Unless you have been under a rock or without an internet connection/access to the media/out of the loop then you don’t need me to tell you that Social Media and Web 2.0 is all the rage…. and Social Media Traffic is HOT!!

So I thought I would do a series of posts highlighting how you can get on the bandwagon and cash in on this popular medium. Ill be showing you some of the great traffic techniques; the main sites, what they are, what they do, why you should get involved, and some tools to help you along the way. Sound good??? Todays feature will be on Twitter

Twitter is one of the biggest Social Media sites and is a microblogging site allowing users to send 140 character text based posts called “tweets”.

Tweets are publicly visible messages (by default, although you can restrict them) which can be anything the post originator desires, from how they are feeling & what they are up to, to statements and marketing messages or even calls to action. There really is no limit!

So why should you care and what use is this to you? Perhaps you already think that you know too much about other people through gossip, press and idle conversation…. well there is something about the human mind which is curious in nature and we all love a story, rumour or scandal as much as the next person. More importantly we like to be kept informed and often to feel like we are up on current affairs and goings-on. This is why these type of sites thrive!

The main reason to get involved as a marketer is traffic, the lifeblood of any online business. And boy does Twitter get some traffic!!

What most people don’t seem to realise is that Twitter is still pushing record growth and expanding. The novelty may well have worn off somewhat for the early adopters of Twitter, but the masses are finally discovering it and how to Tweet and overall activity is higher than ever before as the following Quantcast data shows:

Thats some 44M monthly viewers in the US alone in July 2010!! Fancy a share of that or think that some of that exposure would help your business/product/service??

Integration with popular news and content sites (Re-Tweet buttons), search placements within Google and mobile applications have all played their part in increasing exposure to Twitter and the Millions of daily tweets.

I have started to use Twitter with some success and am in the process of building my following (3,514 as at 1st Septmber) and I would like to recommend some of the following tools to help you do the same.

Alex Jeffreys Tweeting With You Free Training - My mentor Alex Jeffreys free Twitter training videos and resources.

Twitterfeed - service that tweets the last posts published in a blog via the RSS feed. You can feed your blog into Facebook, Twitter and more.

and my personal favourite which is not just good for Twitter but for your general market research and trend insights:

Stuff to Tweet - highlights  trends not only on Twitter but a number of other news, social media, video and photo sights. This one is golden and well worth adding to your favourites!!

Once again I hope this has provided some value and insight and some useful resources. Would be interested to hear your thoughts and feedback and any experiences so please use the comments box below….

Until next time,

So its been a while since my last post, due to a variety of reasons which I won’t go into in great detail, but basically the upshot is I have managed to lose a couple of months and fail in my commitment to update here regularly!! But nevertheless I am now back and more determined than ever, so stay tuned for some great content that I have coming your way…

Today I want to talk about the power of video marketing and selling affiliate products through popular video sharing sites such as YouTube (being the main one), Metacafe, Break, Daily Motion etc.
Not a new concept I know, but a very powerful one that is often overlooked or misunderestimated.

Perhaps the best example I have ever seen of an affiliate promo is the “Guitar” video on YouTube. This already popular video was also picked up by E4 show Rude Tube, presented by Alex Zane, and became one of its top featured videos (incidentally no doubt driving further traffic to it!). You can see the video itself below

So why is this fairly simple video such a good example of affiliate marketing, and how is it being used as such?

Well the reason is two-fold: to date this video has had no less than 76,747,771 views!!!! (yes thats almost 77M views – some traffic!!) and secondly in the description box it has a link and a simple statement “I learned to play guitar with GuitarMasterPro.net. Practice, Practice, Practice and get a copy of Guitar Master Pro, that’s how I did it! Good Luck!”

Unsurprisingly the link accompanying the statement goes to the Guitar Master Pro product (or as now, the updated Guitar Superstars program) which is a product costing a basic $69 with a 60% affiliate commission ($41.40) before any up/downsells.

Given what they have seen in the video, do you think that some of the viewers would be interested in such a product which could teach them to play like that?? Well of course they would….. so you can see the power of this campaign.

The numbers are absolutely mind boggling, just think that if it has a 1% conversion rate from the video, then thats 767,478 visitors clicking the affiliate link. Assuming the conversion rate of the page is only a low 1% then thats 7,675 people who purchase the product which generates a commission of $317,745!!

Not a bad return for posting one video I think!! Thats also assuming that the poster is not the product vendor (as with no affiliates to pay he would generate an additional $211,830 giving a total of $529,575), ignoring any up/downsells (available at $197 and $47) and of course assuming very low conversion rates of only 1% from both YouTube visitors and sales page.
In all reality this was probably easily a $Million Dollar campaign for that marketer!!

So I think you can see the power of video marketing – its certainly something I will be looking to harness in the coming months, and I will chart my progress further on this blog.

So what are the key elements you need for a successful campaign?

• Interesting appealing content
• Topical content – latest trends, interests, fashions
• A quality, useful product to provide or promote
• Swift and varied distribution network (speed is often the key to keep ahead of the game)

Obviously you will need to research your chosen niche(s) to ascertain whether they are worthwhile entering and if they have active customers who will spend.
Also you will need to consider whether you want to record your video yourself (starring you or your friends!) or whether you want to make a video from other material, such as a compilation of “best of…” (respecting copyrights of course) – either can be successful for you and I will be experimenting with both.

Finally you need to distribute your content….A handy resource that I found for rating video sharing sites and their features and functionality can be found here at Top Ten reviews, this should give you an idea of where you can post your content as a starting point…

Hope this helps give you an idea or opens up a new avenue for your business, let me know your thoughts or any successes in the comments below.

Until next time,

Tom

Somehow I find myself almost all the way through March without having written an update on here for some time!! So what have I been doing for these past 3 months, well thats actually a good question as I should really be holding myself accountable and summarising for my own benefit…..

• Reading & Learning – I have taken the time to revisit a lot of the systems and products that I have previously (and even recently) bought, garnering further information and tips and techniques that I can incorporate into my business and methods. Its been quite an eye opening time as whilst I have learnt a fair bit I also lose track of how many times I have read the same old stuff. Which goes to prove either of two points, that this stuff actually works or there are a lot of people making money selling re-hashed content to ‘newbies’! Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below….
• Planning & Strategising – I have been breaking down my goals into smaller rungs on the ladder so that I can take the steps to climb higher and higher with success and an income to match. I have also looked at the different aspects of my business as it is now and as I want it to be to enable me to break it down into different sectors/types and income streams which will work pwerfully when pulled together.
• Product Development – I have been working on my planned products for 2010 (more to follow later..) which are both a combination of outsourced products which I will have rights to and also own produced by yours truly! My goal is to start to get those out there so that I can build my affiliate connections and reputation as well as achieve some sales along the way.
• Socialising – I have managed to enjoy myself along the way, doing plenty of socialising. Sadly its not been the best of business networking as yet as due to work commitments I missed out on a jaunt to Vegas to meet up with my mentor Alex Jeffreys along with the opportunity to attend Mike Filsaime’s Affiliate Appreciation weekend and meet up with lots of my fellow Marketing With You students. You can read more of the exploits over at my pal Marcus Passey’s blog. However I am looking to make up for that with some networking here in the UK and I’m looking to meet up with Sean Beardmore, Iain Buchanan & Rob Bradley in Birmingham soon – guys if you’re reading this get in contact and we can throw some dates around, or alternatively if anyone else is local and fancies a pint and some strategising….
• Anything else – sure there is tons of other stuff such as my actual day job, following all the sport thus far this year and of course the day to day house work & tasks, but no point going down that route as affects us all!!

So as we continue on the journey through 2010, what am I doing now and what are my main priorities…

Blogging – this blog has once again got to become my main priority and focus as I have been neglecting it. I need to go back to basics and hold myself accountable whilst adding value and building relationships so I will make a commitment to post at least once a week from here on in.

List Building - I need to focus on building my list and further enhancing and deepening the relationship that I have with my subscribers. Having recently digested a number of high profile products I will begin to put the ideas into practice and the experiences that I have along the way will allow me to both build and add value to those on my list.

Thats enough for now, stay tuned for my next update….

Tom

So its been a while since I last posted as I have suffered a minor setback in my Internet venture, which has namely been a relocation move with my existing job. In the meantime I trust everyone had a Merry Christmas and hopefully is not still on a Turkey diet!

In a nutshell I have moved to Birmingham (from London) for a placement for approximately 18months. The benefits being that I will have a lot more time to spend on leisure and more importantly my Internet venture as I have moved away from a crowded commute on the tube to a short walk to work (which is bliss!).

The downside is that I never knew how difficult it would be, and what a lengthy process, to get the internet set up!! After getting messed around and made to wait by 2 seperate providers, which I will decline to name at this stage, I have finally gone back to BT and got the internet sorted after about 2 months!! Who would have thought it would be so difficult to connect a few wires and provide a service…..

The effect of this has meant that with relying on a desktop and without a laptop, something I have now rectified, and the work Internet bars I have been able to do very little on my internet business. However much of a setback this is it has given me the time to get properly settled and also to take stock of where I am, how far I have come and also to actually read and digest some of the numerous products that I have previously bought so I can combine the teachings with what Alex has taught me. So I will be fighting fit and raring to go for 2010….

First though I thought I would briefly recap on what I achieved in 2009:

• Several holidays and trips – Dublin, Amsterdam, Las Vegas, Europe
• New Job (for now!)
• House move
• New Business (Internet Venture)
• New Mentor – Alex Jeffreys
• Started a mailing list – 600 names and counting
• Launched 8 websites including this blog
• Earnt my first $’s online

Its only when I actually wrote it down that I have realised that all in all quite a bit has happened in my life including some significant events in this last year!!

So what does 2010 have in store……

At this stage I am drawing together my revised plans; business, entrepreneur and personal which I talked about in my early post Failing to Plan is Planning To Fail which I will publish on here in due course.

Safe to say stepping up my Internet venture will be critical for me next year as I look to replace my job income with one earned online so I can take the next step and give up working for someone else!

I hope that you will continue with me as I share my experiences both good & bad on this journey to online success and financial independence……

All that remains to say is thank you for your support and I wish you all a Happy New Year and the Best of Success for 2010!!

Tom

I have just spent the weekend at the O2 Arena at Andrew Reynolds Entrepreneurs Bootcamp 2009, which was an interesting event with some great speakers and authorities on topics such as Internet Marketing, Copywriting, Google Adwords, Direct Response Marketing, Ebay and Motivation.

The speakers over the 2 days were Andrew Reynolds himself plus Pat Mesiti, Adam Ginsberg, Armand Morin, Brett McFall, Kirt Christensen, Andy Harrington, Simon Coulson, Chris Howard, Tom Hua & Joel Comm. What a line up, safe to say that I learnt loads of useful tips and techniques, which I will share with you….

Day One

Pat Mesiti – Pat is a motivational speaker often referred to as “Mr Motivation”. As an income acceleration coach he harnesses people’s potential with his passion to equip and empower individuals and businesses to experience growth and prosperity to its fullest.

His key message was about shifting your mindset to build bigger results.
It’s an important message which often isn’t acted upon. If you are all that you want to be now then Congratulations! But for the rest of us who strive for something more then part of the reason that you haven’t got it yet is because your mindset is probably not where it needs to be and therefore you need to shift it.

“Where your focus is today your future is tomorrow”

Adam Ginsberg – An Ebay authority, regarded as the “No.1 Ebay Trainer in the World”, Adam helps get people started on Ebay and takes their business to the next level.

He offered insights into Ebay trends and statistics, perhaps the most significant of which was the growth of ‘Buy-It-Now’, which is now used by 50% of Ebay buyers, demonstrating that people on the internet want goods and services now. This just goes to show that Ebay can be a useful marketplace for information products (subject to meeting Ebay’s rules & regulations of course!) as people want things quickly.

Armand Morin – Armand was a particular highlight that I was looking forward to as he is one of the World’s best known Internet Marketers having been online for 13 years generating over $76M in that time! Certainly someone who would be able to teach me some useful techniques…

Armand’s main point was around the importance of long term relationships and recurring income.
He presented a simple 3 step system for success:
1) Find a ‘hungry’ mass market
2) Give away a free product or newsletter
3) Sell them a membership site

Evidently he talked around the importance of delivering good content and value as without this you are dead in the water, but based on Alex Jeffreys teaching and ethics and my approach this should be a given in any case.

Stripped down to its bare bones the system is simple yet so effective and will repay you over and over again.

I was fortunate enough to catch Armand for a chat in between one of the sessions and you can see a picture of me meeting him below. He offered further advice which I will cover in a separate post at a later date.

Brett McFall – Brett is a Copywriting Guru, widely acclaimed as Australia’s best direct response advertising writer. He is also co-founder of the World Internet Summit (with Tom Hua), the World’s largest IM seminar.

Brett divulged a useful 7 step formula for making money online GUARANTEED.
1) Find a hot niche market (the rest is easy!)
2) Create a product which gives your market what they want
3) Create a powerful, compelling sales message
4) Design a simple website that converts prospects into buyers
5) Bring Traffic to your site using the Internets’ best search engines (free & paid traffic)
6) Use e-mail to turn even more people into customers
7) Have an army of affiliates to sell your product

Again another simple system, yet useful as it lays out the steps in an easy manner and you can map your progress through them and into profit!

Kirt Christensen – Kirt is an Adwords Guru, with over a decades worth of experience as an Adwords Qualified Individual he talked extensively on how to achieve a high Adwords ROI.

He outlined a 5 step system to Adwords success:
1) Sell what people are buying
2) Do Adwords Right! (deliver quickly and obviously what people want)
3) Track, Track, Track
4) Testing
5) Funnelise and monetize

I know that a number of people have mixed feelings about PPC, and it’s a technique that I don’t currently employ, however its one that remains a key strategy for the future as PPC has virtually no feedback delay which means you can be in business in about 10 minutes starting to see results.

Hopefully this has proved an interesting summary of the first day of the event, let me know your thoughts on the information thus far as it is just scratching the surface of my notes. I will post about Day Two later this week.

So I am back from yet another holiday, travelling round Europe where I took in Oktoberfest (at least what I can remember of it!!) and its time to pick up the reigns where I left off and continue my education and journey online.

One interesting piece of breaking news that looks to be very pertinent in the online world and will affect a number of us, particularly those who are active in PPC, was highlighted by Ryan Deiss over at drivingtraffic.com:

It’s official!

Microsoft have today announced that they have struck a deal to power Yahoo’s search, while at the same time Yahoo will be powering paid ads on Bing.com (Microsoft’s new search platform…formerly known as MSN).

Full details here:

http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/press/2009/jul09/07-29release.mspx

…and here:

http://www.choicevalueinnovation.com/thedeal/Default.aspx

So why is this good news for us marketers?

It’s simple. With Yahoo and Microsoft now a team, Google finally has some competition in the search market. This means:

1. Ad costs may go down, and…
2. Google may stop being such enormous jerks to their advertisers (which could mean less “Google Slaps”)

Obviously this is just my speculation, and the deal doesn’t go final until 2010 so don’t expect anything to change overnight, but competition is (almost) always a good thing for consumers, so for now, at least, I’m cheering this deal.

Comment below and let me know what you think…

-Ryan

———————————————————————————————–

You can read Ryan Deiss’s original article here: 
http://drivingtraffic.com/microsoft-and-yahoo-challenge-google/

Thanks to Ryan for the scoop and simplifying what it actually means.

I for one am yet to delve into paid traffic (PPC) just yet, mainly as I am still establishing my foundations and leveraging free techniques, whilst I must admit that I have been put off by some horror stories of increasingly expensive clicks and ‘Google Slaps’, however with this new news it certainly is something on the agenda to visit in the future, which I’m sure I will blog about in due course…..

I would be interested to hear of your experinces or views on the merger or PPC so please feel free to leave your comments below.

Hello again everyone, its been a while as I have been away on holiday, which has given me plenty of time to reflect back on what I have learned thus far and to refine my plans and strategies for online success.

Whilst I am still relatively new to online business, I have been learning diligently with some of the best guys out there, particularly Alex Jeffreys as detailed in my earlier post Failing to plan is planning to fail.

So far it hasn’t been often that I am asked to review products online, usually I just get offers to promote the “next big thing” as an affiliate, but today this post is very unique.

I have been asked by one of my mentors, Ray Johnson, to review his brand new course, entitled “Adswap Masterclass”, which has been quite timely as I continue my development and quest to grow my list.

Adswap Masterclass by is a complete step-by-step video training course that teaches you how to set up a mammoth sized and more importantly profitable subscriber list in record time. (To the tune of 10,000 subscribers in under 10 weeks!)

===> http://www.tom-harvey.com/recommends/Adswap

Basically, in the era of immediate information, the course is web based and is made up of 10 training modules plus an array of extra good FREE stuff, like a 36 page FREE eBook in which, most of the teaching is done by Ray himself. The teaching is really easy! Like you were back in school, which I could actually relate to and enjoy.

Soon afterwards, Ray, follows up what he teaches you with step by step screen capture videos so you can look over his shoulder and learn how to actually apply what you’ve learned from the eBook.

The modules cover everything from the very basics of:

What an Adswap is…
How an Adswap works…
How to approach marketers for an Adswap…
How to build an Adswap database to CATAPULT the size and profits from your list…
Adswap instroductions to build your “network”
…and pretty much everything you need to know in order to have a EXTREMELY profitable
list built on FREE Adwaps…

Once you’ve grasped the basics in the eBook, the video series moves on to help you implement all the processes step by step, and is very detailed! There’s far too much to mention here.

I was pleased to find that this wasn’t just another out-dated course where the links don’t even work anymore. This is really cutting edge stuff, and Ray makes it possible for anyone to build a massive list fast, while making money money than you can handle.

It is an ideal complement to the free listbuilding report that you can grab from this blog (enter your details on the top right to get it sent straight over to you). But aside from all the fresh stuff, I think my favorite part is just knowing that I now have another string to my bow to help me succeeed now.

All I have to do is follow Ray’s easy advice.

The title ”Adswap Masterclass” is rather apt because it really is a masterclass in growing a huge list, whilst profiting fast:

===> Without spending a dime
===> Without travelling ther globe to seminars
===> Without getting frustrated from JV rejection

In all honesty, “Adswap Masterclass” gets a massive plus from me and I hope it’s still free when you read this so you can run over and snatch up a copy for yourself, you’d seriously be mad to miss it.

CLICK BELOW TO CHECK IT OUT NOW

===> http://www.tom-harvey.com/recommends/Adswap

 P.S. If you have experience of the course, please feel free to leave your comments.

I’m not going to be talking about the great ebook Newbies Nightmare by my mentor Alex Jeffreys, but more so 2 of the major problems that we face when starting out online.

 Technical Skills

Many people starting out online will be computer literate but not experienced webmasters, programmers or IT gurus. I fit into this category.

Therefore we may need to outsource tasks in order to avoid them taking far longer than necessary and to call on others expertise. Whilst I will talk in more detail about outsourcing at a later date as I develop more experience with the process and get some tangible evidence, I can assure you that it is not actually as expensive as it may seem!

Through being on Alex’s MWA2.0 Mentoring Program, I have made some useful contacts and had the benefit of  a bit of help through the forum and its at this point that I must pay thanks to a couple of fellow students….

Adam Spiel and his team over at Pro Host Management who have been extremely helpful in setting up both this blog site and my List Building with Alex PPP site. Granted I do pay for the service but they have been nothing but efficient and helpful and I would highly recommend their services.

Also Gene Ilten for his useful video on how to make a Blog Header for free. I have finally managed to create and upload one, even if it does only turn out to be temporary if I decide to opt for something different. Probably about 3 weeks overdue but at least we are now getting there!!

Now I’m not usually one to make fun of other people’s misfortune but please spare a thought (and have a laugh) for the following unfortunate soul, who evidently uploaded an Adwords campaign without pausing and checking it before it went live, something of a technical error I think!

Time

Now I’m sure that I won’t be the only person who struggles with time and time management, namely that there simply are not enough hours in the day!!

I work full time and enjoy going to the gym and socialising and in addition I am starting an internet business which I am building from scratch. 24 hours a day is not enough at this moment and that doesn’t even allow for the 5 hour MWA2.0 Webinars or even any sleep!

So what is the answer? Well through my research and previous purchasing I had come across a program called Wake Up Productive from renowned Guru Eben Pagan (of Altitude & Guru Mastermind fame).

The program claims to be able to double your productivity whilst taking more time off. Whilst I don’t want to necessarily buy into all the hype, there are some good free time management videos available here which I would recommend that you check out if you also face similar issues –  http://www.wakeupproductiveblog.com/2009/08/time-mgmt.php

The program is due to re-open shortly and I will be taking a look, anything that can help me organise my time and increase my efficiency is always good in my book. Especially as I can use it to complement my plans and move towards achieving my goals.

So I have decided to take the plunge and commence my journey to online success. I have bought many programs and products over the past 18 months and have not seen much progress, mainly due to ‘information overload’ and a lack of focus, so it is time to make a change and really go for it. So where do I start? what do I do? what do I need?

1. A Mentor

Enter Alex Jeffreys, my online mentor. I first came across Alex through some of the products that I had bought online and the mailing lists that I was subscribed to, and over a period of months saw and heard his name mentioned increasingly as somewhat of a rising star.

This guy seemed to have all the right connections, from training and mentoring under Rich Shefren and Mike Filsaime, to cruising and swapping ideas with Multi-Millionaires including Andrew Fox. I started to realise that this was an individual that could help me and someone that I would like to align myself with.

It was then that I received a message from Ray Johnson offering the opportunity to join Alex Jeffrey’s 2.0 Coaching Program, which I snapped up and am now taking the first steps with Alex and the other students to online business success.

2. A Plan

The first module of the coaching program was a scheduled 2 hour Webinar which ended up going on at least twice that length of time, and was packed full of great content and information. After that I knew I had made the right decision and was fired up!

The module talked about the importance of planning and how “An idiot with a plan is more likely to succeed than a genius without” (which I believe is a quote from T. Boone Pickens). Alex talked about having 3 seperate plans, your business plan, your entrepreneur plan and your personal plan. I have formulated these and will be posting them on my ‘About‘ page shortly.

3. Organisation – To-Do Lists (& Did Sheets)

With the over-riding plans in place, Alex stressed the importance of being organised and breaking the plans down into manageable chunks. These may be Quarterly, 90-day, Monthly, Weekly or Daily.

The key then would be to make to-do lists around these timescales which would formulate the stepping stones to reach the goals and the plan objectives.

He also recommended having ‘did’ sheets so you can monitor what you actually do on a daily basis and identify where any procrastination creeps in or any areas for improvement (eg. constant web browsing in a non-business essential manner, or frequent checking of e-mail).

4. A Pledge

The final part of the expansion of the mindset and to draw focus on what you are trying to achieve was to create a pledge to yourself, so that you can begin to be held accountable. My simple initial pledge is to spend a minimum of half an hour per day on personal development. This will be with a business focus and will consist of reading or learning around topics which I can use in my business.

With these core components in hand, I have a solid foundation for developing my business and I continue onwards in my quest for success and financial freedom….

Its taken a little while to get going but finally I have managed my first Blog post, this signals the beginning of my journey to online success!

I realised some time ago that you aren’t go to be successful and make enough money to achieve financial freedom working for someone else. After all, that is why they call it a J.O.B. (Just Over Broke)!

However lacking that one brilliant idea, or even a strating point for some of my ideas, I turned to the internet for inspiration. Over the past 18 months I have researched Internet businesses and opportunities and having spent many ’000′s of $’s on products promising rapid success, have still not got very far.

However one thing has become clear, that I am not the only person in this situation, and that by enlisting the help of a mentor I can work towards overcoming these setbacks and the obstacles on the way to make a success of myself and my business and to help others do the same.

My name is Tom Harvey, I am 28 years of age, and I am a relative Internet newbie. I am embarking on an exciting new chapter and I look forward to charting my progress and sharing the journey with you!

To our success…..

Tom