You Can Not Win In Business Without Evangelists: 10 Game Changing Benefits

Consumer “evangelists” are one of the most important components to a businesses’ success. But what do “evangelists” really mean to your business? The following is a list of benefits a evangelist can mean to your business. No matter how well branded your business may be, the lifeblood of your business future is advocacy by consumer evangelists.

10 Benefits of Evangelists

1. Early Adoption: they are the early adopters of your new products and services
2. Legitimize: they legitimize your products and services by using them first
3. Reviews: they almost always provide positive reviews on your products and services
4. Eyes and Ears: they are your eyes and ears. Eevangelists will often learn about important opportunities for your brand before you will. When they find something that needs to be addressed by their “favorite” company they inform them of where to look, show up, and provide answers
5. Opinion Makers: they can often sway public opinion in your favor
6. Reputation Management: evangelists will often defend your company’s reputation when under attack by other consumers
7. Crowdsourcing: they often can provide valuable feedback that can lead to improvements in your products or services
8. Broadcasting: they often lead the charge to popularize a new product or service by messaging across all social networks
9. Barometer: evangelists will often be the first people to tell you when you have done something wrong. They will often message you privately, if you have engaged with them correctly, in order to help you gauge your products and services
10. Niche: according to David Armano unlike mass media “the web drives the niche” and in so doing it is perfect for evangelists who can effect a brand on many different fronts and at many different levels

WakeUpWalMart.com: Manage Your Reputation or Else Someone Else Will

Online reputation management is a growing concern for the smallest business to the largest corporations. Blogging is one of the best tools to deliver messages and challenge erroneous information about a company brand. Social media networks allow companies to create profiles and pages which also act as a delivery system. The ultimate sum total of the effort to blog and create social media profiles and pages is to populate the page 1 Google search for the company name. The following is a perfect example of why companies of all sizes should be concerned and aware of how to defend their reputation online: WakeupWalMart.com

WakeupWalMart.com

The plethora of information presented on this site is the best example of why WalMart should be concerned. The following are links to each category:

• WalMart Facts: covering such subjects as cost to taxpayers, wages, worker injuries, worker benefits and many more issues that the site highlights
• Take Action: a plea to write your story, start a group, or write a letter to the editor
• Media Center: including video, pictures, and WalMart in the news

This site is a warning to all companies that you can no longer remain silent when your brand is under scrutiny. Have a online reputation management plan and execute it as soon as possible.

VistaPrint Complaints: 5 Viral Strategies to Challenge a Bully

Courtesy of threestooges.com

“VistaPrint’s No Customer Service: Consumeraffairs.com Documents Complaints” outlined my poor experience with VistaPrint and my decision to never use their products or services again. This article, as of May 8, 2009, is indexed in the #6 position page 1 of a Google search for the phrase “VistaPrint complaints.”

My Promise to VistaPrint:

As I promised in my intial article, I have become “a consumer affairs advocate fighting hard to highlight the no customer service” treatment I received. My plan was simple: write a blog post about what happened and tell all of my friends in my assorted social networks of my experience.

My Blog:

1. Article: I wrote the article describing my experience
2. Google Search: I performed a due diligence search on VistaPrint utilizing the keywords “VistaPrint complaints”
3. Links: I provided a list of 5 respected media sites, consumer advocacy sites with information on a variety of complaints lodged against VistaPrint. WordPress provided me my own category

Activerain.com:

Activerain is an important social network, with 145,000 registered users, where I have many real estate friends. I wrote a second article detailing my experience and that article now sits on page 2 of a Google search for “VistaPrint complaints” “VistaPrint: How Not to Run Your Company a Cautionary Tale”

Twitter.com:

This is one of my favorite social networks with an estimated 8-9 million registered users. I have over 1,300 followers on Twitter and counting

1. Tweet: I tweeted my experience with a link to my deansguide article
2. @VistaPrint: In my tweet I used the @VistaPrint to notify them of my article

Linkedin.com:

Because I utilize the Typepad application on my Linkedin profile, my social network content from Twitter ends up streamed to my Linkedin profile. In addition my WordPress.com application streamed my article on VistaPrint making it accessible to my 398 1st level connections and their networks as well

Friendfeed.com

Friendfeed.com aggregates all of your content that you place online. Recently it has become the hot new mover with many Twitter advocates moving to ramp up their networks on Friendfeed. My article, my tweets, and my conversations about my VistaPrint experience has streamed on my Friendfeed account

Blog Your Way to Employment, Branding, and Your Differentiating Factor With Inner Architect

Susan Dean

I am very happy to announce the first of two Inner Architect workshops titled “Blogging to Employment” November 18 and 19. The workshop is a detailed basic course on how to create an employment campaign utilizing your blog as the delivery system for your message. The goal is to provide people a plan on how to create their differentiating factor in order to stand apart from the estimated 1.1 million Americans who will lose their job in 2008.

Call to Action: If you know anyone who is unemployed, and I know I do at this time, please consider informing them of this valuable workshop.

Benefits for Attendees

1. Your own Blog: We will help you register and set up your first blog

2. Employment Campaign: Learn how to action plan an employment campaign so that you can answer the age old hiring manager’s question “So Bob what have you been doing the past 6 months to find a job?”

3. New Skill Sets: You will add to your skill sets-blogging, navigating blog software, Web 2.0 tools, and networking

Workshop 1:

Date: Tuesday November 18, 2008

Place: Silicon Valley Holiday Inn Express San Jose Airport

Time: 6:30-9:00pm

Workshop Fee: $75

Workshop 2:

Date: November 19, 2008

Place: San Rafael, CA Ace Conference Room

Time: 6:30-9:00pm

Workshop Fee: $75

Value Comparison: Blog Set-Up fees, as advertised on the internet, run from $200-$300 which only covers the registration and setup without any coaching. Blog Coaching and Training fees run from $70 to as much as $500 per hour

Class Size: We will limit classes to 20 so that each student is provided hands on personalized instruction.

Come find out why you need to establish your brand, discover your differentiating factor, and add to your skill sets the latest Web 2.0 information.

Online Community Management Tool #1: Mzinga.com’s Free Webinar

Tuesday September 9 is a great day to begin learning or add to your knowledge of Social Media sites, networking, and connectivity. A huge thank you goes to the blog “Blogwell” and their newsletter notice of this upcoming FREE event. Below this information is the coolest matrix I have ever seen (creative common’s license so it is free to copy) for all the places we can tap into

What You Will Learn

• Key components of effective community management

• Multiple moderation techniques and advice on which are best for your business

• Industry statistics on the link between moderation and management and community success

• Featured case studies from leading brands with thriving communities

Register here

Speakers:

Scott Monty: Head of Social Media, Ford Motor Company
Scott on Twitter

Mike Pascucci: Director of Moderation Services, Mzinga,
Mike on Twitter

Aaron Strout (Moderator)
Aaron on Twitter

Manage Your Online Reputation Through Profile Placement

Defending your online reputation is a key element in establishing your ability to capture the top 2 pages of a Google search engine query for your business or surname. The goal is for you to capture the top 10 positions on page one of a Google search. You want your own writing, web site, blog site, and positive reviews to show up first when a search is performed.

Strategy of Defense

By precisely crafting and posting your profile onto the major Web directories or social media networking sites, you will begin to leverage the Google SEO “juice” for those sites. In turn your profile(s) on these sites will populate your top 10 positions forcing any other blog or web site information down the search list. The idea is to bury any unsubstantiated bad reviews or unwarranted information below the first three search pages.

Reputation Management and Your Profile

In a fantastic article on online reputation management “50+ Sites To Help You Bury Negative Posts About You or Your Company” Jeff Quipp states: “Keep in mind, most people never go beyond the first page of search results.”

Jeff’s strategy is to “build a profile on various sites.  .  .  most important is that the profile name should be the exact term phrase that any negative piece of information is ranking for in the search engines.”

50 Sites To Help You Defend Your Online Reputation

1. Digg
2. LinkedIn
3. Twitter
4. Stumbleupon
5. Facebook
6. Propeller
7. Magnolia
8. Jaiku
9. Simpy
10. Technorati
11. coRank
12. YouTube
13. BlogCatalog
14. Zimbio
15. HubPages
16. Reddit
17. UPCHUCKr
18. BlogMad
19. Curbly
20. Flickr
21. PublicBlend
22. Bumpzee
23. Pownce
24. ViewZoo
25. PeekYou
26. Hugg.com
27. Connotea
28. BlinkList
29. BlogFlux
30. Netvous.com
31. Plime
32. MyBlogLog
33. Giggg.com
34. DotNetKicks
35. Diigo
36. CoComment
37. LiveJournal
38. Faves
39. Indianpad
40. Blogmarks.net
41. MySpace
42. Mixx
43. ZiiTrend
44. FriendFeed
45. MetaCafe
46. Last.fm
47. ZippyVideos
48. Quizilla.com
49. Kirtsy
50. Photobucket
51. Deals
52. Agentb
53. BlogSpot
54. HuffingtonPost

Online Reputation Management Is About Walking Tall And Carrying A Big “Stick” Called A Blog

Even The Devil Needs a Little Online Reputation Management

Reuters.com published this deansguide article August 8, 2008

Courtesy of eVisibility.com a fantastic internet marketing agency and voted one of the “Ten Most Dependable Search Engine Marketing Firms in the U.S.” in a study performed by Goldline Research for Inc. Magazine. Thanks go to Miguel Salcido!

Note: “It ain’t braggin if you can do it” and apparently eVisibility can do it!

Online reputation management is all about having a online presence that will allow you to quickly respond to any challenge of your service, products, or business that shows up in a Google search of your surname or business.

The Yelps of the world and consumer comments are not always accurate nor correct. Your competitors may also play dirty pool and create their own “erroneous false” reviews in order to tarnish your image, company image, and public perception.

Step #1 Blogging

The fastest method to defending your surname or business name reputation online is creating a blog. Websites help but due to their lack of fresh continuous content, they do not stand a chance in the SEO wars that are being waged online

Step #2 Monitor

Monitor your surname and business name on a weekly if not daily basis. Note who shows up on your page one searches. Investigate what they are saying and why they are placing for your keywords or names

Final Final

Without a method to respond or interact immediately to bad reviews or erroneous reports your reputation is at stake. If you don’t perform basic analytics on your surname, business name, and keywords you run the risk of somebody making statements you do not want on key Google searches. Defend yourself do your homework

Miguel’s Professional Advice on Reputation Management:

“I wanted to add that you should stay away from leaving comments on the blogs that bash you because all you are doing is re-enforcing that site’s rankings by offering your content to it. It will also most likely just fuel more discussion.

It is really important that you clear at least the first 2 pages of any negative search results when it comes to your name and your company name. We specialize in this. One of our methods includes creating as many social profiles as you can online. Facebook, LinkedIn, Digg, Flickr, Crunchbase, etc.”

Brand “You” By Establishing Your Writing and Public Speaking Platforms

“People who are effective speakers come across as more comfortable with themselves, more confident, and more attractive to be around. Being able to speak effectively means you can sell anything-products, of course, but also ideas, ideologies, and worldviews.” -Dustin Wax Lifehack

Throughout your business career if you have worked for a corporation or small company you have probably “towed the company line.” That is to say you learn the products, services, and culture inside out and you are able to repeat the benefits and features of your employer to anyone interested in listening-or not.

How Do I Brand Me?

“The good news — and it is largely good news — is that everyone has a chance to stand out. Everyone has a chance to learn, improve, and build up their skills. Everyone has a chance to be a brand worthy of remark.”-Tom Peters “The Brand Called You” Fastcompany.com

1. Differentiating Factors: what is your Differentiating Factor? Do you have great experience in your niche, well known company experience, negotiating success, or any other accomplishments that help you stand out from the crowd?

What Do I Do To Brand Me?

“Politicians brand you. So do marketers-and your boss and co-workers. If you don’t take control of your brand, you’ll forever be stuck with how the world judges you.” -Diane Brady BusinessWeek

1. Writing: create a writing platform within your business. Whether you are an employee of a large firm or an agent in a brokerage begin writing.

a.) How To: write step by step guides on how to do things

b.) Lists: write top 10 lists or 5 things that will help people. . .

c.) Profiles: write about other industry professionals, your clients, or your niche

d.) Analysis: analyze your industry, a new product or service, or anything in the news about your industry

2. Vehicle to Deliver: establish a blog. This is the best method to deliver your message. If you will not write a blog then produce a weekly newsletter for email distribution as well as hard copy distribution. Trade magazines or ezines, prominent bloggers in your niche who will allow you to become a contributor

3. Public Speaking: create a public speaking-workshop platform within your business.

a.) How To: utilize your writing platform for scripts or workshop content for your speaking platform

b.) Research: your niche for effective speakers; evaluate their topics, create a list of workshops of value

4. Approach Organizations: offer your keynote or workshop for free. Speak at Rotary, Lions Clubs, industry meetings, your company, affiliates, career fairs, employment groups, schools, womens organizations, networking groups, or on a soap box in the parking lot of your local 7-11. JUST SPEAK! Get out and do it. Your practice will lead to confort and exposure

Results

1. Writing provides a constant flow of information about you, about your expertise, and it becomes your moving “living” resume. It demonstrates your ability to communicate on a level most people will appreciate. Your helpful writing give people the perception you are there to help

2. Speaking provides quick exposure and viral marketing word of mouth opportunities. Do a good job and your audience becomes your instant “commercial” to their friends and family.

Newsflash: Ed Okun’s Bond Hearing Postponed To May 9

This just in from the Department of Justice and one of our train wreck friends Elizabeth, Ed Okun’s bond hearing scheduled for today (April 29) was canceled. The new date for Okun’s bond hearing is Friday May 9 at 2pm. The reason for the postponement? Okun’s appointed public defender asked for the postponement so your guess is as good as mine: preparation issues?

How do you represent a criminal like Okun to a court of law in hopes of gaining his freedom-even if it is a short lived freedom?

Here are the challenges Okun’s attorney faces

1. Ed is reportedly flat broke
2. Ed may have hidden funds offshore
3. Ed is definitely a flight risk
4. Ed has embezzled, without recovery to victims, at least $132million
5. Ed’s credibility and word are worthless

Against All Odds: Cases That Attorneys Represented the “Unrepresentable”

1. The OJ Case–Simpson walked to the amazement of the world
2. The “Nightstalker”— Richard Ramirez sits on death row the best he could have ever gotten
3. Polly Klaus—Richard Allen Davis how could anyone represent this piece of _hit?
4. Scott Peterson–Did anyone and I mean anyone ever believe this punk?
5. Rodney King’s Cops–just change the venue and everything goes bye-bye

Mr. & Mrs. Realtor: 5 Networking Mistakes You Make That Hurt Your Business

One of the most unproductive time wasting traps that Realtors can, and do, fall into is attending networking events without a plan, without a clue to who they wish to meet, and without qualifying the event’s effectiveness. Networking is the lifeblood of a Realtor’s business but in many cases this important function of lead generation and business synergy is relegated to low level status. Here are 5 common errors to avoid in networking:

1. “ROE”: Return on Effort aka Is this event worth the effort and time expenditure vs the return? Qualify each event to answer this question. Very few Realtors, I have met at networking meetings, have researched the events they attend every week.

2. Homework: I have asked many Realtors at networking events this simple question “So who are you here to meet?” The answer 60% of the time is “I don’t know who is here yet.” If it’s a first meeting that is true but if the meet is an ongoing event this should never happen. Have a plan to meet specific impact business people!

Tip-Make a roster of the attendees you want to meet, research their web or blog sites, understand their businesses. Then seek these people out and begin your dialog.

3. Networking Is NOT: Just showing up to an event; talking non stop; standing off to the side with no intentions; trying to sell your product or service with every breath you take. How can you understand what to do when you don’t understand what you are doing?

4. First Principle in Networking: Stop selling yourself, your product, or your services. Before you can receive you must first give something of value to your “targeted” partner, something they will find valuable, and you must give it for free with no strings attached. It is that simple yet very FEW people get it.

5. Follow Through: Not follow up but follow through. Lip service is so often the order of the day. Why is it that when you work to meet people, they agree that you should continue an ongoing conversation, and you exchange information you do not make the initial contact? The excuses of time, forgetfulness, or any other reasons are unnecessary.

Tip-If you tell someone you are going to call your reputation is on the line. If someone contacts you and you do not respond your reputation is on the line. If you spent the time to attend an event, with the goal of meeting people for business, and you do not follow through on your collected contacts what does that say about you?