Why Guy Kawasaki and Chris Brogan are Betting Big on Google+

This week Google launched Google+ Pages.  To create the Google+ Page for your business simply click the “Create Page” link found in your profile. Check out the BobAngus.com page.

Now may be the right time to put more focus on Google+. Why? Because mega trendsetters Guy Kawasaki and Chris Brogan say so! SmartBrief’s SmartBlog highlights 4 key takeaways from Guy and Chris’ Google+ session at Blog World Expo:

• It’s where passionate people hang out.
• Better sharing than Facebook.
• It’s great for SEO.
• They were right about Twitter.

10 Steps to Engaging Online Influencers

How do you contact and engage a valuable influencer? More importantly, how do you cultivate and nurture your contacts in a way that they will actually recommend your brand or product? Just broadcasting your message and praying it gets picked up is not going to be successful. Arik Hanson and Greg Swan delivered 10 great solution tips in their Blog World Expo session, Blogs, Bribes, and Blasphemy: Engaging Influencers in a Changing World (view the presentation slides).Vertical Response provides an excellent recap of the session.

Giving Substance to Online Influence

Matt Ridings also spoke on the subject of how to improve your online influence at Blog World Expo. Matt brings up a great twist to the common advice that I think really speaks to getting results – focus on the “infuenced” not the infuencer. Makes sense.  Listen to people you have already engaged, then find more like them and have them be amplifying advocates. That is much easier and more directly impactful than trying to convince a lot of busy influencers. Here are the presentation slides on Slideshare.

What’s the Most Valuable Thing You Learned at Blog World

Amy (@SavvySexySocial) from TweetFindBlog posted this cool video. She interviewed bloggers at the show and asked them what was the most valuable thing they learned at Blog World Expo. I especially liked Scott’s (@thatguyduece) insights on “always think about your customer.”

 

Have a fantastic weekend!

Related posts:

1. Prime Angus Filets: Links this Week 2-1-2008
2. Prime Angus Filets: Links this Week 1-18-2008
3. Prime Angus Filets: Links this Week 1-11-2008

© Bob Angus for bobangus.com, 2011. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Bob Angus, events, Google, Links of the Week, social networks, tips

5 Scientifically Proven Ways to Get More Followers

Getting more Twitter followers is a great starting point to becoming a social media star. How you get a big Twitter follower count is actually more important than the sheer quantity. You can use gimmicks and race to 100,000 followers easily. However, you want a high quantity of high quality followers. Based on Dan’s research, the 5 scientifically proven ways to attract more followers are:

1. Display a profile picture – The lowest hurdle of anyone serious
2. Stop talking about yourself – even if you are awesome
3. Reply – Don’t just broadcast
4. Identify yourself as an authority – Be official, a founder, or a guru
5. Be positive – Good attitude goes a long way

Check out this epic social media infograph…

Optimal Link Placement for Clicks

Historically, most of us put a link at the end of a Tweet. That practice may change based on some research Dan just published. It looks like the end of the post is okay. However, the sweet spot for clicks is to place your link approximately 25% of the way through your post.

As a bonus tip, your click through rate will also increase by adding a clear call to action. It’s amazing how powerful the simple act of asking someone to click or download gets results.

5 Scientifically Proven Ways to Get More ReTweets

Followers are good, but the success of your campaigns is to go viral. You need retweets. What type of tweets are more likely to be retweeted? Dan reviewed tons of retweeted posts and came up with the top 5 factors to getting more retweets:

1. Tweet links
2. Ask for ReTweets
3. Stop talking about yourself – a repeat Twitter best practice!
4. Report something new
5. Tweet about Twitter – not Facebook or LinkedIn

Here is the infograph…

If you want an even more high impact how-to guide from Dan, he just published an incredible book in August. I highly recommend it. The ROI you will get for $10 is amazing.

Zarrella’s Hierarchy of Contagiousness: The Science, Design, and Engineering of Contagious Ideas

 Disclaimer: This link is an affiliate link. However, my recommending Dan’s book or the very cool infographics is not based on my financial gain. His exceptional work speaks for itself and is worth sharing.

Related posts:

1. Using Twitter as an Effective Business Tool
2. 7 Creative Brief Secrets Every Marketer Should Know
3. Linkbaiting and Freebaiting

© Bob Angus for bobangus.com, 2011. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: best practices, books, graphics, results, social networks, tips, traffic, Twitter, viral marketing

1. Mobile marketing is everything

Mobile marketing, mobile commerce, mobile advertising, iPhone and Android apps… it is the buzz. Mobile is the most important discussion taking place right now. Why? It is the new frontier to make a lot of money. Think back to the tectonic shift that Google created with its search engine. Mobile is a similar game-changer but likely even bigger. To tap into the mobile trend make sure to check out the AdTech Mobile session series.

If you can attend only one session, the mobile marketing session not to miss looks like Tablet Marketing: How We Really Use Them.

2. Google is still about search, not social

There is a Google + session in the social track (Getting Closer to Your Customers on Google+ with Christian Oestlien of Google). I think that Google+ and the +1 button are valuable in social marketing. However, AdTech is an advertising conference first and foremost. Google + has not integrated their ad network. Yet that is. So until they do, stick to making money using what Google does have and does very well. PPC and SEO are still massive. Make sure you spend your time finding out about the latest on the search marketing front more than how to use Google+.

3. True innovation in mashing mobile, local, shopping, and social

I have seen a lot of incredible innovation coming from the companies that eBay has recently acquired – from Where.com local mobile ad network to RedLaser mobile shopping apps to Zong mobile social payments. The mashup of mobile, local, shopping, and social is where the technical innovations are becoming mainstream solutions. Make sure to check out the exhibits from the companies that are listed in AdTech’s special Exhibitor Zones. The zones include Innovation Alley, Mobile Marketing, and Social-Loco specializations.

4. Small advertising networks are not going away

If you browse the Ad Tech exhibitor list, you will see a ton of small advertising and CPA networks. They exist because they can help you make a lot of money online. Find out what they offer and which can boost your revenues. Figure out who can be trusted and who is too good to be true.

5. Agencies – you still need them

You may not be big enough for massive ad agencies like BBDO or McCann. However, agencies should be a key partner in your success. They can get you great results, free up your time and help you scale. To get all that you need to understand how to best work with an agency. Check out the Media Agency session track.

Have fun in New York!

Photos courtesy of Ad:Tech

Related posts:

1. MySpace Opens the Door to Developers
2. I Built My Own Social Network in 1 Hour
3. Angus Prime Filets – Links of the Week 11-11-11 Edition

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Post tags: AdTech, advertising, events, Google, mobile marketing, search engine marketing, social networks, viral marketing, web 2.0

LinkedIn

How can that be? Facebook is the #2 highest traffic website in the world and reaches 43% of the global internet according to Alexa. LinkedIn is not too shabby with over 100 million profiles, but it is the #12 most visited site and has a 6% reach. Plus all the experts say that every business needs a Facebook fan page and that everybody needs an active Facebook profile. That is absolutely true.

So how can I write that LinkedIn is more important for your personal professional brand than Facebook? The distinction is your personal professional brand versus your personal life. Get in your professional marketer mindset. LinkedIn is the best place to promote yourself and connect with similar business professionals.

Then add an amazing complement of social networking features tailored to help you accelerate the development of your professional image. LinkedIn has it all.

Not just for finding jobs

Many of us started using LinkedIn for the first time to find jobs and to post a better online resume. That was how most users used to think of the network, especially in the company’s early days. That is no longer the case. People in the corporate world are keeping LinkedIn open all the time just like they do Facebook at home.

Also you don’t need to worry any more that LinkedIn activity means you are job searching. You are not raising a red flag when share a relevant article, get a recommendation or update your profile. You are adding value, standing out from the crowd and representing you and your company in a positive light.

In fact, a LinkedIn profile is now expected if you are in sales or marketing role or in a technology industry. Before you meet somebody face-to-face, I guarantee that they checked out your LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have one or it is obviously neglected, then you are setting off the warning alarm.

High impact social networking

Connections, timelines, likes, comments, groups, apps, events, polls, an advertising network, news and much, much more. LinkedIn has all the social networking features you can want. Leverage these to stay visible with connections, promote yourself and supercharge your personal brand. More importantly these features are incredibly effective. The difference maker is that you and everyone on LinkedIn are there to represent yourself as a professional and to do business.

Farnoosh Brock sums it up perfectly in her recent post How to Use LinkedIn to Create Unique Opportunities for Your Blog Business on ProBlogger.

1. The LinkedIn community approaches networking with a business-oriented mindset and wants to hear about your business, your offers, your products, and your services.
2. The spirit of the LinkedIn community is to support one another as business professionals, as opposed to Facebook and Twitter where we are first peeps and friends before we talk business.
3. The LinkedIn professionals are very likely decision makers in their business and your connection with the right person could mean real business and profits.

Not just a numbers game

Lastly, if you do want to find a job, LinkedIn is the best. I am biased though. When I was unemployed before joining PayPal, I was being contacted by 2-3 recruiters a day. In fact, I got my interview with PayPal because the recruiter found me on LinkedIn… not because I had an inside contact or had submitted my resume online.

I have a word of warning though. You look terrible if you are only blindly adding dozens of connection daily and adding nothing else, just like on other social networks. Sure the bigger your network, the better. But on LinkedIn business professionals in your field are paying attention to your every move. Contribute to a group discussion. Recommend a co-worker or valued customer. Post a relevant article.

Don’t be a connection spammer. On Twitter, people just choose to not follow you back. On LinkedIn, you don’t get the call for your next job.

How do you use LinkedIn? Comment with your favorite LinkedIn benefit.

And of course, feel free to connect with me.

Related posts:

1. 3 Infographs That Hold the Secrets to Your Twitter Success
2. Using Twitter as an Effective Business Tool
3. MySpace Opens the Door to Developers

© Bob Angus for bobangus.com, 2011. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Facebook, LinkedIn, PayPal, results, social media, social networks, Twitter

Click here to download Website Launch-Daily Action Plan Template v1.0 (Microsoft Excel format)

This launch checklist provides the core elements of a good website launch plan, including tabs dedicated to:

• Master Go-to-Market Plan: This plan gives you the primary building blocks leading up to your website launch, like market overview, site objectives, competitive analysis, financial forecasts, keyword lists, building your website and driving traffic.
• Monthly Goals: Add key measurable website metrics that show the “health” of your website. These metrics can often be found in your website analytics.
• Daily Task List: Here are a few categories of daily activities you can do to successfully grow traffic and regular visitors to your website, including creating new content, building social media connections, and participating in relevant communities.
• Weekly Task List: More valuable tasks, but these you just need to track weekly, like reviewing web analytics reports, identifying new offers, adding to your keyword list and general website maintenance.
• Site Tracker: Additional tabs, like a sitemap list, a changelog and a social media account list, that track major or one-time updates to your site. This history of changes is perfect if you want to switch back or remember key details. It’s easier to record something here than try to remember it on your own.

Make sure to customize the basic website launch template, checklist and daily task list to your specific needs. I am sure that this free version will help you get a great start to your project. Plus you can use it to cut down your planning time and focus your efforts on creating a fantastic website.

If you have additional tasks that you recommend, post them in the comments. I love the feedback and will be able to make updates.

Related posts:

1. Flipping Website Real Estate for Profit
2. Buying a blog is different than buying a website
3. 31 Royalty-Free Stock Photo and Image Sites

© Bob Angus for bobangus.com, 2011. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: business models, search engine marketing, SEO, social networks, traffic, web design, Wordpress

Since my fortunes are used for mundane things like a mortgage and not angel funding, I simply watched the demonstrations online. Here are some of the companies that I will be doing further research on or using this year:(...)
Read the rest of Prime Angus Filets: Links this Week 2-1-2008

© Bob Angus for bobangus.com, 2008. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: blogging, business models, Links of the Week, social networks, web 2.0

If you are not lucky enough to break free from the keyboard, then here are a few gems worth reading.

The Philosophy of Social Markers

Hugh MacLeod is a edgy cartoonist and marketing philosopher. His blog, Gapingvoid, is a fresh read for anyone tired of the same how to make money online blogs. You must subscribe.

This week Hugh posted a thought-provoking discussion on how we humans interact through “social objects” and how good marketers can use “social markers” to initiate and engage our audience on a personal level. Here is the definition of social objects in an excerpt from the social marker – the “social object” on steroids.

The Social Object, in a nutshell, is the reason two people are talking to each other, as opposed to talking to somebody else. Human beings are social animals. We like to socialize. But if think about it, there needs to be a reason for it to happen in the first place. That reason, that “node” in the social network, is what we call the Social Object.

The Crunchies

Tonight Michael Arrington of TechCrunch announced the winners of the Crunchies 2007. More coverage elsewhere across the blogosphere.

My personal favorite is Zazzle, who won for Best Business Model. While I can probably debate the business model point, there is no doubt that Zazzle has successfully harnessed the complex American psyche of fierce expression of our desired individuality through rampant consumption.

Image of the Week

In a country known for great food, my wife and I came across a Chinese restaurant in Siena while on our honeymoon in Italy. Needless to say, we did not eat there.

My wife has edited the original picture using Photoshop’s film grain filter (all settings dialed down to 0) to give this picture a painted feel. This version of the image has been blown up and now hangs in our bedroom.

Check out other pictures and images on my Flickr photos.

Related posts:

1. Prime Angus Filets: Links this Week 1-11-2008
2. Prime Angus Filets: Links this Week 2-1-2008
3. Prime Angus Filets: Links this Week 1-4-2008

© Bob Angus for bobangus.com, 2008. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Links of the Week, social networks

Sam Harrelson mentions my Twitter post in his daily Affiliate Fortune Cookie podcast and provides some great insight on how he uses Twitter as a communication tool. My takeaway from his recommendations are that Twitter spam and self-promoting broadcasts are the same unwanted communication as the telemarketer that calls you during dinner. Do not do it.

I have also ventured across several other great posts and examples of companies using Twitter to market their products.

• Eirik Solheim at eirikso.com provides solid Twitter tips that he has learned in his early days of using Twitter.
• Allen Stern at CenterNetworks questions Twitter’s business model, but mentions that companies like IconFactory are using the Twitter APIs to drive revenues.
• Check woot and Amazon Gold Box Deals via Twitter or read about it on Read/Write Web.

Entrecard

Entrecard is red hot right now. On the surface, it is yet another social network for bloggers to drive traffic by swapping links. If traffic is Entrecard’s only benefit, it will die out within 4-6 months. However, it is becoming its own financial economy. Here are two great posts on how Entrecard is driving for success:

• Darren Rowse has an informative interview with Entrecard founder, Graham Langdon.
• Bloggingmix discusses why Entrecard is Winning Over Blogrush.

You are not on Facebook?!

I have my ups and downs with social networking, but I enjoy the connections and believe in its business value. However, many businesses have knowingly ignored or rejected social networking. Here are the biggest objections to social networking and how you can overcome those objections when you come across a social networking naysayer.

Image of the Week

This landscape picture was taken from a hilltop outside of Cortona, Italy by me on my honeymoon.

Check out other pictures and images on my Flickr photos.

Related posts:

1. Prime Angus Filets: Links this Week 2-1-2008
2. Prime Angus Filets: Links this Week 1-18-2008
3. Prime Angus Filets: Links this Week 1-4-2008

© Bob Angus for bobangus.com, 2008. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: blogging, Links of the Week, social networks

I have bookmarked a ton of posts related to Twitter and how to it can be used to help develop business connections. Of those posts, I highly recommend reading Caroline Middlebrook’s Big Juicy Twitter Guide. In particular, Section 2 delves into the benefits that Twitter can deliver for your business.

It is well known that the more contact you make with a customer, the more likely you are to make a sale. These days it is much more ‘in vogue’ to sell by not selling, rather than doing the hard-push sales pitch. Twitter is a way of doing that. With Twitter you can chat to people in a friendly way and give them nudges and hints about what you’re doing in your world. Look at the benefits:

• It reminds them that you exist
• It shows them that you are human
• It allows you to mention new offers immediately
• It allows you to form a more casual relationship

Also, Dan Zarrella just did a guest post on Read/Write Web called 10 Ways Twitter Can Boost Your Social News Profile. More than just trying to boost the size of your connections (which is something that anyone can game), the article offers several valuable tips that increase the value of those relationships. The most important… Ask questions. While Dan focuses on asking questions as a form of “Twitter-jacking,” I see the questions as the core to relationship building. Find out what your customers and connections want by asking. Then give it to them.

There is much to learn about Twitter. If you have a post that you have found insightful or if you want to let me know what your favorite Ramones song is, give me a tweet.

Related posts:

1. 3 Infographs That Hold the Secrets to Your Twitter Success
2. LinkedIn Is More Important Than Facebook
3. Prime Angus Filets: Links this Week 1-11-2008

© Bob Angus for bobangus.com, 2008. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: results, social networks, web 2.0

Welcome to Google Profile

Google Profile is barebones at this point. I posted my picture, linked to BobAngus.com and added a brief about Bob description. I could not add my favorite music, movies, or munchies. Check it out on the Help page or the Googlesystem blog.

Sepideh Saremi at Searchviews posted on this topic yesterday. She pointed out something very powerful about Google’s social network strategy. They want to approach social media through the email inbox. This tack makes a lot of sense because email remains the primary communication tool. Google Profile is perfectly in line with my Gmail account and my Google Reader.

In addition to technologies like OpenID, OAuth, and others, I am keeping an eye on what Google Profile is doing here. I think that they more than anyone can create a ubiquitous profile by leveraging their email position. And the timing could not be better. I am quickly heading toward profile and login chaos. I have over 30 different profiles across various social networks, blog networks, forums, and social bookmarking services.

Social Media Fatigue

Do not get me wrong. I am not complaining. I recognize that I am not the normal social media user. I love trying out the latest offering. I also rely heavily on these networks and social bookmarking services to grow readership of this blog and other sites. And most importantly, I have a lot of fun. However, I have moments when I am less than diligent in updating my social media world, which can quickly make me appear stale.

David Recordon at O’Reilly Radar had a great post this morning on this subject at Battling Social Network Fatigue … By Going Open. I agree that it is easy for the internet marketer, blogger or technology guru to become tired of all the services available. However, I estimate that the average person is likely to only focus their time on 1 or 2 large platforms, like Facebook or MySpace, and maybe another niche network. Regardless, the concern is very valid.

Beside fatigue, I am also seriously hesitant to proactively invite all my friends to every single network. My contacts are valuable relationships that I do not want to compromise. As a result of not spamming my entire contact list when I join each new service, there is some level of fracture across my networks. Updated: I just read a related discussion on Sitepoint’s blog.

Guess what I am going to do next to address fatigue and fracture? Yes, I am going to test some social network aggregator services like Spokeo, Plaxo Pulse, FriendFeed… which likely requires me to create yet another profile.

Related posts:

1. Bob Angus in Social Media
2. I Built My Own Social Network in 1 Hour
3. MySpace Opens the Door to Developers

© Bob Angus for bobangus.com, 2007. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: blogging, social bookmarking, social networks