Top Ten Social Media Resources from 2010

Yesterday Mashable.com released an amazing list of hundreds of social media resources from 2010. These resources include everything from YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Geo-location etc. For those of you who may not be familiar with Mashable.com, we highly recommend you check it out on a regular basis as it is a top social and digital media news source.

Below are my top ten resources from the list in no particular order (have to include a top ten list for my last blog post of the year!):

1. 4 Essential Traits for Social Media Success in Your Career
2. 3 Tips for Maximizing Engagement With Facebook “Likes” and “Shares”
3. A Field Guide to Using Facebook Places
4. How To: Add Captions To Your YouTube Videos
5. 4 Ways to Find Legal Music for Your YouTube Videos
6. How Social Media Has Changed Us
7. 10 Beautiful Social Media Infographics
8. How To: Boost Your SEO with a YouTube Channel
9. How To: Gain Twitter Influence
10. 5 Creative Uses for Crowdsourcing

Please leave a comment below with your top social media resources.

Wishing you a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

Image credit: webtreatsetc

InternetMarketingClub.org Presents Ten Golden Rules for Building an Awesome Association or Club

Join Jay Berkowitz, Founder of InternetMarketingClub.org, and Sheryl Cattell, VP Digital Marketing of Home Loans at Bank of America, as they present, “Ten Golden Rules for Building an Awesome Association or Club.” This Wednesday Webinar will explain how to build successful clubs, communities and associations including best practices and actionable tips.

This presentation will explain the following topics:

• Best practices for getting started
• Understanding how to build and nurture your board or volunteers
• Tips for recruiting sponsors
• Effectives methods for communicating with your members

This free webinar will take place Wednesday, December 29, 2010 12:30pmEST – 1:30pmEST. To register and for more information please visit: Ten Golden Rules for Building an Awesome Association or Club

TrafficWave - OceanSwell TEAM Update (#67)

I fell in love with TrafficWave early on in my Internet Marketing career.  Like everybody else who's first starting out, I kept reading and reading, and watching videos and watching videos, and spending money and spending money.  But the one thing I kept hearing - over and over again - was that I needed a 'list' and that would require something called an 'autoresponder'.  Therefore, I made it my mission in life to learn everything I could about both items.  And that's what brought me to TrafficWave and eventually inspired me to create the now-famous Team OceanSwell.

In my opinion, you're not serious about Internet Marketing unless you are using an autoresponder and building your list.  You also need your own website or blog (same thing) that receives search engine traffic on a daily basis.  But if you are intent upon building an affiliate downline, you should also be a part of a Team co-op.  It's silly not to.  As of Christmas 2010, the team ad link for my group has been seen almost 700,000 times.  Is that a 'lot'?  I don't know, but I can tell you that it's not enough.  Oh, it's been enough to create, grow and sustain Team affiliate downlines in TrafficWave and Global NPN, but it will need to be a LOT more in order to propel our idea to the next level.  However, 700,000 page hits is far more than any one individual can accomplish... and that's the awesome power of collective recruiting.

I have big plans for our Team in 2011 that will take that 700,000 number far higher.  Basically, our system isn't going to change.  We still have the 'rotator' concept, though it's now rolled into a revolving URL that promotes everyone continuously.  What's going to be new is the sheer volume of advertising that we are about to unleash after the first of the year.  If you're one of the ones who's quit (but still reads these updates), then you're going to miss out.  If you're one of those who 'gets it' and refuses to quit, you will be rewarded.  It's just that simple.  And remember, when Team Members quit, it simply shortens the number of people in the revolving team URL's - which increases the chances of receiving a new referral on any given day.

Speaking of rewards, this month's $40.00 cash bonus goes out to Ms. Norma Schella, who's been an OceanSwell Team member and active promoter for a long time.  She's also one of the smart ones who's asked for a unique & personal Team Ad to include in her promotions.  You can see it here (new window).  I am happy to provide one for any Team Member who asks.  This is important because it helps you get noticed more within the context of our Team promotion.  We have lots and lots of highly creative, focused and energetic people in Team OceanSwell.  We also have some who could (and should) be doing more to help themselves in a variety of ways.  So please take advantage of every opportunity to promote yourself.  You can't be timid and shy in this business and hope to hide behind your computer screen.  Be bold.  Get out there and say 'Hello' to the world with your blog, your emails, your forum posts and your ads.

Year's end is a time to take stock of where you're at and develop a fresh attitude for the coming year.  That's what I'm doing with regard to Team Oceanswell, and I know that everyone is going to be pleased.  But what about... you? 

"We don't see things as they are, we see things as we are." ~Anais Nin

The NEW Stress Free Salary?

In 2010, there was a system for promoting Teamwork Revolution Power System (TWRPS) called Stress Free Salary.  It's still around, by the way, and they've made quite a few improvements to it.  I've been including it in my promotions for a long time now and it's helped me build a nice little downline that (amazingly) keeps growing at a slow & steady pace.  Stress Free Salary wasn't and isn't a 'Team-Build', or any other form of collective recruiting.  It's simply a complete promotional system for building an affiliate downline with TWRPS, that's all.  The 'problem' with it is that the steps involved are apparantly too complicated for many who try to use it and they simply can't or won't follow the instructions.  At least, that's what I've noticed.

So what the creators of Stress Free Salary have done is to design a new and much simpler version for 2011, called TWR Power Team.  I think it's better, because it's simple - and simple is always best.  In case you've never heard of TWRPS, it's a web host that's packaged with other online marketing tools, much like Global NPN.  But it's intriguing because of it's 2x8 affiliate matrix structure that forces more matrix spill-over and pays eight(8) dollars per affiliate on level eight!  TWRPS is all about the level eight.  Some people really like that and some don't.  Like all of these affiliate programs, it just comes down to a matter of personal taste.

Anyway, if TWRPS has ever interested you, and/or you like the idea of turn-key promotion systems that don't ask you to think, then this NEW TWR Power Team promo may be what you've been searching for.  It can't hurt to look, right?

How to Make the Most Out of Twitter for Businesses

Last week Twitter announced the revamp of their Twitter site dedicated to business users, Business.Twitter.com. The site provides a dedicated resource for learning Twitter basics and best practices, how to optimize your Twitter activity and advertisement opportunities for businesses. The newly revamped website does a great job in providing this information in an easy to understand format. If you are looking for additional details in utilizing Twitter advertising or simply tips for enriching your community/following, this site proves to outline just that.

One main advertisement feature that really appeals to me is that Twitter is building out the ability to track performance via an analytics dashboard (real-time). Without this performance tracking capability, I wouldn’t be interested in exploring their advertisement opportunities (or at least until tracking was enabled). Although many of their promoted features are in beta, you can still express your interest to obtain further updates.

Twitter encourages you to follow @TwitterBusiness to keep up with the latest on how brands, businesses, schools, and community groups are using Twitter.

How is your business making the most out of Twitter?

InternetMarketingClub.org Presents Re-Do of Lining Up Your Stars for a Successful Webinar

Ugh - We had an amazing webinar and it did not record, we will re-do the webinar for this Wednesday Webinar, if you missed it please join in!

Join Jay Berkowitz, Founder of InternetMarketingClub.org, and Gaylene Van Dusen of the Internationally known ChorusCall.com, as they present, “Lining Up Your Stars for A Successful Webinar.” This webinar will give you the confidence you need to deliver a successful webinar with a solid understanding of webinar best practices.

This presentation will explain the following topics:

• Proven Methods for defining your webinar objectives
• What is the difference between a webinar and a webcast?
• How to take advantage of the technical features
• Fundamental Tactics for planning your webinar presentation
• Delivering a remarkable webinar performance with helpful tools

This free webinar will take place Wednesday, December 22, 2010 12:30pmEST – 1:30pmEST. To register and for more information please visit: Re-Do of Lining Up Your Stars for a Successful Webinar

Understanding Facebook Facial Recognition

Facebook states 99% of people using Facebook have uploaded at least one photo; more than 100 million photos are uploaded every day. With this in mind, Facebook has now announced it will soon upgrade its ‘Facebook Photos’ feature with their facial recognition technology. Vice President of Product for Facebook, Chris Cox, explains "We wanted to make our Photos product not suck. The addition of facial recognition is another step in that overhaul.”

Facebook has posed this feature as an upgrade to the manual process of uploading and tagging photos. Basically, Facebook’s recognition technology will automatically suggest friends within photos when the technology is confident enough to provide suggestions. This feature called, Tag Suggestions, is an attempt to simplify Facebook photo tagging as Chris Cox described. It’s important to note, you can opt-out of being auto-suggested. To do this simply go into your privacy settings and disable the feature “Suggest Photos of Me to Friends”.

Do you feel this feature is a benefit or simply another privacy concern?

image credit: smanography

What would you like to learn more about?

It is a busy time of the year for us all with holiday parties, 2011 planning and lots of visits with family and friends. So I’ll be quick.



I am writing today because I want to create a new video. I’d like to know what internet marketing topic you’d be most interested in learning more about? Would you like to learn about search or social media? Are you more interested in corporate topics or personal branding … something I’m calling ‘monetizing yourself’?

Do you want the basics or would you prefer a deep dive into advanced strategies?

Are there any challenges keeping you up at night that I may be able to answer? What is the ideal solution you are looking for?

Please comment on this blog with the video topics you'd like to learn about! I look forward to getting your replies and based on the comments I will begin preparing the new video in the next couple weeks!

InternetMarketingClub.org Presents Becoming Badass! Strategies to Build Your Online Reputation

Join Jessica Kizorek, Founder of the Badass Business Women movement, as she presents, “Becoming Badass! Strategies to Build Your Online Reputation.” The Internet is overflowing with experts, newsletters, white papers, websites and Facebook fan pages. The sheer amount of data is overwhelming, and chances are your messages are blending in.

Unless, that is, you have a personality. A BIG personality.

It’s not about being loud and obnoxious. But it is about being authentic, animated, and larger than life.

As a business professional there’s a certain protocol: Be professional. Be appropriate. “Let your hair down” after work, not from 9-5. Badass Business Women embodies the opposite. We encourage men and women alike to be outrageously self-expressed. We give you the freedom to be yourself. We challenge you to throw your personality into your business. Business is no longer about fitting in. It’s about standing out.

This presentation will cover the following topics:

• Defining your edge
• Attracting attention in a crowded marketplace
• Authentically providing value
• Serving others vs. Selling
• Seducing your prospects into falling in love with you
• Why "bigger" is better

Jessica Kizorek is an adjunct professor at the Miami Ad School, the author of 5 books, a public speaker, consultant, and video producer. Professionally, she trains businesses to build profound relationships with the people who matter most. She also travels the world producing documentary films for non-profit organizations and being a regular correspondent for CNN.

This free webinar will take place Wednesday, December 15, 2010 12:30pmEST – 1:30pmEST. To register and for more information please visit: Becoming Badass! Strategies to Build Your Online Reputation

How often should I email my list?

So you're using TrafficWave and some excellent pre-built squeeze pages from adkreator to build your opt-in contact list.  Excellent.  That's what you should be doing!  But then the question arises, 'How often should I email my list?'  Your relationship with your subscribers, what you share with them and the style with which you do it  are critical, as far as making money in your home business is concerned.  But in particular, this post is really centered on one aspect:  frequency of mailing

There are a lot of opinions on this subject, and mine isn't necessarily better than anyone else's.  I'll give you an example.  I get a few new subscribers a day through the OceanSwell Team Ads, but I also probably lose one subscriber a day as well.  Do I care?  Not really.  They weren't going to do anything anyway and the purpose of acquiring my list (at least this particular one) is to explain our Team co-op, provide marketing tips for Team Members, make notifications about Team Updates and similar things.  Very rarely, I will broadcast an idea/biz-opp of some sort, but it's related to helping Team Members with TrafficWave (or in some other way) 99% of the time.  But that's an important thing to remember when broadcasting to your list - i.e. what brought them in to begin with?  Any messages you send out should generally be on that subject alone, or you risk running people off.  That's why, over time, you will likely end up having multiple 'lists'.

Some people believe that you should never broadcast at all, and that your autoresponder should do all the work.  They'll set up an AR series that runs for a year!  They'll never send a single broadcast.  For the most part, I think that's what I tend to do.  The upside to this is that it's pretty much a hands-free process that runs on autopilot.  With your messages spaced out every few days or once a week, you're less likely to drive people away than with relentless sales messages.

Other people take the exact opposite view.  Their take on it is since everyone else is blasting offers every day, so should you.  Otherwise, your competition will get the sale first!  I believe that this approach is better suited to mass lead-generation techniques aimed at generic 'bizz opp seekers', rather than those who subscribe for a specific reason.  Personally, I don't like it because it's the equivalent of clear-cutting a forest or strip-mining the side of a mountain.  It's also bad for the industry as a whole.  Not that anyone cares... which they don't.  You may win now, but not in the long term.  You’ll burn through your list fast with high unsubscribe and complaint rates - which ultimately can get you blocked by major ISPs. Generally the practitioner of this hard-ball tactic lives and dies by their lead flow.  Because if it drops from one month to the next, so will their quick-turn profits.

The third approach is obviously some combination of the first two.  You'll have a baseline autoresponder sequence and commit to bi-weekly or weekly broadcasts as well.  Some marketers, such as myself, also like to do a personal welcome message, outside of the AR sequence.  In my humble opinion, this is better than the first two ideas alone for the beginning entrepreneur.

Honestly, I think the main thing is to be consistent and stay on topic with both your AR series and inter-mediate broadcast messages.  It's my opinion that daily sales messages are a big mistake, but that's just my opinion.  This is a post that I'd really welcome comments on.

TrafficWave - OceanSwell TEAM Update (#66)

Global NPN was chosen as a second program for the Team Oceanswell co-op because of it's remarkable purity as an MLM-style affiliate program. Speaking strictly from the MLM side of it alone, Global NPN is excellent.  For one thing, the company (and ownership) has a great reputation and has been around a long time. That's really, really important for major promotions! Secondly, the affiliate pay plan is easy to understand, it's easy to get into profit fast and it's also scalable. Because of it's simplicity, it was (and remains) the perfect compliment to the primary affiliate program of Team OceanSwell, which is (of course) TrafficWave.

But in the past month or so, a few issues have arisen that need to be addressed and/or cleared up. First and foremost is the very nature of the Team OceanSwell idea itself. We're over a year old now, and have evolved considerably in a number of ways.  So much has changed (and contiues to) that about the only thing that binds us all together is the name (Team OceanSwell), the general idea of the Team Ad/Team Rotator system, our core programs (TrafficWave and Global NPN) and the fact that we are all in the same downlines.  Other than that, there are numerous Teams within the Team.  It can be confusing, I admit!  But in order to keep these Rotator lists from becoming too long, we have routinely broken up into smaller groups over the past year.  Besides me, there are other well-known Team Leaders as well.  But as these sub-teams are formed, they also tend to evolve on their own.  That is why Didi runs her team differently than I do and Terrence says different things in his ads then I do.  We're different people with different ideas.  The problem arises, though, when Didi's methods get confused with mine or somebody reads a letter that Terrence wrote and thinks he got it from me.  We are different teams within a larger team, understand?

Think of it like car dealerships.  They can all be General Motors dealers, but they will run their businesses in very different ways!

The other thing I want to address here is the fact that some people will join our Team-Build for Global NPN and then quit.  I get lots and lots of emails from people upset that they've lost downline members and want to know 'what I'm going to do about it' or 'how I'm going to make it up to them'.  The answer to both questions should be obvious, but here it is anyway:  I'm not going to do anything other than what I've been doing, I am doing and will continue to do.  And that is promote our Team Ads and Team URL links anywhere and everywhere I can, and in every conceivable way.  What I would like to know is, why don't more people do the same thing?  The Team-Build co-op can only do so much, so fast... and I am only one person and there are only 24 hours in a day.  There is nothing stopping any Team Member from making their own squeeze/splash pages, creating their own website, blog, etc.

If you have a downline in Global NPN, then good for you!  There are many Team Members who are still waiting for their turn through the Rotator.  They don't want to hear about your lost referrals and neither do I.  I just don't have the time for it, and I can't spend all day answering emails.  There is no time.  If you have a downline already, then you - yes, you - should be doing everything in your power to maintain and grow it.  That involves energy, creativity and (above all else) leadership.  The system obviously works, otherwise nobody would have referrals to begin with.  But if the Rotator placed new Team Members beneath you, then you've had your turn and my PRIORITY is working for those who haven't had their turn yet.  That's only fair, right?  Would you expect something different?

And the fact that people join and then quit isn't such a bad thing.  I audit the Rotator on a weekly basis (which is a big job in itself) and dead accounts get dropped by NPN after 60 days of idle status.  That means that the Rotator list shortens for those who stick around and you can suddenly get new downline members from the action of compression and spillover within the matrix.

Last but not least, there is some confusion about whether or not being a TrafficWave affiliate is a pre-requisite to joining the Team-Build for Global NPN.  For my group, it isn't.  But Didi may have a different rule for her organization.  As far as Team OceanSwell is concerned, we are all one big Global NPN team.  But there are teams within the team, acting and promoting in different ways.  Please remember that.  Also, remember that (so long as you are part of this team) there is nobody on earth working harder to help you than I am - every single day of the week.

"If thou workest at that which is before thee, following right reason, seriously, vigorously, calmly, without allowing anything else to distract thee, but keeping thy divine part pure as if thou shouldest be bound to give it back immediately,--if thou boldest to this, expecting nothing, fearing nothing, but satisfied with thy present activity according to nature, and with heroic truth in every word and sound which thou utterest, thou wilt live happy. And there is no man who is able to prevent this."  ~ MARCUS ANTONINUS.

#newTwitter: Twitter Now Enriched Further With Multimedia Content

Are you finding that the new Twitter interface has tremendously improved? Personally, I’m really taking a liking to the new interface. This week Twitter announced the release of additional multimedia features (aside from YouTube, Flickr, Ustream and iTunes) with many more content partnerships planned within the next few months.

Below is the list Twitter just released:

• blip.tv: Watch more than 50,000 independently-produced Web TV shows.
• Instagram: View mobile photos, personalized with Instagram’s colorful filters.
• Rdio: When a subscriber Tweets out a song, Rdio members can listen to full-length songs right inside the details pane, for the first time ever. All other Twitter users will hear 30 second song previews.
• SlideShare: Read and share entire presentations, directly on Twitter.
• Dipdive: See photos, videos and new works from Dipdive's community of artists.

As Twitter continues to evolve, users can now continue to supplement their tweets with multimedia rich content. This should only further motivate you to continue to build your brand’s Twitter presence as you can provide more relevant and valuable content to your community.

Plus, let’s not forget that your Twitter presence is now becoming more important in how well you rank in regular web search.

Have you started using these features?

Image credit: Ronin691

What's the trick to making safelists work?

Do safelists really work?  Yes, they do.  But if they aren't working for you, then I can virtually guarantee what your two problems are.  There are really only two reasons why you aren't getting more (or anything at all) from your safelist marketing efforts:

1)  You've got a bad email.

2)  Your link doesn't go to a capture page.

Like their cousins, Traffic Exchanges, safelists can be very tedious, time-consuming and even completely worthless.  But getting consistent results with safelists isn't terribly hard.  You just need to know what to do, and then be willing to put in the up-front work before you start marketing.  This is where most people will probably stop reading this post, because I said that dreaded word, 'work'.  But it is necessary to get your email ad crafted properly, your capture page set up correctly and have a well-sculpted AR series behind it before you ever start advertising!  And you know what?  It might just take you a week or two in order to get it all set up and ready.  Let it take as long as it takes because you'll waste a whole lot more time than that if you don't.

First of all, let's talk about the email itself.  The very first thing to remember about safelists is that you are marketing to other marketers!  Don't bother trying to get them to join your program through a link to an affiliate page.  And whatever you do, don't load up the subject line with hype.  If this is the way you are using safelists, it's a big part of the reason why the results you are seeing have been slow or non-existent.  Nobody cares about your 'Get rich in 30 days' headline and nobody wants to join your program.  They want you to join theirs!  There are important exceptions to this, however.  People will join your program if - IF - you can show them a plan and a system for using and promoting it as an affiliate.  That's what other marketers want.  They want tools and systems that work.  But explaining your approach to a particular company's program is more than you can (or should) do in a single email.  That is why the link in your ad should go to a page with your TrafficWave capture form.  In short, what you want to do is take the prospect out of the safelist and place her or him in front of YOUR message on a regular basis, and in an automated way.  That's why the autoresponder is so critical to email marketing.  It's also why 97% of 'Internet Marketers' fail.  They never bother to learn how to use it.

Anyway, getting back to the email itself...

Your message will get opened, read and acted upon far more often if the subject line and text are written correctly.  Rule #1:  Make it a conversational style.  In other words, write the headline and the text as if you were talking to someone at a lunch counter.  Speak the words out loud, so that you are writing in the way that you would talk to somebody in person.  If you wouldn't say something in a natural way (to a real person sitting beside you), then don't write it!

Secondly, get to the point fast.  Tell the reader what you want them to do, what the defined benefit is for doing it and then tell them how you've made it easy for them to do it.  If you need some examples, just email me at twoceanswell@hotmail.com and I can help you out.  And if you simply can't create a capture page that gives a compelling reason to opt-in, adkreator has a plethora of splendid templates and all of the work has been done for you.

So that's it.  Take the TIME to learn about effective email sales copy, create a compelling lead-capture page and back it with a persuasive autoresponder series.  Do these three things (and do them well) and I promise that your fortunes will change when it comes to safelist advertising.

InternetMarketingClub.org Presents On-Page Optimization: Myths, Truths and Tricks, Shining Some Light In Places That Need It…

Join Damon Abramson, Director of Search for TenGoldenRules.com, as he presents, “On-Page Optimization: Myths, Truths and Tricks ~ Shining Some Lights In Places That Need It…” This webinar will explain the SEO strategy of on-page optimization, shining light on advanced on-page optimization tactics and best practices.

This presentation will cover the following topics:

• How relevant is on-page optimization?
• Copy keyword density; Is it still relevant?
• Understanding how much is too much with keyword density
• Does the positioning of content affect rankings?
• How does the optimization of copy overall affect my rankings?

This free webinar will take place Wednesday, December 8, 2010 12:30pmEST – 1:30pmEST. To register and for more information please visit: On-Page Optimization: Myths, Truths and Tricks

New LinkedIn Share Button

As a business professional engaging in social media, LinkedIn is absolutely one site you want to establish your presence on. LinkedIn has over 85 million members in over 200 countries with a variety of expertise levels. You can even find executives from all Fortune 500 companies on the site. LinkedIn is geared towards business professionals connecting one another, maintaining business relationships and affording the ability to make new business connections. Incredibly, a new member joins LinkedIn approximately every single second!

Similar to Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon etc, LinkedIn has now launched their own “share” button. Offered in three orientations, vertical count, horizontal count and no count, the question now remains will it gain popularity as the other sharing buttons so late in the game.

Will you be implementing the button on your site?

E-Mail ad copy that produces sales

If email marketing is at the core of your affiliate sales business (as it should be!), then what you are dealing with is percentages.  If you're getting a 1% response rate and, from that, a 5% conversion rate, then what you want is for those percentages to go UP!  Simple, right?  But how do you do that?  Why is that one email sent to 2,000 opt-in leads generates one kind of response and a different email ad achieves far better results?

One word:  EMOTION

You can do 'OK' by simply presenting all of the sensible & logical reasons why a product or should be purchased and used.  That makes sense when you're selling, say... a vacuum cleaner.  But when you are prospecting for new affiliates in money-makers like TrafficWave and Global NPN, it takes more than that.  In fact, there's a little secret to it.  You have to appeal to the reader's emotions.  Naturally, there's a right way and a wrong way to do that.

Think of it this way: unless your prospect has a broken leg and you're the only doctor for miles around, she or he doesn't really 'need' whatever it is you're selling.  While human beings 'want' many things, we only truly need food, clothing and shelter... and damned little else.  So how do you sell something that nobody really needs?  You do it by communicating how it will make them FEEL.  For example, feeling 'secure', 'worry-free', 'independent', 'attractive', 'loved', 'in control of your life' and so on are powerful emotional appeals.

So when you're writing your email sales copy, always remember the appeal to emotion.  Another good example is the fear of loss.  Nobody wants to 'miss out' on something that's potentially life-changing.  Just remember that satisfying emotional needs should be the general focus of your sales copy.  I promise that if you do it correctly, it will multiply your response rates.  Ramp up the intensity of your message by targeting the part of your prospect's psyche that is actually making the purchase decision, and you will make more sales.  What I mean to say is that you must ensure that every benefit you offer... every "reason why" you present... connects directly with your prospects' strongest emotions.  If you're not sure what they are, the Seven Deadly Sins are a good place to start because that's raw, basic human nature.

Now there's a delicate balance between a strong appeal to emotion and the same-old, overblown hype that everyone routinely ignores.  That is why your email sales letters need to be carefully crafted works of art.  Even if it's a 20 letter series in your TrafficWave autoresponder, each and every one of them needs to be a psychological masterpiece.  Just do it right.  There's no need for false, misleading, or unbelievable advertising claims.  Falling into that mental rut has been the undoing of many otherwise savvy marketers. If any component of your sales message is less than believable, more prospects will be turned off than will buy. And if your product doesn't live up to your sales message, those who do become customers will be one-time customers only.  They'll never believe you again and that's the WORST thing that you can do.

Just remember that the gut has long been considered the 'second brain', because that's where your emotions come from and it's where and why a lot of buying decisions get made.  Remember that when you're writing or revising your best email sales letters!

35 Hours of YouTube Content is added every minute and more great Stats from Web 2.0 Presentation

Mary Meeker gave a great presentation at Web 2.0, here’s a few summary points and the link to the presentation:

- There are 1.8 Billion Global Internet Users 384 MM in China, 240 MM in the US
- 670 MM 3G Mobile Internet Subscribers Worldwide Top market is US with 136.6 MM 48% 3G penetration, followed by Japan with 106.3 MM and 96% 3G penetration
- Facebook 620MM users, Tencent in China 637 MM active IM users
- Smartphones to pass PC Shipments in 2012 (to almost 500 Million units shipped)
- Global Internet Ad Revenue up to $54 Billion in 2009
- Facebook Fan Pages with most ‘Likes’ Texas Hold’em Poker (Zygna) 27.2 Million fans, Facebook 25.2 Million, YouTube 19.6 Million, Starbucks 16.9 Million, Coca-Cola 16.7 Million
- Twitter has 102 Million users, Oprah now has 4.5MM Twitter followers, Britney Spears 6.3 Million, Ashton Kutcher has 6.1 Million still most popular
- Social Networks passed Portals for most online Display ad Units with 27% share (but a low $.55 CPM)
- Online now accounts for ~ 5% of all retail sales
- 35 Hours of YouTube Content is added every minute!
- Apple has a $290B market valuation, guess the name of #4 with $41B (Tencent – China)
- A final piece of good news – 92% Plan to celebrate a Major winter holiday (Christmas, Channukah, Kwanzaa)

Consumers - Don't Just Think 1st Position Is Best

When shopping online this holiday season buyer beware. A customer purchased eyeglasses and was sent the wrong pair along with being over charged. After complaining, the owner of the business harassed her and threatened her. Just because the business ranks #1 in the search engines, consumers must do their research on the company they are buying from. This man loves the negative publicity and welcomes it, even links to the complaints from the Facebook page to several compliant websites that call the company a fraud.

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

InternetMarketingClub.org Presents Conversion Design for Websites, How to Design Your Website So Your Visitors Convert to Customers

Join Margie Schneider, VP Operations of TenGoldenRules.com, as she presents “Conversion Design for Websites ~ How to Design Your Website So Your Visitors Convert to Customers.” During this webinar, you will learn about the convergence of website usability and internet marketing as we explore how to build and design your website so that your visitors will convert themselves into customers.

This presentation will explain the following topics:

• Understanding the difference in utilizing landing pages versus web pages
• Defining and tracking conversions on your website
• Successfully using funnel tracking to identify issues
• Ad hoc crowd sourcing/usability testing

This free webinar will take place Wednesday, December 1, 2010 12:30pmEST – 1:30pmEST. To register and for more information please visit: Conversion Design for Websites

Will Diaspora Be The One?

We first started hearing about the Diaspora project several months ago, as this week the site officially began sending out invites. Diaspora prides itself on three aspects: Choice, Ownership and Simplicity. As a Diaspora user, you have complete granular control over every aspect of your information including who sees your info, the ownership of it and the ease of maintaining this privacy. So, will it be the one to trump Facebook?

Only time will tell if Diaspora can take on the giant, but according to Pete Cashmore Founder and CEO of Mashable.com, it seems highly doubtful. Nonetheless, I’m still interested to see how this site develops. A little competition is always helpful in product refinement and improvement. Even though Diaspora may not be the one to give Facebook that competition, perhaps it paves the way for another contender.

Will you be signing up with Diaspora?

TrafficWave - OceanSwell TEAM Update (#65)

Team building for TrafficWave is my passion.  That's because, in 'My Internet Marketing Journey', I have learned the true value of an autoresponder and how precious of an asset your opt-in email contact list really is.  I didn't know it before, but I know it now.  But more than that, I've come to realize the power of collective-recruiting and what Napoleon Hill always referred to as 'your mastermind group'.  That's because (in my opinion) you cannot succeed in an MLM-style affiliate sales program without being part of an organized team.  That doesn't guarantee quick success, but it does guarantee a legitimate chance at it.  You have to put yourself in a position to win before you'll ever have a shot at victory.

You see, when you are running a business you can count your assets.  Your building, your inventory, your established customer base, your name recognition & good will, your un-collected receipts, and so on, are all assets.  Online, it's similar in some ways, though quite different in others.  For example, your email subscriber list is a major asset.  If you are a part of Team OceanSwell, then having the entire Team working for you is definitely an asset as well.  In any business, your assets are a measure of your success, your worth and your potential.  Unfortunately, most people who fancy themselves to be Internet Marketers simply don't think about these assets... or even care about them.  They don't don't want to 'build a list'.  It's too much work and too much trouble.  They don't want to join Team OceanSwell or stick around long enough for it to help them.  It just 'takes too long'.  I work in a hospital and I see it there too.  People come in with chronic illnesses and expect a quick fix via a 'pill' or something.  That, and they expect fast miracles from the medical staff (and sometimes get very angry when it doesn't happen).  It just isn't reality - i.e. that thing that nobody wants to accept. 

I believe in having a personal philosophy and mine has evolved from reading biographies.  I like quotes too, and General George Patton has some that I like.  One of them (speaking about himself) was, "I am the master of the possible."  So what does that mean?  It means that if it can get done, he'll make it happen.  But if it isn't possible, then don't bitch about it.

That's what each of needs to become; 'a master of the possible'.  Did you know that this blog receives about 30-50 unique visitors from around the world on a daily basis because of it's content and page-depth?  It's true, but it didn't happen overnight.  Do you also notice that the links to TrafficWave (and Global NPN) are the rotating Team URL's and not mine (though I am in the Rotator too)?  Do you think that's a valuable aspect of being part of my Team?  These blog posts don't write themselves.  I do it for you - ME.  By the way, do you think it's possible that you could create a blog of your own like this one?  Of course it is.  As a demonstration, my buddy (Jeff) & I have created a generic Internet Marketing blog that you can see here:

Home Business Ideas for the 21st Century

Take a look at this thing.  Right up at the top, there is a banner that links to our Team URL for Global NPN.  In fact, there are links to Global NPN and TrafficWave throughout, and all of them (without exception) link to the Team URL's, rather than Jeff's or mine alone.  That means that, so long as you are part of the Team, that blog is working for you 24/7, 365 days a year.  That blog is going to grow, and grow and grow.  In 2011, even more are coming!  That's what I'm talking about by 'mastering the art of the possible'.  We also threw Amazon & click-bank stuff in there too to show everyone how to set up a blogger.com site like this and what you can do with it.  This is something that everyone who is reading this can do.  Did you know that blogger.com will give you stats on how many visitors your site is receiving and from where?  It will even give you the keyword searches used to find your site!  That's another asset.

Last, but not least, I want to recognize a loyal Team Member and good promoter, Mr. Bud Hall.  This month, he receives the $40.00 cash bonus to help with his marketing efforts - yet one more benefit of being a member of the now-famous Team OceanSwell.  If you're reading this and still haven't joined us yet, what in the world are you waiting for?

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.  Take a break from Internet Marketing, enjoy the feast and the time off.  We are going to have a very good 2011...

InternetMarketingClub.org Presents Website Lab Webinar

Join Jay Berkowitz, Founder of InternetMarketingClub.org, as we step into the Mad Scientist’s website analysis laboratory in our featured Wednesday Webinar, “Website Lab.” This webinar invites attendees to submit your websites for review by Jay Berkowitz and the TenGoldenRules.com team.

This presentation will explain the following topics:

• Understanding how to adhere to standard web conventions
• Advanced Tactics for Improving the User Experience
• Proven Strategies to Successfully Optimize your Website for the Search Engines
• Best Practices for Website Usability

To submit your websites, please message Jay Berkowitz through the InternetMarketingClub.org.

This free webinar will take place Wednesday, November 24, 2010 12:30pmEST – 1:30pmEST. To register and for more information please visit: Website Lab

Reputation Scores for Twitter Users

Mashable recently posted a really interesting article about reputation scores on Twitter. This post states, Federated Media’s John Battelle posed the question to Evan Williams, how does Twitter determine who to suggest in the Who to Follow section? And according to Williams, Twitter calculates a reputation score for every user which the company uses internally and that it may become part of Twitter’s public-facing features at some point.

So this makes you think – how can you improve your brand’s clout on Twitter? Although we do not know the algorithm behind Twitter’s reputation scores, one thing is definite; your reputation on Twitter will undoubtedly improve if you provide value to the community. Don’t just use your Twitter stream as a one-way broadcast. Engage with your followers, provide them with value that is RT worthy and throw in a few laughs for them every once in a while.

How do you believe Facebook differs in assessing your influence?

Image credit: 7son75

Facebook launches 'Deals' - a version of Foursquare with offers

Facebook has just launched 'Deals'. Deals adds a significant feature to another service they recently introduced 'Facebook Places' - Deals gives businesses the opportunity to reward customers when they check in on Facebook.

Check-ins have become a popular type of Social Networking. The leading check-in site is Foursquare and another competitor is GoWalla. When you 'check in' at a location you are telling your friends in the social network where you are. Read about some user experiences on Foursquare and GoWalla here and for more info check into a book by my friends Craig Agranoff and Herb Tabin Checked In Book.


Learn how to create Facebook Deals with this free eBook














The risk/opportunity with any new social networking concept is that you need a mass amount of users to make make the network 'social'. If I check in and I have no friends in the network it isn't much fun. If I tweet and I have no followers I am not going to get many replies. So, for the new concepts it is critical for them to gain a lot of users to prevent Facebook or another big network from adding the functionality and eliminating the need for the new service. Do we need to Tweet if all our friends can see our Facebook 'updates'? And will we check in on Foursquare if checking in on Facebook may give us a 'deal' from the merchants?

According to Facebook here's the scoop on Deals:

"Deals gives businesses the opportunity to reward customers when they check in on Facebook, and this helps generate awareness, encourage in-store traffic and build customer loyalty. In addition, if someone checks in to a business that is offering a deal, their friends have the opportunity to hear about it through word of mouth marketing that is generated naturally on Facebook."

InternetMarketingClub.org Presents Google Places and Optimizing for the Local Business Results

Join Scott Gallagher, Founding Faculty Member of Local Marketing Source, as he provides a thorough review of the current components in Google Places, key factors influencing Local Business Results and successful strategies for a local business to obtain top rankings.

This presentation will explain the following topics:

• Detailed review of Google Local Business Results
• Understanding Local Business Results vs Organic Results
• Complete overview of Google Places
• Best Practices for using Google Places for a local business

Scott Gallagher is also the owner of CCS, a leading online marketing agency serving local businesses. For over 12 years Scott Gallagher has provided consulting and online marketing services to hundreds of businesses with annual revenues up to $50 million. Scott has become a recognized expert in the rapidly growing field of local internet marketing and frequently publishes articles and conducts training seminars focused on using email marketing, search engine optimization and social media to reach a targeted local audience.

This free webinar will take place Wednesday, November 17, 2010 12:30pmEST – 1:30pmEST. To register and for more information please visit: Google Places and Optimizing for the Local Business Results

What’s Your YouTube Strategy?

YouTube is continuously growing and evolving with the popularity of online videos. What’s your brand’s video and YouTube strategy? Video should absolutely be a part of your social media strategy as many would argue video is the way of the future.

Last summer YouTube announced it extended its video time limits from 10 minutes to 15 minutes. YouTube is now announcing its users are uploading over 35 hours of video per minute. Yes, per minute. That is up from their announcement last March of 24 hours of video uploaded per hour.

This growth is shown in the chart below from SocialTimes.com:


Establishing a YouTube Channel for your brand and filming videos does not have to be an expensive production either. With such a large user base on YouTube, are you harnessing its power for your brand?

Facebook Will Start Email Service To Compete With Gmail

According to reports at TechCrunch and ZDNet, Facebook will be releasing an email service to compete with Gmail, Hotmail and all the other web based email services. The team at Facebook is calling this the “Gmail Killer.” Rumors have it, people will have an @Facebook email address.

Yahoo News writer, Jeff Van Camp, writes how “Facebook is used to operating in a closed environment.” Now, the company “will have to allow people outside Facebook to contact people inside Facebook.”

Will you want another email address, another log in, another password to remember? Will my username change, what will my login email be? These are all questions that will be answered very soon, and with over 500 million users, I’m sure it will catch on.

Facebook Bejeweled Blitz Addicting

For those who are not aware Facebook has an application that is called Bejeweled Blitz. This is a one off of the popular game Bejeweled that was created by Pop Caps. The full length version allows you to play until you either run out of times or until there are no more moves left. This one only gives you one 60 seconds to get as many points as you can hence the name “Bejeweled Blitz”.

I must confess that I have spent hours upon hours playing this game. Yes you read correctly, I have spent hours playing this game simply because 60 seconds just flies by and I am always saying, “Just one more game just to beat my previous score.” On top of that each day you play you get to do a lottery spin to see if you can win more coins in order to buy special gem attributes.

The faster you can match the jewels the higher your score will be and it will actually put you into hyper speed as if you were a Jedi Knight! If you haven’t played, I suggest you take just one moment (I would say 60 seconds but you’re going to play longer than that) to play this awesome game.

Breaking The Rules: Foursquare Style

I've been lagging on my blog responsibilities. I've been working like a dog and there just don't seem to be enough hours in the day. Compound those issues with a lack of inspiration and we have a recipe for lagging blog posts, eh?

Well thanks to our good friend @lapp. I'm inspired. You see @lapp and the crew @tengoldenrules have a little running joke going on Foursquare. He likes to stop by and steal the mayorship from our staff members. Let me clarify, he likes to drive by and check in from the parking lot. We never actually SEE him in the office. Consider his check in from last night:

Notice the 1:03am timestamp? Yup. That would be our parking lot. According to an article on TechCrunch, Foursquare has added a "cheater code" that actually checks your GPS to confirm your location (and we all know ways around this) but Mr. Agranoff is probably close enough (considering he's in the parking lot) for this to be a verified check-in in the eyes of Foursquare. I just think it's really comical that he does it.

Here's a funny video on the subject



How do you feel about Foursquare check-ins?

Hey Craig, next time you're in the parking lot, come in and say HI. We'd love to see you. Well, if it's during business hours that is. :-)

Google Instant adds a preview feature

If you are a Google user you have likely become familiar with Google Instant, the feature instantly posts search results as you type. For example when I type 'ten' Google shows me tennis websites, when I type 'ten g' Google dynamically changes the search results on the page.

The new feature is Google Instant Previews this includes the addition of a magnifying glass just to the right of the website name TenGoldenRules. When I clicked the magnifying glass image it gave me a full-page preview. Google's plan is to roll this out to Adwords ads as well.

The early feedback is that Google Instant has not had a dramatic impact on the number of keywords included in searches according to a SEER blog post .

The most important thing we recommend when there is a change in Google or any other important website is to do a few searches, use the tool and see how it may be impacting your brand. Think about any opportunities that may arise due to the change and try to take advantage of a market opportunity before competitors.

InternetMarketingClub.org Presents How to Build a Successful Blog Business by Answering Reader Questions

Join Dave Taylor, Principal of AskDaveTaylor.com, in this week’s Wednesday Webinar, “How to Build a Successful Blog Business by Answering Reader Questions.”

This presentation will explain the following topics:

• Understanding how Q&A sites are reference sites
• How to make the most out of questions asked on your blog
• Best Practices for managing comments on your blog
• Mobile is Important! How to establish your blog within the mobile space

Dave Taylor has been involved with the online world since 1980 and is widely considered an expert on all things digital. He runs the popular tech answers site AskDaveTaylor.com, along with three other blogs, including his daddy blog APparenting.com. AskDaveTaylor.com answers questions about a wide variety of technical topics. He has two masters degrees, 20 published books and is an award-winning speaker and workshop leader.

This free webinar will take place Wednesday, November 10, 2010 12:30pmEDT – 1:30pmEDT. To register and for more information please visit: How to Build a Successful Blog Business by Answering Reader Questions

Latest Released Twitter Resources

Accompanying the new and improved look and functionality of the Twitter website interface, Twitter has now also refreshed the available logos, buttons, and widgets available as Twitter resources. Below is an explanation of each resource:

Follow Buttons: Utilize these buttons to make it easier for people to follow your business directly from your website. Twitter allows you to select the desired button and simply copy and paste the code into your website’s source code.

Tweet Buttons: Adding a Tweet button to your website will allow people to easily share your content on Twitter. Twitter provides a slightly customizable solution for this tweet button.

Widgets: Twitter widgets allow you to place your updates anywhere or even create a live stream for a business event, conference, meeting etc. The widgets are compatible with a variety of sites such as Facebook and Blogger. There are also a handful of widgets to choose from such as Facebook, search, faves and lists widgets.

Twitter Logos and Icons: Select from several different Twitter-approved logos and icons for your use. Twitter provides you with the ability to select slightly different color schemes of course, inline with the Twitter black, aqua and white brand colors.

You should be utilizing the above resources to promote and expand your brand’s Twitter presence. So long as these resources are used in accordance with the Guidelines for Use of the Twitter Trademarks, you can freely use them to Twitter-enable your brand. Enjoy!

InternetMarketingClub.org Presents The Psychology of Marketing

Join Joel Nielsen, Chief Evangelist of MediaSharkLLC.com, as he presents, “The Psychology of Marketing”. This webinar will teach the core fundamentals behind the Psychology of Marketing and proven methods for business success.

This presentation will explain the following topics:

• Understanding the key to business is establishing credibility and authority
• Why the Law of Reciprocity is critical to the success of your business
• Explanation of how and why “free” absolutely pays

Owner, Author, Professional Heckler, Joel Nielsen is the founder of MediaSharkLLC.com in Salt Lake City, Utah. A chronic entrepreneur, Mr. Nielsen has 16 years of experience consulting thousands of businesses in Marketing, Management and Social Media optimization.

He has a BS in Business Marketing from the University of Phoenix and a double Master's degree in Business Administration (MBA) and Sports Administration (SAFM) from Ohio University. Mr. Nielsen recently completed his Six Sigma certification through the University of Utah.

This free webinar will take place Wednesday, November 3, 2010 12:30pmEDT – 1:30pmEDT. To register and for more information please visit: The Psychology of Marketing

Google's New Way Of Serving Ads

Google has been making a lot of changes these past few weeks. I am going to an 80’s costume party and wanted to get some ideas, yea I know last minute. Well, when I did the search on Google, the ads were served differently. Instead of having the usual two sponsored links at the top and other ads on the right hand side of the page. You can see there were a total of 11 ads, but I have to click to see the other eight. Since I find the natural, or left hand side of the page, search results to be more of what I’m looking for, I don’t plan on “clicking” to see more sponsored links. Is Google trying to get companies to bid higher for positions one or two? Will they lose revenue or is this just another test?