw a video tonight that added a whole dimension to it I hadn't anticipated. After looking at the statistics of successful 30 day challengers (low), I'm beginning to think this plan could take a lot of time to come to completion.
The plan is fairly simple - have about 10 markets beginning PPC / 30DC testing at a time. Those that show promise get the majority of my time, and further testing and expansion is applied. A niche that does really well ends up going to different mediums of advertising and expands into a full thriving business, and is eventually outsourced so I can have the time to dedicate to the other markets.
The idea is that there is ALWAYS 10. And the total failures only make it about 10 days. I continually rotate markets in the search for ones that will show signs of a profitable niche. Eventually, I should end up with 2-4 major businesses that bring in all the money, and niches that turn into profitable businesses after that will mostly be given away (hence, my business inner circle.)
But, it could be a long and hard road. I expect a lot of big bumps in the road. And today was kind of a wake up call as I faced the statistics - and the fact that I have to get back to working for my dad again this week.
I got kind of the missing ingredient for my plan tonight... as obvious as it is, this guy said it with the right spirit. I'll be putting up one business a day for months, maybe years until I find some that I can expand. To keep doing something every day for a year, you need this spirit:
...and just to kill time, here's another video (test):
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
The Social Networking Challenge is CLOSED - But Just For Now
Can you "close" a team?
So here's the "What Happened":
I encouraged every body to do the challenge... and...
Only one person really participated with me.
Problems?
1. The thirty day challenge is very entrepreneur based and it's hard for you guys to figure out how you could use the information.
2. It takes too long to watch all that video.
But, here's the reality:
1. You guys can use the information to do things you wouldn't have thought possible for yourself.
2. I can redesign and simplify the process.
My plan is to make 1 video. I'll be testing the material out first, and this could take a while... so it'll be on my time. This will be coming out sometime in the fall.
Now... WHY! Would I do this?
Sure it helps me to learn how I can network online... I am interested in this stuff as well... but those alone wouldn't make it worth it.
The reason I'm doing this is because it's an opportunity that needs to be presented. The stuff they showed me this year has never been seen before, and the web 2.0 / internet is just booming right now. This won't be available forever.
Even if no one takes me up on it... it still needs to be presented. Just the way I see things.
I'm going to copy and paste now my plans for a real "social networking challenge" from the email I sent out to my business inner circle.
QUOTE:
" The thirty day challenge was AMAZING for entrepreneurs... I plan on going into 2 MARKETS A DAY now that I have these tools... but it wasn't quite what I was expecting for the rest of you that were working on social networking yourself.
That doesn't mean there wasn't great web 2.0 training – it was just very search engine oriented. If you want to rank in the search engines – definitely check out the challenge when you get the chance. It'll be around.
If you still want to get yourself out there – don't worry, I'm coming back for my social networking team some time in the Fall. And instead of a crap load of videos most of you weren't ready to sit down and watch... I'll do all this for you in one video...
Here's what I'll show you how to do:
1. How to actually network socially in web 2.0 - and how to have more information on a topic than 95% of the people out there, flowing to you automatically AS-IT-HAPPENS. It takes SECONDS - and you'll be across an industry, and you'll have all the newest news and the biggest "WOW-facts". This would give you stuff to talk about (a must for networking) and I'll be showing you how to find people throughout web 2.0.
2. How you can use search engine traffic to socially network yourself in web 2.0.
3. How to get a website up and completely prepared to rank high (on google) for a keyword... within an hour of work on your part.
4. How to promote that site so that it will rank high in the search engine right off the bat (it'll be on Google within a few hours of creation) and so that it will climb in ranking over time. Part of that promotion is having articles which rank themselves, getting your site more power (because the articles have power from their ranking) and getting your site more visitors... because they click on your site from within the article. So far, we're up to only two hours of total work.
5. How to make your site very cool by adding videos, music, games, and awesome content to it (stumble upon)... so that people really check you out. This is the part that might take an extra hour or two.
6. And I'll share with you where you can take it from there.
I don't know if you followed this... but part of the point was the amount of time it takes. I think a lot of you aren't doing the challenge because it takes a lot of time... but the reality is, once you've learned the stuff (they REALLY drag it out) and you've done it once, you can have an amazing promoted site up and competing within a couple of hours.
I am literally going to research markets and compete within them at least twice a day. If you're not quite sure what that means- I'm going to be starting 2 businesses a day.
So... the whole challenge so far takes 2 hours to complete... and yet, there is over 10 hours of training to be watched. To me, that spells out UNNESSESSARY.. at least for you non-entrepreneuring social networkers. So I'll be coming back around for you guys. Just wanted you to know that – and this challenge isn't going to be entrepreneur-like – in particular, I plan on setting it up for musicians (Alex, I have something special I want to try with you, just remind me by saying "it had to do with NEWS").
And I'll test run it before I show it to you guys. So, at the very least, I'll be delivering the news that it doesn't work... or how well it does.
Keep checking your email this Fall,
James "
So here's the "What Happened":
I encouraged every body to do the challenge... and...
Only one person really participated with me.
Problems?
1. The thirty day challenge is very entrepreneur based and it's hard for you guys to figure out how you could use the information.
2. It takes too long to watch all that video.
But, here's the reality:
1. You guys can use the information to do things you wouldn't have thought possible for yourself.
2. I can redesign and simplify the process.
My plan is to make 1 video. I'll be testing the material out first, and this could take a while... so it'll be on my time. This will be coming out sometime in the fall.
Now... WHY! Would I do this?
Sure it helps me to learn how I can network online... I am interested in this stuff as well... but those alone wouldn't make it worth it.
The reason I'm doing this is because it's an opportunity that needs to be presented. The stuff they showed me this year has never been seen before, and the web 2.0 / internet is just booming right now. This won't be available forever.
Even if no one takes me up on it... it still needs to be presented. Just the way I see things.
I'm going to copy and paste now my plans for a real "social networking challenge" from the email I sent out to my business inner circle.
QUOTE:
" The thirty day challenge was AMAZING for entrepreneurs... I plan on going into 2 MARKETS A DAY now that I have these tools... but it wasn't quite what I was expecting for the rest of you that were working on social networking yourself.
That doesn't mean there wasn't great web 2.0 training – it was just very search engine oriented. If you want to rank in the search engines – definitely check out the challenge when you get the chance. It'll be around.
If you still want to get yourself out there – don't worry, I'm coming back for my social networking team some time in the Fall. And instead of a crap load of videos most of you weren't ready to sit down and watch... I'll do all this for you in one video...
Here's what I'll show you how to do:
1. How to actually network socially in web 2.0 - and how to have more information on a topic than 95% of the people out there, flowing to you automatically AS-IT-HAPPENS. It takes SECONDS - and you'll be across an industry, and you'll have all the newest news and the biggest "WOW-facts". This would give you stuff to talk about (a must for networking) and I'll be showing you how to find people throughout web 2.0.
2. How you can use search engine traffic to socially network yourself in web 2.0.
3. How to get a website up and completely prepared to rank high (on google) for a keyword... within an hour of work on your part.
4. How to promote that site so that it will rank high in the search engine right off the bat (it'll be on Google within a few hours of creation) and so that it will climb in ranking over time. Part of that promotion is having articles which rank themselves, getting your site more power (because the articles have power from their ranking) and getting your site more visitors... because they click on your site from within the article. So far, we're up to only two hours of total work.
5. How to make your site very cool by adding videos, music, games, and awesome content to it (stumble upon)... so that people really check you out. This is the part that might take an extra hour or two.
6. And I'll share with you where you can take it from there.
I don't know if you followed this... but part of the point was the amount of time it takes. I think a lot of you aren't doing the challenge because it takes a lot of time... but the reality is, once you've learned the stuff (they REALLY drag it out) and you've done it once, you can have an amazing promoted site up and competing within a couple of hours.
I am literally going to research markets and compete within them at least twice a day. If you're not quite sure what that means- I'm going to be starting 2 businesses a day.
So... the whole challenge so far takes 2 hours to complete... and yet, there is over 10 hours of training to be watched. To me, that spells out UNNESSESSARY.. at least for you non-entrepreneuring social networkers. So I'll be coming back around for you guys. Just wanted you to know that – and this challenge isn't going to be entrepreneur-like – in particular, I plan on setting it up for musicians (Alex, I have something special I want to try with you, just remind me by saying "it had to do with NEWS").
And I'll test run it before I show it to you guys. So, at the very least, I'll be delivering the news that it doesn't work... or how well it does.
Keep checking your email this Fall,
James "
Sunday, August 10, 2008
How to Make Great Ads
NOTE: The best way to make an Ad is to copy one that is effective already!!
BUILDING THE AD: Make an Irresistible Offer
Here's the table of contents and order of construction:
Every purchase is an investment: Hence, if I invest [what you want me to] I expect to get a really good return! All marketing (and even business) sums right down to this... so make sure it's an obviously good choice for them!
Key word: Obvious. If it's a great offer but they can't see it, it won't sell.
2 - Touchstone: How to say the offer...
Use Proof:
From a bird's eye view, selling is very simple. This was laid out by the grand master of selling, John Carlton:
1. Here's what I got. (Offer)
2. Here's what it will do for you. (Get the offer across to their life)
3. Here's what I want you to do next (be strait forward and hard. Confidence sells better than deals.)
1: "Here's what I got"
Here's how to make a compelling offer. Include all the following points:
Does it ...
* Make a Compelling Promise?
* Solve the Reader's Most Immediate Problem?
* Protect the Reader - With a Warning?
* Help the Reader Articulate Their Real Goal?
* Ask for ACTION!?
* Demonstrate the Ownership Experience?
It should do all of these - or at least the ones that are possible. The better you do them, the better the copy.
2. Here's what it will do for you.
Here's how to get your point across (getting the offer across to their life, so that no matter what personality type they are, they get why they'd want this in their life. This is extremely important, and only comes second because #1 catches their attention and interest.)
Answer each question:
1. Sales personality types - the motivators - ask,
WHY? (give the benefits)
2. Scholastic personality types - objective doers - ask,
WHAT FOR? (tell them what it'll do [what problems/frustrations it'll solve] & tell them what the results are.)
3. Technical personality types - how it works - ask,
HOW? (explain the system, show how everything is connected)
4. Advocate - focused on opportunities, creative, asks,
WHAT IF (show them how can you use it in other ways)
....
Now, it's also very important to answer these universal questions everyone always has before buying anything (yes! get these in the Ad IF YOU CAN... if you can't, just focus on the above, and maybe the most important question here)
The 12 Pre-Conversion Questions
1. Will it do what it says it will do?
2. Will it be easy for me to use?
3. Will it take a lot of my time to work?
4. Is this the only solution to my problem, or will it require
others?
5. What if it doesn't work?
6. What if something goes wrong?
7. Can I afford it?
8. What will my friends, family, or peers say?
9. Do I really need it?
10. Am I sure that I know enough about it?
11. Am I sure I know enough about the company selling it to me?
12. What if this is not the right version?
And no matter who they are, or what product they are buying -
those questions occur during their decision making process.
Please notice the following about those questions:
There are virtually no questions about the "up side" of
ownership. They're all based on Failure or Risk Scenarios.
Now I'll ask you the Sixty Four Thousand Dollar Question:
Are you letting your prospects into your sales process without
answering all of those questions?
-----
The points to cover in giving any presentation are then:
Part 3 of the carlton method, asking for action, should be strait forward enough. People can tell if something is worth getting based on how confident you are in it, so, when you ask for action, make sure to be really firm and validate why you believe they should.
And that's it! When you've got something good, this is all you need.
This works amazingly better when the thing is free. Give people free stuff to show them your value, but very importantly, win over their trust and get them accustomed to being sold. I plan on "selling" everything - whether or not it has anything to do with being sold.
AND THEN you get to the deeper copy writing elements – like being hypnotic etc
BUILDING THE AD: Make an Irresistible Offer
Here's the table of contents and order of construction:
- Develop an obviously high ROI for the prospect.
- Create a compelling touchstone.
- Make it believable.
Every purchase is an investment: Hence, if I invest [what you want me to] I expect to get a really good return! All marketing (and even business) sums right down to this... so make sure it's an obviously good choice for them!
Key word: Obvious. If it's a great offer but they can't see it, it won't sell.
2 - Touchstone: How to say the offer...
- Clear - Every line makes perfect sense, has a lot of meaning.
- Simple - EASY to understand.
- Immediacy - Cuts to the chase (benefit focused).
- Short (brevity) - Cut out all extra words and condense.
Use Proof:
- Social Proof: Testimonials from other people, the more you get in the better (picture, phone number, whatever else can add to it's realness.)
- Technical Proof: Tests that show it works, scientific stuff.
- Factual Proof...
- Have it endorsed by someone trustworthy in the industry or by a famous celebrity.
- Put it through qualified tests that people recognize.
- Use logic to show why the ROI is possible / why it just makes sense.
From a bird's eye view, selling is very simple. This was laid out by the grand master of selling, John Carlton:
1. Here's what I got. (Offer)
2. Here's what it will do for you. (Get the offer across to their life)
3. Here's what I want you to do next (be strait forward and hard. Confidence sells better than deals.)
1: "Here's what I got"
Here's how to make a compelling offer. Include all the following points:
Does it ...
* Make a Compelling Promise?
* Solve the Reader's Most Immediate Problem?
* Protect the Reader - With a Warning?
* Help the Reader Articulate Their Real Goal?
* Ask for ACTION!?
* Demonstrate the Ownership Experience?
It should do all of these - or at least the ones that are possible. The better you do them, the better the copy.
2. Here's what it will do for you.
Here's how to get your point across (getting the offer across to their life, so that no matter what personality type they are, they get why they'd want this in their life. This is extremely important, and only comes second because #1 catches their attention and interest.)
Answer each question:
1. Sales personality types - the motivators - ask,
WHY? (give the benefits)
2. Scholastic personality types - objective doers - ask,
WHAT FOR? (tell them what it'll do [what problems/frustrations it'll solve] & tell them what the results are.)
3. Technical personality types - how it works - ask,
HOW? (explain the system, show how everything is connected)
4. Advocate - focused on opportunities, creative, asks,
WHAT IF (show them how can you use it in other ways)
....
Now, it's also very important to answer these universal questions everyone always has before buying anything (yes! get these in the Ad IF YOU CAN... if you can't, just focus on the above, and maybe the most important question here)
The 12 Pre-Conversion Questions
1. Will it do what it says it will do?
2. Will it be easy for me to use?
3. Will it take a lot of my time to work?
4. Is this the only solution to my problem, or will it require
others?
5. What if it doesn't work?
6. What if something goes wrong?
7. Can I afford it?
8. What will my friends, family, or peers say?
9. Do I really need it?
10. Am I sure that I know enough about it?
11. Am I sure I know enough about the company selling it to me?
12. What if this is not the right version?
And no matter who they are, or what product they are buying -
those questions occur during their decision making process.
Please notice the following about those questions:
There are virtually no questions about the "up side" of
ownership. They're all based on Failure or Risk Scenarios.
Now I'll ask you the Sixty Four Thousand Dollar Question:
Are you letting your prospects into your sales process without
answering all of those questions?
-----
The points to cover in giving any presentation are then:
- Why you should buy
- How it will benefit you
- What this product will do
- What it will accomplish
- How it does what it does
- Creative things you can do with it
Part 3 of the carlton method, asking for action, should be strait forward enough. People can tell if something is worth getting based on how confident you are in it, so, when you ask for action, make sure to be really firm and validate why you believe they should.
And that's it! When you've got something good, this is all you need.
This works amazingly better when the thing is free. Give people free stuff to show them your value, but very importantly, win over their trust and get them accustomed to being sold. I plan on "selling" everything - whether or not it has anything to do with being sold.
AND THEN you get to the deeper copy writing elements – like being hypnotic etc
Friday, August 1, 2008
More for: The Getting of Ideas
I noticed something different from the video today and last year's video on "The Getting of Ideas".
This year, he's only mentioning looking at magazines.
First of all, if the concept of getting ideas is confusing to you because your not an entrepreneur or whatever, read the previous 2 blog posts to this one.
Second of all, consider this before using any of these resources I'm about to post: There is a reason Ed only wants us looking at magazines for ideas. He may actually release these resources later... but I think he may not... because magazine's are the most effective way to find profitable ideas. They are plugged into their markets, they've done all the surveys you'd never have time to do in 100 markets, and they show real world interests. You can use them to spawn the most ideas, and the best ideas.
Now that that has been said... here's some more resources for you guys to use in getting ideas within your area of interest or otherwise. Keep in mind that if you're struggling with your social networking category like guitar-rock, you can play entrepreneur and do the challenge as it was intended - because you'll learn a lot towards what you do want to do if you learn the challenge, and the best way to do this challenge is as it was intended.
Knock yourselves out.
This year, he's only mentioning looking at magazines.
First of all, if the concept of getting ideas is confusing to you because your not an entrepreneur or whatever, read the previous 2 blog posts to this one.
Second of all, consider this before using any of these resources I'm about to post: There is a reason Ed only wants us looking at magazines for ideas. He may actually release these resources later... but I think he may not... because magazine's are the most effective way to find profitable ideas. They are plugged into their markets, they've done all the surveys you'd never have time to do in 100 markets, and they show real world interests. You can use them to spawn the most ideas, and the best ideas.
Now that that has been said... here's some more resources for you guys to use in getting ideas within your area of interest or otherwise. Keep in mind that if you're struggling with your social networking category like guitar-rock, you can play entrepreneur and do the challenge as it was intended - because you'll learn a lot towards what you do want to do if you learn the challenge, and the best way to do this challenge is as it was intended.
Addictomatic: Inhale the Web
ClickBank Marketplace | Find ClickBank Products
CNET's Buzz Report with Molly Wood - CNET.com
Popular pages on del.icio.us
Depth Reporting: The Most Useful Web Sites for Reporters
ODP - Open Directory Project
http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/Dumm...All/index.html
eBay - Women's Clothing, Inside the Home, Cell Phone PDA Accessories items on eBay.com
eBay - The World's Online Marketplace
eBay Pulse: trends, hot picks, cool stuff and popular searches on eBay.com
eHow | How To Do Just About Everything!
Possible Error Detected
Furl > Most Popular
Gizmodo, the Gadget Guide
Google Catalogs
Google Product Search
Google Trends: Jun 28, 2008
Most viewed - Google Video
http://www.hobbieslist.com
Intute - the best Web resources for education and research
iVillage.com: Health, Beauty, Pregnancy, Entertainment and More
Lycos 50 - Lycos 50: Anne Hathaway, J-Lo & Kate Hudson
Mailing Lists Search Tool
Compare Prices On Any Product and Find the Best Deals Online Before You Buy with PriceRunner US
Retail news discussions and analysis. RetailWire ...Plug in. Free!
Technorati: Front Page
ThisWorld - ThisNext
Viral Video Chart - Top 20 Viral Videos
Categories - wikiHow
Portal:Contents/Lists of topics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Yahoo Answers (Advanced)
Yahoo! Shopping - Find Great Products Online, Compare, Shop & Save
Knock yourselves out.
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