How an informal networking group turned into a franchise business

March 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment

I have a friend and business associate, Ron Finklestein, who recently converted his Business Mastery Advisory Board into a franchise opportunity. For years he has put together informal and formal groups for networking and advising.

Obviously, this is a good way to create buzz, add value for other people and build your network. His business has grown because of it.

He also worked hard at perfecting the format.  Eventually, he created an advisory board that is all business owners that act as each other’s advisors.  I have been in that program and the candid discussions around how to improve each person’s business were incredibly valuable.

When the time was right and the process worked well, he found it very easy to roll it into a franchise.

You can check out what he is doing here:  www.rpfgroupinc.com

If you want the benefit of years of experience, buy his franchise.  Or you can just wing it and start a networking group of your own.  You never know where it will take you.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Networking, Blog 

How to request a link from a blogger

March 28, 2008 | 6 Comments

I got an email from someone promoting a business article about debt for business. Normally I only write about marketing topics, even though I do care about other business topics as well. However, this email just seemed perfect, so I wanted to find a way to make it marketing relevant and post it here.

Here is the email:

Edited: The emailer requested that I remove the identifying parts of the email, so I am taking those out immediately.

Hi Ron,

We just posted an article “ABC” (http://www……………………..). I thought I’d bring it to your attention just in case you think your readers would find it interesting.

Either way, thanks for your time!

Thanks,

Name Here

Now, this could be some spam bot - but I checked out the url and it is a good article. Sure, there are affiliate links, but people do have to eat.I am posting it here because it can be a good template for you. Short, shows appreciation for the blogger, does not pressure the blogger and is a very fast read.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Buzz with Blogs, Blog 

Google Affiliate Program

March 22, 2008 | 6 Comments

One of the great things about having multiple products is that you can tie them together and make new packages.

Google has Google Analytics.  I really like that service and use it all the time.

Google has an eCommerc solution called Google Checkout, which did not work the one time I tried it but I am sure it will improve with time.

Now, I am setting up a new product that has affiliates and I am looking through Google Analytics and it occurred to me: With all this great tracking going on, why can’t Google combine my analytics and their checkout program to make an ultra-sweet affiliate management system?  You have all the pieces to make it so easy for people.

Google Analytics already have goals with monetary values.  If you tie in the affiliate tracking to the goals and use Google checkout to send out the affiliate payments, you could have a really great and valuable system.

I know that many shopping carts already have this, but in my case I usually code it into a system, and that is not fun.

Just a thought - Sorry to get so technical on you guys.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

Hi Twinsburg Chamber - Here are those 99+

March 20, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Today I spoke at a chamber in Twinsburg, Ohio.   Nice group.

Many of them are checking out this blog today and everyone was asking - How do I find that blog post on 99 places to create buzz.

Well just to make it easy on you all, there is the link.  And if you have not been around here for a long time, you may have missed it.  Years later it is still one of our most popular pages.

Other News:  We have been a bit quiet as we are getting ready to launch a new service and brand.  We will pick up the pace again soon.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Blog 

What are your Relationship Tools?

March 13, 2008 | Leave a Comment

I toss around the term “relationships” a lot on this blog.  I am thinking that some readers may thing I mean a two way communication between you and the people you want relationships with.  There are a lot of ways that you can have a “two-way” relationship and never actually communicate with the other person directly.  Here are some examples.

Blogging - You push out your information (one-way) and the response you get is your website traffic, comments, etc.

Speaker - You speak - people listen.  (one-way) - The response you get is people talking to you after the talk, emailing you later, hiring you, etc.

eNewsletter - You publish your valuable information (one-way) and you get feedback,list subscriptions, unsubscribes, forwards to friends, etc.

Publish a Book -  You publish and market your book (one-way) and you get sales, speaking opportunities, hired as a consultant, PR, etc.

Social Networks -  You put up your profile (one way) and then people request to connect with you.  (This one is better if it is actively two way, but can be one way)

These are just some of the ways you can create relationships without having to get to know each person personally.  I like to get to know people, but realistically, there is only so much time in the day.  Using all of the tools above, I have created lots of relationships - many I am not even aware of.

What are you doing to create mass relationships?

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Small Business, Blog 

Planning for Moderate Influencers

March 11, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Excellent post at Guy Kawasaki’s Blog.

This really speaks to our strategy for the last 4 years.  It is great to have big names recognize you, but it is easier and has great long term value if you focus on the mid-tier information players.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Marketing ROI, Small Business, Blog 

2 Successes

March 7, 2008 | 3 Comments

Last night I went to an event where I ran into several people that have seen me speak before.

One told me that after seeing me speak, he and his partner both started blogs.  His has not done much, but she really got into hers and she is now seen as an expert in the Akron area for her specialty.  It resulted in a large bank calling her (after reading the blog) and asking if they could send all their Akron inquiries her way. 

A second person I talked to said they took a while to get LinkedIn going, but once they really started using it they were very plesantly surprised.  They have generated several new clients in a short time.

It is really gratifying to me to know that people are not just walking away happy about the speach, but that they also walk away with tangible benefits that help them.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Buzzoodle, Blog 

Are you setting achievable Buzz Marketing Goals?

March 5, 2008 | 2 Comments

I have worked with a lot of people that come to us and say, “I want buzz!”

Some succeed, and some fail.  Buzz itself is not an acceptable goal.  If you just know you want buzz, you are dooming your effort.  The success factor has little to do with buzz, and everything to do with understanding what a reasonable goal is in the first place.

So what are some examples of good buzz goals I have seen?

Goal:  Increase search engine saturation for our brand.

Goal:  Increase local word of mouth to pass a levy that is too close to call.

Goal: Increase website traffic by creating links and referrals.

Goal:  Establish our expertise over the next 24 months in the ______ industry.

Goal:  Generate 10% more referrals by facilitating word of mouth one the web.

Goal: Build an audience that wants to hear from us – add a minimum of 500 names per month.

Goal: CEO to be interviewed by 4 bloggers per month.

Now some examples of bad goals:

Bad Goal:  I want to create buzz to blow the sales off the roof.

Bad Goal:  I want to be #1 in Google for a general term.

Bad Goal:  I want to have a blog/myspace page/facebook profile because I read about it and I have to.

Bad Goal:  I want people to go into Walmart and demand that they carry my product.

The list goes on.

Here is the simple key:  It is great to have long term goals that are big, but your short term buzz efforts must be achievable steps to realizing those dreams, not the dream itself.  Focus on things that will interest your target audience and be valuable (and/or) easy to pass on.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Marketing ROI, Small Business, Blog 

Are you available for Interviews?

March 3, 2008 | 4 Comments

One great way to get more visibility is to be interviewed.  Sounds hard if you have never done it, but it is not.  In fact, let me help you out a bit.

If you are available to be interviewed by writers, bloggers, etc. - please leave a comment on this post and tell us your website/blog and what topic you can talk about.

If you have a blog, podcast show, etc. and want to interview people, let us know in the comments section where to find you and what topics you are looking for.

Be sure to bookmark this post and check back.  It may become a wealth of opportunities, regardless of which side of the coin you are on.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Buzzoodle, Blog 

7 ways your VA can add BUZZ to your business

March 2, 2008 | Leave a Comment

I asked ISHANI MITRA of Outsourcerer.com to tell me the 7 best ways a VA can create buzz for their client.  Here is his response.

Have you ever thought of a Virtual Assistant generating buzz for your business? Here are 7 ways in which the magic works:

  1. A virtual assistant located in a remote corner of the world can keep on posting comments on relevant blogs thus generating buzz for your business.
  2. A professionally qualified VA can write marketing content for you which can be used on promotional materials of your company.
  3. A VA can carry out market surveys and generate reports for further analysis regarding emerging trends relevant to your business.
  4. A VA can handle monotonous tasks like posting on forums and sites such as Craigslist on your behalf thus generating traffic for your business.
  5. VAs can help create strong relationships with the media and your customers, planning special events and building an image - elements that when combined gain publicity, or “buzz,” for your company.
  6. VAs can help you with writing advertisement copies to designing creative media kits based on a theme. It would add buzz to your business without the hassle of hiring a full time specialist.
  7. VAs are technically qualified to handle online marketing avenues such as search engine optimization techniques, adwords campaigns and similar other channels.

Delegating all these tasks to virtual assistants would save you valuable time, which can be devoted on other tasks requiring personalized attention. VAs would add more productivity to your business and set it on a steady path of growth. VAs can also maintain your accounts and finances, keep track of operational activities of your team and can handle recruitment and other human resource management functions for you.

If you want a free trial of VA services and what they can do for you, please visit Outsorcerer.com for further details.

Posted by Ron McDaniel | Filed Under Interesting Buzz, Blog