Lifestyle Entrepreneur and Online Marketing Success Blog by Scott Fox

LinkedIn.com Success Strategies - New Podcast

Do you have a profile on LinkedIn.com?  When is the last time you updated it?  Learn how to succeed on LinkedIn by listening to this fr.ee expert interview.

LinkedIn has come a long way lately.  Listen to this podcast interview to learn about the social network's many new tools that can help you improve your online product presence. Lewis Howes, co-author of the new book "LinkedWorking", fills us in on the new best practices for profitable use of LinkedIn.  On this episode of my E-Commerce Success Radio Show, you'll hear about:

- what is LinkedIn.com and how to get started (for FREE) if you haven't already

- how to upgrade your LinkedIn profile page with new tools

- using LinkedIn Answers to market your business

- how LinkedIn Groups can help build your network and expertise

- the surprising SEO value of your LinkedIn profile

This interview was a real "eye opener" even for me.  LinkedIn has really raised its game in recent months and Lewis is a great guide to how you can profit from the system's upgrades.

Listen now or download an MP3for later!

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And check out my archive of E-Commerce Success Radio Show podcasts here.  There are lots of great fr.ee MP3 downloads about Facebook Marketing, Public Relations Strategies, Google Adwords, Article Marketing, Web Copywriting, Online Video viral promotions, and more!

Subscribe to my E-Commerce Success Show podcasts here or at my Podcast Alley feed {pca-a7bda51518bfc5e30c44582fd1acc048} or at iTunes, too.

Tim Sanders says...

"Being less bad will not save the world . . . the only way that you can move beyond zero and make a positive difference is by influencing others."

-Tim Sanders, American Author, Public Speaker, and former Yahoo! Executive

A quotation from the 365SuccessQuotes.com collection.
Subscribe for a fre-e daily dose of inspiration delivered directly to your email inbox !

"Being less bad will not save the world . . . the only way that you can move beyond zero and make a positive difference is by influencing others."

-Tim Sanders, American Author, Public Speaker, and former Yahoo! Executive

Free SEO Keyword Research Tool

Keyword research is critical to successfully attracting fre-e customer traffic from search engine optimization. Here’s a link to a fre-e keyword research tool you can use to improve your site's SEO.

You can use this fr-ee Search It! dashboard to reach Google, Yahoo, Wordtracker, and many other SEO keyword research resources all from one console.

It can help you to brainstorm new keywords or to “test drive” different keyword combinations. Check out which terms get the most search traffic with the least competition and much more.  Most similar tools cost good money, but you can try this one out for fr.e.e.

Just visit “Search It!” here to get started with your SEO keyword research.

For more info on search engine optimization (SEO) strategies, check out these blog posts.

And for my review of the Site Build It! e-business building service (this tool is a free public version of their paid service for which I am an affiliate, too), visit here.

Get More Followers at the Twitter Party - 20 People I Follow on Twitter.com (and Why)

Who do you follow on Twitter.com? And why? Here are some examples of who I follow on Twitter and why. I’d love to hear your recommendations, too.

My personal but business-oriented approach to Twitter is spelled out in these recent posts (“4 Annoying Twitter Myths about How to Use Twitter” and “Twitter Gurus Please Stop Whining”).

If you’re one of the many people who read, commented on, or retweeted those posts, you’ll probably like following some of the Twitterati I follow, too. If you agree with my approach or these people listed below as good role models for your own tweeting, please let me know in the Comments below or by following me on Twitter.com.

Share Your Twitter Handle, too.

If you’d like to join the party, please leave YOUR twitter user name (like @scott_fox) below in the Comments, PLUS the Twitter user name of ONE friend you recommend. Please also include a sentence or two about WHY you recommend that person – we’re not auto-following here!

[Hat tip here to Liz Strauss, Darren Rowse, and Jack Humphrey. Last summer these leading bloggers all posted their own lists of social media blogs. Those posts inspired this “twitter love-in” today.]

20 People to follow on Twitter

Here are some examples that you can follow to see good Tweeting in action:

• @scott_fox to learn more about how I see business opportunities for you online
• @guykawasaki is prolific (!) and personable, too
• @jonathanfields shows how being generous in your networking can put the “social” in social media
• @chrisbrogan shares insights all day that further establish his expertise in social media (and attract 50,000+ followers!)
• @joelcomm for an entertaining mix of business and personal tweets
• @copyblogger for top notch copywriting insights (and good taste in music)
• @zappos or @jasoncalacanis to see how CEO Tony Hsieh and Jason Calacanis turn Twitter into a lifestream that promotes both themselves and their companies
• @skydiver for breaking news PR opportunities from the always on the move Peter Shankman
• @alexkaris shares a positive attitude of gratitude
• @therichbrooks shares web design commentary and practical business tips, too
• @missyward an affiliate marketing ace disguised as a funny writer
• @garyvee if you want an authentic guy who loves wine (and NY Jets updates!)
• @ifroggy to learn about managing online communities (and Bad Boy records news) 
• @editorjacquie for aspiring authors and publishing advice
• @wbw_Jeff  for daily summaries of social media blogging news
• @mikecj for social media tips from the beautiful Canary Islands
• @lewishowes for tips on using LinkedIn for business
• @mrexcel to become an Excel blackbelt
• @comcastcares if you’re having trouble with your cable service
• @delloutlet if you want deals on PCs
• And many, many, many more.

Want More Cool People to Follow on Twitter?

Trying picking a few of these folks that YOU like and see who they are following.  Click on some of their followers to find the niche follower communities that match your interests. Then jump in and follow some of those folks yourself.  Get acquainted and build relationships as much as you want and however is appropriate for your brand (not how someone else tells you that you’re “supposed to”).

Want More Cool People to Follow You?

Please add your own Twitter handle below in the Comments (like @scott_fox). And, if you’d like, please add one for a friend you recommend that others follow, too. Please also include a sentence or two about WHY you rec that person – we’re not auto-following here!

Together we can create a mini-directory of people who “get” this updated approach to business use of Twitter.

[UPDATE:  This is the third post in my recent Twitter series.  Check out Part One (which was a huge viral story!) here: "4 Annoying Twitter Myths." Part Two of the series is here: “Twitter Gurus Please Stop Whining!”

You can also see how the first post went VIRAL in my follow-up post: "Twitter Success Report: How much Traffic Did I Really Get?" here.  Learn details of how dozens of retweets, 86 Digg votes, and thousands of visitors added up to record traffic for this post!]

Twitter bird icons courtesy of Mirjami Manninen.

[If you want more details about Twitter success strategies, listen to my recent fr.ee online marketing podcasts, too: Joel Comm on his book “Twitter Power” and Rich Brooks on Twitter marketing tactics.]

What do you think? Who else are you following and why?

 

Teddy Roosevelt says...

"In any moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing."

- Theodore Roosevelt (1858 - 1919), 26th President of the United States

A quotation from the 365SuccessQuotes.com collection.
Subscribe for a fre-e daily dose of inspiration delivered directly to your email inbox !

4 Top Publicity Resources for Entrepreneurs

Dear Scott Fox:

How can I get more fre-e press coverage for my business? 

- Jen R., Rapid City, Iowa 

Scott Fox's answer:

The Internet has changed the publicity game.  Today there are some great new online public relations services that anyone can use to get better PR coverage.

Here are my top four recommended public relations resources for small business owners and entrepreneurs.  Using these clever online tools can help your small business compete with the big boys very cost-effectively, or even for fre-e! 

1. PR Leads:  Dan Janal's service is really two great services in one. It's a repackaging of the ProfNet article leads service that professional journalists use and it also includes personal coaching from Dan and his team that can teach you to pitch reporters successfully.  This can help you learn how to play the public relations game like a PR professional to get more press coverage of your business.  A great deal, especially if you are new to the PR game, PR Leads offers you a corporate quality service at a startup price.  (Listen to my podcast interview with Dan Janal here.)

 

2. Help a Reporter Out:  Peter Shankman's fre.e article leads service has exploded from a small Facebook group into a top online PR resource in just one year.  Daily emails featuring Peter's personal missives, plus dozens of article source requests from media outlets large and small, are delivered to HARO subscribers daily.  The service has become so popular it is a media phenomenon in its own right.  And the price (zero!) is right, too.  (Listen to my podcast interview with Peter Shankman here.)

 

3. Publicity Hound:  Joan Stewart is famous for her email newsletters that teach "publicity hounds" how to get more press.  The informative noozles are fr-ee and Joan offers many teleseminars, ebooks, and CDs of additional strategy tips, too.  Great info for both newbies and experienced PR pros, Publicity Hound can help you improve your news releases and story pitches, too.

4. RadioGuestList.com:  Getting interviewed on radio or on podcasts is another great way to promote your web site or products.  My RadioGuestList.com site is a f.r.ee service that collects guest interview booking requests from show bookers worldwide.  Subscribe to get emails with their show interview openings and find new audiences to share your expertise or products with, too.

Not bad for cheap or free, right?  A lot less expensive and more flexible than most high-powered PR firms, too.  Thanks, Internet!

Have you tried any of these?  Which do you recommend? 

Even better, what did I miss?  What other online public relations tools or publicity strategies have worked for you?

Spring SBI Sale

Just a quick note to those of you who have been considering Site Build It! to help build your new e-business web site:  SBI is on sale right now.

For the next week, the "$100 Spring Has Sprung" sale will let you purchase your own Site Build It! account, plus you can get another one for just $100 more. 

You can use these two accounts to set up your Web domination empire, or give the second account to a friend or relative who is also interested in e-business. (Or just partner with a friend and share the savings!)

Want more info about SBI?

• My detailed review of Site Build It! is here.

• Here's a free one hour radio interview I did last month with Dr. Ken Evoy, Chairman of SiteSell (the company behind Site Build It!).  Listen and you'll hear why I recommend this service.  You can listen live online or download the MP3 podcast for later.

• Here's a 2 minute video about the Site Build It! system that gives a lot of helpful detail.

• My current Instant Internet Business Secrets Special Report package is also available for purchase (without subscribing) here or for IIBS subscribers here (a much better deal!).  It's called "Site Build It! The Best Instant Internet Business for You."  It details how you can become a money-making affiliate of Site Build It! (like me) for fre-e.

Take advantage of the Spring Special to grab your Site Build It! account today and get started!

Twitter Gurus Please Stop Whining!

Twitter “experts”, please stop whining about how I am “supposed” to act on Twitter.

Remember how the first generation of bloggers howled when the 2nd and 3rd generation of bloggers started including advertisements on their blogs? And, even before that, how the “information wants to be free” crowd rebelled against commercialization of the Web? And in the middle 1990’s, Internet purists even objected to the addition of images on web pages!

Well, we all know how that turned out…

Twitter’s evolution toward diversity of uses, communications styles, and commercialization is a sign of progress, not decline. Capitalism abhors a vacuum and it’s rapidly arriving on Twitter.

This means users of all sorts. And those users have EXPECTATIONS of all sorts, too.

The Key to Twitter Success: Your followers’ expectations!

If you follow your cousin or your aunt, you’re likely expecting updates on personal topics. But if you follow Dell Computer, JetBlue Airlines, or Hewlett-Packard on Twitter, are you really going to be surprised if the tweets you receive are marketing messages?

My brand as an author and E-Commerce Success Coach is somewhere in between those poles. So if you follow me at twitter.com/scott_fox (and I hope you will), you’ll get a mix of personal updates, headlines from my blog, motivational quotes, and, yes, plenty of marketing messages designed to sell you stuff.

Is that really so surprising?

I’m not a “Top 100” Twitterer, so maybe I’ve got this all wrong. But the 1,000+ people who follow me seem happy enough: They get a mix of tweets that include some personal updates but especially reflect my marketing priorities. If they want more of “Scott Fox” they are also welcome to visit ScottFox.com, my E-Commerce Success blog, read my books, check out my Facebook pages, listen to my free online marketing podcasts, or even email me directly.

It’s not like I’m hiding! I just don’t live on Twitter like some people.

You Don’t Build a Brand on Tweets Alone

I guess the difference between me and some of these “Twitter gurus” is that I’m not building my brand through Twitter alone (and nor should you).

Twitter is just one part of my distributed engagement marketing strategy. Anyone that follows me is probably attracted to do so by the Reputation Cloud around my best-selling book, Internet Riches, my frequent radio appearances and podcasts, and all my other online activities mentioned above.

These folks already know me and have appropriate expectations about the Scott Fox personal brand and what that’s going to mean for my tweets.

Please Unfollow Me

So, if you follow me on Twitter and are surprised to get an auto direct message containing a friendly marketing message back from me, then you didn’t do your homework about me and my brand before you followed me.

That’s fine. Unfollow.

But why did you follow me if you didn’t want to hear from me? The DM was just the first in a series of getting acquainted steps that include building a relationship via Twitter if you want one with me. I’m not going to keep hitting you with those.

I’d liken the introductory DM to handing you a business card if I met you at a conference. Is that so wrong?

Maybe you were expecting an auto follow to build your own subscriber count and bragging rights? That’s even more crass and commercial than the direct message I’ll send you!

Twitter: The Punchline

Twitter is just a tool and I’ll use it however I like. You should, too.

Like blogs, Myspace, cell phones, Wikipedia, or any other new communications tool, there are lots of ways to use Twitter. Some users may like the personal “watercooler” conversations about their kid’s runny noses, others use it for broadcasting marketing messages, and others just to lurk and read, laugh and learn.

These differing but valid approaches show that “rules” about how one should and should not behave on Twitter are by now out of date given the massive growth in the Twitter community. In fact, most of those rules are just stale expressions of the personal expectations of the early adopter “gurus” who proclaim them. Twitter is growing up.

Gurus:  My followers' expectations are what matter, not yours.

[UPDATE: I wrote this post last week before the worldwide wave of re-tweeting that my previous post “4 Annoying Twitter Myths” received. I hope that you all enjoy this rant, too! Thanks for your retweeting on Twitter, Stumble Upon stumbles, Biz Sugar votes and 80+ Diggs! Please share this one, too, if you like it?

And if you’re curious about how much traffic a really popular blog post can attract when it goes viral, check out this post that details what happened to my last post: “Twitter Success Report: How much traffic did I get?” here.]

Twitter bird icons courtesy of Gopal.

What do you think? What did I miss or where am I off base?
What are your most and least favorite etiquette “rules” for Twitter success?

Coming soon: Part 3 of this series “Who I follow on Twitter and Why”

Blog Marketing Tips from The Devil - Free Podcast

Want to learn what NOT to do in promoting your blog? Want to learn how to scare away readers and be sure no one pays attention to your work online? The Devil can help you with this!

Listen to my latest podcast where Jack Humphrey of the Friday Traffic Report details devilish recommendations for hurting your blog’s traffic.

We spend an hour together reviewing Jack’s recent post that details contrarian online marketing strategies that you probably want to avoid in marketing your blog or web site online.

Listen to this free Scott Fox Radio show to laugh and learn about:

how your blog readers love it if you ignore or are snarky to their comments why you should never network with other bloggers how being original can hurt your blog’s readership

SEO tips you can use to help drive down your search engine rankings

how posting out-of-date and uninformative content inspires repeat readership

And much more! It’s an entertaining and informative hour.

You can listen now using the player above or click through to download the MP3 file for later.

Thanks for dropping by, Jack!

Ernest Hemingway says...

"Every man's life ends the same way.  It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another."

- Ernest Hemingway (1899 - 1961), American Novelist

A quotation from the 365SuccessQuotes.com collection.
Subscribe for a fre-e daily dose of inspiration delivered directly to your email inbox !

Twitter Success Report: How much traffic did I get?

Twitter marketing can suck up a lot of your time (like many social media sites).  Is it worth it?  Wouldn't you like to know just how much traffic you can attract with a viral Twitter post? 

It’s a lot of work to constantly come up with more “clever-and-friendly-but-not-too-self-promotional” 140 character posts of Twitter bait.  So "how much time should I spend on Twitter?" is a question that many of us ask daily.

I was lucky enough this week to see first-hand the viral marketing potential of social media. Here are the traffic details, just for you.

"Behind the Curtains" of a Viral Twitter Post

I’ve been on Twitter on and off for about 1 year. That's longer than many folks but I’m more of an entrepreneur, podcaster, and author than a social media resident.  So on Twitter I’m not Pete Cashmore, Guy Kawasaki, or a member of the “Twitter 100”.

But earlier this week, I published a blog post called “4 Annoying Twitter Myths.” This post takes issue with many of the so-called “rules” for Twitter marketing. (Check out that post here and watch for the sequel, “Twitter Gurus Please Stop Whining”, next week!)

This post EXPLODED!  In just 48 hours it helped my E-Commerce Success blog clock personal records for web site traffic, new Twitter followers, Diggs, and blog comments!

Did I “Crack the Twitter Code”? (or just get lucky?)

Here’s the play by play for you to decide. Please tell me what you think in the Comments below.

Monday, March 9
- 11:56am PT: Posted “4 Annoying Twitter Myths” on my E-Commerce Success Blog. My RSS feed sent the blog post to my Twitter and my Facebook pages.
- 1:31pm – Friend @therichbrooks is first to retweet the posting to his followers.
So far, not much advance notice of the storm to come...

Tuesday, March 10
- 9:21am @wbw_Jeff retweets to his mailing list of small business owners
- 10:30am PT: I sent out my weekly free email newsletter (a compilation of the weekly E-Commerce Success blog posts) with “4 Annoying Twitter Myths” as the headline.
- 1:27pm PT: @mikecj retweets, followed throughout the afternoon by @AnissaW08, @SocialSammy, and @kathysena.
- Then @guykawasaki retweets – bang! Thanks, Guy!
- Big “twitterati” including @alexkaris and @twitter_tips soon RT to their lists, too.
- Other folks follow suit including @sugarfreecoach and @ifroggy. These folks lit the fuse and blog visitor traffic spikes in the afternoon and goes all night!

Overnight into Wednesday March 11
Retweets spread the “4 Annoying Twitter Myths” post virally worldwide among Twitter users.  Thanks to @kcinwpb, @robpickering, @georgehall, @dickieadams, @benjaminprice, @stacybrice, @ryanbarnholdt, and especially @lt_draper.

Thursday March 12
The post continues traveling the Twittersphere but velocity has peaked.  Thanks to re-tweets from @cymberly, @mandabell32, @Sirjohn_writer, @amacombooks, @calgreg, and more.  

Thanks to all of these folks for forwarding my post. (Sorry to anyone I missed, too. Tweet me to be added here if you’d like!)

By Thursday night, traffic at ScottFox.com and new followers to my Twitter account @scott_fox are back to normal levels.

And the Results Are…

So what did this viral "Twitterstorm" do for my web site traffic? The bottom line:

• 140+ new Twitter followers so far  (~15% growth in 2 days)
• 3,000 additional unique visitors to my blog at ScottFox.com in first 48 hours (plus many more as a long-tail post going forward)
• 27 new commenters
• 84 diggs on Digg.com
• A bunch of Stumble Upons, Biz Sugars, and deli.cio.us votes, too.

This means that the “4 Annoying Twitter Myths” post has set personal records for me as the biggest traffic attractor in all of these categories.

My Conclusion

Well, I don’t yet have the Twitter marketing reach of Chris Brogan, Jason Calacanis (or MC Hammer or Ellen DeGeneres!), but I’m pretty happy with this result.

As much as the traffic boost and the new followers, it feels really good to have my commentary post get such great feedback from the community of fellow Twitter users.

I have spent a decent amount of time learning Twitter and making friends there over the previous year. It’s nice to see it pay off once in a while.

Is this post helpful to you?

Social media offers such an unpredictable ROI that it’s often difficult to know how to prioritize it. Hopefully my sharing these details can help you benchmark your own Twitter marketing success and better manage ROI expectations for the time that you invest in social media efforts, too.

(Thanks to Darren at Problogger.net for showing me how sharing confidential operating details of a successful blog can create helpful blog posts like this.)

Please take a minute to Re-Tweet on Twitter, Stumble, Biz Sugar or Digg this post if it's helpful to you?

And watch for the sequel to the Twitter Myths post next week: “Twitter Gurus Please Stop Whining!”

Twitter bird icons courtesy of Gopal and Smashing Magazine.

[P.S. If you would like more info about Twitter, check out my recent fr-ee online marketing podcasts, too: Joel Comm on “Twitter Power” and Rich Brooks on Twitter marketing strategies.] 

And please follow me at twitter.com/scott_fox, too! 

What do you think about these results? Would you be surprised or disappointed at this amount of traffic?

And did I get lucky here or have I “cracked the code” for social media marketing traffic attraction?

Didn't you wonder how much web traffic a really popular Tweet could bring to your site?

Internet Merchants Association Conference 3/17-3/18

Just got word about The Internet Merchants Association third annual conference.

It’s happening in Las Vegas next week (3/17 and 3/18) at the Sands Expo & Convention Center. This year's IMA Conference will feature two full days of educational workshops conducted by leading industry experts including such major name firms as eBay, PayPal, Amazon, Linked In, Vendio, AuctionBlox and Google.

More details here: http://imamerchant.org

Registration here: https://www.eventville.com/catalog/eventregistration1.asp?eventid=1005053