New Media Marketing Question:

Hi coaches,

Nancy from NYC

New Media Marketing Coaching:

Aloha Nancy,

Happy to hear you enjoyed the teleclass. And glad to hear you signed up for the pre-launch notification on BLOG Interactive 360™.

The term “third-screen” refers to cell phone and iPod screens. It comes from the assumption that the television was the first screen, the computer was the second screen and now the third screen is on mobile devices like iPods and cell phones. The third screen makes the New Media Revolution mobile.

The funny thing is that the third screen concept is new (generally) for those who are over 30-years old. But for people under 25, it’s natural and is really like the second screen.

For most people under 25, TVs are the third or fourth screens. The primary screen is the computer because of the Internet, and then the second screen is mobile. Sure TV is in there, but just like my 8-year old nephew said the last time I visited him “why should I wait for what I want on TV when I can have what I want right away on the web.”

That same weekend I watched him text message a friend and I asked him why he didn’t just call him. Without batting an eye he says to me, “cause it’s a waste of time.”

From the mouths of babes…

Why the third screen is important to business owners

That’s (more…)

The culture of the New Media Marketplace is very different than what we’re accustomed to with traditional online and off-line marketing. To succeed here there will be some shifts you’ll need to make in your thinking. And your online mindset on marketing will have to be radically different from what’s been been done over the past 10 years.

Alright, so with this topic you might be able to tell I just got done working on our upcoming book “Secrets of Online Persuasion” being released by our NY Publisher this Fall. After spending the last eight hours giving several chapters the final ‘once-over’ before going to the publisher, I thought I’d wind down with a good cigar while sharing some thoughts here at Advanced Business Blogging.

Having been a business owner all my life, I’m passionately committed to helping owners get the most out of themselves and their business. One thing that’s absolutely critical for business owners to recognize is that the traditional style of advertising used by Madison Avenue and many Internet marketers is more about interruption than influence. As Seth Godin has so often said, influence is what you need to turn strangers into friends and friends into customers. And New Media tools, even a simple business blog, are the easiest way to start building those connections.

That’s all fine and dandy, and we talk a lot about the tools, technologies, and techniques here quite a bit. But to really master this exciting new marketplace, there’s something even more important. We must go beyond the technology, beyond the trends, and even beyond the psychology that’s creating the massive momentum we’re seeing build. We must look at …

The culture of the New Media Marketplace

What’s going on in the New Media Marketplace is a digital reflection of what’s going on in the real world. At the heart of this is a dynamic new market where insight and innovation are front and center. Creative ideas on how to develop new products, policies and services are what are driving the marketplace.

Whether you’re looking at business blogs, podcasts, social networking or any other New Media tool, individually or in combination — this new marketplace can be summarized in one word; “caput.” That’s Latin for “head.” From that word comes the word we know as capitalism. Out of the head comes the freedom to create, inform, educate and generate wealth.

Capitalism is about private creation and ownership for the common good. It doesn’t work unless what you’re creating serves some kind of need or provides a solution. Thus, if you are not serving the greater good, you will fail. This is the opposite of a socialist system where everything is supported regardless of its validity.

Mass Media = Socialism

Mass media is much like socialism. As much as some would like to believe that socialism is power of the masses, the fact is in a socialist system the power is truly kept in the hands of a few. Information is selectively doled out from on high by the appointed elite.

New Media = Capitalism

New Media is like capitalism. It provides freedom to control information and create profits by serving the needs of the marketplace. It is the power of information in the hands of many. And that’s what blogs, podcasts, social netwroks, and other new media tools do — put the power in hands of many.

As the marketplace shakeout continues online and off-line, it’s very clear which direction consumers are moving. It’s away from mass media and towards New Media where they can participate, connect, and contribute. The business owners who learn how to adapt their marketing strategies to integrate these needs will build their prospect audience and customer list.

Copyright © RPM Success Group Inc. 2002-2006. All full copyright rights are reserved by RPM Success Group inc. Other bloggers and journalists are allowed to excerpt and link to posts (as is common with bloggers,) as full credit/attribution is given to AdvancedBusinessBlogging.com and RPM Success Group Inc.

Discover the only strategic online sales and persuasion system guaranteed to unleash the maximum marketing power of the New Media in your business — BLOG Interactive 360™.

John-Paul is a published author and weekly columnist for the Honolulu Star Bulletin. As a Business Coach and New Media Marketing Consultant he helps small business owners market, manage, and sell more with self-influence and persuasion. You can reach J.P. directly via [communicationcommando@gmail.com].

It happens all the time. Whenever a trend gains so much steam that it’s popularity growth is staggering, nay-sayers come out of the woodwork. Sometimes these critiques are justified because what’s being perceived as a “trend” is really just a marketing fad or a cultural flash in the pan. But in the case of social networking, are these commentators just showing an ignorance of human psychology?

Mass media has poisoned the minds of many people, including many so-called “experts.” The average person may not be able to describe what they’d like to see more of. But while mass marketing and the drive for mass appeal may have dulled our senses, we know what we’re longing for when we see it. And for many people, social networking is one of those previously unspoken needs.

It’s about psychology and sociology — not technology

The last 75-years of impersonal mass media dominating the social landscape is a historical anomaly. If you start in the 1920’s with the emergence of radio and TV, and extend the time line through the early 1990’s when talk radio and the internet came on the scene — mass media SEEMS like it’s THE way to get your message out there.

But what psychology and sociology has proven over 8,000 years of recorded history begs to differ. People have always been drawn to interaction and connection. They want to participate and feel part of something larger than themselves.

Technology is a multiplier, not the main attraction

Will some social networking sites and New Media tools fall by the wayside? Sure they will. Many will rise or fall in popularity. But the direction of the movement of the marketplace in the direction of a participatory trend is undeniable.

Those who think otherwise are not only ignoring history. They’re ignoring the psychological and emotional makeup of human beings. And if those people are in business making decisions with an outlook like that — they’re putting their profits, marketing success, and their team’s employment in serious peril.

The tribes may be nomadic, but they always need a place to call home

MySpace is the media darling right now (online and off-line.) They’ve seen the biggest growth in social networks (367% increase.)

But look at all the other social networks gaining ground in the New Media marketplace. For example, YouTube has had massive traffic gains.

From non-existence a year ago, to growth that blows the doors off more than half the top social networking sites. YouTube has garnered impressive numbers of fans. So much so that their growth has eclipsed many of the much more brand recognizable sites of AOL Hometown, MSN Spaces, and Xanga.

Will YouTube be able to sustain that growth rate? Time will tell. But one thing is clear. Social networking sites built around or have a substantial inclusion of multimedia (in the form of podcasting audio and video) is where it looks like longer term sustainability is going to be found. MySpace is beginning to show signs of moving in that direction.

Consolidation of social networking sites may begin to occur soon, but the demand will not go away. If anything, shakeups and consolidation will refuel public awareness and restart the growth curve with an expanded audience.

What’s your opinion?

Where is social networking headed online? Will it go the way of the pet rock or yellow wrist bands? Or is this trend more about fulfilling a deep-seeded human need?

Copyright © RPM Success Group Inc. 2002-2006. All full copyright rights are reserved by RPM Success Group inc. Other bloggers and journalists are allowed to excerpt and link to posts (as is common with bloggers,) as full credit/attribution is given to AdvancedBusinessBlogging.com and RPM Success Group Inc.

John-Paul is a published author and weekly columnist for the Honolulu Star Bulletin. As a Business Coach and Business Blog Consultant he helps small business owners market, manage, and sell more with self-influence and persuasion. You can reach J.P. directly via [communicationcommando@gmail.com].

Word-of-mouth marketing (WOMM) is the oldest form of marketing in the world, and it’s the most effective. Now with blogs, podcasts, and other “new media” tools, business owners and marketers with even the smallest of budgets can kick WOMM into overdrive. You can get started by understanding a couple of basics of online WOMM, and taking three simple steps.

Trust is where it all begins

If you want to succeed in today’s new-media marketplace, gaining the consumers’ trust is critical. With consumers being exposed to between 3,000 and 10,000 marketing messages per day, trust is essential in order to overcome the clutter and noise of traditional interruption advertising.

Trust is an undeniable prerequisite for persuasion. True persuasion is what makes WOMM work. Let’s face it, if I were one of your best friends and I was not fully persuaded (by my experience with both a company and their product), then would I ever tell you to go buy that product or service? No, of course, I wouldn’t!

I can’t persuade you through my recommendation and rave reviews until I have been persuaded. And, I won’t be persuaded to buy until I trust who is selling the product/service. Some cheesy ad or half-baked sale is not going to do anything to build my trust.

Engage me, communicate to me, and listen to my concerns, and you will build that trust. That’s what even a simple business blog, all on its own, can start doing for you.

Three steps to start taking your word-of-mouth marketing online

There are two simple steps you can take to begin learning how WOMM works and start integrating it into your business.

1. Schedule some time each week to be active in online business networks, online communities, and blogs related to your industry or niche. This will begin to give you a feel for the way blogs, social networks, and other new-media tools work.

2. Whether your company is large or small, local or national, you should have your own business blog. They’re easy and inexpensive to set up. A properly structured business blog will help you grab top search-engine rankings too – an important point because, of the people who use Internet searches to find what they want/need to buy (a growing majority), 85% make that purchase based on that search.

3. Engage, interact, and openly respond to your prospects and customers on your business blog. Give them insight into your business operations. Use it to build rapport and trust with prospects and customers. Think of it as an opportunity to get to know you and your company.

Remember, people always prefer to buy from people they like. If all that you are relying on to get people to buy is traditional interruption marketing, you’re dead in the water and already sinking. But when you step onboard the blog-powered new media, you’ll set sail for a much more profitable future.

Copyright © RPM Success Group Inc. 2002-2006. All full copyright rights are reserved by RPM Success Group inc. Other bloggers and journalists are allowed to excerpt and link to posts (as is common with bloggers,) as full credit/attribution is given to AdvancedBusinessBlogging.com and RPM Success Group Inc.

Learn how to unleash the maximum marketing power of business blogs, podcasts, and RSS (in any industry, profession, or niche) with Marketing With Business Blogs™.

John-Paul is a published author and weekly columnist for the Honolulu Star Bulletin. As a Business Coach and Business Blog Consultant he helps small business owners market, manage, and sell more with self-influence and persuasion. You can reach J.P. directly via [communicationcommando@gmail.com].

More and more business owners, sales professionals, and marketers are becoming aware of marketing with blogs and other new media tools. And as awareness has been increasing in the business community, the inevitable “noise” from “experts” has been increasing as well. Here in a few short paragrpahs we’ll clear the air and make things real simple with the real reason business owners need to be marketing with blogs and New Media.

I’ve been hearing some very interesting arguments for the power of blogging for business. Unfortunately, some of these reasons put forth by well-meaning blogging evangelists only serve to confuse or even turn off business owners to blogging and new media.

That’s because business owners are a different breed. We’re difficult to understand from an “outside” vantage point. If someone that’s dispensing advice is lacking extensive business ownership experience or is new to business ownership, the guidance provided (no matter how well-meaning) will most often fall short in real world application.

Partly this is because we have lots of responsibilities as business owners. Responsibilities to make payroll, to make a profit, and to innovate ahead of our competitors. And partly this is because successful business owners are independent thinkers. We analyze each action that we take, and look to project the quantifiable results that will gain from any particular action.

A perfect example of what I’m talking about occurred last weekend when Deborah and I spoke at Stephen Pierce’s Unleash Your Marketing Genius event in Ann Arbor Michigan. Before the seminar could even get started on Friday I had at least two dozen business owners ask me nearly verbatim the same question. That question was, “Why should I (as a busy business owner) take the time to blog? I just don’t get it.”

Now the business owners and marketers who attended that conference got that question answered very thoroughly during our two-part, five-hour presentation. And from the number of sign ups that we got for the $4,900 New Media marketing coaching program we offered — they definitely got it!

And while I’d love to recount all the content from last weekend’s presentation here, the obvious constraints of time and space prevent me from doing that. But what I can do is give you the bottom-line answer to the question asked by all those business owners prior to the start of that three-day marketing seminar.

Why successful business owners blog

The main reason is that blogging for business allows owners and marketers to be found in the ever growing and overwhelming amount of information indexed on the web.

Sure there’s the obvious interactive nature of business blogging. A factor that precisely positions business owners to benefit from the irreversible trend of participatory media — both online and offline.

But the thing that often gets glossed over or missed completely by those who already understand blogging is the tremendous search engine optimization power that blogs have for business. It’s the 10,000lb elephant sitting in the corner of the room.

When a business person understands how to select the right keywords for their product or service and integrate it with their New Media Marketing strategy, they can achieve results that previously cost thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars per month.

Real world results

For example, in the recent Google algorithm shakeup our business blogs moved up five or more spots in the top 10 for many of our best keywords. Some keywords where previously we could only achieve sub-30 rankings, we were bumped into the top 10 or top 20. At the same time competitors who we know are paying $5,000 or more per month for outsourced search engine optimization were dropped to sub-20 rankings or even sub-100 positions.

The right business blogging strategy works every time it’s applied. The fact that the business blogs of many of our clients fared just as well in the recent Google algorithm shakeup shows that clearly.

Why business blogs give such good search engine optimization

Business blogging works with the search engine algorithms. It provides relevant content with legitimate optimization. And it does it without any gray or black hat search engine optimization strategies.

When armed with the right keyword strategy, business owners can sleep soundly at night knowing that their rankings are not going to disappear in the next shakeup.

The goal of business owners online

The primary goal of business owners and marketers online is to be found when prospects execute a search. Capturing their attention and initiating the relationship that builds trust comes next. When you’re a business owner, marketing online is as simple as these two goals.

And when you’re armed with the right business blogging and keyword strategy you can achieve both goals very efficiently. You’ll get found when it matters most — when your prospects are searching for solutions!

Best of all … you’ll do it while saving thousands of dollars on marketing and search engine optimization! All the other business boosting benefits of blogging for business are icing on the cake.

Copyright © RPM Success Group Inc. 2002-2006. All full copyright rights are reserved by RPM Success Group inc. Other bloggers and journalists are allowed to excerpt and link to posts (as is common with bloggers,) as full credit/attribution is given to AdvancedBusinessBlogging.com and RPM Success Group Inc.

John-Paul is a published author and weekly columnist for the Honolulu Star Bulletin. As a Business Coach he helps small business owners market, manage, and sell more with self-influence and persuasion. You can reach J.P. directly via [communicationcommando@gmail.com].

The keynote on marketing with blogs and other New Media went great at last weekend’s Unleash Your Marketing Genius seminar. And we’re really excited about our initial meetings with some top political advisors and campaign managers for consulting on New Media strategies for a key senate race and a gubernatorial campaign.

Just got in late last night from a 9.5 hour flight back from Newark, NJ. I’ll be sharing some of the highlights of the UYMG conference later this week or early next week. On the political front, I’ll know in the next week or so whether I’ll be able to share any details prior to the November elections. If I’m allowed, I’ll give you some insights into the inner workings of two heavy hitting campaigns.

Congrats once again to Bill Knocke who won the contest we had for the $2,500 ticket to attend the UYMG! Way to go Bill!

Yesterday I was interviewed by Hawaii Business magazine for an upcoming feature article in the August edition of the magazine. (Hope someone as cool as The Dog is on the cover that month. :))

In the 45-minute interview Lisa Ro and I discussed:

• the top five reasons business owners need to be blogging
• why New Media is rapidly transforming our culture (internationally)
• how business owners and marketers can keep up with (and capitalize on) the rapidly changing marketplace
• the top three mistake business owners make with blogging, and how to fix each
• three ways physical businesses in Hawaii can use blogs and New Media to grow their business

Since we live on the most remote island chain in the world, technology plays an even larger role in staying connected. I know the business owners here in Hawaii will get a lot out of the article when Lisa is done working her magic. And since many thousands more get the magazine on the mainland US, Japan, and Singapore, I know many more international business owners will have their vision expanded with how New Media nd blog marketing can help grow their business.

Thanks to Lisa Ro, Scott Radway, and Jacy L. Youn from Hawaii Business magazine for their time and attention. And watch for the article in the August edition.

Learn how to unleash the maximum marketing power of business blogs, podcasts, and RSS (in any industry, profession, or niche) with Marketing With Business Blogs™.

John-Paul is a published author and weekly columnist for the Honolulu Star Bulletin. As a Business Coach he helps small business owners market, manage, and sell more with self-influence and persuasion. You can reach J.P. directly via [communicationcommando@gmail.com].