Viral Marketing

Hey… I just wanted to quickly tell you to go check out this great example of viral marketing my wife told me about by visiting our new blog:

http://mantywebdesigns.com/blog/2010/01/great-example-of-viral-marketing/

So, what do you think? Can you do something like this online? If so, then what are you waiting for?

Interview With Buzz Marketing Superstar Dean Hunt

Greetings everyone. Today I’m interviewing Dean Hunt of DeanHunt.com. Dean is best known as a buzz marketing genius and blogger extraordinaire.

Hi Dean. First, thanks for doing this interview.

Q. A lot of people when at the age you started were still in school or trying to figure out what they’re going to be when they grow up. How did someone so young become so successful so quickly?

A. That is the cool thing about the Internet, it doesn’t discriminate based on age. So anyone at any age can do it. I was around 20 before I got into it properly… I was 22 before I was making a fulltime income, so like most overnight success stories, there is a lot of effort and time that goes into them.

Q. So, for those who don’t know— what exactly IS buzz marketing? Is it just the internet marketing equivalent of being a shock jock?

A. Shock is just one small aspect of it… basically, it is doing something that gets people’s attention. The easiest way to do this is to make them feel an emotion… so, it may be inspiration, funny, shock, sadness, joy, hope etc…

I actually call it “outrageous marketing”.

I tend to use humour a lot.

When you grab attention, people talk about it, and that is when your message goes viral.

Q. Is there a limit to the boundaries you can push with buzz marketing? Is there anything you WON’T say?

A. I write as though I am my audience… if I find it funny, I publish, if I don’t find it offensive, I publish… etc…

My boundaries are more liberal than some people’s, but you can NEVER please everyone, and if you try, you will become very generic and dull.

Remember, it is better that 50% of people hate you and 50% love you, than 100% think you are ok.

Q. I recently saw a video you had published on your Facebook page where you referred to yourself as someone who has, at times, given up too early on sites? What’s one site you wish you had stuck with?

A. It is more of a case of giving up on ideas… my first ever big idea was to have a cup of coffee with 1000 strangers… I called the site “Fancy a Brew?” brew meaning tea or hot beverage in the UK.

It got a lot of attention, but I gave up after just 2 drinks… the ideas and potential excite me a LOT more than the details and the journey of actually doing it.

Q. Speaking of social networking, do you think it’s possible for business owners to have a real internet presence without it?

A. Yes, but social networking is a good option for people without a budget.

For example, if you have a team of 10 staff and a 6-figure marketing budget, do you NEED social networking? NO, but regardless, I think it helps… it is the grease that makes things happen faster.

My golden rule though, is that some people just don’t get it, or are not the right personality types to enjoy and excel in the social game… if that is you, do not fight it, focus on your strengths.

For everyone else, focus on the big 4: LinkedIN, Facebook, Twitter and Youtube

Q. Is there any ONE thing that everyone trying to increase the amount of money they’re generating online should be doing?

A. Testing. Success online can be summarized by the following: test things to see if they make you money, if they don’t, then tweak or stop doing them, if they do, do more of it.

Q. What is one thing you’ve had to change radically about how you view marketing over the years and what is one thing you think will always remain constant?

A. Consumers are more aware than ever before… they know about sales pages, they know about testimonials, one time offers etc… so you have to be more authentic.

The constant is that people who can get attention and stand out from the crowd will be successful. That is why buzz marketing will always be around.

Q. Tell us about your affiliation with ConstructZero (www.constructzero.org). What’s this I hear about your life being sponsored?

A. My life was sponsored by ConstructZero.org for $1 million, most of which I will be giving to charity. It means I will wear their URL and logo on an item of clothing, at events, on video, in photos etc…

It leverages my personal brand.

They are doing some really exciting and potentially world changing things at Www.ConstructZero.org, so I recommend you go check them out.

Q. What does a website have to do to earn a “doesn’t suck” button (http://deanhunt.com/your-website-sucks/) from Dean Hunt?

It has to not suck

Just email me your website url with the subject line “does my website suck?” to contact@deanhunt.com and I will let you know.

Q. One last question— if you were to give up making money online tomorrow, what would you want to do instead?

A. Great question… I would probably consult with local, offline businesses. That or I would become a rockstar (I wish).

In reality I would probably just play Xbox360 all day, and keep posting at www.buzzprofits.com and www.deanhunt.com purely for fun.

The answer to the last question made me laugh because it’s exactly what what my wife and I are doing with our new business. Anyway, I really enjoyed interviewing Dean and I recommend you go check out his blog by clicking here.

How Not to Get a Customer’s Attention

Here’s the most basic fact about making money online.

If you want to get buyers, the first thing you have to do it get a potential customer’s attention. And as I’ve done this for a couple of years now, I’ve seen a whole lot of ways not to do it by email lists I was unfortunate enough to join.

For those of you that are just beginning your journey into making money online, here are some methods that you should avoid when trying to attract customers.

• Hype doesn’t really work. Seriously. You’ll blend in with the trillions of other exaggerated emails or pitches online. Take it from the greatest blog post ever written my mortal man, hype will repel every population on every world in the whole universe in no time flat. It will get old faster than anything has ever gotten old, ever.
• ALL CAPS ARE GREAT FOR GRABBING EYES, AND THEN REPELLING THOSE EYES JUST AS QUICKLY. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU EVEN WANTED TO KEEP READING A SENTENCE WRITTEN IN ALL CAPS? IT REALLY LOOKS SPAMMY.
• Don’t even get me started on exclamation points. Yes, one or two properly placed exclamation points are good for conversions, but I’ve seen them overused. It’s like someone drank an entire six-pack of Red Bull before writing their copy!!
• In many instances, standing out is a matter of being different or clever, and not loud. Furthermore, brevity is the source of wit, so not only should you be good at making your point, but you should do so quickly. Subject lines in emails are a great example of when this works well. Just don’t hype your email IN ALL CAPS!!

You can see examples of things that just don’t work in ads you might come across online, because they don’t work on you. And fortunately, you can put that annoying stream of emails you get to use by swiping the headlines that actually got you to open one or two of them. Just avoid the spammy stuff, and for goodness sake, don’t use the caps lock.

Formula 5 Review And Bonus

I have gone through the Formula 5 preview materials, and the folks at StomperNet have created another winner. It is coming out on January 19th, Monday afternoon, so I wanted to give you my honest thoughts on Formula 5 before the doors open on the program.

For starters, they released some really good videos to promote the product. You can watch the videos for free by clicking here.

Paul Lemberg, creator of Formula 5 is a well known business coach who has helped clients create over 350 million dollars in profits. He created Formula 5 to help you increase your business revenues quickly. Formula 5 is taught over a 15 week period and includes DVDs, action plan worksheets, and a printed transcript of each lesson. Plus there is a special members only portal that I have checked out for myself. The members portal is loaded with information. It reminded me a lot of the StomperNet portal – tons of information, forums, blogs, and mastermind groups. I was a bit surprised to see them offering so much to go along with the lessons that you get in the mail. The lessons themselves are good enough to help you increase your revenue, but I suppose the extra information on the portal won’t hurt.

Formula 5 works on 93% of all businesses that try it!

That is the highest success rate I have seen for any product like this.

If you are having trouble making a good profit in your business, then I highly recommend checking out Formula 5. While you might confuse Formula 5 with Formula racing because of the speed at which you can make more money in your current business… I don’t recommend Formula 5 for beginners. Formula 5 is really geared towards those people who already run an online business. On the other hand, beginners can learn a lot from the free videos. So, whether you are a beginner or you already have an online business I suggest you watch their free videos.

My Bonus

I am about 75% finished with a curriculum for a coaching program I intend to launch later this year. One of the ebooks that will be part of the curriculum makes an excellent companion to this product. In fact, the ebook is all about maximizing your profits. If you buy Formula 5 through my affiliate link by clicking here then after you complete the 15 weeks of training, I will send you a free copy of this yet-to-be released ebook from my upcoming coaching program. It is the perfect complement for the Formula 5 training.

Additionally, when you complete the 15 week course I will give you a free 1 hour consultation to check up on your progress in the program and answer any questions you have about my ebook. All you have to do is order Formula 5 through my affiliate link and send me a copy of your receipt for Formula 5. Once I verify the sale I will send you information on getting your bonuses.

A Complete Internet Marketing Training Program For Beginners

A group of very successful online marketers (including a good friend) have just launched a new website called OnlineProfits.com. OnlineProfits.com is one of the most complete courses on the topic of Internet marketing and online business that I have seen. The course was put together by a collaboration of experts in a wide variety of Internet marketing niches. The experts include:

Michael Gray: Well known Search Engine Optimization expert.

Neil Patel: Founder of ACS SEO, and personal branding expert.

Yaro Starak: Successful Internet marketer and blogging expert.

Tamar Weinberg: Social media marketing expert.

Hamlet Batista. Affiliate marketing expert and author of the popular SEO software tool RankSense.

Zac Johnson: Very successful Internet marketer.

Courtney Tuttle: Popular Internet marketing blogger and consultant.

Nathan Rice: Nathan is a professional web designer, specializing in Wordpress themes.

Skellie Wag: Well known copywriting and social media expert.

Daniel Scocco: Popular blogging expert.

This course looks like an excellent way for beginners to gain a solid understanding of the fundamentals of Internet marketing and online business. I highly recommend you click here to go check out OnlineProfits.com to see what it’s all about.

How To Create Online Videos That Sell Your Products And Services

If you have been spending any time on the Internet then I am sure you have noticed the huge rise in popularity of video on the web. I recently had the privilege of taking a four-week online training course called, Web Video University, that teaches you how to create online videos from start to finish.

The focus of the training is to teach you how to create videos that sell. In my opinion, the course keeps it’s promise.

The only real problem I had with the course is that the training uses Sony Vegas as the editing tool of choice. In and of itself that’s not really a problem. The problem is that I would have liked to see other tools (especially Camtasia) discussed in regards to making the videos.

However, that problem is outweighed by all the fantastic information revealed in the training, including:

• The best tools for creating professional quality video


• Your best choices for video equipment and cheapest alternatives to create high quality video


• How to properly light and film your videos


• How to create your own blue screen and teleprompter


• The optimum lengths and times to use for various aspects of your video


• The best methods of using videos to sell your products and services


• How to get your marketing message across with video


• How to edit your video for that perfect look and feel


• and much more

Going through the 4 week course at Web Video University, I learned quite a bit about creating video. Overall, I was very impressed with the depth of the lessons on making videos that sell. I highly recommend Web Video University to anyone who wants to learn how to make online videos to market their products or services.

I intend to add video to some of my sites in the coming year, and the information I learned
from web video university should prove to make the process easier and more profitable. The price is extremely reasonable, and the training is excellent, so…

So, click here to go sign up for the training now.

What’s the Point of Free Stuff?

How do you make money by giving away free stuff? You may have seen other entrepreneurs around the Internet doing just that, and it is possible. Occasionally, it’s even the best way to go.

You’re not taking the direct route, of course. You don’t make money from a sale on the spot if you give something away for free. Doing this is always a part of a longer term strategy, and you can have any of several when distributing freebies.

• Driving traffic: The whole purpose of a viral report is to drive traffic to your site by building your credibility and putting your links in front of other people’s eyes. You do this by not only giving that viral report away, but by letting anyone who has it give it away for their own benefit. Done correctly, your report and your links spread far and wide.
• Building your list: One of the long-time tried and true tactics is to give away a goodie in exchange for a name and email address, which you put on your list for future marketing pitches. It doesn’t make you money in the near term, but you could wind up with a lot of repeat income down the road from the list it built.
• Building your credibility: Article marketing is a big example of this one. While you’re also trying to create backlinks and build traffic, another big reason for article marketing is to build your credibility as an expert in your field. It works for any niche and it’s free to you too, so if you haven’t considered article marketing before, do so.
• Letting your product sell itself: I see a lot of this with software like Fraps or the Sony Vegas Movie Maker. Fraps gives you a limited version of its product, and spends a lot of time trying to sell you the full, paid version. Sony Vegas gives you a complete version of its product which expires in 30 days, and while you try it out, you become accustomed to it and how it works. In either case, these freebies are intended to sell you on the paid versions of themselves.

Giving away free stuff isn’t the direct approach to making money online, but one or more of these strategies could end up selling more for you in the long run. That’s why you see entrepreneurs on the Internet giving away free stuff.

Making the Most of Your Download Page

It doesn’t matter what type of digital product you’re selling, there’s always one place your customers will go after they’ve bought from you: your download page. It’s where your product is, after all. They bought it, they go there and get it, and then they’re done. Yes, you could let it happen that way, or you could make your download page do some more work for you.

Your customers deserve a hassle-free download after purchasing, but I’m not talking about putting obstacles in their way. I’m talking about putting other things on that page besides your download link. Since they will go there after buying, a few extra things on that page might be handy.

• Banners that generate impressions: If you’re in a banner exchange program, or any of it’s variations (like traffic exchanges or Viralurl.com), get a credit with them by putting something that gives you credits on your download page. It’s not as though you’re trying to sell something at that point, and can afford your customer’s distraction. Besides, once they get the product, they’re leaving the page anyway. Why not through a link that benefits you?
• Cross-sells: You can promote an affiliate program that relates to your product in some way. Not competes directly with it, but relates to it. They’ve already bought your product, because they’re at your download page, so you know they’ll spend money. Why not try for an extra commission with something else your customer might find useful?
• Freebies: These are things like viral reports, loss leaders, trial memberships, and other things that could lead to an upsell or additional traffic. Your customer is already on your download page, so why not give them some surprise bonuses that work for both of you?

Now, while all this is great, just two words of warning. One, don’t intefere with your customer’s download of their product with new advertising under any circumstances. They’ve already paid for it, and they should be able to get to it easily. Two, don’t try and do too many other things at once. Making your page look like an ad stack won’t accomplish a thing.

Have a use for your download page I haven’t mentioned here? Feel free to comment.

Review Of The SEO Book Training Program

What do I think about Aaron Wall’s SEO Book?

I have been meaning to review Aaron Wall’s SEO book ever since I interviewed Aaron last year. I am finally getting around to it.

First of all I want to say it’s REALLY, REALLY loaded with information! His ebook had over 300 pages and his training program has more information than his ebook ever had.

The SEO Book training program covers A LOT more than just Search Engine Optimization. In addition to SEO, the SEO Book covers:

• Copywriting


• Social Marketing


• Website Usability


• Website Monetization


• Blogging


• and more!

Aaron uses a combination of articles and videos to teach you how to rank high in the Search engines. He also teaches you just about everything imaginable about marketing a product or service.

Not only that, but the SEO Book has a private online community where you can ask and answer questions of both Aaron and other members of his program. The community really blew me away. I have been a member of many paid online communities and none of them were as good as the one that Aaron runs. The most amazing thing to me about the community is how active Aaron is in it. The last time I checked Aaron Wall had 2,799 posts (16.26 posts per day). If you want to get direct advice from Aaron then you should sign up soon, because I just don’t see how Aaron can continue to be so active on his forum and continue to take on new members. It doesn’t seem like a very scalable business model to me.

Anyway, if you are new to online marketing or you want a great place to learn about online marketing (especially SEO) then I recommend that you click here to join the SEO Book Training Program. It is one of the best deals on the Internet for beginners to learn how to make money online.

Viral Marketing With Video

My friend, Ryan Shamus, just wrote a great post about using video to get viral traffic to your website or blog. Ryan goes into a lot of detail about the various ways you can use video to make more money. Ryan covers things like:

• How to use YouTube to bring traffic to your website


• How to create and edit your own viral videos


• Ways to make a video viral


• Video software tools to use


• and much more.

You can check out his post by clicking here.

Does Youth Rule The Internet?

Last Monday was my 41st birthday and I decided to ask you how old you were. Here are the results so far and my thoughts on this poll:

How old are you?
Under 18: 16 votes (15%)
18-24: 50 votes (46%)
25-34: 19 votes (18%)
35-49: 19 votes (18%)
Over 49: 4 votes (4%)

Total Votes: 108

The results are about what I expected and very similar to the results you get when using the Microsoft demographics tool and type in “make money online” as the search term. In fact here are the results you get from it:

Under 18: (9.82%)
18-24: (33.93%)
25-34: (28.57%)
35-49: (22.77%)
Over 49: (4.91%)

It’s not surprising that most of you reading this blog are under the age of 34 because, quite frankly, people my age and older are much less likely to have the time or desire to make a living online. Also, the younger you are the more likely you are to be on the Internet and to be net savvy. These are important points to remember when you are marketing online.

Be sure to do the demographic research in your niche first. Never assume anything. There are going to be some niches with older demographics. However, in general you will find a younger crowd online. This is VERY important to remember if you want to make BIG money online.

Hanukkah Ham Is A Good Example Of Not Knowing Your Market

I saw this last weekend and I thought I should share it with you. For those who don’t know ham is not kosher and, therefore, forbidden to eat as food by religious Jews. “Hanukkah ham” is a great example of not knowing your market.

The person who took this picture (NancyKay Shapiro ) also made quite a splash last week. She was even featured in the national news. She is making the most of it and is selling “Hannukah ham” mugs on cafepress. You can check out her original blog post with her now famous photos by clicking here.

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