On Line Marketing: The Formula I Recommend And Why

Question: What Is The Goal of  Business Growth Marketing?

Answer: Traffic and Conversion!

What this means is that in order to grow your business with new customers,  there  needs to be  a stream of relevant traffic interested in what it is you offer.  Your job is to move this traffic from interested to “I’ll Take It” !

Question: How do you move people from being interested to buyers?

Answer: In my experience, people become buyers when a relationship and trust is established. Also, for professional services and many physical products, people want to talk to a person before making a final decision. Contact information including an email address and phone number is very important.

Building A Relationship On Line

The process that has worked for me has at it’s foundation a blog.  The blog has a contact capture form with a reason for people to give you that information. Their name goes into a autoresponder system for follow- up messages with value added content.  Value added content can be tips, a link to another blog article, examples of what is working and direct educational material. Each follow on email should have a signature with a link for more information and contact information.

The blog is the home for valuable content or articles that offer valuable information. This can be current news and relevant “how to” information. Offering examples of what is working is another terrific way of offering value. Marketing messages can be in the signature and the article itself can be structured so the reader understands how your offer is a solution for their interests.

In summary, the blog and the autoresponder sequence is key to building trust and establishing a relationship. Links in the blog and emails can direct the reader to a direct sales page or a contact page.

With this foundation in place and continually growing, you now have the source of material for valuable updates using social media sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Social Media is a major tool for helping you build your business.  I recommend you look at your social media network as an asset for your business that will continually become more valuable if it is properly managed.

Twitter

I always recommend using at least two accounts, one personal and one business. Twitter seems to regularly modify how it is enforcing its terms of service. Having multiple accounts reduces the risk of going completely off of Twitter because of an account suspension. However, if you post quality messages to valuable content plus use tweets that have no URL in them that demonstrate you are interacting, they you should not have any problems with account suspension.

Building a Twitter following and managing tweets through that network can be a significant commitment of time. I highly recommend leveraging or outsourcing a lot of this work. My company New Digital Media, Inc. has been established specifically to help you with this.

Facebook

There are three primary channels on Facebook that should be used that do not cost money. One channel is pay per click advertising does cost money. Regarding pay per click on Facebook,  my initial tests are positive. It appears advertising on Facebook is cost effective. More on this in a future article.

The first area that should be built on Facebook is your profile. There are many exceptions to the rule that profiles are to be personal. Currently I do not advise spending time building a business profile as there is a high risk of being deactivated.  Your personal profile can and should have clear links to your business.

My focus has been on building my profile and my friends list is primarily for business purposes. As I approached the 5,000 friends limit on Facebook I created a fan page. While I am not a fan of the label fan page, it is channel for expanding your network and there are no limits to the number of fans. If your goal is to build a fan page for a business (Facebook encourages business fan pages) then I recommend a build strategy that invites friends to a fan page, uses Twitter to promote your profile and fan page and test Facebook ads to build your fan page. I have seen very effective ad campaigns that have built fan pages fast so I know this works. If you build a fan page then you should have a communication strategy for developing the interest of your fans.

Facebook Groups are one of my favorites for building business since once a person joins your group, generally they are very interested in messages related to the topic of the group. For example, I have the group Build Business Profits on Facebook which ties into the theme of this blog as well as my social media blogs.  The feedback I receive from messages sent to this group as well as several other targeted groups I have built is consistently positive.

Other Social Media Sites

I highly recommend using YouTube and I have done  a lot of YouTube work in the past and will be stepping up my YouTube activity again this year. I also recommend LinkedIn  There are many other social media sites and I have some work being done on a handful of other sites. However, with the growth in Facebook and Twitter I continue to concentrate on those two. Up and coming and closely being watched is Google Buzz.

The Number One Key Success Factor

While I am always building my social media network and the network for clients of New Digital Media, Inc. the most valuable asset in social media is the quality of information offered in articles and personal communication.  With my own accounts and those of clients there is always a focus of adding value and blending with personal messages.  I have no automated messages flowing through Facebook and I am paying increasing attention to the balance of non automated messages on Twitter.

Related

My focus is having people connect with me on my offers. This is what I always advise clients as well. Consistently there is contact information with articles, contact name and email forms feeding an autoresponder with an email message sequence and published phone information.  This is fundamental internet marketing.  There is always more including search engine optimization,  search engine pay per click, squeeze pages and more. However with a consistent focus on building a relationship with people who are interested in your products and services, you will be able to stay focused on those on line tools most effective for your business.

Then there is off line marketing which is a topic for another article.

Steve Pohlit

Business Consulting, Executive Coach
Turnaround/Crisis Management
Temporary CEO, CFO, Controller Services
International Business Resources

Social Media Services
New Digital Media, Inc.

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727-587-7871

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About: Steve Pohlit is a CPA,MBA and has been the CFO of several major domestic and international companies.  Steve is a business owner and an expert business consultant focused on building profits and net asset value. He is very experienced with Internet marketing and social media marketing.  All articles published by Steve unless specifically restricted may be freely published with this resource information.

Carl's Jr. Very Effective Use of Social Media, Internet Marketing, Video, More

Carl’s Jr. has over 1100 locations with 772 in California. They have no locations in my current home state of Florida. However, because of my business consulting experience in the restaurant industry along with a controversial video commercial released by Carl’s several years ago, I became aware of this restaurant business. I learned it was  founded with the purchase of one hot dog cart for less than $500  in 1941.

While reviewing a Facebook  application recommended by a friend I noticed an ad on the site for Carl’s.  Of course I remembered the original video that was absolutely outrageous and wondered if they had posted it on Facebook.  (They did not.)  What I did notice was they have almost 68,000 fans, they are promoting a new sandwich, offering an incentive coupon and their fan page wall is extremely active.

I went a little deeper and clicked to their website.  I stayed there maybe 5-8 minutes watching all their video commercials. They are very entertaining. I registered for their newsletter. The visuals, sounds and messages of the videos and the images of the graphics are terrific. If there was a location nearby I would be a customer.  I also feel that the next time I visit the West Coast I will look them up. Their presentation is that good.

Carl’s Jr has links to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flicker on their website.  I am not sure if they have expanded onto other social media sites. If  asked I would  recommend they be on every major social media venue. Clearly the visuals and sound are huge assets for their messages about their food.

Food isn’t the only attraction as evidenced by one YouTube video with Audriana Partridge in a hot gold bikini eating one of Carl’s Jr.’s famous sandwiches. This video has already been viewed over 545 thousand times with most others by Carl’s Jr.  being viewed in the range of 20 thousand.  Think about the value of one YouTube video being viewed over one half million times.

I did a brief review of Facebook to see if key competitors are using social media. Facebook members have activated McDonald’s and Wendy’s fan pages. Neither company seems to have an active Facebook presence.

I am a major advocate for using social media to build business profits. But here is the key as demonstrated by Carl’s Jr.: you have got to have a hook.  Carl’s is kicking butt in their ads for size, quality and price vs. McDonald’s.  Then they add amazing visuals, incentives, and are definitely on top of their game when it comes to strengthening social relationships.  So they are hitting on all cylinders including the use of a well toned body wearing little excited about a huge order of food. What an amazing contrast and Carl’s Jr. pulls it off marvelously just as they did a few years back with a famous celebrity promoting their food wearing near nothing on the hood of a car.  It was amazing.

On video and in pictures, Carl’s Jr. looks like  great tasting food. I assume that is the case with more than 1,100 locations. Of course that is key for sustained growth in same store sales as well as sustained growth in the number of locations. Somehow I suspect the food experience is great and I will confirm that one of these days. If you have eaten at Carl’s Jr. please share your experiences including what you ordered.

Great  example Carl’s Jr. of executing very well on fundamentals.

Sending you energy of health, happiness, prosperity

Steve Pohlit

Business Consulting, Executive Coaching
International Business Resources

Social Media Services
New Digital Media, Inc.

727-587-7871
Email

Carl’s Jr. Very Effective Use of Social Media, Internet Marketing, Video, More

Carl’s Jr. has over 1100 locations with 772 in California. They have no locations in my current home state of Florida. However, because of my business consulting experience in the restaurant industry along with a controversial video commercial released by Carl’s several years ago, I became aware of this restaurant business. I learned it was  founded with the purchase of one hot dog cart for less than $500  in 1941.

While reviewing a Facebook  application recommended by a friend I noticed an ad on the site for Carl’s.  Of course I remembered the original video that was absolutely outrageous and wondered if they had posted it on Facebook.  (They did not.)  What I did notice was they have almost 68,000 fans, they are promoting a new sandwich, offering an incentive coupon and their fan page wall is extremely active.

I went a little deeper and clicked to their website.  I stayed there maybe 5-8 minutes watching all their video commercials. They are very entertaining. I registered for their newsletter. The visuals, sounds and messages of the videos and the images of the graphics are terrific. If there was a location nearby I would be a customer.  I also feel that the next time I visit the West Coast I will look them up. Their presentation is that good.

Carl’s Jr has links to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flicker on their website.  I am not sure if they have expanded onto other social media sites. If  asked I would  recommend they be on every major social media venue. Clearly the visuals and sound are huge assets for their messages about their food.

Food isn’t the only attraction as evidenced by one YouTube video with Audriana Partridge in a hot gold bikini eating one of Carl’s Jr.’s famous sandwiches. This video has already been viewed over 545 thousand times with most others by Carl’s Jr.  being viewed in the range of 20 thousand.  Think about the value of one YouTube video being viewed over one half million times.

I did a brief review of Facebook to see if key competitors are using social media. Facebook members have activated McDonald’s and Wendy’s fan pages. Neither company seems to have an active Facebook presence.

I am a major advocate for using social media to build business profits. But here is the key as demonstrated by Carl’s Jr.: you have got to have a hook.  Carl’s is kicking butt in their ads for size, quality and price vs. McDonald’s.  Then they add amazing visuals, incentives, and are definitely on top of their game when it comes to strengthening social relationships.  So they are hitting on all cylinders including the use of a well toned body wearing little excited about a huge order of food. What an amazing contrast and Carl’s Jr. pulls it off marvelously just as they did a few years back with a famous celebrity promoting their food wearing near nothing on the hood of a car.  It was amazing.

On video and in pictures, Carl’s Jr. looks like  great tasting food. I assume that is the case with more than 1,100 locations. Of course that is key for sustained growth in same store sales as well as sustained growth in the number of locations. Somehow I suspect the food experience is great and I will confirm that one of these days. If you have eaten at Carl’s Jr. please share your experiences including what you ordered.

Great  example Carl’s Jr. of executing very well on fundamentals.

Sending you energy of health, happiness, prosperity

Steve Pohlit

Business Consulting, Executive Coaching
International Business Resources

Social Media Services
New Digital Media, Inc.

727-587-7871
Email

How To Use Social Media To Grow Your Business

How To Use Social Media To Grow Your Business

The tools available to market products and services are numerous. Direct response marketing, Internet marketing, brand awareness campaigns and more are all labels for marketing programs. In every case, the goal is the same…increase revenue and profits.

My experience working with companies to grow profits is extensive. (Click Here for my resume)  I have developed my views on marketing from actual experience implementing programs, monitoring the results and continuously testing ideas to improve response rates and profitability. Social media is phrase representing an ever increasing number of places people congregate. Social media marketing is just that..marketing to people using social media sites.

There are a number of credible people holding seminars, selling courses and offering consulting on how to do social media marketing. My recommendation to business is to  focus on your business.  My company will build your social media network and I will work with you to develop and implement your social media marketing program. These are two very distinctly separate tasks.

How we build a social media network  is based on my actual results in developing several of my own business ventures and providing  these services to clients. I have personally done the social media work staring February 2008 .  Since that time I completed the detailed steps. I will highlight some of them in this article. From this experience I  recommend what steps you should leverage to others and the tools I feel are a must have for developing your network. This is for people very serious about using social media as a business building tool.

Key Marketing Principle Reviewed

Marketing is primarily about attracting traffic to your offer and converting that traffic to customers. Many know this. Most ignore it. I never ignore it. For clarification it is not just any traffic but relevant traffic. What does relevant traffic mean? It means people already interested in what it is you have to offer.

The late Gary Halbert said if you are selling hamburgers, he would rather have a starving crowd than all the positioning of signs, building, location and all of the other things we normally address in marketing a physical product like hamburgers. It is every marketer’s dream to have a starving crowd. I am no different. The starving crowd is not right outside my door. I need to find them and so do you.

The Cloud

My view of the cloud is simply an image of all the people using social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace, etc. So when I use the phrase the cloud that is what I mean.

The Goal

Return on investment in time and money is the goal. Sure I work on projects and products where I have expertise and interest. Sure I do things out of curiosity without having any monetization objective, but most of what I do is to drive profitable revenue doing business where I have a high personal interest.  When I do this well, I am compensated by the marketplace for providing value. For me spending time on what I enjoy is not work. However, unless there is income flow, my enjoyment of a an area of personal interest is going to expire. Having said that I will encourage you to make sure your attention span is long enough to allow your business to develop.

To achieve the monetization goal I am  developing as large a portion of the cloud as possible that I can reach. I then continuously send messages intended to invite people I am reaching to consider my offer. Related to this goal is my objective to at also have as many people as possible give me their contact information. That action  tells me  there is some level of interest in what I am offering. For those experienced marketers reading this I am not sending out selling messages. All of the messages are indirect intended to create an interest in wanting more information. Many flavors of messages are used and I am always developing new ones to test.

The Specifics

The work is done by my company New Digital Media, Inc. I work with all clients directly. When the scope of the work is defined some of the tasks that I previously have done personally are leveraged. The staff working with me is very experienced and they actually develop their own network which I encourage. We share social media network growth tips.

Our primary focus is on growing Twitter and Facebook accounts. Within Facebook we work with clients  to grow friends and when friends are at a certain level we build a targeted group. As  a  group is being built we implement a messaging strategy to the group. We are gradually expanding our focus into several other social media sites. However, for now Twitter and Facebook is out primary focus.

The goal of the network is to drive interested people to a landing page or a product sales page. As appropriate, we advocate the destination to be a blog article.  As articles are added they serve as destinations for new messages to the network. In certain cases we will promote a client through our own network which is quite large.

We use a combination of tools to assist us in growing accounts. Most of these tools are used with Twitter. There are no automation tools we use to grow Facebook friends and groups. We use an automation tool to assist us with posting messages to Twitter and Facebook. This tool has the capability to post messages to LinkedIn, MySpace and more.  The primary tools we use and recommend if you are doing this work yourself are:

Hummingbird for growing Twiter followers

Tweet Later – message management

Tweep

Instant Capture Pages

Blogs – WordPress format exclusively This Site Shows You How To Set One Up – Free

Autoresponder – Aweber

Web Hosting – Host Gator

Each person in the company uses at least two computers. It is not practical to run our automation tools and do our other work on one machine. This can be done but it will affect productivity by at least 50%.

Effectiveness

The following Twitter accounts were developed in six weeks. digialmediabiz 9735 followers. buildprofits 8694 followers So those are a couple examples of  accounts growing.

Size of our total network – very large

On Facebook we grew the group Deliberate Creation to over 2,500 members in three weeks.  This happens to be a very niche market and we were very pleased with how rapidly this developed.

Return on Investment – we have numerous success stories for ourselves and for clients.  However, it has taken quite awhile to systematize what works. Additionally, we are constantly monitoring the rules of the social media sites as they can change and we want to be in compliance.  For these reasons, I highly recommend looking at our company to help you grow your network which allows  you to focus on growing your business.

Based on Twitter’s current algorithms we can build an account to 10,000 followers in about two months. Facebook has a limit of 5000 friends and it can take 6 months or longer to hit that level. Remember once built, these assets are in place for multiple  purposes.

Personally my network is used to market consulting services, New Digital Media  and several other ventures. I noticed the most significant improvement in what we do once I developed  a laser beam focus on our objective and finding the right staff. Both are in place. The difference between my company and most of the people who are experienced, is we do it for you and hand over the results. Along the way we teach  you so you are in a position to continue the process or have us continue. If you are a large company, I will teach your in-house staff how to do this.

Fees and Referrals

Our fees are quoted for each client. I pay referral fees that average 15% of fees collected. This percentage varies depending on the scope of work performed. Currently we have capacity for a limited number of clients.  With the marketing we are now doing to create awareness of our services, the door for new clients may close quickly. If you are thinking about working with us, I suggest you contact me now.

Contact Information

Steve Pohlit, President
New Digital Media, Inc.
727-587-7871
Email

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Steve Pohlit

Follow Me and I Follow You http://Twitter.com/BuildProfits

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How To Increase Business Profits by 30% or More in 90 Days or Less

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About: Steve Pohlit is a CPA,MBA and has been the CFO of several major domestic and international companies.  Steve is business owner and an expert business consultant, direct response and social media marketing  and social networking security expert . Steve is  focused on helping companies improve their business performance. All articles published by Steve unless specifically restricted may be freely published with this resource information.

WSJ Reports Twitter Success Stories and Misses The Mark

The WSJ reports Moonfruit went from 400 followers to 47,000 followers in about a week using a contest that became popular and viral fast.  Other similar success stories were reported.  When you read this article Click Here  For The Story I suggest you consider the missing link. Now in all fairness the link may not be missing in the examples reported. However, this key success factor was not addressed in the article.

The Missing Link

Think of a funnel. This story is about using the incentive of a contest to reach out into the cloud of a very popular social media site which of course is Twitter. This strategy was very successful in that the number of followers increased rapidly. However, followers have no value unless they are people interested in your offer – the offer for products and services that earns you money.

Followers need to be converted to a contact data base where you have their name and email contact information.  That step is moving followers through the marketing funnel. Now that step can be bypassed if a follower goes directly to your offer and buys. At that point you also have their contact information.  Again the goal is to develop this contact data base so you can communicate with these people who have said they are interested in who you are and what you offer. That communication then is intended to further cement the relationship and when the person is ready they will buy. You have not idea when they will be ready so building the relationship is the key.

In the current environment there is an opportunity to move people from followers to a contact data base where you can message them and by pass the email system. That option is to move them into a group on Facebook. There is an inherent limitation to that in that Facebook limits group size for sending messages to 5,000 people. Many people are setting up fan pages which do not have the limitations of  a group. However, messages to fans currently are not sent to their Facebook inbox which is not as effective as groups.

My advice is to use the assets of social media with the goal of developing your own asset which is your customer list and prospect list.  Then there is one more thing: communicate with them.

Sharing with all my readers the energy of peace, happiness and abundance

Steve Pohlit, Expert Business Consulting

Email Me, Steve Pohlit to schedule A No Obligation Consultation On Building Your Business Profits.Need more customers? Let’s discuss how to use cutting edge Social Media Marketing in the revenue building cycle of your business to drive your profits sky high. If  your company is not growing revenue and profits,  if your company is not cash flow positive Click Here for more information about Turnaround Consulting Services for Business In Crisis

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About: Steve Pohlit is a CPA,MBA and has been the CFO of several major domestic and international companies.  Steve is business owner and an expert business consultant, direct response and social media marketing  and social networking security expert . Steve is  focused on helping companies improve their business performance. All articles published by Steve unless specifically restricted may be freely published with this resource information.

Social Media For Building Business Profits: Part 2 The Big Three

Social Media In Plain Terms

Social media as an umbrella phrase includes sites and services that facilitate interactivity and community. In that regard blogs and email marketing are included. In fact both are an integral part of the marketing funnel. 

This series is focused on using the newer and emerging services for business development. The big three are YouTube, Facebook and  MySpace in that order. Fast risers are  Twitter and LinkedIn. Currently if you placed your social media marketing attention just on those, there still  would not be enough time in a  day to manually optimize the benefit of these sites. To develop and implement a business development campaign in most cases requires  an effective system that includes automation and leverage of very specifically defined tasks.

Which Site Is Best For Finding Your Target Audience?

All of them!  Look at the numbers.  Twitter which has moved into the 47th highest traffic spot according to Alexa as of the date if this article has an estimated 6 million users. If you have a business then your target audience is there.  Your audience is also on Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, YouTube and many more sites. 

I suggest stop analyzing this until the cows come home and get to work.  The key is knowing how to properly use each account and attracting your target audience to your landing page, blog or website.  How you use Facebook is going to be different than how you use Twitter etc. All most likely are going to be linked and you will be using one of several applications to update multiple social media accounts through one interface. http://ping.fm is a popular one that works very well. 

Twitter

Twitter is particularly unique since each person has 160 characters for a profile biography and is limited to 140 characters per message.  It is also unique since according to Alexa most people stay on the first page of tweet flow (message displays).  This is a message ticker tape system. The newest message is posted at the top of the page and that pushes the last message on the page off.  

Many people focus on growing a large number of followers. The key is followers who are your target audience.  So how do you know that?  Start with Internet marketing 101 principles which is a clear definition of your target market.  Then what are the primary keywords related to your target audience?  Using the search function find out who is tweeting about those topic and follow them. You can expand this by following their followers. 

Balance Twitter followers and following by going to your View All Following screen and then looking for those people that do not have a direct message link. You can only direct message people if they follow you.  If after a few days someone has not followed you and you are attempting to balance the ratio, click delete.  There are some people and services that do not follow much at all but their content is valuable.  That is your choice.

More Twitter Tips in future additions. For now this will get you started and will help experienced users.  Again this is written with the goal of building business revenue and profits using social media. 

Marketing 

There have been no fundamental changes in the principles of successful marketing.  In order to convert targeted traffic into sales there must value and you must effectively communicate the value.  Start with your funnel and using Twitter as example.  You are forming  a relationship with your target audience.  Your tweets should have value. If they constantly scream buy this or that, your efforts will be futile and are likely to get you banned. 

Next

In the next article in this series I will take a closer look at some of the features, benefits and pitfalls of specific social media sites. In the meantime, every day you spend thinking about this or trying to figure it out on your own, is a day where you are not optimizing your sales that are possible using traffic from  social media. I  suggest you get started now by emailing me.

Email Me, Steve Pohlit to schedule A No Obligation Consultation On Building Your Business Profits.  Need more customers?  Let’s discuss how to use cutting edge Social Media Marketing in the revenue building cycle of your business to drive your profits sky high.

Link To Part 1 of  This Series

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Steve Pohlit, The Profit Expert

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Social Media for Building Business Profits Part 1

Being on line means you are already using social media sites. The question is should you be using social media as part of your marketing strategy?  My experience in developing business with social media being part of the marketing strategy, confirms that social media is a “must have” part of your marketing strategy.

What Is Social Media?

Social media are locations where people build communities based on interest.  Just like a physical community where there is a wide range of interests and value systems, you will find diversity in sites categorized as social media. Considering the diversity of interests, it is very important  to define the audience you are attracting or your target market.

What Are The Best Social Media Sites For Building Business Revenue and Profits ?

The answer to that question depends on your target audience. For example, if you are an engineering firm, you are more likely to find your target audience on Linked In rather thank on MySpace.  However, since MySpace has over 200 million subscribers, your target audience is likely there as well.  In this example, LinkedIn may be more suitable for finding your target audience near term but MySpace should not be ignored.

We set up profiles for our businesses and our client companies on most major social media sites.  We give each site  the focus warranted by the  target market. When you are attracting targeted prospective customers, you are then working consistent with your profit goals.

Ultimately you must be able to convert that traffic to profitable revenue.  Conversion has nothing to do with social media and everything to do with  follow up systems. In other words, conversion has everything to do with your sales funnel.

The Social Media Funnel

I started using the word cloud to describe the population of people using social media.  I have seen other people use that term as well and feel it is a good description.  Tools within each social media site are used to attract people from the cloud to your group, following, blog, landing page or some other feature specifically associated with your offer. However, drawing people to from the social media cloud  is not the place to begin conversion. That is the place to begin building a relationship.

The Social Media Cloud to Customer Process

There is no one program for bringing  people to your business which is where you have an opportunity to market your offer.  Each social media site operates differently.  We have spent thousand of hours testing various ways to use the major social media sites. We have a very good understanding of what works from the results we achieve.

We also have confirmed that there is significant time involved in setting this up properly and executing the daily tasks required to build and grow an effective network. The time is significant   even with an effective process of in place of focusing on the most efficient tasks and using  the leverage of automation and delegation.  In addition, the landscape is dynamic which means that you must be alert for social media site changes that affect processes in place.

The time and processes required to build and maintain an effective network for attracting targeted people to your conversion cycle from the social media cloud is extensive. If you are intent on doing this yourself then focus your attention on two or three main sites.   Realistically since building a social media network means doing certain tasks daily, focusing on more than two or three sites without an entire department or outsourcing this work is impractical.

The Benefits of Social Media Marketing

The first benefit of social media marketing is that  the cloud is huge so your customers are there.  Next, the more consistent you are in building your network, the easier it becomes to grow your network since there is a viral aspect.  We see evidence of  people building rather large followings and groups and enjoying the esteem that comes with the related popularity. That is certain one valid goal.

Our goal is monetization of the value we offer. We are a business and to remain in business, we must make a profit.  The level of business success is measured by revenue and profit trends. For clients, we hold ourselves accountable for delivering a 100% return on investment in 30 to 90 days.

To be a client you must have a business that has a sales conversion cycle that is already working for a clearly defined target market.  To achieve those results we measure and track all data from the network developed from the cloud all the way through conversion into a sale.  Analysis is key if your focus is making money.

Foundation for Success

I have written articles about this, conducted training about this and led client projects focused on this.  The this I am referring to is build traffic and convert it.  With the numerous social media marketing opportunities, it is easy to take your eye of the ball of sales.  When a customer says I’ll take it, that is a very valuable event. You then are responsible for delivering the value of what the customer has purchased and having in place the right customer service support structure for what you are selling.

If there are weaknesses in what you sell and in your support network,  all the work you do in social media, Internet marketing, PPC, direct mail, direct sales and more is largely wasted. On the flip side of that, if the revenue cycle of your business is solid you will achieve a high return on you marketing dollar investment.

Next

In the next article in this series we will take a closer look at some of the features, benefits and pitfalls of specific social media sites. In the meantime, every day you spend thinking about this or trying to figure it out on your own, is a day where you are not optimizing your sales that are possible with social media. We suggest you get started now.

Email Me, Steve Pohlit to schedule A No Obligation Consultation On Building Your Business Profits.  Need more customers? Let’s discuss how to use cutting edge Social Media Marketing in the revenue building cycle of your business to drive your profits sky high.

Sharing with all my readers the energy of peace, happiness and abundance

Steve Pohlit, The Profit Expert

Follow Me and I Follow You
Join My Fan Page on Facebook Click Here

FREE Report:

How To Increase Business Profits by 30% or More in 90 Days or Less

Twitter Is Hot: Avoid These 7 Deadly Sins

Twitter is for real and so is Social Media.  Some  Twitter etiquette is in order. Actually I think this all is just common sense.  But here are the 7 Deadly Sins for Twitter:

1) The TMI Guy

2) The Plagiarizer Twit

3) The Reply Guy

4) The Multi-Level Morons

Click Here and read the definition of these and the rest of the seven deadly Sins. The  click takes you to Randy Gage’s Blog. If you are not already subscribed you should be. If you don’t know Randy you thank me for this introduction. 

If you are easily offended by straight talk, don’t click.

Sharing with all my readers the energy of peace, happiness and abundance

Steve Pohlit
The Profit Expert

Email Steve to schedule A No Obligation Consultation On Building Your Business Profits.  Let’s discuss how to use cutting edge Social Media Marketing, Internet Marketing and Direct Response Marketing in the revenue building cycle of your business to drive your profits sky high.

FREE Report:

How To Increase Business Profits by 30% or More in 90 Days or Less 

Why Social Media Is Important

Let’s look at what people think about most of the time.

We think about doing our work so we make money or in increasing numbers we think about finding work so we make money.

We think about our relationships. Our thoughts may be how loving that relationship is or possibly how troubled we are.

We think about taking care of basic tasks like, eating and taking care of things related to how we live.

In summary, whatever you dominant thoughts, dreams, goals, including your business goals…you are able to connect with others using the powerful tools of social media. Most of the social media sites are free to use. However, your most precious commodity is your time.  Start or continue your adventure in social media  with a clear definition of what you want to accomplish.

Manifest Mastermind, the business I started in 2008 was marketed entirely using social media marketing.  You can attract more people to your business or area of interest using social media.

Your Next Steps:

Register at The Social Media Source for Social Media Marketing Tips

Follow me on Twitter and I will follow you http://twitter.com/SMediaSource

Sending you energy of peace, happiness, prosperity

Sharing with all my readers the energy of peace, happiness and abundance

Steve Pohlit

Steve is the Founder of Manifest Mastermind which now includes training on using social media. The Social Media Source is a resource site for growing your network on line to help you achieve your goals in the areas of financial prosperity, health and relationships. Friend Connect Central is you social media hub…the place for connecting your blog or website to the world.

Steve is also the President of International Business Consulting Resources. His firm specializes in guiding companies to rapid increases in revenue and profits with a sustainable growth rate.

FREE Reports:

7 Steps To Manifesting Your Dreams

How To Make More Money With Your Business Now and Long Term

25 People Will Dominate Their Niche With Social Media

I am in a position to witness the development of very cool offer that is being announced in about an hour.  All I can say at this point is that If you have a business and if you want to dominate your niche then you must pay attention to the information at http://thesocialmediasource.com

There are many people shouting coaching, consulting, mastermind groups that will take you business to a much higher level of profitablity.  I know there are actually very few people who do the work and also teach. Very few who get the results and teach. 

This is the real deal and I will be posting this case study as it unfolds. For now I know there is a limit of 25 people. They will be guided on how to make a lot of money with their business. 

Click Here Now: http://thesocialmediasource.com

Sharing with all my readers the energy of peace, happiness and abundance

Steve Pohlit

 

How To Use Social Media Site Twitter To Find A Job

This is a great article on How To Find A Job Using Twitter. With the current environment I wanted my list to be aware of it: The complete article is published at: http://www.lifehack.org/articles/money/taking-your-job-hunt-to-twitter.html

It’s All About the Hashtags

There are three hashtags that can come in handy to someone on a search for a new job. Keeping an eye on #rtjobs#jobangels and #jobs can give you a look at who’s looking to actively recruit on Twitter. Even recruiters from companies like AT&T have started postingjob listings, often labeling them with #jobs. While #jobs may be the most obvious tag, there’s a reason behind both #jobangels and #rtjobs tag.

JobAngels is a Twitter account dedicated to helping individuals get back to work. Through retweets and reply messages, a number of Twitter users direct JobAngels’ attention to mentions of job listings on Twitter. Those listings are then broadcast to JobAngels’ 700+ followers on Twitter. Using the #jobangels tag provides another layer of tracking, for both individuals passing jobs along to JobAngels, as well as letting them listen in on another layer of the discussion about jobs that are available.

For the most part, #rtjobs seems quite similar to #jobangels. But rather than having one central Twitter account bringing job opportunities together, #rtjobs relies more on Twitter users including the appropriate hashtag in their messages. One Twitter user, Aaron Brazell, has created a site to help organize all the information labeled with #rtjobs. The site is based on the Twitter API, the #rtjobs site brings all #rtjobs tweets together in one place and makes them searchable. It makes using all the information flowing through Twitter that much easier to use — and it can be a much faster way to search through tweets to find a job opportunity than any other approach. You can even follow it through an RSS feeder if you aren’t so inclined to rely on Twitter.

Running a Search or Two

Click Here  http://www.lifehack.org/articles/money/taking-your-job-hunt-to-twitter.html

Ask Your Network

Click Here:  http://www.lifehack.org/articles/money/taking-your-job-hunt-to-twitter.html

Twitter is a Tool

Click Here : http://www.lifehack.org/articles/money/taking-your-job-hunt-to-twitter.html

 

Sharing with all my readers the energy of peace, happiness and abundance

Steve Pohlit
The Profit Expert 

Steve is the Co-Founder of Manifest Mastermind and  President of International Business Consulting Resources. His firm specializes in guiding companies to rapid increases in revenue and profits with a sustainable growth rate. FREE Reports: 

How To Make More Money With Your Business Now and Long Term

7 Steps To Manifesting Your Dreams

Network with me on Facebook: LinkedIn: Follow me on Twitter

Social Media Blueprint

A panel discussion of Social Media experts formed at a recent JV Alert conference addressed a question on the business of Social Media. A key point  made is that Social Media is a tool.

That excellent reminder serves as the starting point for this summary on How To Use Social Media to Start and Grow a Business. Social Media is a general term for community based Internet sites with the biggest ones being Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, and very fast growing ones like Twitter and LinkedIn.

Generally, my first response with a question like “how should I use Social Media?” is “what is it that you want”.  My business Manifest Mastermind guides everyone in our free course as well as paying members to begin with a clear definition of what it is that you want and  then they are asked why. 

Applying this to Social Media and using my own experience as an example, my initial goal was to understand the primary options for Social Media sites. My conclusion was that I could spend my time for entertainment or for developing business.  Very soon I further clarified Social Media for me which was that I wanted to know if Social Media was a valid tool for building a profitable business.

Social proof that Social Media is an effective tool for building a business is Manifest Mastermind. The time line from business idea to business launch was four months. This actually could have been shorter if we would have been able to allocate more financial resources to it.  We spent a lot of professional time and very little cash in developing this business.

When possible I would advise others to outsource more but we proved that a business could be successfuly launced with very little money.

Social Media Blueprint:

This is a top level summary of the  Social Media Blueprint I recommend. This is  based on my actual experience with Manifest Mastermind:

1. Have a clear definition of what you want and why.  Are you using Social Media for business or pleasure?  If you intend to use Social Media sites for developing  business there will and should be pleasure because Social Media is about developing relationships with people interested in who you are and what you are doing. 

2. Identify what Social Media sites are best for your business. Actually this is fairly easy with the top three sites for business being Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.  There are an ever increasing list of social media sites. Start with the ones that have the market. LinkedIn is growing fast and can be another one that is important for you going forward. 

3. Form relationships with those most likely interested in that what you are doing.  I am sure you have heard the advice to define your target market. This is no different. How do you find your market on Social Media sites? There are several ways. A primary one is doing research on: who is talking about your business topic (Twitter); who is joining groups related to your business (Facebook); and, who is adding video content related to your business (YouTube).  I advise a filtering approach. Invite people into your world and then invite them into a network focused on your niche business. 

4. Ultimately you must capture those with an interest into your own list. We use traditional Internet Marketing guidance on bringing people to our list and then offering value to demonstate why they benefit from spending money with us. 

Next Steps:

Manifest Mastermind’s business purpose is to help others create their own success stories. Success stories happen in the areas where people are clearly focused on a prioritized list of their own dreams. Dreams fall into three main categories: financial, health and relationships.  They are never mutually exclusive. Our guidance is based on The Law of Attraction and the Mastermind Principle.  Guidance is developed with experts advising us on particular topics.

We are expanding our reach in Social Media and we are soon launching our small group mastermind program. Every business model on line and off is based on one foundation principle: traffic and conversion.  We are extending our traffic building model beyond Social Media. However, Social Media remains an integral part of our business development strategy.

Sharing with all my readers the energy of peace, happiness and abundance

Steve Pohlit
The Profit Expert 

Steve is the Co-Founder of Manifest Mastermind and  President of International Business Consulting Resources. His firm specializes in guiding companies to rapid increases in revenue and profits with a sustainable growth rate. FREE Reports: 

How To Make More Money With Your Business Now and Long Term

7 Steps To Manifesting Your Dreams

Network with me on Facebook: LinkedIn: Follow me on Twitter

 

 

Valuable Job Search Guide Found on Mashable.com

In doing research for my current business development project which will demonstrate the power of social media I discovered what seems to be a really cool tip for those looking for a job.  I found this tip on the very popular blog Mashable and here it is from Eric Pender

I have actually used Google Reader to help me find job leads.

I go to Craigslist and perform a query in the jobs section for specific keywords that target the kinds of jobs I’m looking for (I search for search engine optimization jobs, but you can really use this for anything). Then, I take the URL that comes from my search query and plug it into Google Reader. Anytime that a new job posting comes up for that keyword, it comes into my reader feed. When I was looking for jobs and saw an interesting listing come across my feed, I was the first one to apply for it. This strategy landed me many calls, and one of them ended up resulting in my current place of employment.

To Follow The Business Development Project Using Social Media connect with the following:

On Facebook
http://steve.facebook.com
http://groups.to/manifest

On Twitter
http://twitter.com/stevepohlit
http://twitter.com/manifestmmind

Interesting facts: 500 new friends were added to our Facebook group in 4 days. 0-1,000 followers were added on Twitter in 4 days.

 

Sharing with all my readers the energy of peace, happiness and abundance

Steve Pohlit,
The Profit Expert
www.StevePohlit.com

Network with me on Facebook: LinkedIn: Follow me on Twitter

Steve is the President of International Business Consulting Resources. His firm specializes in guiding companies to rapid increases in revenue and profits with a sustainable growth rate. Don’t miss my FREE Report: How To Make More Money With Your Business Now and Long Term I am building my practice and welcome new client inquiries. Call me for a fee consultation at 727-587-7871

This report may be freely distributed without restrictions with the original content including this resource box remaining unchanged. Author: Steve Pohlit, Business Consulting Services, Executive Coaching, please visit www.stevepohlit.com

PS. My doors are open for new clients and referrals are well compensated.

 

How Is Your Business: Read The Amazing Answers

During a trip to my hometown Johnstown, Pa I had the opportunity to ask quite a few people how they were doing economically.  I was anticipating more than a few doom and gloom stories.  

I learned about a company that makes specialized lighting systems for coal mines that has doubled in size from 40 employees to 80 in less than four years. Plus they are still hiring.  New lighting technology has created a new market: coal mines that have closed.  Really cool!

I met an engineer for bridge systems in the Pittsburgh market whose main concern was being so busy. He was actually hoping for to be able to take some time off soon.  Then there was the guy who couldn’t say much about his work. In fact he couldn’t say anything because he works under an oath of silence in a place near Washington D.C.

Nearly everyone I talked to was upbeat and busy with their jobs.  Consistently I meet business owners who tell me their business is bad. This trip was no exception. In every case except one, what is really bad is their mindset or attitude.  Each doom and gloom story is attached to a business that has huge opportunities for profitable growth. But the owners don’t think so. When the owners don’t think so the results reflect what the owners think. I encourage every business owner I meet to get started with easy to implement, economical marketing. My recommendation is a four step:

1. Install or update the business website with visitor contact capture on every page.
2. Activate a blog with relevant content fed to syndication sites. Each item of information has back links and contact information capture form tied to an auto responder.
3. Use video for topical content structured with benefits and a call to action. Syndicate the videos, add them to the blog and select ones to the web site.
4.Using email marketing, and other action steps, get closer to existing customers and develop relationships with prospects.

While my marketing module is comprehensive the above 4 steps are integral to the module and will result in noticeable improvements to your business. Implementing most of these four steps takes very little cash but does require some time. The choice is spend your time on rational marketing or you can sit around and complain. 

Sending all my readers the energy of wellness, peace and abundance

Steve Pohlit,
The Profit Expert 
www.StevePohlit.com

Network with me on Facebook: LinkedIn: Follow me on Twitter

Steve is the President of International Business Consulting Resources. His firm specializes in guiding companies to rapid increases in revenue and profits with a sustainable growth rate. Don’t miss my FREE Report: How To Make More Money With Your Business Now and Long Term I am building my practice and welcome new client inquiries. Call me for a fee consultation at 727-587-7871 

This report may be freely distributed without restrictions with the original content including this resource box remaining unchanged. Author: Steve Pohlit, Business Consulting Services, Executive Coaching, please visit www.stevepohlit.com

 

PS. My doors are open for new clients and referrals are well compensated. 

My Social Networking and Social Marketing Policy

I have adopted the following based on what has been released by Brian Campbell. Brian encourages others to adopt this posture and you are invited to use it if it fits. You will have EVEN more opportunities if you adopt this policy or one similar for yourself.

I’m sending this message out to all of my Facebook friends. It is my policy regarding how I work and interact on social networks including Facebook.

This is an open invitation for you to experience new growth and tap into the power of the connections that I’ve made on Facebook.

I, Steve Pohlit give you FULL permission to:

1. Post a link to your website on the wall of my Facebook profile.
2. Tag me in a note that’s on a topic you think I may be interested in without mentioning my name in the note itself I appreciate all credible references to me but those are not required.
3. Ask me a general question on my personal profile’s wall.
4. Post a link to any videos, pictures or websites that you think that I might enjoy or that the majority of my friends might enjoy.
5. Say hello, initiate a conversation or let me know more about you.
6. I trust your judgement to post whatever you think is appropriate. If it helps you, please post!

I ask that you post something that you think has value. If you do not add value and include an affiliate link, I may delete it and I am likely to ask that you do not do that again. I will use the same method you used in posting to politely ask you to stop. Some of my frieds are more tolerent of spam. My profile is a public picture of me and my network. I choose to send positive energy personally and through my profile.

If you post something that is valuable, I may take the time to view it and perhaps I’ll share it with others. I might comment on it, or say nothing but simply remember that you’re a value creator and I’ll have a positive impression of you that may lead to a business relationship with me or friendship at some point in the future with me or my friends.

If you have a blog, website, product or service that you’ve created that my network would like to know about, feel free to tell me about it by posting on my wall. Feel free to include a link to the site with a brief description of what benefits someone would achieve by vising the site.

If you tag me in a note that’s related to something you know I’m interested in (social networking, Internet marketing, building business profits, creating wealth, helping people, law of attraction, giving, healthy living, or spirituality) then the people who are connected to me for those purposes will come and read your note and if it provides value, you’ll build a loyal following.

If you tag me in all of your notes just to get free publicity for yourself, you have my blessings. Even if you think you’re a competitor of mine, go ahead and promote yourself. I don’t have any competition anyway because the value I create cannot be diminished by the value you create.

I’m glad to provide a platform for you to reach people with your message through me.

I want you to provide value to the world and I don’t want to hinder your success. I believe that my network of connections on facebook is one of the most talented, creative and caring groups of people with a true commitment to success and by allowing you the freedom to promote the value that you give to the world, you’re helping me fulfill my mission in life by serving my friends.

There’s one other thing I’ll point out about allowing you the freedom to post freely on my wall, tag me in notes, or do other things to get in my mini-feed. This action benefits me too. That’s right! By posting your opportunities on my wall, you’re actually helping people find out about me and helping me deliver my value to more people. So we both win!

When I asked you earlier in this note to adopt a similar strategy, I did so because by allowing people to tag you and post on your wall you will experience more rapid growth.

Facebook is designed to send new people to you if you allow people freedom to connect with you in the ways I’ve explained above. If you try to restrict people, you’re restricitng your own growth.

If you’re reading this SteveReports.com blog post as a note on facebook, I’ve tagged a few people. I’ve tagged my friends and colleagues that I think would benefit from adopting a similar open-door policy. Many of the people I’ve tagged already have this type of policy, although perhaps they aren’t aware of it.

The people who I’ve tagged are my friends, and the message to potential “spammers” mentioned is not in any way addressed to the people tagged above.

The message to potential “spammers” is more of a mindset that I have towards these type of people that I would like you to adopt, and as my friends I know that you have no intentions to spam. I’ve simply shared with you how I feel about what everyone else calls “spammers.”

Sending all my readers the energy of wellness, peace and abundance.

Steve Pohlit
http://www.stevereports.com

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Steve is the President of International Business Consulting Resources. His firm specializes in guiding companies to rapid increases in revenue and profits with a sustainable growth rate. Don’t miss my FREE Report: How To Make More Money With Your Business Now and Long Term I am building my practice and welcome new client inquiries. Call me for a fee consultation at 727-587-7871 Remember many of my business building articles can be found at Steve Reports and my prosperity building tool (best tool ever for helping you manifest your goals and dreams) is The Prosperity Tool Chest and guiding articles posted very often at Prosperity Tip