As a business owner you should encourage all your staff to engage in promoting your products and services on Social Media.

This activity should be daily and performed religiously. These activities should be separated on the type of platform they are using, thusly:

COMMUNICATION PLATFORMS

Blogging (every Monday, Wednesday and Friday):

The company promoters will have to report at the end of each day on all the activities performed and closely monitor spikes in traffic within Google Webmaster Tools. These activities will include making comments on all the blogging websites and/or include your company’s website. Here’s a list of such websites:

• Blogger.com
• Livejournal.com
• OpenDiary.com
• TypePad.com
• ExpressionEngine.com
• Technorati.com
• Blogged.com
• BlogCatalog.com
• Blogarama.com
• PitchEngine.com
• BlogSearchEngine.com
• DMoz.org
• IdeeaMarketers.com
• Ezinearticles.com
• GoArticles.com
• OneMinuteU.com
• ArticlesBase.com
• Authorsden.com

Micro-blogging (every 30 minutes):

Company promoters and professional staff will have access to TweetDeck and continue on promoting the company throughout the day. The following will be used:

• Twitter.com
• Plurk.com
• Tumlbr.com
• Jaiku.com

Social-Networking (every 2 hours):

Every employee will be encouraged to make as many friends possible without affecting the overall performance during the day. The following platforms will be visited every day, after lunch for no more than 30 minutes daily. The marketing promoters will continue to engage others on these platforms throughout the day.

• Bebo.com
• Facebook.com
• LinkedIn.com
• MySpace.com
• Skyrock.com
• Hi5.com
• Ning.com

Social network Aggregation

The company staff will have HootSuite installed on each computer and perform these small marketing tasks on a daily basis.

• FrindFeed.com
• HootSuite.com
• Twitterbadges.com
• Twitterfeed.com

COLLABORATION PLATFORMS

Wikis (update 1 per month):The company marketing staff will be in charge of composing these wikis only after gaining approval.

• Wikipedia.org
• PBWorks.com
• WetPaint.com

Social tagging (Daily):

• Delicious.com
• StumbleUpon.com
• Stumpmedia.com
• CiteUlike.com

Social News (Daily):

• Digg.com
• Reddit.com
• Mixx.com

Opinion Sites(1 per week):

• Epinions.com
• Yelp.com
• MouthShut.com

MULTIMEDIA PLATFORMS

PhotoSharing (1 per week):

Company promoters will have access to a company digital camera and will take pictures that will later be uploaded on the following platforms:

• Flickr.com
• Photobucket.com
• SmugMug.com
• Picasa.com

Video (1 per month):

Company promoters will have access to 1 digital video camera and editing software to uopload professional made videos and create buzz on the following platforms.

• YouTube.com
• TubeMogul.com

Livecasting (1 every 3 months):

Podcasting will include interviews with bloggers and industry experts and will be distributed on the company website as well as the following platforms:

• Ustream.tv
• Justin.tv

There are 5 ways to make money with your blog (or website). Might be others – I’m open for suggestions: 

1. Sell ad space on your blog
2. Write articles for other companies/blogs/individuals
3. Syndicate your blog posts to other blogs/Sell Blog Subscriptions
4. Sell your own things on your blog
5. Sell third party goods online

1. Sell ad space on your blog

One of the most popular ads is GoogleAds: https://www.google.com/adsense (although they pay you only when someone actually clicks on the ad) and the Yahoo Publisher Network https://publisher.yahoo.com/portal/login.php

Selling ad space is fairly easy to do; just create a section on your blog that describes the benefit for companies/individuals to place an ad on your blog. 

One word of advice though: When you start this adventure, do not fill your blog to the gills with ads – it will not look very professional. Your readers need to see what you can offer first before they will buy anything from you or off your blog. 

You can spot a newbie, right-away by the imense number of ads running on his/her site, trying desperately to make some dough. People do not respond well and they will leave your site fairly quick before you can even write about your expertise. 

Here’s an example from the highly acclaimed blog called doshdosh (http://www.doshdosh.com/advertise) 

Dosh Dosh Advertising Page

Same can be done for a website. The more traffic you have the more you can charge. 

If your blog has low traffic you can always go to TextLinkAds or TextLinkBrokers. Even better connect with your network in Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter and let them know you are offering ad space on your blog for a minimum of $XX amount per month. You will be surprised of the response you get. 

2. Write Articles for other companies/blogs/individuals

This usually frightens some people but you don’t have to be an expert in a particular field.

You’ll have to show proof that you: 

 - are a creative blogger
 - have articles you wrote and published on your blog, ezines or squidoo lenses
 - comment and are active on other blogs as well
 - are proficient using social media, plug-ins and add-ons
 - have a basic understanding of simple SEO rules

The best way of all is to show that you are a pro is creating, maintaining and actively contributing on your own blog. You should have at least 3-4 months under your belt and a minimum of 30-50 good articles consisting of 250-500 words each .

The core subject or theme of your blog does not matter as long as you write frequently and professionally. Obviously check for grammar. Write well and write often. 

3. Syndicate your blog posts to other blogs/Sell Blog Subscriptions

If the information posted on your blog is in high demand you might want to think about syndicating your blog.

You can accomplish this through 3 easy steps:

 a. Find out what your blog’s feed is (it should look like this: http://feeds.feedburner.com/your-blog-name-here)
 b. Customize your feed through the feed dashboard
 c. Finally – publicize your feed to your readers.

Others have started blogging and got so popular that know they sell subscriptions. See problogger.com 

Again, based on how popular your blog is, the amount of money you can charge can vary. Initially start small and as you add more value you can increase the dollar amount you can charge.

4. Sell Your Own Things

In the fortunate even that you already have something to sell on your own, you’ll have to have some additional tools along side your blog: 

 - If you are selling digital assets (e-books, art, photos, music, etc.) you’ll need an ecommerce shopping cart and a PayPal account.

The alternative is http://www.payloadz.com or http://www.payloadz.com

 - If you are selling physical, tangible products you’ll need all of the above, a FedEx account and…lots of boxes.

The majority of bloggers sell their ebooks and books, usually directly from their blog using a simple PayPal account.

5. Sell third party goods online

This is the part where beginners make the mistake of selecting products that they enjoy disregarding their reader’s likes and dislikes. Chose the products your reader base enjoy and look for. If your site is about web design don’t post ads for MP3 players or mortgage adverts. 

People that come to your site seek your advice in whatever you are writing about so offer them the things that augment your articles and the entire theme of your blog. 

Look for products to sell by signing up as an affiliate. For instance I host my blog with JustHost. I love their customer service and I think it brings a lot of value to every webmaster out there; I therefore promote their company on my site, of course getting a little money for that. 

Other sources where you might find good affiliate programs: 

Clickbank: http://www.clickbank.com 
Commission Junction: http://www.cj.com 
Hydra Network: http://www.hydranetwork.com 

Once you set this up, you’ll need to promote your blog so it increases in traffic and thus your chances of selling directly from your site. How can you do that? See below a list of articles talking about that. 

Related articles by Zemanta

• How to Make $250 Online per Day (defactomind.com)
• Five Techniques That Can Create An Income From Your Blog (webmanmarketing.com)
• Generate Revenue Online With Top Blogging Websites *** (franklinbishop.net)
• How to Start a Blog in 5 Easy Steps (defactomind.com)
• How To Make Money Online (untreatableonline.com)

This is some extreme advertising and you won’t believe the lengths to which some adverting companies are going, but this “initiative” is beating the crap out of viral marketing/advertising. Enjoy!

Apparently “No fly was harmed in making this video…” – I wonder about the people who tied the knots though…and the last screen of the video reveals the materail used for the mini-banners attached:
“The banner was attached with waxed string and dissolved after a few hours by itself”

“The Little Blue Book of Advertising” – 52 Small Ideas that can Make a Big Difference – by Steve Lance & Jeff Woll

Designed the read quickly and referred to again and again, this is a toolbox of back-to-basic ideas that will help break creative logjams, settle disagreements with clients or agencies, and sharpen, focus and generally improve any ad campaign.

Steve Lance & Jeff Woll are partners at Unconventional Wisdom, a creative resource group. Lance was formerly creative director of Della Femina, Travisano, Sherman & Olken and NBC. Woll is a 20 year old veteran of Ogilvy & Mather, including stints as COO of its Montreal office and CEO of Ogilvy & Mather Partners in New York City.

URL to the book: http://www.littlebluebookofadvertising.com

I wish all business books were this profound and concise….The ultimate ad campaign cheat sheet.

Carol P. Osborne from the University of South Florida, College of Business Administration

The book starts with 3 points of view setting the stage for what’s to come: 

1. Marketers & Creative don’t speak the same language
2. Think inside the box
3. You can’t manage what you don’t measure

 Excerpts from the book:

“Marketing is linear, literal and logical. Creative is non-linear, emotional and illogical.”

You need both to create great advertising. The problems arise when people from both departments don’t recognize they speak different languages. 

There is no such thing as “new marketing” because people are still motivated by the same things: needs, status, improve quality of life or simply “got to have it” impulse action. 

And the best one:

Pick up the annual issue of People Magazine – “25 Most Important People”. IF you don’t know who all 25 are, you’ve lost touch with the consumer.”

 The book lists 52 little tips that would make a huge impact in your advertising campaign, plus an additional extra bonus – tip number 53. 

Here are some of them:

• Tip 14: “My Company is Great! My products are Terrific!” Besides you, Who Cares?
• Tip 19: Get the no-bodies Out of Your Approval Process.
• Tip 24: Become and Expert on the Consumer
• Tip 30: “Shit, My Hair is on Fire!”
• Tip 41: Know When and How to Scream SALE!”
• Tip 43: Blogs – Still Lots of Learning to be Done
• Tip 51: Leave and Open-Mike to the Voice-Over Talent

Some of these tips are obvious but the authors wanted to encompass all agencies engaged in ad campaigns. The authors focus on leading and building teams, handling personalities, navigating corporate politics, and executing projects. All in all the great is a great read and a wonderful reference for any executive who wants to improve his/her management skills.

On December 1st, 2009 I was interviewd by Michael Surkan (www.surkan.com) about offline marketing; tips and tricks of the trade.

 You can listen to the entire interview here.

EPNW: Tradional off-line marketing can pay off for your web business

In this episode of “Entrepreneurs Northwest” Claudiu Geanta explains that marketing a business takes a lot more than social networking and search keyword advertisements on the Internet. Small businesses should consider some traditional marketing strategies like T-shirts and magnetic car signs, even if they are nation-wide. Marketing in your local community can be a great way to get exposure, and may have broader reach than you think.

You can check out more of Claudiu’s marketing ideas at http://www.defactomind.com/.

All ads you are planning on publishing MUST be about your potential clients. Not about you, your business, hobbies, likes and dislikes. This might come to your surprise but, besides you, nobody else cares about them.

Any prospective customer will always ask this: “WIIFM?” Translation: “What’s In It For Me?” The rest is just noise to them.

Advertising Mistake

So how should an advertisement look like?

1. Let Testimonials Speak for You
   If you make a direct claim, you better be prepared to back it up strongly. People don’t trust companies that make the claims themselves. Just look at Enron, Lehman Brothers and others alike. People want to hear other people; just like them what they have to say about you, your business, service or product.

   I even found myself many times, when shopping for a book or a laptop that I head directly to the customer reviews. Not that I am looking for the negative but after reading 1 or 2 glorious reviews I immediately move to the “thumbs down” section to see what others are saying.

   Also, whenever you construct an ad, stop with the clichés (i.e. “we are the best in business”, “we care about our customers”, etc.). If you have to say that it is obvious you are insecure about it and have to repeat it in an ad to convince yourself of its authenticity. Consumers don’t buy this approach anymore, plus you might sound just like another telemarketer and that’s plain naïve.Instead, ask others to give you testimonials. Coming from a third party that’s usually a bit more palatable and people would tend to believe that more than you tooting your own horn.

   People love stories and in a very compressed format, testimonials are just that. They are powerful and easily identifiable with your audience.Whenever allowed add a picture of the person who wrote the testimonial. That way the reader can put a face to what they are reading and become convinced of the authenticity of the testimonial. Also, if possible, include location and/or occupation of the testimonial author.

2. Body of Text
   Within the body of the ad text you should accomplish 2 things:
   • Emphasize what the testimonial already stated. In other words you will create an agreement between the reader and the text of the testimonial.
   • The text should indicate the benefits to why the reader would use your services or product over others. Again, this is about the client and not about you or your company, so pay special attention to this section. It will build the client base you always dreamed of.
3. Generate Urgency
   Engage the readers and through calls to action make them to act immediately. Include some kind of offer that will decisively convince the audience that the offer is too good to miss and would prompt them to respond as soon as possible.
4. Offer Several Ways for the Audience to Respond
   With any ad or piece of advertising you should include at least 3 ways for people to contact you:
   • By Phone – regular local phone number or a toll free number if you are national
   • By Email – create a generic email address you can use for this reason only. You can delete it after your ad has run its time otherwise you’ll be hit with a lot of spam.
   • Through Your Website – include a “contact us” form directly on your website or better use a custom made landing page where you can keep track of all the hits and you can also measure the success of your ad campaign.