Ok, so my kid showed me this youtube video that is a spoof of energy commercials, which I thought was pretty funny.

When I showed it to a friend of mine who actually does work out though, he said that the funny looking green man in the video is a real person. I thought it was just a funny graphic that they made up, but apparently not. I will first post the video and then the link to another blog that has the images.

Really makes you think twice about taking steroids.

Ok here we go:

Technorati Tags: powerthirst

There are at least a dozen reasons why your company should twitter. I’m going to focus on five of those here, and hopefully open the doors to further discussion in the near future.

Reason #1: Immediacy
Think of the benefits of immediate access to your target audience and customers. Announce product recalls and avoid lawsuits. Answer customer questions on the spot. Engage with non-followers who mention your product, company, or competitors. Reward followers with incentives. Announce sales and links to quarterly earnings. Immediacy gives you to reach your audience now.

Examples:

• Last minute push to complete a fundraiser
• Traffic updates
• Leaking info about the upcoming release of a new product
• Posting links to your latest article or press release
• Answering customer questions so quick, they feel valued as a customer.

Reason #2: Influence
Hundreds, possibly thousands, of people are asking themselves and others for recommendations on products and services. Every second of the day, someone is using Twitter to ask for recommendations. How much easier can it get to build your customer base? Be there to answer their questions and make a winning first impression.

Example Questions Being Twittered Right Now:

• “What’s the best joint pain reliever medicine?”
• ” What’s the best place to grab a drink around pike place market?”
• “What’s the best book you’ve most recently read?”
• “What’s the best airline website you’ve ever used?”
• “What’s the best mobile broadband in Ingerland?”
• ” What’s the best Twitter app for the iPhone right now?”
• “What’s the best ad service for a blog do you reckon? Or is adsense still great?”
• “What’s the software product that can best be described as “Powerpoint on Steriods”? Not web based software”

As you can see, anything goes. People just want information. They want recommendations. Someone who has used the product or service can offer their experience. Think about that. There are some creative solutions and approaches there.

Reason #3: Reputation
In the 21st Century, you don’t have days to respond to a negative story about your company. You may not even have hours. Twitter provides an immediacy of information unprecedented in the history of the world.

Example: While in Dallas a few weeks back, I heard about the earthquake in the San Francisco Bay Area thirty minutes before most people right next door in Los Angeles. Geographic proximity as an influencing factor is now irrelevant to the equation of immediacy. As long as someone twitters it somewhere in the world, you can catch the latest news within seconds.

The downside to this immediacy is the lighting fast spread of negative news. Rumors of bankruptcy, scandal, or defective products hit the wire and thousands of people are sharing the news with their friends before you’ve ever heard a word. If it’s newsworthy, it’s going to be twittered. If you’re not monitoring Twitter and presenting your company’s face and position to the world there, your company is vulnerable to viral attack.

Reason #4: Exposure
While there are no guarantees that someone you follow on Twitter will reciprocate and follow you back, following a person or organization is like a notification of existence. It says, “Here I am! Check me out and see if I’m worth following back.” Each user is typically notified via email of each new follower, thus giving them an opportunity to review new followers and possibly reciprocate the follow.

By searching Twitter for users within a specific geographic area or by the topics of their conversations, any organization can cherry-pick their friends based on common goals or interests. This is the easiest method of increasing exposure I’ve ever heard of.

Reason #5: Traffic
Your company has a website. And you want people to visit it, if not purchase something or contact you through it. With Twitter, you can increase traffic to your site simply by engaging others.

Methods for Increasing Traffic:

• Answer other people’s questions
• Poll for opinions
• Post links to your newest articles
• Announce sales
• Recommend other Twitter users to your audience, thereby engendering appreciation

Daniel Dessinger
http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-marketing-articles/5-reasons-why-your-company-should-twitter-669326.html

Quando os DG’s – Directores Gerais – dizem “ Quero Marketing Viral” ou “Precisamos de desenvolver contactos usando Social Media”, o que é que eles efectivamente querem dizer? Marketing barato sem budget? Ou estarão apenas a lançar umas “buzz-words” só porque estiveram recentemente numa conferência, ouviram alguém falar disso e acharam “engraçadas” as expressões ? Ou será apenas porque está na moda?

Em primeiro lugar, marketing viral e social media são técnicas. Logo há que perceber qual o objectivo, de forma a determinar qual a técnica certa a aplicar: fugas de informação controladas, rumores, negócio B2B, vendas B2C… Depois, são conceitos diferentes. Estão relacionados, mas cada um requer planeamento e recursos específicos para serem concretizados. O marketing viral pode incluir uma componente de social media. Ambos partilham o mesmo objectivo fundamental: colocar potenciais Clientes a falarem do produto!

Note-se que os programas de social media só podem ser eficientes quando há uma comunidade-alvo a atingir. Isso exige um planeamento rigoroso porque, efectivamente, não conseguiremos controlar o sentido e a direcção das conversas. A possibilidade de dirigir as conversas é pouca , mas o valor deste tipo de aproximação tem um valor tão positivo como o “boca-a-boca” de Clientes satisfeitos. Por outro lado, social media é mais eficiente nos modelos de negócio tipo B2C pois esta comunidade-alvo é composta por compradores/Clientes finais. Por isso, tornar eficiente um programa social media num modelo tipo B2B é mais desafiante porque o processo de compra é mais complexo, existindo prescritores, influenciadores, peritos, conselheiros e decisores. Raramente encontraremos todos eles na mesma comunidade-alvo, pelo que o programa de social media terá de ser endereçado de forma abrangente para ser eficiente.

Em relação ao marketing viral, este inclui esforços também de social media. Ainda que o objectivo seja o mesmo, as técnicas de marketing viral atingem um alcance mais amplo do que os programas de social media. Um exemplo extremo para obter alternativas e alcançar um vasto leque de comunidades, é o da empresa que colocou publicidade nos filtros dos mictórios públicos. Relacionado com este exemplo extremo está o conceito de marketing de guerrilha, no fundo, trata-se de fazer marketing a baixo custo. Menciono isto apenas para diferenciar do marketing viral, que pode ser conduzido também usando uma aproximação de baixo custo. No entanto, há bons programas virais que podem exigir orçamentos avultados, particularmente se forem incluídos conceitos de video e imagem.

A minha experiência de trabalho com vários DG’s , ensinou-me que entendem este tipo de comunicação como diferente da que a sua geração está habituada, pensando que o seu alvo é um tipo de público mais jovem, em que social media permite ter a grande oportunidade de conversar com futuros Clientes aos quais contam a história da marca. Por vezes, alguns DG’s não entendem como podem ter êxito ou funcionar este tipo de técnicas que potenciam conversas e partilha de ideias. No fundo, é essa a nossa função enquanto responsáveis de Marketing ou de Vendas: convencê-los que funcionam, mas isso pode ser conversa para outra altura …

Miguel Cristovao
http://www.articlesbase.com/gestão-articles/marketing-viral-e-social-media-o-que-que-os-dgs-realmente-pretendem-690294.html

Here is how to find humor in not-so-funny stuff. Before long, you will have people laughing a lot at your presentation without telling jokes. Below are some ways to get people to laugh.

Steps

1. Set the scene for laughter. If you want to lighten up your program, you might want to let the audience know this, even before you say one word. Project some lighthearted visuals as the audience is entering the room. Play some uplifting music as they enter. Or, add some humor to your presentation title or program description. Your bio, for example, can have a list of accomplishments, playfully followed by “His mother is very proud of him.”

2. Poke fun at yourself. Again, even before you open your mouth, you can show the audience that you do not take yourself too seriously by adding some playful things about you in your introduction. For example, have the introducer tell the audience that you are the author of seven books which have sold well over 30 copies. Then the person corrects their mistake and says, “Oops, that is 300,000 copies.”

3. Get some laughs with a prop. It has been said that learning is enhanced with visual aids. If this is true, then speakers need to enhance their talks with something to visually illustrate what they are saying. A prop is a great way to do this because it not only makes your message memorable but it can also get a laugh. Use balloons to illustrate how people can let go of their stress; an inflatable globe to illustrate how we often carry the world around on our shoulders; and a plastic hammer with which to hit yourself on the head when you goof up. All make a point and all get a laugh.

4. Tell your humorous stories. Open your humor eyes and ears and look and listen for the funny things that happen all around you. Families are an especially good resource for finding humorous stories. One such story involves the author’s 93-year-old mother. Every time she goes to the doctor, she hires a van service to take her there and back. One late afternoon, it did not show up to take her home. Since the doctor had to close the office for the day, he suggested that she wait for the van in the pizza parlor next door. After waiting a long time without the van arriving, she went up to the counter and asked, “Do you deliver?” When the man behind the counter replied, “Of course, we do. We’re a pizza place.” She said, “Great. Then I’d like a pepperoni pizza and I’d like to go with it.”

5. Borrow some witty words. While waiting for your own humor-related stories to appear, you might want to borrow some funny short quotes from famous people to lighten up your talks. Quotation books, the TV, newspapers, and magazines such as Reader’s Digest are great resources for locating great quotes. For instance, if you frequently speak to hospice groups, Woody Allen’s comments about death and dying are appropriate (e.g., “There are worse things in life than death. Have you ever spent an evening with an insurance salesman?”).

6. Collect audience anecdotes. Sometimes audiences say the funniest things. When they do, write it down. It could be a big laugh in your next presentation. For years, I have been asking audiences, “How do you spell relief?” My answer is “L-A-U-G-H”. Then one day a woman in the back row called out, “D-I-V-O-R-C-E.” It got a huge laugh for her that day and continues to get a laugh for me when I retell it.

7. Remember the bottom line. For non-humorists, some of the ideas presented here may seem too frivolous for your subject matter. Nevertheless, I would still encourage you to seek some way of upping the entertainment value of your talks because it might also increase what you can charge. As Steve Allen once noted, “People will pay more to be entertained than educated.”

8. Make it relevant. One final word about using humor in your presentations–make sure it is relevant. Amusing an audience for the sake of getting a laugh might be ideal for a stand-up comedian or an after-dinner humorist but it’s probably not okay for most speakers. If your humor does not make a point or have a purpose, do not use it!

Tips

· When speaking to a group of people, sweep the room with your eyes so that everybody pays attention to you

· In sweeping the room, periodically make eye contact for a few moments with one person, then with another – don’t appear too animated and speak to that person as though they were the whole room, then break contact and look at someone else.

· In Powerpoint presentations or similar situations, use crudely drawn pictures you threw together in MS Paint (or similar program). Make it quite obvious that you are not an artist with stick figures, incoherent blobs, and poorly drawn simple pictures, all with the brush tool. No predefined shapes, text tools, or anything of that sort. The idea of this is that you threw this picture together in paint in 30 seconds. Present it as you would any other slide, starting off with “this diagram I put together…” or anything that mentions that you did it.

Warnings

· Be careful while poking fun at yourself (step 2). If you do it, do it without losing credibility, or else no one will take the rest of your presentation seriously.

· Do not dress funny for, let’s say a presentation. That is a surefire way for people not to take what you say seriously. You should be able to make people laugh and still get your message across. If you look like a clown you will be perceived as a clown.

The article is written by Stanley Lyndon, author of “How to be Funny” ISBN 1-4276-1392-3 sold at: How to be Funny . This may be distributed free of cost anywhere as long as the author note is preserved.

Stanley Lyndon is a well established comedian/writer and author of “How to be Funny”. His website can be found at: How to be Funny

Gareth
http://www.articlesbase.com/art-and-entertainment-articles/how-to-be-funny-without-telling-jokes-92760.html

Part 2 : Google Adwords Marketing

This is my second article series of Internet Marketing Miracles. Today, we will discuss about Google Adwords Marketing and how it is affecting the whole marketing industry, in general, and the product owners and marketers, in particular.

Advertising in Google Adwords has been the most lucrative form of online advertising never seen since the birth of the Internet. It is instantaneous and you could receive sales minutes after you finalized your campaign. Adwords guru, Perry Marshall, calls it as “the fastest crash course on true, real-life, street-level direct marketing”.

It is the only online advertising mode where you can generate traffic to your website within 10 minutes of campaign, to millions of targeted traffic from a minimum advertising budget of just $5.

Pioneered by Overture (formerly Goto.com, now known as Yahoo! Search Marketing), it was not known to many until Google use this campaign as an advertising medium. Creating campaign is a process and is not for everyone. You need to use some keyword search tool and campaign analysis and techniques in your campaign before you can be successful in this venture.

Google Adwords Defined:

Adwords advertising is a text link ads you can see as “sponsored ads” located at the top or just a text block at the right – of your Google search results whenever you search for some products or services. Also known as pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, bidders can then bid on a cost per million (CPM) basis for block advertisements. Your advertisement will then be shown to the content network site know as Adsense, the other side of Google advertising model.

When you create a campaign (text ads), you will bid for a series of words or phrases (called as keywords) as your anchor text that will link to your website domain or to your affiliate domain page. Done correctly, you could have a very profitable return of investment (ROI) and when done wrongly, could be very disastrous to your advertising budget. Due to the complexity of this system, most companies are hiring Consultants to do the campaigns for them.

What is Google Adsense?

Google Adsense is a form of advertising medium used by Webmasters to monetize on the contents of their webpages. Blocks displayed could be text, images and recently video advertisements. Adsense are displayed via javascript generated iframes and the text displayed are always relevant to the contents of your webpages. The monetization of your page depends on how well you place the location of your adsense blocks. Although placement plays a vital role in your click-through, color and text font place an important aspect in your campaign. Try to experiment with the background color, font and text colors to achieve the desired click-through campaign and, hence, maximizing your adsense income.

If your niche site is www.aboutdogs.com , Adsense will display an ads relating to your contents, like “dog foods”, “dog grooming ebooks” and, if you specify a targeted country, could even show a “veterinary clinic” near your area. Contextual ads change whenever the content of the page change as well. What makes this advertising relevant is majority of your customers are targeted, that is, looking for real information as per their keywords search.

Using Adwords and Adsense in your internet marketing campaign, when done right, could be very profitable. In my more than a year in online marketing, i have witnessed dozens of ordinary people making a “modest $200 to $60,000″ per month income from digital ebook sales – using Adwords campaign. Selling digital information is very effective using Google Adwords campaign. Why selling digital products are the best home business today? For simple reason, it doesn’t require you to store and send the package. No inventory and no packaging as there are no physical products to attend to. Everything is done in automation. If you’re an Internet Marketer, you maybe aware of this selling strategy.

Adwords campaign is defined by different sets of permutations as follows:

1) Broad Match : Google’s default option. When someone search for online dating, your keyword will appear when someone search “online” or “dating”. It is less targeted than the exact and phrase match. With this type of campaign, you may receive very less click-through and it could drain you advertising budget if you don’t do proper keyword search.

2) Phrase Match : Quotation marks are integrated to emphasize a phrase. When you campaign for “online dating”, your ads will be seen be someone search “online dating” like “adult online dating” but not for “date online” search. It is more targeted than broad match but less effective than exact match.

3) Exact Match : Brackets are used to emphasize the search. When you campaign for [online dating], it will show up on the search without any other terms in the query. It will not show up when someone search for “online dating resources” or “online dating guides”. You will receive the most clicks even though you will receive fewer impressions for this search.

4) Negative Keywords : When your keyword is “online dating” and you add negative keyword -guide, your ad will not appear when someone search for “online dating guide”. You can apply this option at both Ad Group and campaign level.

The concept of Adwords is very simple, yet, very complex and tricky. What you believe is your best campaign could be your worst keyword campaign. So, take time to muster the art of proper keyword marketing, do proper research, take advise, read reports, buy ebooks about Adword guides, implement it, learn from your mistakes and you will see success in the long run.

Jerry Navarro
http://www.articlesbase.com/marketing-articles/internet-marketing-miracles-part-2-97428.html

Duration : 0:4:25

Technorati Tags: Australian, Awake, Clip, Coast, Dreamscape, Drums, DSM, EP, Film, Gold, Guitar, Heavy, Karnivool, Measurement, Meshuggah, Metal, Mnemic, music, New, release, Strapping, Video, Vocals

The first line-up included: Peter (vocals), Carry Janssen (drums, later to Nico Haak), Gerard Romeyn (guitar/bass, 1966-67 on guitar, to The Motions) and Rob “Polle” Eduard (guitar/bass). In 1966, Robert Plazier (keyboards, ex-C-Sounds, later with Nico Haak) came on board. Their first two singles were penned for them by Robbie van Leeuwen of The Motions and were moderate hits. Hans van Eijck (guitarist of Jumping Pop-in) composed a few songs for their debut album “Emotion”. After the release of the album Robert Plazier was ousted in favour of Hans van Eijck, who switched to organ. Early 1967, Gerard Romeyn left to join The Motions as a replacement for Robbie van Leeuwen. English guitarist Ray Fenwick (ex-Syndicats, where he’d replaced Steve Howe) joined the Tee Set with Polle Eduard now permanently on bass. In the Spring of 1967, there were squabbles between singer Peter Tetteroo (backed by manager Theo Kuppens) and the rest of the band. At the centre of the problems were disagreements about the royalties for “Don’t You Leave” (a Top 10 hit culled from the album “Emotion”), which was a traditional blues song copied from a Dave Van Ronk album, for which Tetteroo and Kuppens claimed songwriting credits. Tetteroo decided to get rid of the whole band (Janssen had already left) and subsequently Eduard, van Eijck and Fenwick founded After Tea.

Tetteroo then picked three members of Amsterdam band James Mean (who were without a lead singer as Michel van Dijk had joined Les Baroques): Franklin Madjid (bass), Joop Blom (drums) and Ferdy Karmelk (guitar). Jan Pieter Boekhoorn (like Hans van Eijck also an ex-Jumping Pop-in, later in Sympathy) joined on organ. The music style of the band shifted from R&B to pop with songs like “Tea Is Famous”. The following year Karmelk was replaced by Dihl Bennink (ex-Don’t, brother of Leo Bennink of the Jay-Jays and The Motions) followed by the replacement of Boekhoorn by Peter Seilberger (later in Fairy Tale).

1969 saw the return of Hans van Eijck from his stint with After Tea. The line-up of Tetteroo, van Eijck, Madjid, Blom and Bennink recorded the worldwide hit “Ma Belle Amie” (#5 in the Billboard Hot 100 in 1970), but the personnel changes continued. First Blom was replaced by Herman van Boeyen (ex-Fullhouse, to Supersister) on drums, but soon afterwards he left and Max Spangenberg joined. Ferry Lever left After Tea to join the Set on guitar. This line-up remained stable for a few years scoring hits like “She Likes Weeds” (their only Dutch #1 hit) which was banned in the USA for drug connotations, (of course) denied by the band. They claimed the first two lines of the chorus were literally taken from the movie “The Ipcress File” (starring Michael Caine) where Harry Palmer (played by Caine) makes a remark about his superior’s weedy garden. Palmer’s boss answers his wife looks after the garden and that: “She likes weeds, they’re easy to grow.”

When subsequent releases sold less and less, the band decided to call it a day in 1975. In the 1980s, Peter Tetteroo started touring with all kinds of line-ups again (at one point including Polle Eduard and Ray Fenwick) touring mainly the oldies circuit. Tetteroo died in 2002 from liver cancer at the age of 55.

Duration : 0:3:2

Technorati Tags: 1970s, 70s, dutch, eyes, holland, in, Nederpop, oldies, Peter, pop, Rock, set, seventies, tee, Tetteroo, your

Social networking according to the latest online reports is more and more well-liked than email has ever been. There are lots of social networking sites but there have only been a handful which has become really successful social sites such as Twitter. Businesses today are associating with Twitter more and more so they can send excessive high class Twitter traffic to their sites.

So what are the benefits of Twitter? Can Twitter really send traffic to your online business? Yes you can drive twitter traffic to your online business however you will need to think about particular aspects and build a Twitter marketing plan. Below are 3 crucial steps which will assist you to send huge amounts of traffic to your site using Twitter?

Twitter Step#1: You will need to open a Twitter account and start to follow others. Lots of people will begin to follow you back and this is how you create a list of followers within twitter. Signing up is free and the quantity of traffic depends on the amount of followers you have.

Twitter Step #2: Begin posting Tweets to your Twitter account! Always keep in mind that your Tweets must have information or ought to catch the attention of followers and other Twitter users to visit your website.

Twitter Step #3: Participate in reading other people’s posts and comment on them. Find out how other people are performing within Twitter. Start to follow people with large followings and build content or posts so that you will gain popularity.

Remember to always write Tweets and keep posting on a regular basis, this will allow you to Make sure more people and followers follow you and That should without doubt send a lot of complimentary traffic to your website.

David Gange

Here we go again!\

Another year and another great possibility! With the election of Obama to the presidency, there is Hope and all are looking for a great future.

But I am sitting here thinking of all the folks in social Media that are going to be frustrated again in their social Media marketing efforts. wondering why they are not getting the traction or friends that they thought they should. And the main reason is that they continue to make the same mistakes in Social Media as last year.

Are YOU going to do that- I sure hope not. You may not have the power of a Robert Scoble, or the personality of a Gary Vanyerchuck, or the mind of a Chris Brogan, or the networking focus of a Mari Smith or Coach Deb micek. Or even the amazing writing talent of a Scott Monty.

At least not yet.

But you CAN accelerate your Social Media Success this year by avoiding these top 10 mistakes made by people in Social media in 2009.

Ok…what are they?

1) Lack of Consistent Visibility.

You cannot make a path and create a presence in Social Media, without CONSISTENTLY being SEEN and HEARD with your message. Ask Carrie Wilkerson. Or Timothy Carter. NOT going to happen. That is why that you MSUT create a Presence on the web DAILY- and be seen and heard as part of the community. A tree does not grow part time. It must be consistent in it’s efforts. It is the saem with your Social Media marketing.

2) Focusing too much on being heard.

LISTEN first- THEN talk. Social Media is about Listening to what is being said- by your prospects and customers- and social media in general. You would never enter a party or social event and immediately start yelling out what you wanted to talk about.

Neither should you in Social Media. LISTEN and then LEARN- and then Let your voice be heard- ONLY as a part of the existing conversation. Your time to start the conversation will come.

3) Taking, instead of GIVING to the Social Media Community.

Ahhhhh- lots of takers out in the Web 2,0 world. But NOT YOU. GIVE first. Give Value. Give Suggestions. Give Advice. Give ideas. Give Encouragement. Give News. Give New Possibilities. Give Words of Gratitude. But do NOT take relentlessly. You will be shunned and labeled as such.

If you REALLY want to create powerful influence- GIVE. How does that work?

GIVE = Gain Influence Very Easily. Give FIRST – and you will never come in Second.

4) Not Joining groups.

Groups are where you can have some of the greatest growth and learning. I belong to a ton of groups. Why? Because of 2 reasons: 1) I learn a lot from other people. 2) I CONNECT with the folks in the group.

Groups are a “secret weapon” that you should use on as many social sites as you can. They will not only Enlarge you- but also the possibilities that the group can bring to your life.

5) Not attending Events.

Events ROCK. And you should be attending at leat 1 event a week to do 2 things: 1) Become more Visible. 2) To learn from people that know things you do not.

Events are what i call the “Hidden University” of social Media. You can learn a LOT and grow a lot from events.

Look at the events that interest you. And pick on event that mildly interests you. And see if you can learn something even from that event. I have an event journal. and every event that i attend- i keep a log of what was said so i can review it later. You may want to do the same.

6) Not enough VALUE in what they are doing.

Value RULES in Social Media. And we train on what we call “Surprising Value.” This is the type of Value that is so great and unexpected that it surprises the person that discovers it. Put More Value in your POSTS. Put more Value in your PODCASTS. Put more Value in your Conversations. Put more Value in your Articles. Put More Value in your Recommendations. Put More Value in YOU and what you bring to the Social Media table.

Value RULES. And the one with the MOST value at the end of the day- reigns.

7) Joining Too Many Social Media sites.

There are about 3,600 Social Media sites. You need maybe 5-7. You read that right. You need 5-7 PRIMARY Social Sites. Then you need maybe 25-30, or even 50 Secondary sites for Link Building and traffic purposes. The main sites that you should be a part of- is up to you. My ‘Big 7″ are facebook, twitter, youtube, LinkedIn, Stumbleupon, Plaxo, and Wordpress- along with mashable. These are the CORE of my Social Media Marketing.

Do I belong to more? Heavens yes- a LOT more’ but have automated those through ping.fm and other social software.

Do NOT try and be seen on a hundred sites. Facebook alone can keep you busy with over 200 million people. The same with myspace, or friendster. Master ONE site while mastering social media and then another, and then another, until you have YOUR “Big 7.” And then automate the rest.

Focusing too much on Monetizing Social Media.

Nothing wrong with monetization on the internet. We do it a LOT- and daily. But focusing too much on that in social media- is , well…not cool. People do not mind knowing about an offer, or new info product. But how about giving some VALUE first with it- then invite them to an event- and then at the end of the conference call or webinar-give them a chance to purchase your produst.

What do I see daily? Urls and messages SELLING SELLING SELLING! Whew- wish that would not happen so blatantly. It has gotten better, but if you have a great content rich info product- here is a novel idea: GIVE part of the info away FIRST’and let the person ASK you for the product if they like it.

Hmmm….that just might be an idea worth considering.

9) Thinking that You are Nobody and Social Media Success is for other people.

Ask Chris Brogan. Ask Scott Monty. Ask Alejandro Reyes. Ask Brian Solis. Ask Dave Taylor. Ask Shama Hyder. EVRYONE has a great possibility to becoming SOMEBODY in Social Media. THAT is the beauty of the culture. Everyone who contributes Value and Connection- is more than welcome to achieve whatever they want. Chris Brogan once had 10 readers of his blog. Now he has almost 40,000 people following him on twitter alone. Brian Clark of copyblogger fame once had 10 readers. So did Scoble. So did Monty. So did Shama. And the list is endless.

There is GREATNESS inside of you-and there is NO BETTER place than Social Media to unleash it upon the world. You ARE Somebody- and always have been. YOU are a Social Media Rockstar- in training!

10) Not Branding Yourself Strong Enough.

Branding is a tool that we all use in Social Media. It is WHO YOU ARE- and what people remember about you. It could be a phrase-”Just Do It (TM)”- or a slogan- “”We’ve Got You Covered.” Or even a questions- “Can You Hear me Now?” or just a Name-”Trump.”

You need to get a slogan or phrase that you can start wrapping in your messages. You need to get an image that speaks what you want the public to see and know. And you need to decide -what is the ONE THING I want people to think of FIRST- when they think of me and my company? THAT is the start of a good brand build. Do not be just another face in the web 2.0 world. Set yourself apart and above the fray with a brand that rocks. We teach what is called “Connection Branding” and we have saying:

“Do NOT just be known or remembered- become UNFORGETTABLE.” ™

THAT is what you need to do!

These are the top 10 mistakes people will make in Social Media in 2009. Yes, i Know there are others- but these are the ones that i see as the most prevalent in Social Media marketing.

blessings..doug firebaugh

Douglas Firebaugh
http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/social-media-marketing-the-top-10-mistakes-people-will-make-in-social-media-in-2009-734830.html

Funny romance stories always make for a great time. Romance and humor is simply an unbeatable combination. Being funny comes naturally to many and if you are like me, you have to have some memorized quotes just in case you have to crack a joke. There is nothing to joke about when it comes to romance. It is serious business which can even be scary. I’m sure you have read stories of romance that you did not find funny at all; thank God we will not focus on the sad romance tales. Funny romance is pretty much common in society. There are so many historical romance books and novels that have great funny stuff. Being funny is no laughing matter. There are several serious reasons why you should consider reading or writing such literary work with a comic twist. First, as a reader, you will get to live longer. You will not just live longer for laughing to death but, because of romance that goes with it. Statistics have shown that people, who are romantic or engage in serious flirting, live longer than those who decided to be cold fish. This does not warrant you to go cheating on your wife; it is perfectly okay to be romantic and flirtatious with her. However, the flirtation part might need some work.

If you are like me and do not like large books so called literary romance, you can read funny romance articles just like this one. Romance will be communicated in so many ways including through quotes, sayings, poems, short stories and so on. I’m sure you have come across funny love quotes. For example, there is one that always manages to make me smile. It talks about how you should dread an institution. The institution in question is for you to decide. The quote is about romance and marriage and it goes like this ‘marriage is an institution and I’m not ready for an institution’. It is a comical way to confirm some of the fears that young people have when it comes to marriage life. There is another funny romance quote which people who are a bit on the fatty side might find insulting. A lover says to her girlfriend ‘ you are my world and everything in it’. Depending on how your partner takes the compliment, you might just be still alive to tell the romance tale. Sometimes, using funny pictures does the job of making things funny when it comes to romance.

Pictures of animals will have a measure of innocence and coupled with great captions, you can be in a position to send the person you love some great romantic messages. Being funny is not complicated; it is the everyday thing that you twist, to become fit for a laugh. When you make someone smile, the message will be home. For writers, it can be awfully hard to produce a funny romance tale that will make you laugh through out. May be, laughing through out is not realistic. Therefore, look for the good romance material that is funny and, appreciate it for what it is. You can always try your hand at writing, if you are a funny guy, you will definitely be discovered; in a positive light of course.

Francis Githinji
http://www.articlesbase.com/book-reviews-articles/exploring-sources-of-funny-romance-tales-683761.html