TubeMogul is a great video distribution site that you should be using if you make any kind of video.

It’s important to take the time to learn more about a brand before leaving a negative comment on their website, especially if its the first time you have been there.

The call is totally free and is going to be well worth your time. I am super excited myself to be a part of it and help out up to 100 young professionals build their brand and their business.

Here are the call details:
2PM EST
Dial in Number: (712) 432-0800
Access code: 944122#

Wanna know the best part? You get to ask questions and play a part in what we talk about. This is going to rock and I don’t want you to miss it.

Till next time rock stars,

Jared

P.S. This call is part of the launch for a really cool webinar series that we are getting ready to kick off. If you want some more info on that, we may talk about it on the call, or you can venture over to the sales page to learn more.

Click here to learn more.

Title is EVERYTHING!

Why?

- When I go to a new blog I don’t read the last 5 posts and see what I like. I do a skim of the titles and if 1 catches me then I read the post.

- Twitter – There is no summary of your post with your tweet. It’s your title and the link, that’s it. People aren’t going to click that link unless that title catches them.

- All of your feeds (facebook, friendfeed, ning networks) they will have a brief summary with your new post but what is in bold? The title. This is what people see.

-Everything is becoming more and more of a mashup. These mashups are less and less descriptive and you need that 1 liner to catch them (your title).

In this hyper paced world people don’t get into things unless they truly see a reason to. If your title doesn’t give them that reason then it won’t matter how amazing your content is because they will never see it.

Tweetbacks

Basically it shows when someone tweets out a link about your post. You can make this show up where ever you want but generally its above or below the comment section on your blog. Mine is right above my comment section.

Check out the original post about installing the script Tweetbacks

Also there is now a plugin for the script Tweetbacks Plugin

On both of the posts (by the creator @danzarrella) you can see the tweetbacks in action. Each one has over 100 tweetbacks and then you can see how the normal blog comments follow below them.

I noticed the script does slowdown the loading time of your blog a little bit. I think this is being worked on…the new plugin may have even fixed this. Let me know if my blog is slower due to this because I’m just messing around with it.

Check it out!

Now I realize that part of this reason is that some people still don’t know what a blog is let alone how to make one. But you would have to think that they have heard of blogs. With a little online research into marketing or business promotion you can easily find many suggestions to start a blog.

In the end though I don’t think its the lack of knowledge or know-how that stops most people with businesses from starting a blog. It’s about the content.

The question – “What will I write about?” Or an excuse like “I don’t have the time.” These are the real road blocks that stop people. However I don’t think these are road blocks at all for a small business owner.

So you don’t know what to write about.

Well lets see you have a small business. This means that you probably have some knowledge in that industry or niche. Maybe some people even refer to you as a guru or master in that business field. You probably want to attract more customers to your products or services (I don’t know many businesses that are trying to get rid of customers). Well generally people buy things from people who they trust or consider knowledgeable in that field. Now maybe these people don’t really know that you are knowledgeable in your field and you wish there was just some way to show them how you think and what you know.Hmmm get where this is going?

So there you have something to write about. A successful blog has great content but that great content is there for a reason, there is a smart person behind it. Is there anything easier to blog about! Just focus on whatever your business is and write down all those tips and pointers that you spend your days explaining to customers.

But now you still don’t have the time.

Who said that if you want to become a successful business owner it was going to be easy? There is always time. Blogging is not something that takes a lot of time to do either. If you are passionate and knowledgeable in your field (which you should be because you started a business in it) then writing quick informative posts should be easy. Posts don’t have to be long or often, quality over quantity. If you find it hard to write quick posts because you just love going into detail or you find you get more response from well thought out detailed posts then add some filler to the blog. In between the technical posts give quick links to resources in your field. Or maybe you travel a lot to speak or promote your business. Make quick posts about where you are and what your doing.
It’s great to have unique and informative information in a blog but customers also like to know what you are doing. Those quick filler posts will also show people that the blog is active and that just because you really haven’t had a chance to make a long post in a couple weeks you are still there.

So there ya go. There is no reason a small business should not have a blog. A blog is a great place to show off your talents and how great your business is to an audience larger then you could ever imagine. It will take a little time to get used to blogging and to get your blog looking and feeling the way you want it to but if you start it will get there. The key is starting and in time you will see the benefits.

And this doesn’t apply to only small business owners. This goes for anyone with a business or who is looking to start a business. Think of the benefits if you haven’t started your business yet and you could create a dedicated following to announce your new business to!

So get out there and start a blog! No excuses!

Read this awesome post about setting up a blog over at Zaggededge.com

Seth Godin just released a new book called Tribes. The book talks about leading tribes and who is doing it. I wanted to make a post about how Seth launched the book because it really shows why he is such a revered marketer and why all of his work reaches the highest levels. Now normally a book launch goes through some general steps. The author will probably work it into presentations he makes to promote it. They will announce it on their website or blog. They might form a group that is excited about the book to further promote the launch. Then they will just tell everyone they know and spread the word as best they can.

Now Seth implemented these strategies but with some twists that made his launch really “remarkable” as he would say. So lets take a look at some of the steps he took.

1. Created Triiibes

Back in July Seth announced that he was starting a private network called Triiibes. In order to join the network you had to pre-order a copy of his new book Tribes which was set for release in mid October. Once you pre-ordered the book you had to send him the receipt and then he would send you an invite to this private network. The network right now has 3,647 members. It has grown slightly from the original number because Seth has offered things like friend invites during the 2 months the network has been up. Now lets look at what this network does for the launch of Seth’s new book.

- Core followers
Everyone who pre-ordered the book to get an invite to the network was excited about this opportunity to be a part of this. These people told their friends about this exclusive club they were in and at the same time told them it was because of a new book Seth was launching. So right off the bat Seth has created word of mouth marketing about his book launch that is still 2 months away!

- Seth is active in the network
Seth as usual shows he cares about his followers and stayed fairly active on Triiibes. He has a Q&A discussion in the forum and regularly posts updates to the network. This lets people see further into Seth’s mind, exactly what anyone who joined Triiibes would want to do. This also enhances Seth’s image as people who maybe decided to check out this network but weren’t a long time follower of Seth now got to see how helpful and dedicated he is to his work.

- It became a resource
As Seth said this wasn’t a network like facebook. The network was created to create content. It became a great place to go to read a great blog post or take part in an intriguing discussion. This came from keeping the network private which made it full of like-minded people who were focused on making related content. This kept people coming back and thus kept the thought of Tribes on their minds.

2. Surprise Free Early Copy

So about 2 weeks before the actual release of the book I and all others who pre-ordered a copy got a little surprise in the mail. A free copy of the book! At first I was a little confused I didn’t even realize it wasn’t the copy I had ordered. But then there was a note inside from Seth telling everyone it was free with no strings attached. He then said that he wanted us to read that copy of the book and once we received the pre-ordered copy in the mail to give it away. What a way to create even more hype around the book!

After this happened I went onto Triiibes to see if everyone else had the same experience. I found that everyone was talking about it whether they had received their free copy yet or not. I realized then what a great way to create viral marketing right there. Every person who got a free copy talked about the fact that they got a free early copy of Seth’s new book for the rest of the day. In giving away thousands of books Seth was probably able to reach tens of thousands of people with his concept of Tribes.

3. Speaking

Now this is a fairly common technique that follows a book launch. Seth will be speaking in NYC on Oct. 22nd about the book, it is a brand new presentation covering the material and concepts that Tribes is about. Even for this event Seth encourages people to take videos of the presentation. Something you don’t see to often from speakers and again he knows that these videos will be put on youtube, facebook, mypsace, and whatever other networks are out there. Thus it ends up being 1 more method that his words and ideas and book reach more ears and eyes.

All of this was no accident. This is why Seth Godin is considered a master marketer. He knows how to sell things.

I think this is key to any business that is just starting, you don’t need a master marketer to create similar effects. Finding ways to create that all important “wow” factor that gets people talking. Do something that makes people go out and tell their friends and family. Seth planned out how he was going to get that “wow” factor by creating the Triiibes network and then having a group to surprise with a free copy. But it doesn’t have to be on that scale. Most people have fairly ordinary and even boring day to day routines. If you find a way to interrupt that for just a minute that may be all that is needed to get that person to spread your ideas to a few more people.

The point is that any business can implement this type of marketing. It’s not very hard. It just takes a little creative thinking and some planning but anyone can find a way to make someone go “wow” so that person goes and tells the next few people they talk to.

Anybody have any experiences with things like what Seth did? Made you take a second look or go “wow”.

If I get some good responses I’ll make a follow up post about them. Don’t forget to leave your name and a link if you want so I can give you credit!

Get a copy of Tribes at Amazon

And nice job to Seth! He talks about this kind of marketing all the time and then he shows that he knows what he is talking about by successfully doing it.

Mike Michalowicz has written a new book called the Toilet Paper Entrepreneur.  Mike is a successful entrepreneur who has sold two multi-million dollar companies. He is also a graduate of MIT’s “Birthing of Giants” entrepreneur program. He is a regular guest on  CNBC’s The Big Idea and has been featured in the New York Times, Smart CEO Magazine and other publications.

Here’s the description of the book from the website -

Never started a company before? Struggling with little or no cash? Have no experience, no baseline to judge your progress against? Thank God! You’ve got a shot at making this work.

Whether you’re just starting out or have been at it for years, the Toilet Paper Entrepreneur’s “get real”, actionable approach to business is a much-needed swift kick in the pants.

It’s your turn to clean up in the entrepreneurial world. Wipe out the competition. And march forward with a dominating business.

The book went on sale today buy it HERE

Or just check out all the information about the book, the author and other resources at

The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur.com

If you need more convincing here’s a talk that Mike gave on Blogtalkradio. It gives a brief overview of the sections of the book and the reasons behind them.  Listen HERE

The genius part about this however is how Miguel Alvarez of Marketing Factor is extending his reach by offering up more chances to win the prize for things like adding him as a friend on Facebook, following him on Twitter, blogging about the contest.  Now he does have a great selection of prizes to attract people to this contest but a contest doesn’t have to be this big to be successful.

Just think of all the people out there who are dying for links to their blog, 1 free SEO lesson, invite to a private group, maybe an awesome connection.  Be creative I bet you can figure out some kind of contest that you could run that would get at least a few people to blog about you.