I’ve been looking forward to the release of this book since I was at his Expert’s Academy last September and he said he was going to take 4 weeks off to write his next bestselling book. He did, the book is out, and it going to be FABULOUS, I already know it!! I know it because all of his book are fabulous and this one is of particular interest to me since it’s all about High Performance!

For the past few years Brendon has been running this amazing academy called High Performance Academy to teach the public how to perform at our peak levels. Interested?? Me too!

Simon Leung, me and Brendon Burchard

I actually met Brendon, oh, five or six years ago I want to say at an event I was running in Denver. We got to hang out all weekend and I can tell you this for sure… Brendon is one of the most genuine, authentic, energetic, successful (not just financially) people I’ve ever met. I knew back then he was going to be a superstar and have been a dedicated follower of his work ever since.

So now, his new book is out and he’s giving away free copies. Click Here for the promo page to get your copy of The Charge

After I signed up for my free copy, there was a $197 promotion which I said “no thanks” to. I wanted more free stuff first! I knew it would be there since I am used to how he rolls out his academy events.

Beyond that page was a link to 3 incredible VIDEOS all about “6 High Performance Secrets of Multi-Millionaires.” It’s all about how to move on from feeling sluggish and always behind to feeling energized, empowered and ALIVE! How could anyone say no to learning that?!? So, I signed up and watched those videos. Amazing. As usual.

I AM FIRED UP and you know what it did? It gave me validation. It gave me energy. It gave me a focused plan. I have a big stack of work on my desk and I literally could not send another email or do another task on my list without writing this article. Why? Because it is NOT FAIR of me to just keep Brendon’s wisdom to myself and not share it.

You know how they say “word of mouth is the most powerful form of marketing”? That’s true and I genuinely believe that you will get some huge takeaways from watching these videos that I watched.

Click Here for the page where you can watch his free video content

Book? Check. Videos? Check. Well now I’m on Brendon’s list and what do I hear about today? That tomorrow he’s officially letting people register for his next High Performance Academy. I have been waiting months for this!

All I got was this link… Click Here

Right now it just says registration will open tomorrow but I know by the time most of you read this it will be open. I think he’s doing a live webinar which you won’t want to miss. Now, here’s what I remember from the last time he did an event launch for Expert’s Academy (which I’m going to this Fall!)… A bunch of you registered and I can’t wait to see you guys this Fall!! But… some of you heard about it too late or waited too long and registration is only open for a few days so the opportunity to get in was GONE. I pulled some strings for one client, but in general, you have to act fast with Brendon IF you have interest.

Only a few of you will be at a place in your life where you’re ready to explode with personal and professional growth to the point where you’re sick of waiting for “the right time” and just want to friggin go out there and MAKE IT HAPPEN! I’m soooo that person right now… omg. Most of you will not be at that place, and that is OK. In that case, it’s a great idea to sign up and get all the free content you can from Brendon and implement it on your own and your own pace. You can always unsubscribe from an email, so no harm no foul.

For me though, I’m taking the bull by the horns. If you’re going to the webinar let me know and we can chit chat during it via Facebook and email. If you end up going to High Performance Academy, let me know and maybe I’ll see you there.

For now, I mainly just wanted to tell you about it because I know that in a flash Brendon offers free content, and in a flash it’s GONE forever… pretty smart marketing guy.

Cheers on your journey to High Performance! 

Today’s training is shared from HubSpot and an article posted by Pamela Vaughan. It was just too good not to share. 

The Ultimate Facebook Marketing Cheat Sheet

Facebook’s social network domination may frequently get challenged by emerging social media platforms like Google+, but the facts remain. With more than 845 million members in its user base, it’s still the most popular social network around.

And yes, businesses are beginning to understand its potential to help them achieve their marketing goals. In fact, 41% of B2B companies and 62% of B2C companies using Facebook have acquired a customer from it.

That being said, learning all the nuances of various social networks can be a tricky and time-consuming feat, especially considering how frequently they add, remove, and modify features. To help you stay ahead of the curve, we’ve put together a handy cheat sheet that businesses and marketers can use to make the most of Facebook.

35 Tips and Tricks for Mastering Facebook Marketing

1) Create a Business Page, Not a Profile

First things first. To maximize Facebook’s business potential, you need to create a business page, not a personal profile, to represent your brand. Setting up a page is simple. Just visit https://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php, and follow the step-by-step setup instructions. (Already created a profile for your business? No worries — Facebook now allows you to easily convert it into a business page.)

2) Claim Your Page’s Vanity URL

Once you’ve created your business page, make it more shareable and easier to find by creating a recognizable vanity URL (e.g. http://www.facebook.com/hubspot) at http://www.facebook.com/username.

3) Add a Creative Cover Photo

Facebook’s new page design enables you to feature a 851 x 315 pixel ‘cover photo’ at the top of your business page. Get creative with it to capture the attention of new page visitors. Just be sure to follow Facebook’s cover photo policies by excluding price/purchase information (e.g. “40% off” or “Download it at our website”); references to Facebook features/functions (e.g. “Like,” “Share,” etc.); contact information such as website address, email, mailing address, or information that should go in your page’s “About” section; and calls-to-action, such as “Get it now” or “Tell your friends.” Here are some awesome examples of business page cover photos to get your creative juices flowing.

4) Auto-Publish Blog Content

Start populating your page’s timeline with content! If you maintain a business blog, you can connect your blog to auto-post links to new blog content you publish. Many blogging platforms like WordPress and HubSpot automatically offer this feature within its software; you’ll just need to turn it on and sync it with your page. (Warning: Don’t put too much emphasis on automation. It’s okay to auto-publish some content, but make sure a real human is posting and engaging with your fans, too.)

5) Make Sure Meta Descriptions of Blog Posts Are Complete

Have you noticed that when you post a link to Facebook, it pulls in a brief description as well as an image? The description gets pulled from the page’s meta description, so make sure any blog content you publish has a complete and enticing meta description to optimize its presence if it gets shared on Facebook.

6) Pin a Post Every 7 Days

Another feature of Facebook’s new page design allows you to ‘pin’ or anchor one of the posts on your page’s timeline to the top for 7 days at a time. Pinning content to the top of your page will prevent it from getting buried by more recent updates. Use this feature to highlight specific posts about remarkable content, calls-to-action for your best marketing offers, or other events/promotions you want to feature. Update your anchor pin every 7 days once the old one expires. To pin an update, hover over a story, click on the pencil icon in the top right corner, and choose ‘Pin to Top.’

7) Star or Hide Posts

Modify the items in your page’s timeline to highlight certain posts more prominently than others. By hovering over individual stories, you can make them wider and more prominent on your page by clicking the star icon, or hide them from your timeline (or delete them entirely) by clicking on the pencil icon.

Leverage Your Most Visual Content

Facebook’s new timeline page design places more of an emphasis on visual content like images and videos, so use that to your advantage. According to an internal Facebook study, “posts including a photo album or picture can generate 2X more engagement than other post types.” Because these images will now appear larger and more prominently on your page, make it a point of posting your best visual content to your Facebook page, or make more of an effort to make the content you already create more visual. Think photos, charts, infographics, and other content visualizations. And hey — you can always use it on other visual-oriented social networks like Pinterest and Google+, too!

9) Create Custom Page Tabs

While Facebook’s new page design eliminated the ability to create a designated ‘Welcome Landing Page’ for new visitors to your Facebook page, you can still create and leverage custom tabs which are accessible via the ‘Views & Apps’ section of your page (see tip #17). Think of these as landing pages within your Facebook page. Learn how to create custom tabs here, which you can use as calls-to-action to feature anything from case studies to marketing offers to other promotions you’re running. (Note: With HubSpot, you can take this one step further by installing HubSpot’s Facebook App. While it can no longer support ‘welcome’-style landing pages, you can use it to create custom tabs containing lead-gen forms so you can convert page visitors into leads … right within Facebook!)

10) Add Milestones

Another feature the new Facebook page design supports is ‘Milestones,’ which allows you to call attention to significant events in your business’ history. Use the feature to highlight some of your business’ biggest accomplishments, such as fan growth, award wins, product releases, major events, or other accolades. You create a new (or past) milestone via the status update box, which will prompt you to input information about your milestone such as its name, location, date, story description, and an image, which is set at 843 x 403 pixels.

11) Use Facebook Insights

Facebook Insights is Facebook’s internal analytics tool right that helps you measure and analyze your Facebook presence. The tool provides Facebook page administrators with analytics data about page visits and engagement and can help you understand which content is and isn’t engaging to your fans. Access your page’s Insights at http://www.facebook.com/insights or by clicking into the ‘Admin Panel’ on your page. We’ve also published an informative blog post and video that walks you through how to analyze Facebook Insights to improve your content strategy.

12) Tag Other Users and Business Pages

Although you used to only be able to tag other users on Facebook, you can now tag other pages, too. Make your page more engaging and interactive by enabling others to post content on your timeline. Enabling this feature will also automatically publish posts to your page’s timeline that are from other users who have tagged your page in their posts. To enable this, check off “Everyone can post to HubSpot’s timeline” and “Show the box for ‘Recent Posts by Others’ on the top of HubSpot” in ‘Manage Permissions.’

13) Connect Your YouTube Channel

Does your company have its own YouTube channel? Add the YouTube App to your Facebook page so your fans can view your YouTube videos directly within Facebook.

14) Add the SlideShare App

Similar to the YouTube App, you can also add a SlideShare tab to your page that will also pull in your SlideShare presentations.

15) Connect Your Flickr Account

While you’re at it, why not pull in your Flickr photos with the Flickr App, too?

16) Create an Open Graph App

With Facebook’s new Open Graph applications, you’re not just limited to other people’s apps — you can also create your own apps that support your very own marketing initiatives! The new and improved Open Graph allows third-party developers to create ‘frictionless’ apps that, after a user provides permission once, automatically share users’ engagement with the app on Facebook. Furthermore, users’ friends are easily able to join in on this shared activity. Furthermore, the new Open Graph apps support customizable calls-to-action, which you may have already noticed in apps already floating around Facebook like Spotify, Hulu, and the Washington Post, which prompt Facebook users to  “read,” “watch,” and “listen.” Creating an app for your business will obviously involve a developer’s time, but if you’re interested, we have a list of ideas to get you start brainstorming here, and Facebook has published guidelines on how to get your application integrated with Facebook here.

17) Organize Your Views & Apps

After you’ve added new custom tabs and apps to your page, organize them! Facebook’s new page design features photos, likes, and apps at the top of your page below your cover photo. Photos are automatically featured in the first spot, but page admins can rearrange the rest to highlight the most important ones first. Overall, a total of 12 apps can be shown here. Four are visible at the top of the page, and the rest can be viewed when page visitors click the dropdown arrow (highlighted in orange in the image below). Admins can also customize the images that get shown for each app in this toolbar using the ‘Manage’ >> ‘Edit Page’ dropdown via the ‘Admin Panel,’ which is accessible at the top right of their business page.

18) Use Links & Calls-to-Action to Generate Leads

Start generating leads from Facebook! Optimize your page for lead generation by posting links to landing pages for content behind forms, and add calls-to-action (CTAs) to the custom tabs on your page. [Bonus! Research suggests that links shared on Facebook have a high impact on SERP (search engine results page) rankings.]

19) Use Questions/Polls for Fan Feedback

In the status update bar on your page, you have the option of posting a question or a poll (click on ‘Add Poll Options’). Use this to ask your fans for feedback about your products/services or the content you post to your timeline. The possibilities are endless, and it’s a great way to engage your fans and increase participation on your page.

20) Experiment With Interest Lists

‘Interest Lists’ are a feature that allows users to organize updates into separate topics from a collection of fan pages and/or public figures who have the subscribe button enabled on their profile. For example, a user could create a “Recipes” Interest List, adding to it fan pages like Betty Crocker and the Food Network, as well as the profiles of their favorite food bloggers to which they subscribe. Users can also subscribe to Interest Lists created by other people, as Facebook suggests popular lists and make it easy for users to discover lists created by their friends. Consider experimenting with Interest Lists by creating awesome lists in your industry; promoting the ‘Add to Interest Lists’ button on your Facebook page; creating content about industry news so your updates are the first to show up in any lists your business is apart of; and creating a must-subscribe, content-rich Facebook presence.

21) Customize Who Can View Your Posts

Facebook’s response to Google+’s Circles feature was a feature that enables users to customize who can see their Facebook posts. For your Facebook page, this means you can limit posts to only display to fans in a certain location or language.

22) Schedule Posts in Advance

Using a third-party Facebook application like HootSuite or HubSpot’s social media publishing tool, you can schedule Facebook posts in advance. However, just as we advised against too much Facebook automation with blog auto-posting, the same holds true for scheduling. Don’t get caught in the trap of turning your page into a robot, and make sure you’re actively engaging with your fans, too.

23) Understand the Impact of EdgeRank

EdgeRank is Facebook’s algorithm for deciding what gets shown in a user’s news feed. It’s important to understand that not every post published to your page’s timeline will be visible to every one of your fans. A post’s engagement level factors into your content’s ability to spread across Facebook. Interactions with a post such as a Like, share, comment, tag, etc., create what Facebook calls an “edge.” The more edges an object has, the more likely it will be displayed in a user’s News Feed. This means it’s important to post engaging content so your fans are more inclined to interact with it, thus increasing its reach.

24) Add Facebook Social Plugins to Your Blog/Website

Promote your business’ Facebook presence and help your content spread on Facebook by adding Facebook Social Plugins to your website and/or blog. This will encourage visitors to your site to also interact with you and become your fan on Facebook as well as spread your content and expand its reach. Social Plugins include ‘Like’ buttons, ‘Share’ buttons, and more.

25) Encourage Your Business’ Execs to Add the ‘Subscribe’ Button

Encourage the public-facing executives and thought leaders in your business to add the subscribe button to their personal Facebook profiles and share your business’ content. This will help extend the reach of your business content. Furthermore, individual people can only be added to the Interest Lists we mentioned in tip #20 if they’ve implemented the subscribe button, so doing so will enable users who are creating new Interest Lists to add your business’ thought leaders to their list, increasing the chances of exposing your business’ content to people who subscribe to those lists.

26) Subscribe to Facebook’s Official Blog for New Feature Announcements

Give yourself a competitive edge. Stay on top of the latest announcements from Facebook such as new features and tools by subscribing to the official Facebook Blog.

27) Monitor Activity on Your Business Page

Don’t neglect your Facebook presence. Use social media monitoring software like HubSpot or a third-party app like HootSuite to monitor activity and regularly participate in your Facebook page. A page that is engaging and updated regularly will be much more successful than a static one.

28) Switch Your Posting Identity Between a Personal Profile and a Page

As a page administrator, within your page’s settings you can choose to always post to your page with that page’s identity (i.e. If I post to HubSpot’s page when I’m using Facebook as my personal profile, it will show as posted from ‘HubSpot.’). Furthermore, if you want to use your page’s identity in general, you can switch that as well. Doing so will enable you to receive notifications about activity on your page, see stories from the pages you Like in your news feed, and interact with other pages as your page. Just click on ‘Account,’ then choose ‘Use Facebook as Page.’

29) Experiment With Facebook’s Ad Platform

Test the effectiveness of Facebook’s advertising platform for your business. Here’s a complete ebook on the subject to help get you started. Then become well versed in Facebook’s ad metrics so you know how your ads are performing.

30) Use Group Chat for Collaboration

Facebook recently introduced Group Chat into its mix of features. In the Facebook chat pane, click on a user you want to chat with. Then click on the icon between the video icon (oh yeah — you can do a 1 on 1 video chat, too!) and the ‘x’ icon, and choose ‘Add Friends to Chat.’ Think of it as a chat room that can enable you to collaborate with teammates or conduct a small, live focus group with prospects or customers.

31) Enable Messages

With Facebook’s new page design update, page admins can now allow users to send them personal messages. This makes it much easier for admins to engage in private conversations with their fans. Use this feature when you need to discuss a topic or customer service issue in more depth, and when you’d prefer the conversation not be made public for all page visitors to see. We don’t recommend limiting methods of communication available to your fans, but admins can also choose to turn off messaging capability by accessing the Admin Panel, choosing ‘Manage’ >> ‘Edit Page’ >> ‘Manage Permissions,’ and unchecking the ‘Messages’ box.

32) Integrate Facebook With Google+

Download the Google+Facebook extension (currently available for Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, and Firefox) to add an extra tab to your Google+ account, which accesses your Facebook news feed. The tab also enables you to Like, comment, or post status updates to Facebook from your Google+ account.

33) Take Advantage of Facebook Keyboard Shortcuts

Use Facebook at the speed of light with Facebook keyword shortcuts for Google Chrome, Firefox, or Internet Explorer. Access Facebook’s keyword shortcuts here.

34) Launch Contests

Contests can be a great way to increase engagement and attract new fans for your page. Be aware of Facebook’s contest/promotion guidelines, and consider using an application like Wildfire, which works closely with Facebook to make sure its guidelines are followed appropriately. Here’s a helpful blog post on the subject if you want to learn more.

35) Add More Page Administrators, Engage, and Be Social

As we mentioned before, although there are a lot of tools available to help you maximize the effectiveness of your Facebook presence, remember that social networks are based on the concept of being social. Make sure there is a member of your team devoted to managing your business’ Facebook presence and that they’re committed to participating using a real, live human voice. You can also add more than one administrator for your page when you’re editing your page under ‘Manage Admins’ to help you split the responsibility among team members.

Today’s “how to” is all about writing content for the web. Below I have several tips that will help keep your readers engaged in what you have to say:

General Tips for Writing on the Web:

• Short paragraphs are best. When people look at big blocks of text they get overwhelmed and don’t want to read it.
• Stay conversational! It’s great to write how you talk because people feel like they can connect with you, that you are authentic, and they will want to work with you as a result. Writing for the web is not about being a crazed perfectionist. The online world is a forgiving one so just write and get your message OUT!
• It’s good to break up text by use of attention-grabbing headlines and sub-headlines (an example: content formatting example)
• Always think about where you’re leading the reader – Just like in writing a book or story. You want to keep them engaged and clicking from page to page in your site OR lead them to contact you. I always suggest coming up with a list of “Calls to Action.” Pamla does this best by telling people all the things they can and should do with her (http://pamlawhorne.com/start/). I don’t suggest you do this as a page on your site so much as just make the list and when you write each page of content, make sure you add a call to action and lead people to sign-up for your mailing list, contact you, comment on your blog, order your product, connect with you on social media etc.
• Image use is great! … as long as it is NOT clip art, distracting or pointless. If it helps sell the point, then it’s great! Plus, with the huge buzz going on right now with Pinterest, it could lead to more website visitors!
• Testimonials are amazing and help people trust you. It’s wise to sprinkle these throughout the pages of your site, and also include them on one general testimonials page.
• In blogging, it’s great to also lead people to other content within your content. This is less subtle than a call to action. So for example, notice how even in this blog post I am linking to other articles I’ve written to help educate you on a variety of topics. This is key to showing you that I know a lot about how to build and market your business online. If you feel this content is valuable then you’ll want to stick around by signing up for my emailing list or sharing this content on your social networking sites so you are looked at as more of an authority. See how it all works?
• Write from your heart with the priority and intention to add value to people’s lives. This is KEY and what writing content is all about. I am writing this blog post because I genuinely want you to feel more comfortable about writing. Writing is key to getting your message out through your website, blog and social networks. The more that you write, the more that people will hear about you and the longer-lasting your message will be. Don’t stop writing.

So tell me, what was the tip that struck you the most? What content tips to you have that I didn’t mention? I’d love to hear your thoughts (or get your help sharing this article if you thought it was helpful) through the Facebook comments box below.

In my last post, I discussed getting your blog up and running. Why are you blogging? What is it about? How do you get started? Hopefully you’ve now had a chance to move forward in your own blog creation. Let’s assume you now at least have your blog generated, your categories set up, the theme customized, and (maybe) you’ve posted one or two times. What’s next?

Be Consistent.

When you’re first beginning, it might seem overwhelming to imagine yourself writing a new post every day – so don’t. Start small and manageable, like once a week; just be consistent in how often you post. Don’t worry if your posts aren’t the Holy Grail of the blogging world. As long as you are true to why you started your blog in the first place, and keep your posts authentic, then you have little to worry about.

The best piece of advice I ever got was to be consistent.

Once you get into a rhythm and feel more comfortable with the whole posting process, you can start to increase the frequency of your blog posts. Now, I have to admit, there are times when I barely get one post done a week. I don’t beat myself up about it. I acknowledge what’s happening in my life at the time, and then I write about it (remember, my blog is about sharing my experiences and having a personal, creative outlet). However, to create the most value in your blog, keeping a consistent posting schedule is important.

There’s more to consistency than just frequency.

It’s great to have a regular schedule of blog posts, but if they aren’t consistent with your topic, then it becomes confusing to both you and your readers. “It is important to remember that your blog should only have one topic.” If your blog is about your video production business, don’t slip a post in there about your recent family vacation to Italy, unless, of course, you filmed the whole trip and are offering tips for other travelers wanting to do the same.

Keep your articles relevant to what your blog is about.

The last part of being consistent has to do with tags and keywords. Huh? Yes. When I first started blogging, I considered myself a fairly computer-literate person, but there were certain terms (like tags and keywords) that I didn’t have much experience with. I had heard them being tossed around and talked about, but I wasn’t exactly sure how to effectively use them.

The easiest way for me to explain them, is to consider them a lot like your categories, which help you “file” your post in the right location. Your tags and keywords help you, your readers, and search engines find those specific articles within your filing system. The trick about tags and keywords, much like categories, is not to go overboard.

You can, and should, have multiple tags for each post (unlike categories), but be consistent in the words you choose to highlight as keywords.

There is often the temptation to add a tag for every possible description of the same word. For example: Mommy, Mother, Mom all mean the same thing. Pick one and stick with it.

Comment on and follow other blogs.

I remember how excited I was when I got my first notification that someone liked and left a comment on one of my blog posts. It was the highlight of my day, my week! Imagine giving someone else that feeling. It might not be their first ever comment, but everyone loves feedback. Not that it should matter, but knowing that someone is reading your blog (and paying attention to it) offers validation for having it.

In today’s world it’s all about creating relationships.

Choose wisely the blogs you decide to follow. It’s fine to read about varying topics, but don’t just follow all the blogs you happen to browse upon in a day. When you are thoughtful about the blogs you patronize, those blogs will start to notice you and hopefully return the engagement.

Link to your social media sites.

If you are a beginner in the online world, then this might seem like another overwhelming task. What if I don’t have any social media sites? What if I’m only on Facebook and not Twitter, Linked-In, YouTube or the oodles of other available sites? Don’t worry! It takes time to build your online network. Take it slow, one step at a time. Do what’s comfortable for you, at your own pace.

Once you have your social media accounts set up, link your blog to them. This usually is a simple action, as most social media sites now expect you to link between them and are very accommodating.

Why is this important? It creates efficiency.

If you could automatically update several sites at once, each time you made a new blog post, why wouldn’t you? The more you are visible in the online world, the more people will find you and get to hear your message.

Create an ‘About Me’ page.

If you haven’t already done this, do it now! You’re to the point now where people are starting to find you, whether they stumble upon you browsing the web, or whether you have directly given them the link to your blog. Once they’re there, people want to know who you are.

By creating an ‘About Me’ page, you are letting people know you’re real.

Important tip: be concise in the information you share.

It doesn’t have to be elaborate, with your complete biography and business history. In fact, by keeping it short and sweet, it is more likely to get read in its entirety, rather than passed over to the next page, or worse yet, the next blog.

Don’t get discouraged.

You’ve been blogging consistently for several months. You’re sticking to your topic, categories, tags and keywords. So where are all the people? How come no one is following you?

Be patient. It takes time to build presence.

Noah’s Ark wasn’t built in a day, and it’s unrealistic to expect that your blog will become famous overnight. Keep writing, and your followers will come.

Be Authentic.

If there’s one piece of advice that applies to everyone, in every situation, it’s to be authentic. Often easier said than done, I know, but so important!

No one wants to read something that isn’t genuine.

When people take the time to read your posts, whether it’s a story, a product review, or a welcome to your newest employee or business partner, offer them a reason to come back. By writing what you’re passionate about (which is hopefully also what your blog is about), and by coming from your heart, it’s hard to go wrong. It might be scary at first to open yourself up, but trust me, it’s worth it.

When all else fails, or when you find yourself off track, remember why you started your blog in the first place.

Reflect on the beginning; take yourself back to the dreams you had and the vision you saw.

I have a saying, which sometimes I find myself using all too often: “Life happens.” When life happens to you, embrace it. Keep in mind, it’s just a blog, have fun with it.

I sincerely hope you find success with your blogging and I can’t wait to find you!

Connect with Pamela on on Facebook, Twitter and Linked-In.

Pamela Zimmer quit her career for Motherhood. Being an Architect, and an entrepreneur at heart, Pamela struggled with her decision to have her own Architecture firm. She knew she always wanted to be a stay-at-home Mom, but also knew she wanted to have a successful career. After 13+ years of working in Architecture, 7 of which she ran her own successful business, Pamela finally chose to listen to her heart and realized that being a stay-at-home Mom was her true passion and life purpose. She is now a #1 best-selling author in the book ‘Get Your Woman On!’ and strives to support and inspire other women who are ready to make their life transformation. Pamela is working on her own book, as well as starting a business as a peer-to-peer counselor for Postpartum Depression. Her blog, Stories of a Mom, is where Pamela shares her experiences, from one Mother to another.

• Do you feel clueless about social media? Questions come up such as, “What do I say on Facebook?”, “Is this really as important as people say?”, “Which social networks are the best to be on and why?”
• Are you curious how to maximize social media interaction on your website so more web visitors share and like your content?
• Have you considered the powers of branding your social networks to drive all that traffic back to your website?

Don’t worry, most online business owners share this frustration and confusion. Today my goal is to help you build a sturdy bridge so a steady stream of people flows between your website and social media touch-points. The goal is to maximize ease for people to join your social networks from your website AND to find your website while visiting your social networks.

HOT OFF THE PRESS, I’d like to invite you to download my new eBook, “Share My Message! 7 Key Steps to Social Media Integration”
FOR FREE!

This 23-page eBook has two parts. The first talks all about what you need to do on your website to get more likes and shares for your content. Learn the resources and tools I use in my business! Also how to gain a much bigger following on your social networks – all without visitors leaving your website.

The second part of “Share My Message!” is all about social media branding. Learn how to brand your Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounts so you drive ALL that social networking traffic back to your website (where you can next get them to opt-in to your mailing list and buy products or services from you).

What People Are Saying:

Thank you SO MUCH for all your AMAZING, HELPFUL INFORMATION! I am a new website owner and I am LOST when it comes to the social media angle–even with a personal coach. There is such a MASSIVE amount of information, decisions to make, TIME involved–at least 300 hours so far for me!  I will DEFINITELY be checking with you for more ideas on how you may be able to assist me! Thank you, again, for all the free information you have already provided to me!
Lisa

Amber– I had a chance to read your ebook. It’s fabulous…really. I read it from my perspective which is someone who really wants to learn the best ways to maximize my online presence using my website and other social media tools. This book is chock full of juicy nuggets that are immediately useable for integrating social media, and you explain it so well (a talent for this topic). Really liked the look and feel of the book…worked really well with the subject matter.
Great job for someone who continues to be blazing along and making a difference for people.
Take care,
Terry

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You’ll want to take action now so you don’t feel continue to feel behind. It’s time to take action in your business and make success happen.

This isn’t one of those resources that you should read when you get around to it. A lot of very valuable information has been shared and it is truly my pleasure.

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What is Pinterest?

Pinterest is a social network that allows you to “pin” cool images to a virtual corkboard-type setup on your wall. The home page acts as a giant feed of images that are being posted on Pinterest to show you the latest activity. They have developed a browser add-on button that allows you to be on any website (except Facebook, I’ve discovered so far) and be able to click the “pin it” button to add images to your Pinterest profile page without having to be on that site.

My opinion?

At first I thought, oh man, another social network. But as a focused online business owner, I wanted to give it a chance and dive right in. Hey, if it can help me spread my message to the world faster, why not? So I registered for an account (caution: they’re on a bit of a wait list but get on it anyway). I am only getting started but I *already* see the potential for business owners.

I have created a few “boards” already: Pure Inspiration, Bucket List, How To Help for Online Biz Owners, Books Worth Reading, Products I Love. I only have a few images as you’ll see but I have many more I need to pin up.

I think this social network is going to be addicting, powerful in terms of expanding your reach and influence online, and has the potential to do wonders for online entrepreneurs.

The strategy?

First of all, I can already see the online world turning MUCH more “visual”. All over Facebook I’m seeing graphics with quotes, text, etc. and they are getting the most Likes and Shares. So Pinterest IS a network to get on.

I plan to start designing a series of images and posting them on my site and for blog posts. You want to create images that are cool so people want to pin them to their boards. The more images you create that get pinned, the more exposure you will get and that web traffic will come back to your site. Then it’s up to you to have a great website that will capture leads and make sales.

When you pin your own web pages to your Pinterest account, here’s what I suggest: Add a cool image to the pages you want to expose on your Pinterest account (that is how you pin the page to your account – through the image). It needs to be a cool image to generate interest and get people to then pin it on their account or comment on your image.

As you “pin” the image to your board you are allowed to add a description AND links. Check out this example to see one Facebook Profile Banner Image I added. Check out the description and see how I added a link at the bottom of the post to drive that traffic back to my site on a particular page.

The KEY is to add as many neat and interesting images as you can find. I want someone clicking around on my Pinterest boards as long as possible. I want them to follow me, share my images and come back for more.

So yes, I’m at the beginning stages but this is a great site with loads of potential. It’s time to get busy!

What Cool Images Am I Planning to Add?

Pin It

Pin It

Pin It

Pin It

Pin It

Pin It

Shoot me a comment below and let me know your Pinterest profile URL so we can connect! Also, if you thought this blog post was helpful, please help me share it on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Thank you in advance!

Brendon Burchard is right when he says people are uncomfortable talking about making money – especially off their message. They WANT to do it and NEED to do it, but they’re uncomfortable talking about it. I am too, but it’s natural and necessary. We need to put income in our pockets to sustain the message.

One way to “make money more quickly” online is with promotional partners. This can be an affiliate who registers to *sell your product for a commission*. A promotional partner can also be someone you joint venture with where you combine forces to sell a product or service – anyone that has an audience, that aligns with your message, that can help promote you. Collaboration is KEY and there are a few things you need to be educated about to make the most out of gaining these promo partners.

I’m laying out these insights below under the assumption that you are to do one of two things:

1. You have a product you want others to sell and once it’s ready, you’ll ask people to support you. (affiliate)
2. You have an IDEA for a product and you are going to invite someone to partner with you to make it a success. (jv partner, joint venture partner)

Insight #1 about Promotional Partners: Make the Product (or Idea) Count

You can’t just create a product in day then expect people with big email lists to want to promote it. I know that I will only ever tell my audience about something that I truly believe in and know would make a positive impact. Spend the time to make the product the best you can – insane value and professionally packaged. If you want to collaborate and build a product with a partner instead, then do your research and flush out your ideas first, THEN approach your desired jv partner. Show your promotional partners how badly you want this, and how much you deserve their help.

Insight #2 about Promotional Partners: Your Message must Align with Theirs

If my whole business is about generating income off of Google AdWords and you are offering meditation CDs, we are not in alignment with each other’s messages. You could approach me because I have a loyal and big email list to promote to, but I still wouldn’t promote you because your CDs don’t align with my message. It’s important to connect with industry leaders that can relate to what you are promoting. It must align naturally with their products and services and message.

Insight #3 about Promotional Partners: How to Ask?

This is the biggest question I get and the answer is mostly, “Just Ask!” … but there’s a touch more to it. First, know this will be a numbers game like anything else. You can’t target one person to help and if they say no, you give up. Make a list of 50 people that might align with your message and product (idea). Then do your due diligence and see the way they speak to their audience – what are their key points – how do they ask for the order with their audience (soft, hard, etc.). Then use that information to your benefit and create a strategy around it. Email the potential promo partner and follow this type of sequence:

• Compliment them and let them know why you are excited about what they’re doing
• Explain that the more you read and researched them, the more you felt in alignment with their message
• Briefly explain who you are and what your message is
• Unveil your product or product idea
• Ask for the order in a way that is mutually beneficial: “I think that if we work together we can get our message out there in a bigger way and help more people. Can we setup a time to discuss my ideas?”

The whole email should NOT be long. You’ll have to work on refining your message so it’s short, concise and to the point (not in a pitchy way but in a super genuine, want-to-help-the-world way).

Insight #4 about Promotional Partners: How Much Is Too Much?

We are all extremely busy. When you look at the people you target, expect them to be 2-5 times busier than you. They have been building their empire, they have dozens of products, tons of people contacting them all the time. They will not be excited to do MORE work just because you need help and have a nice message. You want to make it as EASY as possible for them to help you. For example, one key to success for an Amazon Bestseller Book Campaign is to write ALL marketing materials for the promotional partners so they just have to copy/paste on the book launch date. We write multiple emails, dozens of Facebook posts and Twitter tweets, etc. We want to make it super easy for people to share our message and then our chances for success increase!

Promotional partners IS the way to do business this year. I’m telling you… Promo partners and guest blogging (more to come later) should be a constant priority for you. Above Facebook – above it all. This is the way to MUCH faster results.

Your Challenge:

Start today by doing 1-hour of research online. Open an excel spreadsheet and start keeping a record of interesting websites that could be potential avenues for you. Look at how often the website owner is blogging, how active are they on social networks, are they consistently building their business, do they have great testimonials, etc. Just keep making record of all the websites that are in alignment with you and look to be doing things right. Then the next time you can carve out an hour (ahem, make this a priority) you’ll go back into each site and study the website owner even more to carve out their message and see what their interests are. You’ll basically just keep building your case until you’re ready to take action and ask for the order.

Today is the day though… it’s time to take action!

If you thought this article was helpful, I would love to hear your feedback and help me share it on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. If you are interested in writing for InsightfulDevelopment.com, click here to learn about out Guest Writing program.

The best way to reach a large number of people and get your message across on the internet today is through video but not just any video. It must be a video that captures and keeps your audienceʼs attention.

Video is considered by Google as a higher form of engagement than a simple blog or article and ranks higher in the ratings. Therefore you have a better shot at reaching more people if you do a video rather than a simple article. And the more people that watch your video, the higher you will rank on Google and the more likelihood people who are searching in your niche market will see a link to your video and watch it.

'Evolution of Dance' Example Viral Video

6 Key Elements of a Viral Video

So how do you make your video go viral so you rank as high as possible on Google?

1. Keep your video short and to the point.
2. Keep it simple and entertaining.
3. State the problem in your niche market you are going to help them solve right up front in the beginning of the video.
4. Give them useful information so that you move them from a place of no or little knowledge to a place of educated knowledge that puts them ahead in their industry.
5. Choose a title with key words – ones that captures your niche marketʼs attention and offers a solution to their problem.
6. Create a coordinated attack with link bait so that you rank on the first page of Google within 24 hours of posting your video.

Youʼre probably wondering what a coordinated attack is. Itʼs when you post your video on as many social networking sites as possible and get large numbers of people to link back to your video and share it all on the same day. The way to do that is to create link bait, something that causes people to click on your link to watch and share your video.

7 Steps to Create a Coordinated Attack

1. Post your Video on YouTube and other social networking videos sites such as Vimeo.
2. Post it on Blog sites, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social networking sites.
3. Put a Call to Action in it asking people if they liked the video or found it useful to please share it with others.
4. Email it to your mailing list and ask them to share it with others.
5. Do online press releases with a link to your video.
6. Contact as many people as possible, especially people who have large email mailing lists and social networking audiences to post, email and blog about your video as well.
7. Offer link bait, such as an ethical bribe offering more knowledge, a free gift, or a chance to win a contest in order to get them to link back to your website and share your video.

When Google sees a large number of people linking to a video within a 24 hour period, it views that as a high form of engagement and moves the video quickly up in rankings.

Did you find this post helpful? Lend us a hand in getting the
word out by sharing this on Facebook, Twitter and Google+.
Let’s show Beth some love.

Beth Rosen is a film producer, #1 best selling author and business entrepreneur who offers various products, services, courses and private coaching designed to accelerate your path to success and happiness. She is currently offering a unique online movie-making course called The Back Door to Hollywood which teaches you how to make a professional movie/video, how to stand out from the crowd and how to create your own lucky break. For more information, please visit www.BethRosen.com.

There is a TON of valuable information in this post. All of the links open in a new window and the content will laser in on that topic. I invite you to spend some time here and really take advantage of this FREE platform I’ve developed just for you.

For those of you who are just getting started online, this post would be excellent for you to print out and keep by your computer as you
build your online platform (your website, social networks, leads – it is all-encompassing of your touch-points online). For those of you who think they are on a great track online, this may be a good post to see what has slipped between the cracks or what area you could build up for better results.

So let’s get started. Consider your online platform and online presence. Really think about the blood, sweat and tears you’ve put into building a website (whether you invested $10,000+ or started a free WordPress site), into starting a social networking account and trying to figure it out, into listening to webinars and teleseminars and reading blog posts on “how” to do it all. Next, I invite you read each question *slowly* and really analyze where you’re at with each of these items:

• Do you have a professionally designed logo that can make for good branding?
• Are you staying ‘up to date’ on what’s happening in your industry so you become the go-to authority for news?
• Do you post to your blog regularly (not once a month, but one a week or more?)
• Is your business brand consistent between all touch points online – from your LinkedIn profile to your Facebook cover to your email newsletter look and feel?
• Have you looked at your content in the past three months to see what, if anything was outdated material?
• Do you do what you say you are going to do online (release new products on time, follow through with your ideas, etc.)?
• When is the last time you did keyword research or competitor research?
• Have you reached out to anyone lately to discuss the concept of collaboration, so you can grow your business more quickly in new markets?
• Do you have a growth plan or goals to help grow your business (such as how many email subscribers you’ll get, how many Facebook friends, how many blog posts, how many emails will you send out to your list each month, etc.)?
• Have you stepped back to evaluate if your web team really IS good, or just the inexpensive solution who isn’t really getting you where you need to be?
• Does your website design help you or hurt you, and when is the last time you’ve evaluated areas for improvement?
• Do you have a solid free introductory product you can give away as incentive for people to sign up to your mailing list?
• And is that free introductory product branded and professionally designed and formatted?
• Do you have obvious social networking icons and feeds on your website so web visitors can connect with you?
• Does your tagline make sense and help you stand out from the noise? Is it easy to remember and does it make an impact?
• Do you have a list of keywords you are targeting with every piece of content you write, so you can start dominating search engines?
• Are you regularly adding products to your website that are for sale so people can get ‘the next best thing’ from you?
• How often are you adding a ‘call to action’ in everything you do (at the end of blog posts, in your email newsletters, in every contact point)?
• Are you organized with your business and do you treat it like a real business with scheduling and planning meetings?
• Do you thank your web visitors, email subscribers, social networking friends and clients for sticking with you?
• How often do you implement new ways to drive traffic to your website and blog?

Your impact on the web IS what you make of it. Those are just a few questions you can ask yourself from time to time to make sure you are BUILDING. Starting an online business is not the easiest task in the world. You are competing with billions of web pages out there. But, there is more than enough room in the sea for us all to profit.

The trick is knowing what to do next to continue building your online platform. Stay focused. Don’t lose the momentum. If you need help with your direction or with implementing tasks, feel free to contact me and let’s have a loose conversation about it. The key is to get help from people who know what they are talking about – and that becomes obvious when someone writes about those topics and gives away the farm just to help others. I’m not tooting my own horn here so much as just teaching how to identify the right kind of person to help you with your business.

If you thought this post was of value, please SHARE this post with others on your social networks. My goal is simple: Helping Others. As many as I can get my hands on.

Thank you for spreading the light!

Do I think it is a “must” to be on Google+? Yes.

Do I think it is worth your time to learn it and love it? Yes.

I believe this social network will be a major player (and already is for some). I find myself resistant only because I don’t love how you gain friends. It’s just different, not bad. With Facebook, you can click a button and send a “friend request” and the other person accepts – now you are connected. They can see your posts and you can see theirs.

Google+ is setup more like Twitter in that you can follow me, but I won’t automatically follow you or anything. I do get a notification that you’ve added me to your “Circle” (a Circle allows you to separate your friends into different lists such as ‘co-workers, family, friends’). From there, I can choose to add you to my Circle. I guess this seems less official and fun to me. But, no reason to not get on Google+.

This post is my announcement that I’m on a mission to understand the in’s and out’s of Google+ and learn to fall in love with it. Maybe you’ll join me? Look, it’s essential if you want to keep making progress online and keep getting more exposure. Or, another way to think about it (and the better way) is this is another avenue to get your message out to more people – as many people as possible.

Ok, so I’ve started doing more research. I want to see what many different people say about their Google+ experience and how to like it and use it. Below I’ve compiled a few resources for you that I think are worth looking at or listening to.

• Mari Smith, What’s So Exciting About Google+
• Marketing Professor, 40 Google Plus Tips for Newbies
• Google+ Statistics (for fun)

If you have an opinion about Google+ I really am dying to hear it. I’ve got to know many perspectives to know Google+ like the back of my hand.

What do you love?
What do you hate?
What do you wish was different?

Please write a comment below and let me know what you think. THEN go to the right sidebar and you’ll find a Google+ widget with a big blue “Add to Circles” button – click that button and let’s get paired up on Google+.