Is Facebook old fashioned or advanced technology? Watch this video to find out.

Wow! This video is a blast from the past, but sums up everything I wanted to say perfectly. This is why my focus is now on video.

No, I didn’t die. No, I didn’t fall off the edge of the planet. No, I didn’t get bored of this online stuff and go “offline”.

A New Year brings new changes to life and this year I decided to switch it all up. I challenged myself to make a YouTube video every day for the next year. This year I plan on focusing the mass majority of my energy on YouTube. I probably won’t be making blog posts or podcasts as much this year, but I can guarantee you will be able to see a video instead (which is much cooler)!

Don’t worry, I’m still here. I may just be slow at times in responding to you. I assure you though that I read everything you send me and will respond to it.

Watch my Daily Vlog HERE.
Main Channel (where most of my sketches, shorts, and shows are).

To Your ULTIMATE SUCCESS,
Taylor Marek

I’ve thought about this for quite a while. This is actually one of the reasons I first started blogging and podcasting 4+ years ago. I looked into it and I saw the uncharted territory, the vast size, and was instantly pulled in. I’m an explorer by nature, curious as all get out, and always manage to find a new angle to look at something. Just ask the disassembled electronics scattered around my room when I was 10. That was fun.

New Media offers something that nothing else does. A chance to be yourself and get noticed, no more hoops to jump through. The opportunity to explore your passion to your hearts content and get lost if you want to. And the chance to truly make a living, and then some, off of doing what you love.

Are you with me? What are your thoughts?

If you’re wondering how to get more views on YouTube, watch these two videos. They are made by two very good friends of mine who have been on YouTube for a long time. Enjoy.

How to Get Views on YouTube – Kevin “Nalts” Nalty

How to get MORE VIEWS on YouTube videos.. REALLY! – Cory “Mr. Safety” Williams

Did these videos help you?

Determination

I’m not going to sugar-coat it for you. I’m not going to hide it behind my e-mail list, nor mystify it to be uncovered in a product. I’m putting the word out there for everyone to see. Ruminate on this word.

It takes a alot of determination to set out on this path, and even more so after. I’ll dare say most of you won’t make it down this path, you will falter and fall. But those who push on, those who do not falter, those who show an unimaginable amount of determination will push all the way to the end, wherever it may be.

Determination. Do you have it?

It could be a good thing at times, and it could be a bad thing at times. It all depends. What I will say though is that the mental trigger never goes off and we miss the opportunity that we should not have.

After putting this much energy into this project, making sure everything is ready, and then waiting, you’ve just killed the moment. You need to train yourself to recognize the opportunity and instantly pull the trigger. It could very well be the difference between life and death.

How do you train yourself to recognize opportunity? Leave a comment with your thoughts.

Conclusions

• This just doesn’t make any sense… #GoFigure ;P
• I personally seem to feel better getting thoughts posted on a daily basis opposed to a weekly 600+ word cram article.
• It seems more people visit when I post daily as opposed to weekly.

Ah well, that’s just me. Now you know what I’ve been up to the past month. I’ve set new goals for this month and will be tracking and posting the results at the end of next month. Stay tuned.

I’ve seen it happen in the past. I’ve seen it happen to me. I’ve seen it happen to friends. That’s enough headache on my end to warrant that you had better take this seriously.

When you have a website design/development/hosting company/agency/corporation design and manage your website, you had better be sure you ask them about how they will go about purchasing your domain name. If they say,

“Oh, we will take care of that. You don’t need to worry.”

Red flags had better be going up. At this point you should ask questions to clarify exactly what they will do or look for a different company. Why? Because they can take your domain name hostage for any reason and at any time.

Handling your domain name really isn’t as big as the website design companies make it out to be. The hardest thing they can do is offer you a link so you can purchase the domain name from a website hosting company, let you pay with your own credit card, and enter any important identifying information so the world knows that this is your domain name.

That’s really about it. Now that you know, don’t let this mistake happen to you and your friends in the future ok?

That is why I am opening up every Tuesday on my blog for a guest post! If you’ve been wanting to write something, now is the perfect time.

What You Need To Do

A. Select A Topic

1. Personal Finances
2. Small Business
3. Technology/Tech News/Reviews
4. Social Media (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.)
5. New Media (Blogging, Podcasting, Online Video, YouTube, etc.)

B. Write Your Guest Post (300-500 words, you can include links)

C. Write A Short Bio (e.g., Taylor is a New Media Visionary on a journey to change the world.)

D. Contact Me and paste your guest post in the message box.

That’s It! I will reply to let you know when you can expect your post to be published on my blog and will even give you a link to it!

Any questions? Let me know. Otherwise, have fun guest posting!

Here is my response to that post. I figured this idea needed to be refreshed because I think people are forgetting something about social media and blogging. They are NOT separate entities. If anything, blogs are used to push out the “new media content” to the masses to spread virally via “social media”!

You may be surprised to know this, but blogging has been around for quite some time. This isn’t something “new”. It is simply an easier way to communicate with a worldwide audience and share your thoughts. In the age of castles, knights, and “damsels in distress” the only way a story could travel was via a “storyteller” who would travel to each town and tell his/a story for the umpteenth time. Talk about being winded! The internet makes it so much easier now…

Blogs? Co-equal with Social Media and dare I say where “Social Media” got its body! Can’t have legs running everywhere without a body right? ;P

My Points?

• Social Media is simply the next step. It is an evolution of the old method made much easier by technology.
• Yeah, I think you should quit worrying about it Brian. We get it.
• Tofu? What kind do you mean? The regular kind or the stinky kind? We have both in Taiwan, which is where I am currently. The regular kind tastes good to me.

Your Points? Comment below!

All it took was one person looking at this problem from another angle and coming up with the solution that changed everything. Whoever invented the wheel is a complete genius, not because of what they did but because of their creativity in solving the problem. By thinking outside the box. By not going with the flow.

But now times have changed. Or have they? I’m pretty sure when “the wheel” came out, everyone laughed and commented on how stupid it was until the “first follower” took the risk and tried it for himself. It turned into a literal avalanche and the rest is history.

Are you blazing a new trail? Are you providing the solution to the problem at hand? You could be reinventing the wheel and not even know it. You could be copying the wheel and not even know it.

I can guarantee reinventing the wheel is harder than it looks. It sometimes takes a lifetime of sweat, blood, and tears to see anything of considerable merit. Copying the wheel is easy, however, but nobody ever tries it because they want to “blaze a “new” trail”.

Now listen closely, there are times you need to reinvent the wheel and there are other times you simply need to copy it. Sometimes you don’t need to blaze a new trail, you simply need to follow somebody down it. So where are you at right now?

Do you really, truly know your destiny? I mean, do you actually know it or are you just guessing at it? Do you think you will be the next rockstar? Do you know that for sure or are you basing it on what people think or say about you?

A good book once told me:

There is something you need to understand. [Insert Subject] is an endless frontier. It is a frontier that no one has reached the end of or fully explored. You have taken one step into this endless frontier, and you are asking me how far you have gone?? Well, you’ve only taken one measly step!

I want you to realize something, you have taken one step into this endless frontier. And you are now one step further into this frontier than 99.9% of the human race. But don’t be satisfied with just one step. Don’t settle for just being above average. Never pitch your tent. Until you have explored the outer reaches of this endless frontier, never stop your pursuit of excellence!

-When God Writes Your Life Story by Eric & Leslie Ludy

Think about it. Many great people in this world did not know their true destiny until the end. Most of the time it was their little secret, kept hidden from the rest of the world.

So now I pose the question to you again, do you really know your TRUE destiny?

Justin Bieber may be a rockstar for this generation, but Beethoven is master for all time. Fred may be the biggest rockstar ever to crash through the rankings on Youtube and become an overnight sensation, but the Three Stooges have him beat in the long run. It isn’t about being popular. It isn’t about showing off to the world. To truly become a master you must sacrifice your life to the calling. You must give something so spectacularly amazing to the world that shines bright enough to become your legacy.

If you don’t already know, I am going to be in Taiwan for the next 11 months. I am there in association with the Taiwan government, HTC, and IBLP teaching English in the public schools. It’s a life-changing event, and I’m excited to be teaching and interacting with elementary schoolkids for a year and viewing life in a completely different country and through the lens of another culture.

I’ve finally come to this realization in my life. I notice that when I am “at home” I fall into my safe zone. Nothing spectacular happens in that zone. Its just safe, there is no element of risk. Nothing to achieve and strive for. When you are at home, you become lazy and lethargic.

Being in Taiwan, it has broken my comfort zone completely. Not to mention you are in a culture in which you don’t understand the language, so you are always on your toes and changing things. However, it has finally given me a chance to develop some good habits and I don’t want to break them when I go back home.

How about you? Are you breaking your comfort “home safe” zone or just sitting around?

It prompted this response from him later in the day:

This is the reply I sent back to him and am awaiting a response:

I am genuinely interested in getting to the bottom of this question. Is the Thank You Economy broke? Is it a myth? Gary, if you are reading this I would love for you to leave a comment so that we can start a discussion or creating a video with your answer that I can link to.

The reason I am asking this question is because I’ve been running my online empire for over four years now, but all I’ve had along the way is small breaks. Sure I’m making new friends and connecting with some pretty awesome people, but if I am trying to turn this into a profitable online company, it is making me squat. I need something more concrete, something more than just sharing *more* content from even more sources and making friends. Don’t get me wrong, I love all the connections I’m making online (I’d be completely alone without them), but even they are starting to question the long time benefits and profitability of my journey.

Will this venture actually be able to go full circle and start moving the arrow or just spin my wheels and not move at all? I can wait a lifetime to start reaping the rest of the benefits, but by then I may have moved on to something else. Gamblers know when a game goes south and call it quits, which is basically the same for an entrepreneur. The same idea applies here, but I may be the crazy captain who goes down with the ship.

I’d love to get a discussion going on this, so leave a comment below with your opinion. Is the Thank You Economy a myth?

Think of it as an Oreo. Your opinion is half of the Oreo, mine is the other half. Together there is a cohesive whole and everyone benefits.

So, How do you define a successful Social Media campaign?

I was driving in my car running some errands when a radio ad came on. It was talking about Netflix and how they now offer the option to not only watch your favorite movies online or via mail, but that you can now watch your favorite tv shows as well. This set my mind to thinking. How can tv shows make money in the online world, the ‘new media’ realm where you control what you want to watch, where you want to watch it, when you want to watch it, and how? From many of my excursions into the television industry, I know that most of the money tv shows earn come from the ads that play during each episode. There is also the option to “place products” into the episode slyly enough for you to not notice the subliminal ad. This strategy works well in movies also.

Anyways, the thought occurred to me that the easiest way tv shows can make a living online is to partner up with companies such as Netflix and Blockbuster to syndicate episodes where the public wants them. There is also throwing it up on iTunes, Hulu, and Zune Marketplace that can bring in some easy revenue. Problem solved, cue the applause and cheers from an audience that has been waiting for this moment.

If you are a tv show producer or are thinking of becoming one, factor this into your equation. The tips pay out better here, trust me.

Not exactly the introduction you expected to read about right? You probably were expecting me to say something along the lines of “I hacked Facebook and got some massive dough, let me show you my insider secrets!”

No, I am not that kind of person. Nor do I expect to be. I am the kind of guy who provides you with some solid information you can use. I am the kind of guy who wants to document my journey online. I am the kind of guy who wants to give you something of value.

To that end, and in response to the unexpected introduction you just read, here is what I have up to this point.

That introduction is basically what my mind was going through at the time before I started making solid money online. Using allegory is as close as I can come to explaining my predicament at the time without giving away private information.

How did I do it? How did I make my first $100 online?

1. I searched for an Urgent Need

I thought to myself, “What do people need help with? How can I help them?” My thoughts stumbled across Facebook Fan Pages. The more I thought about it, the more I uncovered that I knew alot about Fan Pages that I could teach people and that this was something big enough for companies to have. 400 million targeted potential customers in one place with dirt cheap access to all of them and companies just flirting around the issue? I knew I had to do something.

2. I provided customers with the exact solution

I figured many businesses knew about Fan Pages, but had no idea how to create/maintain/promote one. I also knew of other companies who just jumped in without looking and stepped in a couple problem areas that could have been avoided if they had guidance.

3. I Planned In Advance

Not everything was planned out, but most of it was. I cannot stress this enough when starting out online. You need to have some key aspects planned out, such as name, upsell flow, content, offer, and price, before you start “officially working on it”.

4. I Started Free

When I started putting the wheels into action, people already started coming in, but I wasn’t even finished! I was still in the midst of making my skeleton, which was barely operating at this point, yet people were coming in. I knew at that moment that my idea had paid off and continued with renewed vigor.

5. I Strategically Positioned myself to take advantage of all the Free Traffic/Exposure

In the name, where it was located, and how I started, I strategically positioned everything to take advantage of all the free traffic out there on Facebook. I never spent a penny advertising, they all came to me. This particular step required some thinking on my end to make sure this idea worked, the rest came in all by itself naturally.

6. I converted from Free To Paid

I left the free option open for about two weeks, then shutdown the free offer I had going. I stuck a price tag on it and stuck it back on the shelf. I expected traffic to drop, which it did, but people still came and purchased based on the pricing structure I had planned out beforehand. I even made a cold sale over the phone, which left me energized for at least a week! (Gotta thank Wells Fargo for all that sales training when I was a teller)

7. I Upsold to a Premium Option

Yup, contained within my plan to get their foot in the door was the first small purchase and the subsequent value I added in the content I provided. I wanted to provide them with enough value that they would be happy and clamor for more. Some did, and I gave it to them. They are extremely happy, know exactly what to do, and are all fired up to handle what they have.

What do I do?

I Create Fan Pages.

What do you do?

Can I run my business for 30 days with nothing but an IPad?

What do you think? Can Paul do it?

I am personally interested in this challenge. Owing to the fact that the IPad is more of a content consumption device than anything else, this will be an interesting twist. I am curious Paul if you, being a content creator extraordinaire, will be able to pull it off with the apps available for the device. I know all the apps are there for you to use, but this will get interesting when you want to do video, take pictures, record your voice, and such. How will that work into your New Media Content Creation Model?

The interesting feature about the IPad, which I foreshadowed in my first post (The Apple iPad. Greatest thing since iSlicedBread?), is that Apple is purposely marketing this as a “content consumption device”. This device, as confused as you may be at this point, is for the content consumer not the content creator. Does anyone besides me and Paul notice this subtle shift?

If you want to keep tabs on what Paul is up to with this challenge and if it actually works, visit:

http://www.paulsipad.com/

All of these decisions are eventually faced in the lifetime of an entrepreneur, often many times during their life. The same idea holds true for bloggers, podcasters, and every other new media vocation.

Why don’t we take a look at two popular brands and break them down. Perhaps it will help you in the decision making process…

McDonald’s

McDonald’s is known for its many fast food hamburger chains scattered across the globe. The initial idea was developed by Dick and Mac McDonald. They wanted to provide a way to give meals to people as quickly as possible. Their equity was purchased by Ray Kroc who then set out to expand it to the four corners of the earth. The result is that McDonald’s is now a worldwide brand worth many billions of dollars. Every kid from Generation Y to the present has McDonald’s branded permanently in their mind because of the mass marketing effort of McDonald’s. Can’t tell me it didn’t pay off well…

What is McDonald’s known for?

• Big Mac – This one product continues to pull in massive sales in part because of a well executed marketing plan.
• Marketing to the younger generation- You get new plastic toys! (Who doesn’t want one when you are little?) Consequently, when you are older you just walk in there out of habit.
• Food tastes good. Yup, nothing like sprinkling sugar on the fries to make them taste better and a soda, juicy burger, and the occasional salad or other goody. Hence why America is now plump as well.
• Affordability. How many times do you walk into McDonalds to find you are dead broke and can’t buy anything? Unless you are dumb enough to forget your wallet when you go in…
• Speedy Service. That was coined by the original owners and still holds true to this day. I’d like to see a system like that somewhere else on the world that is as efficient about what they do than McDonald’s. Personal Opinion Note: If I am short on time, I will go into McDonald’s to buy something fast.

Gary Vaynerchuk

Gary is one of a kind. He is a fireball of energy and strives to answer every question that is thrown at him. He grew up in New Jersey and was always fascinated with business. He started cutting grass, selling flowers, and then selling baseball cards. He was good at it too. Baseball card sales in his high school years amounted to “three thousand bones a weekend“! He then became interested in wine and read every magazine on the subject. He worked as a clerk in a wine shop, then created his own brand, opening a wine shop and then expanding it to unheard of heights. His tactics, as crazy as they were, are what pushed him into the position he holds now. When he stumbled upon new media/social media, he bit into it like a bull dog and refused to let go. Wine Library TV came out of that. Out of all the people I know in this space, Gary defines how New Media and Social Media should looks like.

He is now an accomplished author, video blogger, brand consultant, and speaker. That and he still holds his position at Wine Library. Contrary to what you may think, Gary actually does alot more for his wine company marketing-wise whenever he is interviewed. He has become associated with the wine world.

What is Gary known for?

• One line sayings. Gotta admit I love hearing the “legacy is greater than currency” and “CRUSH IT” quotes he throws out from time to time.
• Explosive Introductions. Yup, Gary is never without one. It turns alot of people off when he hollers his introduction to the video camera, but the rest become excited and engaged in a snap.
• Wine. Gary bleeds wine. It is all he ever talks about, and he knows what he is talking about. His opinion on wine undercuts the rest and brings a new light to it.
• New York Jets. You can’t go long without him speak on the Jets. If is blood is wine, his heart is the New York Jets. He knows everything about them too. He has to if he is to fulfill his dream of buying them.
• Passion. Not a day goes buy that he doesn’t portray it. He loves what he does and wouldn’t trade anything in the world for it.
• Authenticity. Gary is 100% real. Unedited and uncut, every vlog post and winelibrarytv show he has done in one take.
• Personal Branding. Gary epitomizes how personal branding should be done.

What can McDonald’s or Gary teach you about branding?

1. The brand is your defining point. Everything is built off of it.
2. Have a unique story. No one likes the same old bland status quo.
3. Personal brands depend on the person, iconic brands depend on the decisions of the company.
4. If the person dies, their brand will continue on in a solidified state. If the icon dies, so does the company.
5. Icons are remembered for all time, so is a person.
6. Iconic brands become an authority symbol, personal brands become a person.
7. People tend to trust iconic brands as they mature, same with a personal brand. With the personal brand however, a trust level is built with that person.

Hope that helps you out. I for one am enjoying building a personal brand.

Am I missing anything? Am I totally wrong? Is there something you’d like to share? I’ve pulled the soapbox over, would love to hear your two cents.

It used to be completely different. Business in the 1900′s was all about how many levels we could advertise our product/service on. The internet has completely changed the game, as well as the rapid change in technology. Now we find ourselves with an unlimited amount of levels we can promote our company in. That game has changed and we need to quickly find where we can make the most impact and leverage it.

“But wait” you may be saying right now. “Isn’t marketing and advertising the same thing?” Well…yes, and no.

Advertising is a communication strategy used to persuade the person engaging in the “ad” to take action and to buy from that brand.

Marketing is the process by which companies create value for and build strong customer relationships to ensure brand loyalty and word of mouth distribution with their market base.

Notice the slight but important difference here. (Muaha! And you didn’t think I would flex my communication degree muscles while here in college eh?…)

What did the Industrial Revolution give us? A simpler way to mass produce goods and services at a lower cost. What did the Information Age give us? Well, it kicked down the doors of the Industrial Revolution and said, “Hey, I can do all of that and more for the cost of NOTHING!” What is the Social Media Revolution giving us? It stole the idea presented in the Information Age and scattered it to the far reaches of the globe while giving us the means to connect and share with anyone and everyone across the planet at virtually the speed of light.

What multi-level advertising was to the Industrial Revolution, multi-level marketing is to the Information Age and the Social Media Revolution. You need to stop persuading and start providing value for and building strong relationships with your customers. The persuading will work itself out in the customers’ mind once you have built that relationship.

I worked for the big boys. I know those who have taken this new approach and are now soaring on untold heights. I’ve also watched others flap their “multi-level advertising” wings in vain and plummet straight to the earth below. I know the reason why too, but that is for another post. You’ll have to wait for that to come out…

In the meantime, what are you doing to ensure your multi-level marketing strategy succeeds? Do you even have one?

I’m not giving you the rest of the pie until you’ve consumed your chunk of it and let me know what you thought of it below. You know I love hearing feedback from you guys…

It is a week after all the hubbub around the Apple press conference. Things have now cooled down a tad. Now its time for me to interject my thoughts…

Here they are:

The iPad is nothing more than a glorified IPhone, only bigger.

Yes, you heard me. That is what I think of it. Now, before you start calling me out on twitter, let me say a couple things. (Yes I know about all the jokes, but I am not posting them here)

First off, Scobles’ 16 year old kid agrees with me! Secondly, Paul Colligan, the tech guru that he is, ran the numbers on the iPad which proved to be quite interesting. Third, a college friend of mine has 27 reasons against the iPad. And finally, my good friend Harrison Painter thinks that the iPad will soon be coming to a WalMart near you!

Oh, and I haven’t even launched into the jokes yet! (Don’t worry, I’ll be breaking them out at the end)

In all honesty, lets go back to my original quote. It does everything the IPhone does, why do we need another thing to lug around? And by lug, I do mean lug! Don’t worry though, you won’t be getting flatter abs or bigger biceps with this thing anytime soon.

I am not convinced. I was really looking forward to what would happen with IPhone’s exclusivity deal with AT&T. And I REALLY didn’t like the fact that to add insult to injury that Apple goes ahead and throws in 3G on AT&T.

Now that you’ve heard the bad, here is the good side.

What I did like about the iPad was the option to have a bigger screen to see more detail. The 3G option is pretty neat as well. I did look at Verizon’s netbooks when they first came out but realized I would max the bandwidth usage in an hour with that I do, so the iPad just might be the answer to that problem. If only it had an iBall camera though!

I could see this device finally making use of the RPG gaming apps in the app store. Now you can actually see detail on a larger screen and have more options than be squished between your two thumbs.

I also liked the fact that this takes us another step in the digital media distribution medium. Looking forward to the day when we no longer read inewspapers, as “neat” as they once used to be, and iwalk around with a little tablet thing with all the news we need at the touch of our finger. That and the podcast options too.

If I do get my hands on the iPad, it very well may be version 2 or 3.0.

Those are my thoughts, what are yours?

iDone.

Geese fly in the classic v-shape formation, each leading one at a time, giving the leader time to rest as they fly south for the winter. Notice here that no one goose leads for the entire length, he’d be DEAD before they reached the destination! Nor do two of them duke it out for first place, it would waste too much energy.

Nope, they do it the most efficient way possible. Each goose leads for a time, then falls back to let another lead while he rests to wait his turn again. That way, they get to the destination that much faster and farther than possible by one or two geese.

Every single business in every industry works the exact same way. As a matter of fact, so do nations. Hint: I’ve been studying Western Civilization I for the past three weeks and it has been interesting to watch each nation rise to power, take the stage for a time, then fall back and give it to another nation.

Where are you in the formation? Comment below.

I originally didn’t want to make any New Year Resolutions!

That changed though. You are getting the benefit of reading them now that I am posting them on the web for all to see.

Resolution #1: Find 1000 True Fans

Being that I am starting to take my online presence more seriously and in developing my online business, I find this is a key component. I wrote about it in my Thought Leaders post not too long ago.

Resolution #2: Find and interview the Thought Leaders

Yup, also from the same Thought Leaders post. I find that if I surround myself with the Thought Leaders of this realm, collaborate together, and become good friends, we can take this vibrant world of New Media to the next level!

Resolution #3: Comment and Stumble every blog post

I’m finding out that if I can comment on and stumble every post, the more traffic that blog sees and the chances that I get noticed. Not only does it benefit my reputation, but it also shows I am out on the web interacting with other people, leaving little tips of my own as I go along. If you think about it, it really works out better for the short and the long term, as well as benefits both parties. The unique thing when I stumble posts is that it pastes it into my Friendfeed account and sends out an automatic tweet to my twitter audience later on, where even more people read it. Pretty cool eh?

Resolution #4: See if I can maintain a daily post

Yeah, this one will probably be a kicker of a one to keep, seeing as I am a full-time college student with a 30 credit hour semester load, but we will play it by ear and see what happens. I would love for you guys to keep me accountable. Holler if I haven’t posted anything, and I will see what I can do to post something for you.

As a matter of fact, lets make it even easier. Click here to send me a tweet if I fall behind for the day.

Those are my resolutions for the year 2010. What are yours? Comment below.

-Taylor Marek
Your ever present Social Media Nut ;P

Today we have a chat with Nathan Hangen. Be sure to take notes for this one!

I was originally impressed by the post he wrote called “How to be like Batman“, the interview came out of that.

The stats regarding podcasting that I mentioned in this episode can be found at:
http://blog.blubrry.com/2010/01/28/podcast-consumer-attitudes-study-released-video/

To learn more about Nathan, read his book, or chat with him via twitter,
click on one of the links below:

Blog – NathanHangen.com
Book – Beyond Blogging
Twitter – @nhangen

Want to Retweet this episode to your Twitter Audience? Click Here.

Sponsored by Create A Fan Page.

Lets continue the conversation. Comment below or use these options:

• Toll Free Comment Line: 1-866-867(TMP)-2860
• Send me an e-mail.
• @taylormarek me on Twitter
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/taylormarek

It goes as follows:

There once was a businessman, who, after he had created a product to solve an urgent need, set out to market. He stopped in many places. Villages, cities, states, and everywhere else he saw his product could do the most good. Some of the product he sold fell upon deaf ears, no one wanted to buy what he had to offer. Some of it fell upon interested people who put it on a shelf and let it collect dust. Others fell upon those who needed it. They started using it, but quickly became disillusioned and requested a refund. Still other fell upon those who recognized this product, eagerly bought it and consumed it entirely. Through them word started spreading and soon the businessman was looking at an increase of thirty, sixty, even a hundred times more then he ever thought possible.

What is the meaning? It means that you, as a business owner, will always have these four types of customers. The ones you want to go for are those where the “seed falls upon good soil…and produces… even a hundredfold…”

The rest will take care of itself.

What’s your application to this parable?

I am right now making Facebook Fan Pages for FREE for anyone who may need one. Its for a limited time though, so if you are reading this you need to jump aboard NOW.

Update: Yes, I am true to my word. The free opportunity is no longer. I can still design your fan pages for you, but it will cost a small amount for me to put them together. It is well worth the cost though. Actually, I should really increase the price soon as I am giving them away at a deep discount…

Where should you go? http://createafanpage.com

I’d love to see you on the other side.

-Taylor Marek

When marketing your company, there are certain ways to go about it. You have many mediums to promote in, including social media, to be aware of as well. Some mediums are more potent then others, yet each one has its own benefits associated with it. For example, in television commercials; people are listening, reading, and watching all at the exact same time. Compared to print, where someone is just reading something, you are capturing more senses and engaging that person with your message. With social media, you are engaging that person’s senses and encouraging them to respond, building a relationship with an individual that is impossible with television, radio, and print combined. But that is for a later article, lets take a look at a case study of marketing gone wrong.

Case Study: iNET Web

iNET Web is a website design and hosting company located in Waukesha, Wisconsin. They began in 1998 with the intent to “crush every Waukesha web development competitor in not only price but also design”. They have done just that through their radio ads, effectively downplaying every competitor and taking the market over by force.

Two unforeseen problems came up with this stance, and here is the predicament that now looms over my hometown of Milwaukee.

1. It incenses the “Competition”

Marketing 101 for any company regardless of industry teaches owners to focus on telling their own story. Business owners are encouraged to differentiate and sell their unique benefits for the consumers benefit. It is slightly different from the presumed my-product-is-better-than-your-product argument that companies regularly initiate in, but an important difference nonetheless. Think of it this way, are you in business just so you can “crush your competition” or to provide a solution to a consumer need? Act that way. Market your company that way. Your company is not here to give you an ego boost, you are in business to provide a way of living for yourself by providing the solution to the consumers’ need.

iNET Web effectively created a large rift and threw the competition into it, silencing all opposition. As a result, I barely hear of other website design companies. The ones I do hear of? They despise iNET. The flip side? Some of these companies I stumble across make pretty impressive websites and love their customers to pieces.

This is a fine line, yet this could spell death for your company no matter how profitable you are. Not only does this make your “competition” mad at you, it also splits the market and prevents you from working with your “competitors” down the road. Listen closely, your competition is not in business to bash you, they are in business the same reason you are: to make a profit. There are more than enough people in your market for everyone to benefit from, you physically cannot serve everybody in that market. Neither can your “competition”. That is an undisputed fact. As you understand this, you will start to view your competitors in a different light. Now, rather than “bashing” them, you will see how all of you can work together to serve your market; to both widen and deepen it.

2. It keeps the Market in the Dark

Would you be very happy with someone if they deliberately kept you in the dark? At first no, you would just assume that is exactly how things should be. Then somebody walks by your darkened room’s window with a candle. How would that make you feel? Confused? Mad? Jealous? Yup, all that and an insatiable desire to learn more about that light. Questions would be running through your mind, answers waiting to be uncovered. If the person who originally locked you up and taught you about your “dark room” came by, you would probably tackle him to the ground and give him a sound beating before running out the door after that light.

That is the exact situation the website design/hosting market in Milwaukee, Wisconsin is now facing. Business owners are walking around without a clue what their website is and what it could be. They are walking around in that dark room. They are deliberately left out of the loop, fed only the bits and pieces certain companies want them to hear. Not only is this saddening to hear, but it also makes me mad.

I know this as I walk around that very market (I used to run a website design company in Milwaukee as well) pulling out tidbits of information to gauge what is going on. The reports brought tears to my eyes. How could this market stay in the dark for so long? How could they remain this uneducated about the Internet? How could they not see how immensely powerful their website has now become? If they saw the light, they would break down that door running after the light. My response to this was to flip on my webcam and record something to educate that market, in a way hoping to be that light that would pass by their door.

I don’t think you would want to be that company (person) in their way when they see the light and attempt a mad dash towards it.

For those two reasons…

iNET Web is a Marketing Failure in my book.

Want to learn more about iNET Web as well as my own personal story with them? Watch this video on iNET Web Bashing.

Now that you understand what not to do, what thoughts do you have and what do you intend to do? Any company you’d like to see a case study on?

Wow, the more I reminisce on the movie and watch it, when I have the chance, the better it gets each time. Avatar sure isn’t exhausted on my list, I’m still pulling out some social media goodies for you to enjoy! Here are a couple more…

The first post I wrote on my review of Avatar has been getting some good views lately, when the idea struck me to expand upon it. Avatar has now grossed $1 Billion dollars, has been trending on twitter for the past four weeks, and is doing quite well. Two thoughts I want to impress on you.

1.You Have An Avatar

Interestingly enough, that is your social media (online) presence. Everything you do online is your online presence. After dabbling around in social media for a while, you will most likely find yourself lost in the vibrancy of this world. But one key question remains.

How are you going to merge your offline and online world together effectively? You can’t live in just an offline world at the risk of becoming exiled, so what are you doing to educate yourself? Integrated into that question is another question. What are you doing to bring your business online and expose it to 1.7 Billion+ people?

2. Pick Your Side

Enough with fooling around and asking questions on “What is Social Media?” Every person and every business on the face of the planet is instead asking “How do we use Social Media?” 84% of businesses can’t be wrong if they are starting to implement some kind of social media marketing campaign, including Pepsi. You have a choice to make, which side are you playing on? Are you still playing by the old rules, or the new ones? Are you still going to stay in the traditional advertising realm, or hop over to the much more vibrant world of social media? You have a choice to make, and you’d better make it fast. Neither side is going to wait for you.

In Avatar, Quaritch and his side are only concerned about making the big bucks. Who cares what the cost. Interestingly enough, the mineral they are mining is called “Unobtanium” (anyone notice the irony?) and the largest source is located beneath Hometree, where all the Na’vi live. Anyone notice the parallels?

Traditional Media is trying to blow this off as a plink in the bucket, while unawares are trying to leech and destroy the base Social Media Marketing is upon. This is going to come to a head sooner than you think, I am already starting to hear the horns of war. There will be an inevitable clash between Traditional/Old Media and New/Social Media.

You’ve seen the influential power New/Social Media has had over countries, businesses, and people. The results speak for themselves. There is not much time left to think, NOW is the time to act. Ah, but just wait. You need to come at this from a different angle. You need to approach this the smart way. Don’t run in without a brain in your head. Jake Sully knew this, which is why he was smart about the way the battle unfolded in Avatar.

What are you doing to implement Social Media in your life and your company? Comment below.

The banner you see above and the logo used on my podcast are all the result of Podcast Designs. Becky, who does all of the design work, was referred to me by a fellow podcaster for getting a good logo done for my podcast. She blew me away with what she came back with, and I fell in love with it immediately. Not only does she do logo’s, but also ebook covers, website templates, and any other graphics work you need done.

Podcast Designs comes highly recommended by me, so be sure to tell her that I sent you when you need graphics done.

May 2010 be your most prosperous year yet!

-Taylor Marek

Note: This is one of those rare posts where I recommend someone I use on a regular basis for work they have done for me. I am not compensated in any way, other than good will, for recommending Podcast Designs, I am merely sharing a resource that I use and works well for me.

© Stephen Poff

You are in the art museum marveling at a masterpiece when you notice there is a green smudge running across the bottom of the painting that should not be there. Regardless of whether it was a careless stroke by the artist or not, what just happened? Instantly your liking of the painting took a hit.

The same should be with your blog, research paper, forum post, or any other form of writing you undertake.

I’ve read many blogs. Possibly even too many… (nah, scratch that. I’ll be reading blogs forevermore) I’ve read enough to know this fact. Please double check your work!

Currently, Chris Pirillo is doing a YouTube series slamming poor grammar and writing skills (Note, there is language and it is meant to be offensive, but in a humorous kind of way). Chris can get away with it as he has been on the internet for quite a while now and he has a degree in English, so I can understand where he’s coming from.

It is a simple yet most often overlooked fact in today’s age. Here are a couple tips to remember:

1. Solidify your thoughts

By reading what you just wrote, you will be able to clarify your thoughts. If you need to make changes, now is the time to do it before you publish it. It also confirms what you were thinking, and typically your mind and the words on the page will click together. It never hurts to read what you just wrote and is much more beneficial if you do in the long run.

2. Uncover Errors

If there is a comma missing, punctuation misplaced, or a word spelled wrong, you will usually find it on the second read-through. You may also find a word that looks similar, but because the spell checker didn’t flag it, it will go unnoticed unless you read through and realize that the word is actually spelled differently.

Trust me, it will make you look better in the long run if you double check your work.

A picture is worth a thousand words yet if one part is wrong, it ruins the entire masterpiece.

What are you doing to correct that?

© 2009 Patrick Smith Photography

I’ve been reading some very good material around the web recently, and I’ve been coming to realize the difference between social media rockstars and thought leaders, though this can apply to almost any industry. (I love having StumbleUpon to archive all of this stuff…)

Tim Ferriss nailed it on the head for me. He was at LeWeb speaking on how to make a global phenomenon for under $10k. Two things in his speech stood out.

1. “Target the thought leaders, not the ones who are popular.”

He was speaking about how he went around promoting his book, the 4 Hour Workweek, and this was quite an interesting idea he put forth. He also documented case studies on his results as well, which were quite interesting. He explained that he met someone at an event, got to know him pretty well, and promoted the book on his blog. Little did he know that everyone else followed this guy and soon he noticed on a fairly popular blog that there was a link trailing to his friends blog, which trailed directly back to his blog. Sales for his book sharply increased.

Another example is that Chris Brogan mentioned in passing on a blog post that he picked up Tim’s book for a flight and planned to read it. The book hit #2 bestseller in Amazon for the next 2-3 days. He compared it to being on the Today Show and noticing he hit #12 in Amazon for only 2-3 hours.

Quite interesting if you think about it. Many times the thought leaders are quiet and don’t say much, but everyone echoes them across their own blogs popular or not. Seth Godin is a good example of this, as well as Erik Qualman. Some thought leaders are popular, while some just love to come from behind and surprise you. There are alot of rockstars out there, and alot more wannabes, but the ones who are moving mountains are the thought leaders.

2. “1000 True Fans is all you need.”

This thought, and the referral to the article opened my eyes to something big. If you break it down to simple numbers, if all you had were 1000 people to sell to and your product cost $100, you would make $100k which is a pretty decent living. If you upped it to a $1000 cruise, you would have $1 Million dollars. Think about it.

Tim Ferriss, in pushing his book to stay on the New York Times Bestseller list for two solid weeks, wanted 20k “Earlyvangelists” for his goal to work out. How did it work out? His book has been on the New York Times Bestseller list for two and a half years and still going strong. Surprising eh? Exactly, this is a powerful idea to consider. Think about it?

In response to this, not only is one of my goals for 2010 to find my earlyvangelists and convert them into my 1000 True Fans, but I also created a twitter list to reveal who I believe the thought leaders are. Some are popular, some are not, but each are a part of their own respective industry and have a brilliant mind full of ideas. Feel free to follow, add your comments, and build these ideas out further.

My Twitter Thought Leader List.

Oddly enough, the day started out with nothing planned, but I knew for a fact that I would see Avatar before the day was out. I was waiting on a call from the friends as to the exact day and time, and when I did check in with them they said it would be that very night. I may have been caught up in the hype, but trust me, this was a movie I wanted to see.

We went for the IMAX 3-D version of it. When I got there, a line had already formed for the movie. I got my big bulky glasses and waited in line with the rest of them, meeting my friends in the process. There was a slight buzz of excitement, but that was about it. Not long after, we were ushered into the theater. Yeah, it was sold out, but we got the best seats in the house. Smack in the middle, 4/5ths of the way up.

IMAX has a tendency to come out and punch you right in the face when the movie starts, and it did just that. The sound was gorgeous, though I wouldn’t have minded if they cranked the speakers up more. This was a movie I could get used to watching at full volume. The 3-d glasses were an annoyance at first, but I got used to them quickly. if I could give one recommendation on this movie, go for the IMAX 3-D version, you’ll thank me for it afterwards.

Avatar began. Now how do I rate movies? I rate them based on the story they tell and how accomplished they are in its telling. If they are a master storyteller and can weave a story of awe and wonder, that will usually do it for me. Graphics and music come second. James Cameron is one of those masters.

**Spoiler Alert!!!**

The Story

The story of Avatar goes as follows. Jake Sulley was sent to take his twin brothers place at a human base on the planet of Pandora. He had been in cryo for the past 6 years as they traveled from earth to this distant planet. They landed on Pandora, which if viewed in 3-D is absolutely gorgeous. The colors are vibrant, and it feels for all practical reasons like you are there. Very quickly we find out that Jake is handicapped, he can’t use his legs. The rest of the people there are marines, sent to defend and protect in this hostile planet. We are debriefed and learn there is an alien tribe, the Na’vi, who pretty much like to keep to themselves. Ah, but he isn’t fighting. He was sent as part of a project, Avatar, to find out about the Na’vi by actually becoming one. Apparently the base had been around for a while as they were able to mix human and Na’vi DNA together to form a hybrid. That hybrid was then controlled by the “driver”. Jake was one of the drivers. For all practical purposes then, when they linked their brains together, he became a Na’vi. He only looked like one though, he had no idea of anything else. One thing he did like though was that he could use his legs again.

We soon find the real reason the human base is here. There is a rich supply of unobtanium that they want to mine, but the Na’vi just happen to have their “Hometree” located there. Jake is to spend time with them and earn their trust in order to move them to a different location. But the Na’vi have been watching what Jake and the other drivers have been doing in the forest. He is separated from his group, and is almost killed until a Na’vi female by the name of Neytiri saves him. They bring him to their home, but on the way find out that he is unique. They decide not to kill him, and he is paired up with Neytiri to teach him everything about being Omaticaya, or one of The People. He does quite well at it, and soon becomes one of them at the same time winning her heart.

The tables turn here as Colonel Miles Quaritch is impatient with the slow progress. He decides to go and blow up Hometree, where all of the Na’vi live. Jake and the rest who are in their Avatars try to stop it, but are unsuccessful. Hometree is destroyed and some of the Na’vi die. Everything lies in ruin, but there is one place for the Na’vi to go. The Vault of Souls. Jake then does the most insane thing ever by capturing and riding one of the most feared flying beasts of Pandora. Then, with the help of the remaining Na’vi, he gathers as many tribes as can be found for battle. Colonel Miles Quaritch finds out that the Na’vi are amassing for battle, so he decides to pre-emptively attack first. Jake hears about this, and decides to use the surroundings to their advantage.

The battle for the survival of a civilization begins, and many Na’vi lives are lost. But in the end the human ships are destroyed and Colonel Miles Quaritch dies in the final battle scene. All of the humans are then driven off of Pandora, the base is shutdown, and Jake is then merged with his Avatar body with Neytiri at his side.

I can’t imagine watching this in regular now, the IMAX 3-D version was the crispest I have ever seen. Everything about Avatar gushes jaw-dropping graphics from the first moment until the end. Soundtrack was pretty good too. As a matter of fact, a friend gave me a copy and I am listening to it as I write this. This almost three hour long movie was definitely worth the time and cost.

Are you a Marketer? Read Jeremy Schoemaker’s Review on What Marketers can learn from Avatar.

My Story?

Lets just say that I come pretty darn close to Jake in this. Might not be the best or the strongest out there, but its the heart that counts and ultimately makes all the difference. This movie came at the exact moment in my life, its kind of creepy (in a good way) how it mirrors my own life struggles.

One thing in particular I enjoyed about the movie is that when Jake is learning the language of the Na’vi is that Neytiri keeps repeating to him, Oel ngáti kámeie (I See You). Jake is somewhat confused by this until he consults one of the other Avatar drivers, Norm, what this means. He finds out that it actually means “I see into you; I see through you; I see all of you; I understand you.” Don’t know why, but I particularly enjoy this line.

How does this apply to Social Media?

Apologies if its taken this long to get here, but if you are still reading, this is a very powerful point.

In Avatar, they soon find out that all of the trees seem to be connected on a subconscious level. The Na’vi know this. Interestingly enough, they can upload and download memories faster than the speed of light at certain groves of trees. Everything on Pandora seems to be connected to each other at 10¹² level with everything around it, each sharing even more then that with everything else both near and far, effectively having more connections than the human brain.

Think of the Internet in this way. Its unbelievable yet true at the same time. There are so many connections, no wonder its called the world wide web. Now with the emergence of social media, you are front and center to the most fundamental shift in communication. 1.7 billion people are now online and connected with each other quite frankly to the umpteenth level. Are you aware of how powerful this is? Tapped into this still blows my mind, as it should yours.

How long did it take the radio to reach all of us? 38 years. TV? 13 years. Internet? 4 years. Oh, and the amount of people coming online daily are growing by leaps and bounds unfathomable. What are you doing to connect and engage?

Pretty impressive eh? And this is just the beginning.

Want to read another post on How Avatar applies to Social Media?

Thoughts?

Official Avatar Movie

I’ve only taken forever to bring this product to completion. It all started in 2008 at the New Media Expo. I was speaking to my mentor, Paul Colligan, and he strongly recommended that I launch a product. At that time, my podcast had only been around for two years. It was making nice gas money, but you can’t really live off of that now can you? ;P

Originally I had hoped I would be picked in a big sponsorship deal for my podcast, but I soon realized that isn’t going to happen. Not to say it never will, but the chances of it happening are far and few. That in mind, I decided to hunt around for information to create my first product.

A year passed with still no product on my end. I think I was spitting out too many ideas than was good for me, but a couple months ago changed all that. I had all the pieces and all the dots, but had no idea how to connect them. From November up until now I learned how to connect the dots and arrange the puzzle pieces in the right order. Not only was it the most fun I had in a while, but it was also a stretching point. I learned alot from it.

Now I am pleased to announce to the world, the “Social Media Vault“!

Everything I know up to this point is included. I’m also including key bonuses to make sure this vault stays fresh with the most recent information on social media. I’d love to see you have access to this vault of information, or to share this link with a friend.

Included in this vault are case studies of many people I know, as well as a basic overview of Social Media. I also scratch the surface of Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Recording these was the most fun I had in a long time, and I learned a couple things that will surprise even you.

I probably shouldn’t be telling this, but remember when I launched the TaylorMarek20 Vlog? It is still going strong and I am including bonus videos inside this product that I won’t be releasing to the general public…

Enjoy and take notes!

http://socialmediaplatinumtraining.com/social-media-vault/

1. Our Industry is Maturing

Yes, I know this is kind of the obvious one, but it needs to be stated. We can reminisce back to the days podcasting was in its infancy, and how we loved those days and long for them to return, but podcasting is now a tad older then a toddler, if you want to take it in literal years. Remember when Podcast Pickle hit Time Magazine in 2006? We were making headway then. Remember when we hung out and chatted with fellow podcasters, content in our little world? Now the door is wide open. Remember when “social media” was nonexistent? We worked our butts off in the forums, blogs, podcasts, and elsewhere to have our voices heard.

Oh how times have changed. Our little baby is growing up. And as hard as it is, we need to switch gears now.

2. Stop Swearing

I’ve heard just about enough from others in our industry who think they can just swear and get away from it. I know the typical responses too, but with an audience comes a level of professionalism. This may be where my part of the hammer hits the hardest, but it needs to be said for both of our sakes.

I’ve listened to enough people older than me to know the typical story. As a teenager, things are always changing, and as such you are in the midst of many life choices. If you picked up swearing around this time, you probably had it beat pretty hard out of you in your twenties and thirty’s to know to keep your mouth shut. “Grow up” was a pretty typical phrase during this time. I’ve spoken at length with many of my friends and mentors in this space, and we have come to the same conclusion:

If you expect to be taken seriously as an industry, drop the profanity and inappropriate jokes!

3. Focus

If we want to make the impact on the world that we know we can make, we need to stop distracting ourselves with “other things”. We need to hunker down and focus.

4. Monetization

This has always been brought up time and again. There are many ways to monetize, and if we expect to make a business out of this, we need to find our strategy and go with it. Enough floating around in the water waiting to see what will happen, it ain’t going to do you any good. Find the strategy that works, and go with it. I think Chris Brogan mentioned something along those lines as well when he said, “Podcasting isn’t exactly dead.”

5. Engage your tribe

Stop talking about yourself, this is not all about you. This is about your tribe. They found you and are listening to you because you provided them with something of value and earned their trust. No one cares about a self-centered person. Actually, they find it more entertaining to drop you like a bag of rocks and find someone else. Nurture their trust by sharing information with them, and talking to them. Find out their likes and dislikes, share stories. Build a tribe that way, and they will never want to leave.

Am I missing anything? Would love to hear your thoughts.

Note: If you want access to the vault where this coaching is stored, here is the link: http://bit.ly/socialmediavault

Now I’m not going to go around like other spammy websites in the blogosphere recommending you to buy this product of mine (pretend I’m waving something around), join an e-mail list (I only provide you with blog post updates and secret tidbits when something is new on my site), or *insert internet scam here*. I know waay too many people in my space that bounce around too much, and are losing my trust little by little.

When I was a Child…

From early childhood on, I’ve been fascinated with technology. Can’t tell you exactly why (my dad was a “car guy”), but I always loved looking into how some gadget worked, rip it apart, then put it back together. You can ask my mother for the details on things I smashed, ripped, pulled apart, or explained how such a piece worked if you’re interested. I always thought scientists were the coolest guys in the world, and they still are, and how you could specialize down to a niche so small only a handful people knew of it.  But that niche was so vibrant the world would hear about this awesome new technology that’s discovered sooner or later, and then flocks of people would come in to see what its all about and be wrapped inside the amazement of the discovery. At that point in time I wanted to be either the President of the United States, or some scientist in a tiny vibrant field of research. That defined me up until my teenage years. What happened then? Well, in a nutshell some of my schoolwork came to a screeching halt when I stumbled upon the internet. I guess the DNA for geek was already in me, as I stayed on the computer for hours tapping countless nodes of information. I lived a block and a half from a library, and soon every book on HTML, JavaScript, BASIC, and anything even related to computers was checked out and read countless times. I absorbed HTML through osmosis, and soon was hard-coding webpages on my computer when the dial-up was offline. This world was fascinating to me, as it was new, so I wanted to learn everything about it.

What does this have to do with Social Media?

Well, hang on, you’ll find out… Everything changed in my world three years ago when I first learned about blogging, podcasting, vlogging, and something called, “New Media”. I looked into it and knew in a heartbeat that THIS is where I wanted to stake my flag. This held a small community of vibrant people that quite literally can shake the world upside down and rightside up again. I didn’t dip my feet in, I LEAPT in! I was in the trenches learning everything I could, talking to everyone I could, and engaging with people on a level unheard of in today’s world! I got pretty cozy in this space, until something started creeping into my head. There was something missing. I couldn’t place my finger on it, but I knew deep in my heart that an integral piece of the puzzle had been left out. For months I kept turning up empty and frustrated. Then I attended New Media Expo 2008. Here, I found the missing puzzle piece. What was it? SOCIAL MEDIA!

What about Social Media?

Lets just say that its the engine to a car named “New Media” shall we? It fits pretty well. At last I found the missing part and threw it into action. Let me just say that flooring the gas pedal and pealing down the street was the best feeling in the world at that point. Something exploded, and not long after people started noticing something had changed in the way I had done things, so they started asking questions. I’d help them out, then watch their eyes pop as they went speeding off down the road as well.

Why am I saying all this?

Because I want to help you. I want to bring you into this vibrant community and open your eyes. I want to see you speed off down the road with an ecstatic look of glee your face. I’m finally putting the plan in motion and I want to see you hop aboard with me. I am going to be teaching a course on Social Media over the next few months, and I want you to be a part of it. There is no cost to attend, it is all free training. You are welcome to bring as many friends to the party as you can, I have more than plenty of food for all. Here is the breakdown:

Note: All of these sessions are now over and are in my vault. If you want access to the vault, here is the link: http://bit.ly/socialmediavault

• November 4, 2009 @ 6pm CST: Teleseminar on “Social Media 101″. I’ll cover the basics and get you to start drooling over the potential this platform provides to you.
• November 11, 2009 @ 6pm CST: Teleseminar on “Twitter”. I’ll cover all the basics of twitter and bring you up to speed with this vital tool.
• November 18, 2009 @ 6pm CST: Teleseminar on “Facebook”. Facebook has changed the way we interact, I’ll bring you up to speed with this tool as well.
• November 25, 2009 @ 6pm CST: Teleseminar on “LinkedIn”. A little known tool that will do wonders if you know how to use it.

Anything in particular you notice that is missing? Have a question? Leave it in the comments below, and I’ll respond back to you. How can I take advantage of this coaching? http://bit.ly/socialmediavault. This is my first offering to the public, so you can bet I’m a tad freaked out (heh, that word doesn’t even do justice to what I feel) by what I’m doing. My mind is yelling at me right now saying that I’m out of my mind, but I’m overcoming this obstacle to provide you with something of value. I’m not going anywhere, I plan on staying here for the long term.

Tell me how many times the easy road has paid off for someone? I can tell you from experience it DOESN’T. Most of the time you just meet the people who are lucky and it paid off for them. Its why they are called “One Hit Wonders”. Remember Furby? Remember Nano Pets? (If you grew up in the late 90′s you’d know these…) Notice the pattern?

What about the rest of us? Well, let me just say it as plain as can be. Hard Work. Yup, that is what it takes.

Disclaimer: I am in the middle of reading, “Crush It” by Gary Vaynerchuk. It may or may not be influencing what I’m writing, but regardless this is something I’ve known about for several years.

When I first started my blog/podcast, I did NOT do it for the purpose of raking in eyeballs and money. I wanted to share something with the world that was near and dear to my heart. If millions of people came, great! If millions of dollars flowed my way, great! But that is not why I was doing it. I was joining the ranks of people sharing a passion of theirs for the world to benefit from. Sure I’d like to have that life and be able to hang out on a beach sipping a soda (notice I didn’t say piña colada… ;P), but I have more important things I could be doing then that. Trust me, I’d get bored with that life real fast. Anyone would get bored with that life real fast.

Why? Because we have an ingrained sense of purpose in the work we love to do. Its what makes us who we are. Hard Work is what fulfills a basic desire in a man’s life.

Now that’s not to say millions of people will view my website, millions of dollars will flow my way, and that I might hang out on a beach sometime in the future. Those are just the side effects of working your butt off. Notice how easy it is to get off of track? We make the spin-off of what we do into something we think defines us. Don’t hold that up to the pedestal of “goals to attain”, because its not.

In my studies, I’ve been noticing a pattern. Those who make it in life, and those that are remembered for all time, are those who worked till their butts fell off and kept going. Was it easy? No. Was it fun all the time? No. Was the pain unbearable at times? Yes. Did it pay off? Yes. Is it still paying off for them? Yup.

I’ll let you peruse your thoughts and post a comment, but I’ll leave you with one thought.

“You’ll only get out of life what you put into it. Little effort reaps little. Exponential effort reaps countless rewards. How much are you going to put in?”

#LIVEIT!

What I want to do is give you a FREE 30min consultation with me. I will be giving away one spot every week on Friday in conjunction with the “Follow Friday” meme brought about through Twitter. What will it be on? Social Media, New Media, Podcasting, Personal Finances, or Small Business/ Entrepreneurship. You choose the topic you want. I’ve been involved in Social Media/New Media for the past 3 years, and Personal Finances/Small Business for at least 8. I want to share with you the knowledge I know, and help you out. I want to see you succeed.

Now, the all important part. What do you need to do to win this? I need you to answer the following question below:

“How has the economy affected your life/business?”

If you answer it on twitter, use the hashtag #FFwk1. Otherwise you can leave a comment. You are allowed one blog comment entry and one twitter entry at maximum. At 8pm CST I will close the challenge. I will then group both the twitter and blog comments together and pick a tweet/comment at random. I will announce the winner over twitter, and will then contact them privately to setup a consultation time.

How much is this worth? I charge $200/hr for a private consultation. If I were you, I’d be banging down the door right now. How bad do you want it?

Let this be the first video bashing I ever undertake. You can make a decision of whether you want to get a website designed from them after you’ve watched it, the choice is up to you. I personally will NEVER recommend them for any reason whatsoever.

Here is the link to the video and my personal story: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/1904450

Have you read why iNET Web’s Marketing Fails? I think you’ll be more than surprised.

Remember Susan Boyle on Britain’s Got Talent? She had an awesome voice for singing and everyone was floored by it. She didn’t make it that far though, but she left a mark nonetheless. She became so popular that if she had instantly monetized on what she was doing, regardless of whether she won or lost, she would have enough money to live on and more!

Here are a couple tips if you plan on becoming a contestant on the show, or if you are already on the show and are looking for some ideas:

• One point I would like to make clear first off: Be Yourself. Don’t pretend to be someone you’re not or try to copy another person. The judges will like you for who *You* are.
• Start recording your own content in high-quality format.
• Get a blog, facebook page, twitter account, and youtube channel and start posting regularly and interacting with your audience.
• Start selling albums of your singing/how to videos/dancing gig/ etc. (This is where the recordings come in)
• Go on tours to spread your realm of influence (if possible).

If you do that, I can guarantee you will outlive your popularity on America’s Got Talent and make a pretty decent living at the same time. Thoughts?

What would it be on you ask? It might be either New Media, Podcasting, or Young Entrepreneurship. I’m still debating on it, and would love to hear your thoughts on what you would most enjoy reading. I have a couple pretty good book titles for either, but I’ll keep those a secret until the book nears completion.

What would the format be? I’m thinking a how to book. Possibly bringing in some experts in the space that I choose and interview them to be included in the book.

But then again, its not up to me. Its up to what you want to read and what you would most enjoy. Tell me what you think, lets get a conversation going around this…

8-13-2009 Update: I will be writing a book for Young Entrepreneurs. Title is in the works and I am busy fleshing out the idea…

That video (included below) pulled out a strong reason for why I do what I do online. Actually, it was more of a reminder, but lets continue. For  me, the year old media died was 2007.

Do you see how powerful this movement is? Do you see the seismic shifts this is having across the globe, impacting every industry?

If you don’t see this, I’d encourage you to watch the video. If you do see this, how about a reminder of why we love this space we call “New Media”?

Lots of updates and changes to the site, and plenty stuffed into this episode.

First off, my start into the video realm came on May 19 with the launch of the TaylorMarek20 Vlog. Find the latest vlog/video of my making over at: http://www.youtube.com/taylormarek

This episode is a new twist, in that I have New Media instead of Finances for this episode. Take a listen and tell me what you think.

New Media: 13 Successful Blogging Tips.

http://www.problogger.net/archives/2009/06/10/successful-blogging/ – Darren Rowse and his 5000th blog post! Well worth a read.

Business: Business Podcasting

Have you looked at integrating a podcast into your business? If not, you’re missing out.

Technology: Bing Pre-Iphone

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10261061-2.html – Google’s Schmidt dings Bing

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10261260-1.html – Five of my favorite things about the Palm Pre

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19512_7-10260521-233.html – iPhone OS 3.0 revisited

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10260010-1.html – Details about Apple’s new iPhone 3G S

Lets continue the conversation, comment below or use these options:

• Toll Free Comment Line: 1-866-TMP-2860
• @taylormarek me on Twitter
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Taylor-Marek/784580234

Internet Business:

Jason Van Orden -Podcaster first and foremost, entrepreneur at heart. He was responsible for most of the promoting ideas I’ve implemented on this blog/podcast.

Podcasting:

Paul Colligan – Best mentor anyone could ask for. He knows this area well, and is an awesome friend to have. To me, his name is synonymous with podcasting.

Blogging:

Yaro Starak – One of the first blogs I ever followed when I first came into this realm in early 2006. Everything he writes is so simple, anyone can understand it.

Darren Rowse – When I first ran across ProBlogger, I thought of the name. I said, “I want to be a Pro-Blogger” and I’ve modeled much of what I do on the internet around that statement.

Social Media:

Leesa Barnes – Started out podcasting, made a book, then merged into the realm of social media. Best interviewer I’ve had, and LOVES speaking on New Media.

Those are my mentors, what about you?

What was the number one question you had when you started podcasting?

I am planning on writing an ebook based on that question. Something that not only you can use to look back on to remember, but also to share with others so that they don’t have to search for the answer. Feel free to comment below, otherwise I have posted the question into the following forums below…

Podcast Pickle Forums: http://www.podcastpickle.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=52163

Podcast Alley Forums: http://www.podcastalley.com/forum/showthread.php?t=145198

The articles used in today’s show can be found at:
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=anatomy-of-a-social-hack
http://www.geeknewscentral.com/archives/008190.html

If you have any questions, comments, or ideas about anything mentioned during the show, or to give your two-cents on a topic, call our toll-free line at 1-866-TMP-2860.

For Your Homework, head on out to #28: Taylor Marek Podcast #85

The articles used in today’s show can be found at:
http://www.geeknewscentral.com/archives/008148.html
http://thenextweb.org/2008/08/04/feedburner-hack-how-to-get-2500-subscribers-overnight-video/

If you have any questions, comments, or ideas about anything mentioned during the show, or to give your two-cents on a topic, call our toll-free line at 1-866-TMP-2860.

In today’s episode you will learn about the Economic Stimulus checks, and why I don’t think they will work. For Business, you will learn to lead the pack in your marketing ventures. And for Technology, you will hear about the long awaited New Media Expo that will be happening in August. I am attending and if you are going to be attending, let me know and we might be able to get a meetup going. Looking forward to seeing you there. Stay current on what is happening by staying tuned to the Podcast Brothers: http://newmediaexpo.com/podcastbros/permalinks/PodcastBrothers_2008-05-15.htm

Looking on staying current on the NME conference schedule? Here’s the link: http://www.newmediaexpo.com/conference.htm

The articles used in today’s show can be found at:
http://www.kiplinger.com/features/archives/2008/05/rebate_questions_and_answers.html
http://www.entrepreneur.com/marketing/marketingcolumnistkimtgordon/article194170.html
http://www.newmediaexpo.com

If you have any questions, comments, or ideas about anything mentioned during the show, or to give your two-cents on a topic, call our toll-free line at 1-866-TMP-2860.

Looking to purchase “Podcasting for Profit” by Leesa Barnes?

Ship Date is Sept. 30, but you can pre-order the book here: http://www.podcastingforprofitbook.com/

Why am I mentioning this book? Because I am in the book! I was interviewed by Leesa Barnes a while back to be included in the book, and I gave her many good ideas that she put into it. Just recently on her blog, she listed the “Podcasting for Profit Rock Stars” in order of appearance in her book. You can find me in “Chapter 9 – Building Your Expert Status” of Podcasting for Profit. I am PFP rock star #75.

You can find the entire list here: http://virtualeventsuccess.com/2007/09/the-podcasting-for-profit-rock-stars/