Jul 07

3 Valuable Lessons from a Billionaire

Peter ThielWhat can you learn from a billionaire?

I imagine you can learn a lot.

Peter Thiel is an Angel Investor and Venture Capitalist. His net worth was $2.2 billion as of January 2015.

He co-founded a little company called PayPal in 1998 along with fellow billionaire Elon Musk and Max Levchin. Thiel acquired a 10.2% stake in Facebook in 2004, investing $500,000 in the new company. He is passionate about startup companies.

Peter is author of Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future.

More on his book in a moment.

The Wall Street Journal interviewed Peter Thiel on the topic of competition. I encourage you to watch the video below. You may pick up a few ideas.

Wall Street Journal Video Interview with Peter Thiel

Zero to One (Lessons from the Book)

As I understand it, the phrase Zero to One refers to the act of creation. You move from a state of nothing to a state of having created someone new and fresh. Think about companies like PayPal, Google, and Facebook.

In his book Zero to one, Thiel talks about what differentiates successful startups from those that fail.

I read a summary of the book and extracted a few golden nuggets.

Here are 3 valuable lessons from the book:

1. Founding a company is just like building a house.

You can’t build either on a flawed foundation. He makes a point in the book that the most successful startups in the future will be ones that innovate an entirely new concept, not simply build upon what others have already created.

2. Build a business that has a unique competitive advantage where rivals cannot enter.

Thiel contrasts Google vs. the airline industries. Airlines are extremely competitive whereas Google is more of a monopoly. Google is extremely profitable because it can focus on innovation rather than competition. The airlines are barely profitable.

3. You can create your own success

Steve Jobs is a perfect example of someone who envisioned and executed long term plans to distribute innovative products.

There is no doubt Jobs was a genius. He was a visionary who anticipated what customers would want even before they knew what they wanted. Clean, simple designs won Apple satisfied customers willing to evangelize the brand and spread the word.

In my opinion, Thiel’s advice in the book is well suited for technology companies with a creative team and money to spend. The average small business owner may have a hard time applying some of the lessons in the book. But, I will reserve judgment until I have read and re-read the book.

At any rate, studying a book like this will get you to think bigger, to think globally and to stretch and grow.

Rick Cooper
Online Marketing and Social Media Trainer

Jun 25

Tips to Follow Up on New Leads

Follow Up on LeadsThere are two very important things you need to do in your business. Take care of customers. Follow up with prospects.

It’s that simple, you see.

But, for whatever reason, business owners tend to get sidetracked. They tend to focus on everything else, except that which will most bring more money in the door.

What do you need to be doing more of in your business?

I’m guessing it’s probably something to do with serving customers or reaching out to prospects.

Are you making it a priority?

Let’s focus in following up with new leads.

First, what is a lead? It is simply a new prospective customer or client.

Here are 7 action steps for following up on new leads:

  • Send an email
  • Autoresponder
  • Make a phone call
  • Send a direct mail letter or postcard if you have an address
  • Send an invitation
  • Teleseminar, webinar, event
  • Continue to follow up

It’s not enough to follow up once. You need to follow up over and over. Be patient.

You also need to prioritize. Not every lead is created equal.

Do you have a plan for developing your leads?

Do you have a plan for developing your customers?

If you don’t have a plan, then maybe now is a good time to think about how you want to follow up with leads over time.

Think about how you can automate some of your communications using autoresponders.

Use systems to track your leads to help you identify who to follow up with next.

If you follow up consistently on your leads, you will increase your sales. It’s as simple as that.

Rick Cooper
Online Marketing and Social Media Trainer

Jun 10

Simple Tips to Edit an Audio File to Publish Online

Audacity Audio Editing SoftwareHave you ever wondered how to record and edit an audio program?

Well, it’s not an easy process, but it is something you can learn if you are interested.

There is a free software called Audacity. You can download the software and use it to record and edit audio files.

The software has many options for editing audios. You don’t need to learn everything. Just focus on learning the basics and that will help you to get into action.

What kind of edits can you make to an audio recording?

Here are a few of the most common edits you can make:

1. Cut out a segment of the audio

One of the most common audio editing tasks is to cut a section out.

When recording an audio, if you make a mistake, simply pause for a moment and begin again at the prior sentence or paragraph. Then, when you edit the audio, remove the error and leave the new content intact.

2. Amplify the audio

When recording interviews between two people, you may find that one person’s audio is louder than another.

You can amplify one of the voices or reduce the other.

This is a bit of challenging though, since voices often overlap one another in conversation.

It may be helpful to test the line in advance and record a short segment to see what it sounds like first so you can make any adjustments.

3. Insert an intro or an outro

One way you can enhance the professionalism of your audios is to record an introduction which includes music.

An introduction sets the tone for the recording. Since an audio recording includes a lot of talking, starting with a musical intro can infuse a little energy at the beginning.

You can also hire a voiceover artist to record a script to introduce you. This adds an additional element of interest and establishes more credibility.

What topic would you like to talk about on an audio program?

Now is a great time to create an audio program.

It’s really a simple process if you just take the time to walk through it step by step.

Start by setting a goal now to create an audio. Write your goal down. Put it on a post it note and hang it on the wall where you work.

Taking these simple steps will help you to get into action.

Rick Cooper
Online Marketing and Social Media Trainer

May 01

Ready Set Success Video Telesummit with Liz Lasky

Liz Lasky

Dr. Liz Lasky

Did you know most people don’t know how to truly be successful?

Some are just missing the boat when it comes to getting what they want, especially in business, life, and love.

Does any of this sound familiar?

Another challenge people face is having the dream, vision, or idea but not following through.

Can you relate?

What if there was an easy way to:

  • Figure out what you want
  • Make that vision crystal clear
  • Tackle the barriers, excuses, and doubts between you and that dream
  • Act on that vision
  • Really get to the live the life of your dreams

My friend Dr. Liz Lasky, LCSW, PhD, a coach, therapist, and social worker is hosting a video telesummit called “Ready, Set, Success!”

It all starts in May.

Learn success secrets from 21 Top Experts including me.

Register now for the FREE Ready, Set, Success Video Telesummit.

Click here to register

Liz is the person to go to on this topic. You’ve got to check it out.

Discover dozens of secrets to success.

Here is a list of the 21 Experts Featured on the Ready, Set, Success Video Telesummit:

  • Liz Lasky
  • Rick Cooper
  • Dr. Stacey Mobley
  • Susan Bratton
  • Dr. Shonta Smith
  • Mike Iamele
  • Keri Nola
  • Lynn Louise Wonders
  • Alex Navas
  • Terry Whitaker
  • Heather Dominick
  • Natalie Berthold
  • Lana Shlafer
  • Sloane Miller
  • Margaret Nichols
  • Sue Guiher
  • Sam Richter
  • Marni Wing Girl
  • Alexis Sclamberg
  • Christine Young
  • Kelly Higdon

Reserve your spot now for the FREE Ready, Set, Success Video Telesummit.

Click here to sign up

Rick Cooper
Online Marketing and Social Media Trainer

Mar 25

7 Strategies to Attract More Followers on Twitter

TwitterI am surprised at how few people are actively using Twitter.

There is so much potential to reach people on Twitter and the only drawback is that your messages are limited to 140 characters or less.

Some people find Twitter to be a little confusing compared to Facebook.

There’s a learning curve just as there is in using any technology tools.

But, you can build a much bigger network on Twitter more quickly than you can on Facebook. That is part of the attraction.

I currently have over 24,400 followers on Twitter. That compares to only 4,200+ friends on Facebook and 1,500+ Likes on my business Facebook page.

Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/rickcooper

Here are 7 strategies to attract more followers on Twitter:

1. Follow/Follow Back Strategy

The simplest way to get followers on Twitter is simply to follow people. When you follow people, they tend to follow back.

Unfortunately, you can only follow about 10% more people than follow you. So, if you have 1,000 followers, you can follow about 1,100 people.

2. Actively Retweet

A simple way to get the attention of people and encourage them to follow you is to retweet them. A retweet is where you share someone else’s post.

You can click on the Retweet button or copy and paste their message and start it with RT and their twitter ID. For example, my Twitter ID is @RickCooper.

3. Respond back to people communicating with you

One of the ways to interact with people on Twitter is to click on the Connect button and then check to see you is trying to communicate with you.

Look for:

1) People replying to you
2) People retweeting you
3) People favoriting your posts

Then, respond back to people.

Each interaction you have with other people creates the opportunity to attract new people to you.

4. Favorite

A simple way to get other people’s attention is to favorite one of their posts. Some people use Favorites as a bookmark, but I think it’s a great way to get on someone’s radar. In other words, people will see your name and may follow you.

This is great especially if you are maxed out and can’t follow any more people.

5. Gratitude

A simple way to build a great reputation on Twitter is to express gratitude.

Thanking people for retweeting you is easy to do and it’s easy not to do.

Develop a habit of retweeting other people and of thanking people for their retweets.

6. Twitter Chats

A great way to attract people to you on Twitter is through chats.

For example, each month Gary Loper hosts a Twitter Chat. He uses the hashtag #GLTP.

You can participate in the chat through Twubs. Login with your Twitter account ID and you will see a streaming conversation with questions and answers from the participants.

Your messages will post to Twitter and others will see them in their Tweet Stream (Twitter newsfeed).

For example, if I want to reach Speakers, then I can participate in the Twitter Chat on Tuesdays at 4pm Pacific using the hashtag #SpeakerChat.

7. Trending Hashtags

A final way to attract people is to tweet so that your tweets will be seen by a larger number of people.

Every day, tens of thousands of people click on the hashtag links on the sidebar of Twitter, referred to as trending hashtags.

If you tweet a message with a trending hashtag, then thousands of people might see your tweet and follow you.

Of course, the key is to attract the right people.

But, any exposure will attract new followers. And the more followers you have, the more people you can follow.

All in all, Twitter is a great social media site. Yes, there is a learning curve. And you have to realize that it may take years before you begin to really realize the benefits of your social media marketing. But, it’s where people are at and if you want to develop relationships online, sooner or later you will realize it’s where you need to be.

Rick Cooper
Online Marketing and Social Media Trainer

Mar 17

Viral Marketing Strategies for Social Media

Viral MarketingTraditional advertising such as radio, TV and newpaper ads are expensive. And their results are limited.

Social media is inexpensive and has great potential.

One advantage of social media is that it can create viral marketing.

Viral marketing is getting other people to share your message.

Think of a viral video.

How is it that one video can get millions of views in a matter of days?

It’s because one person shares. Then, 2 people share, then 4 more people share. It has an exponential effect.

Here are 5 tips to create viral marketing through social media:

1. Create a viral video

When you think of viral marketing, you might first think about viral videos. And the reason is that people love to watch videos.

People share videos on social media. And people watch videos that people share.

What videos can you create that people will watch and share?

2. Create a quote image

A really simple viral marketing strategy is to create a quote graphic with your website address.

Keep your website address small, but make it readable.

Include a short quote and a beautiful image in the graphic. People love to like and share quote graphics, especially on Facebook. And, of course, images are what Pinterest is all about. Make sure you leverage your images on multiple platforms.

You can even post images on Twitter. And Twitter now displays images directly in the Tweet Stream (Newsfeed).

3. Share a heart felt message

Les Brown uses a great message format that causes his posts to create a lot of interaction on Facebook.

He posts 2 paragraphs of about 150 to 200 words.

Facebook allows you to write messages up to 5,000 characters. In most cases, that is way too long. But, a 2 paragraph post will often display in full in the Newsfeed. People will like, comment and share those kind of posts.

4. Invite people to a Facebook event

Years ago, LinkedIn had a feature which allowed you to share events. They eliminated it. So, today, Facebook is one of the best tools to share events.

When someone joins an event, Facebook will automatically let their friends know they are attending the event. This creates viral marketing. This is powerful and this strategy is often overlooked.

5. Write a really good blog post

Before social media sites became popular, people were blogging. Blog posts can go viral.

Social media can amplify the viral marketing effect and make it easy for a lot of people to learn about your blog posts and visit your site.

What can you do to create viral marketing?

Pick one strategy and implement it in the next 30 days.

Rick Cooper
Online Marketing and Social Media Trainer

Mar 10

Increasing the Value of your Social Network

Social Media NetworkIf I looked into my crystal ball to predict the future, I believe that I would see that 3 years from now people will value social media a lot more than they do today.

When something is free, people tend to undervalue it.

You probably don’t realize how powerful your social network is and much more valuable it will be in the future. And what’s interesting is that every year you are active on social media, it will multiply the results you get.

What is the Value of your Social Media Network?

If you invested $16,000 to build your network on Twitter, would you want to leverage that network? Would you have a different mindset around leveraging that asset? I bet so.

This year, I hired a social media consultant to help me increase the number of followers I have on Twitter. I doubled the number of followers I have. I gained over 8,000 followers.

What’s interesting is that I have heard that Twitter may be making some big changes and it’s going to get a lot harder to grow your network as it is today.

And not only that, but your only option to build your network quickly might be to pay Twitter up to $2 per follower.

So, to add 8,000 followers on Twitter might cost $16,000 in a few years. I know it sounds crazy, but it sure makes you pause for a moment to think about taking action now to grow and leverage your network.

Grow your Social Media Network

You see, there is a value in your social network. And the value increases the larger your network gets.

I have watched over the last few years as social media sites have phased out features and monetized what used to be free.

Social media isn’t going away. It’s only going to become more essential to companies as time goes on.

If you wait to build your network. If you wait to leverage social media. You may find that you have missed out. And you will realize that your competition is running away with your customers because they understand how to use social media and you don’t.

Social Media Will Become More Critical in the Future

This is a cautionary tale. I am sounding the alarm that you need to pay attention and invest time, energy and effort into figuring out this social media thing. If you don’t, your business may suffer.

End of lesson.

Rick Cooper
Online Marketing and Social Media Trainer

Mar 03

Simple Tips to Process your Email Quickly to Reach Inbox Zero

Email Inbox ZeroAre you facing email overwhelm?

In today’s information age, people are overloaded and struggling with the burden of technology.

Yes, technology creates a burden.

As a marketer, I am concerned with writing effective and persuasive emails that get through and are read.

As a consumer, I am interested in managing my email so it doesn’t overwhelm me.

A few years ago, I fell behind in my email and decided to catch up.

Has that ever happened to you?

I would like to share a few tips with you that will help you to stay on top of email and also to be able to mine your email for golden marketing nuggets.

Tip: Process your email inbox to zero

I am a student of productivity. I have taught productivity classes for many years. I hosted a Getting Organized Webinar Series and interviewed 8 experts on the topic of productivity and organization.

To run a successful business, I have to be productive and organized.

Do you have zero messages in your email inbox?

That is a goal to strive for. In fact, it’s a goal to strive for daily.

How do you actually clear your email inbox?

Let me share a simple step by step process to help you get into action.

3 Tips to Reach Inbox Zero Daily:

1) Move emails to folders

The key to zeroing out your email inbox is to move email messages out of your inbox.

This should be a quick and easy task.

At this stage, you are not actually replying to messages or working with them, you are simply moving them elsewhere.

My preferred email system is Gmail, but the same techniques will work for Outlook, Yahoo, Hotmail and other services.

2) Archive emails you don’t need to handle

Gmail allows you to click an archive button and the email disappears from the inbox. The email still exists, but is only visible if I click the All Email button.

If you don’t have Gmail, then simply create an Archive folder and move messages there. Many of the messages you receive may be informational and do not require action.

3) Work your email folders

Gmail uses labels not folders to sort messages. What’s the difference?

You can assign multiple labels to a single message, whereas, with most email services you can only put a message into one folder.

I have many labels and I have set up filters to automatically move some emails to folders.

I have 3 main labels/folders for processing:

  • Action
  • Review
  • Customer Service

As I process my email inbox, I move messages to the appropriate folder.

If it is a customer issue or question, I move it to the Customer Service folder.

Note that if a message can be responded in less than a minute, then take care of it immediately.

If it requires me to take action and/or follow up, I move it to the Action folder.

If it is interesting and I want to read it, I move it to my Review folder.

By the way, if you are a Gmail user, you may have noticed that Google is now organizing your messages into 3 tabs: Primary, Social and Promotion. Most marketers have flipped out because their messages are showing up in the Promotions tab.

That doesn’t bother me. If you follow my advice here, you will zero out all 3 tabs every day.

If you open one of my email messages with an invitation to a webinar, you would simply move it to the Action tab or take action to register immediately.

After you have zeroed out your email inbox, next you work your folders one at a time.

I would address Customer Service issues first.

Next, work through your Action folder.

Third, go through your Review folder.

By the way, what should you do with a Customer Service email after you reply?

You move it to another folder:

Customer Service Completed

Inbox Zero is a term coined by Merlin Mann, who originally posted about the idea on his blog 43Folders.com.

Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Work Week, popularized the idea of checking email only twice per day. Batch and then process all at once. This overcomes the need to keep checking multiple times throughout the day. This technique can help to increase your productivity and effectiveness.

I hope I have enlightened you about a more effective way to handle email.

If you have a thousand or more email messages in your email inbox, it can feel a little bit daunting.

There is nothing like the feeling of zeroing out your email inbox and feeling in complete control.

By the way, you can mine your email to look for strategies and techniques to emulate in your own email marketing. I do this all the time.

Email is a powerful communication tool, but as a busy business owner, you have to stay on top of it. Develop productive habits and you will improve your results.

Rick Cooper
Online Marketing and Social Media Trainer

Feb 24

Tips to Use Facebook Friend Lists to Create New Engagement

Facebook Friend ListsDo you ever scroll through the Facebook Newsfeed and wonder why you keep seeing posts from the same people over and over?

Doesn’t it feel like you should be seeing posts from other people, but it’s like they are not even posting?

Well, thank you Facebook for hiding people’s posts from view! NOT!

The GOOD news is that you can discover missing posts if you implement one simple step.

Facebook gives you the option to create Friend Lists. They automatically give you a list for your local city that populates as you add friends.

That’s great for your local friends, but as for everyone else, you will have to create lists for them.

Create Targeted Facebook Friend Lists

For example, I created a Friend List called Entrepreneurs. There are about 300 people on that list. I had to add each person one-by-one to the list by going to their page, clicking on the Friend button, then clicking Add to Another List. Then, I simply selected the Entrepreneur list. This process is easy once you learn how to do it.

Now, here’s where it gets cool. You can go to the Home Page of Facebook and select a specific Friend List to view. If you don’t see the list on the Home Page, you can click the More button to see additional lists you have created.

Now, you can view the Newsfeed only for the people on the list. And what’s even better is that you will see all posts from each person, not just the ones Facebook chooses you to see! Plus, you won’t see sponsor ads in this newsfeed.

I have taken the time to create about 30 lists. I recommend you create 5-10 lists to start with. Keep it simple.

Use a Systematic Approach

This is what makes the difference between people who dabble in social media marketing and those excel at it.

You will discover new conversations and people you haven’t connected with in a long time.

And this is great for business owners. You can create lists of prospects to follow up with. Just don’t name your list “Prospects”.

I’m not going to kid you, it takes time to add friends to each list. It’s just something I do on a regular basis. When I add a new friend, I add them to a list. If I visit someone’s page, I check to see what lists I have already added them to, and then I add them to another list if necessary.

Share a Message with a Specific List

And here’s one final benefit of using lists, you can post a message on your personal Facebook profile and select one specific list to view the message. For example, I could post a message with a tip for entrepreneurs. I can select my Entrepreneur list so that only those 300 people can view the message.

That’s pretty powerful! If you are not using lists yet, I encourage you to start using them today!

And finally you can also use your lists when inviting people to Facebook events. Instead of seeing a list of all your friends, you can filter on a specific list. That’s a real time-saver!

Rick Cooper
Online Marketing and Social Media Trainer

Feb 17

How to Use Articles to Get More Visitors to your Website

Driving Traffic Online
Would you like to get more visitors to your website?

A simple technique to increase traffic to your site is to write articles.

An article contains about 400 to 600 words and should focus on a topic that appeals to your ideal clients.

You can post your articles on an Article Directory like EzineArticles.com.

Here are 3 quick tips to write articles:

1) Pick a “How To” Topic

People love to learn how to do things. And people assume they can learn how to do it.

So, give them what they want and write a how to article. This is a great way to attract clients.

In a moment, I will explain how you can redirect people to your website.

2) Start the article and write for 15 minutes

The most challenging part of writing an article is to select a topic to start with.

The next most challenging part is to write the article.

Start of your article quickly and start writing. The sooner you put pen to paper or start typing the faster you will complete the article.

Work on several articles at a time. You don’t have to start one article and then finish it.

There is an energy to writing. You may find it helpful to start several articles.

3) Pick an article and finalize it

Once an article is close to finishing, go ahead and make your final edits.

In fact, it’s nice to set aside an article for a few days.

When you come back, you may have some additional ideas or insights that will help you polish the article.

Next, publish the article.

When you post an article on EzineArticles.com, you will need to add additional details including a category, keywords, an excerpt and short bio.

You can even include a free offer. This is your opportunity to drive traffic back to your site.

One of my types of free offers is for a free report on a lead capture page.

For an example of what this looks like, you can visit my web page:

http://socialmediaoutcomes.com/7steps

On the page, I have a Free Report on 7 Steps to Create a Lead Capture Page.

By the way, I want to give you some encouragement for writing articles.

I am launching an Article Marketing Contest starting on April 1, 2015.

The contest ends on April 30th.

Click here for more details:

http://socialmediaoutcomes.com/articlecontest/

Rick Cooper
Online Marketing and Social Media Trainer