Hey guys today we have a special treat. With us we have Nathan from WeUseCoupons.com. and he’s going to talk to us alittle bit about how he uses online video to engage website users.

Hey guys my name is Tim Schmoyer and welcome to another week of Creator’s Tip where every week we just help you guys who aredoing online video know how to make that stuff the best and today Nathan is with us, it’s a special awesome treat to have you withus man. This guy is Mr. Social Media Guru Genius himself and we’re going to talk a little bit about he uses online video to kindof engage and promote his website and engage people who are there because he’s pretty much dominated like Facebook. You’ve gotlike 110,000 likes on your Facebook page. You’ve got like a forum, very active, like 200,000 users there. So he knows like allthose, but he’s just kind of moving into the online video thing. You learned some very valuable things about YouTube and how youuse it to engage people and stuff. Can you share a bit.

I do. I’m fascinated by online video and I actually found your channel and I have learned so much from Tim and –

He subscribes to us!

I know. It’s cool though here. I think that video is such a powerful medium for bloggers and for people thatare in social media. I really think that it’s an amazing way to really personally connect with your audience. I looked at videoand online video initially, we’ll sort of talk about that, but initially I looked at it just as a YouTube as just a place to holdmy videos because I’m going to put all my videos on my blog and that’s it. And I created videos solely for that purpose. And Istarted to realize how powerful videos were and how important they were to my overall social media strategy. And they are a verypowerful asset to any person that’s really looking to grow your social media presence.

So how have you used YouTube to kind of promote some of the things that you are doing on your website?

I think YouTube is a really great place to engage. And that’s really what I’ve learned is people really want to personally connect with you. If you have a blog, the written word is such a powerful thing but pictures are even more powerful. And we say like pictures are worth a thousand words, well videos are literally worth a million because they can grab such a powerful.You can see a person, feel a person, you can sense them through online video and so I learned a lot that how much more powerful people are connecting to you through video content.

And so that really helps promote your website because people feel like they’re connecting to you and that kind of goes along with the second part then which is how do we use online video to really get to people who already are on our website? How to get them engage and they just kind of attach themselves to you?

Yeah, I mean when you watch a four or five minute video you become personally invested in that person. After a while you start watching the videos and you start looking forward to their videos coming out and it’s just you get really, I didn’t realize the YouTube culture that was out there. And that’s a really big thing and I’m starting to realize that there’s so much more on YouTube and it’s so much more like Facebook and so much more like Twitter then I ever thought it was and so I started branching out and looking for those people that are going to be not only your loyal viewers, but your loyal readers.

Well his channel is YouTube.com/FrugalTV so if you want to go check him out there. There’s a lot of cool things of couponing and he’s actually been on, well he helped develop the pilot episode if you know TLC’s Extreme Couponing helped put all that together. He’s been on there a couple times so he’s got some production experience as well and he’s kind of putting and wrapping that all together on YouTube.com/FrugalTV so the link is below. Go check it out and thanks for hanging out with us guys. If this is your first time hanging out with us make sure you click the subscribe button. We’ve got a couple more videos coming up with Nathan and we would love to hear from you guys if you run and operate your own website, how have you seen YouTube and online video in general really help you promote your website and engage with the people who are there. We’d love to hear from you and learn from you so comment below. We will see you guys on, when do I do the Reel Web? Tuesday’s! We’ll talk to you guys later, bye!

Article source: http://www.reelseo.com/video-complete-social-media-marketing-strategy/

Google has decided to adopt a new strategy in the development of its Android operating system. Google has decided to create a united front with existing smartphone and tablet makers in order to counter its major rival Apple. This move will also look to prevent wireless carriers from controlling device sales. People familiar with the matter have asserted that Google has decided to offer early access to new releases on Android and ensure that devices are sold directly to the customers.

How is this different from the current strategy? Google has up till now followed a policy of providing a new version to a ‘lead device maker’ (it’s Nexus line) before sending it out to others at a later point in time. The devices are then sold to consumer via retailers and wireless carriers.

The reason for the expansion in direct sales was made with the aim of improving control over essential features and apps which run on tablets and smartphones powered by Android. This will reduce the influence of wireless carriers over such things. The new strategy also sidelines fears that Google will provide early access to Motorola in order to improve its rather abysmal sales numbers. A spokeswoman for Google asserted that the company’s choice of the ‘lead’ device maker has often upset other companies and sighted it as one of the reasons for the change in strategy.

The company’s new strategy will involve five different manufacturers in order to create a portfolio for Google’s Nexus line, both in tablets and smartphones. Google also plans on selling some of these devices directly through Google Play. There are even plans to lure involve retailers to help in selling various devices. This new strategy will see effect only when Google releases the next version of Android; Jelly Bean. Google also hopes that this strategy will improve the rather abysmal sales numbers of Android powered tablets against the iPad and Amazon’s Kindle Fire.

However, applying this strategy is easier said than done.  Especially in a country like US, where consumers love to test a product before purchasing it and there is also the added threat of wireless carriers that sell the phones at cheaper rates, courtesy of multiyear contracts. The new phones will be unlocked, i.e. they won’t have a wireless carrier and will need a SIM card to run. Selling an unlocked phone costs around $150-300 more than a contracted phone, plus the consumer will have to bear the cost of a new contract as well (in all likelihood). Hence, Google is taking a big risk in implementing this strategy.

Article source: http://www.mobilebloom.com/google-to-adopt-new-marketing-strategy/2213874/

Article source: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-oac-group-set-to-ramp-up-russound-2012-05-16

It’s a rather simple word to say, just four syllables. It’s an easily understood word on the surface – at least I think it is. Its meaning is quite apparent the moment you hear it. Yet so many CMO’s and marketers treat this 11-letter word as if it were a 4-letter word.

And I don’t know why for the life of me.

The word that continues to elude and evade CMOs and marketers is *I*N*T*E*G*R*A*T*I*O*N.

And as anyone who knows me knows this about me – I am a Scorpio who enjoys hot chocolate in August. No wait, not that.

Anyone who knows me knows I am a huge proponent of and believer in creating and using an integrated marketing approach. So much so I have written numerous columns espousing the virtues of an integrated marketing strategy.

• In an September 13, 2011 column titled Marketers Still Not Integrating Their Marketing Strategy I quote Mark Fodor, the CEO of CrossView, a cross-channel commerce solution provider in discussing the findings of a study on integration and the lack thereof said “The opportunity for merchants to become more cross-channel is there, but they need to learn how to communicate with their customers across channels and not fall into silos.” Silos. Now there’s a 4-letter word for they are a major barrier in achieving integrated marketing success.
• In my September September 23, 2011 article Integrated Marketing – The Holy Grail Of Marketing? I make reference to a study conducted by Forbes and Coremetrics called Bringing 20/20 Foresight to Marketingfrom which the following was gleaned: “Marketing’s biggest challenge appears to be presenting a consistent, unified brand across multiple customer touch- points—on the Web, on social media, via mobile devices, and through traditional brick-and-mortar.”
• My November 3rd, 2001 post What Schoolhouse Rock And Integration Have In Common where I rewrite the lyrics to a classic Schoolhouse Rock ditty but also share the results of a survey of consumers. Pay close attention to the boxes marked “Consistency” and the big difference between what consumers want (ideal) and what they are getting (current)

• And finally my December 14th, 2001 piece Marketing Integration: What Every Marketer Wants For Christmas where I shared the findings of a survey done of over 500 marketing professionals who identified the #1 thing they want to learn about:

So it’s quite apparent that a) I am big supporter of marketing integration, b) consumers want it and, c) not many marketers are doing it.

But Wait, There’s More

The latest proof that CMOs and marketers are still not practicing the fine and apparently lost art of integration comes courtesy of a Forrester survey of nearly 100 CMOs and marketing VPs this past February.

In that particular survey 92% of respondents agreed that while social media has “fundamentally changed how consumers engage with brands” only 49% of them said they integrated social media into their overall marketing strategy.

However, Tracy Stokes, the principal Forrester analyst behind the survey indicated there may be light at the end of the tunnel saying marketers are “just now stepping back to see how the jigsaw fits into their marketing plan.”

Call me cynical but I will believe it when I see it when it comes to true integration across all marketing channels across the board for every single, solitary company on God’s green Earth.

Ok, I’ll settle for slightly less than that.

Sources: Forrester, Google Images

Named one of the Top 100 Influencers In Social Media (#41) by Social Technology Review, Steve Olenski is a freelance writer/blogger currently looking for full-time work. He has worked on some of the biggest brands in the world and has over 20 years experience in advertising and marketing. He lives in Philly and can be reached via email,Twitter, LinkedIn or his website.

Article source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/marketshare/2012/05/16/the-eleven-letter-word-eludes-cmos-marketers/

Cindy Ratzlaff

• The Cost of Doing Nothing Different | Marketing Strategy
• Genius Spot | Entrepreneurs Success Tips
• 5 Promotional Hot Spots Every Facebook Business Page Can Use

Entrepreneurs not only create a product or service and become their own Chief Marketing Officer, Publicity Director and Head of Sales.  Many entrepreneurs are not, however, comfortable with the sales end of business.

If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. There are countless trainings and teachers who can teach you their own step by step guides to identifying leads, pitching the product or service and closing the deal.  But without a fundamental shift in the way the entrepreneur views his or her own value, the sales cycle will still stand as a huge challenge; a personal boulder in the road to success.

Shift your thinking from selling to transforming.

I recently heard Max Simon, Big Vision Business, talk about shifting our thinking in the selling process from closing the deal to revealing the transformation your product or service offers to the potential end user. That’s a profound shift in thinking and here are some examples of real programs, what they offer and how a simple shift in thinking can make a big difference in the way these entrepreneurs will speak to clients about their offer.

What do I mean by Transformation?

Here’s some examples of valuable transformational offers:

“This accounting system uncovers an average of $3,000 in “found” money from your business budget that you can reinvest in growing your company.” The transformation is taking a client from a state of chaos in his or her money management to a place where they have total control over their cash flow and even understand where money might have been lost because of uncollected or outstanding invoices, recurring bills for services no longer used or other cash black holes.

“My system brings 5,000 new leads to your business in three months and shows you how to convert them to clients.” The transformation is an infusion in potential new clients or customers and a plan to take them from introduction to purchase.

“Attract hundreds, even thousands of potential clients to your offer without becoming a hustler.” The transformation is a clear cut, heart based method of attraction marketing that is in alignment with a non-sales personality but that still teaches them how to close the deal with language that is within their comfort zone.

Is your business a hobby or a business?

If you’ve written a book, created a program, developed a workshop or webinar, but no one knows about it, you have a hobby and not a business.

If your book, talk, workshop or service will solve a problem, or transform the user, you have an obligation to take your business from the hobby level to the business level.

The cost of doing nothing is choosing to keep your product, talent or service as a hobby instead of providing a transformation for others.

Read more posts on Brand New, Brand You »

Article source: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-cost-of-doing-nothing-different--marketing-strategy-2012-5

More and more people are delving into the world of franchising. Opening your own franchise has become the new ‘top career choice’ for many Americans, but some are going into the ‘tunnel’ without knowing what’s at the other end. The research that needs to be done is highly important in order to find the best franchise opportunity that fits YOUR specific needs and goals. There are many out there, so you need to be careful.

Over the past few months we have had a gazillion questions ‘pop up’ about the ‘dynamic duo’ of MassageLuXe and FaceLuXe - or, as I like to call them, the ‘LuXe Universe.’ These are two companies that were created by a man who built a marketing plan that went from good to profitable to a strategy that made these two companies phenomenal.

FaceLuXe is one-of-a-kind, as is her sister, MassageLuXe, and we’ve spoke at length about the staff, the benefits that this company provides to their staff and their customers, their products, their services, and the fact that ALL of this has been wrapped up into a package that is now being ‘gifted’ to franchisee candidates across the country. As a result, the LuXe Universe has been the only franchiser on the lips of ‘wannabe’ business owners for the last year.

Marketing is the key to a successful business. A marketing plan is actually not a easy thing to come up with, believe me. In a marketing plan you need to not only understand what your goals are, but you have to find a way to attain them. You need to know the ins-and-outs of your company’s vision, and you need a mission statement that you can follow to the letter in order to create a company that is ‘the best of the best; and one that will not only succeed in the marketplace but exceed expectations. Todd Beckman – the creator of MassageLuXe FaceLuXe -did just that.

He knew the major marketing objectives he wanted to accomplish. He knew the budget, he identified the target market and his target audience, and he was able to ‘see’ the overall market and identify the sub-groups of people that he had to reach in order to ‘bring to them’ and ‘market to them’ the services LuXe provided. Which means he had to make his audience go from ‘what they wanted’ to ‘what they HAD to have.’

A marketing plan or strategy is all about setting goals and achieving them. You need a competitive and tactical plan that details all the marketing channels you will use to become a success. Everything from print advertising to Public Relations to publicity, direct marketing, direct mail, trade show exhibiting, Web and Internet marketing, outdoor advertising, and sponsorships, have to be taken into consideration. These are literally the keys to success.

Now do you see how difficult that all is? The last thing you want as a franchisee is to have to worry and fret that your marketing plan – that ALL of these things we’ve spoken about above – have not been taken care of by the business you are joining. When a company says they have a proven marketing plan you should jump for joy, especially after seeing the huge success they’ve made of the business. Again, the ‘LuXe Universe’gives that to you!

What should you know about marketing? Well, marketers and advertisers have always spoken about “The Four P’s of Marketing:” Product, Place, Price, and Promotion. But, as Todd Beckman learned, there was a ‘P’ missing in order to really have success. And that, was People. Not only are the clients the ones you need to be serving and serving well by providing the absolute best services possible – but you also needed to serve your ‘inside’ people. A happy, exhilarated and skilled staff is dependable, hardworking, and far more efficient. THEY are the people who provide YOUR clients with the best. Therefore, THEY have to be happy. We’ve spoken about the amazing benefits that MassageLuXe FaceLuXe offer to their staff, treating them as the ambassadors of the business and even supporting them to one day become owners of their own FaceLuXe or MassageLuXe franchise.

One of the largest facets of the FaceLuXe target audience, as we’ve stated before, is female. From the age of around thirteen on up, females desire the ability to stay young-looking, healthy and fit. With FaceLuXe, that target audience is supplied with the best services available to do just that! The new technologies that FaceLuXe offers is also a large part of their business that provides that successful marketing strategy that is proven to work!

Fate, or Mother Nature, provides us all with facial wrinkles, cellulite, spider veins, stretch marks, varicose veins, etc. – and FaceLuXe is the owner of ways to help halt, change, revamp, and refine those issues. By offering women of all ages a way to achieve extremely beneficial health and beauty services, FaceLuXehas taken its place among the truly successful franchises. The marketing strategy – the vision – the objective of providing clients with a better source of health and beauty treatments at affordable prices – have all combined to make the LuXe companies the true ambassadors to the health and beauty realm.

So as a prospective franchisee, you can see that opening a franchise of THIS particular company is the only smart choice offering a secure future. Why? Because all of the points we’ve made today have already been tested, researched, implemented, and achieved by Todd Beckman. Remember – a proven marketing strategy is not just a line – it is a ‘must-have’ when attaching oneself to a company.

FaceLuXe and MassageLuXe are there for their target audience as well as their staff. They provide exhilarating opportunities that include career advancement for their staff, and the support for franchisees who have the ability to open a successful FaceLuXe or MassageLuXe in their own city. On top of all that – their proven marketing strategy is still as successful as it’s always been, by staying committed to providing an affordable spa experience for every man and woman to look and feel their absolute best.

The path to achieving a successful career begins with knowledge, and the one franchiser out there who has the knowledge – the proven knowledge – to give you the life you want to have is the ‘dynamic duo’ that Todd Beckman created. And that, in a nutshell, is why FaceLuXe and MassageLuXe are the only choice for the serious ’wannabe’ franchisee!

Until Next Time, Everybody.

For more information, go right now to:

http://www.massageluxe.com

http://www.faceluxe.com/

http://www.facebook.com/FaceLuXe?v=app_4949752878

http://twitter.com/#!/mluxe

Check out the Virtual Tour which will have you walking, running, biking, swimming, or driving to your nearest location to get in on the luxury!

http://www.massageluxe.com/ML360/Kirkwood%20Lobby/index.html

For Franchise Information Call:

877-321-LUXE (5893)

Popularity: 1% [?]

Article source: http://staugnews.com/2012/05/16/the-luxe-universe-a-proven-marketing-strategy-that-breeds-success.html

        Walton Isaacson
        Karen Lewis
        323.556.2811

Article source: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/walton-isaacson-names-jeetendr-sehdev-as-vice-president-of-planning-2012-05-15

One of Seth Godin’s well-known quotes is that “selling to people who actually want to hear from you is more effective than interrupting strangers who don’t.”

Although relatively old, this adage remains explicitly true for most, if not all, forms of digital marketing–the most pertinently obvious being that of email.

With the first email arguably being sent some forty years ago, the channel has evolved through various forms, and recently, there’s been a great deal of debate around the concept that email is dead.

I firmly believe that it isn’t; it’s merely changing into something new–the most simplistic way of describing the transition within the channel being that it’s shifting as a medium used by consumers from an informal (personal, social) communication means, to a more formal (practical, corporate) state.

The evidence certainly exists to support this, with consumer research consistently demonstrating that email continually leads to the pack, whether it’s for marketing communications, direct sales information or even customer service.

This is something I see a great deal within Econsultancy’s own research. For example, our How We Shop report found that consumer respondents repeatedly indicated a preference to receiving commercial messaging via email, often twice as much more than other channels, across multiple scenarios.

As a result, the days of the mass-marketing, spray-and-pray approach to email seem to be numbered. Marketers are wising up to the fact that if done properly, the returns can be enormous: 84% of companies currently attribute up to nearly a third of sales (30%) to the channel, and over two-thirds of companies (70%) rate email marketing as ‘excellent’ (23%) or ‘good’ (47%) in terms of return on investment. (Econsultancy/Adestra Email Marketing Census).

Approximately what proportion of your total sales can you attribute to the email marketing channel? (Econsultancy/Adestra Email Marketing Census 2012)

The common misconception seems to still exist that because email is seemingly so cheap, minimal investment of time and resources is needed to drive high returns. This is simply not true.

The basic technical format of email may not have changed much over the past few decades, but the channel as a marketing concept has become increasingly complex. Commercial emails are no longer concerned with just pushing advertising towards users.

Good marketing emails have relevance at their core and can only be successful as a marketing channel if they contain personalised, relevant and targeted messaging. Nearly half of consumers feel that irrelevant information devalues emails they receive (Econsultancy’s How We Shop report) and it’s becoming increasingly important to have a structured approach to email marketing as part of a wider strategy.

As with most aspects of marketing, it’s often a good idea to take stock of the activities you’re doing, and email is no different. Ensuring the fundamental basics are covered is important, as they are core to seeing success, but fully recognising their implementation can (somewhat ironically) be extremely difficult.

As part of an email best practice health check, I’ve formed the ASSESSMENT approach, where keeping this acronym front of mind can help sharpen your email planning and execution:

A – Assessment

S - Strategy

S – Structure

E – Engagement

S – Systems

S – Sanctions

M – Metrics

E – Evaluation

N – Newness

T – Testing

As a simplified breakdown:

Assessment

As suggested, you need to assess your existing email activity, if you’re carrying any out–or the current circumstances if you’re looking to start. This can come in multiple formats, depending on the context of your business, the situational circumstances of email, the target audience and more, but at the core of this, you need to consider your overall objectives. To make matters more complex, these should ideally be at a channel level, wider marketing level and business level, considering both long and short-term goals. It’s quite tough, but once you know where you stand, this will help you form a decent strategy.

Strategy

This is the practical planning stage for email, which uses the information analysed during the initial assessment. The two are tied closely together, but with the difference that creating a strategy is the practical approach that will be taken. One of the key factors to keep in mind is how email will work in conjunction with any other marcomms activity.

Structure

Sitting within a strategy, you need to consider the structured approach you’ll take for email. Who will be responsible? Will it be automated? How will you segment audience types? Creating a solid framework of specific action points on the basis of a wider strategy will help inform this.