3 Ways Quality Trumps Quantity in Social Networking

We’re now hearing more and more social media “Gurus” express their satisfaction (bragging) with how many Twitter followers and Facebook Friends/Fans they have. My reaction has been unpleasant and the thought of Twitter and Facebook freezing their accounts has been a mild desire.

It raises the question, do the numbers really matter? Most people tend to think so. And one could argue that they think that way because the experts are telling them to.

But this technology is about networking and “connecting” with your friends/followers. Connecting is the key word. Are you really connecting with thousands of followers and friends?

In addition to the “gurus” telling you to get thousands of followers and friends, ironically, they’re strongly advocating for you to be transparent. Transparency is not letting people know what you had for lunch.

Social networking is successful when you focus on quality. Quality trumps quantity in 3 ways:

1) Time. For social networking, you want to respond to comments of others and show interest in their posts. Obviously, this technique is less appealing to what everyone is writing. Focus on quality relationships and you’ll find yourself with more time to utilize social networking.

2) Fostering relationships. This builds off of point #1. In the offline world, networking works when you take time to meet with people and learn more about them. Why would it be any different online?

3) Trust. Despite the communication happening online, we’re still humans. Nothing will happen in your e- relationship unless you have some form of trust.

There’s a fine line between trust and authority in the online world. Many internet marketers preach the importance of authority, which means to be the trusted expert or resource in your topic.

It makes sense and is important but social networking works differently. Similar to a word of mouth referral in the offline world, you need the earned trust of your followers or friends online. When you have earned trust, you’ll see better results with your recommendations and links you refer people to.

Before taking the quantity approach in social networking, ask yourself how you’ll connect with others. Stay focused on connecting and developing trust with your followers/friends and you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the results and opportunities they create.

The Benefits of Updating Your Website

I recently read a claim that updating your website on a daily basis can increase your web rankings and save + earn you a lot of money over the long haul. I have spent the past few days pondering the thought, “If I invest in updating my website every day, how will it benefit me?”

Low and behold the synchronicity of the thought with finding this blog post by Bill Enross. He did an excellent job of detailing why it will benefit you and me to update our websites. (It convinced me to make my efforts, hope it does for you too.)

Basic Website Maintenance

Web maintenance isn’t something a lot of online entrepreneurs think about. In fact it can be quite a mundane task for most. However, it is important to keep your website ticking over smoothly.

Here are a few reasons why maintaining your website is important:

# Attracting the search engines – Search engines are important to the livelihood of your online business, but they don’t like “dead” websites. Websites which have been left static without updates or fresh content are a no-no in the online world. Another thing search engines don’t like is broken links.

As you build your web pages it’s easy to miss broken links. A good strategy is to double check every link you add to your website. Inevitably you may miss some or some may become broken with time (as web addresses change and so on). Regular maintenance and “check-ups” for your website will help you spot these broken links and keep your customers and search engines happy in the process.

# Updating information may increase your sales – Regularly looking over your website will also help you make changes and adjustments as necessary. For example, you may have started promoting what was a great product two years ago but now that product may be outdated and not so great anymore. By updating your website you may find products and promotions which are a better match for your visitors. This means more money in your pocket and more satisfied visitors.

Look through your old web pages to see if there are any promotions which can be updated or given a little extra “oomph.” Times change and on the internet time moves at a faster speed – keeping up with the times is important and you can do this by simply looking over your pages and tweaking as you go along.

# Keeping track of your stats is important – Another part of your basic web maintenance is keeping on top of all your visitor statistics. It makes sense to regularly go through your website and check how many visitors you have on a monthly basis, where they’re coming from, how they’re finding you, what pages they’re accessing and so on.

A running log of these statistics will help you quickly identify any potential problems such as loss of traffic or reduced income from sources such as Google AdSense and so on.

Regular web maintenance for your website is important. It can help you keep up with changing times, help to attract more visitors and ultimately make you more sales. If you find this task difficult to squeeze in, try scheduling it in for a set time each month or every few weeks. It shouldn’t take long and the time investment may make all the difference to your business. And finally, if you don’t have time to do the web maintenance yourself you can always think about hiring an assistant to help you with this task.

Good stuff, isn’t it? It’s simple, but very effective. Be sure to put your efforts in…

Reid Peterson

Growth In Harmony.com

Reduce the “Welcome Wagon” Homepage Syndrome

If you are new to Internet Marketing, this article will serve you well.

Every business that has a website has the desire to increase the amount of visits the site gets. Business owners generally hold the mentality that “The more visits my site gets, the more sales I will make.”

In the world of statistics and analytics, this belief may hold some truth. It’s more likely to increase sales when there are more potential customers. However, when it comes to Internet Marketing, your chances of success are better if you take the focus from how many people are viewing your site to where they actually “go” on the site to learn more.

Popular opinion suggests that a website should have at least 10 pages to rank well in search engines. These days, many sites are well over 10 pages, they’re closer to 100.

Regardless of how many pages your site has, you have to think about where you direct people to view your pages from the links you post.

Masters of Internet Marketing (MIMs) are so good at directing searchers to pages that are directly targeted to their wants. How do they do this? They do very extensive keyword research.

MIMs can sometimes take up to two weeks in the trenches of doing extensive-deep keyword research. They study what potential customers are searching for, what words they’re using for their searches, and where they are ending up based on their searches. MIMs then build landing pages that are written with the exact target keywords in mind. This provides an excellent “match” for the searcher and the site they end up on. How about we run through an example:

We’ll work with Boulder and Yoga (this is where I live and what I like to do- as do many other people here.)

Okay, so if your site is boulderyoga.com and people in Boulder are searching for a yoga studio in the area, you would think that your site is an ideal match. However, a competitor could have a landing page (one page on their site directly targeted to people searching “Yoga in Boulder”) and have some excellent content with a compelling offer that the search engines rank exceptionally well. This landing page may be the thing that sets their business far apart from yours.

At this point, I hope you’re thinking about your website and if it has landing pages directly targeted to specific searches people are doing. If not, you’d better be asking yourself if your homepage is better known as “the welcome wagon.”

When you’re using the Internet to generate links and refer people to your site, are you directing them to your homepage? In some cases this is really good. After all, you don’t want to be too pushy and direct someone to a page that they’re not ready for.

But this is what sets MIMs apart from the beginners. They know what their audience wants, and then they create pages that give them ideally matched offers. Rarely do MIMs communicate a specific message and then send you to their homepage.

What are your customers looking for in their searches? Once you know the answer to that question, build specific landing pages that give them what they want.

Forget about your homepage being the “welcome wagon.” Website visitors care little about friendliness. Rather, they are searching for what they want. Be sure to give it to them.

Internet Marketing Fears Revealed

Small businesses have an opportunity today that they did not have in the past. But are small businesses seeing it that way?

The opportunity is for their business to capitalize with Internet marketing.

Small businesses are looking at this more through the eyes of risk and fear than opportunity and investment. It’s unfortunate because as larger companies continue to pummel and self destruct, small businesses can take advantage of the timing and shift in marketing strategies to boost their businesses.

Having worked with small businesses for the several years, I have compiled the top three Internet Marketing Fears Revealed:

#3 -  Fear of the unknown. Most people don’t understand how the Internet works and they let that lack of knowledge be a factor in their decision making. The unknown prevents them from hiring an Internet Marketer.  If small business owners put more faith and trust into the work of Internet Marketing Specialists, they might see some lucrative results.

#2 – Fear of commitment. One of the reasons small business owners stay small is that they don’t commit to growing their business. They may develop a plan for growth, but they don’t do the things necessary to attain the growth. Small business owners lack the commitment of doing what it takes. In today’s age, Internet marketing is part of what it will take to grow.

#1 -  Fear of scandal. (This could also be called lack of trust.) Small business owners have heard the stories of Internet Marketers taking businesses “to the cleaners” by charging outrageous rates and providing little or no results to show for the expense.

It’s time for small business owners to make a mind shift and put these fears behind them. Rather than approaching Internet marketing with resistance, small business owners need to open their minds to the possibilities of growth. If small business owners understand that Internet marketing is an investment, they will benefit from more website traffic, more sales, and the growth of their business!

How Much You Is Shared On Your Website?

Regardless of whether your website is your business, you want to have it as interpersonal as it can be.

Our friends at Th!nk Creative puts it this way:

With over 80% of consumers visiting a website before they purchase, companies are finding ways to engage them more online. Add attractive content, create dialogues with blogs and feedback forums, do surveys and post results, find out what visitors want and give it to them, create personalized mini-sites targeting segmented groups.
What Th!nk Creative is referring to is “consumer engagement.” Companies have taken it to the next level by basically asking their customers what they should do next.  One example of this is the Newspaper Industry. They have lost so much money, it has helped them realize that their methods of communicating to their customers is out of date.

It’s time to ask yourself how much are you doing to engage your customers and clients. And shameless self promotion won’t cut it in today’s ways of marketing. You must know what your clients and customers are wanting.

Internet Marketing is today’s answers to figuring out and offering what your customers want. If you want a better website promotion plan on the Internet, we would like to talk to you about it. Click on the image below and contact us via our website.

The Myth of Search Engine Results

Search engines do great work- they’re designed to.

But there’s one thing that they do to create an illusion… To lead you to believe that you’re better ranked than what you’re true ranking is.

Well, to be honest, the search engines don’t do this. We (humans) do it. Is it due to our egos? Probably.

But anyway, this is what happens. Follow my example…

My name is Reid Peterson. I run an Internet Marketing business for Health/Wellness experts. I could easily assume that I’m extra special because when you Google “Reid Peterson,” you will find my profile for a Metaphysics Ning group, my Twitter profile, a meditation business I run, a Powerful Intentions Ning profile, and of course- my Google profile (with a pretty picture too!)

Sounds great, doesn’t it? But there’s a problem… Very few people are Googling “Reid Peterson.” In fact, very few people have knowledge that Reid Peterson even exists.

That’s right- google searches have  more to do with the personal interests of the people doing the searches. So since I help people and businesses internet market, they might be googling “small business online marketing.” (Do you see how my mind could think people would google me? Especially since I do small business online marketing. Darn, that ego!)

Here’s a better example. Let’s say your a psychologist. Your business is registered as your name, Dr. Tweet Marketer. How many people are going to google your name just because they are interested in psychology? (The answer is ZERO!) They’re going to search something like “social anxiety doctors” or “help with social anxiety” long before they would search your name.

Learned your lesson? That’s right- you’ve got to be using the words that your clients are using… Even in internet terms!

Help me help you! Get your business “visible” with the help of my internet marketing services.

Namaste’
Reid

How to Win With Facebook

This past week, CNN published an article with the 12 most annoying types of Facebook status updates. After reading them, I found myself in full agreement, but criticizing CNN for not writing about the alternatives.

So…. I put it upon myself to offer the alternatives.

I’m not going to list twelve, but I am going to list just one- the most important one. Here’s CNN’s #2:

The Self-Promoter. OK, so we’ve probably all posted at least once about some achievement. And sure, maybe your friends really do want to read the fascinating article you wrote about beet farming. But when almost EVERY update is a link to your blog, your poetry reading, your 10k results or your art show, you sound like a bragger or a self-centered careerist.

And here’s the healthy alternative:

The Informer. If you ever promote something (whether yours or someone elses) in a Facebook status update, give your friends the best reason for why they should click the link, resvp for the event, forward something to their friends, become a fan, whatever. Each of us has a “What’s in it for me?” mindset and if you are promoting anything, you’d better let them know the benefits of it. Once you communicate the beneficial reasons why someone should do any clicking, reading, or other activity, your FB friends will actually start to condition themselves to believing that your updates are what they want to learn more about.

Simply inform your FB friends, and let them know why.

And if you use FB and are interested in more tips to help you win with it, become a Fan of our business and we’ll update you on more helpful, friendly, and results oriented tips.

see you soon,

Reid

founder

What the Heck Is A Blog?!

Blogging is one of the greatest ways to online market your products and services. Many internet marketing gurus preach blogging as “the way” to brand yourself, products, and/or sevices.

I agree…                AND

I also want to help you understand what blogging actually is. I recently found this post, which give you a great understanding of blogging, its components, and specifically, how it’s a part of social media- the new marketing savior

Since When Are Blogs Not Social Media?

from Copyblogger by Brian Clark

I’ve noticed a strange trend lately.

For some reason, people seem to be equating social media with social networking.

At the same time, they seem to be treating blogging as something other than social media.

I find this very strange indeed.

For example, here the author proclaims that he’s quitting social media and gives his reasons why. But he also states he’ll continue to blog, by god.

Then there’s this other post, which did a nice job of rounding up the discussion about the latest blogs are dead red herring. Problem is, the title Blogs vs Social Media seems to expressly state that the two are different and distinct things.

Did I not get the memo on this?

Blogs are Social (and Alternative) Media

First, let’s look at a definition. In the case of social media, I think even Wikipedia can be trusted:

At its most basic sense, social media is a shift in how people discover, read and share news, information and content. Technologies include: blogs, picture-sharing, vlogs, wall-postings, email, instant messaging, music-sharing, crowdsourcing, and voice over IP, to name a few.

In fact, it’s a fairly easy case that blogs were the first modern form of social media. I say “modern” because many would argue that social media started pre-web with Usenet, Internet Relay Chat, and BBS systems. Heck, the most popular part of lame ol’ America Online was the cyber-sex socializing in the chat rooms.

So in the “modern” social media sense, blogs came way before social networking exploded with MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter. Blogs pioneered social media well before Friendster came and went (remember Friendster?).

One thing you’ll notice in the definition above is the emphasis on content. Not just user-generated conversational content, but the production of content that is an alternative to traditional media AND that benefits from interlinked conversation and comments.

Maybe the fact that “old media” has co-opted those aspects of blogs is the reason that some people no longer see blogging as social media. I think that’s a bit silly.

Media Producer Versus Social Networker

Maybe I’ve got it wrong, but the fascinating part of social media to me is not just the social networking. It’s the fact that anyone willing to put in the work can become a media producer/personality without speaking a word to anyone in the existing media power centers of Los Angeles, New York, et al.

Blogs are simply the best way to publish new media content. And social media news and networking sites are the ways that content gets exposure. It’s not money and geography that determines if your content spreads… it just has to be deemed good enough to be shared by regular people.

If you want to become a music journalist, no one in LA or NYC can tell you no. If you want a shot at becoming an actress or celebrity without enduring casting couch sexual harassment, you can absolutely go for it and succeed.

From a more practical standpoint, using social media in terms of “media production” is what content marketing is all about. Producing content and having something related to sell is one way where free content pays for itself big time.

• It’s how producing your own video show about wine boosts the bottom line of your bricks-and-mortar wine store to the tune of millions, all while making you a celebrity along the way.
• It’s how you write a book and create buzz for it without waiting for Oprah to call.
• It’s how you create a lucrative business with high margins and hefty happiness.

When you think like a media producer in this brave new social media world, it’s your content that social networkers are sharing and promoting, and that translates into your cash. If you’re only social networking, you’re only someone’s user-generated content, and even your digital overlord struggles to make money.

What’s the Point?

Honestly, I’m not sure. I just see so much unnecessary confusion out there.

What do you think?

• Is it because people with vested interests in confusion portray social media as something radically new when it’s mostly an evolution of the old?
• Should I simply quit worrying about it and stick with those of you who get it?
• What do you think about tofu? Tasty or nasty?

About the Author: Brian Clark is founder of Copyblogger and co-founder of DIY Themes, creator of the innovative Thesis Theme for WordPress. Get more from Brian on Twitter.

So if you need more information about blogging, specifically how to do it. Send me a message at reid@growthinharmony.com and I’ll help you out.

Gratefully,

Reid

Marketing is Transforming Under Your Own Eyes

This article from the SF Chronicle gives a good idea of how marketing is shifting, from hard print to online (and how it’s happening.)

Winery’s ‘dream job’ idea leaves an aftertaste

It seemed like such a Goode idea.

Murphy-Goode, part of Jess Jackson’s Jackson Family Wines empire, devised a dream job – $60,000 and lodging over six months for one savvy social media wizard to make the Healdsburg winery the talk of the Internet. This online “lifestyle correspondent” would blog, tweet and generally sing the praises of Murphy-Goode’s vineyards and wines.

A heady mix of wine, Twitter and a down economy, it was a stroke of PR genius, unleashing a flood of stories from the “Today” show, the New York Times, The Chronicle and more.

Nearly 2,000 eager applicants emerged, and some 900 videos were posted online, a key part of the application process. Many took to their Facebook and MySpace pages, gushing about the chance to live the “Goode life” and pleading with fans to vote for them in a running tally of popularity on the winery’s Web site.

But when the winery unveiled its top 50 finalists in late June, top vote-getter Martin Sargent of San Francisco, a former TechTV host and Internet celebrity of sorts, was not on the list. The winery has removed the tallies, but Sargent’s reported 6,000 votes put him well ahead of the pack. His video application had received 34,090 YouTube views as of Thursday.

It was soon evident that, despite intense lobbying for votes, “A Really Goode Job,” unlike “American Idol,” wasn’t a popularity contest after all. Some popular candidates made the cut, like Hardy Wallace, an Atlanta wine blogger who was first on line at the winery’s April recruitment drive in San Francisco. Others, like Dan Leadbetter, an online marketing consultant in Chino (San Bernardino County), didn’t.

Fans and candidates alike were left scratching their heads. “We thought at first there was a mistake,” Leadbetter said.

Complications hit

Of course, the winery had portrayed the “Goode Job” campaign as an extended job search, complete with interviews. But voting on its Web site complicated that picture, especially as social media thrives on popularity rankings. The purpose of the votes wasn’t explicitly stated, but candidates quickly lobbied their networks for a boost.

And though several candidates said they were contacted by a recruiter who indicated the votes had minimal value, the message apparently didn’t filter to fans who had, in essence, been blasting their Twitter feeds with free advertising for Murphy-Goode.

Digital marketing strategist Paul Mabray of VinTank in Napa, who is advising several finalists, said the winery fell short by trying to embrace social media without fully understanding its rules.

“It’s about knowing the players,” Mabray said. “It would be like sitting in a room with (pre-eminent wine critic) Robert Parker and telling him he doesn’t have a good palate for wine. What would that do to your brand?”

The winery acknowledged the blunder.

“Yeah, we screwed up,” said Caroline Shaw, senior vice president at Jackson Family Enterprises and a winery spokeswoman.

But Shaw added that the promotion “was never intended to be a contest” – which are illegal for alcoholic beverages under California law. Finalists were weighed on writing samples and other “background materials.” That went for Sargent, too.

“He was great,” Shaw said. “But you’ve got to look at a broader perspective of issues when you’re hiring someone.”

Admittedly, Sargent’s video is on the goofy side for a job interview. But other entrants were captured on video making redneck jokes, singing an off-key Billy Joel homage and serving a glass of red to a wino. The winery’s own videos depict winemaker Dave Ready flanked by two women, singing the Minnesota Vikings fight song while wearing a Viking helmet. Wacky was not a disqualifier.

Celebrity OK

Nor was a degree of TV celebrity. Among the final 10 candidates, announced Tuesday, was Rachel Reenstra, an actress, comedian and blogger who has hosted shows on Animal Planet and HGTV.

But it couldn’t have predicted the backlash that would ensue. Sargent posted word of his rejection to his many Twitter followers, news that quickly made it to Digg.com, the news-ranking site, then to the Twitter feed of Digg founder Kevin Rose. The same day, Rose wrote that Murphy-Goode “just screwed @martinsargent (even though he won most votes),” a missive that went to Rose’s more than 900,000 followers. The item shot to the top of Digg’s rankings, fueling tempers.

“You can’t ask the community to help you vet candidates and then just disregard what they said,” Rose said.

Aside from a podcast in which he called it “a real slap in the face,” Sargent has been gracious, publicly congratulating other applicants. But he does see irony in the results. He says he was told by a winery executive that he was “overqualified.”

“The fact that I do have a medium amount of celebrity was actually a liability,” he said.

The winery soon realized that what Shaw calls “the Martin Sargent snafu” was not going away. On June 28, it posted a lengthy Facebook reply, saying votes were less important than being a “deft, multi-faceted social media communicator,” arguing that the choices had been weighted to give “equal shots” to last-minute entrants and those “who may not have quite as intense a personal PR machine as others.”

By that point, seemingly nothing could stop the flood of irate tweets. “You’re on my list Murphy-Goode,” tech author Leo Laporte wrote to his 132,000 followers.

If this dust-up was the most visible ruffle in Murphy-Goode’s plans, some industry insiders were already grumbling about the timing of the “Goode Job” offer, which came in the wake of significant Jackson Family Wines layoffs in January. The company, which is private, does not disclose employee numbers. But additional layoffs came in June. Among those dismissed: Jim Kopp, a senior marketing director who had been instrumental in creating “Goode Job.”

The 10 finalists face an interview round in Healdsburg before a top choice is named July 21. Though some fans thought they could keep lobbying, the “Really Goode Job” site no longer allows visitors to vote.

“We’re all watching to see where this thing goes now,” Kopp said. “I hope it works out well.”

E-mail Jon Bonné at jbonne@sfchronicle.com. (This is the author of the article)

Now think about it- A winery is hiring an internet marketer to dominate the market- from the virtual world. The article shared some ways of how that would happen, mentioned some important sites that help the company do that, but left you hanging as to whether it’s gonna work.

What do you think? Please post a comment and let’s see what buzz is stirred up as to whether the company (internet marketer) will succeed.

Reid

Growth In Harmony

7?’s You’ll Want To Ask EVERY Internet Marketer

So you’re thinking about hiring an internet marketer. You may have an idea of how they can help you, but you really don’t have a clue of how they do what they do. Well, it’s okay, you don’t need to know what they know. But here are 7 questions(credit given to Google) that you will want to ask EVERY internet marketer who is looking for your business:

1. Can you show me examples of your previous work and share some success stories? (Many internet marketers will have testimonials, but ask for something more concrete. And if they got nothing, ask if you can talk to one of their clients.)
2. Do you follow the Google Webmaster Guidelines? (I once took an internet marketing workshop and the teacher said “See through the eyes of Google.”  There is a reason Google is the top internet site in the world.)
3. Do you offer any online marketing services or advice to complement your organic search business? (My company has a lot of fun with(our expertise) social media- be sure to ask about blog, video, and article marketing.)
4. What kind of results do you expect to see, and in what time frame? How do you measure your success? (Now trust your gut on this one.  As you know, many people who want your business will tell you what they think you want to hear. Scan them for their honesty.)
5. What’s your experience in my industry? (A lot of internet marketing has to do with Keywords and phrases. If they are not familiar with the “language” of your industry, they are not worth your time- and MONEY!)
6. What are your most important SEO techniques? (Make sure they explain their techniques in ways that you understand. Don’t fall for their charisma.)
7. How can I expect to communicate with you? Will you share with me all the changes you make to my site, and provide detailed information about your recommendations and the reasoning behind them? (I could go on my soapbox about this one, but I’ll spare you. Just make sure that your questions will be answered! And if they sidestep your questions [give you a political answer], sidestep their business!)

With better understanding and answers to these questions, you will feel more comfortable for any internet marketer you interview. Good Luck!

If you have any further questions about this Blog post, visit my site for possible solutions. If you cannot find what you are looking for, feel free to contact me from the email address listed on the website.

Reid

Growth In Harmony