I’ve Been Google Slapped Again — Thank God!
Anyone with experience in MLM, Network Marketing, or Direct Sales knows what a Google slap is. If you don’t, take a moment and google “Google slap” and get up to speed before proceeding here.
“I’ve been Google slapped again” became an altogether too familiar scream around my house lately.
Now, the point of this blog post is not to argue the validity of the latest Google slap on affiliate marketers and “make money” opportunities, but to point out that good things comes from even the darkest clouds.
Here’s my story….
I fell in love with Google Adwords. I started advertising on Google over a year ago, and the leads came in at breakneck speed. Costly? Sure, but I received extensive training from some very well respected Google authorities. So I knew what I was doing, paid a reasonable cost, and was a very happy camper.
Then I got slapped, and slapped again, and again. Every time I made changes in my campaigns to adjust to the latest slap, I would no sooner get traffic back up and leads coming in then…. BAM! I would get slapped again.
It was difficult, but the upside was so damn high. So I kept adjusting and moving forward.
I was hooked!
At least I was until the latest slap a few weeks ago, when Google decided to make Affiliate Marketers lives a living hell. My impressions went to ZERO overnight, and I received that dreaded “You are suspended from Google” email.
Now what? I mean, if Google was against my entire community, what hope was there, right?
WRONG!
Hope rose anew from the fact that the Google suspension has forced me to “back to my roots”, back to the methods of marketing that I had abandoned, things like social media, article marketing, press releases, blogging…. all basically forgotten and left for dead as I discovered what I now call…
The Crack Cocaine of Internet Marketing... Google Adwords
I got caught with my pants down. I got so enamored with the instant gratification of Google that I left everything else behind. I had forgotten all the free and low cost leads I used to get before I became addicted to Google. Even though I consider myself an experienced marketer, I broke the Golden Rule — never put all your marketing eggs in one basket.
Fast forward a few weeks. Still feeling the sting of less lead flow, but I am now detoxed from Google and life continues on. I’ve found that I have a renewed passion for writing good solid articles that deliver something valuable to people. I have returned to blogging with a similar passion. Videos are in the making, and the leads are coming back.
Yes, I have moved over to Yahoo and MSN (Bing) like most others who’ve been slapped, but I’ve done so with the full understanding that I need to diversify my marketing. So now, instead of focusing 95% of my marketing efforts on PPC advertising, I am adding in a mixture of articles, press releases, blogging, Squidoo, Hubpages, and video marketing.
And oh yeah… I have officially started Twittering (or whatever a person who uses Twitter is called)!
My take home message folks?
Marketing on the Internet is just like Investing —>
Never put all your efforts in one place… diversify, diversify, diversify!
Til next time,
3 Steps to Exploding Your Traffic with Video Marketing
You know how to make a video. And you know how to edit it and get it ready for people to see. Now what?
Welcome to Day 17 of the “30 Tips in 30 Days” Holiday Blog Special, where I will provide one solid business or marketing tip each day in the month of December. If you missed any of the previous tips, simply click on the Business and Marketing Tips Category on the right sidebar.
Let’s get to it.
So you’ve started making videos. Now where do you send them?
Once you get good at videos, you want to get maximum exposure.
Remember, GOOGLE LOVES VIDEOS. Videos, along with other types of social marketing get ranked very highly on Google.
In the 90 Day Challenge of MLM Goldmine, Howie Schwartz has taught their members (of which I am a proud graduate) how to DOMINATE Google for a specific search term using videos, articles, and other social networking tools.
By the way, I totally recommend the MLM Goldmine material. Dennis Karganilla, Jimmy Davis, and Howie Schwartz are AMAZING at what they do, which is to show you how to use social marketing to dominate your niche. And if you don’t know what your niche is, they help with that, too.
Okay, sorry I got sidetracked.
Here is what I did to explode my business using video marketing:
1. Starter: When I first started making videos, I was TERRIBLE. My first videos were not for public consumption, if you know what I mean. So I simply uploaded them to YouTube, just to understand how the process works.
2. Novice: As I started to get better at shooting videos, I started using Tube Mogul to expand the places to which my videos were distributed. This is a FREE service (although I think there may be a paid option, although I haven’t personally used it) where your video is automatically uploaded to 15 different sites.
Cool, right?
But I soon found that the TOP EARNERS in this industry were shooting WAY HIGHER.
3. Welcome to the world of TRAFFIC GEYSER. This is “Tube Mogul on steroids”, if you will. For $47 per month, your video is distributed to 46 sites and includes blogs, podcasts, and other sites in addition to video sites. It’s a little more complicated to set up your account, but there are easy step-by-step videos to get you through it painlessly. And the support is amazing.
At the time of this writing, Traffic Geyser is offering a promotion whereby you can get 1 month of Traffic Geyser for $1. And if you decide you don’t like it for whatever reason, you can cancel your membership at any time without penalty.
If it sounds like I like Traffic Geyser, it’s because I do.
But then again, I love anything that will help me take MASSIVE ACTION in my business.
There you go — 3 steps to take, depending on your experience and budget, to become a video marketing ninja.
Don’t just sit there reading this…. GO MAKE A VIDEO!
Until next time,
17 December 2008; Cresskill, NJI Finally Made My First Video, Now What?
So you finally jumped in with both feet and made your first video! Congratulations!
But now what?
Welcome to Day 16 of the “30 Tips in 30 Days” Holiday Blog special where I am providing one business and marketing tip for each day in the month of December (except Christmas — we all have to rest at least one day!). If you missed any of the previous posts, simply go to the Business and Marketing Tips Category in the right sidebar —->
In my last post, I showed you one of my first videos. Boy was I uptight!
Kind of had that “deer in the headlights” kind of look.
But as with anything else, the more videos you do, the more comfortable you become.
So if you’ve finally made that first video, no matter what the quality, congratulations!
Now go make 100 more…. seriously.
Because video marketing is an EXTREMELY POWERFUL way to get your message out… one of the most powerful on the Internet. We’ll talk about ways to get your videos distributed in the near future, but for now I want to focus on how to edit and upload your video to YouTube.
You can use several different Video Editing Software, and all have their pluses and minuses.
For me, I use Windows Movie Maker. Why?
For one thing, it’s available for free on all Windows-based PCs.
For another, it’s very easy to use, even for those of us who are technically challenged! 
Here is a great video that will help you upload and edit your video using Windows Movie Maker….
Pretty simple, huh? Yes, once you get the hang of it. But all you can do is take the bull by the horns and give it a try. I promise it won’t be too painful.
If you have a Mac computer, most people use IMovie08.
Here is a video by my great friend and Mac wizard, Curt Frieden, AKA “The Mac Marketer”.
Thanks to Curt for putting out this terrific content.
Happy Videotaping everyone….
To your ultimate success!
Bob
Video Marketing Tips For Newbies: “What Do I Talk About?”
So, you’ve decided you want to do Video Marketing. You’ve got your new Flip Camera ready to go. Now what?
Welcome to Day 15 in the “30 Tips in 30 Days” Holiday Blog Special, where I offer network marketing tips each day for the entire month of December. If you have missed any of the previous posts, go to the Business and Marketing Tips Category.
One of the biggest questions I get from my new team members is this:
“Bob, what on Earth do I talk about?”
It’s a great question really, because there is a lot of GARBAGE out there in Videoland.
I mean, really! If I hear one more talking head pitching his business like the old “Crazy Eddie” commercials in the 70’s and 80’s (I am dating myself, here), I might just shut off my computer for good.
These people are missing the whole point of video marketing.
And it is the BIGGEST MISTAKE that most newbies make when doing Video Marketing:
THEY PITCH THEIR BUSINESS.
So what should you do and what should you talk about?
It’s an easy rule to remember: ALWAYS PROVIDE VALUE IN YOUR VIDEOS.
And the second rule is: BE YOURSELF AND PUT A PERSONAL TOUCH IN TO YOUR VIDEOS.
There is a very simple formula when making an effective video:
STEP ONE: Identify a PROBLEM
STEP TWO: Explain how YOU experienced this problem and what the consequences were to you.
STEP THREE: Provide a SOLUTION to the problem.
STEP FOUR: Give a CALL TO ACTION
Here is an example. My wife Rosemary and I made this video when we were doing the 90 Day Challenge, and the assignment was to do videos on our Top 10 Frustrations in MLM.
This is one that most people in MLM can relate to:
Remember what I said about PROVIDING VALUE in your videos.
If you’re new, where do you find the content that would be interesting to others?
It’s simple: ACQUIRE SOME KNOWLEDGE.
Read a book like Think and Grow Rich. Listen to Personal Development gurus like Jim Rohn or Zig Ziglar . If your company offers training, get on a call or webinar and learn!
The more you know, the more value you can give.
As a Newbie, this knowledge may be lacking at first, so get on with it.
In the meantime:
- Talk about why you decided to start a home based business (don’t you dare mention your business until you give a call to action at the end of the video, and even then it’s best not to mention it by name).
- If you were in a prior business in MLM or direct sales, talk about your frustrations about your experience. Make it personal. Tell your story.
When we were first starting out, Rosemary and I did a video on OURSELVES. Admittedly, it didn’t provide much value except for us and those that know us.
But what it DID do is it got us comfortable with the PROCESS of making videos.
Once you are comfortable doing it, you have overcome one of the biggest hurdles to overcome in video marketing.
Here is our PERSONAL STORY VIDEO for those that care to listen: “Bob and Rosemary Unplugged.”
It’s a little longer than I like to make our current videos, but it was one of our first attempts….
A few more tips on Video Marketing before I close:
- Keep it short. I try to keep my videos to less than 5 minutes unless it’s a “How To” video.
- Script your video. In the beginning, it’s a good idea to write a script for your video and practice it once or twice. Then get rid of the script when you do the final version (you don’t want to be reading the script).
- Give your video a catchy title, but include highly searched keyword terms (more on this in a later post).
- Have FUN! Nobody wants to join someone’s team who is always scowling and not smiling.
- It’s worth repeating… NEVER pitch your business!
- TAKE ACTION -- make one video per day for 7 days and you’ll feel very comfortable doing so. It doesn’t have to be perfect — it just has to be REAL.
To your video success!
Bob
Check out our YouTube Channel!
Our Primary Business Opportunity
The Easiest Way to Start Doing Videos
A few days ago we talked about the right way and the wrong way to use Social Networking.
Let’s start getting into some of the specific social marketing tips.
Welcome to Day 14 of the “30 Tips in 30 Days” holiday blogging special. If you’ve missed any of the previous posts in this series, go to the Business and Marketing Tips category on the right sidebar.
First, let’s talk about VIDEO MARKETING.
There’s alot to cover, but let’s start at the beginning:
What is the easiest way to make a video?
There are a lot of possiblities when talking about video cameras/camcorders. Everyone seems to have their favorite, so I will give you mine.
It’s also what I believe to be the SIMPLEST way to get a video uploaded on to You Tube by far.
The camera is called the Flip Ultra Camcorder, and you can find it at Amazon.com.
The Flip Camera costs about $125, although you can get some used ones for approximately $100. I would stick with the new camcorder.
It is extremely light… pocket size… and only weighs 12 oz.
It’s got a built in USB connector that plugs right into the USB port on my computer, and can directly download the video to my computer for further editing (recommended) or directly to YouTube.
Well, I’ll let the people from Amazon tell you the rest. This is their product description.
Pure Digital Flip Video Ultra Series is the next-generation line of highly compact digital camcorders to make it easier than ever for on-the-go consumers to shoot and share high-quality video. Slim-sized to fit neatly into any pocket, the Flip Video Ultra Series provides unmatched portability and simplicity for capturing, editing and sharing video – anytime, anywhere.The Flip Video Ultra Series is the newest member in Pure Digital’s popular Flip Video family of digital camcorders, the world’s first camcorders with on-board software to enable editing, organizing, and seamless video uploading to AOL, YouTube and other video sharing sites. Flip Video Ultra showcases Pure Digital’s next-generation video processing technology, which delivers stunning video and sound quality, even when played on large-screen TVs. The Ultra Series continues Pure Digital’s pioneering of a new category of camcorder that puts the power to instantly capture, edit and share video in the pocket of everyday consumers.The Flip Video Ultra Series incorporates a wide range of advanced new features, including a 1.5 inch transflective, no-glare display screen for clear viewing in even the brightest sunlight, next-generation video processing, and increased on-board memory.
I offer my highest recommendation to this product (I get NO affiliate commission for this recommendation).
Happy videotaping!
Bob
Take a look at our video channel!
December 14, 2008; Cresskill, NJ-
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