Facebook Fan Page Webinar—Back by Popular Demand!

March 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I’m excited to be presenting an interactive webinar that I am calling “The Facebook Fan Page Intensive: Learn How to Create and Master Facebook Pages—Even if You Have No Clue Where to Start.”

Webinars are great, especially if you are a more visual person and are looking for more detailed, step-by-step instruction on how to get the most out of Facebook Fan Pages.  It is being held on Wednesday, March 31st from 8pm to 9:30pm Eastern.  I held a similar webinar back in the fall and it was a huge hit.  Facebook is always changing and they’ve made a few changes since I last held it so I wanted to hold it again.

The webinar will be interactive so you will be able to see my screen in real-time and follow along with everything I do which is always nice—because you can only get so descriptive on a teleseminar without that visual piece.  Some of the specific things you’ll learn include:

  • Exactly how to setup a new Facebook Fan Page
  • How to message all of your Fans at once
  • How to give access to more than one administrator to your Page
  • How to add applications to your Page and how to manage them after they’ve been added, including how to use the Static FBML application to create totally custom tabs
  • Step by step of how to link Facebook to your blog or website
  • How to automatically send your Page updates to Twitter
  • How to easily add video, links, photos and other content to your Page
  • And…all of the exact strategies that I used to easily and rapidly grow my own Fan Page to over 1000 Fans in a short amount of time.

I wanted to do this webinar solely devoted to Fan Pages again because there really is a lot to be covered regarding them and one of the biggest things people need help with is the step-by-step tutorial-type instruction.

The hour and a half session will include Q and A—you’ll actually be able to ask questions throughout the webinar and I’ll be devoting a chunk of time at the end to answer them.  So this will be a really great opportunity for you to get YOUR specific questions and concerns addressed.

The URL to register is http://facebookwebinar.com

The great thing is that the webinar will be recorded, so you will have that to go back to anytime if you want to see how to do something that was taught in the webinar.  The other reason we are recording it is in case anyone cannot make it live—I know there are some people in my community that are international and 8pm Eastern time in the US is overnight or early in the morning for them.  So everyone who signs up will get the recording and any handouts or slides that are used afterward.

So if you are looking for more help in setting up your Fan Page correctly, implementing a lot of the strategies I’ve used successfully myself and a lot more, you’ll want to register.  Hope you can join us!

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: , ,

The Missing Link—Or, Why Social Media Isn’t Working For You

March 25, 2010 By 2 Comments

I hear a lot of things about social media in doing what I do. There has been a major theme lately popping up with people who say that social media is not working for them.  They’re frustrated and ready to throw in the towel on it, convinced it just doesn’t translate into dollars in their business. I patiently listen to their frustrations, and upon digging deeper, I often find a major flaw in their marketing process.

They’re not getting them on the list.

What does this mean?

Well, they are having interactions and conversations, maybe rubbing shoulders with key people in their industry, finding out lots of great information about what their market wants and needs, maybe even getting these people to click through and visit their website or blog.  All good stuff, right?

It is, except it’s only part of the equation. As much as “relationship-building” is touted as the one of the most important benefits business owners can get from using social media, it can only take one so far—at least, that particular form of relationship-building.

In the Internet marketing world, the mantra has long been “the money is in the list,” meaning your list of prospective customer and client names and email addresses.  It is actually more accurate to say that the money is in the value you provide to your list and in the relationship you build with them. (Otherwise we could all go out and buy ourselves a list of a million names, right?)

But wait, aren’t my 42 zillion Facebook friends and Twitter followers my “list?”  Don’t they count?  Those are fantastic contacts to have, but you don’t own these lists!  Though highly unlikely, Facebook or Twitter could shut down tomorrow.  Your own list of prospects and customers is still one of your greatest assets as a business owner.

Social media should compliment your list building, not replace it. That is where I often see people getting stuck and complaining that the time they are spending on social media isn’t paying off.  What needs to shift is the way they look at social media’s function in their overall marketing. It’s an excellent place to begin establishing relationships, they just need to take it a step further and give people a way to more permanently become a part of their community.

So start building that list of targeted prospects who have essentially “raised their hand” to hear more about your business and what you have to offer. Once they’ve joined your list, your job is to continually provide them with quality content, valuable tips and helpful information so that when they are ready to buy from you, that all-important trust and familiarity has already been established.

Treat ‘em well and it will pay off in spades. :)

Image credit: ehow.com

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5 Easy Ways to Recycle Your Content (While Still Staying Sane)

March 18, 2010 By 7 Comments

It’s often said that online, content is king.  Certainly it’s central to social media, which often revolves around sharing that content, whether it be via blog posts, status updates, videos or countless other channels. Creating original content is what helps to get your name out online, build your credibility and drive traffic to your website.

For busy entrepreneurs, it can often feel like a struggle to consistently come up with new and varied content that we’re told is so crucial to building our Internet empires.  However, let me offer you some relief by letting you know that you probably don’t need to be quite as prolific as you think.  The good news is, re-purposing your content is perfectly acceptable—in fact, it’s vital to your online success.

One piece of content can live on in multiple formats, saving you time, energy and creative frustration.  For example, let’s say you begin with content you’ve prepared for an in-person talk or speaking gig or for a live teleseminar given over the phone.  Here are five ways that one piece can be recycled in order to leverage your effort:

1) Create a blog post

Whether the talk you have come up with is a basic outline or collection of bullet points or a full-blown script, you can easily craft what you’ve put together into an informative post for your blog.

2) Create an article

Taken one step further, that blog post can be fleshed out into article form and submitted to various online directories.

3) Create a free report

Why not use your existing content to put together a freebie that will entice your website visitors to sign up for your email list?  The report doesn’t need to be more than a few pages (if that) and can be a great way to introduce your expertise to someone who is looking to find out more about you and your business.

4) Create a podcast

We’ve concentrated on the written word, but people like to learn in different ways—audio being one of the most popular.  Create a recording of your content and either upload to your blog or website or submit it to various podcast directories including iTunes.

5) Create a video

It should be easy to extract 3-5 key points from what you’ve written and simply present them in a short, informational video.  Upload it to YouTube and don’t forget to mention your own site’s URL in the video so they can visit and find out more.

So now you know not to be daunted by those business owners on the web who appear to be cranking out an endless stream of content.  Luckily, you don’t have to be in creation mode twenty-four hours a day—just work smart, not hard by taking one piece of your content and using it in multiple ways.

Filed Under: Online Business Tagged With:

Video Post: How to Create Facebook Friend Lists and Use Them Strategically in Your Business

March 17, 2010 By 2 Comments

Friend lists are an often overlooked feature of Facebook, but they can be really useful for isolating key influencers in your industry from the rest of your contacts, filtering out “noise,” customizing your status updates and privacy settings and more.

In this video tutorial I walk you through how to create a new list, add contacts to it, filter your News Feed by it and customize your settings and updates with it.  If you are still getting used to the layout changes Facebook rolled out a few weeks back, then this might be helpful for you since the location of the lists is slightly different.

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Debunking 3 Social Media Myths

March 11, 2010 By 4 Comments

I get the question “will social media work for my business?” a lot. For the purposes of this post, I should clarify that the term “social media” doesn’t just refer to the big sites like Facebook or Twitter. It applies to anything interactive that takes place online—including blogs, message boards, video and more. Not every business will benefit from the same exact sites and tools.

That being said, it seems there is still a lot of S.M.S. disease going around. Social Media Skepticism, that is. ;) The most insidious form of this disease just happens to be Myth #1:

“My clients/customers/people who pay my mortgage every month aren’t using social media.”

(Or the even more aggressive form, “My prospects aren’t online.” Really?!)

Maybe your clients and customers aren’t on Twitter or aren’t reading blogs regularly. You’ll need to explore exactly where YOUR market is spending their time. But I guarantee that they’re using the web to search for products and services, or book speakers for conferences, or to look for referrals, or….you get the idea.

What I teach my students and clients is how to build a web presence, create a fan base and get their business (no matter what kind of business it is) in front of their target audience. After all, they are already there just looking for business owners like you. Yes, really! (When’s the last time you cracked open a phonebook? They do make pretty good doorstops…)

Myth #2 is one that kind of makes me giggle:

“But it takes too much time to build relationships…”

That sounds kind of silly, don’t you think? We all know and accept that building relationships offline takes time and effort. However, when small business owners decide not to bother with social media because they see it as being too time-consuming, then that is exactly what they are saying. (And I don’t know about you, but some days I’m more than thrilled to stay in my yoga pants and bunny slippers and virtually “press the flesh” rather than have to hit the road.)

The truth is, social media does take time, just like traditional networking does. The key is to select which sites you’ll actively participate in and make it a part of your weekly or even daily habit. Just as with other forms of marketing, consistency is what leads to results.

To use myself as an example, I have bookmarked in my web browser all the links to the social networking sites I use. Every day, I pull them up and accept friend requests, answer questions, start conversations, etc. on each one. This takes less than 15 minutes and has become a part of my regular marketing routine.

As your list of friends, followers and contacts grows, you might find it difficult to keep up with all of the updates, links and information coming your way. However, don’t despair—you are certainly not expected to take in and process every single bit of information that enters your radar. (Phew!)

Finally, with so much focus on the online world, it’s easy for people with very locally focused or storefront businesses to believe that social media can’t help them. Which brings me to Myth #3:

“Social media doesn’t work for local businesses.”

Ah, my favorite.

If you are already using and benefiting from social media in your biz, then you know there are some really good search capabilities available on most of the bigger social media sites that can allow you to access local users. (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube all give you the ability to search locally.) Think about it—would it be helpful to find a couple hundred social media users who are living and working right in your town or zip code? Also, sites like Facebook and LinkedIn each have Groups, some of which revolve around local topics. Can’t find one for your town? Why not create one?

In addition, gatherings of local Twitter users (called “tweetups”) are becoming more and more popular—and you can use a site like Meetup or Twtvite to find or create tweetups near you. (Think of it as local networking for the social media age.)

There are even sites that allow you to search for local bloggers—Placeblogger and outside.in being two. Bloggers you find there are good social media contacts to have—you never know when they might be looking to highlight local businesses, and this could be a great way to get some exposure.

In addition, your business can benefit by being listed on several social review and Internet “yellow pages” type-sites. Check out MerchantCircle and Google Local to start, and don’t be shy about asking former and current customers to write up reviews there if they’ve been happy with your services.

So there you have it. Now, am I naïve enough to think that every single business out there can get fantastic results with social media? No, but if you happen to be one of those who still has some of these doubts, I encourage you to at least give it a try. You never know where those “social” relationships may end up leading, right?

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: ,

80 Pages of Notes Later…Thoughts on Ryan Lee’s Continuity Summit Event

March 7, 2010 By 3 Comments

with Ryan Lee

Last Wednesday I made the 2.5 hour drive to go to Ryan Lee’s Continuity Summit live event in Stamford CT.  My own coach had gone last year and was returning and encouraged me to go.

It was a bit of a last minute decision—it’s an internet marketing event and I wasn’t sure how much I would get out of it—but I am really glad I decided to go.  The content was good, I enjoyed the speakers, met some cool people, got to hang out with my coach Alicia Forest and took EIGHTY pages of notes!  Yes, really!

The event was held over three days and it was packed with lots of info. I took home a ton of great nuggets to apply in my own business.  The speakers were not announced ahead of time but once I got there and picked up an agenda I was excited to see some pretty big names of successful internet marketers—Yanik Silver and Matt Bacak to name two.

with my coach Alicia Forest

The main focus of the 3 days was continuity or “recurring revenue” programs, hence the name.  I am getting ready to launch my own membership site in a few months so that’s what made me decide it was probably going to be really helpful for me to attend.

I wasn’t too familiar with Ryan beforehand but I found out that not only is he very successful and teaches some really great internet marketing stuff, he’s also a down-to-earth, grounded, NICE guy.  Love that.  He actually started out as a gym teacher in the Bronx!

The first day was an optional day on “information marketing mastery.” Even though I knew some of it was going to be a review, I went and still got some really good stuff out of it. I especially enjoyed one of the speakers that day, Chris Farrell.  He’s from the UK but now lives in L.A. and has a charming accent. :)   He only just got started in internet marketing 2 years ago and is now enjoying $30,000 months.  Not bad!  I especially liked how he said “‘How can I make money online’ is not the right first question.  The right first question is ‘How can I help people? How can I serve?’” Amen.

with Chris Haddad

Thursday also included talks on copywriting (a skill crucial to internet marketing success) from Chris Haddad who I was glad to snap a pic with (his blog rocks); and some good stuff about information marketing from Ryan himself.

Thursday night I had dinner with some people I knew from online and it was cool to meet them in person.  Later that night I attended the special “speed networking” event which was fun.

Friday was packed full of content and a few different speakers.  Some of my favorites were Jerry Clark on mindset (also crucial to success) and the very entertaining Travis Miller and Jimmy Vee of Gravitational Marketing on building an online presence and social media strategy.

with Yvette Syversen, Alicia and Kim Reddington

Saturday we really got into the meaty stuff with Yanik Silver speaking on how to have really big paydays online, Ryan on how to create a continuity program from scratch (GOOD stuff) and Matt Bacak on member retention.  There were also quick expert panels sprinkled in which were helpful as well.

As with a lot of bigger internet marketing events, many of the speakers had a pitch at the end of their talks, but I expected that—and the content definitely made up for it. Oh, and some women speakers would have been good, too. ;)

But I’m really glad I attended and I’m excited to start implementing what I’ve learned in my own business.  Going to the Summit reminded me again how important it is to get out from behind the computer once in awhile and network and learn live.

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