Twitter Talks
July 28, 2008
There’s been a lot of talk about Twitter lately. Actually, it seems all social networking sites are gaining more popularity as the use of MySpace and Facebook are becoming more mainstream and not just for the kids anymore…but I’ve seen Twitter use increase.
I believe Twitter is quickly becoming a combination of Instant Messaging, Forums and Public Chat Rooms. When it was first started it was more of a “What are you doing now?” tool similar to Facebook’s status update.
I’m now seeing business saavy people using Twitter to market products, bring awareness to websites, open up discussions, break news etc. I believe it was Joel Comm that coined the term “TNN” or Twitter News Network and it is very true. I find some great information just by reading the Tweets in my dashboard each morning.
So whats next for Twitter? Good question. Joel Comm has posted some comments on his blog about how others would monetize Twitter if they owned it. I personally would add a TwitterSearch function that would allow for users to search all public Tweets. The search results could display context related ads.
Another idea would be to create a TwitterPro version for a low monthly fee. That would allow your Twitter Syndication to allow a signature and some other marketing type features.
Follow me on Twitter. http://www.twitter.com/jeffczyz
Twitter use and a new ebay blog found
July 18, 2008
I’m trying to become more diligent about using Twitter in a positive way. So many people use it to complain, or as a personal diary. While I think that’s great, I feel that if you’re going to Tweet, you should at least provide some value to those following you.
For instance, a while ago I began following a local person from Richmond, Va. We initially exchanged some Tweets and then I began getting updates every 5 minutes about what songs this person was listening to, what they had for breakfast, lunch and dinner etc. It was a bit much.. and quite useless.
While I do provide some updates to what I’m doing on a daily basis, I also try to open up some dialog to those following as well as provide some good info back to those people.
Some of the best Tweeters I’ve seen so far are Guy Kawasaki and Joel Comm. Both provide some personal information for their followers and provide some valuable information.
Another Great eBay Blog
Slowly I have had some new followers on Twitter which is really cool. I don’t think I lead that exciting of a life, but it’s a great way to exchange information and learn from others. Yesterday I was able to find a great new eBay blog from Twitter. eBayInkBlog , aka Richard, began following my Tweets and as I result, I found his blog, http://ebayinkblog.com/ . Not only is this a great looking blog, but Richard is an eBay employee and provides some great behind the curtain information. I strongly suggest checking it out when you have time.
eBay Announcements - Big News
July 15, 2008
eBay Neutral Feedback
I guess that everyone yelling about feedback issues at eBay Live finally hit home. Lorrie Norrington announced that in late August neutral feedback ratings will no longer count against sellers. Additionally, in October, there will be a new method in which buyers and sellers can resolve their negative feedback issues together and have negative feedback scores reviewed.
eBay Link Policy
One of the other huge issues that people were complaining about was the new links policy. This policy stated that eBay members could no longer link to external websites from their auctions and ME pages. In the past, ME pages were one of the best ways to attract customers to your off eBay sites for more information and details. eBay has decided to not enforce the links policy in July and has instead decided to revise the policy.
The new policy will allow some offsite links which is good news for everyone who knows how to take advantage of the ME page. Further, eBay will allow 4 weeks for everyone to become compliant after the new policy is announced.
eBay Search Experience
Jeff King also announced that eBay will begin to direct more users to the new eBay search interface. The new search experience does have some nice features and I personally don’t mind the change. It does take some getting used to. If you would like to check it out for yourself, the link is http://playground.ebay.com/
Until next time…
Jeff
How to build an optin list - My Free Giveaways
July 3, 2008
How to build an optin list
Everyone who is anyone in Internet Marketing preaches that you need to have a list to be successful. I have to agree. I’ve spent time trying to do the affiliate marketing thing and found that anyone can send tons of traffic to an affiliate website. Once that traffic is there, it’s out of your control. You are depending on someone elses ad copy to make you money. AND you have just handed off a lead to someone else without anyway to benefit.
What you need to build a list
- Auto Responder:To start, you need someplace to build your list. I recommend Aweber. This is one of the best auto responder, mailing listing services available. I’ve been using them for a year and have never had a problem.
- A Giveaway: You’re going to need something to give your prospect in order to get them to hand over their name and email address. This can be a sneak peak at your product, some information, software or something else of value. This may and maynot cost you money to obtain.
- A Website: So now you have an auto responder, a giveaway and now you need a website. Something that may not look pretty, but that’s reliable. It needs to present some good sales copy. Words that are going to charm the pants off of the person reading it. It won’t just be about the giveaway, although that helps. The copy has to be compelling.
- Put it all together: Once you have all three, you have to put them together and begin driving traffic to your new optin form. Easier said than done, but it can be accomplished.
Is there an easier way to this?
Absolutely! It’s not often I come across truly innovative concepts in Internet Marketing. Then I found Prospect Blazer. This site does everything I mentioned above and then some. Now, you do need to have your own Aweber account, but Prospect Blazer has amazing sales copy, templates, giveaways and have it all bundled together.
In a nutshell, they have links that you promote through your normal traffic building techniques. The landing page is on their server, using their ad copy, their templates(you get to choose from several) and YOUR option form. That’s right, they did all of the work and you get to collect the names. How amazing is that? Even better? There is an option to have a paid optin form.
What’s a paid optin form?
A paid optin form is one where your prospect will actually pay you to give their name to you. In return, you give them a really good deal. Want an example and a good product? Check this out. If you want to learn to write really good ad copy this software is ONLY $7.95 with a money back guarantee. The optin form is part of the process.
See a demo of Killer ad Copy
Once you see that demo you’ll need to get an idea of the big picture of how all of this works and save you time and money. Prospect Blazer has a yearly fee of $199.00. In my opinion, that’s pretty cheap. Especially for everything you get.
Here’s a link to the
Prospect Blazer Website
If you are looking to build a list and make it as painless as possible, I would strongly suggest looking at the above sites.
Finally, I put together a free option that will give you some very good software. In fact you over 50 free marketing tools and a video that shows the three top producers of internet marketing sharing some of their secrets.
Three Producers and 50 Free marketing products
Very good stuff indeed.
Jeff
