Social Traffic
Just To Recap A Few Important Points From The Book |
- Getting started on using social media for marketing is simple, but requires a structured approach.
- The event does not just stop there; it should consist of multiple bigger and smaller events and re-launches.
- Having a presence online is important to leverage social networking sites for marketing. The voice of your brand can best be told through blogs (WordPress), micro-blogs (Twitter), videos (Youtube), and pictures (Flickr).
- You can outsource part of your launch work (e.g. writing) using Elance and oDesk. To manage your contractors, you can setup Skype for voice calls and chats with unlimited calls to landlines around the world for as little as $20 per month.
- You need to have an account with a payment processing provider for all of your online activities. PayPal works just fine.
- Unless you have a big budget to employ SEO experts, content writers and designers; it is better to build your entire web presence on third party web 2.0 platforms.
- You need to distribute your content by cross syndicating them across platforms for maximum exposure.
- You need to network with prospects, build lists and start conversations with them.
- You need to plan and build out your sales funnel and channelize all your traffic to it.
- You need a closing page where interested people can subscribe, buy and RSVP. This does not have to be your own site; it can be an event page on another platform (so that you can benefit from their rankings)
Simon U Ford (SUF.EDBD)
Today’s tip! One stop shopping for all your event marketing in social media needs you can’t go past my Events Listed networking and marketing platform. It’s invite only, here’s a backdoor pass on me.
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“Who am I? Who am I not? Who do I want to be? What am I doing about it?” |
Well if you haven’t seen it yet Social Traffic just launched it’s soul search contest . It’s going to be very interesting.
I submitted my entry an hour ago. I thought I would share it with my audience. Here goes;
Who am I? Who am I not?
I didn’t set out to be known a leader. I like to lead by example, yet at the same time I dislike being a public figure in the spotlight. I enjoy letting others take the center stage, while I can be the man behind them. It’s just the way that I am built. I’m not in this for fame, but rather for respect. At the end of the day, if all I get are online “friends” who “like” me, then in many ways I would feel like I have failed. I don’t want to be liked, per se, I just want to be respected; or better yet, I want to move people and influence them. I want to be the person who enables others to achieve their dreams.
Though it may sound conflicting, it’s actually a very comfortable spot between the feeling of power from influencing others, and letting others take the limelight.
What am I going to do about it?
Well, I guess I’m already doing something about it through Social Traffic. Social Traffic was built on a model where others could eventually be empowered to take it forward. I knew that I didn’t have time for back-slapping-honey-coated-wordy colleagues. Social Traffic needed business minded folk to make wise and effective decisions.
Just like personal brands, your business brand also needs to answer these questions. We knew that the strength of the ST group would be primarily based on trust and net worth of the individuals. We don’t invest in the half-hearted; or mix business with pleasure.
I started this group from 500 and brought it down to 20 sharp people. I believe, that in life you’re either a shepherd who leads the way, a goat or a sheep – and if you so happen to be the shepherd, you’d darn right do a great job at it. In the simplest of analogies, I’d say that I have had the privilege of being a shepherd for so many enthusiastic souls. But it’s the people under me that matter the most: the brave and untiring goats. At the end of the day Rupert Murdoch is an Obama goat yet a shepherd to the News limited team. Similarily, influencing a few weak goats is not the same as one who can influence powerful billy goats. Each person in Social Traffic is a strong, intelligent and brave soul, and just this thought makes my journey so much more fulfilling.
My circle of trust is based on 10 or so people outside of family and friends. Through those 10 people I have been able to achieve so much more - the bigger and better these people are the stronger the bond and the more success enjoyed by all. We’ve gotten Hollywood documentary propositions; million dollar sales; and a reputation that takes a lot of time to build and protect.
Answering these questions is imperative to defining our personal brands, which is everything in social media. Answering these questions could be the most constructive thing that you do online. When I look at myself in the mirror and I ask myself these three questions - the only pacifying thought that comes to my mind is how thankful I should be about where I am, what I’m doing and how everything in my life fits together piece by piece.
Join the single entry competition and win first prize valued at $8000!
“Who am I” is a question asked by countless people searching for their souls. One such person who stands out from the crowd was a poet called Bulleya.
“Soul Searching” contest for teams win anywhere up to $100,000.00 cash shared by the winning team
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The eternal question… |
The journey through self discovery is one taken by many people all across the globe for all times. “Who am I” is a question asked by countless people searching for their souls. One such person who stands out from the crowd was a poet called Bulleya.
His poem (translated in English) is as follows:
Bulleya, who am I?
I am no believer in a mosque
And I have no pagan ways
I am not pure. I am not vile
I’m no Moses and I’m no Pharoah
Bulleya, who am I?
First and last, I see the self
I recognize no second to it
No one is more knowing than me
But, Bulleya, who is it that I am?
Bulleya, who am I?
Water nor dust are neither what makes me
I am not flame. I am not wind
I am not pure. I am not vile
I’m no Moses and I’m no Pharoah
Bulleya, who am I?
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STi “Soul Searching” contest for teams - Part 2 |
The “Soul Searching” Contest for teams is an extension of the Facebook contest for a more focused drive. Now that you’re selecting and finalizing your teams, I thought I’d recap the important aspects of the contest.
How does the contest work?
- You can either lead a team or join one. Teams have to be between 5 to 10 members each.
- The team captains can register teams into the sheet before adding member user-names to it.
- All team members must be signed up as JV partners and their JV partner panel user-names should be added to the team’s sheet.
- Each individual in the team will participate in the essay writing contest. The collective votes and traffic of all team members will decide the winning team
- All entrants must join the Social Traffic fan page before joining as a prerequisite to submitting their entries.
- The team contest will be run using Google Forms and Spreadsheets.
- At the end of the contest, Social Traffic will manually count each team’s points (votes + traffic) and average them per person in the team. The team with the most average points per player wins the Team’s Contest.
How to participate?
All individuals within the teams have to submit a 450 word essay on;
“Who am I?
Who am I not?
Who do I want to be?
What am I going to do about it?”
What are the rewards?
The Social Traffic Fan Page will grow fans as the competition heats up, since every contestant has to be a part of the community to participate. The page itself will be used to promote the courses and books. All course sales that take place through the Fan Page will earn 40% commission through a dedicated affiliate account that we’ll set up. All of the commission earned through this will be pooled together.
Through the Facebook Social Traffic Fan Page the winners will get the following rewards:
- 1st team earns 50% of the total commissions earned
- 2nd team earns 35% of the total commissions earned
- 3rd team earns 15% of the total commissions earned
With so many teams competing against each other for points (votes and traffic to their entries), this could easily lead to thousands of dollars in commission to the winning team.
To get a clearer picture, understand that only 100 sales conversions from the Facebook Fan Page would mean 100 X $800 commission = $80,000. This $80k will be given to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd teams respectively, and they will divide their rewards amongst their team members. Losing teams won’t get anything, and won’t even get commissions for the sales they were responsible for converting.
Tips on choosing the right team members:
Once your team members have been nominated they cannot be changed. If someone tries to leave a team half-way through the contest, he/she will not be able to leave until the duration of the contest is complete. This means that whoever you have in your team will remain a part of it – of he/she is a good resource then your whole team will benefit. If he/she is a negative force then this will dilute the whole team’s score.
This is why it is important to make sure that you do not invest in half-hearted people by allowing them into your team. People who have not built a reputation of a can-do attitude will have a difficult time finding a team that accepts them. Your team is like a party. The biggest and best parties are the ones where everyone wants to be, where all the good players are, and where the best music is playing. Make your team that kind of party and see the results.
If this goes viral that could be $10,000 a piece, so don’t choose your team members lightly – this is serious business. The wrong team can not only make you lose the contest, but also lose the commissions for the sales that you did convert.
The best thing is that you already know how to promote and ace this contest – you know how to market better than anyone else out there on Facebook and Twitter. You’ve learned the ropes and know the ride well.
Get started today. Pick your partners, find your best team players, and get them to join your team. It’s not every day you get a chance to be involved in a launch of this magnitude. The opportunity is in front of you.
Enter your team here
Entries close Friday 25th September.
Join the single entry competition here. Win first prize valued at $8000!
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Credit where credit is due… |
It’s interesting to see the different types of personalities and characters that we come across in our lives. I have always had a keen and curious observation, and always tried to understand the perspective different people bring on the table in our day to day interactions. Their perspectives are a conglomeration of their personalities, experiences, DNA codes and intelligence. If part of growing up is about respecting different people’s perspectives and ideologies, in a way I had grown up even when I was just a kid.
Through life, I have learned that one of the most important things we can do in our interactions with others is acknowledging their efforts whenever possible. Genuine acknowledgment pays off in a much deeper way and touches the heart of the other person.
However, sometimes, simple acknowledgment with mouth service is not enough. During this campaign that we’re having around Social Traffic, I realized that sometimes you value other people so much that you really wish to benefit their businesses or lives as much as you can. This is a feeling that cannot be faked or forced – it has to come naturally.
In sociology you will study that like-minded people tend to flock together. If a girl walks around in a short skirt and shows off her breast cleavage, she will attract a certain kind of men who value the girl’s body above all else. Alternatively, if a girl enters a party and is graceful, articulate and intelligent then she will attract men who value these qualities more. Similarly, snake oil salesmen using shady online marketing techniques will always be attracted to campaigns that are sketchy in nature; whereas people of high caliber will always flock together in campaigns where they can add value to each other.
Our circle of trust has been building up – and people who have been promoting the mindset to the public do so because they believe in it. I regard these promoters in my “circle of trust” because they trust me and in return I trust them. They add value to the cause by telling their contacts about the campaign and gradually building the trust of other people in it. They support the cause with good intent and are focused on bringing positive change in global social marketing. They haven’t been doing this for any ulterior motives or personal incentives; which proves the point that they actually believe in the cause or passionately want to take this discussion forward.
I cannot just let this go unnoticed or unacknowledged though. I have always believed in building mutually beneficial relationships that add value to the collective whole. Today I have announced to them that I will reward them for their efforts. Not because I have to, but because they deserve it for keeping up the positive attitude and making this campaign successful and developing successful communication streams within the group.
The level of communication is based on the depth of relationships. The less the degrees of separation - the more the depth; and vice versa. This sort of communication is popular because it’s reliable and trustworthy and is the basis of any business model. Relationship based communications lost its validity with the advancements in internet, because it was exploited to an extent that it wasn’t reliable anymore. People baiting the links to plant cookies to pose as another person, hijacking tracking codes to steal other peoples rewards; and thus it has made relationship based communication very vulnerable online. Like all things good, a minority believe in the vast potential of internet as a delivery platform for the amazing business models it can support. Online marketing is not as strong as it could be because of those who abuse it.
I think the situation is beginning to get different now; we have smart programmers and developers funded by the biggest companies in the world who are working on making internet more secure and reliable. Social technology turns users into watchmen, as people and the machine merge into one cohesive force - we become strong enough to tackle this issue and lay the foundation for codes of ethical conduct in social marketing. Spammers are slowly being locked out of our blogs, emails and social networks and because of this we are seeing the return of relationship based communication. This is again getting popular because humans can interact and develop trust. I believe Internet has all the ingredients to bring fantastic revolution in social marketing. I promoted my campaign through email marketing and 74% of those following my emails open them and click the links off of them, I have invested time and effort to earn the privilege to have them listen. Traditional marketers are happy with a 10% open rate so focus on sheer numbers and you can see over time how they are becoming more desperate in their trickery to have you open a message from them. Is email marketing dead? Not for marketers who build relationships with people who listen to them, it is for those who do it the old way.
I believe in focusing on our bigger objective, because if I lose focus then I lose my cause. Marketing is the same; through word of mouth I worked to convince one person and he convinced another and slowly and gradually we built the trust of thousands.
On the internet it’s easy to loose focus and indulge in gaming the system. If you want people to buy what you sell, whether it is an idea or a mindset or a product; you need to tell them why it’s good for them and how it can add value to their lives. The catch is, although people want to buy they don’t want to be sold to anymore. Those who focus on numbers and not on quality will invariably fail in the longer run, they may be building income but they are not building value, thus will never be wealthy. Focus on why what you do can be good for others and you will build a business model that drives others into wanting to help you build it.
That’s why I am attracted to conversation marketing as my strategy of choice to promote what it is I have to offer people. When people ask me what I am going to do next after this book launch, I tell them that launching the book won’t be an end, but just a step forward in the right direction. That’s the perk of conversation marketing because so many, who show interest by reading or hearing us become a part of this campaign automatically - and they are happy about it because we are adding value to their lives by making them think and explore different horizons of possibilities. More importantly, people who become involved in this campaign do so because of those who spread the message to them. Our evangelists.
These people introduced the concept to others; we made a group for these people on Facebook and within seven days the number of members grew to 800 at an astounding growth rate of 3600% per year. I am seeing people learning and enhancing their mindset and introducing this to other people and in so doing adding value in their lives as well. So those who support us are supporting us for the right reason, and the right reason is that they believe they are doing it for other people to make their live’s good. Some people will grow out from the group into active participants in conversations around notes that I and others write and some will find value in products or services we represent, because they represent solutions to problems they need solving. Others wont, all will have something in common.
Because of this fact, I insist that 50% of every book sale is rewarded to the people most responsible for introducing it to every new person buying the book. (i.e. for every sale, the person who referred them to the book will get 50% of the revenue). Commissions are something we pay to give back to people who created value through their influence, if we pay commission in cash it can be measure to insure the people who most deserve it, are most rewarded. But it’s should never be about the money.
Those who want to buy my book have obviously enjoyed a great deal of value from the conversation so far, you believe and trust me when I tell you that owning the book will take your journey to another level. The value you anticipate the book to represent to you will excede the price. You will be offered the first chapters without risk, to confirm it’s value.
I have created a fair deal for you and I hope I have earned your trust. I am going to ask something of all those who are buying the book today. Please leave this post and go directly to the person who is most responsible for you buying the book outside of me. The deal is all about you enjoying value, I want to shift the boundary on this process by asking you to also consider a focus on ensuring credit goes where credit is due. Imagine If we all start to buy and sell this way, we stop spamming in its tracks and what I am asking of you is only a very slight shift in mind set.
You know who is responsible for you being here, enjoying this journey,.. find them,.. buy your book from them - it’s just a request, nothing mandatory. Though the public book launch is not until Wednesday 4.00pm (EST), we are giving early access to people prepared to find those who deserves the credit and buy through them, they will be ready for you. If they are not get them to contact me.
We will be releasing 1000 copies of the first 30 pages only (with a count down form 1000 to 0). You will be asked to refer ten friends on your way to downloading this free copy. It’s not compulsary but will be appreciated and acknowledged if you do. See you all on the other side… <-;
Simon U Ford (SUF.EDBD)
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When the conversation turns to business…. |
A lot of people, who are reading our posts are enjoying them because they are making them think, however, some of them have not really put it all together. I was talking to a member of “my circle of trust” and he asked me what I am going to do now that I have sold “Sleeping with the Enemy” (my old company), I told him; “I am doing it”. I realized then that he did not realize that he was participating in a marketing campaign. Sharing in his classic ‘aha’ moment made me realize that it is high time I posted an article that outlines the power of conversation marketing that has just been validated through this situation.
We started this journey eight months ago and the principle was simple, we add value to everybody by writing meaningful and helpful posts on social media strategies and launch guidelines with lots of high quality content. We invested a lot of time and money in these eight months to add value to as many people as we could touch; we did this to build the trust of people in us. I cross syndicated this content throughout different social platforms through blogging, Facebook, Yahoo Answers, Linkedin, Twitter and attracted an audience of thousands of readers. To give you an idea, we had approx 1500 from LinkedIn, 1500+ from Facebook, 3500+ from Plaxo, 400+ from Twitter and thousands more through various other bookmarking, article marketing and networking platforms. By posting the same content once and sharing it through multiple platforms on auto pilot, we attracted an audience of 12,000+ people who were specifically interested in what we have to say. These people were following us for one reason, because we add value to what they do and we have been doing it consistently, almost daily, for over eight months now.
From then onwards, we’ve driven these people into different level of conversations - surveys, videos and now into Facebook. We have accumulated 3000+ names and email addresses along the way and effectively shifted the conversation to what is going on in Facebook for the last four weeks. Our Facebook group campaign has attracted thought leaders who enjoy challenging themselves and collaborating with other people in their leagues.
Conversations are like a game - with each of us playing his part:
So, to use an analogy introduced to me by one of these thought leaders (Philip A Gornail) in a comment left on a previous note;
“Let the games begin…Let the spectators be entertained…let the coaches coach and let the players play.”
But here’s the thing, attracting and publishing to a growing audience of spectators without cost is just the beginning. Our main conversation walks our audience towards products and services that lead to a sales funnel designed to convert some of our audience opportunities to become great customers. I say great because; leads that are earned this way are not people coerced…our leads are intelligent people who have been engaged in conversation with us for some time, they know us. They know where we are coming from, what we stand for and the value we represent. This happens on the most part without them even knowing the conversation is anything but a conversation they are enjoying great value in being a part of. More importantly than that, when an audience member does turn into a lead, he/she will be introduced to it by someone they already like, trust and respect - so that the introducer could share the journey with them together. It’s this inter-connectedness, the passing of a trust baton that cannot be underestimated when it comes to the power of what makes a successful community. The mindset every new audience member arrives with, that will become the foundation of their experience.
Taking the conversation to new levels is important to keep the campaign interesting, as long as we have an audience; we have a community. If the conversation ends so too will the community that has built around it. From our current audience of 12,000+ we have attracted close to 3,000 people into inviting us into their email inboxes because they all want more from the conversation, those who haven’t are content staying where they are and that’s fine to.
To reference Phillip’s analogy again we have those who are happy to stay at home and watch the game on TV, whilst others (those who subscribe) who prefer to come down to the ground and watch. Our conversation to each segment of the audience will remain constant yet different, to ensure those at the ground receive greater value for being there. Then we get to those who can only watch for so long before they want to play: People who started out watching the game at home on TV with friends, who later started attending the games. Certain personalities will always get to a point where they want to play, they want to start their own conversations, build their own audiences and grow their own communities, these people want to emulate the process and form a community. To continue to grow, these people need to be able to do that without having to leave the community to do it. These players within the greater community are the people we expect will grow into becoming our customers through purchasing the ‘Social Traffic’, book.
Knowing this we are offering 1000 FREE preview copies (first 30 pages) of Social Traffic on Wednesday at 4.00pm (EST- North America). Of the 1000 FREE preview copies readers can read chapter 1 (30 pages) and from that decide if the quality is worth the price we are asking to activate the balance of the 145 page book.
By offering the first chapter for FREE we have backed ourselves, knowing the value readers will experience in that chapter alone is that good that most will purchase the full book. By limiting this launch to 1000 FREE preview copies, we expect a lot of people who would like the book but are not going to jump over any hoops to get one will miss out. What this assures us is that the people who will jump over hoops to get their hands on a copy will become our first generation customers and we couldn’t ask for a better start in business than that.
Good conversations are never meaningless or random:
If we end up with even 1 customer who is appreciative, enthusiastic, passionate and committed about what we are doing from an audience of 12,000+, from a leads list of 3000+ then we are a lot better off than starting the next level of our campaign with 2000 customers who are not.
If we end up with 1000 customers purchasing the book that have the right mindset, that works for us, but the emphasis is on the mindset not volume. I will guarantee that I can grow a customer base of 1 person who has a fantastic attitude into a valuable customer base that will amount to a successful corporation. Conversely, I cannot guarantee to grow 2000 strong customers with a poor mindset into a valuable customer base, in fact it’s probably not possible. People who queue to purchase a copy of ‘Social Traffic’ through this launch want a copy because of the value they have already enjoyed throughout the conversation, they know who they are and are already sold on that idea. I look forward to my conversation with these people being elevated to a whole new level, a conversation that can only be shared by customers who not only “get it”, but will have read the book, so are ready to “do it”. Those people not ready to take the conversation to another level will do so at their own pace, some may prefer to stay in the main grandstand and follow that conversation forever, others will drop out of the conversation all together and the fact they can do that is the power of conversation marketing.
The most powerful attribute of conversation marketing is that;
· people who participate do so at their comfort,
· anyone can break away to start other conversations, and
· all conversations are interconnected by participants.
As conversation marketers, it is our job to listen and feel what an audience wants to hear, then to publish content that inspires them to engage.
Our entry level conversation will continue as it has done over the past 8 months and we expect our audience to grow with the cross pollination of evangelists who have read the book back into the audience, each one of these people who breaks away to build out their own conversation marketing campaign across social media serve as social proof that what we do as a corporation adds value to those who trust in it. Our main conversation will continue to inspire new thoughts aimed at challenging the mindset of all those who listen.
Building a valuable business is about building one fruitful, trusting and respectful relationship with customers. The net worth of any corporation is the sum total of all its good customers and the cost of securing a new customer is a onetime cost. It never ceases to amaze me how businesses spend so much money on attracting new customers only to neglect them once they buy.
We have limited the distribution of Social Traffic to ensure the appropriate amount of value is enjoyed by those who purchase it. We want them to have time to read it, once they have we will begin a new conversation with them, this conversation will be at an entirely new level because they all share something that our general audience have not gone through. They have also invested more into what we do in order to build our relationship to the next level. We take our commitment to ensuring they are taken to the next step very seriously.
Our customer community will become a tight one, those who buy the book not only “get it” but will start “executing it”, connecting all across another level. We have some amazing campaigns planned that will continue to take the social marketing world by storm. Has anyone seen a strategy like this one before? Everything we do is aimed at pioneering a lead of newer social marketing models for community based business. We make it a win-win for everyone involved. don’t just watch other people get to that level, emulate them by acting quickly.
You can get hold of your preview copy of “Social Traffic” here. Bring your circle of trust in business with you so that you’re all on the same page so we move this conversation to the next level, together.
Simon U Ford (SUF.EDBD)
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“Social Traffic”, code of ethics |
It seems that everyone has their own definition of social media but we have a consensus on at least one point – it’s an excellent way of interacting and bonding with like-minded people. It is exciting to see the way the “Social Traffic” group on Facebook has evolved over the past 5 days and become a small movement with such great potential so quickly. After all what is our common focus? I see Glen’s discussion on what the group stands for has attracted a lot of input and it’s inspiring to watch the talent pool come to light, but throughout these discussions lets not lose focus on what brought us all together. We are all here because we want to be working with a better caliber of people under better quality relationships than what we are currently experiencing. If this is not the case why are we all here?
I think the subject matter of what we are working on will vary and I think groups within the groups will centralize around topics of interest. We are here because we want to collaborate with a better quality of relationships than we are used to, and I am sure this group will provide that value to us. If we have the right mindset what we all want to happen within the group, will invariably happen. We can steer it in a direction which can benefit all of us.
With some great discussions gaining momentum and others about to start, I felt that it’s time to define a few guidelines for the group’s code of practice to better aid us in achieving our desired result from being members of this movement.
Now, a lot of people say and believe that putting any restrictions or rules on a group destroys its basic nature to evolve and grow. We don’t want to put restrictions - we just want to channelize this traction in the right direction – the direction of mutual collaboration, learning and helping each other with a core focus on elevating our level of intent towards one and other, to add more value than we take away from every interaction. So, in essence, we want to define certain boundaries that will help us collaborate and work together in the healthy, productive and pro-active environment we are all attracted to, without getting side-tracked by people with the old-marketing-mindset of sell a widget, receive a dollar then look to the next sale.
If we don’t define certain rules, chances are that we can go off on unwanted tangents. That may be OK for random FB groups, but not for targeted groups such as this one.
Having said that, let’s get straight to our socializing ethics. At the Social Traffic group, I would like to put forward suggestions for a group Code of Practice and ask for a collaborative effort in building on this beginning to define a code of practice that defines us:
1- Don’t friend people just to spam them
Spamming kills the very purpose of a conversation and takes it down to a low and closed-mind level. Up until today, we have been tolerating some messages, but we can’t afford to anymore. We are here to build a community and movement, not spam each other with interest-driven messages. If you have something very important to say, be prepared to listen first. Earn the interest of the group and wait until asked. Then promote yourself, or better still wait for someone to do it for you. The effect is 1000 times more powerful this way.
Note: If you are not confident of anyone ever showing enough interest in you to listen to or promote you; ask yourself one thign, should “you” be promoting yourself either?
2- Building strong relationships
Strong relationships play a key role in the success of any venture. The relationship gets stronger when there is a trust between the parties. This trust comes through mutual respect and confidence. We need a powerful social network within our group. If we can achieve this target then our group will see an active growth both in terms of membership as well as popularity. We want to get as many people who you think can in any way benefit from being here. If they are on other networks, bring them in. If they are offline, send them invites.
Everyone should take ownership of it as if this is their own space. Most of the strategies and discussions we have had so far revolve around building quality relationships rather than running after numbers - Social Traffic members understand this concept and are here for the long-run and not for short-sighted narrow-minded benefits.
3- Proactive approach
We have to adopt a proactive approach in reaching out to other people. That’s not a big task to accomplish, only if we can shed our differences and interact actively with other group members. The group thrives on commenting, discussions over notes, asking questions, answering other’s questions and building a knowledge base. For this, everyone needs to be proactive in participating. Here’s the hard part: Those members who do not actively engage with the group for more than 15 days should be removed from it.
We want to maintain this into an active discussion board, not just a place to watch others and stay quiet. I see no point in a member remaining inactive if they do not intend to contribute to the groups growth. Nor do I see benefit in the group having these members sit in the wings to take all that is positive away from the group without investing anything back into it. It’s this contribution defecit that will bankrupt our inspiration if we allow it to happen. In saying that, lets encourage others to participate and show them how they will profit from adopting this mind set before expelling them.
4- Frequent Surveys and polls
Surveys and online polls are the heart and soul of a social networking group. We can only judge the trends and practices of our members if we know what they are actually thinking and ‘doing’. A monthly survey or poll is necessary to keep the members active. The only difference is that we want the members to come up with the questions themselves collaboratively. These questions can evolve out of a questions discussion group that has been started.
5- Effective Collaboration
We are here to share our thoughts, ideas and strategies, so having an honest approach to networking is necessary. We encourage shout outs and heads up calls that are aimed at enriching the collaborative efforts of all members. Through such collaboration, we need to eventually expand our footprint to other platforms and applications. When sharing notes and ideas, we need to discuss them and take them a step higher - so that we can all grow and learn from each other.
6- Tapping those who matter
It doesn’t matter how many friends you have made but it does matter how influential or passionate they are. We have to bring in passionate people to increase the net worth of our group. Group members must actively promote the group to bring in more people to the group so that we all can benefit from the collective expertise and social marketing strategies. Having more thought leaders on board raises the level and value of our discussions.
7- Contributing to each others stock worth
Our net worth is an augmentation of the stock worth of each and every group member. When you add to the value of others by helping them or sharing, you are in effect increasing your own value. We want to drive this point in, because it is the core essence and fundamental concept on which this group stands. Break this and the whole system can break. Broaden your thinking, increase your level of intent to add value to those around you, invest time in widening your net worth and you will elevate the value you represent to others. The more successful the Social Traffic group becomes the better caliber of each smaller network within the group becomes leading to each individuals stock value rising. The groups stock price will not rise as a start up without a considerable investment that can only come through the mind set of it’s members.
8 - Revolving conversations
Although we want to encourage democratic conversations for the sake of transparency we need to center our conversations through a blue print that ensures conversations are always moving us forward. This blue print is also one that invites collaboration but let me start giving us something to work off.
I think that all conversations should start in the group discussion boards. The individual who starts the conversation must administer it. These discussions should be viewed as targeted and real time content from the cutting edge and therefore be a source for posts that should be pulled into notes written by anyone just like this one. The note should reflect the conversation that inspired it and be a place where the conversation lifts to another level.
If a conversation warrants through a successful knot, it should be turned onto its own Facebook page. The conversation can lift to another level on the page where participants can break away into a group within the group, anchored by the page that was initially inspired by a discussion within the group. The growth of “Social Traffic” can spawn out to as many smaller groups around many pages whilst the core philosophies that hold the extended network together will be discussed and communicated within the “Social Traffic” group.
If a smaller group outgrows it’s page, a break away group will no doubt emerge that will have a strong relationship with the Social Traffic group through a shared mindset and level of understanding we can depend on. “We all get it!”
Simon U Ford (SUF.EDBD)
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Saving is a prudent choice | Earthday Birthday 2009 |
For some of us, the concept of “Saving” is a quantum leap in our thinking. But we have to remain optimistic especially in this financial crisis. We have to realize that as a collective force, we can make a difference. Whether we may or may not need to evaluate or exercise our feelings regarding the issue of money and consumerism, helping the earth is an issue that requires attention and immediate action. Change will only ever take effect through deeds, not words. We, as consumers, need to curb our lavish spending habits. We are using up the Earth’s scarce resources. These days, the housing market is falling. People have stopped eating out at restaurants and going on vacation. Many of my relatives have down-sized their lifestyles. This is a great time to generate this experiment and consciously adjust our thoughts on saving.
Some economists assert that the rising rate of savings was a natural reaction, penance for America’s spendthrift ways. “If American consumers are less indebted, live within their means and have more money in savings, they are better positioned to spend on a sustainable basis for years to come,” said Greg McBride, senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com. “As painful as that is economically in the short run, these developments will better serve us in the long run”. On the flip side, consumerism is an important factor in bringing about economic activity to pull the country out of recession.
So this crisis can be contained. We just have to buckle up, re-prioritize and focus our attention to this Earth Day campaign. Collectively, we can all play an active role in contributing our efforts towards the on-going environmental issues. Instead of ordering take-out one night this week, one could just save that money and donate it to the Social Traffic Group concept that is organizing Earth Day (April 22nd). If we all not only pitched in about $10 to the cause, but get another 10 people to do the same, we can collectively raise $1 million and upwards.
I figure we all do our part. Most of us recycle. We keep our friends and families from littering on the streets and use bio-degradable and organic products. Basically, we all do what we can to try to follow a healthy and green lifestyle. But is this making a huge impact on the Earth? One does not have to think or even be an environmentalist. After all, this is OUR Earth. We should limit our spending on worthless consumer goods and focus on saving our planet for our future generations! Think of the world we want to leave our kids.
I mentioned re-prioritizing earlier. We should take a look at the social benefits of saving. The aim should be to have a green environment and enrich our surroundings. If we took the initiative and told 10 of our friends to pitch in $10 from their savings once every year (this being the first of many), and tell them to ensure next year 10 of their friends are on board to do the same, we could end up with a staggering amount of money each year! Since it happens to be our money, we can do whatever we want with it and in this case, we are helping the Earth Day cause. As a citizen of the Earth, it is our responsibility to preserve and protect the global environment.
The concept of saving in order to be able to participate fully in the Earth Day campaign aims to alter one’s thinking about their spending habits and lavish lifestyles. This cause hopes to promote a positive attitude about the Earth and to raise consciousness of environmental protection (especially the rainforests) and calls for the citizens of the Earth to protect their natural surroundings and save energy!
If you have been following us, you’d know that this is more than just about the charities. Its a social marketing experiment to see our community’s ability to call on others to act. People can donate money to whichever organization they want. We are not promoting a specific foundation, we are promoting a movement of people prepared to do what it takes to get others to act. This is where the true value of the Social Traffic Inc (STi) becomes evident. Together we can make a difference in social marketing, that nobody else has done before.
The money amount doesn’t matter - Donating $10 is the easy part. The real challenge is getting another 10 people to follow suit. If everyone could do this we could raise infinite amounts of money, year after year. If we all stick together and work towards common goals the collective sum raised would be influential. The cost to each of us in being able to enjoy the feeling of contributing millions of dollars to a cause we believe in is just $10.
I cannot say this enough. The easy part is donating $10. The challenge is in us recruiting and maintain 10 contacts who we can depend on that will each do the same. Ten contacts who won’t let us down. If each of us can get the latter part right and if we all stick together,…. our capacity to make a difference is exponential. It should be so easy, 10 people capable of maintaining a commitment from another ten people to donate $10 towards a good cause on Earthday. I mean it’s worth $10 just to know what donating $1 million dollars to a good cause feels like. Not to mention knowing we have been pro-active in doing something to ensure the legacy we leave our children is something we can be proud of.
To be honest, I don’t think we were ever in a position to raise a million dollars this year. People need to see us here doing the same thing next year before they were ever going to trust us. People are not going to ask their trusted friends to trust in us until they can be sure we are the real deal. The only way that’s going to happen is for us to be here, executing this same campaign year after year. Earthday birthday was always a 10 year plan. By next year let’s aim to be in a position where we can actually raise $1 million dollars for a good cause by sending an email..
Join Earthday Birthday, beyond 2009 here. You will be asked to nominate your ten friends so have their names email addresses handy. Everyone that signs onto the list will be sent an email letting them know how much money we raised for each of the different charities we supported this Earthday, 2009.
Join Earthday birthday, beyond 2009 to receive a list of charities we are supporting here.
Simon U Ford (SUF.EDBD)
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The quality of what you do… |
I have a question for you. What are your idea’s worth? Nothing if you don’t execute them. What are your word’s worth? Nothing if others can’t take them on face value. As a general rule; people who honor their words, talk in a decisive tone and act on ideas will gain the respect of the community. Without determination and deciding internally what you want to achieve, chances are that you won’t go far in reaching your goals. Sometimes we undervalue the importance of the fact that when your mind becomes determined and committed to achieving a particular goal, the world conspires to help you. People will come out of the blue to support your cause. Opportunities you hadn’t seen before would come knocking on your door.
Building your network:
In my previous “If you were a corporation, whats your stock worth?” I mentioned how I think online networks should create more traffic and value by augmenting your existing relationships rather than playing a number game. Take time to think about what you want from the time that you invest online - it is an investment after all, not a cost. You need to invest time in building strong contacts.
One successful contact at a time will result in an empire eventually. While it is important to add new contacts slowly, maintaining and growing the relationship with the ones that you already have is even more important. If you don’t have time to invest into adding value to these relationships, is it wise to keep adding more connections to your list that you won’t ever have time for? Isn’t that what groups are for: to attract an audience - whereas friends should be reserved for quality connections (like a privilege of some sort)? Are social networking sites encouraging online networking practices that lead us away from beneficial human networking practices.
I allocate time every day to spend interacting with my existing contacts. I talk with them on their walls and ask something of them to see what they are made of. I do this not to stir people or annoy them but to determine if these people are worth having as a number in my trusted friends list and I can tell you a lot of people completely ignore my attempts to communicate with them. Scott Brandon Hoffman, one of my trusted connections in Facebook noted that someone sending him a friend request without a message was like them walking up to him at a party and just standing there, saying nothing. Now imagine introduction yourself to a person at a party and have that person turn his head in the other direction, instead of responding with a handshake. Yet by current social networking standards these people are still suppose to be considered your “friends”. Before I “got it”, I accepted invitations from such people without screening them, leaving my party half filled with people who don’t talk back. I mean it’s not like I am hitting their walls like a spammer (the only contact that’s worse than a contact that doesn’t talk back) and asking them to click a link to a page that’s all about me..? I usually say something more like;
“hey {name}, I just noticed we’re friends…boy, and I didn’t know anything about you…I took a look at your profile and can see you are into “what ever it is they are into“…tell me some more about yourself to fire this relationship up a notch..oh, and I write notes from time to time that give a pretty good insight into me…let me know if you’re interested and I will tag you to one…
Now, what do you do with someone who is on your list of connections who flat out ignores an approach like that. What value is there to having this connection in my friend’s list. Is it only because the technology demands that doing so will allow me to tag more people to my content. I am not blaming the humans here. I hold the machine responsible, please tell me what you think?
The answer to my concerns are going to be played out through the emergence of smarter technology like Google Friend Connect that will hopefully lead to us towards not feeling so compelled to maintain these type of connections for the sole purpose of distributing content through them. One way media (like TV) was flawed because it disrupts an entire household’s viewing pleasure in order to show an advertising message about a product or service, that may only have been of interest to a very small percentage of the people.
The internet and then Social media was the multi-directional communication platform that was going to change our media scape forever. It allowed for global collaboration where every individual could publish a message without having to pay media corporations huge fees to have it distributed to millions of viewers throughout their audiences. Should I really need to continue investing time and energy into hundreds of benign connections in order to find the people who are interested in what I have to offer. Isn’t social media meant to be a platform that facilitates our ability to walk into a targeted audience and communicate with them, without the expense, non targeting, static and cross noise that come with offline media platforms. Are we not polluting our own pond here? Isn’t it a case of quantity based connecting strategy? This makes it harder to find people we are looking for in business who are above this noise created by so many connections that lead to nothing? Do we have a choice or are we simple creatures of the technology that defines us now. Is the greatest machine ever built (the internet) changing the way humans interact forever? Do we have a say in it or must we continue to network and connect the way the machine is training us, if we want to excel at the game by the games rules. Must I just learn to accept people who flat out ignore me when I attempt to engage them in conversation, my new and technically super charged social network of 2008. Please leave your comments on this one. It’s important…
Here’s a thought. Aren’t pages and groups in Facebook designed for people to become fans and members of an audience or to join targeted groups or communities. Shouldn’t tagging and syndicating through profile pages be limited to people we are connected to through these networks. Shouldn’t my friend’s list remain sacred, reserved for people who I trust most - my friends, family, good customers (evangelists) or partners, “my circle of trust”? If tagging and networking like we do amongst our friend contacts now was extended through to fans or members of the same groups as us, wouldn’t it be easier for us to find targeted markets to whom we could promote our products and services to whilst being less compelled to have to accept everyone as friends. Isn’t it time we started looking for ways to better segment networking with commercial intent and networking with social intent. Why are all the powerful syndication capabilities in Facebook tied to our friends lists and not pages or groups. Isn’t this causing the boundaries between family, friends, audiences, leads, opportunities and customers to be blurred. Is it because Facebook pages and groups were an after thought, added years after the machine was first built for social networking amongst university students. Has the machine taken control and is now influencing the way humans interact socially through it’s technical limitations and inability to merge faultlessly with what social networking between humans has always been.
Someone asked me recently how to separate the good contacts from the bad? It’s a question you don’t get asked so much offline although the answer would be the same. You’ll just know. As an example, I spoke to a person I had just met a few days ago and after one conversation, I knew he was a person I wanted to invest more time into. If I had to go to battle with someone I had just met, it would be someone like him. Why? Because his attitude instills me with the confidence of knowing that if I did invest more time into him, he will not let me down. Because of the words he used I knew he was the real deal and not fluff and that I would be bonding on the same wave-length. I knew “he got it” and more than anything else, he was passionate about the fact, “he gets it”. Here’s an excerpt from an email I received from him:
“At this stage in my life, as an only child, with my parents long-deceased, being divorced since leaving my hometown of Macon, Georgia to move to Los Angeles in 1980, I’m committed to spending the rest of my energy to achieve, enjoy, and share the best of what life offers for myself and the people around the world I feel compelled to meet and treat as the only family I may ever have. So, I’m in it for the long run. Let’s do it! - AWJ”
The web, as we know it, is a fantastic opportunity - not because you can reach thousands of people, but because you can reach 10 people like “him” who you know is going to be connected to at least 10 people like “you“. Who “you” are, is determined by your own mind set which you control, so if “you” are someone who “you know” adds value to anybody lucky enough to earn a place within your circle of trust, then an opportunity to connect with 10 people like “him”, that you know has a similar network of relationships with other people like “you”, then you have the beginning of something very powerful in terms of doing business online. Say that 5 times quickly. No, I am joking….say it 5 times slowly and make sure you “get it”.
Don’t be short sighted in your attitude towards your connections - adding value to other people’s efforts makes your relationship more valuable, this can only increase your value. How each of us attract an audience through social networks that we can segment into leads and grow into opportunities that will become great customers who will eventually transform into evangelists will invite more and more followers into your revolving conversation marketing campaigns designed to walk them down the same path is what my Book “Social Traffic” will teach you.
A limited number of copies of the book go on sale at 8.00 am EST North America, next Wednesday 12th November. You can put your name down here.
Become part of a community executing the principles laid out in the book. Leverage this community to enhance your value in business though maintaining focus on increasing your intent towards members of your inner network of trusted business associates all applying the same focus here.
Simon U Ford (SUF.EDBD)
Today’s tip! If you want to source the best JV partners in your niche, you need a software that sources those selling the most product’s in your niche!
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If you were a corporation, what’s your stock worth? |
Sometimes, all we are is what others perceive us to be. It doesn’t matter how great we are at a task, unless other people benefit from it. I was thinking about all of the people that I have known in my life – it’s interesting how a stranger can become an acquaintance and then turn into a close friend. Interesting because just days before you wouldn’t even know them and suddenly you trust them. I rarely take dynamics on face value; I tend to study a process, always looking for clues as to why things happen the way they do.
If you were to choose ‘1′ person to go into battle with, who would it be? If you were to choose ‘5′ people to camp out with, who would they be? If you were to choose ‘10′ people to form an informal alliance of trust with, who would they be? If you were to choose ‘100′ people to attend your birthday party who would they be? If you could pitch a business opportunity to a group of business mentors who would you want listening? Knowing the answers to these questions lies in knowing who you are, knowing who you are is only possible if you know where you’re heading. If you know that, you are going to get there. Truth is, very few people take time out to think about these simple questions.
When we look at how people are networking in the online world today, it becomes incredibly unnerving. Marketers are brainwashing people into a mindset that suggests we need to “add as many people on our networks as possible” if we want to succeed in doing business online. “She’s in your industry, let’s add her on LinkedIn”, “He looks like someone influential, let’s add him to our Facebook”. It’s like everyone is being encouraged to waste time adding as many people as connections with a blindfold on, instead of investing the same amount of time into reinforcing some of the online relationships that we already DO have, and neglect.
Next time you are going to add a dozen people to your network, think about this for a second: Will I choose these people for going to battle with, or camping out with, or starting an online trust-based association with or are these people going to be little more than another number on my profile page that I can hopefully syndicate my content through? Will having these people on my list actually add value to my efforts and make me more influential in any way – or are they just going to leach away the value and worth that I have been building for myself. Another question we should be asking ourselves is; do I have the time and resources required to be able to add value to what they are working on.
We need to seriously reconsider how we network online – there are individuals who think that online networking is not different to offline networking, except you can do more of it across distance and time. A lot of people who “get this” will read this note, just as I read notes written by others that lead to a thought process towards establishing more rewarding relationships online. Am I the only one who feels a movement of people who “get this” flocking together, like birds of a feather, or do we all sense that it’s happening around us.
I want to hold onto this thought whilst we take a moment to look at ourselves as an important part of this movement. Let’s take each of us and consider ourselves as an entity that has a set worth, like a corporation of some sort (Just like Nightingale’s philosophy). Let’s consider that our “circle of trust” are people who believe in us and have invested in us, let’s look at this investment as them owning shares in our stock value. Now it would be each of ours responsibility to ensure that our stock value increases over time so that the investment our circle of trust has made in us pay’s them a healthy dividend as well as a capital gain over time. If we don’t do this they will stop investing in us.
Now what if we were the CEO of a major corporation that had hundreds of staff, thousands of clients and multiple stock holders that all cohabited under the one umbrella - and it was your responsibility to continually add value for these stakeholders. You are going to want some talented people adding value each day if you are going to succeed in your role. Now, as the CEO of a major corporation, if you were to set a target of lifting the corporation’s stock value over a defined period, would you tackle this by asking your executives to produce more or would you be better served off focusing on the individuals. What if you were to embark on a campaign that touched all your stock holders, customers, staff and executives through? What if, you were able to lead them all into focusing on elevating their own focus to increase the level of intent they carry into each day. What if you were capable of encouraging everyone to enhance the level of perceived value they represent to the people around them.
Now, wouldn’t it be true that if everyone was able to elevate their intent towards others, at some point, this would increase the value each individual represents to others. This could only lead to the value of the entire corporation to rise, along with its stock price.
Does this mean that everyone should hit the street and pick 1000 people to start adding value to? No, but everyone can increase their level of intent with everyone they come in contact with through every single day by adopting a simple shift in mindset. Open doors for ladies, give your seats to old people on a bus, say thank you, appreciate the person who serves you coffee - it’s the little things that increase your overall intent which ultimately determines our stock price as an individual.
My point is this, if we all shifted our mindset to see ourselves as having a stock value and we all started viewing the people in our lives as stakeholders in our corporation who had varying degrees invested in us, we would be forced to accept our market value. If we don’t like what we see then we must accept that there is only one way to fix it. We should focus on the value we represent to our stock holders and find ways of enhancing it so that stock price can rise. Do you see the analogy here? If we run around obsessed with making fickle connections who we can yell at by shoving links in their faces and demanding they listen to us then it’s only a matter of time before your stock price crashes. You can only, at best be building a bubble and as we all know, bubbles pop.
When it comes to business I would want to partner up with people who I can add value to. It enhances the value I represent as a person and by the same token, I want to work with people who add value to what I do. In my personal life I want to partner with people who are like mirrors that reflect me – so as to amplify my value. I married a wonderful woman who is witness to everything I do in life and in business. Without her, other family and my closest friends, what I do in business has no meaning. When you are networking online, let’s first understand the value you represent to each other with a view to reaching a higher potential in your businesses together.
Take some time to think about the collective power of a great movement of people that are focused on the overall intent they represent each other versus working in your own direction. If committing to a relationship, lets be sure we can honor it and let’s not commit to more than we can honor.
If you have read my “Sleeping With The Enemy” post you will have seen what my focus on 14 effective relationships did for me in a previous business. What I didn’t talk about in that post was how I started out begging, borrowing and stealing to start one very small 30 backpacker business. I had no clout, I didn’t have the numbers with 30 beds to be taken seriously by anyone in my industry or in hospitality. I could not approach top clubs and promoters in town with a view to partnering because at that stage there was not a lot of value I was able to offer them. Instead I focused on relationships where I did represent value, my backpacker customers who valued everything I was able to do for them. This trend was reciprocated by them wanting to add value to what I was doing because it’s in our nature to want that. Eight years later, through maintaining this focus, my network was 5 tiered from myself, down to my managers, to our house captains, to their lodgers onto their friends that was the most powerful social movement in Sydney that every pub, club and promoter in town wanted to work with. The same people I could never have added value to in such a relationship when I started out. The key message here is that I didn’t try to go after those people who weren’t ready to listen in the beginning.
People have asked me where I am going with this campaign. Questions like, if I have ten people in my group does that mean I will have to bookmark ten people’s content in order to have them bookmark mine?
This is not where I am taking this campaign. This movement has been moving along nicely for a long time now and it will keep moving where the masses allow it to go. Everyone of us is a part of it, I see many thought leaders producing great content that is forging paths that a lot of us want to follow. I see amazing contributors who add value to the efforts of others including mine, and most impressively I see a community that debates protocol and etiquette with a constructive precision, intent on building a better online community. I can see the emergence of a shift away from meaningless networking towards online relationships that do represent greater value.
My aim is to publish thought provoking content that delivers value to those people who enjoy consuming it. My intention is to add enough value to those around me that I attract a top line network of people who I can start a process of building a circle of trust with. I would like to introduce a process whereby I can expand and amplify these connections through a series of interconnected networks operating under a similar charter. This charter is to strive for better ways of harnessing our collective resources into strong infallible ties built on a foundation of trust enabling us to grow together as a movement of thought leaders in the space of social media marketing.
This movement does not need structure but it will need boundaries, and it has to be recognized as a movement for it to become one. If I was to pick ten people who have added the most value to my efforts here on Facebook I don’t need to look very far. I will be spending this week making sure I let them know that I recognize the value they represent to me and I will be arming myself with their email address and their Skype ID or phone number.
Can I recommend those who want to join me on this journey do the same?
Sign up to get your copy of “Social Traffic”
Join my Social Traffic group in Facebook.
Simon U Ford (SUF.EDBD)
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