Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Have a Wonderful Year

Tuesday, December 29th, 2009 by The BuzzBooster Team!

We really hope you have an amazing one!
Right now you are probably planning your new year. Don’t forget to do the same for your business.
Work on a marketing calendar. Try to have promotions going for special dates and maybe some funky dates out there. It is amazing the kind of response you can get with this simple strategy.Some will give over 40% return.

You also want to plan your online marketing. Make 2010 be a year where you don’t waste time online or on social networks. That is very easy ti happen. Plan your strategy with online tools before jumping into them. Think what is the outcome you are looking for: branding, generating leads, more sales? You need a specific strategy for each.

Pay a lot of attention how you are going to advertise this year. If it is not working, don’t keep doing it. Look for channels where you can really track the outcome or think of resources that gives you control. Ask if your business is really at the point where you want to advertise to brand your company or if it would be wiser to look for other resources.Trying to advertise to brand a small business can eat a lot of money. There is a right time to do that and on a first moment you may want to use direct response marketing which brings you direct results.

Talking about direct response and online marketing, we now have a strategy that combines local search, seo, and online video and that really puts you on the first page of Google in a matter of days generating leads on a constant basis. The best part is that you don’t have to do anything. We take care of it all. If you are a local business and wants a flow of new clients, check our program to get new clients at Clients in a Flash.com.

Why I’m going to #BlogWorld 2010

Monday, December 28th, 2009 by The BuzzBooster Team!

There are some events we try to attend every year, and 2 of them are a must for us, the Super Conference and BlogWorld.

BlogWorld stands out from other events for several reasons. First, if you are in an industry that puts live events, seminars, workshops or expos, you need to see what the folks at BlogWorld do. They have the right formula to mix information, tradeshow, networking and entertainment like few I’ve seen so far. Over the years they have also mastered creating an event for a diverse group of people, from the young techie crowd to seasoned entrepreneurs. They have also increased the reach of topics from blogs to new media to an almost full scope of having a Web 2.0 business.

I usually avoid attending the panels because they rarely go deep into the subjects and most of the time they turn into a lot of jokes or go out of topic. This year there were a few exceptions. The panel about the new FTC rules and the one on social media customer engagement and customer loyalty were good. The last had the audience participating a lot with good questions and good answers.

Among the speakers, my favorite this year was Paul Coligan with 7 Proven Monetization Strategies For Podcasts and New Media Producers. This was a presentation full of content, no B.S. and to the point. Tim Street on video and cable television was amazing and Jason Van Orden on how to build a large audience was also very good. The tracks that covered continuity programs and membership sites were not well attended, maybe due to the titles not being very creative and/or enticing, but the content was very good. Again the audience had lots of questions on these topics. I give here a suggestion to topics related to member retention in continuity programs. Lots of questions on this topic were left unanswered.

I missed the presentations on new media and book publishing but heard good comments about those. Only the closing with Guy Kawasaki and Jenny the Bloggess was a little disappointing. I understand that after 4 days, something funny would go well, but that one bordered bad taste for jokes. The trade show was interesting with some new companies we need to pay attention to. The highlight for me was the company MediaFly a delivery platform for content networks and all the possibilities it gives small businesses and online video for the near future. Yubby.com has an interesting concept where you find, collect and publish videos that we still need to take a deeper look into its features.

I wish I could have attended all the parties but I had a bad cold during the four days and that did impact my ability to network and party. I went to 3 of them and they were fun! The organizers at BlogWorld did an amazing job with the last party by the hotel pool. For the first time in 3 years we were in an environment that we could move around, sit at different tables, talk and get to really know people. It was a great night to finally sit with some colleagues and to meet new people. No loud music, lots of room, big tables. This was the best night for us!

This is a month we plan for the new year and BlogWorld is on our A list!

Seth Godin’s new e-book

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009 by The BuzzBooster Team!

This is one of the best things you can do during the holidays, read Seth Godin’s new e-book.

Podcamp SLC interview with BuzzBoosters

Wednesday, December 16th, 2009 by The BuzzBooster Team!

We had a lot of fun on this interview. We are talking about videos online and how small businesses can benefit from videos

RSS Round Table with BuzzBooster -December from Drew Tyler on Vimeo.

Online Video Marketing and Local Search

Monday, December 14th, 2009 by The BuzzBooster Team!

By now you know that getting to the first page of Google is not that easy. You can get there fast if you are doing pay-per-click, but that can cost you a lot of money; you may be advertising in a directory, but then you show with a lot of other people or you pay to optimize your site and wait.
If you have a new website, it is even more complicated because it can take quite a while to show in the search engines and if you are in a very competitive market, the first page might not even be an option. There is light at the end of the tunnel. With videos you can rank int he first page really fast and if you know what you are doing, you can dominate that rank for a long time. You can use video to rank for a lot of keywords. Of course you can learn how to do it, and we would be happy to teach you, but you can also have it done for you and just reap the rewards. Get to know more about online video marketing and get clients in a flash.

Who pops your popcorn #43 Be remarkable

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009 by The BuzzBooster Team!

Here is a snippet of an interview we gave to the Women’s information network about having a remarkable business in 2010

Is your business remarkable?

Thursday, November 19th, 2009 by The BuzzBooster Team!

First, it doesn’t matter if you say yes or no, you need to be present on our simulcast this Thursday on how to be remarkable in 2010. Register right now for the Be remarkable seminar and then continue reading.

Now, back the the subject.

There really isn’t a lot of place in the market for businesses that don’t stand out, and I don’t mean that only in the sense of having exposure. Today you need to take care of every detail in order to succeed and be remarkable.

Have you ever been to Disneyland? I haven’t but I’m an avid student of how Disney markets. I know the place is really clean, every paper is picked up by any employee and they see this as part of marketing and it is. Every detail in the process counts.

One point where most businesses are less than remarkable, especially small businesses is during the sales process. There is no system for the sale itself, no upsells or downsells and many times there is not even a call for the sale itself. It is interesting how people many times feel guilty to ask for the sale, try to upsell is almost a sin. But we are in business for profit right? We also tend to judge our audience and decide for them if they can or cannot buy from us. If you don’t take anything from this article, take at least this: Don’t judge your audience! Let them figure how they are going to pay you and if they can or cannot afford your prices. Take another thing: Create a structure for your sales, think about upsells and downsells and create a follow-up process. It is really naive to think you only need to talk to a person once to make the sale and to think they are not willing to buy more things from you. More on this topic on our call Thursday. See you there!

Be Remarkable in 2010

Saturday, November 14th, 2009 by The BuzzBooster Team!

November 19th we have an amazing teleseminar!
We’ll show you how to turn an ordinary business into a remarkable business in 2010.
It is content packed and we’ll draw several of our best selling product “How to make money online” for those on the live call. It is a 3 cd set that sells for $120. We’ll give several away during the call.
This is a free event you don’t want to miss.
Register now at: http://www.buzzbooster.com/be-remarkable-in-2010.html

Local search for small businesses

Thursday, November 12th, 2009 by The BuzzBooster Team!

We are about 6 weeks away from Christmas which is usually a good time for businesses, especially retail.
On the other hand, everyday we hear complaints on how bad things are witht he economy and why sales are down. Many times, we go check these businesses online and they either have no presence online or they just don’t show in local searches. Come on! People search online, read reviews, research before they go out and buy. Much more, search engines are the new yellow pages. People use their phones to look for businesses all the time. Just the other day we were looking for a different restaurant to try and that was exactly what we did. Used the phone with GPS and found a cool Thai restaurant in the area we were. Being found is key for business.

What to take to #BlogWorld

Monday, October 12th, 2009 by The BuzzBooster Team!

In case you are going to attend BlogWorld expo this year, here are a few things to take:
1. Take an extra bag. Every time we been to BlogWorld we ran out of space in our bags, so this year, we are taking an extra one. There will be lots of info from companies and products you will want to bring with you. Lots of T-shirts. (Nash collects T-shirts from tech companies, so we always bring a bunch). I always get some more books there too and quite a few magazines.
2. Not a bad idea to have a tote with you there either, just to make your life easier.
3. Comfortable shoes. You are going to walk a lot there. Between sessions and the expo, there is a lot of walking. Even if you are like us, always in business attire, put on very comfortable shoes.
4. Video camera, photo camera and audio recorder. This is a must. You will meet so many fabulous people, you need to take a picture with them. The speakers are great, so why not get some interviews too? One of my goals this year is to meet and interview for our magazine Leo Laport host of Twig, one of the best podcasts out there. I don’t know how he looks like, since I only listen the podcast, so it is going to be interesting to figure a way to find him. We have a big list of other people we want to interview. You can check the speakers at the BlogWorld site.
5. Take extra batteries. There are no places close by to get batteries.
6. Sleep a lot before you go. You will not have a lot of time to sleep there. There are parties, shows and a lot of networking happening the whole time.
7. Check all the meet ups happening too.
8. Join the international blogging and new media association while you are there.
9. Don’t forget to say hi to us. Twitter id: buzzbooster

How to sell more in today’s market

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009 by The BuzzBooster Team!

You hear all the time that people don’t want to be sold, that traditional advertising is dead and you need to approach clients in a different way.
But how do you do that?
Here is a small list that will help you attract clients and sell more.
1. Use the word YOU often. People want to know what your product or service can do for them.
2. Answer these questions: What is this about? Why should I care? What’s in it for me and what do I have to do? People might not word these questions, but they will be thinking about it.
3. Increase your credibility by showing passion, expressiveness and accessibility.
4. Generate emotion. Have in mind that people tend to buy with the heart and justify with the mind. Go for emotion first, features later.
5. Vary the way you present. Remember that some people are visual, some auditory, some kinesthetic. Use text, pictures, props.
6. Become a storyteller. People love stories, stories are engaging and can generate powerful emotions. You can tell stories with pictures, analogies and words.
7. Don’t use too much information. People only want the amount of information they can use. Less is more. Too much information will only overwhelm people and the confused mind doesn’t take action. More words do not equal more impact.
8. Be transparent. Let your personality show.
9. Don’t be boring. Boring is really bad for business.
10. Be honest and be someone people can trust.

Sales will follow.

Calling all women in Utah

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009 by The BuzzBooster Team!

For women in Utah, a great event to attend this Saturday:
http://www.thewinonline.com/official-launch-womens-information-network

Business Storytelling

Thursday, September 10th, 2009 by The BuzzBooster Team!

by Shahar Boyayan
We had a great labor day weekend! We attended a storytelling festival here in Utah. It was an amazing event attended by thousands of people. Families would be together some times with members of 4 generations, all laughing or crying with the same stories.

The power of stories in our lives is greater than we think.
Stories put the audience in a world of sensory impressions where it combines reality with the story. We feel like we lived trough the experience even if we only heard it.
When we listen to the storyteller, we get a subliminal message that he/she cares for the audience. One can say that stories equal caring.

We as business owners and leaders need to master storytelling and we need to acquire the ability to tell stories and motivate people to act.

You can tell stories with your voice, picture, packages etc.

Here are a few points to consider:

You may use stories from any source as long as you can tie them into the world of your prospect.

* Your story needs to have a point or it will be a waste of time.

* Make the story personal and add passion to it.

*Contrast what your prospect’s life was like before your service and their life after.

* Present specific, tangible benefits.

* Diagnose the pain

* Highlight the gain.

One simple way to tell a story with pictures is the before and after pictures you see in weight loss programs.

By looking at the contrast of the before and after, the story is told, it is personal, since you see the picture of the person, it shows the pain before and the gain after the product was used.

I always like to give the example of a great story told in a package using the packages of Vosges Chocolates.

In every package the company call you to use your 5 senses when trying their chocolate. You should take a look at one, because it is a very good example of business storytelling and how it can engage consumers.

Speech to text conversion

Friday, August 28th, 2009 by The BuzzBooster Team!

Did you know?
by source: myvideosubmitter.com
Google is now using speech tot ext conversion. That means that they take the SPOKEN text from your videos, and convert it to text.
While they won’t tell us WHY they do that, the obvious answer is that they are looking for RELEVANT CONTENT! They now use your spoken text to categorize and rank your video.

Why they use Twitter?

Wednesday, August 26th, 2009 by The BuzzBooster Team!

Twitter forecasts that by December 09 it will have over 50 million users. Google took 10 years to have 50 million people a day using its search engine and Facebook took 19 months.
Why people adopt tools like Twitter in such a fast and passionate way?

Many reasons there but one main reason is that tools like Twitter allow people to have a mass 2 way communication and this is very powerful for people and for businesses.
It is the one to many and many to one era.
Instant feedback is another powerful reason.
We can also say that many people look for leaders to help them live a better life and Twitter allows them to listen and meet other people.

The possibility to meet people is another big reason. Kind of the same reason you would go to a party. To have fun, meet people and learn more about them.
Here is where most businesses fail not only when using Twitter but other social media tools.
They meet someone and the next second they are either trying to sell you something or offering something for fre@.
People are not interested at this moment in getting things from you, they just want to know you better and maybe start a new relationship.

Do you invite friends to a barbecue and right when they get there you try to sell them Tupperware?
Same common sense goes here.
Sales will happen later when they get to know you better and the trust level is higher.
All you really have to do is let people know you better. At least a little better than they know your competition.
Did you know that 63% of people on Twitter follow people that have a nice smile?

Do you approach a guy with a sad face at a barbecue?
One frequent question we get is: But what do I do there on Twitter?
Perry Belcher, a heavy Twitter user says that 30% of the time, you should tweet about things that would make people’s life better, 10% you would compliment people. (that is something we all need more of), 20% try to make people laugh and 40% of the time you would provide good content. When you provide content you can add some soft sales calls.
I believe that is a good mix.
You should try Twitter. Twitter can be a great marketing tool in your business.

We all feel comfortable doing the things we are used to do but you need to remember that in this new economy, just trying to do more of what you have been doing thinking that will do the trick is not an option. It is like running faster on the same path trying to get to a destination when the destination is in a different place.