However, Google Plus may be different.  I have been in it 48 hours now and I really enjoy Google Plus.  It is cleaner and simpler than FaceBook, although it lacks a few things I would like moved over from FaceBook.  And unlike twitter, Google plus is not as easy to spam which means it actually has somewhat interesting information in it.

I find it nice to be starting over and building up a great list of interesting people from scratch.  Of course I am adding the people from other networks to my Google Plus account too, but I am also looking to meet new people and use it much more collaboratively than the other things from the past.  I’d had high hopes for Google Wave to be a great tool for social collaboration, and that did not work out.  I think Google Plus has a lot of promise in this area.

Also, lead generation with Google plus will be achievable because people are actually paying attention and interacting more on Google Plus than they do in the other networks.  It seems to combine the best of Twitter and FaceBook and does some new management things that make it a really great tool.

I suggest you check out my profile on Google plus and add me to a circle so we can stay in touch.  I am really going to make that my Google Plus about higher quality content than the other networks which I mostly automate.

But here is why you MUST take Twitter and Facebook seriously.

Most people do not go to the time and expense of building a great email list.  The email list would be more valuable, but just look at the facts.  You really have to know what you are doing to build a good email list, and it takes a long time to develop.

On the other hand, Twitter and Facebook are nothing more than lists and messages that are much more effortless.  Many people that would never consider building an email list have large lists of people that get their messages in FaceBookand Twitter.

I am sure the targeting and response of these tools is less effective than a good email list, but look at how things are going.  Many people have valuable lists in twitter and facebook and they do not think twice about sharing messages with that list.  One the other hand, if I have a great email list, I am going to be very careful about what I share on that list.

Twitter and Facebook may not be as targeted, but they make up for it in size, ease of sharing and viral growth.

To get the most out of Twitter and Facebook, find ways to leverage your relationships there to drive targeted people to your email list and grow that list more aggressively.  One is not a replacement for the other, it is just a great tool at the top of your sales funnel.

If you have been in business for a while, you have heard the various MLM pitches.  I have never personally done one before, and as soon as I hear MLM my eyes glaze over.

However, lets appreciate a good marketing structure when there is one.  Go over to the iLearning Global site and take a look at how they have structured their MLM compensation.  It really is brilliant.

They structure it so that your best case scenario is to have only five people below you.  Then you get paid a bigger amount if you help them build their business.  At first it seems counter intuitive.  Usually you get paid more for something you sell directly and less for the people below you.  In this case, there is a huge upside to helping the people below you build their business.

I do not know about you, but for me the idea of helping five people market their business is much better than selling like crazy to lots of people.

There is one other thing that makes this effort impressive to me.  They have attracted many high quality trainers into adding content to the online learning system.  The monthly cost for the training you get is very impressive.  Several people I have talked to already have said they will join because it will save them thousands of dollars per year and give them more diverse training.  Of course, these are people that spend money on self improvement.

This is not a sales pitch.  I recommend you look at how they have structured their payout and then rethink how you are organizing your affiliate program or MLM effort.  If it turns out this kind of opportunity interests you, contact me.  If not, at least lets appreciate a markting work of art.  Anything that made a skeptic like me join an MLM has to be great.  iLearningGlobal.tv is very interesting.

Find our more about iLearningGlobal

I am telling you this for a couple of reasons.  I am going to tell you a secret that will change the way you think about internet marketing, whether you are selling internet marketing services or looking to get internet marketing results.

The internet marketing secret is: To do internet market right, you have to continually do it and add to it and keep up with technology.  And you need a lot of hours or money to do it well.

The good news is that you can start small and grow your internet marketing effort over time.  But you need to have realistic expectations.  Starting small probably means getting small results.  You have to be disciplined and keep doing it.

Now you may wonder why I am telling you it is expensive and time consuming.  I am not doing a very good job of selling internet marketing services, am I?

Well, ten years ago when we started doing Internet Marketing, we were thrilled when we got our first client willing to spend $500 per month with us to do Internet Marketing.  Of course, we were fairly new at it and we tried everything to see what worked.  Eventually, he saw he was not going to get the marketing cost back each month in sales – he was selling a book -  and we lost the account.

What I learned from that is that Internet Marketing is hard if you are starting from scratch.  And while $500 may seem like a lot to some people, it is usually not nearly enough to make an impact.

How to get Internet Marketing Results

I am going to list the ways that you can get real internet marketing results.  You have a lot of options, but if you are looking for a quick, easy and cheap fix, it is not in the list.

#1 DIY Internet Marketing

You can do it all yourself.  However, there is a catch.  You have to have an automated business that is profitable and runs itself with little effort from you.  Why?  Because internet marketing is now your full time job.  You also should have some good money coming in, because to get good results you will need to do training courses, attend workshops and buy lots of books. Plus you will loose money experimenting with tool and advertising until you get your techniques down.

#2 Outsource Internet Marketing Tasks

If you have the time and desire to do strategy and management, but do not want to spend your days writing blog posts, doing keyword research and hanging out in social media sites, then you need to craft your strategy, identify your high value tasks and hire a team of Virtual Assistants to help you.

The mistake someone makes here is thinking one person working ten hours a month is going to make a big fast difference.  Remember what I said earlier, Internet Marketing gets results when you make a big effort.  I love the virtual assistant route, but you need a good plan, patience to find the right virtual assistants and to built a team that work on your behalf.

#3 Hire a Full Time Internet Marketing Employee

Certainly hiring and training a full time internet marketing employee is a great option for some people.  Just be sure that you document everything (right, I have never seen this happen) and cross train people.  The problem with hiring a full time internet marketer is that as soon as they get good at their job, they have the skills to go out and make a lot of money for themselves.  So there is a good chance that once you get them where you want them, you will lose them.

#4 Hiring a Professional Internet Marketer

When you hire a professional internet marketer, you are paying a lot more.  But don’t feel like you are getting a bad deal because of the cost.  If they are any good at their profession, they have spent MANY hours researching, learning and experimenting with internet marketing.  Trust me, I spend most of my day doing non-billable internet marketing activities to learn and increase my own income.  When I am billable, you are paying for the experience, not just the hours.

Remember that internet marketing secret?

Remember that unfortunate internet marketing secret?  It is not fast and cheap, despite the hype you read from people trying to sell you things.  It is going to either be someone’s full time job or you are going to have to assemble a team or hire someone that can do the full time job in less time (but at a higher rate).

The good news about Internet Marketing is that it grows and builds on itself and gets stronger when done well.  An advertisement starts at zero every month and you hope to get ROI.  An email list just keeps getting more powerful for you.  A blog will keep getting more search engine traffic if you work on it.  You can keep modifying your adwords and landing pages to increase profits until you get the perfect formula.

Internet Marketing has the best long term ROI, but getting from here to there is no easy task.  And it is definitely not something you buy once and forget about.

Thanks Buzz Canuck

I will keep these brief as you are probably here to read about buzz, not boring me.

1. My 9 year old daughter has her own business and is more famous than me.
2. I thought blogging was stupid the first few years it was out.
3. I have a degree in technology and do not like technology very much.  (Just when it does not do as I tell it.)
4. I have eaten fried crickets and beef tongue tacos.
5. I have been an entrepreneur for 7 years and I think I am ruined.  I cannot imagine working for someone again.

OK.  Now I will tag 5 people and they must do the same and spread the virus.  By MUST, I mean they may if they want to.  All in good fun and finding new blogs.

Ron Finklestein, Alexandra McDaniel, Dave Ruller, Dan Tudor and Tony Valle 

The cool thing the viral garden is doing is asking people to put up his list of notable z-list blogs on your blog, if you have one. Just copy and paste. Blogs are given rank by traffic and by links to the blog. I love this viral, grass roots effort to help people find good blogs that have less buzz at this point. I love it more because I am on the list. Here it is.

Shotgun Marketing Blog
BrandSizzle
bizsolutionsplus
Customers Rock!
Being Peter Kim
Two Hat Marketing
The Emerging Brand
The Branding Blog
CrapHammer
Drew’s Marketing Minute
Golden Practices
Viaspire
Tell Ten Friends
Flooring the Consumer
On Influence and Automation
Kinetic Ideas
MSCO
Buzzoodle
NewsPaperGrl

Nice idea and I am looking forward to visiting all these blogs.

PS: Mike at Converstations is the one responsible for getting me on the list and I own him a big thanks. He has some excellent articles over there as well, that fit perfectly with what I write about.?

You can get his secret elixer in his book: Make It Great.  This guy does tech support someplace, and loves it. His teams he built are regularly recongnized for being top teams, and I am sure it is all because of his attitude.  He also has a ton of buzz because he just loves to meet people.

Here is the thing.  I have not sent Phil a copy of my book yet.  I did ask him to read the advance copy with all the typos, and he was very kind and did so.  I mentioned to him it was OK if he mentioned it on his blog if he wanted to.  Look at what he wrote! 

He is more excited than my mom.  It only takes a few people like this to create significant buzz for your organization.  Unfortunately, there is only one Phil.

There are several reasons to do this.

#1 Makes it easy for you to track your favorite articles.

#2 Creates more inbound links to this blog.

#3 Creates buzz when you make a bookmark, because others find it and follow it.

This is a good buzz builder because other people are helping you spread the word about your blog and search engines will rank your content better.

If you do not have accounts in some of these services, set one up and give it a try.  It will help you generate some traffic for your company website by bookmarking it’s various pages and also helps you track articles of interest.

And while you are here, why not bookmark this article if you like it?  Thanks.

Kay Hooper, a certified Alexander Technique instructor uses a Staples easy button to reward kids after they volunteer and complete a task. She mentioned she even uses it at the college level, but the college students are more afraid of what will happen.

While I am not a big fan of most traditional advertising, this one seems to grab you and work its way into your psyche very gently.

If I were Staples I would send Kay a free gift and a backup easy button. You do not want any down time.

Here’s a viral-by-mistake marketing story you gotta love: This summer alt pop band OK Go were getting ready for a tour to promote their second album.

So, there they were in a Chicago-area backyard practicing a dance routine to go with one of their songs, ‘A Million Ways’. The problem with practicing a dance routine in a back yard (as opposed to, say, in a dance studio) is there are no mirrors, so you can’t see how you look.

Which is why the guys decided to tape the thing on a video camera set up on a tripod. They did their three-minute routine a few times and then checked the video.

One of their girlfriends thought the video looked so fun that she begged them to release it as their official video instead of the “real” video they were planning to do with a professional director. The band laughed at her. Thereupon, she posted the video online and emailed a couple of friends to get a second opinion.

Two point five million downloads later……… Read All