In this blog post we are going to go over some techniques for branding yourself on the internet and for expanding your digital footprint.

I always make it a point, or a part of my regular routine, to scan  the internet in search of good content that I can learn from and that I can teach. The information i’m sharing with you today is a result of that searching around, and it’s loading with great pointers for expanding or growing your digital footprint…good stuff.

I don’t do all of these YET.. a good percentage I do, but not all of them yet. Something to mention, you do not have to be an expert at anything to be successful with internet marketing. You can simply learn and teach as you go….teach what you learn and you will become known as a trusted advisor…something a lot of people are looking for. It’s also ok to teach what you are not doing yet, but that you are researching with all intent to get started with….simply pass on good information that others are publishing…become a curator of knowledge and information.

They suggest we start with the easy one, so here they go:

• Comment on Relevent Blogs – This is easy and it leads to exposure and backlinks

• Get an About.Me Account – A fill in the blank exercise that creates a pile of links pointing back to you

• Microblog Often and consistently – Use Social Media for Microblogging and do it often…there are many but have a least Twittter, Linkedin, Goolgle+, and Facebook

• Be A Picture Publisher – You take pictures so publish them…at least the ones that are relevent to your business or a resulting lifestyle from your business… This creates more exposure for you. There are many but do these Pinterest, Instragram, Tumblr, Flickr

The following are more advanced:

• Make Video’s – Don’t like making video’s? …. get a Youtube channel and get over it.

• Do Picture Shows – I’ve heard of slideShare and it’s on my list of ToDo’s. It sounds like a great digital footprint expander

• Squidoo – Create a Squidoo “lens” for greater exposure.

• List.ly – A home for lists and your posts become interactive and optimized

• Curate Professionally – I do a lot of this and I love it… I use Scoop.It, but there’s also RebelMouse, Twylah, and Paper.li

• Get Graphic – Infographics are hot… I’ve learned there are some DIY’ers that we can use Piktochart, Easel.ly, Infogra.m, and Visual.ly

• Do eNews – Permission based email marketing via Newsletter

Here’s for high achievers:

• Guest Blog – Start with your own and work towards guest publishing. Here’s the steps… blog brilliantly, go where there are no gates, apply yourself, beat down doors, publish and pray (don’t worry we will expand on this in future articles)

• Webcast – Webinars, Podcasts, Video Programs… working up to these myself.

• Get Interviewed – Scary, but massively separating yourself from all the amateurs… hopefully on my way

• Make Books – I haven’t done this yet, but it’s in my brain and it’s something I know I can do. There’s free ebooks and purchasable books. Let’s start with free and work up shall we.

Advertising:

• Adwords – expand your search success, get everywhere, and learn and improve

• Retarget – have to investigate this and see what it’s all about.

Positioning yourself to get lucky: How? … by doing a lot of this:

• Bookmark Sites – don’t know a lot about them but from what i understand they are not dead. Think Stumble Upon, Reddit, Digg, Delicious, and more

• Feeds – RSS Feeds… tools that push your content to readers that want it or sprinkle it automatically across social networks

• Groups – good old fashioned networking….something I’ve never done. Meetups, SVForum, Foreigners .. maybe someday

Yes…pretty vague I know but not to worry…this is going to be fun…so much content here to expand upon. So watch for coming articles breaking all this down as we learn more about how to expand our digital footprint.

by Brett Gurney

Striving for Excellence

P.S. Stay tuned for more Internet Marketing Tips & Techniques and guides to building the brand of YOU.

P.P.S. If you find this information valuable please subscribe to get future posts delivered to your email, and please leave us a comment…thanks!

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Are you spreading your message far and wide on Social Media?

Are you aware of the many ways to do this?

Social Media Diversification can help you grow your business and in this post we are going to share with you how you can benefit.

This will be a series. Today we will touch on Instagram and LinkedIn.

As you know Facebook has been the Social Media King for years… the almighty… but is their dominance starting to crack? They remain popular because everyone’s friends and family hang out there, but the marketers are getting frustrated over all the changes of the rules of engagement and content layout.

And so although according to a recent study they continue to be the favorite, trends towards multiple platforms are taking hold. 42% of online adults now use two or more social networks. Some are beginning  to feel diversification is the answer, and other sites are quickly developing a unique user base (teenagers on Snapchat, women on Pinterest, business executives on LinkedIn, etc.).

Social media diversification cannot hurt, and some say it’s the answer to a better more thorough use of time and resources. Getting the message out to a wider audience is the name of the game.

Instagram – Big Time Loyalty

Instragram is becoming a player. Stats show an incredibly high user engagement rate, especially when compared to facebook. More than half use it on a daily basis, while close to 35% do so multiple times daily. That’s huge for a smaller site and the usage is growing. So because of this high user engagement rate, they are being noticed by brand marketers. Marketers need images that wow consumers, and they need to create a strong relationship with a loyal following. Here’s some Instagram tips for seeing that happens.

• Choose photos that bring out the “feel and lifestyle” of your brand.

• Choose hashtags that are unique, simple and relevant to your brand. Avoid blending too many words into one hashtag (Instagram users love simplicity).

• Add captions that lend humor, wit and context to your photos.

• Link photos to your product pages to encourage consumers to go directly to your store or site.

• Reward your followers for viewing and sharing your pictures with a discount or a promotional code.

LinkedIn – Still Dominates The Higher Income Crowd

LinkedIn usage continues to be dominated by the higher income earners and college graduates, and has a high percentage of 50-64 year-olds. But smaller time marketers are now finding their way to the site. It’s well known as a place for business people to network, show off their expertise, and secure new business.

LinkedIn is a place to be taken seriously… here are some good tips:

• Start using LinkedIn’s sponsored updates. They are useful because they appear directly in a user’s news feed rather than on the sidebar, making for better interaction.

• Sponsored updates also have the same options as regular updates, such as like, share and comment. This will also create more engagement.

• Consider a company page and targeted updates. Targeted updates go out to a targeted LinkedIn audience, not to all of your followers like a regular update will do. You can tailor to the audience that is relevent to the message.

Women Spend More Time on Social Media—but not on Facebook

Women’s participation on social media is becoming more popular but surprisingly not on Facebook. They trend more towards blogs, Pinterest, and Instagram. It seems that although women are big on friends and family, they may be even bigger on coupons, promotions, and shopping deals. So it seems they mix those things together into one feed. The best way to intereact might be to humanize your brand along with a social presence.

Social channels feed off of each other and  Social Media diversification can expand your message reach with big potential to get more clients and sales. With some playing around and some practice you can leverage your activities into a well received brand across the board.

So get that message out there…get active, diversify, mix it up, and take advantage of all that the internet and social media have to offer.

by Brett Gurney

Striving for Excellence

P.S. Stay tuned for more Internet Marketing Tips & Techniques and guides to building the brand of YOU.

P.P.S. If you find this information valuable please subscribe to get future posts delivered to your email, and please leave us a comment…thanks!

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Have you ever wondered if social networking sites were important to your business building efforts?

Do you think they are a waste of your time?

In this post we are going to give you the real facts…

Times are changing fast in the online and internet marketing world. What worked last year or last month may not work so well today. This puts everyone on a level playing field, and those who learn the new techniques will fare the best. So if you are thinking that because you once knew how to get ranked then there is nothing more to learn, or if you believe social media sites are a waste of time, think again because Google’s new indexing system says different.

Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Linkedin, Pinterest, and all the others now have a place in the “what matters” category. If you have been saying “it’s a waste of time”, or “who wants to sit around and chat all day”, or i just don’t get it” ….then it’s time to get it. No business owner or marketer wants to sit around and chat all day, but if you want to be where the action is…where there are more prospects for any biz than you know what to do with…then you need to “get it”

Social media content – videos, images, stories, ads and as well blogs, are now all being indexed by google. Those who are not utilizing these platforms are missing out on tons of free promotion for their businesses by being ranked higher at search engines. The more good quality content you have the better indexed you will be and it should not be overlooked or downplayed. The better indexed you are the easier it will be for your potential customers and prospects to find you. The more links TO your site (called backlinks), the more popular your site is viewed by search engines, especially if those links come from what are deemed as high-profile (authority ) sites. So you see we simply tie it all together.

So here is what you need to do immediately if you have not yet.

– Get a Google account and get it set up. Don’t skip things on your profile make sure all your important links are there.

– Start making as many connections as possible on the most popular social networking sites. You don’t have to become an expert at all of them right away, that can all come later…just get started.

– Participate – Don’t just scan and read … like and comment instead. Join in on conversations and engage with others. Become a participant and get yourself out there. Create a page for your business and start inviting your connections.

– If you have customers encourage them to follow you via your social networks. They will appreciate the quality content you’re putting out.

– Get business cards and include your main social networking information on your cards. Give as many away as your can…. get the word out you are expanding your network.

– Include your social networking information and links on as many promotions as you can, online or off. Make it a habit so it becomes part of your routine to always leave your social footprints everywhere you go.

– Everywhere you network include a link BACK to your website – this is CRITICAL.

When doing searches, social results will always be clearly marked as such on Google’s SERPs (Search Engine Results Page). The returns will be accompanied by a heading “results from your social circle”. For traditional Search Engine Optimization (SEO), it is just one more thing to compete with as far as website property. That’s why social networking is a much more of an important part of search than ever. Get on board now, Google will be announcing more changes to their new indexing system, so make the most of this information now.

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