The Open Source Marketer

If you have been wondering how to best use FaceBook for your Internet marketing efforts, then check out the recent FaceBook article on InsideCRM. They offer 100 tips and tools for getting the most out of FaceBook marketing.

The article covers a lot of topics under the categories of

• Why Facebook?
• Advertising
• Free Marketing Opportunities
• Tools and Applications
• Targeting the Right Demographic
• How-to Guides
• Small Business Strategies
• The Danger of Facebook
• Miscellaneous Resources

It’s worth saying that there is a lot of information covered here and I haven’t been through all of it, but I do like the coverage that I’ve seen so far and I am interested in hearing what you have to say about what’s covered. So, after you give the article a read, come back here and leave your comments.

If there is any value at all in the using FaceBook and other social networks to come in the future, which I think there is, then we need to have the important conversations now to uncover the answers to these real questions.

Thinking quietly,

Charles McKeever
OpenSourceMarketer.com

Finding inspiration, and sometimes motivation, to continue blogging can be a challenge even for the most committed blogger. So it’s important to find inspiration, and yes motivation, any where you can. Like take ProBlogger in the Wall Street Journal for instance. Recently Darren Rowse was featured the business section of WSJ online. He was even quoted.

Now don’t get me wrong, the success of his blog is not defined by whether or not he gets quoted in a major publication. To be sure he is quoted everyday on his own blog that reaches thousands, if not millions, of people around the world. But, being featured in WSJ online is a great sign that blogging, and bloggers in general, are being slowly absorbed into the media conversation as someone to pay attention to.

This is fantastic for bloggers and Internet Marketing in general because as blogs and celebrity bloggers draw more attention to making money online, then more and more people will come online looking to get even a little slice of that golden pie.

The annual salary that Darren claims, along with the other annual numbers quoted by other bloggers, is getting people’s attention for sure. In fact, I would argue that people still under estimate the true earning potential online.

Just as we like to under estimate the amount of change a technology will bring and over estimate the amount of time it will take for that change to occur, so are we limited in seeing from here how much upside there still is in making money online.

Blogging is one such method that continues to prove itself out. But, just like any business there are many who will not successfully establish themselves as players in the market. There are no guarantees. But if we just hold on and ride the back of the bear, then even if we don’t find ourselves listed in the halls of the Wall Street Journal, then at least we might get linked to from enough people to keep the affiliate checks flowing.

Inspiration Seeking,

Charles McKeever
OpenSourceMarketer.com

P.S. Blogging is just one such method of making money online. Be sure to keep an eye for the series I am writing on how to build niche websites that make money while you sleep….okay, I know how cheezy that sounds, but I am doing it with several niche sites and if I can do it you can too (okay, cheezy again, but true).

Over the past few years blogs have enjoyed increased readership and visitor traffic. But, for the most part, the discussion about how to get traffic to your blog has involved a grocery list of techniques and ideas for bringing in new readers. I rarely hear anyone talking about how you can use offline methods or traditional media to gain blog traffic.

Maybe it’s because as bloggers we try to set ourselves apart from traditional media and to some degree there may be merit in that goal. But as much as we may think our blog’s message can carry itself without the help of traditional media, the fact is that main stream media can give your blog a well deserved boost of visitor traffic.

Big media communication channels like radio, television, and print are all well established methods of spreading mass information and as the lines continue to blur between traditional and new media we should be open to opportunities where they exist.

Even as news stories continue to pop up about reduced readership numbers for print media there is opportunity for getting your blog listed in a newspaper or magazine to draw attention to your blog. These media sources offer a proven way of getting in front of an offline audience. Even if your message is presented to a reduced number or readers, you have to imagine that those readers are still the people who are truly interested in the topic of the print publication because they are still subscribed.

So how can you get your blog featured in one of these big media sources as part of your blogging process? Well, recently my wife and blogging partner came across an interesting blog promotion network while reviewing partner blogs for her Great Cooks Blogroll.

The site, appropriately name BlogBurst, is a “syndication service that places blogs on top-tier online destinations”. They offer exposure to media outlets like Reuters, USA Today, McGraw-Hill, Fox News, and other blog friendly media sources.

Basically, your content gets pulled through the BlogBurst network where they match your content with publishers who benefit from serving your content along with their advertising. When someone reads your post on one of these major media sources they have the ability to click through to your blog. Essentially you are rewarded for producing good content that has value to publishers and their readers within the BlogBurst network.

As you can see, it’s not hard to understand how having your blog post distributed by a large network can help draw attention to your overall blog. As existing media sources look for ways to offer more and more content to their readers and viewers, I believe this type of syndication model will become more common. Isn’t that the point of RSS and blog syndication in general?

Looking for opportunities,

Charles McKeever
OpenSourceMarketer.com

If you are trying to decide which eBook cover program to buy or you need a program that makes retail box images for you then save your money because here is a free resource that does the same thing as those expensive photoshop addons.

I don’t remember how I found it but the site is called 3d-pack.com and it is an online box generator that can make an ebook cover, cd box, dvd box, and a 3D dvd box. The 3D box is still in beta, but then just about everything is labeled beta these days.

The final result from this site is pretty good. It might take you a little bit of “tweaking” to get the exact look and feel that you want. But I have used the paid for photoshop templates before and they require some trial and error as well. So for the price tag of zero dollars, it’s not a bad deal.

If you are still interested in using a professional grade tool then consider using the one I use to create ebook covers. It is simple to use and it comes with complete tutorials to show you how to use everything. The package includes the ability to make ezine covers, ebook covers, vhs tapes, membership cards, report covers, gift boxes, box sets which is good for different types of sites.

I know some people think these things are cheezy or that they may have been over used, but when used properly they can add an attractive element to the page and give the buyer at a sense that there is something tangible behind the buy now button.

So there you go. Two very useful tools on a Friday night.

Bargain hunting,

Charles McKeever
OpenSourceMarketer.com

Yesterday, Brian Clark over at CopyBlogger.com gave an extremely informative interview on BlogTalkRadio’s Alan Levy Show. Brian talked about his background in blogging and marketing online and he also makes some highly interesting comments about where he thinks blogging and marketing online are headed.

You can listen to Brian Clark’s BlogTalkRadio interview now to hear what he had to say.

Brian is an extremely active voice within the blogging and online marketing community and just like his blog writing, he is very direct and to the point in the BlogTalkRadio interview.

For anyone who doesn’t know, CopyBlogger is the defacto blog on good copy writing. As an online resource it rivals most printed copy writing books as a resource for learning good copy skills. I’ve been following his blog for about a year now and it has been a very sharp resource for quick hitting writing advice and an encouragement for creating crisp blog content.

If you don’t already follow his blog, you can find more details at CopyBlogger.com where you will find a wealth of information on copy writing and communication.

Learning everyday,

Charles McKeever
OpenSourceMarketer.com

Here are two extremely useful tools that I am using in 2008 to help manage the information and media content I am producing and consuming.

Anarchy Media Player - for adding video to your WordPress blog posts. This WordPress plug-in is extremely easy to install and use. I just uploaded the player folder to my WordPress plug-in folder and activated it. Now when I link to a video the player is automatically inserted for me when the blog post is viewed. I can control the styling and placement and I don’t have to hassle with the code

“Anarchy Media Player 2.0 for WordPress, WordPressMu and Standalone Javascript will play any simple href link to mp3, flv, Quicktime mov, mp4, m4v, m4a, m4b, 3gp as well as Windows wmv, avi and asf files, in the appropriate player on your web page. The WordPress versions also add buttons to the Rich Text Editor for embedding Flash swf and Director dcr movies as well as YouTube, Google Video, iFilm, DailyMotion, Revver, Metacafe, MySpace, Apple iTunes iMix, and GoEar players.”

SendMeRSS.com - for keeping up with your most important sources of information. I use this RSS to Email service to put important blog feeds in my email.

I know there are other ways of doing this same thing with feedblitz, feedburner, etc, but SendMeRSS works on any feed so you can pull all your feeds into something like Google Reader and then only get email updates when there are new items added to that feed. Or, you can use it to watch affiliate program notices, spy on competitors, you name it.

To keep things focused I am only using it on feeds I really want to hear from and not just the ones I am “following” in my feed reader. It helps me stay on top of new information without the information overload.

Charles McKeever
OpenSourceMarketer.com

Before yet another day goes by in 2008 I wanted to update you on what’s in the works and what’s coming next for OpenSourceMarketer.com

Download Here’s what’s coming up on OpenSourceMarketer.com.

Like I said in the video update, I am working on an article series that will explain how to build niche market stores that actually make money for you every single day.

In addition to the article series, I am also working on a much large and more in depth e-lesson series that will be part an upcoming membership site I am launching. The e-lessons will take you and other members through the step by step process of setting up niche stores, setting up related affiliate accounts, generating visitor traffic, and ultimately making money nearly every day.

I have been setting up sites for several months now and I have had great success with them. The best part is I don’t have to carry inventory or worry about customer service issues. Don’t worry, I will explain every thing more in the articles series and the e-lessons.

For now, just know that I am still here and I am working on something great for you. Starting today I plan to post twice a day to the blog, so look for very short posts. Hopefully you will find some real value in regular updates.

Speak soon,

Charles McKeever
OpenSourceMarketer.com

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