Archive for January, 2009

Some people think that time away from the computer is just non-productive inactivity.  Nothing wrong with that.  We all need a break from time to time. 

However, non-computer time can also be crucial productive thinking time.  And enforced time away from the computer should always be seen as a rare opportunity for productive thinking.

For without the constant distraction of the “next-big-thing-you-just-gotta-get-or-you’ll-miss-out-on-all-the-money-that-everyone-else-will-be-making” email, thinking time can be incredibly valuable.  It makes time on the computer much more efficient.

Take me for example.  I’ve recently spent so much time online posting comments on forums, oil rig hopping, tweeting, making and editing videos, learning software, getting my Aweber emails a BIT more sorted, keeping up with my non-IM eBay business and generally being BUSY, that I totally forgot about the THINKING and PLANNING side of my business.

I have recently changed direction in my online efforts – that was a conscious direction change.  But… and this is a massive confession… I realised only recently that I although I had changed direction from where I was, I hadn’t definitely decided where I wanted to go to!  I had no goals, no target, no objectives…. no focus! No wonder my online strategy was a mess! 

Without a definite idea of where YOU want YOUR business to go, you stand precisely NO chance of getting there – because you don’t know where “there” is!

Simple but crucial.

Ever felt you’ve got so caught up in the working part of business that you’ve forgotten about the thinking and planning parts?  Yet planning and thinking are CRUCIAL for long term success!  

“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”

You’ve heard that before, right?

And bearing in mind that your subconscious mind is so much better at solving problems than the conscious mind (that’s why everything always looks better in the morning ) - you NEED non-focused time for your subconscious to work.  Time away from the computer might be just what you need to move your business forward productively.  If you feel like you’re “spinning in mud”, you need time to refocus.  Step away from your business and THINK about where YOU actually want to go with it.

I’ve identified my problem!  That means I can solve it!  What about you?

These days the importance of getting quality backlinks to your website or blog is essential to get a ranking in Google. And whilst no-one knows the precise way Google rates backlinks, it is widely though that one way backlinks carry more weight.

In the early days of the internet, one way back links could be had simply by dropping a webmaster an email and asking for a link back to your site. Nowadays, the internet is much more aggressive and savvy. By and large, requests for backlinks fall on stoney ground. So how do you get quality one way links to your site?

Are you using Zimbio?

Zimbio (www.zimbio.com) is a large and growing online social networking/sharing site that allows users to build interactive Wikizines (web magazines) that anyone can create, or edit on whatever topics they choose. It is not simply a celebrity site, although members have submitted thousands of Wikizines about a wide range of topics, including celebrities, popular culture and special interests. In fact you could create a Wikizine about any topic at all. Including your blog!

The interface is incredibly easy to use and allows you to create topics in just a few minutes including RSS feeds from your blog! And if you submit articles from your blog posts, then Zimbio will provide backlinks to EACH of your blogposts. The beauty of the system is that every article you add gets a backlink to your site.

Since Zimbio’s mission is to be an authority site on many different topics, Google often features it highly in its Search Engine Results Pages. So by posting consistently on Zimbio you will get quality one way backlinks to your site AND become known as the expert in your chosen field!

If you’re not using Zimbio, you should be.

I have done it!  I have entered the scary world of video!  My first ever video is online. 

Check it out!

Susan Owen-Thursfield Talks About Cambodia and Mentor Alex Jeffreys

Feel free to comment - I know it’s not perfect… but WHAT an achievement! 

I would NEVER have done this so early in my online life – it may have taken me two more years, who knows? – without Alex Jeffreys as my mentor.  I am so pleased I decided to join his coaching program!  Like I said in the video, find yourself an online mentor if you’re serious about making money online.  Alex is an excellent coach!

Now all I need to do is figure out how to get 26 hours in a day and I’ll be sorted..

Since my last post on Video Marketing following the Alex Jeffreys Bonus Webinar with Maria Andros, I have made my first video.  Made it, you understand, not uploaded it anywhere yet!

I did it by switching my digital camera to video mode - (that is I slid the button on the top to “video”!) and pressing the shutter! 

Now, I am my own worst critic, but my husband runs a very close second! – and with it being my first ever video I definitely didn’t want him behind the camera!  Maria Andros said that video marketing was the ultimate “safe environment” because you are not with the people when they watch it.  You don’t know if they switch it off after a few seconds, fall about laughing at you or watch it 14 times before sending the link to their mates.  But I still had to record it!.

So, not having a tripod and “flying solo”, I set the camera on a pile of books and checked that my head was appearing in the view finder, by FACING a mirror.  This meant I could see the image being recorded by looking at the picture on the back of the camera in the mirror.  (Is that clear?) After a few seconds “dry run”, I decided I needed a bit of zoom so there was more of me and less of the background in frame.  I made the adjustments and I was good to go!

Maria said, “Videos let you be you”.  I took a deep breath, looked into the camera, smiled and started talking.  I did the whole video in one take - thus making just one more distinction between me and the Hollywood legend, Marilyn Monroe (just in case any of you were confused on that point!)

I couldn’t watch it back for ages!  The lighting is awful, I move my head too much and at times I gabble BUT I was pleasantly surprised.  It covered all the things I wanted to say and in under 7 minutes! (which is good as videos uploaded to YouTube have to be less than 10 mins long).  I decided not to try improve the lighting as I don’t think the message would be so spontaneous.  Anyway, I’ll be embedding it in this site (when I’ve figured out how to do that) so let me know what you think!

The next thing is to edit it.

I’m happy with the general flow of it but I want to put my name on the screen when I say it, and the URLs too (ambitious or what?).  However, my digital camera records in a .mov format.  Windows Movie Maker (on my computer and almost certainly on yours too) does not recognise this format (Oh Great!).  So I had to find a program that will do the conversion.  For anyone with the same issues, head over to AVS and download the Video Converter program.  This is a clean link for a free download.  Just for good measure, I also downloaded the Video Editor program.  

So now I just need to work the magic with these programs.  For a non-techie I’ve had a very busy day and feel like I’ve learnt something.  And bearing in mind that:

• 52% of online traffic now comes from videos
• 12% of all online traffic comes from YouTube 
• YouTube is now the 3rd most sought on website (Google and Yahoo being the first two)

Guess where I’ll definitely be uploading to..?

OK – I’ve wanted to post about Twitter for a while but to be honest, I’ve been too busy tweeting! 

It took me a while to actually join Twitter – largely because I thought it was one of those social sites that was mostly populated by teens with loads of time to have a social life!  However, on one of Alex Jeffrey’s coaching modules before Christmas, he said it was vital to have a presence on Twitter.  And as I bought into his coaching program to learn, I decided to take some time to ”get” Twitter.

The facts are: - 

• If you’re not online on social platforms, you’re missing out on a huge percentage of potential subscribers/customers/affiliates/jv partners ie your market.
• But it’s not good enough to **just** be on these social platforms, you need to build a presence, a following, establish a “brand”
• And that means you need to understand the strategic marketing implications of these social platforms at the deepest level.

But the mistake a lot of people made in the beginning of social media marketing, myself included, was assuming that we needed to belong to vast numbers of communities in order to be visible to the bulk of our niche markets.  Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and others – all of which needed to be updated regularly was very time consuming.  After all, it isn’t possible to be on these sites for a even one hour a day each and still have time to build your business.  (Hint: you don’t have to be – use your RSS feed not your blog URL - but that’s for another post)

But all this isn’t necessary it seems.  Serious internet marketers have now largely left MySpace, and also to an extent, Facebook.  And as YouTube is now the third most surfed site (after Yahoo and Google) and Twitter is the “next big thing” these are the two “biggies” that you MUST be seen to be on if you are going to make it big online.  

And “big” is whatever you need it to be in your niche to make a living off your blog. 

So the number of social sites you work with daily regularly should be fewer in 2009 than previously, but your presence on them, your “brand online” should be much more significant. Your blog should be “YOU” online and your brand should be syndicated to Twitter (and Facebook – according to Maria Andros, and who am I to argue?) - to keep your followers “fresh”.

Not spreading yourself so thinly, but engaging in an online community much more deeply, means that you connect with people more significantly.  Your tweets are more likely to get retweeted and when they do, your traffic will go viral.  It really spreads.

But make sure you are actually present on Twitter at least part of every day.  By this I mean you need to actually **answer** Tweets rather than posting to Twitter only through TweetMyBlog – or exclusively automating your account using TweetLater.  Both of these are plug-ins I highly recommend, and which should definitely should be part of your Web 2.0 arsenal – but don’t forget that the power of Twitter is as a SOCIAL relationship building site.  That means you need to be there – at least sometimes. 

And you must be genuine - help first, receive later, and you’ll not go far wrong.  And don’t be shy to tweet about everyday life stuff.  It helps people connect with you.  And when they connect, they begin to trust you.  Which means that even if you don’t have your own product to sell, you’ll be in a much stronger position to be able to recommend affiliate products, because you’ll be trusted! 

As you progress, you will find people finding you in the most unusual ways and becoming avid fans, customers and evangelists for your “brand”.  So when you find someone you truly connect with, click to see who they’re following… and then follow their followers.  This gives you instant access to people who may be interested in what you’ve got to say, but whom you may not have come across otherwise.

So Twitter is not just the latest novelty to stay in touch with friends – it is actually the ”next big thing” marketing wise.  It is strategically a very powerful tool for generating more traffic to your blog.  Twitter is a cutting edge marketing tool.

Get on it!  Get Tweeting and start a following!  Follow me, I’m SusanOT.  Check my Tweet Counter and see how I’m building my following! 

Tweet you on Twitter!

I have been very remiss lately.  Christmas, New Year and the sheer overload of things I have to do for the Alex Jeffreys Coaching Program have left me with bags under my eyes that could be used as long haul suitcases… and little energy to post a blog.  BUT…

…in the early hours of this morning I attended a unadvertised extra bonus webinar that Alex had sorted out SINCE the coaching program began.  This was unusual in being one of those “unannounced bonus” items that is actually unmissable!  It was a webinar on video marketing with the widely recognised Queen of Video Marketing, Maria Andros.  Wow!  Was she energetic!

Speaking at about 300 words per minute (I really felt for the non-native English speakers!), her enthusiasm was electric.  Even after an exhausting day, I couldn’t help but really feel that this was do-able.

Her messages were simple and clear:

• Old school marketing online is dead. 
• Video converts up to 600% higher than text alone.
• Growth of YouTube is massive with over 150,000 new videos every day
• YouTube is now the 3rd most sought on website
• Using video can give you the competitive advantage in an increasing savvy online market

Why?  because videos let you be YOU.  They appeal to an audience on a much wider level than text alone and allow people to connect with YOU.  And because 90% of all communication is non-verbal, videos convey you message to your audience on many levels.  Videos help build relationships.

Maria constantly stressed the importance of building relationships online.  She encouraged us to just get going, “don’t worry about the quality – that will come as you gain experience”.  Just be YOU.  Do not apologise for passion.  “You cannot say the wrong thing to the right person!”

Apparently any video camera will do - she personally uses a HD Mino Flip camera (about $200). We could virtually hear Alex turning puce – he’s just splashed out on expensive equipment costing around $1,800!  LOL

Seriously though, Alex didn’t even know Maria when he started his coaching course.  He met her on Twitter – demonstrating the total power of Twitter and the importance of it in relationship building.  Maria herself stressed that amongst the social sites, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube were places where successful online-preneurs must have a significant presence in the future.

I’m off to figure out how to use my digital camera to make a video, do some tweeting, open a YouTube account… and get the matchsticks out for Alex’s session later tonight!

So – another late night beckons then… !

Ever commented on a blog and seen a little picture icon or photograph of the author at the side? Ever thought that they must be really techie and way more advanced than you? Not so!

They’re gravatars – globally recognised avatars (don’t ask – no idea!). They “follow you” on the web as you leave blog comments, and increase your “web visibility”. And as people feel more comfortable doing business with people they’ve met – gravatars help build relationships by showing you’ve nothing to hide and generate a feeling of “knowing you” that is so hard to achieve online. That can only be good!

Gravatars are easy to get. Go to http://en.gravatar.com/ and sign up for a free account. All that’s needed is your email address. Then simply upload an image, or choose an icon and you’ll start seeing it on gravatar enabled blogs!

They’re easy to put on your blog too – honestly if I did it they must be! Just type “gravatar wordpress plugin” into google, download to your desktop, unzip, upload to your server and activate the plug in from your admin area.

Now everyone can see what you look like!

Answer: Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend

This is the chosen name of my other half’s new (-ish) blog where he blogs his thoughts and opinions on financial markets. So why the seemingly odd choice of name? Well, because this song has great lyrics which encapsulate marriage, unemployment and what happens when the money dries up. All timeless themes relating to life, the business cycle and bull & bear markets.

The blog is targeted at the UK private investor who can take a long-term view on their portfolio. If that’s you, and you like a detailed, often maverick argument on what’s really going on, then head over to Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend now. After all, the idea is to buy low and sell high. If you don’t ever want to panic sell again nor buy after the bandwagon has well and truly left town, why not subscribe so you don’t miss a thing?