Author Archive | Lawrence

Sometimes the answers are right under your nose. For example – what makes one person fail while another succeeds? The answers is often small differences that seem ordinary and mundane, yet are magic at creating consistent and long term success.

Successful people…

1. Know their purpose. If you’re working towards your true purpose, it’s no longer work, but passion. Find your passion and you are halfway to achieving success.

2. Read stuff. No, we’re not talking about surfing the web here. Instead, find the information that will help you in your quest to get ahead and then read it.

3. Question almost to the point of being annoying. Question to clarify and to improve your comprehension. Question to find new methods, new techniques and new ways of doing things. Just because something has “always been done this way” doesn’t mean there isn’t a better way.

4. Ask for help. Going it alone is the macho Lone Ranger way, but even he had Tonto to help him out. Need help? Then for crying out loud, ask.

5. Have a big circle of friends. It’s hard to ask for help if you don’t have people to go to. Build a vast network of friends and associates, both in and out of your niche and Internet marketing.

6. Outsource. Whether this means hiring people locally or on the other side of the world, get others to perform tasks you’re not good at. Otherwise you’re just wasting your time to achieve mediocre results.

7. Don’t look back – much. If you wallow in the past then you’re stuck in the past. Look back only to find lessons on what works and what doesn’t.

8. Plan. What’s your vision? What are the goals you need to meet to reach that vision? And how will you achieve each of those goals? Write it down and refer back to it often.

9. Are flexible. Things change. You might find an easier way to achieve one of your goals, or you might learn that your original plan has major flaws. Don’t be bull-headed. Be flexible. Water can get past anything precisely because it is so flexible.

10. Prioritize. We tend to do things in order of time or ease. For example, you’re more likely to tackle the 30 minute task rather than the 2 hour task, or do the easy thing before the difficult endeavor. But once you prioritize and do the most important thing first, you’ll find that success naturally follows.

11. Are persistent. You didn’t reach your goal in a day or a week? They said no? Things aren’t turning out as you thought they would? So long as you don’t quit, you cannot fail. Even blind squirrels find acorns when they persist.

12. Know that failure is just a stepping stone to success. This is directly tied to #11. Just because you fail does not give you a reason to quit. Give yourself one hour for a pity part, then analyze WHY you failed and move on. Remember all the failures that went into inventing the light bulb – Edison didn’t stop until he found the right way because he knew that every failure got him that much closer to his goal.

13. Get outside of their comfort zone. You’ve never done it before? You’re nervous? You’re shy? You’ve got butterflies in your stomach and you feel like you’re going to throw up? Congratulations! You’re about to do something that is going to stretch your abilities and get you one step closer to realizing your dream, so thumb your nose at fear and just do it anyway.

14. Aren’t Scrooges. Whether it’s sharing credit, sharing your techniques for success or the fruits of your labors, share with others. It will come back to you 10 fold in the future.

15. Recharge. All work and no play makes Jack or Jill a dull burnt out person. Take time to rest, get enough sleep, and spend one day a week doing something totally unrelated to your work – you’ll come back feeling refreshed and with new energy.

As an online marketer, there are 3 kinds of speed you need to focus on to be successful.

The speed of your customer service. If a customer emails you today, you need to answer today. If you can’t, hire a virtual assistant. If you can’t do that, then at least set up a help desk that lets customers know what hours you work, so they know when you will be getting back to them.

Your website speed. How long does it take for your website to load? For every second added to a website’s load time, the conversions decrease by a shocking 2% to 7%, and page views are reduced by 1% to 2%. That’s per SECOND. In addition, Google factors in loading speed when determining the ranking it’s going to give your website. I’m not going into a technical tutorial here, so I suggest you Google how to make your site load faster and take it from there – or suffer the consequences.

That sounded dire. Sorry. I’m eager to get to my third point, and that is:

Your own speed. When you have a great new idea, how long does it take you to act upon it? When your customer gives you a brilliant new product request, do you begin today? Tomorrow? Or do you put it off until never? When you’re in the shower and you have a brilliant thought on how to increase subscribers, do you put it into action now? Or will you “get around to it?”

I’ve found that if I don’t act within 24 hours on a new idea, I will almost certainly never act on it. In addition, if I do act but I wait until I get it perfect before rolling it out – it gathers dust and becomes a total waste of my time and resources, along with a an almost imperceptible blow to my confidence and self esteem.

I have a theory, and it’s this: Each time you have a brilliant idea but don’t act upon it, you’re one step closer to dying the death of a thousand cuts. Sure, one or two is no big deal, but they add up. Pretty soon you’ve got a long list of brilliant ideas that never saw the light of day, and you’re business is stalling.

Speed to paramount to success. You almost can’t have one without the other. I encourage you; take something you’ve learned or thought of today, and begin work on it RIGHT NOW. Outline what you need to do to get this idea off the ground, and then do the first thing on the list. When that’s done, cross it off and do the second. Have it done by tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow.

I guarantee; you’ll become addicted to speed and your business, your confidence and your income will thank you.

If you want to know anything, ask someone who’s already been doing it for awhile. In other words, someone who actually walks the walk instead of just running their mouth.

So who better to ask what new affiliates should do than seasoned affiliates? Here are some suggestions from the pros themselves:

Provide lots of value. The key to getting visitors to return to your website time and time again (and buy from you time and time again) is to provide useful content they need and / or want.

So what’s “useful?” That depends on the topic. If you’ve got a website on how to drive web traffic, then naturally giving them lots of great info they can use on how to get more traffic is going to be useful. However, if you run a humor site, then providing content that is genuinely funny might not be “useful” in the traditional sense of the word, but it’s what your visitors want.

Bottom line: Give them what they want and they’ll come back for more.

Here’s a little trick: Instead of focusing on “making money,” focus on creating value and the money will come.

If you wait until you’re ready, you’ll be waiting for the rest of your life. Are you still “getting ready” to be an affiliate? Make the decision to just do it. So what if your website isn’t perfect or your emails aren’t perfect? I’ll let you in on a little secret: They never will be, no matter how long you wait. So just jump in and start swimming – the water’s fine!

Do it with passion. You can be an affiliate in ANY niche – so why not choose a niche you’re passionate about? It’s far more fun to review a product or write a blog post on a topic you love, rather than one you feel complete and total ambivalence for.

Watch out for the picture in your head. You imagine sending out one email and getting a 50% response rate, or doing one PPC campaign and raking in $10,000. Then it doesn’t happen. Then you get discouraged. Then you procrastinate. And pretty soon you’re out of the business entirely. Why? Because reality didn’t match the picture in your head.

Here’s the news: That picture in your head is what you’re shooting for – it’s not what’s going to happen the first day or maybe even the first year out of the gate. Like anything else, you work your way up in affiliate marketing. You get better. Your list gets bigger. Your website gets more traffic. You become more attuned to what works and what flops like a dead mackerel. And one day, you finally match that picture in your head. But it doesn’t happen overnight.

Worrying won’t change the outcome. You write an email to your list and you worry you’re saying the wrong thing, you worry you’ll make a stupid typo, you worry no one will open it, you worry no one will buy the product you’re promoting, you worry you’ll get hate mail or everyone will unsubscribe… etc.

What a colossal waste. I can tell you from experience that worry has never once changed the outcome. Worry is a useless emotion that will drive you bonkers if you let it, so just let it go.

Thinking you’re too late. There are affiliates out there making six figures a month – maybe seven figures. You should have jumped on the affiliate wagon 10 years ago, now it’s too late. Right?

Wrong. You have to start somewhere and sometime. Right here and right now is absolutely the best place – it always is. And if you think that just because you’re starting from scratch, you can’t be effective as an affiliate – bear this in mind:

“If you think you are too small or too new to be effective, you have never been in bed with a mosquito.” That’s a quote from Betty Reese.

Mosquitoes only live for two weeks – guaranteed they don’t worry that they’re “too late” to bite the bejeebers out of you – they just DO it.

Think of it this way – Those who went before you have laid the ground work for you to be successful.

Comparing yourself. This goes right along with thinking you’re “too late.” If you’re trying to compare yourself to the mega-watt affiliate who pulls down six figures a month, you’re just hurting yourself.

“Comparison is the thief of joy.” -Theodore Roosevelt

Knowing and doing are two different things. Getting your first affiliate payment is like getting your driver’s license – you’ve only just begun to become a great affiliate or driver. It’s when you’re driving your car every day, or getting paid every day, that you’ll find you know what you’re doing and you’re actually DOING it.

Know your partners. Before you sign up with a network or an affiliate program, do your research. See if someone has had a problem with them, if their products are good, if their customer service is stellar, and if they treat their affiliates well.

Focus focus focus. You’ve got 5 different niches and 7 outstanding ideas and you’re going in 12 different directions at once. Know what happens when you pull someone 12 different directions, or even just TWO different directions? They either don’t move, or they get pulled off balance.

Build one website at a time. Make it profitable. Work on it some more. Once you have a very firm foundation, then and only then should you consider going in a second direction.

Optimize for ONE search engine. If SEO is your method of traffic generation and you optimize your website for Google, don’t get smart and then optimize your website for Yahoo or Bing – you’ll get penalized for this by Google. No, it’s not fair, but it is fact.

Only promote products you are familiar with. If just one time you promote a product you haven’t tried yourself, and it turns out to be a lousy product, you’ve just ruined your reputation with everyone on your list who either bought that product or already knows it’s junk. Why risk it? Only promote products you can whole-heartedly recommend.

Test everything. Even if the biggest guru gives you what sounds like the best advice, it still might not work for your niche / website / audience. So never assume and always test.

Establish trust. This runs throughout everything you do, whether it’s the information you impart, the products you offer, etc. The more transparent and trustworthy you are, the more people will trust you when you suggest they make a purchase.

Become an authority in your niche. Whether you do it by creating your own products or by surrounding yourself with authorities is up to you. Best scenario – do both.

Affiliate marketing is one of the fastest ways to make money online because most of the work is already done for you. Apply these secrets and start getting paid like the pros. 😀

There may be no faster way to create a great product than by interviewing an expert in your niche. You set a time for the interview, prepare a few questions, record it, and possibly get it transcribed. Total time? Maybe 2 hours, tops.

But exactly what is it that you, as the interviewer, need to do to make the interview great?

To put it another way, how do you ensure that your listeners are going stay riveted by the interview and be thrilled that they took the time to listen to it?

Here’s 17 indispensable tips for conducting a memorable podcast interview:

1. Have fun with it. If you’re all stressed out about doing this interview, odds are it’s not going to turn out well. You’ve got to relax and have a good time. Laugh. Joke a little. Smile. Did you know people can HEAR if you’re smiling? It’s true. And the more at ease you are, the more comfortable your guest will be, too.

2. Do some research. Know the person you’re interviewing, and by all means know something about the topic.

3. Confirm the details with the person you’re interviewing. This includes time and date, length of the interview and how they will be communicating (phone, skype, etc.)

4. Forget the umms, errs and ahhs. Please. If it takes you a second to think of the word you’re looking for, so be it. Don’t fill that time with incoherent sounds.

5. Do use the highest quality equipment possible. You can have the greatest interview ever, but if the sound quality is terrible then no one is going to listen.

6. Don’t ask yes or no questions. “Do you like to play tennis?” “Yes.” Have you been playing for long? “Yes.” Do you win every tournament?” “No.” How dull can you get? Always ask open ended questions that cannot be answered with simple yes’s and no’s.

7. Listen. I mean really LISTEN to the answers your expert is giving you. Your audience can tell if you’re just playing along rather than being fully engaged. So engage. Be prepared to ask spontaneous questions based on what you’re hearing. The best interviewers aren’t afraid to pursue new avenues and unearth new discoveries.

8. Don’t just ask “what,” also ask “why” and “how.” Learn everything you can from the person you’re interviewing. Go in depth and find out the reasons behind the reasons.

9. Remember that you are the interviewer. Don’t try to steal the show and don’t talk over your guest. You are there to elicit information, they are there to share their expertise. Don’t try to fill both roles yourself. If you do, you’ll annoy your guest and irritate your audience.

10. Don’t ask more than one question at a time. “How do you propose to do project A, and while you’re doing it do you also run the xyz program, and how do the two integrate into your discombobulator?” Sheesh. Think of your poor interview subject and just ask one question at a time.

11. Don’t say anything like, “I wanted to ask you…” or “My next question is…” Or even, “How are you?” Get to the topic at hand and keep the interview moving. Please.

12. Prepare your questions ahead of time. This will ensure you don’t get stuck for something to ask. Prepare follow up questions for each question. Or if the purpose of the interview is to teach a task, you and your guest might prepare an outline of the steps you’ll cover. In either case, this is a guide to help you along, not something written in stone. Be flexible.

13. Don’t keep your guest in the dark. Let them know before hand what to expect and any pertinent details they should know. Offer to send them the questions you plan on asking. Thank them for participating. You should thank them when they agree to the interview and again in any conversations or correspondence you have both prior to the interview and after the interview.

14. Show your enthusiasm for both your topic and your expert guest. Enthusiasm is contagious, so share yours liberally. Your guest will appreciate your enthusiasm, and your audience will be more engaged.

15. Remember who your real VIP is – it’s not your guest and it’s not you, it’s your audience. You are doing this interview for them, so your first priority is to get your audience great content they want or need.

16. Relax. It’s not Mars-landing science, it’s just an interview. Don’t get stressed – think of it as an adventure.

17. Make mistakes. Look, you’re going to make them regardless, so why not put it on this list? You’re going to trip over your tongue, forget what you were about to say, or mispronounce a word you use all the time. It’s okay. Fix your mistake, smile, laugh, and move on. Your audience will love you MORE for the mistakes you make.

You’ve heard of Elevator Speeches – those short ‘blurbs’ we offer when someone says, “What do you do for a living?” The online version is the words we place inside our website’s header. It should be short enough that if you were on an elevator with someone, you could spit it out before the doors open.

It should be meaningful enough that your listener hears and understands what you’re saying. And it should be intriguing enough that they want to know more. And that, as you know, is a tall order for something that lasts under 30 seconds.

Regardless if you’re sales prospecting, speaking, asking for money or simply networking, your audience makes up it’s mind about you in the first few minutes.

And because the time allotted to give an Elevator Speech is short, and you’ve got to grab your prospect’s attention fast, every word counts. That’s why I’ve compiled the top 9 tips to make your Elevator Speech rock. You pick and choose which of these tips is right for you:

1. Don’t overload it with information. Instead, stick to 3 main points: What, why and how.

The “What” of your Elevator Speech explains what you do in basic terms. Don’t get fancy here and don’t use technical terms. Saying, “We are a software company” works. Giving a 2 minute dissertation on base band cross platform scalable default configuration doesn’t. (BTW, I have no idea what I just said there.)

The “Why” of your Elevator Speech explains why you exist. What problem do you solve? What bad thing do you prevent or what good thing do you make possible? “We send kids to college who otherwise couldn’t go” works. “We make widgets because we love making widgets” doesn’t.

The “How” of your Elevator Speech is how you do what you do. Simple, right? How do you send kids to college who otherwise couldn’t go? By matching them with grants, loan programs and affordable colleges.

Here’s the ultimate test: If you gave your elevator speech to someone over 70 and someone else under 12, would they understand it? If not, try again.

Here is Guy Kawasaki’s elevator speech for his Alltop website – and while it’s a little longer than I would prefer, it definitely hits the mark: [Alltop] is a website where we aggregate news for all the topics. Think of it as an “online magazine rack.” We enable you to find the most relevant and recent news instead of the 30,000,000 matches that Google shows you. We do this by aggregating all the best news sources onto one page and displaying the five most recent stories from each one.

2. Open your Elevator Speech with the name of your company and follow it with your products and services you provide. Don’t speak in generalizations – this is your chance to show how different you are. Assume your listener doesn’t know your area of business, so don’t use jargon and acronyms.

Next, outline why your product is needed and what problems it solves. This makes your business real to your listener and shows how it makes life easier or more productive for your customers. Practice your speech over and over again, and deliver it with confidence and enthusiasm.

3. To make your pitch persuasive, you’ll want to be clear, credible and compelling.

We’ve already covered being clear – if the average person who isn’t in your industry can easily understand what you’re saying, then you’re on the right track.

So how can you add to your credibility? It’s not by comparing your business to someone else’s – it’s by telling what your business has accomplished. Even if it’s that you’ve signed your first 2 clients or you’ve held your first class, state your achievements rather than trying to tear down any perceived competition.

To be compelling, your solution should represent a dramatic improvement in your niche. Being a dollar cheaper or 2% faster isn’t enough, but showing a 2x improvement may make anyone sit up and take notice.

4. Don’t talk about yourself – talk about what you accomplish for the customer – how you provide the customer with value, solve the customer’s problem or give the customer opportunities.

5. Anticipate objections and head them off before they happen. Let’s say your company is doing what others have tried and failed at. “Why have all previous attempts to achieve ___ failed? Because they didn’t ____ (What you are doing.)

6. Avoid adjectives and phrases that have been done to death. “Proprietary, revolutionary, next-generation, state-of-the-art, synergistic, etc.” Words like these have been used so often that we no longer believe them.

7. When delivering your elevator speech, keep your body open. Don’t cross your arms, hold your hands in front of or behind you, or do anything that takes up less space. If anything, you want to be more expansive which shows you’re confident in what you say. For example, arms out to the side, or hands on hips, or gesturing are all fine.

8. To generate enthusiasm in your listener, all you have to do is show your own passion for your product, service or company.

9. Once you’ve made your Elevator Speech, exchange contact info and follow up with a phone call, email or some kind of communication the next day. Don’t wait – people soon forget.

I got out my trusty calculator and did a little math. Assuming you make your own information products, what would it take to earn $100,000 in a year if you work with affiliates and pay them 50% commission?

$47 Ebooks: You’d need to sell 355 of these a month, or 12 per day.

$97 Teleseminars and Webinars: You’ll be selling 172 seats a month, or 5.7 per day. Think no one would pay that kind of money for a teleseminar? If your information is timely and valuable, they’ll line up for it. For example, stock market and forex trading advice would fit this category.

$197 Audio Courses: You only need to sell 85 of these a month, or 2.9 per day. Now who’s going to pay $197 for an audio course? Actually, a lot of people. The trick is to make a big promise, record on a library of CD’s, and make sure you fulfill that promise. Example titles might be; 7 Days To Speaking Confidence or perhaps Improve Your SAT Scores by 33% In Two Weeks or even How To Become A Master Pick Up Artist Practically Overnight.

$497 Video Courses: I know what you’re thinking – who’s going to pay $497 for a video course? The truth is, many people have paid TWICE that amount. Sample title? How about… How to Generate a Six Figure Income in 90 Days. Oh yes, and to earn $100,000 a year using affiliates at 50% commission, you’d only need to sell 33.5 a month. That’s practically one per day.

Now then – would you rather make 12 sales a day, or 1 sale a day? Are you ready to step up and start selling big ticket products?

And by the way, other products you can sell for $497 and MORE are…

– Home Study Courses (video, audio and written material)
– Online Study Courses (video, audio and written material, plus it’s more interactive and more likely to actually be used by the buyers.)
– Seminars and Workshops
– Group Coaching

So let me ask you a question: What if you put on a killer online study course and you charged $997 – how many sales would you need to reach that $100,000 mark (assuming all sales were made through affiliates?) Just 16.7 per month.

Or what if you charge $2,000 for your seminar – you’d only need 100 attendees to make a $100,000 payday.

Or if you charge $300 a month for group coaching – you’d need just 55 members.

And in any of the above scenarios, what if you didn’t use affiliates? What if you made all the sales yourself? Then of course you’d only need half as many sales to make just as much money. So in the $997 product example, you’d only need 8 or 9 sales a month to generate a $100,000 income.

If you’ve been paying attention here, you might have noticed I left out one major possibility. Do you know what it is?

Recurring subscriptions or membership sites. 355 members paying $47 a month yields $200,000 – half for you and half for your affiliates. Can you retain 355 for the full 12 months? You’ll have to offer killer content and incentives to come close.

One more thought – what if you do a combination of the above? Perhaps you choose two things, or three or four. Then instead of earning $100,000, you’re earning $200,000 or more.

I’ll let you in on a secret: We tend to get so bogged down in day to day thinking that we forget to step back and look at the big picture. And so is it any wonder that we think small, instead of thinking in numbers like these? You can indeed attain these marks and more, but the first step is to think the thoughts and the second is to believe you can do it.

And you already know the third step – take action on a massive scale and don’t stop until you reach your goal.

How do you get people calling you up on the phone, visiting your website, emailing you, and saying; “I know you’re expensive and that’s okay, just let me buy – please!”

Simple: Write a book. What do we say about an expert? “She’s the one that wrote the book.” So what happens when YOU write the book?

You’re no longer chasing customers, they’re chasing you. The better your book sells, the more customers will be chasing you, too.

Doors magically open. Suddenly other marketers want to do JV’s with you. Radio shows want to interview you. Other websites feature you. Groups ask you to come and speak to them. And best of all, clients seek you out.

Think your niche isn’t book worthy? Surprisingly, there is a book to be written in nearly every niche.

Do you install swimming pools? Write the book on how to get a great pool at an affordable price without the contractor nightmares. You sell handbags on the Internet? Get creative and write stories about how your handbags saved the day for their owners – perhaps as they slogged their way through the jungle while avoiding angry natives and poisonous snakes. You help people with SEO? Write the book on do-it-yourself SEO.

You’re only limited by your imagination and creativity. And for any portion of your topic that you’re not an expert on, you can get help. Just Google it and begin your research.

Get busy, write your book, and stop chasing customers around… Instead, let them beat a path to your door by writing a book that positions you as the expert in your field.

Need some serious cash in a flash? Assuming you already have a customer base, here’s what you can do:

1. Identify your best customers. If you have only two lists, one of prospects and one of people who have actually made a purchase from you, then of course choose your list of buyers. But if you have a list of repeat buyers or customers who have made large purchases from you, then you want to choose that list. Whoever your best buyers are, those are the ones upon which you want to focus your efforts.

2. Talk to these people. You might call some of them if you have phone numbers, or more likely you will send them an email or survey. Identify what they most need and most want right now. Some things they might need, and other things they might want. What you’re really looking for is the one they both need and want.

3. Based on what you learn, create a high value offer with a matching price tag. In other words, you’re going to offer tremendous value and charge accordingly. This won’t be for all of your customers, but then again you’re only targeting your very best customers with this offer.

4. Make the offer to your valued customers. If you’ve done this correctly, you should see a nice cash infusion into your business, and this entire process can be done in less than a week.

Google’s answer to Facebook is of course Google Plus. As an individual you might not spend any time on this social network. However, as an online marketer it’s critical to have a business presence on Google Plus because it influences how well you can rank in Google’s search results. That’s why I’ve made a list of tips to help you brand and build relationships using Google Plus.

1. Open your Google Plus profile to allow for search engine indexing. Simply mark the box that says, “Help others find my profile in search results.” You’ll find it under Search Visibility.

2. Fill out your Google Plus profile completely, since this might be the first contact someone has with your business. Also, you get 5 featured spots for photos, so use them wisely to brand your business and engage others.

3. Use keywords. In your ‘About’ section, use the keywords you want to rank highly for – especially the keywords you know your potential customers are using.

4. Add your links. In the “recommended links” area of your profile, add links to your website, blog and social profiles.

5. Add more links throughout your page. Remember, Google Plus can help you in Google search, since the two are so closely tied. Therefore you want to post links to your business in both your introduction and your contact information.

6. Manage and interact with your circles. If you’ve got more than one target audience, you’ll want to manage your circles accordingly by targeting the news and information you send to each circle.

7. Do you write a blog? Then add the +1 button widget to your posts, enabling your readers to share your content on Google Plus.

8. Use a short and snappy tagline. You’ll notice that Google Plus gives you a place for a tagline underneath your page’s business name. Make it work for you by incorporating your best keyword to help with Google search.

9. Wear your badge. Promote your Google Plus page on your website(s) by adding the Google Plus badge to your profile, in your sidebar, etc.

10. Know who your audience is. This isn’t Facebook or Twitter, so don’t assume you’re interacting with the same type of folks. Instead, take time to get to know your circles. Ask questions, make polls, find the best ways to interact and share content, etc.

11. Get others to circle you. The more you can be in other people’s circles, and the more followers you have, the better your ranking is likely to be in Google searches. (Are you beginning to see why Google Plus is important? It’s not so much the social aspect, it’s getting Google to notice and rank your website.)

12. Use video and pictures. Both work well on Google Plus, and both are far better at accessing people at the emotional level than mere words alone.

13. Don’t be afraid to suggest. To keep people on your page longer, create your own list of suggested circles in your profile’s About section.

14. Search for your business. Make it a daily habit to do a search for your business and see if people are talking about you and what they’re saying. And be sure to respond and also re-share their posts when appropriate.

15. Learn the basic formatting. You can rev up your Google Plus posts and make them stand out by learning these 3 basic formatting codes:

Bold: If you want show any word(s) in bold text format, enclose the word(s) with *.

Italic: Enclose the text with _ (underscore) to show it in italic format.

Strike through: Enclose the text with – (dash) to strike through the text.

16. Update through your smart phone. Download the Google Plus app to manage Google Plus on the go and make updates when ever you want and where ever you are.

17. Hyperlink to someone’s name. Posting about someone on Google Plus? You can hyperlink to their name by typing “=” or “@” in front of their name.

18. Think about your timing. When is your audience most likely to be on Google Plus? This is when you should be posting. Also, when someone likes or comments on a post you made, the time to reply is immediately or ASAP. The longer you wait, the less of an impact you make.

Social media sites provide an unprecedented opportunity to network and grow your business online. Don’t throw away this golden ticket by making these 12 costly mistakes!

1. Posting long, messy, nasty URLs. Use a URL shortener like bit.ly.

2. Posting too often. Rein this in by posting only when you actually have something significant to say.

3. Not spacing your posts. Sending 20 posts in 10 minutes and then not posting the rest of the day is – well – dumb.

4. Not making sense. Posting, “ARGGHHH” with no other information just annoys people. Post complete thoughts that actually mean something.

5. Too much personal stuff. You’re doing social media to promote your business or service, right? Then keep it 90%+ business and less than 10% personal.

6. Being boring. Posting that chocolate tastes good (No! Really??) or that you had cold cereal for breakfast is so……..
~ yawn ~
……………….
Excuse me, I fell asleep for a second.
See what I mean?

7. No picture. Yes, you need a profile picture. And yes, it should be a good one. If need be, pay to get your portrait taken – it’s worth it.

8. Wrong picture. Your profile picture needs to be of YOU, not a puppy or a cheerleader (unless the puppy or cheerleader is you.)

9. Not giving credit or attributing the wrong source. Give credit where credit is properly due. Always.

10. Being wrong. Again, check your facts if you’re unsure.

11. Being a jerk. No matter how much you disagree, the other person is never an idiot, a moron or a jack***. Remember, once you put it on the net, you can NEVER take it back.

12. Getting political. You’re entitled to your own politics, but they have no business mixing with your business. Keep them 100% separate at all times.

13. Using TrueTwit. Someone wants to follow you, so you punish them by making them click a link and enter CAPTCHA code? What a great way to frustrate new followers and lose them in the process.

14. Ignoring shares and RT’s. Someone retweets or shares something of yours, what do you do? If the answer is nothing, you lose. Instead, THANK them for sharing your content and start a conversation.

15. Spamming. Think about community, relationships and building trust as your first priorities. Yes, you can send out an affiliate link now and then, but most of the time you should be sending content or having a conversation.

Most marketers using social media make at least 3 of these mistakes regularly… But not you. You’re smart. You read this article, and are going to use social media wisely, and profitably from now on!