The Gulf Oil Spill

A Child’s View…With Nora

The Gulf Oil Spill, Deepwater Horizon, has finally reached the Florida coastline.  Being a native Floridian, living near the coast this environmental crisis hits very close to home.  The President of the United States, Barak Obama, visited Florida last week to see the impact this disaster is having on our our coast, and afterwards addressed the nation from the oval office.  Once again, our region has been thrust into the international spot light as a result of this tragic event.

Kids seem to have an innocent and candid expression of how this crisis is filtering through their thoughts.  This week, my seven year old niece was visiting and began expressing her thoughts (unsolicited) about the oil spill.  As she talked I realized the impact this is having on the world as she understands it.  I asked her if she would be willing for me to video tape her sharing her thoughts with me.

She was very eager to do so because she “…wanted to try to help save the animals.”

She also knows I blog, and use videos on my site to speak to my readers and friends.  So, she asked me if I would show her video to my friends so that maybe they could get their kids to help too.

So, please take a moment and watch this video to see what Nora has to say about the Gulf Oil Spill from A Child’s View.

There you go folks!  The impact of the Gulf Oil Spill through the eyes of a seven year old. I think we have ourselves a future blogger and philanthropic entrepreneur on our hands here!  (She takes after me, of course…) 

Since Nora gave her call to action to all kids in the nation to join her in donating to help the oil spill clean up efforts, I thought it only fitting that I provide a resource here for you to check out.  So, I’m sharing a link from Network for Good which provides a variety of organizations that you can donate to in order to help with the clean up efforts.

As a result of her love for animals, Nora’s primary concern was for the sea life and birds impacted by the tragedy, therefore she chose to donate to an organization assisting the animals threatened by the oil spill.(…and of course the beaches at St. George) 

CLICK HERE TO VISIT NETWORK FOR GOOD AND GIVE

If you or your child would like to join her, visit Network for Good and find an organization that coincides with your primary concern and give to help minimize the damage as much as possible.

Wishing Success For the Clean Up Efforts!

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Peggy McColl is launching her brand new book, Viral Explosions – Proven Techniques to Expand, Explode, or Ignite Your Business or Brand On-Line, on Tuesday, April 13, 2010.

I have had the privilege of being one of Peggy’s students for the past several months, and I have learned things that will revolutionize my on-line marketing tactics.  Peggy is a high energy author who has used internet marketing techniques that have taken her books to Best Seller status in 24 hours or less.  This week, I get to watch her do it again with her new release, Viral Explosions.

In Viral Explosions, Peggy shares her secrets for internet marketing success and takes the reader step-by-step through her proven formula for results.

The super cool thing about buying one of Peggy’s books on her campaign day (Tuesday for this book) is that she gives an INSANE amount of FREE bonus gifts. It’s one of the most amazing demonstrations of “Go-Giver” action that I’ve ever seen.  The book is well worth the $14.95 you pay on Amazon anyway…but on top of all of that, you get a TON, and I do mean a TON of FREE bonus items.  Peggy has really OVER-DELIVERED on this…as is typical of her.

In order to get these freebies, you HAVE to buy the book on Tuesday!

Because I offered up a free bonus for Peggy to use in her campaign, I have been able to get a sneak peak at the Bonus Page for this book, and all I can say is I was COMPLETELY BLOWN AWAY at how much valuable information is being GIVEN away just for buying her book. Wow!  I will DEFINITELY be sitting at my computer midnight Monday so I can grab my copy of Viral Explosions and all those FREE bonus gifts.

If you are serious about marketing on-line, you NEED this book!!!  Go HERE right now to find out more…(and to see all the crazy awesome freebies you can get your hands on).

To Your Viral Success,

PS.  In case you are wondering what my FREE bonus gift was for Peggy’s campaign…I am giving away a webinar and “over-the-shoulder” demonstration of Tribe Syndication Tactics.  You can only get access to this webinar by buying Peggy’s book.  But there’s one little catch….You HAVE to buy on Tuesday. So set yourself a reminder in your calendar and whatever you do, don’t miss picking up your copy at Amazon on Tuesday.  Again….go HERE to learn more.

How to stay active in all your social media outlets and still be productive in your business.

It seems one of the most challenging things for any entrepreneur or busy professional is the task of effectively and efficiently managing the social media platforms while still getting “real business” done.   Honestly, social media is a HUGE key in building your business and is one of the primary places “real business” occurs, but that’s another blog post for another day! 

Today, I want to focus on your social media platforms and time management.

There is so much you can do with social media to help you grow your business or get your message out, but if not managed correctly, it can be a time eating monster!!  Social media is fun, engaging, and an awesome way to build relationships, so it’s easy to spend way too many hours on  Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, You Tube, or any of the other popular social media outlets.

Recently, a friend asked me how I manage to stay connected and active with all my social media accounts on a consistent and continual basis while still getting important things done.   I shared my secret with him, and today I am going to share it with you.  Are you ready?

It’s HOOTSUITE!!!!  And…you can see it in action in my video below…

Well, there you have it.  Hootsuite is my secret tool for staying active in social media all day long without even being in front of my computer.  A few hours on the weekend to set up and schedule my tweets, facebook status updates, facebook  business page updates (aka: “fan page”), and even my linked in updates and I’m rolling in activity and driving traffic all week long!

Now I still spend some “live time” on these sites periodically throughout the week, in the evenings and on weekends when I have some spare time.  This is when I usually have my responses, and do some re-tweets, etc.  I have another amazing tool (TweetDeck) that I use for those “live social media actions”…again, that’s another post, for another day. 

So, what do you do to manage your time on social media?

Drop down below and let me and the community here, know your tips, secrets, and tricks to being active AND productive with social media.

To YOUR Social Media Success!!!

Tribe Tuesdays? Tribe Vibe? Syndication Power Hours? Social Media Rock Stars? (or as I like to say “RockStarZ”)

If all the buzz and activity around all of this tribe talk from power bloggers and social media RockStarZ has you wondering what all the fuss is about, sit back – relax, and take a minute to read on. I’m here to share with you the scoop on the newest trend to hit the social media networks, and help you “be in the know” on what’s happening in these “syndication power hours” and what “tribe Tuesday” (or #tribetuesday for all you Tweeps out there) is all about. By the time we are finished here today, you will have answers to some of the frequently asked questions (FAQs) surrounding Social Media Tribes. I believe you will want to jump in, catch the wave and ride the Tribe Vibe by the time we are finished here. In fact, I’m sure of it.

What is A Tribe?

A tribe is a community of people with common interests and common goals. They are united with a common thread and commitment to share resources with other members of the community.
In social media, the tribe concept has taken flight and is catching on quick, thanks to a group of mastermind bloggers and marketers who have taken the concept and developed a community around it. In my opinion, the tribe concept promises to be one of the biggest things to hit the on-line social scene in a long…long…long time.

What is “Tribe Tuesday” (or #tribetuesday) and Syndication Power Hour?

Tribe Tuesday (#tribetuesday) is the designated day for tribe members in my community to work together syndicating each other’s content.  We have rotating teams, that connect with each other for one hour every Tuesday night on Skype.  This “designated hour” is known as the “syndication power hour” and we use that time to talk, chat, and get to know each other, while simultaneously visiting each others blogs and  syndicating the content on them.  Doing this while we are on Skype together allows us to offer feedback to our tribe members on the user friendliness of their blog and to share tips and suggestions for improvement.  It’s teamwork at it’s best!  Having a designated day creates a lot of accountability in our community and if a member is not able to attend the designated time, it is expected that he/she will “make up” that time at their convenience.

What does a Social Media Tribe do?

The tribe consists of a community of individuals who have entered into a “gentleman’s agreement” to syndicate each other’s content on the internet. They read blog posts from members of the tribe, they comment on them, they “re-tweet”, bookmark, and share the content of designated tribe members with their community of followers.  This content is shared on multiple social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, as well as multiple bookmarking sites.   In return, the other members of the tribe do the same for them.

What’s the Benefit?

OK, I know most people will want to tune in and listen to the “jamz” on W.I.I.F.M. here (What’s In It For Me). My answer is TONS!!!

First, by giving back to the community and sharing with your followers the value rich content of your tribe members, you are placing them in contact with information which will help them.  And really – isn’t that why we are out here blogging anyway…to share information and help people!!!

Second, what you give will be given back to you, it’s the Law of Reciprocity and it works!!!  (see Luke 6:38) There is no way around it.  Call it “karma”, call it “good fortune”, call it “generosity”, call it “seed time and harvest”, what-ever you want to call it – fine with me.  The bottom line is this – it is an eternal truth that has been in existence since the beginning of time, and it works whether you want it to or not!   What you give, will be returned to you. In the tribe culture, You promote their stuff, they promote yours.  Win/Win.  I like win/win outcomes!  Don’t you? 

Third, it provides an opportunity for massive exposure and increased traffic to your site.  Think about it, if you have 1,500 followers and you promote your own content, then the most you can get is 1,500 plus whoever those folks might want to share your stuff with.  BUT!!!  If you have 5 tribe members who all have followers, you not only get your 1,500, but you get their numbers too.

An example of what your exposure could end up looking like follows:

Your Followers = 1,500

Tribe Member #1 Followers = 5,000

Tribe Member #2 Followers = 7,000

Tribe Member # 3 Followers = 10,000

Tribe Member #4 Followers = 800

Tribe Member #5 Followers = 25,000

TOTAL EXPOSURE VALUE = 49,300 potential viewers / site visits!!!

Granted, this is only an example, but  when you do the math, the ROI (Return On Investment) of syndicating your tribe members content is HUGE!!!  Looking at the options -  1,500 or 49,300 (for this example) - who wouldn’t want to have an increase in exposure and traffic at that rate??

There are MANY MORE benefits, but I will save those for another day, and stop with these essential three for now.  That being said, only one question remains?

How can you get involved with a Tribe?

There are options.

1.  You could contact those people in your market that you already have relationships with and talk to them about it, and create your own tribe group to syndicate with.

2.  You could search social networks and find other people with like vision and begin building relationships with them and start working with them to syndicate.

3.  You could connect with me and some of my tribe mates and work with us on our rotating teams for Tribe Tuesday (#tribetuesday) and Syndication Power Hour.  I have had the honor of connecting with some of the leaders in social media marketing today, and they are rockin’ the tribe vibe.  (You can check them out below).

Whichever path you choose to take, just make sure you are maximizing it by making sure you and your team have a full understanding of what the tribe time is all about .

If you want to learn more, I am available for one on one coaching or group webinars, contact me here.

So, what do you say?  You ready to Catch the Tribe Vibe?

Yours in Success,