Making Money From Google AdWords

Making Money From Google AdWords

Are you currently making money from Google AdWords? What if I told you that, if you do it right, it could literally become your own personal ATM?

I’m going to be really blunt here:

“There’s an 80-90% probability that Google AdWords could be the single most profitable source of income for your business.”

Did you laugh? Tried AdWords and it doesn’t work?

Here’s another blunt statement – “just because you tried something and it didn’t work because you did it incorrectly doesn’t mean that it doesn’t work! It’s not the thing that was the problem, it was how you did it!”

AdWords can be an amazing source of profitability, almost like your own personal ATM, from which you can regularly withdraw money, but only if you do it right.

And, don’t think that you don’t need AdWords because you’ve already got great natural, free search engine rankings. You can enjoy huge increases in profits by running AdWords advertising even on keywords where you already have #1 Rankings.

You just need to learn to do it right!

Here’s a video that walks you through, step-by-step, exactly how to do it right. In it, my special guest Online Traffic Expert Dan Thies, teaches his AdWords Triangulation Method (ATM) which is focused on turning AdWords into a steady stream of profits for your business.

Note the acronym ATM in the title? That’s no accident! It literally can be one!

Grab something to take notes, you’re going to want it!

This video is a preview of the amazing content that you’ll be seeing at Don Crowther’s Social Profit Live! event, the hottest and most valuable Social Media and Internet Marketing conference of the year. Please join us in sunny Arizona October 20-22, 2011!

Register for Social Profit Live!

What changes are you making to your AdWords campaigns as a result of this video? Please tell us in a comment below. And don’t forget to Like and tweet this!

How to install supercharged Google Analytics on your Blog

Did you know that there is a whole set of additional analytics data you can get from your WordPress blog that you probably aren’t accessing now?

Information about your traffic, where it comes from and what it does while its on your site?

Information that’s key to building your business?

Like the ability to group data by:

  • Categories
  • Tags
  • Authors
  • Publication year
  • Authors

But to do so, you have to use a cool, free plugin.

Of course, all of this data is in ADDITION to the all the powerful data you’re currently getting from Google Analytics.

Or, perhaps (gasp) you may not even have Google Analytics installed on your blog!

You’ve come to the right place. Here are two videos that will walk you through how to install and configure an incredibly powerful, yet simple WordPress plugin that will give you full access to the amazing power of the free Google Analytics tool.

Here’s the first video that shows you:

  1. How to find and install the Joost de Valk’s Google Analytics for WordPress plugin.
  2. How to set up a Google Analytics profile for your blog
  3. How to tie the two of them together, so that everything works

So that you know, this video is specifically designed for someone who is inexperienced in the process of installing and setting up WordPress plugins. So, if you’re already an experienced WordPress plugin installer, skip this one and watch the next one.

But if you’re at all uncomfortable installing WordPress plugins, watch it now!

Now, here’s the video that everyone, no matter what your level of experience needs to watch. It shows the key settings in the Google Analytics for WordPress plugin that allow you to get a bunch of incredibly valuable information that you’re probably not getting from your blog right now.

So, no matter how advanced you are with WordPress,
And even if you’ve already got Google Analytics installed on your blog…
You need to watch this one!

So, what did you think? Are you running out right now to install it?

I think you should!

And don’t forget to Like, Tweet and leave a comment. We LOVE feedback!

Don

Losing! Business Lessons From Charlie Sheen

It’s gripping stuff. Like a spectacular fireworks display or a slow motion car crash. The very public, erratic behavior of Charlie Sheen has been on our TVs just about every night for weeks now. And we’re unable to turn away. It’s just too oddly compelling.

Losing! Lessons we can learn from Charlie Sheen

And of course – me being me – I can’t just point and watch. There’s something happening here that’s worth observing, considering, and analyzing. Sheen’s choices don’t just make for a wild ride. They make for a pretty compelling cautionary tale. Especially for business owners. I always encourage small business owners to be willing to take a few risks, and try new things.

But you must measure those risks carefully before leaping (like a tiger?) off the cliff.

Let me break it down for you:

  • The Ol’ Bird In Hand Thing:
    Seems to me that Sheen is trying to reinvent himself as something of “The Next Hugh Hefner” or “The Next Howard Stern”. Which is fine. Tweaking your brand is not a bad idea…unless you already have a great one going! Sheen was making millions – per episode – in a job that garnered him not only money but a modicum of success and stability. He blew that all away because he was unwilling, or some say unable, to control his erratic behavior. The lesson here is if you want to reinvent yourself, make sure that you’re not fixing something that just ain’t broken.
  • Seek Wise Counsel:
    Like Tom Cruise before him, Sheen’s public blowout began right after he lost his longtime PR handler. How many of us have been cranked up with what we think is a great idea…only to be brought down to earth by a friend who has a clearer head and less biased perspective. If you are about to do something new or risky, always make sure you run it by someone who’s judgement you trust. Even if you don’t like what they have to say, hear them out and think hard about their advice. They could be saving your business!
  • Don’t Make Impeded Decisions:
    Charlie may think that he’s just fine while high, but his actions clearly show the opposite. Obviously, it’s key to be totally in your right mind any time you make key business- and life-changing decisions. But remember, impeded decision-making doesn’t just come from the effects of drugs and alcohol. Other things like anger, sleepiness, sickness, stress, and distraction influence our ability to think clearly and rationally. And one of those decisions is “stay off TV” unless you’re thinking is totally unimpaired!
  • Nix The Dirty Laundry:
    This one seems obvious. It’d be too easy to dismiss Sheen’s propensity for describing his love life and personal drug habits as just a one-off, very unique celebrity delusion. But it’s not. I have seen too many cringe-worthy business emails from my students and peers in my day. If you miss a deadline, apologize to your clientele, but don’t tell them it’s because you’re going through a divorce. And whatever you do, don’t ever talk trash about a former business associate to a current business associate! Its often more than sufficient to call whatever issue you had with that former partner an “unexpected circumstance” and move on. Resist the urge to spill your guts in a business setting. Save that for your spouse or your therapist!

What’s your opinion? What else can we learn from Charlie Sheen, good or bad? Share them by adding a comment below, and don’t forget to Tweet and Like this post!

The Two-Page Strategic Plan Template

2 Page Strategic Plan

Several years ago, one of my best friends, Jeff Walker, taught me a very important principle.

Ever since then I’ve followed his example, and taken the time between Christmas and New Years off with no employees around to do two things:

1. Play with my family
2. Think about my business and life with the objective of planning for the next year.

At the end of that week I always try to have something in writing that summarizes my action plans. Usually, it comes out in the form of a Strategic Plan, a two-page document that guides my decisions and actions for the next year.

That one practice has done more to build my business than anything else that I do.

I propose that it may be a good idea for you to do this too.

Now, just in case you don’t know how to do that, I’ve put together a template for you to use to simplify the process. This is a simple two-page document that contains the basics of a powerful strategic plan.

You can go lots deeper if you want, but this will give you the basics that you need to focus your actions on the key things that will grow your business this next year.

Here’s a link to the Two Page Strategic Plan Template
It’s a zip file that contains the template and a sample of it filled out for a fictitious business in both a Microsoft Word document and in PDF format in case you don’t have Word.

And here’s a video that describes how to do fill it out.

The key here is that it’s not the form that makes the difference, it’s the thought behind it. So, I recommend that you plan on spending at least 2-3 hours in a quiet room, with no distractions to think about the elements asked for in this form.

Plus, this form can be used for multiple businesses. Simply fill a version out for each business, then do one in the end that summarizes everything.

And, the first page of it is valuable for thinking through other things that aren’t business-related at all. Basically the first page asks you to think through where you are now, where you want to be, and what you’ve got to do to fill that gap. So therefore you could use it to think about and improve things like:

  • Your relationships with your spouse and children
  • Your hobbies
  • Your golf game
  • Your church
  • Your charitable activities
  • Remodeling your house
  • Your health
  • Your diet

Can you see how I could go on and on?

Download the form here.

I’m thinking of someday including this in a product someday, so I’d really like to hear your opinions on it. Try it, see if you find it to be as powerful as I do. Then Like this page, Tweet about it, and leave a comment below!

How To Make Money With Facebook

Want to know how to increase your revenue from Facebook? Watch this video of a recent webinar that I held with guest speaker Robert Grant. It’s got some great information on the what and why, but more importantly, how to do it!

Plus, you can also download the slides (note, some of the pages throw errors, especially right at the beginning, but don’t worry about it, the key information’s there!)

I’ve put together a special bonus for anyone who buys Crowd Conversion through my link.

To qualify for these bonuses, simply buy through this link. I’ll email you with the details!

Like this? Want more information like it? Leave us a comment below, Tweet it, and click the Like button!

How To Add Text Subtitles To YouTube Videos

Closed Caption Youtube

If you’ve seen my YouTube videos, you’ll see that most of them show the text of the video in text at the bottom of the screen. It’s done as part of YouTube’s closed captioning service.

You definitely want to implement closed captioning for your videos and setting it so that its on by default. Doing so:

  • Increases the length of time that people watch your videos
  • Increases the engagement with the viewer, increasing the probability that they’re going to do what you ask them to afterwards.
  • Helps those who have hearing disabilities be able to understand your video.

It used to cost a ton to implement closed captioning, but YouTube’s given us a gift, which makes it virtually free. Watch this video to learn exactly how to do it yourself, plus a special surprise benefit you’ll get as a result of doing so. Here’s the video:

(Like this video? Rate it and leave a comment! Want a transcript? Click on the image below or download a free transcript of this video. )

Addding Text To YouTube Transcript

Click To Download Free Video Transcript

Go add some text subtitles to your videos on YouTube now! It’s quick, it’s easy. It delivers great results – I recommend that you try it!

Have you tried adding subtitles to your videos? Tell us about your experience by writing a comment below!


WordPress Plugins: Choosing What To Install

One of the most frequently-asked questions I receive is “which WordPress plugins should I install.”

This video shows you a strategy of how to make that decision, plus it shows you some of my personal favorite plugins:

(Like this video? Rate and comment on this video and subscribe to my YouTube channel.)

In a sec, I’ll give you the list of some of my favorites, but it really is worth your time to watch the video to see the strategy I use to choose which plugins I select, which will save you tons of time, frustration and worry.

Here’s the list of plugins referred to in the video:

What do you think of the strategy I present in the video? What are YOUR favorite plugins? Share them in the comments below!

8 Great Ways to Dodge The Twitter Unfollow Button

In a sense, social media is like one big popularity contest. The in crowd has loads of Twitter followers, tons of Facebook friends. They get ‘liked’ and ‘shared’ and LinkedIn like they were born to do it.

Then you have the unlucky crew who finds themselves unfriended. Unfollowed! Even blocked.

Twitter Unfollow

Let’s seat you in at the right “lunch table” shall we? We’ll start with Twitter. Here are some surefire ways to keep you from being unfollowed.

  1. Don’t come off crazy! So that annoying guy at Starbucks budged in line. Unless you do it in a witty, lighthearted way – don’t tweet your ‘cafe rage’. It’s not interesting or valuable to anyone and it could paint you as a negative nutcase.
  2. Don’t offend. There’s nothing followable about racism, sexism or off-color tweets. Anything you wouldn’t say in front of a live customer should never be tweeted. Heck – you shouldn’t be saying that stuff in the first place!
  3. Don’t be Casper. You have to keep up your end of the conversation. If you tweet once a month, don’t be surprised if no one cares about your opinions (or your coupon codes.) Keep it frequent.
  4. Don’t be “OverFrequent”, Either: Once a month is too little but once every 10 minutes for 6 hours straight is obnoxious. Don’t punish your followers by dominating up their screens with tons of tweets. Let someone else get a tweet in edgewise.
  5. Don’t Overshare: I don’t care who you are, I don’t want to know about your partying, your personal hygiene or your bathroom breaks. And you know what….your followers agree with me.
  6. Don’t Go Link Nuts: Posting links is encouraged. Just make sure you don’t dump a URL as a tweet with no explanation. It comes off spammy, even if the link is a nice photo of your nice doggie. Explain what your followers will see when they click that link!
  7. Don’t Get Too Controversial: Getting overzealous about a certain political party or sports team or celebrity will lose your followers who don’t care for them. Don’t be boring, certainly, but try not to taunt your followers.
  8. Don’t be a Robot: The point of Twitter is to let people get to know you, personally. Automating everything (in an obvious way) is a big fat turn-off to a lot of people. No one wants to follow software.

What makes you unfollow someone? Tell us your best unfollow story by posting a comment below!

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9 Ways to Get More Blog Readers From Twitter

Twitter has it’s rabid fans.

It also has it’s eye-rolling detractors. But whatever your take on Twitter might be, the truth is that – used correctly  – Twitter can be a great way to gain fans, open doors, and really drive traffic.

get more blog readers from twitter

In fact, today I’m going to talk about using Twitter to drive traffic to your blog.  Here are nine quick, easy Twitter guidelines that can transform your casual Twitter followers into fully-engaged blog readers.

  1. Persist.
    The first thing you need to do is to not judge Twitter by the response you do (or don’t get) after your first few posts. Twitter’s a long distance run, not a sprint.  You need to tweet subtly and constantly.  Don’t give up if you post once or twice and no one runs over to your blog. They will, just give it time.
  2. Fill Out Your Profile
    No one cares about, or wants to engage with, a blank avatar and an empty profile. Take the time to add in your blog URL and a quick write-up on what you want your followers to know about you.
  3. Brand Up Your Background
    Your Twitter profile is a free billboard.  Why would you leave it blank or cover it with photos of your favorite flower? Instead, make sure your logo and blog URL is prominent. Make sure your brand is instantly identifiable.
  4. Tweet Your Photos
    A 140 character description of a sumptuous dessert might pique your followers’ interest, but a photo of that decadent cheesecake will make their mouth water.  You want that mouth-watering response. Use photos often. And here’s another great way to get free and legal photos to tweet, use on your blog, or your site.
  5. Get Followed
    It’s like the New York Times Bestseller List. People are always curious what other people like.  So to attract followers, you need to have them. The best way to get followers is to follow others – most will follow you back!
  6. Spam Not
    It’s okay to be proud of your company and what you do. It’s not okay to crow about it every other tweet.  People will visit your blog because they like what you tweet and want to read more on your blog. (They won’t visit just because you repeatedly tell them to. Again and again and again…)
  7. Be Real
    Hand in hand with the no-spam rule is the no-lie guideline. If you’re not in Hawaii, don’t say you are, just because you think it sounds more interesting. If you’re new to the industry, don’t fake that it’s old hat to you. You’ll risk getting caught and your credibility will suffer.
  8. Bigwigs and Their Big Audiences
    Like I said earlier, Twitter is fantastic for opening doors you might otherwise never have access to. So try to get the attention of your industry’s thought leaders via Twitter. Questions, suggestions and (sincere) thank you’s for what they do are all great ways to show up on their radar. Then, once you have their attention, eventually ask if they might tweet about one of your blog posts.  You’d be surprised how many do!
  9. Get Trendy
    Pay attention to the top trending topics on Twitter. Then find a way to incorporate those hashtag phrases into your tweets.  Doing so can land you on some of the most viewed search pages on Twitter, worldwide! (Just make sure your tweets are really relevant to the discussion.)

What tips would you give to others about building blog traffic using Twitter? Share them by posting a comment below!

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Can corporate videos go viral?

Want to go viral?

We know that videos can go viral that are about dance

and they work if you can sing like an angel

Or if your little brother keeps biting you:

But can it work for company videos?

Let me break it to you – it probably can’t if you just create a promotional commercial.

But it can, if you get creative, and can create something viral worthy. It probably won’t get 100 million plus views, but you can still get tons!

You could blend an iPad:

You could put an alarm on your Microsoft software:

yes, I know that wasn’t a Microsoft video, but it should have been!

Skittles is going to hit soon with some of theirs:

Here’s a Craftsman shot that’s got a great chance at scoring viral:

to join the success of this one:

and don’t forget this one:

So, why do these, clearly corporate videos go viral?

1. They’re cool

2. They’re unexpected

3. They’re not just purely promoting the brand, they’re promoting cool and unexpected.

So, what cool, unexpected thing can you put onto film that will build your company, brand, or image?

Know of other great viral corporate videos? Disagree with our conclusion? Share your thoughts by posting a comment below.