My head is spinning.
I just reviewed the transcripts of the last 3 episodes of Cool Talk and was blown away by the huge volume of super useful killer information that has been shared (not only by me but by all of those who participate in my weekly LIVE call-in webcast).
For last week's replay, hit the 'Play' button below and get ready to take notes!
I just reviewed the transcripts of the last 3 episodes of Cool Talk and was blown away by the huge volume of super useful killer information that has been shared (not only by me but by all of those who participate in my weekly LIVE call-in webcast).
For last week's replay, hit the 'Play' button below and get ready to take notes!
If you've been on the call (it's free and it takes place Thursdays at 1:30PM EST here) you've probably noticed a nice pattern starting to develop:
- We cover three themes:
- generating leads or customers
- converting those leads
- creating content
- We share a lot of great links with each other
- We dissect web pages and marketing strategies in a collaborative effort (think 'sandbox')
Our 'playtime' usually begins with me presenting a page or site on which I'm working. From there we discuss various elements of page building and online marketing that attracts many great contributions (via chat and call-ins) from you.
The goal is for us to truly collaborate and build sites together, track the results, and end up with a template (and process) that can be used over and over for all kinds of sites and businesses.
The first two sites in our sandbox are:
Stop The Pitch CountI'll introduce a third project this Thursday (inspired by the link tonnage gathered from the first 3 shows and shared below)
and...
How to Search The Web
Every week, I'm joined by Markus Allen of Stump Markus, a veritable reservoir of cool marketing tips.
This week, I anticipate the return of Ian Lurie of Conversation Marketing to our panel.
Again, Cool Talk goes live at 1:30PM EST on Thursday. Mark your calendars and join us to have your questions answered.
OK, following is a list of the resources and links discussed during the last three episodes of Cool Talk. You can share your favs by adding a 'Comment' at the end of this post (and I look forward to seeing whatever you contribute)
Generating leads and customers
Social bookmarking sites are getting quite a bit of attention on Cool Talk, of the 40 or so sites, these are the ones to hit first: DIGG, StumbleUpon, Del.icio.us, Ma.gnolia. Want to explore more of the web 2.0 universe? Start clicking on these sites. And I hear Orkut is great. Also, building a profile on a site like 9rules can lead to lots of secondary links. Friendfeed is a good resource to keep up with all your friends on different social networks, lets you add 3 video sites and anything you post to any of them in your FriendFeed stream. Finally, when you post to your blog (or find anything that you'd like to share far and wide), spread the love using Socialmarker and Shareaholic (it's an add-on for the Firefox browser--the only browser I recommend)
BTW, just when I was feeling really good about del.icio.us, Ian Lurie had to turn me onto Diigo....WOW!
Converting your traffic
Try this pop up creator...or this one.
The most important tool you possess in your online marketing arsenal is an e-mail list builder/autoresponder. I currently use Aweber although I recommend that you also take a look at GoldbarOne (this is a crazy great suite of tools at an unbeatable price)
Here's a great screen capture and browser recorder. Ideal for creating simple tutorials and demonstrations (from the maker of Camtasia). If you're a Mac person, for full length, try Snapz Pro.
Video captures attention and converts traffic. If you're creating videos, submit them to the many video directories out there using TubeMogul (free) and Traffic Geyser (not free but loaded--use it, don't abuse it)
Here is a neat attention grabber that you can slap onto the upper right corner of your web page. And here's another more elaborate one.
Content
If you're looking for stock photos to add to your website or marketing materials, check out Dreamstime and Stock.xchng. Also, for as little as a $1.00 you can find very rare medical images here.
Great marketing advice and tools
Create a user-friendly '404 Error' page
For tips to promote your blog, check out these points on Webreference. And, of course, spread the word with Google's BlogSearch. Also, put an RSS feed on your blog using Feedburner and then sell ads via your RSS feed using Feedvertising from Text Link Ads
TitleZ makes it easy to see how a book or group of books has performed over time, relative to other books on the market. Useful when trying to come up with a title for your publication
Here's a great tool from UPS to capture someone's attention (click on the 'control pad' in the lower left corner, visit the 'Break Room' and then 'Create Your Own Whiteboard')
Tracewatch, the best FREE analytics program (just type 'tracewatch' in the search bar, upper right)
Andrew Lock is one of those online marketing experts with great character and a very polished presentation.
David Bullock, a master marketer, appeared on Stump Markus a few weeks ago and inspired the How to Search project.
Here's (another :) ) great blog for online marketers.
Productivity and time management tips
You've seen it before and it's worth repeating--this post I recently created highlighting my absolute favorite productivity aids (read it monthly)
Create process maps for everything you do. I use bubbl.us (allows for collaboration). Here's a map I created to help me plow through my daily checks before hitting the 'big pickles' (remember this post?). Here's another map I created for the How to Search project. Thinkature is another neat collaborative tool.
Miscellaneous
Rich Schefren's Internet Business Manifesto (a must read for all online entrepreneurs...and a free download. Incredible.)
Here's a great tool for converting one file format into another
Here's a good website for design ideas and (getting) design jobs. Also, if you need a logo at a great price, visit GotLogos
To have your site reviewed by Cool Site of the Day, go here.
You can find me on Twitter although I'm now also Plurking.
For project management and collaboration, play with Basecamp. Same company created Highrise, an excellent CRM tool
Until the next Cool Talk,
Mike
4 comments:
Hi,
It's really cool stuff.
Now I'm checking...
:-)
Dental insurance
Great stuff. Wow Very comprehensive. I loved it. Thank you. I still have a lot to read.
You might want to check out this:
• Zimbra is a pretty neat email open source. It´s not directly related to marketing. It can hely organize your email.
Once again thanks for the great content.
Thanks for sharing all these resources. I just joined ma.gnolia and am giving it a try now. Still plenty more on this list to look through too.
Bronson--thanks for the Zimbra tip--I'll bring it up on Thursday's call.
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