Hollywood, Nashville, Google and Klout.com – the future of ranking us all

Posted by Jim in reputation and influence 1 comment

Like it or not, YOU have been ranked socially.  It used to be only the rich and famous, or those trying to be rich and famous that got ranked socially. Now it’s ALL of us.

Just like musicians get ranked in Nashville, Actors get ranked in Hollywood and Content gets ranked on Google – you are being (fairly or unfairly) ranked by Klout.com and other social influence tracking sites.

If you use twitter, facebook, wordpress, youtube or any number of other social platforms you have a KLOUT.com score based on your ability to get others to take action. This score is being used in many creative ways, for example, top sales software companies & top brands are trying to find the “big hitters” to help spread their message faster.

Because of my higher than average score I’ve seen doors open to me that otherwise would be closed. Am I pursuing a bigger score? No, but by spreading my message and helping others achieve their goals, my ability to influence others is increasing…along with my KLOUT score.

If you want as accurate of a score as possible, register with Klout.com and give them access to your accounts on the social sites you use, but even if you don’t, they are ALREADY ranking you.

The big question is this, “Is the score accurate?”

The short answer is this, “If it’s a HIGH score it IS 99.9% likely that it is accurate, but if it’s a low score, it may or may not be as accurate as it could be.”

Klout.com continues to catch a lot of flack from those claiming that it, “can’t possibly rank us by true influence”, or “it rewards social spammers”, or it “measures how many followers you have even if they aren’t actually people” etc.

There’s only a fraction of truth to those statements though (and don’t we hear things like that about Hollywood, Nashville and Google all the time). Klout will only get better with time, which means it will be more hated and loved, but if you are smart you won’t ignore it.

Think of Klout ranking us in a similar fashion to how Google ranks content, or Nashville ranks singers, Hollywood pays actors. Is it perfect? Of course not!  Do 99.9% of the people that find themselves ranking favorably probably deserve to be there? Absolutely! Are there some VERY influential people unfairly ranked on the bottom of the list? I’m sure there are, but there are also some very talented singers in Nashville that you’ll never hear of, and great actors that will never be in a movie, and great websites that Google will never rank well.  Be bitter, or keep pushing. That’s your choice.

I’m not saying that KLOUT.com will be the Google of social rank, but if they aren’t, someone else will be. For the record, my money is on Klout.

Here are a couple of videos I made recently about Klout to explain my take on it and how to best use it to grow your business.

What do you think of Klout.com and the way they are ranking us? Click the comment button to joing the discussion.

“Cross Channel Mojo” promotion is over Dec 22nd, but there’s good news!

Posted by Jim in Email Marketing tips, Finding Cutomers, Mobile Marketing, Offline Biz (IM for Brick-n-mortar), Social Media, Traffic Generation 253 comments

The Cross Channel Mojo offer is closed.  If you purchased the package and are inquiring about your bonuses please contact my team and I by leaving a comment on this blog post.

Even if you DIDN’T order CCM, know this…

The most active discussion forum and best instruction in the world in this niche is ALWAYS being offered at OfflineBiz.com. The great people shown below are three of over 10,000 members of OfflineBiz.com waiting to help you inside our active discussion forums. You’ll find the most cutting edge and effective marketing strategies for ANY business inside OfflineBiz.com and you can talk about it with people that make a living helping other businesses!

How to Grow a Mailing List with a Simple ebook – No Website Needed!

Posted by Jim in Creative Ideas, Email Marketing tips, Finding Cutomers, Information Marketing 24 comments

Have an ebook you want to use to grow an email mailing list?

Good news: No website needed and it will cost only a few dollars to get started

Here’s how:

1. Buy a PLR book (Private Label Rights) and update it, or write your own book or report using free OpenOffice writer (openoffice.org) and convert to PDF.
   

   Sample $5 ebook covers from Fiverr.com

2. Get a nice graphic cover from fiverr.com for $5
3. Set up aweber.com to collect email addresses no website or techie skills required here’s how: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzdemYscFhY (Be sure to use the ebook graphic you had created on Fiverr.com to make your opt-in form look nice)
4.  Spread the word (look for great ideas on this blog)

Have a question or feedback? Leave a comment on this blog post  – I’m happy to help out.

 

If it were easy, everyone would be doing it

Posted by Jim in Affiliate Marketing, Grow Your Business, inspiration, Leadership & Influence, SEO: Search Engine Optimization 21 comments

Perhaps the greatest myth of online income is that there are “secret formulas” and “step by step” processes that ANYONE can use to earn money online.

I’ll address that insanity in a moment. But first…it’s story time class…

Now class, pull up your carpet squares while Mr. Jim tells a story!

Hi Class! I’m Mr. Silent Jim and I’ll be helping you learn a valuable lesson about Internet business that you all should know by now, but I’ve been hearing some “not so good” stories!

When I was in high school I worked 70 hours per week on average during the two summers between my sophomore, junior and senior years. I was saving up for college. The college education I went on to get consisted of “book knowledge” that I rarely if ever use today, but the lessons of those summers were far more valuable to my current success.

One of my summer jobs was at a fast food restaurant where I learned what it meant to “work hard” for every dollar, and the other job was with a local one man auto mechanic shop where steady hands, attention to the smallest detail, and the ability to FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS were the keys to keeping my boss from getting red faced and stomping about like a meanie.

When I applied for the “mechanic’s helper” job my future boss only wanted to know ONE thing (the fine art of the one question interview). His one question, as it turns out,  contained a great lesson for anyone that is hoping to learn about online business.

(That’s you and me class!)

“Do you have experience working on cars?”,  he asked.

Dramatic pause.

THIS was the interview. The truth was I had very little knowledge of cars and I was sure the interview was over as soon as I answered honestly.

Had I said “yes”, which is what I THOUGHT he was hoping to hear, I would NOT have gotten the job. Instead I was honest and said, “no – very little experience” and was surprise with his response back.

“Good”, he said.  “That means I  don’t have to make you unlearn a bunch of crap. You’re hired. How much do you want per hour?” (Sorry class, I said “crap”!)

Let’s get back to the point of this story.

If you are hoping to earn money online there are a lot of programs, gurus, courses and ebooks out there to chose from. The EASIEST thing to do it fall for the most hyped, step-by-step, funloving expert and plop down your cash.

If you’ve actually bought several of these hyped courses or books because of the great sales letters full of “shiny stuff” and psychological triggers and promises that you KNEW were too good to be true, then you actually have a DISADVANTAGE over the newbies with NO experience.

In other words, a BRAND NEW student with only basic Internet skills armed with ONE SIMPLE QUESTION is better off than you are.  My soon to be 12 year old has a HUGE advantage over you in all honesty!

You have the disadvantage of having “learned” a bunch of junk, you have the additional disadvantage of thinking your head knowledge puts you a step ahead (which it doesn’t), and worst of all you likely think that the fault is inside you somehow for not having succeeded already (because your “guru teacher” is so cool, popular and influential that it CAN’T be their fault!)

The reality is though, it’s quite likely that you’ll have to UNLEARN a bunch of garbage before you can get started succeeding in business (online or offline).

If I sound confident about all of this it’s because I’ve been a part of teaching literally THOUSANDS of people how to think the right way about online business and then how to succeed online. I recognize the “junk thinking” a mile away because I see it literally EVERY DAY.

Here are a few examples of the “junk” that is usually in the heads of my students:

• building a website is a great way to start an online business. After all, what else is there?
• affiliate income sounds fun! Let’s all do that! After all it’s so easy and anyone can do it right?
• let’s learn to drive traffic and then we can do all sorts of easy income stuff, right?!
• I already have a great product idea. I need someone to show me how to sell it on the Internet!
• someone tell me EXACTLY what to sell and THEN I can make lot’s of money!
• If I can just learn one more SEO tactic I’ll be all set!

That’s all GARBAGE, JUNK and rotten thinking that is actually CLOUDING your judgement and keeping you from the real opportunities online. I often call myself the bubble buster. It’s my duty to you to play that role if necessary.

The one question you SHOULD have been asking of your teachers all along is this:

“How many people have you taught to earn a lot of money, and WHERE IS THE PROOF?”

Perhaps I should have asked my college profs that question before taking their courses! (Imagine that for a moment as a way to fix our business education problems!)

The fact is, if ANY of this online income stuff were easy then EVERYONE would be doing it.  Simple logic tells you that if EVERYONE starts doing something then the magic is quickly gone. The opportunity is tapped out.

• The world doesn’t need another weight loss product review site.
• The world doesn’t need another ipod seller on eBay.
• The world doesn’t need your “driving traffic” skills
• The world doesn’t need another full time affiliate marketer

Why? Because EVERYONE is doing it and the MAGIC is gone (or soon will be).

Story time is over. Neatly stack your carpet squares in the corner and I’ll take any questions now.

Click the comment button

positioned for online opportunity

Posted by Jim in inspiration 8 comments

The importance of being positioned correctly for online opportunity is very overlooked.

If you have your head down, are deeply in dept, are worried (about anything), lack discipline (i.e. lazy), are waiting for a handout, are angry, fill your schedule with “junk” or even “good things”, or are unhealthy (by choice or not) then you are probably NOT in a very good position for opportunity. Rid yourself of any excess baggage one piece at a time and the opportunities will start to come into focus by the hundreds.

Just reading this, or any other creative thinker’s blog or newsletter often enough will light a fire.

Already this free newsletter has made many people permanently “unemployable” because they got so hungry for the opportunity…and many have successfully GRABBED IT.

Online I literally can not keep up with all of the profitable ideas that come my way. I now have several (nearly 10) friends that I’ve had to bring on board to help me keep up with all the opportunities and winning ideas that seem to be falling from the sky.

These are the ripple effects of being positioned for success.

Am I different from others somehow? I don’t think so.

My secret is simple (all of my “secrets” are simple actually):

I refuse to be pessimistic. I refuse to make excuses or allow those around me to do so. I take care of myself and lead a reasonably disciplined, healthy life. There’s no time for gossip, petty arguments, time or energy sucking bad habits.

As a result of being positioned I keep adding on new and exciting income streams WHILE spending as much time as I’d like with my family and doing the things that are truly important.

How’s your positioning? Make a list of the baggage you could drop and start working on it.

Want to get 10 years worth of the lessons I’ve learned online crammed into a simple book that is changing lives?

silentsalesmachine.com