Digital Marketer, AI Consultant, Published Author, ClickFunnels and Kit Specialist
I wanted to share a YouTube video that I came across today. Not only is it funny but it has a point to it. Matthew shares some creative ways he used to drive traffic to his websites. This video is from the Ignite Seattle event. Do you use creative means to drive traffic to your sites? More on Matthew Inman
Besides marketing my book online using social media I also find ways to market offline. Business cards, postcards and bookmarks have been a few of my offline marketing tools. Starting this fall I’ll be attending book signing events here in Southern Idaho. Right now I’m working with the editor for the 2nd Edition of Promote Your Business or Cause Using Social Media ““ A Beginners Handbook. This gives me some time to plan my marketing strategy for upcoming events. Business Card Below is a vinyl banner I created using the Vistaprint.com website. The vinyl banner below will be 2.5′ wide and 8′ tall when done. What do you use for offline marketing? Vinyl Banner Vistaprint ““ Impressions for offline marketing
Looking for a simple solution to sell product online? Look no further than Jigoshop! You need to have WordPress installed for Jigoshop to work. This free e-commerce plugin for WordPress takes less than 15 minutes to setup. You can download the plugin from the developers site or search for “Jigoshop” from your WordPress Dashboard Plugin menu. Once installed an entire dashboard to control your store is available. It can be used for both physical and downloadable products. Your customers can access your store from several different devices like smartphones and tablets. Right now it only supports PayPal, Skrill/Moneybookers and Cheque for payment gateways. I would imagine that will change in the future as the plugin evolves. Check out the links to the tour for more information on features. Jigoshop backend demo 3 from James Koster on Vimeo. If you are looking for a simple solution that is packed with features this might be the plugin for you. If you need help setting up a WordPress e-commerce solution using Jigoshop feel free to contact me at [email protected] for more information and pricing. Resources: Check out the Tour here ““ Jigoshop Tour GreenHostUSA Hosting Plans – WordPress Hosting Article by Dennis J. Smith Promote Your Business or Cause Using Social Media ““ A Beginner’s Handbook
Google is getting more serious in the social media arena this week. They announced the Google+ Project yesterday and it looks quite interesting. I’m not sure this is going to be a Facebook killer but it is worth a look. I think what strikes me the most is a new approach to social media. The “+Circle” concept looks very user friendly and allows you to choose who you share with. All you need to do is drag and drop friends, business associates, family and others into the appropriate “circle”. It reminds me a little of Facebook Groups but a better layout. You might already notice some of the changes across Google today. Right now the Google+ project is invite only for what they are calling a “Field Test”. Head on over to https://plus.google.com so you can apply to join the project. Please feel free to share your comment below. Are you willing to give Google+ a try? Below is the press release from Google plus video on each feature. Introducing the Google+ project: Real-life sharing, rethought for the web 6/28/2011 10:45:00 AM Among the most basic of human needs is the need to connect with others. With a smile, a laugh, a whisper or a cheer, we connect with others every single day. Today, the connections between people increasingly happen online. Yet the subtlety and substance of real-world interactions are lost in the rigidness of our online tools. In this basic, human way, online sharing is awkward. Even broken. And we aim to fix it. We’d like to bring the nuance and richness of real-life sharing to software. We want to make Google better by including you, your relationships, and your interests. And so begins the Google+ project: +Circles: share what matters, with the people who matter most Not all relationships are created equal. So in life we share one thing with college buddies, another with parents, and almost nothing with our boss. The problem is that today’s online services turn friendship into fast food””wrapping everyone in “friend” paper””and sharing really suffers: It’s sloppy. We only want to connect with certain people at certain times, but online we hear from everyone all the time. It’s scary. Every online conversation (with over 100 “friends”) is a public performance, so we often share less because of stage fright. It’s insensitive. We all define “friend” and “family” differently””in our own way, on our own terms””but we lose this nuance online. In light of these shortcomings we asked ourselves, “What do people actually do?” And we didn’t have to search far for the answer. People in fact share selectively all the time””with their circles. From close family to foodies, we found that people already use real-life circles to express themselves, and to share with precisely the right folks. So we did the only thing that made sense: we brought Circles to software. Just make a circle, add your people, and share what’s new””just like any other day: +Sparks: strike up a conversation, about pretty much anything Healthy obsessions inspire sharing, and we’ve all got one (or two, or three…). Maybe it’s muscle cars, or comic books, or fashion, but the attraction is always the same: it comes up in conversation, we immediately jump in, and we share back and forth with other fans. Often for hours. The trick is getting things started, and getting over that initial hump. Fortunately, the web is the ultimate icebreaker. The web, of course, is filled with great content””from timely articles to vibrant photos to funny videos. And great content can lead to great conversations. We noticed, however, that it’s still too hard to find and share the things we care about””not without lots of work, and lots of noise. So, we built an online sharing engine called Sparks. Thanks to Google’s web expertise, Sparks delivers a feed of highly contagious content from across the Internet. On any topic you want, in over 40 languages. Simply add your interests, and you’ll always have something to watch, read and share””with just the right circle of friends: +Hangouts: stop by and say hello, face-to-face-to-face Whether it’s inside a pub or on a front porch, human beings have always enjoyed hanging out. And why not? It’s how we unwind, recharge, and spend unscheduled time with old and new friends alike. Hanging out is deceptively simple though, and the nuance gets lost online. Just think: when you walk into the pub or step onto your front porch, you’re in fact signaling to everyone around, “Hey, I’ve got some time, so feel free to stop by." Further, it’s this unspoken understanding that puts people at ease, and encourages conversation. But today’s online communication tools (like instant messaging and video-calling) don’t understand this subtlety: They’re annoying, for starters. You can ping everyone that’s “available,” but you’re bound to interrupt someone’s plans. They’re also really awkward. When someone doesn’t respond, you don’t know if they’re just not there, or just not interested. With Google+ we wanted to make on-screen gatherings fun, fluid and serendipitous, so we created Hangouts. By combining the casual meetup with live multi-person video, Hangouts lets you stop by when you’re free, and spend time with your Circles. Face-to-face-to-face: +Mobile: share what’s around, right now, without any hassle These days a phone is the perfect sharing accessory: it’s always with you, it’s always online, and it’s how we stay close with our closest friends. We didn’t want “just” a mobile experience, however, so with Google+ we focused on things (like GPS, cameras, and messaging) to make your pocket computer even more personal. +Location, location, location In life, the places we visit shape conversations in lots of meaningful ways. If we call John from the airport, he’ll likely ask about our trip. Or if Jane texts from a nearby restaurant, we might join her for dessert. With Google+ you can add your location to every post. (Or not. It’s always up to you.) +Instant Upload Getting photos off your phone is a huge…
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Facebook profiles are meant for individual people, they aren’t suited to meet your business needs. Pages offer more robust features for organizations, businesses, brands, and public figures, which you can learn more about here. Further, maintaining a profile for anything other than an individual person is a violation of Facebook’s Terms of Use. If you don’t convert your profile to a Page, you risk permanently losing access to the profile and all of your content. It’s not worth dealing with that so make sure you setup pages the correct way. My book Promote Your Business Or Cause Using Social Media ““ A Beginner’s Handbook covers setting up fan pages. Here are a few of the benefits on why you need a fan page and not a profile page for your business. Facebook Insights My favorite thing about pages is Facebook Insights which allows you to view your page stats. Page admins can view information on likes, comments, like source, user demographics and more. Find out what countries and cites your users are coming from along with their age and sex. You can find out more about Facebook Insights here on Facebook or search on Google for Facebook Insights. Download the Facebook Insights Guide in PDF for more specifics. Custom Landing Page This is the biggest reason why you should be using a fan page instead of profile pages. With custom landing pages you have control over content design on your fan pages. You can create custom “Welcome” pages and tabs depending on your needs. You can also reveal exclusive content only to those who “Like” your page. With iFrames you can create pages that behave just like a web page. That means you can create content using Flash, html and other web technologies. See how others are using custom fan pages to create exciting content. Get Instant Like With a profile page potential fans have to wait for you to approve them as a friend. There is no wait with a business fan page because all they have to do is "Like" the page. Ready? Click here to learn how to convert your profile to a Page. Posted by Dennis J. Smith Promote Your Business or Cause Using Social Media ““ A Beginner’s Handbook
The feature I like the most about WordPress is its ability to let you change the look and feel of your site. It can be done on the fly without any web development background. You can accomplish this by finding the perfect themes and plugins to suit your needs. WordPress has thousands of self-installs which means there are hundreds of options for free themes and a huge array of themes for sell. I always suggest to my clients that they find a theme that matches the subject matter of their WordPress blog. Here’s an example of a friends blog Tandem Revolution, which covers her and her husbands biking adventures. I like the use of the image across the top showing the spokes of a bike. It is a simple yet effective use of a theme that matches the topic of her blog. Free themes tend to have some limitations and affiliate links. Whereas paid for themes give you more flexibility with customization. I suggest starting out with something free if you are on a limited budget. But if it is in your budget I would take your time and find something that fits your needs. If your traffic grows you can change your theme at anytime. The theme I use for this site was free and fits in well with the look and feel of my book. Here are five sites to locate your perfect WordPress dream theme. #1| ThemeForest Themes for any budget and any industry ThemeForest has a wide variety of WordPress themes for the average blogger and those looking to sell product using WordPress. Themes are affordably priced for those on a budget or those looking for something unique. I have included a screenshot of the e-commerce theme WpShop below to show the power of WordPress. It is not just for blogging and can be used to sell a myriad of product, list homes and rentals, promote a restaurant or business. Theme Forest on Facebook #2 | Elegant Themes Offers lots of themes at a great price Elegant Themes has lots of great themes to pick from and at only $39 a year gives you access to 61 designs. Plus ET says they release 2-3 new themes each month so you are sure to find something. You also get 30-days to decide if it is worth it with their money-back guarantee. I like how they target themes towards specific industries such as restaurants, retail and a host of other themes to match your needs. Since I love food I included the MyCuisine theme as the screenshot below. #3 | Woo Themes Lots of free themes and a wide variety for any industry Woo Themes is another big player when it comes to WordPress themes. Woo offers any array of themes that are build for SEO and functionality. I have heard through the grapevine that Woo offers great support from tutorials, video tutorials and user support forum. The thing that I like most about the Woo Themes is you can sort themes on their website to find the perfect match. How about at least a dozen free themes to boot? There is bound to be something for everyone with Woo Themes. Woo Themes on Facebook #4 | StudioPress WordPress themes built on the Genesis Framework These themes are built with search engine optimization in mind. Wondering what the Genesis Framework is? Here’s more information on that and why you should go with StudioPress. I have to admit that these are some of the best WordPress themes I have seen. The layouts are nice, clean, modern and eye-catching designs that stand out. Plus you can get all themes for one great price and you get future themes at no extra charge. #5 | Legend Themes New player in the theme market offering clean designs Legend Themes is located right here in Boise and has just a few themes to pick from along with the free Emphasis Theme. The Snapshot theme is perfect for those who enjoy the art of photography. All themes have a nice clean look to them and offer various customization. The price on this theme and others are $70 which includes technical support. More Resources: 80+ Clean and Simple WordPress Themes 380 Premium WordPress Themes Free “Leather” Theme from Legend Themes MagPress Free WordPress Themes Article by Dennis J. Smith ““ Promote Your Business Or Cause Using Social Media ““ A Beginners Handbook
I attended my first WordPress WordCamp in Seattle, WA yesterday(Saturday), after driving up from Boise on Thursday. I learned a lot even though I slept a few hours the night before the event. I went with a friend I meet on Facebook after attending a social media class with her sister last fall in Seattle. If you haven’t had a chance to attend WordCamp I would recommend you look for one in a city near you. I got some cool swag and scored a few t-shirts from WPCandy and ThemeForest along with a few WordPress and VaultPress buttons. After checking in my friend and I grabbed a pastry along with some coffee. I needed it to wake me from the dead! The first speaker of the morning was Scott Berkun who was actually pretty entertaining. I found out when I got back to my hotel room that Scott is a published author and has several bestsellers, including “Confessions of a Public Speaker“. After the keynote speech WordCamp Seattle broke out into sessions for Bloggers(myself), those who build themes and a development track for those who create WordPress plugins. We moved to the other side of the room and took our seats to listen to Heather Gold talk about “Tools for Tummeling“, which I had never heard of. Her point of view is about the need to create websites that create a sense of community. Developing a site that creates interaction amongst its users so it is more dynamic than linear. There was some interaction with the audience however it was hard to hear at times. I’m not sure that passing a microphone back and forth works well. I wish the speaker had wore a mic and had one just for the audience members as she spoke with them. The speech I was interested in started after a break and was Aaron Hockley from Portland, OR. Another favorite city of mine because of the natural and tech environment. Aaron spoke about various ways on how you can monetize your blog with product sales (e-books), affiliate marketing, advertising and membership programs. But he failed to mention one of my favorites which is Clickbank, because they are located in Boise, ID. Read my previous post on how to fatten your wallet by selling digital products on Clickbank. Aaron has a photography business and was kind enough to take photos of those attending the event. After a nice lunch with with lots of choices (salads, sandwiches, brownies and cookies) we took our seats again for the next speaker who was Bob Dunn. Bob is a WordPress coach who is located in the Seattle area and teaches others the benefits of WordPress. He spoke about how to bring more readers to your blog through a user-friendly WordPress site. I got some good information and it reminded me that I need to make a few adjustments on my blog. Like gathering e-mail addresses so I can stay in touch with my readers. I haven’t had time to browse his blog yet, but looks like lots of good information. If you are interested you can also find him on Facebook and “Like” has fan page Savvy WordPress. Another quick break and we were listening to Justin Briggs talking about an important subject for bloggers. Justin is an SEO consultant who explained how things like speed of your website can effect your search engine rank. He went over plugins that help with the optimization of your WordPress blog and other items you should consider. My favorite plugin for SEO is one called All In One SEO Pack WordPress Plugin which is free. Find out more here in a post I wrote about “3 Social Media Tools To Grow Your Business“. You will find information on the three tools I think help grow a business online with WordPress. The main part of the day finished up with an interview with Alex King (conducted by Nick Ohrn) who has been around WordPress since its beginning. He is originally from Seattle but now makes his home in Denver. He was asked questions about his involvement and about some of his past and current projects. If you want to learn more about Alex there’s lots of information about him, his project and companies on his website. We wrapped up with Ignite WordCamp Seattle which features about 6 different speakers. It was my first time seeing the Ignite speaking format which is 5 minutes of speaking about a topic while showing slides. If I get up the nerves I might try doing my own Ignite speech at a future Ignite event. But for now I’m happy with watching others get up in front of a room filled with techies and bloggers. I certainly would recommend a WordCamp event to anyone who uses WordPress, interested in blogging or those who develop themes, plugins or anything that revolves around WordPress. You will learn lots and have the chance to connect with many like minded people. Look for an event in a city near you or even plan your own WordCamp in your city or country. List of Speakers at WordCamp Seattle WordCamp Seattle Blog WPCandy WordCamp Seattle 2011 Liveblog Please not that some of the links on this page are referral links to other companies. DJ Smith Promote Your Business Or Cause Using Social Media Post Sponsored By: GreenHostUSA : WordPress Hosting
Facebook is getting ready to launch a new feature that lets you offer your customers deals when they “check-in” using Places on Facebook. Called “Deals” the latest feature is currently in Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, San Diego and San Francisco. I did notice that there are a few deals in my local area which is Boise, ID but I haven’t been to those businesses. Facebook claims that over 200 million mobile phone users are actively using Facebook on the go. That’s huge potential for a business to draw in new customers. Business can set one-time deals or even set-up loyalty deals by rewarding return customers. Hopefully there will be a day you won’t need to carry around those stupid cards on your key chain. I’ve included a link down below of a PDF from Facebook to give you more information. There are several videos to get a better idea on how “Deals” can benefit your business. Are “Deals” active in your city? Is this something you might consider for your business? See how it works: http://www.facebook.com/deals/checkin/business Deals for Businesses PDF ““ Download For more information head to Facebook and http://www.facebook.com/deals. Source: Dennis J. Smith Promote Your Business Or Cause Using Social Media ““ Beginner’s Handbook
With all the social media sites out there it’s a wonder that we have time to do much. Most of us running a business don’t have time to monitor our Facebook Fan Pages. Wouldn’t it be nice to know when someone has left a comment for one of your post? I have found the perfect free tool to help you manage your social media and stay on top of the game. YouTube Video ““ Hyper Alerts Here’s how it work: Get Your Free Account at the Hyper Alerts website: http://alerts.hyperinteraktiv.no/ Set-up Your Hyper Alerts: Click on the + Add new alert button to start the process. Tell Hyper Alerts which fan page or pages you’d like to monitor. There is no access via Facebook Connect so your personal information is not accessed. Pick your setting on what time you would like HyperAlerts to send your notification. Hourly, Daily, Weekly or Monthly. I would recommend that you check at least daily to keep in touch with your fans. Wait for the nifty e-mail to arrive with your notifications in a nice clean format. Right from the e-mail you can click to view the post or you can stop getting alerts of you choose to do so. Let me know what you think and feel free to comment below or share this with your friends. Know of a better social media tool? Posted By Dennis J. Smith Promote Your Business Or Cause Using Social Media ““ A Beginner’s Handbook
Here’s a short Facebook video tutorial on how you can remove a tab from your Facebook Fan Page. If you remove it on accident it is easy to add the application back to your page. Anyone who is an admin of a fan page can edit the page going to “Edit Page” in the menu. The fan page menu has been moved to the left side of the page. Pick and click “Apps” from the menu and look for Notes under the list of Added Apps. Click the “X” to the right of the application you want to remove and verify you want it removed. Refresh your fan page and the tab of the app you removed should be gone. Check out the video for more information and how you can re-add an app if you removed it on accident. Posted by Dennis J. Smith ““ Social Media Author Promote Your Business Or Cause Using Social Media