Pre-Challenge Day 2 - Twitter
Twitter is simply part of the landscape these days. If you're new to Twitter, start with a personal account and be sure to follow all the recommended accounts found in the Related Resources column on the right side of the page.
In the Post-Penguin world, nothing changes.Your niche account is one you will use to build authority, by regularly posting quality content for your niche. When it comes to content, I like to use the "3 to 1 Rule." I post three pieces of content that is not self promotional for every one piece that is.
To put it in the most simple terms, I would promote three posts on other niche leading blogs or post three helpful tidbits before I posted about a new post on my own blog.
You need to genuinely be a source for helpful information about your niche.And it doesn't need to always be about business. Post about your personal hobbies or pet projects. Give your presence some personality.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
My Personal Penguin Update - Pre-Challenge Day 1
Day 1 introduces us to Ustream.
If you go to The Challenge TV channel, you will find many recorded videos you can watch whenever you have the time or inclination.
But Ustream is more than just a place to watch Challenge videos, Ustream is where you can build your own channel and build your own following and thereby create your own authority.
As far as Penguin is concerned, Ustream is exactly the sort of social sharing site that Google is looking at these days for the new ranking signals. Ustream is an excellent place to build your personal authority by creating a channel for your niche. The more followers and views you get, the more authority you build.
When creating videos for Ustream, focus always on adding value. Give people good stuff. Be legitimately worth following. If you fell you don't know how to create good stuff, then simply look around for the best material you can find and talk about why you think it is good.
I never start with a blank page. I always look to see what I can find and then I ask myself, how can I make this better?
Get yourself out there, get on Ustream.
If you go to The Challenge TV channel, you will find many recorded videos you can watch whenever you have the time or inclination.
But Ustream is more than just a place to watch Challenge videos, Ustream is where you can build your own channel and build your own following and thereby create your own authority.
As far as Penguin is concerned, Ustream is exactly the sort of social sharing site that Google is looking at these days for the new ranking signals. Ustream is an excellent place to build your personal authority by creating a channel for your niche. The more followers and views you get, the more authority you build.
When creating videos for Ustream, focus always on adding value. Give people good stuff. Be legitimately worth following. If you fell you don't know how to create good stuff, then simply look around for the best material you can find and talk about why you think it is good.
I never start with a blank page. I always look to see what I can find and then I ask myself, how can I make this better?
Get yourself out there, get on Ustream.
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Recommended WordPress Plugins for Challengers
There are many reasons that WordPress is the platform of choice for internet marketers and one of those reasons is the ability to customize the way it performs through the use of plugins.
Here is the current list of recommended plugins for Challengers as taken and adapted from construct.ly, (which I highly recommend using if possible). However, many of us have older blogs that we still want to keep current with regards to plugins.
All in One SEO Pack - Allows you to control what Google sees when their spiders crawl your site.
Google XML Sitemaps - Automatically creates site maps in the XML format that search engines prefer.
Jetpack by Wordpress.com - Connects your blog to the features of WordPress.com such as visitor stats and a ton of other services.
linkDaemon - This is one of Dan Raine's plugins that comes automatically installed if you use construct.ly - if you're not using construct.ly, then a similar pluging to use would be the "SEO Internal Links" plugin. This creates links to pages within your site based on keywords.
Pretty Link Lite - Tracks link activity on your site and allows you to create custom redirected links.
PubSubHubbub - A better way to tell the world when your blog is updated.
Robots Meta - Allows you to control how robots will index your site.
SEO Friendly Images - Automatically adds "alt" and "title" attributes to images which is great for SEO and something that is easy to forget or ignore if you're doing it manually.
Social Metrics - Social Media Analytics tool you can use to track your WordPress blog performance on popular social networking websites and services.
Twitter Facebook Social Share - This is another of Dan's plugins that comes with a construct.ly installation. A similar replacement would be "GetSocial" which makes it easy for your visitors to share your content with all the social sites like Twitter, Facebook, etc.
Ultimate Google Analytics - Links your blog to your Google Analytics account.
WP-DB-Backup (Wordpress Database Backup) - Don't learn the "you need to have backups" lesson the hard way. Be safe.
WP-Sticky - Allows you to make "sticky" posts that always stay on top. Very handy for creating a "landing page" setup and still retain all the SEO benefits of a post.
WP No Category Base - Removes the '/category' string from your permalinks and improves your keyword density.
WPTouch - automatically reformats your site to make it smartphone compatible when it is accessed by a mobile device.
You may find other plugins useful for specific purposes depending on your niche, but you don't want to overload yourself with plugins - too many can lengthen your loading times.
Here is the current list of recommended plugins for Challengers as taken and adapted from construct.ly, (which I highly recommend using if possible). However, many of us have older blogs that we still want to keep current with regards to plugins.
All in One SEO Pack - Allows you to control what Google sees when their spiders crawl your site.
Google XML Sitemaps - Automatically creates site maps in the XML format that search engines prefer.
Jetpack by Wordpress.com - Connects your blog to the features of WordPress.com such as visitor stats and a ton of other services.
linkDaemon - This is one of Dan Raine's plugins that comes automatically installed if you use construct.ly - if you're not using construct.ly, then a similar pluging to use would be the "SEO Internal Links" plugin. This creates links to pages within your site based on keywords.
Pretty Link Lite - Tracks link activity on your site and allows you to create custom redirected links.
PubSubHubbub - A better way to tell the world when your blog is updated.
Robots Meta - Allows you to control how robots will index your site.
SEO Friendly Images - Automatically adds "alt" and "title" attributes to images which is great for SEO and something that is easy to forget or ignore if you're doing it manually.
Social Metrics - Social Media Analytics tool you can use to track your WordPress blog performance on popular social networking websites and services.
Twitter Facebook Social Share - This is another of Dan's plugins that comes with a construct.ly installation. A similar replacement would be "GetSocial" which makes it easy for your visitors to share your content with all the social sites like Twitter, Facebook, etc.
Ultimate Google Analytics - Links your blog to your Google Analytics account.
WP-DB-Backup (Wordpress Database Backup) - Don't learn the "you need to have backups" lesson the hard way. Be safe.
WP-Sticky - Allows you to make "sticky" posts that always stay on top. Very handy for creating a "landing page" setup and still retain all the SEO benefits of a post.
WP No Category Base - Removes the '/category' string from your permalinks and improves your keyword density.
WPTouch - automatically reformats your site to make it smartphone compatible when it is accessed by a mobile device.
You may find other plugins useful for specific purposes depending on your niche, but you don't want to overload yourself with plugins - too many can lengthen your loading times.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
How to Pickup Girls
One night I was at my favorite local dive bar and there's this guy sitting next to me and he's trying to get something going with this girl and all he can talk about is himself. What he did today, what he's doing tomorrow, what kind of car he drives, what kind of sports he's good at.
In other words, he was giving her product information - features and benefits.
She was bored in about thirty seconds and started basically ignoring him a couple of minutes later.
He switched gears. "Can I buy you a drink?"
Another wuss. The neediness of the "Can I buy you a drink?" was palpable.
She looked down at the full glass in front of her and the expression on her face was priceless. You could see how exasperated she was with having to deal with yet another boring idiot with no clue.
"No thanks" as she picks up the full glass and shows it to him. She was visibly relieved when he walked away.
Are You That Guy?
If you think you're going to sell people with nothing but product information... think again.
As consumers, we're all that girl in the bar. We've all heard the same boring bullshit a million times.
Nobody really cares about product information. They may smile and nod politely as you ramble on, they might even let you buy them a drink. But trust me, you're not taking her home with features and benefits.
This whole how to pickup girls thing isn't just a metaphor. It's what's really going on.
As a marketer, whether you like it or not, whether you believe it or not, you are the guy at the bar and the visitors to your site are the girl. The exact same social dynamics are going on. Exactly the same - even if all the visitors to your site are men.
So, how to pickup girls?
The first step is to realize that it's not a talent, it's a skill. It's not secret knowledge, it's not something mysterious. It's something anyone can learn and do.
But all skills require study and practice. The cool thing about practicing the marketing game is that the rejections aren't as in your face as they are at the bar.
But never forget that the social dynamics are the same. It doesn't matter what your gender is, if you're trying to sell something, then you're trying to pickup girls.
If selling as social dynamics is new to you, here are two places to get you started:
Rules of The Game by Neil Strauss - This really is a How to Pickup Girls book, but you can read it from a marketer's point of view (frame), focus on the social dynamics and really get a lot of solid information that you can transfer directly to your salesmanship.
And of course, the new mother of all selling as social dynamics books:
Pitch Anything by Oren Klaff - If you haven't read this one yet, you're really missing the boat.
In other words, he was giving her product information - features and benefits.
She was bored in about thirty seconds and started basically ignoring him a couple of minutes later.
He switched gears. "Can I buy you a drink?"
Another wuss. The neediness of the "Can I buy you a drink?" was palpable.
She looked down at the full glass in front of her and the expression on her face was priceless. You could see how exasperated she was with having to deal with yet another boring idiot with no clue.
"No thanks" as she picks up the full glass and shows it to him. She was visibly relieved when he walked away.
Are You That Guy?
If you think you're going to sell people with nothing but product information... think again.
As consumers, we're all that girl in the bar. We've all heard the same boring bullshit a million times.
Nobody really cares about product information. They may smile and nod politely as you ramble on, they might even let you buy them a drink. But trust me, you're not taking her home with features and benefits.
This whole how to pickup girls thing isn't just a metaphor. It's what's really going on.
As a marketer, whether you like it or not, whether you believe it or not, you are the guy at the bar and the visitors to your site are the girl. The exact same social dynamics are going on. Exactly the same - even if all the visitors to your site are men.
So, how to pickup girls?
The first step is to realize that it's not a talent, it's a skill. It's not secret knowledge, it's not something mysterious. It's something anyone can learn and do.
But all skills require study and practice. The cool thing about practicing the marketing game is that the rejections aren't as in your face as they are at the bar.
But never forget that the social dynamics are the same. It doesn't matter what your gender is, if you're trying to sell something, then you're trying to pickup girls.
If selling as social dynamics is new to you, here are two places to get you started:
Rules of The Game by Neil Strauss - This really is a How to Pickup Girls book, but you can read it from a marketer's point of view (frame), focus on the social dynamics and really get a lot of solid information that you can transfer directly to your salesmanship.
And of course, the new mother of all selling as social dynamics books:
Pitch Anything by Oren Klaff - If you haven't read this one yet, you're really missing the boat.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
The Challenge Manifesto
New in The Challenge for 2011 is The Challenge Manifesto.
This a written guide that accompanies The Challenge training and expands on the ideas presented in each Module.
Personally, I think the best way to do The Challenge is by using The Manifesto as your starting point, and ending point, for each lesson. Start with the relevant section in The Manifesto - this will give you a head's up for that day's training and will help you get more out of the video because you'll know where it's going and what you need to be learning from it.
After you've finished the day's videos, go back to The Manifesto and review the section again to make sure you've learned what was meant to be learned for that day and then go on to your action steps.
The Challenge Manifesto should be your every day companion to The Challenge Training.
This a written guide that accompanies The Challenge training and expands on the ideas presented in each Module.
Personally, I think the best way to do The Challenge is by using The Manifesto as your starting point, and ending point, for each lesson. Start with the relevant section in The Manifesto - this will give you a head's up for that day's training and will help you get more out of the video because you'll know where it's going and what you need to be learning from it.
After you've finished the day's videos, go back to The Manifesto and review the section again to make sure you've learned what was meant to be learned for that day and then go on to your action steps.
The Challenge Manifesto should be your every day companion to The Challenge Training.
Friday, September 9, 2011
How to Create Engaging Content
I think in the beginning of your quest for great content, the most helpful thing is to get into an engagement mindset and start looking at your everyday life in terms of engagement. When something "catches" you in some way, ask yourself why.
As for specifics, you can start by identifying the market leaders in your niche and watching carefully how they're doing it. You can identify market leaders in many ways. You can see who is getting the most re-tweets in your market and you can analyse the tweets themselves to find out why that particular message is getting attention. You can read forums in your niche and see who is delivering good stuff and who is just babbling. You start to follow the leaders.
You can ask. For example, in this forum you could say something like, "I'm new to internet marketing and I don't know who the real movers and shakers are. Besides The Challenge team, can you suggest some people I should be following on Twitter? People who you follow and who you think really know their stuff or have an interesting point of view, or are really good at digging up good stuff."
You can search blogs in your niche and see which posts get the most comments and try to figure out why. You can see who is making the most engaging comments and start to follow them.
You can search press releases and news stories for clues about who is the most active in your market. You can look for good stuff in RSS feeds via Google Reader and see where it is coming from and who is saying it. Again, if it grabs you or it grabs a lot of other people, ask yourself why and try to use the same principals.
Think about "popularity" in terms of engagement. Why was Britney Spears the most popular search on Google for so many years? It's because people love gossip. People love to know what other people are doing. Tell people about the features and benefits of purple widgets and nobody cares. Tell a story about how your love of purple widgets got you a raise, or almost got you fired, or best of all, got you a date with Britney Spears and then you're on the road to engagement.
Think about how popular the word "New" is in advertising. New is a popular word in advertising because human beings are curious by nature. If something is "new" or "fresh" or even just different, we want to know about it. Offering a new point of view can be very engaging. Spotting new trends in the market place and letting people know about them can be engaging.
Another thing people love is to be social. To feel included. To let people know, "I'm like you" is engaging. To validate people's feelings is engaging because it creates rapport and trust. Speaking to people's emotions at the same time as speaking to their intellect is engaging.
Humor is monumentally engaging.
So this whole "engagement" deal is all around you and that's why developing the mindset of looking for it is so useful. And when you couple that with examples of the most engaging content being created in your market right now, then you've got a solid base to build on.
When it comes to creating content, I never start with a blank page.
As for specifics, you can start by identifying the market leaders in your niche and watching carefully how they're doing it. You can identify market leaders in many ways. You can see who is getting the most re-tweets in your market and you can analyse the tweets themselves to find out why that particular message is getting attention. You can read forums in your niche and see who is delivering good stuff and who is just babbling. You start to follow the leaders.
You can ask. For example, in this forum you could say something like, "I'm new to internet marketing and I don't know who the real movers and shakers are. Besides The Challenge team, can you suggest some people I should be following on Twitter? People who you follow and who you think really know their stuff or have an interesting point of view, or are really good at digging up good stuff."
You can search blogs in your niche and see which posts get the most comments and try to figure out why. You can see who is making the most engaging comments and start to follow them.
You can search press releases and news stories for clues about who is the most active in your market. You can look for good stuff in RSS feeds via Google Reader and see where it is coming from and who is saying it. Again, if it grabs you or it grabs a lot of other people, ask yourself why and try to use the same principals.
Think about "popularity" in terms of engagement. Why was Britney Spears the most popular search on Google for so many years? It's because people love gossip. People love to know what other people are doing. Tell people about the features and benefits of purple widgets and nobody cares. Tell a story about how your love of purple widgets got you a raise, or almost got you fired, or best of all, got you a date with Britney Spears and then you're on the road to engagement.
Think about how popular the word "New" is in advertising. New is a popular word in advertising because human beings are curious by nature. If something is "new" or "fresh" or even just different, we want to know about it. Offering a new point of view can be very engaging. Spotting new trends in the market place and letting people know about them can be engaging.
Another thing people love is to be social. To feel included. To let people know, "I'm like you" is engaging. To validate people's feelings is engaging because it creates rapport and trust. Speaking to people's emotions at the same time as speaking to their intellect is engaging.
Humor is monumentally engaging.
So this whole "engagement" deal is all around you and that's why developing the mindset of looking for it is so useful. And when you couple that with examples of the most engaging content being created in your market right now, then you've got a solid base to build on.
When it comes to creating content, I never start with a blank page.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
The Challenge 2011 is Finally Here!
Wow, the new materials went up on Sept. 1st and once again, I am blown away by all the great information provided by Ed and The Challenge team.
I've been watching videos like crazy and trying to deal with all the new people in the forums, but I hope to soon start reviewing the whole course from beginning to end.
I will, as usual, be posting what I think are particularly important ideas that come up in the forums and so here we go again!
I've been watching videos like crazy and trying to deal with all the new people in the forums, but I hope to soon start reviewing the whole course from beginning to end.
I will, as usual, be posting what I think are particularly important ideas that come up in the forums and so here we go again!
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