To be successful at Internet marketing, you don't need to spend every waking hour on-line – although it might seem that way by listening to what some Internet marketing experts say. Instead, make some smart decisions about which Internet marketing tools you're going to use, and which you can afford to ignore.
Here’s an overview of the Internet marketing strategy I recommend for smart business owners:
In June 2012, Forbes magazine included me at #5 in their list of top 10 social media influencers in book publishing. I’m particularly pleased because the criteria they used weren’t just about the number of followers (reach), but included the ability to engage a community (resonance) and how it fit their particular circumstances (relevance). Those three things together – reach, resonance and relevance – go together to create influence.
Getting Started
There are a lot of resources – on my Web site and elsewhere – about Internet marketing and social media, and it can be difficult to know where to start. I should warn you that my approach to it is different from what many other people advise. I want you to be seen as a leader and an authority, not just yet another business. This means you have to be willing to position your expertise, build credibility, generate content regularly, and be active as a “consultant” to your customers and clients.
Here are some articles I’ve written about this – to give you a flavour of this approach:
- If One Thing Could Fix Your Social Media Campaign, This Is It
- Seven Practical Ways For Leaders To Use Twitter
- Get More Bang In Your Social Media
- Stress Less With Social Media: 5 Surprisingly Simple Tactics
- Take a Chance on Social Media Leadership
Still with me? Good!
As you will have noticed, my focus is very much on positioning yourself as an influential authority. This starts with your blog, and this two-minute video will show you how to set up your blog and other social media tools:
The next step is to create high-quality content and distribute it through your entire network. Watch my slide show “Content Marketing Made Easy” here – it summarises the process:
Finally, I need to tell you that I’ve got firm opinions and views about how you get to the top of Google – and it’s not the typical “search engine optimization” stuff! Watch this webinar recording “Seven Secrets For Boosting Your Google Ranking” for more:
If you’re willing to do all this stuff above, then I think we can work together. Please explore the other resources here, and get in touch with me.
The eGurus Community
If you're a member of the eGurus Community, there's a section of the eGurus Vault with resources about an Internet marketing strategy for eGurus. Start with the slide deck on that page, which gives you an overview of the process.
If you're not an eGurus member, find out about membership at www.eGurus.info.
Leverage Mentoring Program
If you want a more direct approach than you get in the eGurus Community, you might be interested in my monthly Leverage Mentoring Program. You join the program, we discuss your specific goals and outcomes, and we work together to help you achieve them. You can join for as long or as short as you like (typically, it will be 3-6 months). This is ideal for you if you want to get more from what you’re doing – whether it’s about using social media, turning your programs into information products, reaching more people with your messages, managing information overload, or being more productive. I can help you get more from what you’re doing without necessarily spending a lot of money, employing more staff, or harming your lifestyle.
Fast, Flat and Free (Book, E-Book and Audio Book)
Do you know the Internet has changed your business, but you don't know how? Unfortunately, most businesses don't know the rules have changed. They think Internet marketing is about branding, hype, advertising, mass markets, needs, traffic, transactions, copywriting and better products and services. It's not. It's about personality, value, reputation, niches, wants, communities, connections, buying frames and better experiences. If you're a business owner, you must change your business to stay ahead. This book shows you what has changed, and helps you create a practical strategy to take advantage of the incredible opportunities.
Consulting: Social Media Leadership
The Social Media Leadership mentoring program is designed specifically to help you tap into the power of the Internet to boost your business. I’ll work with you personally to show you how to get more traffic to your Web site, using the new tools of expertise, authority and influence you need to succeed in today’s connected world.
Webinar Series: Internet Business Revolution
I’m running this free webinar series The Internet Business Revolution twice a month – to share with you some of the latest ideas about on-line strategy and Internet marketing. In each webinar, I’ll cover an important topic related to your business and the Internet. This is not just about the theory – I’ll give you practical ideas you can use in your business.
Subscribe to the Expert Gold newsletter
For years, I've been working with some of the world's best experts, thought leaders, infopreneurs and business professionals to help them accelerate their business growth by using the Internet and by creating information products. And now you can tap into this experience. Every week or two, I'll send you a business-building idea from my own business or that I've used with my clients.
Listen to the Expert Gold Radio Show
If you're in business as an expert – a professional speaker, trainer, facilitator, seminar presenter, coach, author or consultant – you're probably leaving money on the table every time you speak, write, coach or consult. The Expert Gold Radio Show brings you monthly ideas, information, interviews and insights into the world of Internet marketing and e-learning.
Articles
- How to Navigate the Internet Marketing Map
- It's Amateur Hour on the Internet
- Treat Your Business as a Boutique Experience
- Internet Marketing Is About Showing Your Face
- Gurus Don't Need Business Cards
- Step Into The Expert's Role
- Give Value, Get Traffic
- Get Over It!
- Are You Trying to Use New-Style Marketing for an Old-Style Business?
- Why Aren't the Railroad Companies Running Airlines?
- Don't Become a Digital Dinosaur
- The Day I Visited Every Web Site in the World
Webinar Recording: What Does Google Want?
Getting to the top of Google is about much more than keywords, page titles and META tags. A few months ago, Google released a set of guidelines for Web site owners, to explain broadly how it ranks Web sites. In this webinar, I'll share these guidelines and explain how you use them to improve your Web site's rankings.
Webinar Recording: Build Your Online Presence Without Spending Hours A Day
On-line marketing is about building your reputation by consistently delivering value. But how do you do this without being a slave to your blog, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and the other myriad Internet tools you're "supposed" to be using? In this webinar, I give you a simple formula for writing high-quality content, and then show you a system for leveraging it on-line in different ways.
Webinar Recording: Your Internet Marketing Plan
In this coaching webinar, I take you through the nine key principles you need to consider for your business, and walk you through the process of building your on-line strategy. Based on the material in my book "Fast, Flat and Free".
Webinar Recording: How to Turn One Idea into Multiple Marketing Opportunities
During this one-hour webinar, Gihan Perera shares the tips, tools and strategies he has used to master content marketing (Moderated by James Tuckerman of Anthill Online).
