Most people in online marketing take Google very seriously however Google has a fun side. So today I thought I’d have some fun with Google and share some of the Google fun things I’ve found online.

First of all, we  know Google is famous because…

Google is one of the most popular search engines online and you can find information about everything like:

The: Answer to Life the Universe and Everything = 42

But what if Google wasn’t so famous and had to design their Interface for Google?

We also know Google likes to play pranks like it did on April 1, 2010 when Google changed it’s name to Topeka.

However Google isn’t just about having fun. Google also provides lots of free tools and apps.

“Introducing Google Translate for Animals”

OK, that app might not be a good example however I’ve heard of another 1 currently being tested by Google that you might like. It’s called Google Follow Finder and it’s suppose to help you find Twitter followers and expand your network.

The Google Follow Finder uses your following and follower lists on Twitter to find people you might want to follow. When you enter your Twitter ID it returns 2 lists:

• “Tweeps” you might like
• “Tweeps” with similar followers

Right now it’s still in the experimental stage but you can go try it. Go to Follow Finder and type in your Twitter user name to find a list of “Tweeps”. (If I don’t appear on your list feel free to followme anyway )

I’d be interested in knowing what you think of this new Google app so please leave a comment.

To Your Success,
Susan

P.S. You can get information about using other free Google Tools to build your online business here.

When you think of Twitter marketing what do you think it means?

As a Twitter user I know for a fact that most people using Twitter for their business think it means sending out 140 character advertising messages to their followers. And many of them use the twitter marketing strategy of sending the same promotional message several times a day.

However spamming your Twitter followers with the same advertising messages several times a day is not the best way to get and keep followers or the best way to use Twitter to get traffic to your site.

Want to know what the best way is?

Read these articles: in PCWorld,  HuffingtonPost, and  TechrenaDotNet for a clue.

That’s right.

3 of the internet’s major search engines now include Twitter tweets in their search results!

And when these 3 major search engines included Twitter tweets in their search results it opened a new way to use Twitter as a marketing tool. Now you can optimize your Twitter account and tweets for the search engines.

Want to know how to do a little SEO on your Twitter account?

Here are 4 Twitter SEO Tips:

1.  Optimize your Twitter  “Bio” line so it includes the most important keyword phrases for your brand.

2.  Write keyword-rich tweets.

3.  Keep your tweets to 120 characters to allow them to be retweeted.

4.  Be friendly with your followers but don’t clog your Twitter page with excessive messages about your personal life.

Since Twitter is now reputable enough to be included in the search results for 3 major search engines maybe it’s time you considered adding it to your business marketing strategy if you haven’t already. And if you are already marketing on Twitter you should examine how you’re using it to make sure you’re using it correctly to get some free search engine traffic from it.

To Your Success,
Susan

P.S. You can get more information about marketing on Twitter and how to boost your SEO rank here.

3 of the most common question being asked by many website owners are:

• “How do I get more traffic?”
• “How do I get more leads?”
• “How do I make money online?”

The unfortunate thing is, many of them will give up before they discover the answers.

Today however I discovered a brand new system that says it can show you a secret method to:

“Pump Laser Targeted Leads & Massive Inbound Links To Any Site Within 15 Minutes!”

This new traffic system was created by Dave Guindonis and is called …

“The Google Traffic PUMP System”

Now in case you don’t know who Dave Guindon is, he’s the guy that created “Exit Splash” and “Smart Virtual Agent.”

Anyway, who wouldn’t want to get more traffic, targeted leads and “massive links pointing to their site?”

So I got the system and started reading and watching.

Here’s what I discovered:

Overall “The Google Traffic PUMP System” looks very good. It contains some excellent information about doing keyword research, how to pick the right keywords, how to format the keywords and how to get back links. In fact there’s even information about how to pick what to sell to make money. And of course all the tools used to get the right keywords and back links are free and most of them are Google’s free tools; keyword research, Gmail, Google Alerts and a couple of others. In addition there’s a video that lists 25 ways to improve your sales pages to get higher conversions. And while I haven’t actually had a chance to try the system yet, I must say that it looks good.

Now one of the things many people will like about “The Google Traffic PUMP System” is that it isn’t about writing articles to get traffic. Article writing is mentioned as an additional way to get traffic on page 52 of the 98 page ebook included with the videos. And for those who are interested in writing articles Dave gives some excellent information on pages 91 – 93.

And of course there is a list of recommended resources on pages 93 – 96 and a discount link for 1 of his products on page 98.

The only thing I found misleading about everything shown on Dave’s sales page is the “Within 15 Minutes” part.

While it’s true that once the system is implemented correctly you may expect to start getting leads for getting back links and traffic in as little as 15 minutes, it takes longer than 15 minutes to go through all all the material.

Because in addition to the 98 page ebook there are also 7 videos
* Video 1 – Keyword Research – 65+ minutes
* Video 2 – Formatting Your Keywords – 15+ minutes
* Video 3 – Setting Up Your Gmail Account – 4 minutes
* Video 4 – Setting Up Your Google Alerts – 15 minutes
* Video 5 – Getting Your Traffic Pump Started – 25 minutes
* Video 6 – How To Increase Profits With Traffic Re-Pump Methods – 25 minutes
* Video 7 – Sales Conversion Tips -  47+ Minutes

That’s 196 minutes of video!

As for the quality of the product, it delivers a great deal of information I haven’t seen anywhere before, like how to use Google Alerts. I’ve used them before and the only thing I got was more email that I never read.  But now I know the secret of how to use them correctly to actually get the information I really want.

I do have to admit that Dave isn’t the most entertaining presenter and doesn’t give you a “dog and pony show.” He just presents the information in a way you can see, hear and understand so you can use the exact same method to drive targeted traffic to your site.

Will this system work for everyone and every niche? I don’t know. However, if there are people looking for online information within your niche and there are products that can help these people, there’s a good chance it will.

That’s why I’m giving a thumbs up to this high quality product. “The Google Traffic PUMP System”  is well worth the $37 price tag shown on it’s Clickbank sales page. However you can get it for less than half of that here.

To Your Success,
Susan

P.S. I almost forgot to mention that if you only want a personal use copy and you are a member of my book club, I’ll be uploading it this weekend for you.  Sorry I can’t get it to you sooner but it’s size prohibits me from doing it until then.

I have to admit that even though I’ve been on Facebook for several months I still get confused when I attempt to do something new. Oh, I know about posting to my wall, sending messages and having friends but when it comes to finding and using some of the other features and applications available…

I get as lost as anyone else!

You see, 1 of the things I’ve been wanting to do since I started my Facebook account was get a FriendsWhoCare signup form on my wall. Well, let me tell you - It Can’t Be Done!

To put a signup form on Facebook you have to create a fan page. And while I’ve know this little tidbit of information it’s taken me awhile to figure out how to do it and make it available for everyone to see.

Yesterday however I finally managed to not only create a FriendsWhoCare fan page I was also able to get a signup form for the newsletter on it. So today I’m going to tell you what I did to create my fan page, put a signup form on it and most importantly make it available for everyone to see.

8 Steps To Put an Opt-In Form on Facebook

1. Login to your Facebook account and scroll to the bottom of your page. At the bottom of the page you should see a link for Advertising, click it. At the top of the next page you should see a link for Pages, click it. The page that comes up should have a large green button close to the top that’s labeled, “Create a Page.”
2. Fill in the “Create a Page” form. If you’re unsure about how to fill out this simple form just become 1 of my fans and I’ll show you a short video on how to do it.
3. Now because you want your fan page to be similar to your Facebook wall you should install the applications you want on your page to create the tabs and boxes you want to appear. If they don’t appear in the same order as on your wall you can drag and drop them into the correct positions when you view your page.
4. To get a signup form on your page you must install the Static FBML application because it allows you to use HTML code on your page. Aweber has the directions for adding a signup form on their blog. And while I recommend Aweber I’m sure the directions will work for other autoresponder forms as well.
5. Make sure to include your company information and logo, any RSS blog feeds that are relevant, videos, images, etc. on your page.
6. To make your page available for people to see without them having to login to Facebook, set the Age Restrictions inside of Settings to be “13+ and older.”
7. If you would like people who are not your fans to view your signup page first,  go into your Wall Settings and select your ‘default landing page for everyone else” from the drop down menu containing your tab titles.
8. Now 1 of the things I did on my fan page was link my FriendsWhoCare Blog to my fan page wall. This was done using the Note application. The Note application is a default application when you create a page and it make it easy to link your blog to your page. When you edit the Note application you’ll see a box on the right side that contains “Note Settings.” Use the link under it to import the RSS feed for your blog.
9. When your done publish your page, write to your page wall and start promoting it. Because pages are not the normal default for your Facebook account you will have to send traffic to it.

Now my fan page tabs are not exactly the same as my Facebook account tabs. I have included a Twitter application (Social Twitter) on my fan page that shows my business twitter messages and of course the Static FBML application for my signup form.

Getting a fan page with an opt-in form on Facebook does take some time. In fact it’s taken me a couple of months with a lot of trial and error to figure it out. However I hope the above information will help you get your own fan page done in less than a day. And when have 1 feel free to leave a comment with your fan page link.

To Your Success,
Susan

P.S. Want to be a FriendsWhoCare fan? Click Here.

So many times we hear that social networking is a great way to market online. And of course there have been a ton of ebooks and videos giving advice on which social networking sites are best, how to create your profile and how to get people to join your network.

Now over the last couple of months Facebook and Twitter have seemed to top the list of social sites recommended for online marketing. And of course these 2 networking sites have had a lot of their own news lately too like the Twitter hijacking and the Facebook acquisitions and new services trials.

Then today I read 2 articles, “What if Twitter Folds?” and “Twitter Disillusionment Inevitable”. Now while these articles were aimed at Twitter I think they could be expanded to include other social networking sites. I say this because of a conversation I’d had with my youngest daughter a few weeks ago when she expressed her disillusionment with Facebook because of the advertising.

You see, my daughter is like most of the social networkers of the world and is not into online marketing. Like millions of other social networkers she has joined 1 or 2 networking sites to actually network with her friends and colleagues. She uses her networking groups as a way to stay informed of what her friends are doing and to keep them informed about what’s going on in her life.

And isn’t that what social networking is all about? It’s about sharing information with those who have a common interest. It’s about helping each other. And it’s about learning more about those people and becoming online friends.

Now if you take a look at the right margin you’ll see I’ve joined a few social networking sites. And if you investigate further you’ll see that the number of my friends and followers is small compared to the internet marketing gurus.

Now you might think that I would be ashamed to have such a small number of people in my networking groups but I’m not. I’m not trying to make friends with every person online. I don’t have the time.

In fact, I’m actually proud of my Twitter Friend-Follower Ratio. Not because I have massive numbers but because those who follow me know I don’t automatically follow them. Instead, I see who follows me and only follow them if we share a common interest and they share quality information. That way I can actually read what my friends post on Twitter.

As for my friends on Facebook, some are online marketing friends and some are off-line personal friends. And again, because they are people that I’m interested in knowing about I read what they share too.

Sure we would all love to have a large social networking group however that’s not the reason to start or join a group. Social networking is about getting to know people and building trust through interactions.

Don’t you agree?

To Your Success,
Susan