Social Media Marketing – Learning & Mastering It

Social media marketing is the process of promoting your website or business using social media channels. An increase in social media marketing brings more traffic, links, and attention to your site resulting in an upturn growth pattern.

Social media channels are a low cost method to increase traffic to your website to sell products and services, making you more profitable over time.

Why don’t more people use social media techniques?

• There is a lack of understanding about social media
• There is a lack of knowledge of how to use social media
• There is no value to social media

Understanding and use of viral content promotes your business using social media channels.

There are six types of viral content:

• Lists that are easily digestible
• Quizzes that are fun to share
• Interactive videos
• Images of all shapes and sizes
• Tools to make life easier
• Tutorial tools for teaching new skills

Two social media websites Digg and StumbleUpon are very popular and a good location to develop link bait. Link bait is designed to get people to link to your site and increase search and referral traffic, which in turn increases sales and ad revenue.

Popular Blog Sites:

• Stumbleupon
• Reddit
• Digg
• Mixx
• Delicious

Link bait adds value to your site. Here are some examples link bait:

• Association links
• Opt-in Newsletter
• Business services
• Pages ad-free
• Content is media-intensive
• Relevant link

The traffic you receive from link bait is divided into two sections. Primary traffic comes directly from social media websites. Secondary traffic is referred to your site from links containing content through social sites. Also, there are high quality links from social sites like Digg or Reddit which create a lot of traffic from specific content interest. The high quality links cannot be purchased because they are generated from subject matter.

The importance of links cannot be overlooked. They give you better search engine rankings. Traffic received by high quality links of trusted sites also increases if you optimize your link bait and website structure. Keywords, along with links, develop ranking authority, and ranking authority puts your site at the top of the SERPS.

Primary traffic from social media websites like Digg or Delicious brings a certain amount of interest because of their social popularity. Becoming a trusted news resource makes it easier for links to come your way, because the search engines have determined that your site it “safe”. A strong, informative article that can be used by others, along with site visitation, starts the linking process, which in turn gives you a safe certification.

Secondary traffic which comes from general sites or blogs is often viewed as useless because of the surfing practice by users. However, many people who just view and click away do so by using the link StumbleUpon. This is a good site to link relevant articles because you develop followers who visit every day and are interested in what you have to present.

Social Media Marketing adds more to your site than link exchanges, search advertising, or banners. Social communities add to your traffic when you create well written, interesting and informative articles. You can increase your links with other sites by spending the time to create a site that is interesting to the community you’re addressing.

Why use Social Media Marketing?

Does social media marketing make you money? The time you spend increasing your core supporters with social media channels will become evident as purchases and referrals increase. It may be difficult to put an exact dollar amount on social media marketing, but don’t be discouraged. Traffic increase is sometimes hard to track.

You can also use your social media website to increase advertising fees as your site attracts increased traffic. The higher you’re ranked with the search engines, the more you are able to charge advertisers.

Blogging & Social Media

The power of a title attracts people to your blog, especially those that have not been exposed to you and/or your business. The 7 ingredients of a wildly successful blog post states you will get social media support if you do the following:

• Regularly produce quality content of which people want to subscribe
• Maintain an active account in the relevant social media networks

Create one excellent post (maybe two). Blogs are an excellent method to promote your website, so take advantage of this opportunity. Be sure to focus your attention on the social media that revolves around your message and marketing strategy.

Social Media Marketing & Storytelling

A great story of your own accomplishments creates attention, interest and trust. A story can also create a tag, which makes the reader want to read more of the articles you write. Give information in limited doses. Invite the reader to join the group you represent in order to participate and gather information.

If you haven’t started a social media marketing campaign, you are missing out on big opportunities. Use the information in this article to help you get started. Good luck!

What is a Ping Tree?

A Ping Tree is a term used by the lead generation business, and applies to live leads sold in real-time to numerous possible buyers. Leads can either be sold exclusively to one buyer or more than once to different buyers. Buyers are able to view the data fields of the lead to determine whether or not it meets their criteria.

In the simplest form, leads will be offered to buyers in order of price the buyers are willing to pay. However, online lead generators can be enhanced in order to provide specific leads, for example:

• They can determine whether a customer is still connected to the lead. This saves money for the buyer by limiting the time the lead is available and moving on if the lead proves unproductive.
• Leads can also be set up so that final approval is given after certain information is gathered. This will prevent confusion and selling leads too many times during timeouts in the system.
• In order to determine if the lead is payable, the lead buyer can require a redirect or link to confirm the consumer arrived and/or took action on the page.

There are many ways to generate leads: Ping Tree, Ping-Post, Round-Robin, Exclusive and Semi-Exclusive settings. The type of lead generator is important. However, the cost and return from the leads drives a business along the correct path for growth and customer service improvement.

Join LeapLab at the 2010 FiSCA Conference

LeapLab will be in Las Vegas October 1-4, for the 2010 FiSCA Annual Conference and Exposition. The event will be held at the luxurious Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino.

This year’s conference will be very exciting, and should be helpful to everyone in the Financial Service industry considering the numerous challenges we have all faced this year. With the new laws and regulations impacting the financial services industry, the conference will be the time for everyone to come together and share their ideas and plan for the future.

As such, the theme of the conference is very fitting, “Moving Forward: Issues and Answers for a Changing Industry.”

A wonderful group of expert guests will be in attendance, including representatives from Visa, research group Synergistics, and government spokespersons such as James Freis, Jr. In addition, the conference will feature keynote speaker, U.S. Seantor Don Nickles.

We hope to see you at the conference! Please contact us to set up a time to meet and discuss the challenges you and your company are facing, and how we can work together to overcome them.

For more information, visit the FiSCA website.

LeapLab Representatives Attending the 2010 FiSCA Conference

Joe Matusak VP Sales | Business Development Joe.matusak@leaplab.com 480.703.7582

Bethanie White US | UK Sales Executive bwhite@leaplab.com 480.347.9083

Contact Us
http://www.leaplab.com
sales@leaplab.com

How to Succeed in Affiliate Marketing

Never before has there been an industry where people from all over the world can make money with very little education, and without actually selling anything themselves. The Internet has made this possible, and affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to make money online. With very little effort and hardly any capital investment, you can make thousands (and even millions) of dollars from your marketing efforts.

Please note, little effort does not mean no effort. You will have to do a good amount of work, but if you do it right, you can reap the benefits with very little effort after you get things up and running. The most successful affiliate marketers follow use proven strategies to ensure the success of their marketing efforts. Trust me, if they can do it you can too. You won’t get rich overnight, but you will slowly perfect your efforts and it’s very possible to make a very good living from being an affiliate marketer.

Affiliate Marketing Strategies

1. Conduct Extensive Market Research
   Let’s say you’re at the casino for a night of gambling. Would you put all of your money down on one hand without seeing your cards first? I’m guessing, and hoping, that the answer is no. Well, if you want to be a successful affiliate marketer you need to know about the product or market you will be promoting. Don’t dive into the deep end and assume you’ll be able to swim. There are sharks in this industry, and they’ll eat you alive.

   Research, research, research! It’s the first step and by far the most important. If you don’t do a good amount of solid research at the beginning, your efforts going forward will be wasted. Things to learn are, the type of audience (demographics), the intent of the buyers in that niche, and always research the competition extensively. By seeing what is working for your competitors, you can quickly learn a great deal about your market.

2. Promote the Right Product
   Once you find the right market to advertise in, you’ll need to determine which products will work best. You can’t just assume that you can sell any product because you have a website, or list of emails. Studies have shown that consumers are more likely to purchase products from big companies because they have already heard of the product and trust it more than a little known company or product. Do some more research and find sites similar to yours and see what’s working for them.
3. Obtain and Maintain Trust
   You have spent a lot of time building your website and gaining a loyal following. In that time you have established trust from your visitors and that is extremely valuable. Trust is a huge factor in sales, and it’s important to build it and constantly nurture it. You can easily destroy that trust by promoting the wrong product on your site. Tread lightly! It’s much easier to lose the trust of your visitors than it is to create it. If you have a blog, it’s important to write high-quality content that provides value and helpful information to your readers. If they like what they see, chances are they will TRUST you, and will likely buy products you promote on your site.
4. Bring in Traffic
   For anyone that has ever told you that affiliate marketing is horribly difficult and that you’ll never make any money at it, I can bet you they failed because they couldn’t get enough traffic to their website. In a way they’re right, if you listen to them and follow their advice, affiliate marketing will be difficult and frustrating and you’ll never succeed. Never let negative people with defeatist attitudes influence you. If you want to be a successful affiliate marketer, I guarantee you its possible.

   There are different forms of high-quality traffic you should focus on obtaining. The best source is search engine traffic. Once you begin to rank for your target keywords, you can basically sit back and watch the money roll in on autopilot. Search engine traffic converts better than any other form of website traffic because it is more targeted. The visitors coming to your site were already searching for the product you are promoting, meaning they have an intent to buy from the start. Therefore, you really don’t have to sell them on anything.

There are several other forms of high-quality traffic that you can generate, including:

• Article Marketing
• Video Marketing
• Forum Posting
• Blog Commenting
• Guest Blogging

That’s it, the 4 most important tips for becoming a successful affiliate marketer. Start doing your research, and let us know when you quit your day job to start working for yourself full-time. Good luck!

Payday Loans Gain Popularity in Bad Economy

Every industry ebbs and flows from month to month due to various supply and demand trends affected by economic shifts, product popularity, etc. One industry that has always been very inconsistent in terms of consumer trends is payday loans.

With the current downturn in the economy, and unemployment at record numbers, there is a high demand for payday loans. Another market that consistently sees an upturn in revenue during economic crisis is education.

Lead generation companies are capitalizing on the successes of these markets, as trend have shown both of these verticals to have a counter cyclical trend to the health of the economy. However, the economy isn’t the only factor in the increased demand for payday loans. Seasonal trends have the same effect, especially summer months and holiday seasons.

If you’re an affiliate looking to increase your profit each month, you should seriously consider pushing traffic to offers in these verticals. Likewise, if you’re a lender, there is no shortage of high-quality payday loan leads available to help increase your customer base and fill your pockets with added revenue.

Are Payday Loans As Bad As People Say They Are?

There has been a good amount of bad publicity surrounding the payday loan vertical for quite some time now, especially recently, when states like WA and AZ made payday loans illegal. While there are numerous instances of predatory lending in the industry, these short-term loans can actually be extremely helpful to consumers in need of emergency cash.

As is the case with most things, a few bad apples tend to ruin a good thing for everyone. If you live in a state where payday loans are no longer available, you are probably seeing many of the cash advance locations in your area converting to title loans, installment loans or even pawn shops. Unfortunately, these are the only options for people who need money quickly, as a loan from the bank can take several days, if not weeks to be approved.

The good thing is, there are still options available to you. Just be sure to do a bit of research to find a reputable company and a reasonable interest rate on your loan. Good luck!

GlobeWired: Pioneer of Green Thinking in the Tech World

Recently, Cox Communications touted its “Green Call Center” program that supports the environment and improved employee productivity. Their decision to have a percentage of their call center employees telecommute was one of the only options the company had as they continued to grow without the space to accommodate more agents. This transition will certainly benefit the environment and save the company money.

Cox isn’t the first company to take on this new business approach, there are many call centers with agents working from their homes all around the nation, rather than commuting to a local office. GlobeWired is one such company, providing call center solutions to companies around the world, using work-from-home agents throughout the United States.

Since 2007, GlobeWired has been at the forefront of innovative business practices that promote environmentalism, employee and customer satisfaction. Telecommuting offers a number of environmental benefits, including less pollution from transportation and reduced power usage.

GlobeWired employs both customer service and sales agents who receive and place calls for clients in a wide variety of industries, including: Telecommunications, Cable and Satellite Providers, Financial Services, Retail, Travel, Entertainment, Education, Healthcare and Political organizations.

The services they offer provide solutions to every client, no matter how unique. GlobeWired clients can benefit from the following services:

• Inbound & Outbound Sales
• Customer Care
• Up-Sell & Cross-Sell Programs
• Live Transfer Programs
• Retention & Loyalty Programs
• Third Party Verifications
• Product Rollouts

GlobeWired saves several thousand dollars per employee using its telecommuting business model. This cost reduction allows the company to pass those savings on to their clients and underbid the competition. Employee retention and satisfaction rates are among the highest for employees in any industry in the U.S.

For more information, visit the GlobeWired official website or send an email for employment inquires.

DirectROi Has Solution to Debt Industry Problem

With the future passing of the new FTC regulations, many of the companies in the debt business are running as far and fast from this market as they can. Let’s face it, debt was a cash cow for years, and like most things, the industry got a bad reputation thanks to the greed and unethical business practices of a few. These new regulations were a long time coming, and everyone knew it. The question is, what do we do now?

Most buyers don’t want to touch any debt leads because they’re afraid, and for good reason. If you break the rules now, there will be hefty consequences. But fear not, debt is not dead, and I’ll tell you why. Any of the debt companies that were operating above board before can continue to conduct their business without implementing any substantial changes whatsoever.

Under the new regulations, debt relief companies must abide by the following requirements:

• Disclose to clients how long it will take to see a reduction in their debt
• Disclose to clients how much the service will cost
• Disclose to the clients any negative consequences that could result from the service offered
• Company cannot misrepresent success rates or claim to be a non-profit company
• Company must have a written agreement with the consumer
• Company must reduce or settle at least one of the consumer’s debts

DirectROi Triple Verification Solution Guarantees Quality Results

It’s understandable that people are afraid to buy debt leads in this current climate. Uncertainty and fear are feelings shared by everyone, but that doesn’t have to be the case.

All of the debt leads DirectROi delivers are processed using our unique Triple Verification Solution.

Step One
All leads are analyzed by TargusInfo, the leading phone number and address verification service.

Step Two
If the lead is verified, it is then processed using what we refer to as a “Soft Pull,” which runs a credit check using name and physical address.

This provides a comprehensive analysis of the debt portfolio, which will determine whether or not the applicant qualifies for debt relief services.

Step Three
Our call center will contact the applicant to verify their information to ensure they personally completed the form.

This new process implemented by DirectROi will change the marketplace to provide high quality prospects, which will help alleviate the concerns of debt buyers.

To sign up with our lead generation service, visit our lender signup page, or contact us using the information below.






(480) 632-6688
sales@directroi.com
www.directroi.com

FTC Telemarketing Sales Rule to Drastically Change Debt Industry

The FTC has cracked down on the debt industry with a series of new provisions, the first of which will take effect on September 27, 2010. The new ruling will impose significant restrictions on the debt industry to protect consumers from predatory, unscrupulous debt relief companies.

To sum up the new ruling, for-profit debt relief companies will be prohibited from charging any upfront fees for their services, and cannot collect any money from consumers until their debt has either been reduced or eliminated.

While the actions taken by the FTC may seem a bit extreme, most people agree that some form of oversight has been long overdue. The BBB has had more than 2,600 complaints this year against debt companies offering debt relief services such as credit counseling, debt settlement and debt negotiation services. Most of the complaints are based on consumers being charged fees before any work had been performed, and that the companies misrepresented what their services could provide.

The new rules will be implemented over the next two months. In the first phase, beginning September 27, companies will be required to disclose to their clients how long it will take to see reduction in their debt, how much the service will cost, and any negative consequences the service could create.

Also, companies will not be permitted to misrepresent their success rate or claim to be a non-profit company. This also applies to telephone calls made to the company as a result of advertising.

The second phase of changes begins on October 27, 2010. It will impose the following regulations:

• The creditor must have a written agreement with the consumer.
• The company must renegotiate, settle or in some way reduce at least one of the consumer’s debts.
• The consumer will be required to make at least one payment to the creditor after a successful negotiation or settlement.

These are significant changes in light of a litany of consumer complaints saying that they received no debt relief benefits after paying fees up front.

The BBB recommends consumers take the following steps before they consider using debt relief services:

• Contact your lenders – You can often times negotiate with creditors for free, without outside help.
• Research debt relief companies with the BBB – Determine the quality of the company you will be working with. Find out how many complaints they’ve had, etc.
• Contact non-profit credit counseling centers – These centers can provide you with helpful information and advice for little or no cost.

So what does this mean if your company is built around the debt industry? How will this new ruling affect the way you do business? Find out where the future of debt relief service is going, and how you can keep up with the fast-paced evolution of the industry and stay profitable.

Is Your Business Flat Lining? It May Be Time to Consider a Change of Course

We’ve seen it happen to the media industry, the automotive and housing industries and now the Internet marketing industry. Major companies are failing because they don’t plan for the future by developing innovative ideas and new products that will propel them into the future.

Becoming complacent with a business model that has always worked in the past has been the downfall of thousands of once successful enterprises. The old saying, “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” no longer applies in the now fast-paced world where competition is fierce and technology allows for instantaneous changes in business markets. If you’re not looking for the next big thing in your industry, you can guarantee that someone else is and they’ll be more than happy to steal your business out from under your feet.

When business is bad, you can’t keep kicking around the same old ideas and hope that a slight change here or there is going to suddenly make all the difference. You need to be ready to make fundamental changes to your company, which could mean selling to a new market by introducing new products, or you may need to make strategic changes in your marketing and distribution.

There is always the risk of making things worse by incorporating a major change. It could alienate your existing clients, confuse your employees and possibly be less lucrative than the old model. The idea is to only undertake a major restructuring if you see no other choice.

You will want to coordinate a brainstorming session with your existing employees and structure a future business model that maintains the components of your company that have, and will always perform well and be integral to future successes. You’ll need to address the ins and outs of the new implementation, from pricing goals to employee morale. Don’t go diving in head first, but instead slowly ease your way into the new structure and review your numbers monthly, if not weekly. Should you determine your new strategy isn’t working, be ready to reverse course quickly.

What to Consider

In order to determine if your new strategy is effective, you need to analyze key indicators of performance, such as revenue, profit growth and market share, in addition to a myriad of other metrics unique to every company. Keep your finger on the pulse of your clients to understand if they like your new methods better, or if they are jumping ship.

If your industry has changed dramatically, you need to be ready to change with it. Do your research, find out what your competitors are doing to cope with these difficult times, and see how you can emulate their approach. Never assume that a downturn in profits is due to the poor economy or just a bad month, there could me much bigger factors at play that you need to be aware of and be ready to act upon.

The most important action to take is to consult with your employees and clients to get opinions and see what you can do to satisfy their needs and alleviate their concerns. Gather as much feedback as you can and then bring your employees together to formulate a plan-of-action to make the necessary changes to get back on track.

Use your social media connections to pose questions to the community. If you’re struggling, you can bet other people in your industry are having the same problems. While you would never typically work directly with your competitors, it can be mutually beneficial to do so in this situation. After all, two heads are better than one, so don’t let your pride get in the way of your livelihood.

Speak with your clients and ask them what challenges they’re facing, the different services they need, and most importantly what they know about your competitors and any changes they’ve made. Don’t hesitate to ask these questions. Simply explain to them that you want to ensure your product or service remains competitive. If nothing else, this strengthens the relationship you have with your clients because it lets them know that you are working to provide them with the best service possible.

Given enough research and conversations with people in your industry, you will begin to see a pattern emerge that will help you construct your new business plan. When you’re ready to incorporate your changes, take it slowly. Baby steps are the best approach so you can fine tune your methods over time and don’t shoot yourself in the foot by putting all your eggs in one basket. As any business owner knows, success doesn’t come overnight. It requires constant testing and modifying to arrive at a viable business model.

Affiliates Use Email Autoresponders to Increase Sales Commissions

No matter what type of business you’re in, if you work with leads, you have to follow up with the customer immediately. Fortunately, this process can be automated quite easily using the latest email autoresponder technology. Now the customer follow-up is easy, cheap and instantaneous.

Autoresponders are an essential tool of Internet marketing. It is a software program that sends an email automatically, using pre-written content, to the email address provided when a lead is submitted.

People began using autoresponders in the early 1990s, and sent their prospective customers basic information such as their product line, pricing and descriptions. The type of marketing wasn’t particularly effective, so the next step was to send a series of emails to people at predetermined times.

This slight modification produced much better results because most people don’t buy a product the first time they see it, but the interest could be there nonetheless. This will work for awhile, but people don’t want their inbox flooded with your emails month after month. They’ll eventually grow tired of your sales pitches.

The latest email marketing tactic is to offer more than just a product sale. Many marketers are now offering free products, ebooks, seminars and price discounts on upcoming products that are available only by email. If they don’t subscribe to the email list, they’ll miss out on these great offers.

There are 3 different types of autoresponders available on the Internet: remotely hosted, locally hosted, and desktop hosted. For most internet marketers and affiliates, locally and desktop hosted autoresponders are the preferred method because you can run the program on your own site.

You can find many great autoresponders online, one of the best of which is www.automatic-responder.com. Search around and compare what they have to offer. Once you find one you like, just sign up and begin using their service with a remotely hosted email autoresponder.