Lea Charlton

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Good Marketing #1 – I’m going to “put myself out there” and go way back to the 70′s when I was a kid … YES I am THAT old … There are some funny commercials that are epic examples of “good marketing” :)

I have a client that has a “cursed” Facebook account. No matter what conservative marketing strategies are made, Facebook blocks this client’s ability to add friends after just a few internal invites, therefore the development must come from external resources or personal email invites. Meanwhile, most are friends the client chats with on different pages and in groups. It has become a frustrating situation for this business owner, so … I logged into the account and implemented a new process of adding friends. The client was impressed and wanted to know how I managed to add so many in one day, and a quick witted … ”Ancient SEO Secret” … rolled off of my tongue :)

LOL,  ”ancient SEO secret” is inspired from the old – “Ancient Chinese Secret” – Calgon commercial above (click play and watch it). This funny commercial always comes to mind – over their primary “Calgon Take Me Away” slogan – as a way of teasing someone that wants to know a social media marketing or seo secret that blows them away … an inside joke, per say, that was derived by what I consider to be “GOOD MARKETING” … no matter how corny the funny commercials of the 70s may be (kind of like the styles of the 80s that keep coming to mind … another blog topic for sure! :)

Regardless, the topic here is GOOD MARKETING, SOCIAL MEDIA and SEO SECRETS.

I still watch the commercials with the same interest as I did as a child. The appeal has never been so much as what to buy as how entertaining they are and now I love to gage the different testing and air strategies of this generation of marketing. This is how I confirmed when Facebook and Twitter were finally adopted as essential business marketing sources to major corporations (over the Internet hype), as well as how I learned when to delve into prospecting in particular markets because they were starting to do the same in their commercials. It was exciting to sneak my Twitter comment on CMT while they were hosting the awards … One night, I woke my “hubby” up around 3:30 A.M. to watch the new Axe Body Wash commercial because this was the only time frame where they tested the full version and the condensed versions back to back … to later show the condensed versions during the day / eve. … I could go on and on, but the point here is that you can learn a lot from commercials; as well as the new statistics regarding TV Commercial and Social Media Marketing. People are drawn to videos, flash and social media. Additionally, they are  NOT changing the TV channel, during commercials, as it is presumed that we still do … similar to when I watched commercials as a child … product / program launches are creating new trends and commercials with profound subliminal messages and appeal that will last generations. (Make sure to clarify these for your children … some are like the old Camel logo, cartoons and music … controversial /confusing sexual and political messages). We can accomplish the same in our “online TV show” efforts via videos, flash presentations, mobile apps, etc.

These are obviously a few quick examples of, what I consider “good marketing”. In fact, The Video Consumer Mapping (VCM) study – Council for Research Excellence (CRE) – 2010 statistics of 376 adults observed for 752 days – confirm that I am not the only one to agree (even if YOU are not aware that YOU like commercials, too)!

- 85% of adults watch 26 advertising or promotional breaks. This equates to 73 minutes each day)

- Only 14% of viewers change channels during commercials, compared to 11% just before and 13% just after the commercials.

- 21% of TV viewers change rooms after the commercial, in comparison to 19% before and 20% during the commercials.

- 55% of viewers were solely engaged with media; in comparison to the 45% that were multi-taking during commercials.

“When commercials come on, people stay with the TV. They only go to the kitchen if they’re hungry, and they don’t fight over the remote,” said Laura Cowan, Vice President and Media Director of RJC Advertising and Chairperson of the CRE’s Media Consumption & Engagement Committee. “For years, media professionals have been wrestling with the question of whether viewers actually pay attention to commercial breaks. This new data, the result of actually embedding observers with a statistically significant number of TV viewers, is a major development in terms of learning what people watch and how they watch it.”

How does this all correlate to the “ancient seo secret” – social media marketing – Facebook success? Here are the hints …

WATCH & DUPLICATE …
Study / continuously watch those who are accomplishing the goals that you are not, tweak to apply to your goals and duplicate. Learn from the commercials and videos, as well as the daily strategies that competitors, mentors and online gurus take to become successful.

MULTI-TASK …
You’ve got to be able to do more things at once – don’t get trapped in Facebook alone or doing one major thing in there – develop skills, multi-tasking / multi-channel marketing processes. The same for your overall marketing strategy – mix it up – use different resources – commerical do help; even if just through online video and podcast spotlights.

DEVELOP A SENSE OF HUMOR …
It is social networking / social media marketing for a reason. Make sure to have fun and give of yourself, PLUS you have to dive into online marketing with a sense of humor or you will become frustrated while learning and developing.

NICHE / NEW / PRODUCTS / SERVICES …
“The world is your oyster” when it comes to niche and new; even if you have to become creative and tap in on niche / new ways of presenting your  product(s) and service(s) to target markets. Niche products, new products, niche services, new services or presenting the old to niche/ new markets … put on your creative “thinking cap” each time while knowing that these are where and how you can gain advantages where you were failing to do well. Online branding is everything … keep it fresh!

TEST … TEST … TEST … SWITCH THINGS UP TO “BLOW THEM AWAY” …
This is self explanatory, but I will break it down for those who claim that they are testing and switching things up correctly, though not producing expected results. You have to  step back and do #1 (above) or ask others to help with opinions / suggestions, and “once it ain’t broke” (when you are seeing results – even  if it is just one or two likes or comments) don’t fix it (stop testing) and “go with it” until the trends demand the process again.

Are these suggestions “Ancient Chinese Secrets” to you? Do you not have the time or need hands on help? Contact me for social media marketing / seo secret services or comment below!

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It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most
intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. ~ Charles Darwin

This blog post is for anyone that is not doing well at marketing someone else’s dreams! You have tried following the marketing gurus and sales funnels, though felt more screwed over than accomplished in your mission. You have tried starting a business by joining opportunity after opportunity, and are not even close to where you thought that you would be. You have tried “blogging for dollars” – Clickbank, Videos, Adsense – and could not get it to produce fast enough none-the-less make it look like a blog that people should bookmark to favorites. You have taken the time to do what your mentors have suggested and are still not making the money that you need to make … you are still not making money online … you are still not working from home full time. :(

As the old saying goes, “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade” …

So, you have been plugging away at – what feels like – the crash course in exhausting your savings account. Your schedule is filled with offline and online marketing training, networking events and opportunity calls. You have been going through the work at home / make money online motions for quite some time … when all you need is for someone to break down “How To Make Lemonade” … this is also called getting the “golden nuggets”.

Lets use my friend as an example …

I just had a chat with a friend that I haven’t heard from in months. She has been in real estate for quite a while and does pretty good at it, but every time we talk about work, she mentions the same two things: 1) she is waiting for a big deal to close and 2) she is sick of working in real estate. My friend has been trying to learn how to make money online, though has not been able to replace her current job. It is not lack of motivation or willingness to “invest in herself” because she does take the time to develop skills and she does put in the time to market her affiliate programs. She is not “wishy washy” about really making a change. She is seriously trying to gain the “financial freedom” and flexibility that she needs. She is just tired of the ups and downs of the real estate industry, as well as running from appointment to appointment around others schedules. She still has to go into an office and does not care for most of the people she works with daily. She wants more control of her time. She feels as though now is the best time to make a change that will provide her desirable lifestyle and future.

There are 2 problems that most experience …

1) She needs to find a “good” business, product(s) or service(s).

2) She needs to replace her current income and has not come close to this goal.

This is a not an uncommon scenario. These are the two basic reasons why people are not successful at working from home. They cannot find a business that is “right” for them (as is always suggested). When they settle for something that makes sense, they cannot make enough money to replace their job so that they can work from home full time. Some get “sour” enough to quit trying to accomplish their dreams.

Lets put this juicy concept on steroid and give it the 100% it deserves …
“When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold” (Atmosphere 2008).

Lemonade Stand and Oregon Trail are 2 of my favorite computer games. As a child, I couldn’t wait to finish my 3rd grade math and use the school computer to play either one of these games. I would happily go play either right now, too. I was good at these games, though, obviously, the competition began prior to my sitting at the computer each time because only the first person done with math could play Lemonade Stand or Oregon Trail, and we had to get a good grade on the previous math paper to expect to qualify to play the next time around. Ironically, math was right before “break” (what they call study hall now), so the 1st person to get to this computer could play through break time if they did not have something else to do.

How To Build The Lemonade Stand …

My friend is determined to quit her job in real estate, but she does not feel as though she is skilled enough in anything else to, flat out, quit the real estate industry. She turned to the internet for “something to do” and bounced from company to company – while trying to accomplish her goal of making enough money – to replace her existing job. She did not take time to plan how she could accomplish short term and long term goals, and then move into action. She is focused on whatever she jumps into and not “the big picture” and her results are poor in comparison to what they could be. Although my friend is a smart woman and good at selling real estate, she feels like a failure in the online business / work at home industry.

As in my example about the Lemonade Stand game, YOU CAN HAVE WHAT YOU WANT BY DOING WELL AT JUST ONE THING as well as applying the following principles:

1) Determination

2) Skills

3) Goals

4) Planning (*)

5) Action

6) Focus

7) Results

8) Automation

9) Replication

10) Duplication

As promised, THIS IS HOW TO MAKE LEMONADE … the golden kind … not yellow!

Although my friend does not want to sell real estate, she is EXTREMELY intelligent about the real estate industry, sales process, homes, financing, etc. She is down right passionate sounding about it, too. In fact, she is to real estate as I am to seo marketing – she comes across like a straight up real estate nerd!

Tonight, I finally had to tell her to stop trying to dive into someone else’s business, products and services … that it was time that she started capitalizing on the vast experience and real estate knowledge that she has. I gave her the first 2 steps in getting started …

YOU CAN DO THE EXACT SAME THING, BUT YOU NEED TO HAVE A PLAN – MAYBE – SOME HELP.

This blog post is for anyone that is not doing well at marketing someone else’s dreams!

You have tried following the marketing gurus and sales funnels, though felt more screwed over than accomplished in your mission. You have tried starting a business by joining opportunity after opportunity, and are not even close to where you thought that you would be. You have tried “blogging for dollars” – Clickbank, Videos, Adsense – and could not get it to produce fast enough none-the-less make it look like a blog that people should bookmark to favorites. You have taken the time to do what your mentors have suggested and are still not making the money that you need to make … you are still not making money online … you are still not working from home full time. :(

Need the recipe for your perfect lemonade?

You can CLICK HERE to learn “How To Make Lemonade” or use the comment section below to discuss with other blog visitors. It would be great to hear from people that have been successful at making their own “lemonade” – Tell us what you do in the comment section below.

WHEN YOU HAVE FOLLOWED THE INSTRUCTIONS EXPLAINED IN THIS BLOG POST, COME BACK TO COMMENT WITH YOUR GRAVATAR OR WORDPRESS EMAIL … I WILL APPROVE ALL REASONABLE COMMENTS WITH AN ACTIVE LINK TO YOUR WEBSITE.

READ THIS IMPORTANT MESSAGE ABOUT BLOG COMMENTING …

I have been browsing blog posts and noticed that your comments are often missing profile images. This blog post explains why and how to add your picture to blog comments for WordPress, Blogger (Blogspot), Yahoo and other services. This may seem insignificant depending on what stage you are at in your onilne marketing process , though I assure you that it is very easy and important for the following reasons:

Online Branding / Online Marketing
As the old saying goes, “it is you that sells your business”. When marketing online, it is important that people begin to associate your product(s) or service(s) with your face and / or logo. This means that you need to add an image to everything that you do as part of your online branding process. It builds rapport, loyalty and is distinguishes the novice from the seasoned /professional marketer.

Pictures Add To The Blog Aesthetics
What looks better? A blog with pictures or no pictures? How about a blog with comments or no comments? There is nothing more unattractive than blog comments with shaded silhouettes or template graphics. Look at this comment page and now look at the comment section on this page. Which looks better? The blog with the profile images not only looks better, but portrays that it is a professional blog that people take the time to register for and participate in as a viable resource.

Want to know  to add a picture to your blog comments?

Use the same email address for your profiles.
When I am setting up branding solutions for clients, the first thing that I do is create a free email address at Gmail.com, Yahoo.com and Bing.com. – both with the exact same name. For example, if the client is a work at home mom and wants to brand this way, then I create email addresses that reflects how she wants to brand herself (i.e. workathomemom@gmail.com & workathomemom@yahoo.com). I do this for companies that have not already started online branding for themselves. If they have already been using a particular address with WordPress, we either keep it the same or replace the email on the existing account with a new one.

Register at www.wordpress.com using the email address from whichever email is going to be the “dominant” account.
This is typically the GMAIL address because we use a lot of Google services and Google Caffeine has started showing our profiles (with picture… important) directly in the search engine results. I would recommend that you choose the option that provides you with a free WordPress.com blog opposed to just the account. This will provide you with advantages when blogging in the future. Plus, you can secure that WordPress website address per the strategy for your online branding. For example, my work at home mom client would use her workathomemom@gmail.com to secure the workathomemom.wordpress.com website address. I will explain more about the entire purpose of securing this later. Just note that this is good for online branding. Consequently, the Bing.com and Yahoo.com email address will serve the same purpose when working with the Yahoo suite or services.

Always take the time to upload a picture and set up the profile section of your accounts.
After confirming the account(s) from your email address (if applicable), you need to login to your WordPress or Yahoo and take the time to set it up – right there and then. Add your online branding image. Complete every profile field that you can. In the case of WordPress, you need to clean the free blog of their template entries and personalize it with your own post, etc.

• How to add your picture to WordPress (called a Gravatar) –
  Click the Account link on the top menu, click Edit Profile and you will see a big blue graphic on the right. Click the link below and it takes you to a page with 4 links to choose from. Most of us will choose the first link that helps you upload it from your computer. * NOTE – after you upload a pic, it looks like it was not added (maybe a little glitch in their code). All you have to do is go back to the Edit Profile area again, click the link to go to the upload a picture area and you can see it there … or post a comment on your own blog to test (you can always delete this test comment)

RECAP … WORDPRESS USERS CAN SAVE TIME BY CREATING THEIR GRAVATAR FROM W/IN THEIR WORDPRESS ACCOUNT OR INDIVIDUALS CAN ALSO SIGN UP FOR A GRAVATAR IMAGE DIRECTLY FROM THE GRAVATAR.COM WEBSITE…

Your picture will show on WordPress Comments. Create Yahoo & Blogger Comment Images if you do this …
Now, when you comment on other’s blogs, make sure to use the same email address that you use for that particular blog service. If you are making a WordPress comment, then use that email address. If you are making a Blogger Comment / Blogspot Comment, then login with the gmail address before you comment. If you are commenting on a Yahoo application, then use the Yahoo address. Each free blog service works the same and these account images integrate with any other services / program they offer.

* It’s better to create a new email address, so that your primary email is not filled with spam.

* Lately, Gmail email addresses are accepted more than Yahoo email addresses.

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