How is a pick pocketer like an online hacker?

Offline it may happen like this: Someone accidentally bumps into you and, the next thing you know, your wallet is missing.

Online you may not even know it is happening, but if someone does find out your password (for your website, your email account, your Facebook account or worse…), they can cause lots of damage:

• They could steal your money or personal, private information
• They could pull down your website, put up bad code (that collects your visitor’s info), or send your visitors to an inappropriate site
• They could email annoying spam to all your contacts (friends, family, business associates) disguised as your email address

Whatever they do, the result is similar to being mugged or pick pocketed: You may be left scared, waiting for them to come back and wondering, “Why me?“

Typically, hackers (like muggers and pickpocketers) aren’t after you personally, though try telling that to someone who has just encountered one.  It probably has nothing to do with you…other than you were the easiest target around them at that moment.

Are you making yourself an easy target? Are you doing any of the following:

• Using the same password everywhere
• Using a common word, like your dog’s name, for your password

You probably thought it was just easier to use the same password everywhere. Nowadays, we have to remember so many passwords. It just makes sense to make it easy on ourselves, right? Well, not with cyber pickpocketers (better known as Hackers) around.

Let’s look at what is known about how some of these Hackers work (there are a lot of other ways, but these are two of the more common types):

1. The Repeat Offender: Let’s say you use that same password everywhere. A hacker figures it out in one place, do you think he/she is going to stop there? It doesn’t matter how obscure the word is, if you use that password everywhere and someone figures it out in one place, they have then figured it out for all your accounts. And think about it this way:

• If they have access to your email account, they probably have access to more info about you than they need
• Just getting into your Facebook account could eventually lead them to where you bank, and they are banking on you using that same password everywhere
• Do yourself a favor, if you do nothing else right now, make your bank password really secure… now!
• AND AS A BUSINESS OWNER: Do your customers/clients’ a favor – make sure their info is safe, by creating unique, secure passwords for your site and email address (wherever they share info with you!)

2. The Dictionary Thief: These guys aren’t stealing dictionaries, but they are making an educated guess you are using a common name or a word found in the dictionary.These guys/gals have done their research, they also know the most common words people use as passwords. Here are a few (not in any particular order) of the Top 25 worse Internet passwords:

• password
• 123456
• 12345678
• abc123
• monkey
• letmein
• dragon
• superman

If you are using any of these most commonly used passwords, PLEASE change them immediately.

Those dictionary thieves create computer programs to run a script that goes through every common word and name. The computer script does the work for them, they just let the program run – any time of day or night – until it finds the password that gets them logged in!

Again, in most cases, they aren’t going after you personally, they are just looking for an easy password to gain access. So, with a little work you can save yourself a lot of trouble!

These are just two of many examples! I’m not trying to make you feel helpless, it’s the opposite, I want you to take control. Maybe I am trying to scare you a little…though just enough to make you take action!

So, what actions can make you more secure right now?

I’ll make suggestions in a moment, but first want to state that a quick and easy thing to do is get 1Password and start using this powerful tool immediately!  I highly recommend it to create and manage all your passwords.  I have been using it myself since April of 2010 and can’t believe I ever existed without it.  There are a ton of reasons I use it, but the top ones are:

• You create 1 Master Password to log into this password management tool (don’t get confused, this is the password to unlock 1Password).  Think of it like an apartment manager being able to unlock any door, even though all the individual doors have their own keys. This means you only have to remember your Master Password to get access to all your other really long, secure passwords
• It has a password generator tool built in, so you can easily make a strong password that automatically gets saved in this software
• It is encrypted, so it keeps everything secure
• It has a browser add-on: If you are online and need to log into any online site (Facebook, Gmail, your bank, anything…) you just click the 1P icon and it fills in the password for you!

What are the best practices for creating user names and passwords?

Below are a few of the top ones I like to share with my clients, but there are always more things you can do:

• Create unique user names and passwords for each account (DO NOT use the same user name and password on everything from your email account to your bank account! This is critical and can’t be stressed enough!)
• Keep passwords in a secure place, like a tool specifically encrypted for password storage.
  I recommend 1Password: 
https://bit.ly/rememberyourpasswords

  This helps you to not have to remember multiple passwords, because it remembers them for you, then protects the various ones you have created.
• Either use a password generating too (included in 1Password) or make sure the password contains a mixture of upper and lower case letters, numbers and special characters. Do not use a common word that is in the dictionary and then throw a # or two at the end. Break up the letters with characters and #, the longer the better.
  Here is an example of a secure password: h*#3Tma4pP7j2$*8
  (I know, you are thinking, “Who can remember that!?” Don’t worry, 1Password will make it so you don’t have to remember this password, just one master one!)
• Do not provide your passwords to others – even your staff.  If you have to give someone a password, create separate ones for each staff member or intern who might be helping you out. That way, should they leave, you can delete that password and create a new one for the person who is taking over.  And, did I mention, you can manage them all within 1Password.

OK, I’m not saying this is the only password tool out there.  I used to use one called DataGuardian, that worked well. And there are free ones out there, as well.  I’d rather you use one of those than have you keep using the same common word as your password for everything!  However, the reason I fell in love with 1Password was because it is so simple to use.  And, 1Password works for Mac, PC, iPhone, iPad, Android…It can also sync across multiple devices.

So, now you have no excuse not to have a secure password.  Please do take this seriously and change your passwords to something more secure now, before the cyber pick pocketer happens upon your website, email account, Facebook account or worse!

Keep it secure!  And, if any of your account should get hacked, change the password immediately, along with any other accounts that share it!

OK, this is just the start.  Google+ for Business is launching today, are you Ready?

I am going to try to provide you links to all the important info you will need.  I’ll be updating this as I find more info:

Here is the link to add your Google+ biz page, but you may get a message stating that you can’t add it yet. They are still rolling it out:
http://plus.google.com/pages/create

I was finally able to add my UniqueThink page late this afternoon:

https://plus.google.com/111476411237813850866/posts

So, why do you want to be on Google+ for your business? Because they will be tying it in with search results!

Things you may want to have, to create your initial page – You can add your company from your Google Places, if you have that set up:

• Your company icon
• A short description of what you do
• Business Hours
• Images – I put up some screenshots of WordPress Websites that UniqueThink has created, then went and added comments to describe each project

There is definitely more you can add, but that is what you’ll need right away.  You can then share with your connections from your profile page and start adding status updates.

You’ll also want to know about Google Direct Connect, which conveniently ties Google+ Pages with Search Results – however, they aren’t releasing this to the small guys, yet:
http://mashable.com/2011/11/07/google-plus-direct-connect/

This is the first post I found about the launch of Google+ Pages (for biz):

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/google-pages-connect-with-all-things.html

Definitely read this page, as it will help you get started.

Next I found this link to two pages you want to add to your circles:

Google+ Your Business:
https://plus.google.com/115200251016762857369/posts

Google+ – not sure of the difference, but both were created today:
https://plus.google.com/101560853443212199687/posts

Next up, the Differences between Google+ Pages and Google+ Profiles page from Google:
https://www.google.com/support/plus/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1713824&topic=1710599

Here’s a link to some of the Google Folks:

Dennis Troper – The Google+ Project:
https://plus.google.com/102648148748642147788/posts

He  announced the Muppets will be doing a hangout this afternoon (so you know he’s connected, hee hee).  Here’s the Muppet’s video announcing their involvement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YWVcemZSGk

Yonatan Zunger Chief Architect, Google+:
https://plus.google.com/103389452828130864950/posts

I’ll be adding more, as I find them.  Come back for more!
Please share ones you find, by commenting below!!!

Facebook has had a lot of controversy about their Privacy Policy, over the years.  So, this time they are trying something new.

They are asking YOU to give your feedback as they create a more interactive and easier to understand version of the newest Facebook Privacy Policy.

Interestingly, they announced it quietly, on the Facebook Site Governance page, with a post called:

A Privacy Policy Re-imagined For Users Like You

This post talks about what they are doing and why, as well as asking for user feedback.

That post then leads you to a new ‘test’ Privacy page called Data Use Policy, which looks like this (and notes it is not the official privacy policy and gives a link to the current one):

There are a couple of things I noticed: They talk about how it is going to be more interactive and visual, but right now, I found myself getting pulled off the privacy policy and sucked deeper into Facebook.

For instance, I saw the words Video and thought the videos were going to talk about the Privacy Policy changes.

When you click the Videos link, this is what you see (a bunch of words/links, but no video screens):

I am sure they will be improving on it, or I hope so, at least!

When I first landed here, I thought I’d see video screens to view, so I began to scroll for them.  Then, I realized FB was just providing links to the individual videos.  Why not put screen shots of the videos up?

Even Worse: They gave the video titles like Learn More 1/3, which don’t tell what the videos are about.  But I clicked and this is what I got:

These videos are 9 months old, blurry (cloudy), hard to view (even in full screen mode), and not well labeled. The other thing about these videos is they have been there for some time with other users seeking help to find out how to view them better, but Facebook has not offered any solutions, yet.  Maybe they are going to redo them, as they redo the Privacy Policy Interactive Page?

MORE CONFUSION? The videos weren’t about Privacy Policy, but Privacy Settings.  Though important, this led me off the subject of the actual content of the privacy policy… was that their intent?

Like all things Facebook, are they just trying to get us deeper in, forgetting what we came there for and, oh, yeah, it just happens that I got to see more Facebook ads, while all this was going on.  But, where were we?  Yes, that’s right, the content of the Privacy Policy…

So this is where you come in, take a look around (but word of caution, stay focused on the new ‘test’ Privacy Policy content) and let them know, (and me, too, by posting a comment below) what you like and or want to see them change in it.

This could be our opportunity to help shape not only Facebook’s Privacy Policy, but that of all the Internet.  After all, if they DO get it right, others will follow!

What do you think, are they doing things right?  Which parts work vs. which need to be changed?  And, most importantly, are you able to stay focused on the new Privacy Policy or did you end up deep within the belly of Facebook?  Share your experience!

Facebook Biz Pages were finally given the facelift we have all been waiting to see.

But how does it all work?  And, what do you need to know?

There are a lot of new features and I am still exploring them.  Here are some quick things to be aware of:

Switching between Pages & Profiles:

This is a biggie, and long overdue, you now get to switch between being your personal profile and your company biz page admin.

This sounds great and mostly is great, but there are several limitations.  For instance, when I become the Admin for UniqueThink, I can’t go back to my very own personal profile page and see my own content.  Instead I get the message you see below:

This may not be a make or break thing, but I had gone over there for a reason and couldn’t accomplish what I wanted until I switched back to the personal profile, grabbed a screen shot (below under Photos) and then switched back to being the Admin for the Biz page.

Likes, Comments and NewsFeeds:

You can now LIKE and even comment on other businesses from your Facebook Page, and follow them on a NewsFeed.

What you can’t do with Likes & Comments: You still can’t Post to, Like, or add comments to someone’s personal profile page, even if they are already fans (followers) of your biz page!

Here are two examples of how I was hoping to use it, but can’t:

1. Birthday Coupons: I was hoping if a fan (follower) had a b-day that biz page admins could go to the fan’s personal profile page and offer them a Happy Birthday coupon.
2. Contests and Giveaways:  I was looking forward to (but disappointed to find out I can’t) email the winner  of a contest.  Instead I have to switch back to being my own personal profile page than go over to the winner’s personal profile and let them know they won, as me, not as the company offering the promotion.

Maybe I am missing something, maybe someone else has a better solution, so please share, if you do!

[UPDATE: I found out part of the reason why they don't allow you to do what I had hoped, it's against Facebook's Promotional Guidelines (RULES).  Did you know, you can't email someone who won a contest from your Facebook page, because you aren't allowed to run a promotion on your wall?  There are a lot of rules that we all need to be aware of, but they are confusing!  I'll be writing more about it, as I find out more.  But for now, begin to educate yourself, by reading the Facebook Promotional Guidelines!]

Photos:

You now have the ability to have 5 photos at the top of your page, like profiles have had since Dec.  This is a great way to highlight your current work or a line of products. This was one thing I was really looking forward to having on the biz pages.

What you need to know about images:

1. Size and Cropping: It looks like it still does the same sizing and cropping that the profile page does.  So, if you are trying to get something ideally sized and centered, in those five image boxes, then make each of the 5 individual images 97 x 68 (I wish I could remember where I read this sizing first, because I’d love to give the person who shared that sizing with me the thank you they deserve.  I’ll try to come back later and add it!)
2. Rotating Images: Unlike the profile images, which stay fixed in place, these pictures seem to rotate between the 5 images.  This means you can’t control the order in which these images appear.  You can control which 5 images appear, by clicking the X when a new one is added, though.

Here is an example of what I had hoped to be able to do, something like I did on my personal profile page:

Unfortunately, if I tried this type of thing on my biz page, the letters would get jumbled each time someone clicked.  From what I can tell so far, the H would not stay in the left most position.  The fact that these images are randomly selected makes it hard to be as creative as I’d hope.  But I am still excited about the possibilities of using these image spaces.

Wall View:

You can now view the wall two ways:

1. Admin Postings: You only view what the biz page admin wrote
2. Everyone: This view shows other peoples’ comments, as well

NOTE: The posts with the most comments will show higher up on the page (instead of appearing in chronological order).

Email Notifications And Posting As Admin:

Admins for the page can now get notified when someone posts a comment!  Hurray!  And, it looks like you don’t have to do anything, it is defaulted to send them to the admin email.

Plus, there is another setting (also set as the default) that allows you to post as your Biz Name, even if you enter the page as an individual (profile mode).

Friends Who Like You:

If someone comes to your Biz Page, they will see which of their own friends already like your biz page.  This will encourage them (hopefully) to also LIKE your page.  This will appear on the right sidebar of Facebook, under the Admins List.

Navigation:

Similar to the Profile page, Facebook has moved where the tabs are to underneath the Page Profile Image.  Not sure how I feel about this move, as before it was easy for people to see there were additional tabs, but now they have to seek them out.

Business Page Profile Image Size:

They had to go and change it again!  This time it has gone from 200×600 to 180×540 – so you may have to adjust your image to fit appropriately.  Maybe they made it shorter, so you could see the nav items better?

Anyway, I am sure I will have more to say about the new Facebook Business Pages, so follow me on mine at https://www.facebook.com/UniqueThink.  And, I am sure you guys will have things to add about the new changes to these Facebook Pages, so please share what you find out!  Comment below so we can all learn, thanks!

Recently, I received an email with the following question about whether keywords mattered.  With her permission, I am posting A’ra’s question about the Value of Keywords, along with my response.  Hope it helps you, as well.  Here’s A’ra’s question:

“Are keywords still useful? What is the latest on website optimization. Talked with someone lately who told me that using keywords was so overdone that google doesn’t look for them any more. I know you’re always up on these things, so I was wondering what’s new with the latest and greatest in website land.”- A’ra Lippitt Blair

Here is my response about whether Google thinks keywords are relevant.

Hi A’ra:

Your friend was almost correct (if they were referring to the Meta Keyword field, not keywords themselves). It is a confusing thing, and without being there, I am not sure if they explained it incorrectly or if they understand it incorrectly, themselves.

Using appropriate keywords (on your page and in your code) are still very important for optimizing your site. What an appropriate keyword is, is a whole different conversation. So, let’s stay on their comment about keywords for the time being.

There are sections within the site’s code called Meta Title, Meta Description and Meta Keyword Tags. These 3 sections use keywords (words that are ‘key’ to helping people find your site).

These sections aren’t visible to the site visitor, but are important to be filled out to help the search engines rank you better. However, the Meta Keyword Tags are currently believed to be ‘less important’ to fill out than the other two sections.

Which is where your friend’s comment comes from. What your friend was most likely referring to is: Google has publicly stated they are currently not looking at the Meta Keyword Tags, because folks were ‘stuffing this field with inappropriate keywords’ (in these cases people were using words or phrases that get searched a lot, but are irrelevant to the specific site’s content).

NOTE: Here is a video of Matt Cutt’s from Google talking about this subject (Sept. 2009):

Yet, “keywords” (appropriate words to describe your services, or better yet your potential client/customer’s current problem) are what these 3 Meta sections consist of, so ‘keywords’ are still relevant.

And, each page/post may have its own set of ‘key’ words or phrases, which may be more relevant to the actual content on that specific page.

See why it gets confusing?

But, again, going back to your friend’s comment, they were (or should have been) merely talking about the Meta Keyword section not being relevant, not the ‘concept’ of using keywords.

AND, now, this is where it gets even trickier: just because Google isn’t using the Meta Keyword section does not mean it isn’t being used by other search engines NOR does it mean Google won’t decide to use it again in the future.

So, I recommend you do fill out the Meta sections, per page, with the appropriate keywords to describe the content on each specific page.

And, since you (A’ra) are using WordPress, you can get a plugin to help do just that! There are many to consider, but I tend to use the free version of All in One SEO Pack.

SEO is a big subject, and we’re just tapping into it a bit here. What I suggest, if you are interested in learning more, is to consider hiring someone to either teach you or do the appropriate work for you (make sure it is a reputable company that keeps up on the latest info).  As an online marketing consultant, not an SEO specialist, I  do what I call SEO Lite, which sets you up with the best practices and latest info, to help you optimize your site for the visitors, as well as the search engines.  I prefer to teach these SEO basics (while focusing on other ways to generate traffic to the site, since most of my clients don’t have huge budgets for SEO).  The SEO Lite sets you up with a foundation, because SEO is an ongoing thing. And, it is better for you to understand the basics, so you can continue to optimize each page and post for its individual content.

If you don’t have funds for one on one consultations, I suggest (if you don’t mind taking the trip up to Boulder) taking Dave Taylor’s SEO workshops at Boulder Digital Arts – use coupon code Bethany2011, to get 10% OFF!

And, you can also read the blog posts I have written on the subject, here are links to them:

• What is a Keyword and how do I find mine?
• SEO tips: How to Optimize your site
• Setting Realistic SEO Expectations

What I tell folks is: You will probably have to read each of these posts a couple of times. Then start with some small steps.

Let me know if that answers your question.

Focusing on the many possibilities…
Bethany

So, this was the response to A’ra’s question.  But what about you?  Are you hearing confusing, concerning or even conflicting information on SEO (Search Engine Optimization) or Keyword Research?  If so, comment below and I’ll try to answer it or find someone who can.  Who knows, maybe your question may lead to a full blog post response (I’ll always ask permission first, if I reference you by name)!  Or maybe you have some insights to share on the subject.
Feel free to comment below (with constructive suggestions, please):

Have you been thinking about taking one of my workshops, but needed a little incentive?

Well, hope this helps: I will be doing giveaways for seats at my two upcoming Boulder Digital Arts  (BDA) workshops, listed below.

How do you win access to one of these workshops?

Step 1:

Go to https://www.Facebook.com/UniqueThink (UniqueThink’s Facebook page) and LIKE it! By clicking the LIKE button, you’ll get notifications of these giveaway promotions!  It’s that easy!!!

Step 2:

Take the action it suggests (whenever I post about a giveaway) and you can win!  That’s it!  Enjoy!!!

Here are the two February Workshops I will be giving seats away to:

WordPress: Managing Content

Date:
Wed. 2/16/2011 | 6pm – 9pm
Location:
BDA Arapahoe Studio
1600 Range Street, Suite 100, Boulder, CO  80301

Learn more about this WordPress Workshop

How to Run a Successful E-Mail Marketing Campaign

Date:
Thurs. 2/24/2011 | 6pm – 9pm
Location:
BDA Arapahoe Studio
1600 Range Street, Suite 100, Boulder, CO  80301

Learn more about this Email Marketing Workshop

Also, though I wish I could give everyone access for free, if you don’t win the tickets, you can still get a discount of 10% OFF each of these classes by using coupon code: Bethany2011!

Lastly, if you have some fun ideas about how I should actually offer the giveaways on Facebook, comment below!  I’d love to here your suggestions!

Today there was a post on Ragan’s PR Junkie’s Blog (self-proclaimed “For Communication Junkies Everywhere“).  The blog post was written by Michael Sebastian about a press release from PitchPoint Public Relations –which consists of Chicago-based PR pro Mitch Delaplane, an Apple computer, and his dog Sally–issuing a press release titled, “The most amazing press release ever written.”

Here is the link to the post: http://blog.ragan.com/prjunkie/2011/01/did_this_pr_pro_write_the_most.html

When you read Michael Sebastian’s post, you’ll note his mention of the press release getting a #1 Google ranking for the term “amazing press release.” I’ll talk about why that #1 Google ranking might not ‘normally’ be as good as you’d think, in a moment.

When you read Mitch’s actual release (also included on Sebastian’s blog post, you may either think it is a very clever or an excruciatingly cheesy attempt to get some PR for his firm.  NOTE: I’m not here to judge the guy either way.  I’m just making an assumption of your reaction, based on the comments the blog post has been generating.  Some folks think he did something very smart and others were repulsed by his attempt (but they are PR folks, and not really Mitch’s audience, which are folks looking for PR specialists).

And, I’m not either a PR firm or a company looking for a PR specialist.  I do online marketing consulting.  So, what is my reason for mentioning all this here?

At first I was just going to comment on the blog post, but then I started to think about whether it was an effective marketing piece and whether the term he ranked well for matters to his audience.  And that led me to my own conclusion based on my experience as an Online Marketing Consultant.

Two comments from me and then I hope you’ll let me know your thoughts, by adding your own comments:

1. From a Search Engine Ranking point of view: In the past, people hadn’t search much for the term “amazing press release”(This is based on Google’s own Keyword Tool, which shows that previously only 46 people looked for that term, on a monthly basis. We’ll see if it goes up now, due to the attention this release is generating).  So Mitch may not have taken search engine optimization (SEO) into account as much as Michael Sebastian initially may have thought. In other words ranking #1 on a term  people would NOT ‘normally’ use to find a PR specialist would ‘normally’ not help the original release much. (See #2 below, to see why I emphasize the word ‘normally’.)
2. From a Marketing point of view: Mitch did get people talking about him, and he got included in a post on Ragan, with a mention of the #1 ranking status on Google (which folks will probably do a search for now, to see for themselves how it ranks – increasing its ranking even more) and may get him even more exposure.  Plus, as I am writing this TechCrunch just mentioned Mitch’s release on their site! So, that is why I emphasized the word normally.  Normally, it won’t have helped much, but the word of mouth supersedes the fact that normally this term doesn’t get searched often.  Plus other words in the release may rank Mitch well, too.

If I were Mitch’s online marketing consultant, I would have advised him to put the release up on his own site, first, so his website would get credit for the original posting of it.  And though it is now too late for that, I might suggest doing a PPC ad on that search term, to bring people back to his site (but gear it to the people looking for a PR specialist, not just folks interested in the trend, to not waste his money). But even without that, his site is now getting some incredible inbound link credibility (which is great for SEO purposes).  The Ragan post also included a link to his Twitter Profile.  And now other folks are talking about him, too.  Plus, there is industry prestige in getting listed on Ragan & TechCrunch.  And, all the conversations generating buzz will help get the attention of the people who can use Mitch’s PR services.

I’d say he did a good job of extending the reach of his release and getting additional attention.  And, as my Great Aunt Joan used to say “it doesn’t matter what they say, as long as they get my name spelled correctly.”  She understood the value of marketing exposure.

This indicates, Mitch will probably get some work with appropriate clients (clients that share his sense of humor or appreciate his style).  So the attention (negative and positive) might be a good thing to help extend the reach of what Mitch does!

This makes the release successful, even if it may not be the most amazing release.  Then again, he doesn’t state the piece you are reading is that ‘most amazing press release ever’.  He just indicates he is writing about the experience of having written the most amazing release ever.  And, that may seem cheesy to some, but I think it is a clever example of his style.  Which in effect garnered attention to his style, which hopefully will lead to finding his ideal clients. (The ones who appreciate his style and have the budget to use his services.)

Focusing on the possibilities…
Bethany

P.S.  When you comment below, please keep in mind, I am taking this from an online marketing campaign point of view.  Did it generate the exposure he hoped?  I’d say so, as it got me to write a blog post about it, in addition to the original post I read about it.  But what do you think, did it do its job of generating conversation?  Does it inspire you to think unique?  How could you (or would you) use this type of idea for your own business?  Comment below:

You gotta admit, Santa rocks the marketing!

Whether you celebrate the Christmas holiday or not, you have to agree, Santa is the ultimate marketer. For one month out of the year (December), he does a bunch of high profile joint partnerships (tie-ins with everyone from Macy’s to Salvation Army – not to mention Rudolph), everyone is talking about him the whole time (effective word of mouth marketing), and, in one night, he gets more done than most of us do all year!

Santa Marketing Facts:

1. Branding: Everyone knows who he is and what his story is about, where to find him and how he works! Not to mention, the all important, everyone wants what he has to offer.
2. Networking: This guy is all over the place: Shopping malls, holiday parties, he does cameos on most of our favorite TV programs, special appearances at the White House, Rockefeller Center and just about every big gig this season…
3. Exposure: No one gets more air time then this guy: TV specials, newscasts, radio spots, commercials, billboards, print and, everywhere online!

How does Santa do it? And more importantly, how can you duplicate it?

OK, really, you aren’t gonna be able to compete with this guy. And, if you think about it, he only dominates the month of December (OK, maybe the tail end of November).

But what if you could tap into some of that energy, and spread it over 12 months?

What if you could be everywhere you need to be, and everyone truly wants what you offer? What if you knew how to extend the reach of your services/products, and in a genuine way in which people truly see your offerings as a gift?!

If you have been following me for some time, you know that is what social marketing is about: providing knowledge, insights, ease… to your customers.  Today, it’s about effectively being found in all the right places, and instead of selling yourself (boo), you extend tips and insights that people want and can benefit from (yippie)!

So, how can you accomplish this for your own business?  Why not do what effective marketers do?

As an online marketing professional, marketing my own business has become about finding the right tools to use.  So, what makes a tool ‘right’ for me?  It MUST be easy to use, it helps to provide step by step guidance and it always makes it more fun when it offers insights and inspiration.

In 2010, one of the most effective marketing tools I used was the Marketing Mentor Marketing Plan + Calendar.

Last year, Ilise from Marketing Mentor (a marketing consultant for creative professionals) came out with a spiral bound step by step marketing machine. Curious about it, I bought it and used it throughout 2010, thinking “I bet my clients could benefit from this!” But before I told anyone about it, I wanted to make sure it was going to work.  And it did!  Now, of course, I already do a lot of marketing, so I opted for the Advanced Plan, but Marketing Mentor offers an easy to follow Beginner Plan, too.  And, Ilise makes it super easy to use.

Yet there was something missing.

While I was waiting for the arrival of the physical marketing plan and calendar, I thought “Why doesn’t she have an online version of this? Something that I could use right away and which would prompt me to remember to use the physical version, when I got busy with everyday distractions.”

Well, this year, Ilise came up with a downloadable eCalendar version!

I bought it as soon as I heard it came out, but not before I sent Ilise an email telling her I wanted to share it with my friends and clients. I told her how I bought the spiral copy, and used it throughout the year.  I really saw how it has made my own company more effective. And, now with the eCalendar version, I knew I was ready to share it with everyone, so you can all benefit, too!

This is how you can make 2011 your most effective/prosperous year, yet!

Become a Better Marketer than Santa: 2011 Marketing Mentor Bundle
(book & eCalendar)

(available in Beginner & Advanced)

Sale Price:
$59.95 (Reg.$69)
(Incl. shipping)

Here’s why this Marketing Plan + Calendar works:

• The eCalendar (immediate download!):
  • It breaks out easy marketing actions and syncs them with your iCal, Google calendar, Outlook or any other electronic calendar
  • It prompts you, not only with reminders about specific steps to take, but also offers some fun inspiration
  • The eCalendar makes suggestions on cost-effective and free marketing tools to choose from, while guiding you — one day at a time — through an entire year of consistent marketing activities
  • It keeps you on track and gets you the clients you want. All you have to do is follow the included guide to get this set up within minutes.  Then it gives you reminders to take your action steps!  What could be easier?!
• The Printed ‘Start Anytime’ Marketing Plan + Calendar (will be shipped):
  • This spiral-bound, printed calendar has all of your marketing “to dos” in it.
  • It goes beyond the daily, weekly, and monthly reminders that you get in the eCalendar, and breaks down the tasks in further detail.
  • It includes more insight, tips, articles, and extra guidance… Plus, it is tangible and has plenty of room for notes

If you prefer, you can purchase just the eCalendar.  To me, though, the bundle combination is the way to go.  And Ilise is offering us more than just the special sales price.  She is also including this bonus:

Buy the Marketing Mentor Calendar Bundle now, and get the bonus, “My Monthly Recap Worksheet,” a comprehensive document which allows you to tally your marketing at the end of each month.

Make sure your marketing efforts are easy, fun, & effective, just like Santa’s, only throughout the whole year!

For screen shots and more info, visit the Marketing Mentor site. If you have questions about the Marketing Mentor Marketing Plan + Calendar, or this special bundle, either comment below or contact me directly!  Your gotta love it as much as I do!

How difficult is it to make an appointment with your clients?  If the below conversation is one you have been a part of in the past, you are not alone:

Client: I’d like to schedule a meeting

You:  Sure, what time works for you?

Client:  I don’t know, why don’t you make a suggestion?

You: How about Wed at either 1pm or 3pm?

Client:  That won’t work

You: OK, what days or times do work?

Client: How about at 8am?

You: Ok, Wed at 8am

Client: No, I can’t do Wednesdays, at all, can you do Thursday at 8am?

You: Sure, we can come to your office or you can meet us here

Client: Actually, I’m gonna be on the east side of town, do you have some place we can meet there…

Does that sound too familiar?

In an effort to be more helpful, when scheduling meet ups with my clients, I used to suggest several times/dates, along with a location, up front, but…well, sometimes, it still remained an ongoing series of emails or voicemails.  It’s hard to sync your schedule with someone else’s life.  But, as a business person, you want to make it as easy as possible to coordinate meetings with your clients.

As clear as both parties think they are, in emails, there can still be a level of confusion – unless you can actually see each others availability.  But who wants to open their calendar to the whole world? No one needs to know the name of your new potential client or that you are taking the afternoon off to see the new Harry Potter movie (not that I would do that!).

Recently, I was at an event and the presenter mentioned Tungle.me.  I wrote it in my notes and decided to see what it was about.

I have to say, I was assuming (since it was a scheduling program), it would come with a hefty monthly fee.  The others I have checked out certainly did.

It ends up Tungle.me offers a free version of their services, with elements to keep your actual appts private.  I have been using it for about a month now and though there are some things I’d like to see changed, the nice thing is the guys over there respond to my requests and have told me they plan to implement some shortly.

What does Tungle.me offer?

• Connects with your calendar: Outlook (with or without Exchange), Google Calendar, Apple iCal, Entourage for Mac, Lotus Notes, BlackBerry Yahoo!, Windows Live, Facebook, TripIt and Plancast
• Automatically updates, when you update: It syncs up, so when you add or change something, it reflects the changes
• Private Events: Doesn’t show where you are, just that you aren’t available!
• Public Events: If you do have a public event that you want to promote, you can add it to show details!
• Share Your Available Times: Let folks go online to schedule a time to meet up with you – making it easy for them to view the dates and times you have available, without the back and forth emails.  Then lets them either propose or even book a meeting.

Is it Right for everyone?

Though I don’t think Tungle.me is the correct solution for everyone, it is a great option for an individual who has some set appointment times.  For instance, I try to leave my a.m. times for working tasks and have my afternoons available for meetings with clients.

With Tungle.me, I am able to set the weekly parameters to show the days and times I am available for meetings.  And, if I know, for instance, that I won’t be available on the day before Thanksgiving and on Thanksgiving, itself, I can go in and take those available times/dates off the schedule.

Also, since it syncs with my calendar, if I set an appt offline, it will check in every 5 mins (the preference I have chosen) and sync everything up (my computer and phone’s calendar & my Tungle.me online scheduler).

Now, it’s not a perfect system.  For instance, it doesn’t offer a way to automatically put travel time in between appointments.  And since I often meet people in coffee shops or their offices, I have to go in manually to adjust it.  Hoping they will add a way to offer a ‘cush time’, in the future.  Yet, for a free product, I have been rather happy with it, so far.  I’ll let you know how it goes down the road.  Or better yet, sign up for your own free Tungle account.

FYI: This month, they also started a premium version, which let’s you brand your online scheduler with your logo and colors, plus some other features.  So, there is that upgrade, if you want it.

What do you think?  Is Tungle a tool that would work for you?  Do you have another free online scheduler that you think is better? Use the comment box below and let me know.

Finally, WordPress.com makes it easier to switch over to a version of WordPress.ORG (self hosted version, that means it sits on your own hosting plan, instead of on their server, which gives you A LOT more freedom).  This used to be a chore to do, but WordPress.com has made it much easier with a new Premium option called Offsite Redirect.  Yes, Premium comes with a small cost, but nothing compared to the time and effort of the old way of accomplishing this.  It’s only $12 a yr.

So what does this Premium upgrade get you?  I’ll let them tell you with copy from their post about it called Hello, Goodbye: Offsite Redirect Upgrade – by Jane Wells

Purchasing the Offsite Redirect upgrade will take the traffic coming to your old wordpress.com blog and forward it to your new domain so that links to your old content won’t break and you won’t take an SEO hit as a result of your move. Oh, and unlike the old domain mapping/DNS workaround, the signup process is easy as pie. Mmm, pie.

So, now the question on your mind might be: Why would I want to move from WordPress.com to WordPress.ORG?

And, the answer is, if you are happy and have no complaints, stay where you are.  However, if you have ever wanted any of the following, it might be a good time to consider a move:

• Your own domain name: OK, this one isn’t that much of a problem, because you could always point your own domain name to WordPress.com – and there is even a way to make it so all your pages follow through with that address, but there is a fee for that!  So, if you don’t want your address to be MyBlogName.WordPress.com, you have three choices:
  1. Buy a domain name and point it to your .WordPress.com account
  2. Buy the domain and then pay a Premium to have all your pages and posts reflect that name
  3. Use the self-hosted version of WordPress.ORG – as I said earlier, this reason alone may not be compelling enough, but read on…
• Control of Ads: On occasion, the WordPress.com folks will throw an ad on your free .WordPress.com blog.  It is their way of keeping their service free (and they do provide a lot and ask little).  So, again, let’s compare the options.  The one concern is how they are placing the ads?  Are they relevant to your keywords?  Since I don’t know how they pick when to put an ad on someones site, it leaves some questions. And, though it is unlikely, I wonder if there is a chance they could put up an ad to your direct competitor?  Hopefully, they have a good system in place to avoid that, but here are your options, regarding ads:
  1. You can pay a Premium to remove these ads from your .com site/blog
  2. You can agree to do a 50/50 split to run your own ads now (I had never seen this before, so not sure of other details)
  3. You can move to WordPress.ORG where you can have the freedom to put up your own ads (maybe subtly promoting your own products/services), make money from offering ad space to others (if your site/blog is appropriate), or be completely ad-free.
• Scripts/Codes/Plugins: Sometimes you want to put a script on your site/blog, to do some functionality – for instance, collect email addresses from your visitors.  With WordPress.com, you can not put any 3rd party software or code onto your WordPress.com accounts, so you’d definitely want to move to WordPress.ORG to take advantage of the 1000s of amazing add-ons available from the WordPress community, in the form of plugins.  Go to WordPress.ORG’s Plugin Directory to find many of the free ones.  Similar to the iPhone Apps, if you are looking to do something, there’s a plugin for that…
• Customize the look of your blog/site: To do some light customization (changing colors, for instance) you could pay WordPress.Com to get into the CSS (providing you know CSS), but to get a look that really meets your vision, you could move to WordPress.ORG and use any theme (layout, the look of your site) or have someone custom create a look for you

Again, if you are happy with the way your WordPress.COM site works and/or OK with paying them the small Premiums to get some of the other options, then stay where you are.

However, if you are going to be paying for all those premiums, to try to get the results you want, I suggest using WordPress.ORG and have full control of your site (ads, look, plugins…).  To me, the plugins alone are reason to move!  Either way, you now have at least one less excuse for not moving to a self-hosted version!

I sure could have used this new Offsite Redirect feature, years ago, but glad to finally see it now.

Bottom Line: The $12 a year fee is a small price to pay, compared to the headache of the old way to do this redirect process!

Are you using WordPress.com?  Were you considering which version of WordPress (.com vs. .org) to use for your new site/blog?  Did this post help to answer those questions for you?  If you have additional questions, either comment below, or contact UniqueThink for a free 1-hour consult, to discuss your unique situation.