It seems everyone is constantly raving about all the social sites and just how vital to your business they are. Instead of jumping on the bandwagon, I’ve been running tests on them…and I have to say the majority are greatly over hyped in value.

Some of them are very good resources for contacting potential JV partners or generating a few incoming links (we want those links for the search engines). The majority simply generate unqualified traffic that doesn’t convert and doesn’t buy.

There have been a few exceptions.

One of these is Twitter. In my tests on Twitter I noticed a profit pretty quickly. While most of the time you point to good valuable resources and content, you can tweet about some of your offers. And these tweets have converted into sales.

So the one social site I recommend to everyone now is Twitter.

I don’t have any materials about it yet as I’m still in the learning process. I’ve seen quite a few materials come out on Twitter, but none of them have been good enough to recommend until now.

This past week I received my copy of “Twitter Power: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time!” by Joel Comm.

It’s excellent!

While many books in the internet marketing field are self published, Joel’s new book is published by John Wiley Publishing, a major business book publisher. And it shows in the presentation from beginning to end (although I did notice some typos so far).

Instead of trying to go into detail about each element of the book, here is a list of the chapter titles to show you how every major element is considered and covered from a beginner’s point of view:

An Introduction to the Social Media Landscape

What is Twitter and Why Is It So Powerful

Getting Started the Right Way on Twitter

Building a Following on Twitter

The Art of the Tweet

The Magic of Connecting With Customers on Twitter

Leveraging Twitter for Team Communication

Using Twitter to Help Build Your Brand

Leveraging the Power of Twitter to Drive Behavior in Your Followers

Beyond Twitter.com: Third Party Tools You Will Want to Know

Building Powerful Solutions on Top of the Twitter Platform

Play Nice: Legal Considerations

Putting It All Together: A 30 Day Plan for Dominating Twitter

Power Twitterers

As of right now, I haven’t finished the book yet (it’s 245 pages including the full index at the back). I’m looking forward to getting all the way through it soon.

If you want to grab your copy, pick it up from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Twitter-Power-Dominate-Market-Tweet/dp/0470458429/

Right now Joel is also providing a 4 Week Online Social Media Bootcamp as a bonus which you can register for here:
http://twitterpower.com/workshop/

Neither of those are affiliate links. If you’ve ever considered using any type of social media…I’d recommend Twitter first.

Joel’s book is the best resource I’ve seen on Twitter so far.

When I checked the price on Amazon, it was listed at $16.47 so you can’t beat that price.

If you’re not using Twitter, you’re leaving money on the table. It’s as simple as that.

If you’re experienced with Twitter, you may want to only skim over the first couple of chapters to get into the meat later on in the book as Joel does start from a raw beginner’s viewpoint.

Read more on this article...

Today I’ve been checking out Andy Beal’s latest venture - Trackur.

Trackur is an online reputation monitoring tool that has been developed for companies and individuals wanting to take a serious look at what is being said about them in the blogosphere. I can also see the possibilities for using this tool for higher end bloggers who want to track what’s being written about them and/or their niche topic.

The best way to get a handle on Trackur and what it does is to signup for the free 14 day trial. The second best way to understand it is to watch Andy Demo Trackur in the following video.

There are of course free tools that you to monitor the blogosphere (including Google’s News Alerts and Technorati’s Watch Lists) but Trackur is a much more integrated package that is sure to appeal to a higher end user. You can see how it compares to Google News Alerts here:



The importance of such tools to bloggers is significant. Not only do they allow you to monitor what is being said about you and your company in the blogosphere - but to be able to set up tools to monitor when keywords in your niche are being mentioned is very important - particularly if you have a blog with a news focus.

Starting at $18 a month and ranging up to $188 a month I suspect that a lot of ProBlogger readers will stick with the free tools - however for those looking for a more feature rich package Trackur will be a real option.

PS: Speaking of Google News Alerts….
Just as I was writing this post an email hit my inbox with one of my News Alerts. I set up one for “Darren Rowse” and here’s what it sent me today (click to enlarge):



It’s great to get news results and blog results like this each day - however….

1. The first result (highlighted in green) is actually for a post written in May 2007
2. The second result (highlighted in red) is actually for a scraper site that picked up one of my own posts. What I find interesting is that Google News found the scraper site and ranked it and it didn’t find my own site’s version of that post. This is something I see every day in News Alerts - they attempt to cut out the duplicate content but in doing so seem to be promoting scraper versions instead of the original content.
3. Lastly I’m a little confused as to why they sent me an email with 5 search results for my name when their Blog Search Results for my name show 20 or so results in the last 24 hours.

Don’t get me wrong - Google News Alerts rock and are an important part of my own monitoring of keywords that are relevant to me - however they’re not perfect and I know they miss a lot and put up flunky results from time to time - I guess you get what you pay for. Read more on this article...

There is no doubt that marketing on MySpace has become harder. That is not necessarily bad news, as it means that those who take the time and trouble to adjust to the new circumstances will have a far greater chance of success.

It is no longer possible to just blunder onto MySpace, make every mistake in the book, and then expect to make friends and profits. It was inevitable that as MySpace began to enjoy great success, the spammers and exploiters would try to use this to their advantage. It was equally inevitable that MySpace would react by passing tougher regulations to counter this.

Where this leaves us now is that MySpace marketing is still possible, but it needs to be done in a far more subtle way. Even the objectives have fundamentally changed. Instead of promoting products or services, the main task of modern MySpace marketing is self-promotion. By creating a profile which shows you off as being reliable, trustworthy, and knowledgeable about your subject, you can attract other members to you who can become customers or even business associates.

With the huge numbers of people using MySpace every day, most of whom are full mature adults, there is almost limitless potential to turn your time on the site into business leads. The vast majority of people on the site will be interested to some degree in any business opportunity which you can prove will change their lives for the better.

Many of these people will be of the same mentality as you. They will be looking to use the near-unlimited potential of the social networks to build up their own network of contacts. If you can recruit someone like this into your downline, you are obviously setting yourself up for a great deal of potential success.

As with any other form of marketing and promotion, you need to adjust to prevailing trends and keep abreast of the market. MySpace may have changed dramatically, but that does not mean that it is not still an extremely useful tool, which should form part of your marketing campaign. If your business deals with people, then MySpace should be a part of your overall strategy, for no other reason than the sheer numbers of potential leads you can reach.

Scott Geertsen Is An Expert Internet Marketer Who Teaches Other Network Marketers How To Use Cutting Edge Technology To Generate Huge Profits and Endless Leads In Their Business At: http://www.MySpaceSecretz.com

Order Book Here Read more on this article...

Get Paid For Videos

Paid for videos is a new concept of making money on the internet. The idea of paying people for their videos was brought about by the multibillion dollar expansion of YouTube and the rising popularity of watching videos online. YouTube is a video sharing network that has been built up by internet users submitting their videos for free. This gave websites the idea to split the revenue from their videos with them to pull them away from YouTube.

Video sharing networks make all their money from the ads you see on the side. Instead of submitting your good videos to YouTube submit them to a network that will share the ad revenue from your videos with you. That is only fair. MetaCafe, a paid video sharing network, will probaly pass YouTube in the upcoming years in terms of popularity.


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Best Paid For Videos Platforms

MetaCafe is by far the best paid video program on the internet. MetaCafe has millions of people on their site viewing videos every minute of the day. When you upload a video to MetaCafe your video is likely to be viewed by a lot of people. MetaCafe pays $5 for every 1000 times your video is viewed. When you post a new video it is displayed on the MetaCafe home page. The videos I post usually get more than 700 views within the first 10 minutes of being uploaded. After that views slowdown or speed up depending on how good your video is.

Motion.tv is a good paid for videos website. Users get paid to submit videos by getting a share of the ad revenue their videos generate. They have fair pay. It is hard to get page views because they lack in traffic. You can make that up by submitting your videos to social networking sites. For a complete list of social networking sites go to social poster. The minimum payout is $20.

Find more videos like this on motion.tv



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More Paid For Videos PlatformsRevver
Revver is a decent video sharing network. They display targeted google ads next to videos. They split the money 50/50 with the publishers of videos. Revver is a professional looking website with a nice high tech look, but lacks in traffic. They have a user friendly affiliate program. You can embed their videos on your website if you have one. In that scenario the money is split three ways.

Si-Mi
You can sell your videos, podcasts, music, photos, and ebooks at So-Mi. You get 90% commission on everything you sell. Their platform encourages people to upload their digital products with a convienent easy to use platform and fair commissions.

ExpoTV
ExpoTV pays you $.01 each time your video is reviewed. That is equal to $10 per 1000 views. They give a $5 reward for submitting movie reviews plus ongoing royalties. You get a bonus for submitting a certain amount of videos per month.

luluTV
luluTV is a unusual video sharing network. You have to create a shareholder account. After that you get a portion of the revenue from the advertisements placed next to your videos.

mytvbiz
Mytvbiz allows user to upload any type of video. You set a price on your video for people to buy. You earn 70% commissions on every video you sale. The minimum payout is $15. They pay with Paypal.

OnlyStage6
OnlyStage6 is a video sharing network similiar to mytvbiz. You upload videos for sell. You set your own price and earn 90% on each sale. There is a small processing fee on each sale.

SuperIndieFilms
SuperIndieFilms is a platform for selling full movies opposed to making money off short clips. In order to sell a full movie on the website you need to create a movie trailer. You earn 90% commission on each movie you sell.

FlixYa
FlixYa is similiar to revver. You make money off targeted google ad being placed by your videos. You can also make money by referring friends to the website. If you don't have videos of your own you could upload some from YouTube as long as they are not copyrighted.

AtomFilms
AtomFilms encourages users to submit short original films, start your own webshow, or create a original cartoon. If you get approved you will sign a professional contract that states the royalties you recieve from each video.

Current
Current is one of the few sites where pods are popular. Pods are short videos or stories about whats currently going on in the world today. They pay a flat undisclosed rate on each submission. Current even has their own channel on DirecTV. You might be able to get a podcast on national television.

Blip
Blip is only looking for people interested in starting their own web show. If you are interested in starting your own web show do it somewhere else. There is not sufficient traffic on their site to get the most out of your time.

Break
Break is a paid for videos website that has paid over 1 million dollars to members. You can get paid up to $2000 if your video makes it to the frontpage. They will also pay you for pictures. They pay with Paypal.






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Tips To Increase Earnings
Start Your Own Web Show
Starting your own web show is a great idea if you are interested in making videos for money. Some people make a career out of this. People have even landed professional acting jobs for their performances on web shows.
Submit Your Video To All Paid For Videos Websites
The more websites you submit your video to the more money you are going to make. Upload your video on MetaCafe first. All platforms accept MetaCafe and YouTube inclusions. Don't use YouTube because they don't pay you anything.

Add Your Videos To Social Networks
Social networks recieve tremendous traffic and the potential to market your videos. MySpace is an example of a social network. Others include Digg, FaceBook, Twitter, and Propeller. This is another way to get paid for videos. Read more on this article...

If you haven't noticed already internet marketing is completely consumed with hype, with a new flavor of the week or pre-launch happening on a daily basis, it's no wonder why people are constantly failing. STOP jumping from business to business expecting something to be different, if you spend half as much time jumping from different programs as you could spend on one business you would probably be seeing the success you seek.

Read more on this article...

Gary Vaynerchuk Website

Building Personal Brand Within the Social Media Landscape. Note: This presentation contains adult language.

Read more on this article...

I remember feeling quite guilty... Almost depressed for some of the people's lack of success on my team. If you are a network or internet marketer you can relate to the frustration of not being able to find prospects that succeed and stay in your business opportunity long-term.

You probably feel that no matter how hard you try to help prospects start their business, If they're not making a living in 12months...they're over it.

You continue to try various ways to encourage them, however, duplicating yourself just doesn't seem to happen. Why? Every network marketer with at least 50 reps will start to wrestle with this question at some point.

When this happened to me I started spending the vast majority of my time developing new websites, new systems, and new tools in order to help them achieve the success they said they so badly wanted. I basically stopped sponsoring all together and got into the dreaded "management mode," where 90% of my time was spent on training and tool development.

But the funny part, is that nothing ever changed. It didn't matter what I did for them. It didn't matter how bad I wanted "success" for them. The people who were getting results, continued to do so, while those who were treading water, kept treading.

Understand this right now: The only thing you can do that will truly help your business and your team members is to lead by example. Just do the things that you need to personally do on a daily basis to build your business - Advertising, prospecting, follow-up, and new rep orientation.

One training call per week for new reps, tops... Spend more of your time one-on-one with your producers, and that's it.

Just as it is a sorting game to find new reps, it is a sorting game to find reps that will work and achieve once they join. The sad truth is that 90% of those who start a networking business aren't really serious about becoming self-employed. They are just looking to "buy some hope," so they can quiet the voices of discontent in their heads.

Soon enough, they'll find an excuse as to why "it didn't work for them," and quit. And there's nothing you can do about it. So:
* Don't spend your time and energy worrying about it.
* Do not cater to their weakness.
* Do not change your tools if they are working for you.
* Do not change your website if it is working for you.
* Do not change your system if it is working for you -just because it doesn't work for others. It never will work for them, and that is their issue, not yours.

Build YOUR business. Lead by example, and the right one's (the few), will follow you. Put your blinders on to everything and everyone else. I tolerate zero negativity in my life now. Someone sends an unfriendly email... Adios. They're off my list and out of my life.

I was at a convention once and I asked a whale of a network marketer what I needed to do because my down-line had gotten stagnant(I had basically stopped recruiting). "Find new blood" was his answer, and he was right. You're not here to save people.

You're here to give them an opportunity to save themselves. Most won't. And only they can ever change that.

As a business owner, it's much smarter to find "doers" and leaders than it is to turn people into them (which is basically impossible without their personal conviction to do so).

It is also very important that you leverage large numbers in your business building efforts, because you won't even notice the whiners, complainers, and quitters when you're dealing with thousands of people. The best way to do that is to start advertising, then build and maintain a list that you drip on over time. Each new contact will bring new, interested prospects and reps to the table.. Read more on this article...