Imagine the biggest, juiciest, most delicious meatball you can imagine. Now picture covering that meatball with caramel, hot fudge, whipped cream and colored sprinkles.

Pretty disgusting, huh?

That’s the picture that Seth Godin painted in his new that seller Meatball Sunday. He makes the case that new media marketing options like blogs, online video, social networks, and all of the Web 2.0 social media marketplace are like the toppings at an ice cream parlor.

If you start with ice cream, adding sprinkles, cherries, hot fudge and whip cream will make it tastes great. But if you start with a bowl of meatballs, it becomes messy, disgusting and ineffective.

Seth’s message is directed at corporations who sell basic staples like cereal, beer, cars and toys.

But this analogy is even more applicable to entrepreneurs and small-business owners.

Here’s why…

It’s OK to market like a meatball - IF…

Imagine again that same big, juicy, delicious meatball. Except now this time picture that meatball surrounded by fresh handmade spaghetti, covered with the tastiest tomato sauce you’ve ever had, dusted with freshly grated Parmesan cheese, and accompanied by a great glass of Chianti.

Quite a different experience now isn’t it?

You see, for the solo-preneur, start-up entrepreneur or small-business owner; the fact of the matter is YOU are the business. You are what you’re selling.

Why?

Because the fact is —

people by WHO you are before they buy WHAT you’re selling.

If you’re marketing in today’s new media marketplace, it doesn’t matter if you’re marketing as a meatball, tofu, or ice cream.

What needs to come first is you answering the following three questions:

- What is my personal brand? (And how well is that packaged?)

- How effective are you at gathering a Tribe that passionately connects with your style?

- Have you chosen the right “toppings”?

Look - the bottom line is pretty simple. It’s human nature for you to want to hang out with people who are like you. The same is true in business. We want to do business with people who are like us… or at least people who we like.

How well you package and present yourself will have a major impact on your success in today’s New Media Marketplace.

What about you?

What are your answers to the questions above?

And what else do you think is crucial to persuade people to to buy WHO you are before they buy WHAT you’re selling?

Share it in some graffiti down below.

I was shocked by a quote I read today. It was given as advice to business people, and it went like this; “emulate, do not innovate, be unique, but not original.”

Now as soon as I read it, the hair stood up on the back of my neck and I started to shake with frustration. I got control of myself and commented to the person; “that’s good advice — if you want to be a follower!” (And I don’t mean a Twitter follower either. )

I mean, really! Do u think Apple, Virgin, Chris Angel, Martha Stewart, Oprah or any other standout company or personal brand adheres to advice like that?

No, of course not. The “nots” in that piece of advice will limit your success by making you a follower, not a leader.

Look… watch the 2:30 minute video and you’ll understand better the life-sapping trap of being trapped on the path. Then let’s chat.

It’s the worse thing that can happen to you…

You’re trudging along day after day, thinking you’re on the right path because someone else beat it down for you. Finally one day you get to the end, and you realize your destination is not what you were looking for. And you have to start all over again.

Not good. Not good at all. Modeling is great, but only when you innovate using your own strengths as the basis.

Being unique is terrific, sure. But my dogs leave unique piles of poo every day. If they were original and used the toilet - that would get my attention!

Beware of using cute little quotes as the basis for your business strategies. Dissect them and make sure they’ll work for your style.

Use common sense to map out each piece of advice to its’ conclusion. That way you’ll see if the end point aligns with your goals. If it doesn’t, either learn how to modify them to work with your unique strengths, communication and motivation style, and personal brand… or trash it.

What’s your story?

Have you ever gotten trapped following someone else’s trail? If so, how did you break free and cut your own path?

Are you already leading the pack? If so, how are you proving yourself and your products as innovative? What are you doing to create a personal brand that makes you stand out as both unique AND original?

I recently wrote a piece on the New Media Marketing blog for Entrepreneur Magazine, and it caused quite a controversy. In it I raised the question of women having a natural advantage when it comes to the art of influence and online persuasion. The topic generated a lot of comments and stirred up both men and women to join in and share their opinion.

As a matter of fact, the topic was so controversial that the buzz continued on Twitter, and at parties in the “real world”. Including a recent get together with one of my clients living Hawaii.

He started to say, “Women Rule on Twitter” while we were walking on the beach in Kailua to catch the sunset. But then, a couple of Mai Tais later, once again – the controversy took over. In the dark of night he “might” have admitted too much of what he REALLY thinks about women, and how he can’t compete with them on Twitter.

I dunno – but it sure had me laughing! (And laughing - and laughing esp while editing this video.) But I’ll let YOU decide.

Does he speak the truth? Or go too far? Is he sexist? Or simply admitting that women do indeed have a natural advantage for any type of social networking activity on the net?

J.P. Micek chimed in, (on the laughing) and went on to agree that women really DO indeed rule on Twitter. He said it was because they have, (and I quote) “The Whole Package”.

What do you think the whole package is, giving women the advantage on social networking sites?

And is it only women who have the whole package when it comes to winning on Twitter? Or can men develop the skills necessary to win in the new media marketplace?

Make your opinion count with a comment below.

@CoachDeb

Watch Now:

 When Transparency Kills: A New Media Marketing Lesson: Play Now | Play in Popup

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New Media transparency can kill your business, or boost it. And this week we got a great example from the world of politics.

Entrepreneurs can learn a LOT about marketing from politics. No matter what your political stripes, the Obama campaign holds a wealth of strategies you can use creating a Tribe of raving fans in your business.

Here’s a quick video analysis that will expose one thing you better have in your marketing if you want to WIN and KEEP raving fans.

Watch and see now!

So what do you think?

Does transparency only count for presidential candidates and corporate big wigs? Or could it hurt or help you too? Share your thoughts below.

Got an example of how transparency helped you make a sale? Share your win here too!

Something has been bothering me for quite a while now. I’ve quietly watched entrepreneurs fall prey to the BS advice from off-line marketing “pros” and Internet Marketing “gurus.” But now, the same type of garbage is being pushed by New Media proselytizers too. I may not have all the answers. But I know that here and now, you and I can put a stop to it all.

Look, let’s face it. If you’re looking to use New Media to market it can feel like you’re Dorothy sucked up in a twister and dropped in Oz. And once you land in this majestic world of New Media Oz, how do you make heads or tails out of this fantasy land of reported fame and fortune? And what’s your yellow brick road?

Witches, flying monkeys, a yellow brick road… we’ve got it all

On the outskirts of Oz, the self-appointed elite of the mainstream media and Madison Avenue thumb their noses at New Media. Tucked away in their cold castles of incestuous iniquity they gaze into their crystal balls of packaged propaganda and pronounce New Media a fantasy land populated by “horny teenagers and political pundits.”

We know the New Media marketplace is much more than that. But it does have its share of pitfalls and traps.

For instance, when we were completing research for our book ‘Secrets of Online Persuasion’ we found many well-meaning fans of New Media misleading entrepreneurs who wanted to market with New Media.

Much of that misinformation comes from two camps within New Media itself. I like to think of them as the Wicked Witches of the East and West.

The Wicked Witches of the East

The Wicked Witches from the East should be easy for you to crush as an entrepreneur. These are the people who think “fame” equals profit. And just like in the movie Wizard of Oz Dorothy’s house crushes the Wicked Witch of the East; your house should crush these witches as you land in New Media Oz.

As a matter of fact, this group is so laughable that South Park did a full episode poking fun at the new breed of “Internet Stars” who think by getting hundreds of thousands of views they’ll get rich. Sadly this is a rabbit trail that many entrepreneurs get lured down.

This quick 3-minute mashup shows their skit that’s spot-on with the dollar value of what many people consider “New Media stars.” They spoof on many of the “stars” that have gone viral or gotten media accolades. (Warning: as usual for South Park, this is NOT kid friendly.)

Fact #1: fame does NOT equal profit (especially when marketing with New Media.

OK… we all know the movie storyline. “Ding dong, the witch is dead.” But just when you think things are fine, along comes another witch. And we’ve got the same thing here in New Media Oz.

Enter - the Wicked Witches of the West

This group is much more dangerous for business owners, especially start-ups. This group of witches is made up of Social Media evangelists who think they run a business just because they use a communication channel.

Like the winged monkeys from the Land of Oz these

Read the rest of this entry »

I know, I know… testing and tracking! Uggghh. Without doubt, this topic can seem a little “techie.” But if you want to make winning raving fans and make making money easy and fun, here’s the key. You need to know EXACTLY what Captivates attention (the “C” in Tribal Seduction CHARM formula) and Motivates them to action (the “M” in CHARM) is critical.

A great free tool to make your testing and tracking easy is Google’s Website optimizer. But even with this Google powered tool, it can be a little imposing if you’ve never done testing and tracking to boost your traffic and sales conversions.

Well Google has done a full video walk-through of their free Website Optimizer service making it simple to get going. It’s 63-minutes on YouTube, but well worth the time. (Yes, no 10-minute video limit for Google since they own it. )

The video primarily addresses what to test on standard sales pages (and Marketing PRO pages if you’re using the BLOG i360 system.) But you’ll get some good ideas on how to use Google’s Website Optimizer with your regular blog too.

What’s covered?

• A brief introduction to Website Optimizer for new users
• Best testing practices
• Top elements to test on any webpage
• Top mistakes people make when developing new content to test

We’ll be doing testing and tracking using BLOG i360 sites over the next 60-days, with a more “New Media Marketing” focused test series. And we’ll share what we find with Tribal Seduction subscribers.

What will you test?

• Did you get some interesting ideas from the video? What are they? Share em’ in a comment. Your ideas will help other readers spur their own new ideas.
• What would you like to know about testing in general? And testing with New Media in particular?
• Share your thoughts/questions below so we can focus on your interests in future updates here at Tribal Seduction.

Until now, when you posted a video to YouTube, tracking info was limited to how many times your video was viewed or commented on. Now Google has decided to boost YouTube’s tracking power allowing New Media Marketers to analyze video performance more effectively.

The new tools help put the performance of a video into context over time. You can see where your Tribe is coming from and how well your message is connecting to your audience. And… a big plus — you’re now better able to get ideas on how to improve your videos and track how your improvements translate into attention.

What YouTube now tracks for you

To access your new stats, log into to your account then “My account > Videos, Favorites, Playlists > About This Video.” Here’s what you’ll see when you do.

Obviously the wimpish stats that you had before are still available. (above)

The left side of your screen when in the “Views” tab will give you: (above)

• How many countries your video was viewed in any given time period
• An adjustable slider bar to select any time range you want since the video was posted

Read the rest of this entry »

“Don’t go into blogging to make a living,” says HDNet chairman Mark Cuban. Philip Kaplan from the online advertising firm AdBrite cautions that “only 3 percent of active sites make more than $1,000 a month from advertising.”

These are two quotes from the NY Times article “So You Want to Be Blogging Star” by Paul Boutin. Quotes obviously meant to entice bloggers into sharing some buzz love. (No love for the NY Times here. Just buzzing for your benefit. )

Don’t expect to get rich blogging

That’s the message right up front in the article.

I say; “No Duh” to that.

If you’re counting on getting rich from ads on your blog, you’ve got an uphill battle on icy ground. AlGore’s got a better chance of getting hit by a rogue iceberg than a blogger making six-figures from ads.

The real profit pulling power of blogging is stardom

Boutin does get it partially right when he says “…amassing a large audience is the goal.” (Though I think that was part of a statement meant more as a backhanded critique than a word of advice.)

“Large” is not necessary to create a nice cash flow. But becoming a star in your niche to attract and gather a tribe of raving fans is a requirement.

A strong personal brand and passion for your niche teamed is what makes a blog a powerful New Media marketing tool. That’s what will build trust, rapport, and reputation equity. Once you have those things, it’s a relatively straight forward process to turn those assets into profit.

Some good points

The article does share some good points, especially for New Media marketers just starting out with a blog.

Some of the better points are:

• Write about what you want to write about, in your own voice
• Fit blogging into the holes in your schedule
• Just post it already!
• Keep a regular rhythm
• Give credit where credit is due
• Place, plug and promote yourself

Book-ended by back stabbing

Ahh… but alas, Boutin bookends the good with a snide implication that blogging is am “unhealthy obsession.”

Maybe for those without a plan that’s true. But if your goal is stardom in your niche — obsession is not only healthy, it’s profitable too.

Let’s face it, in today’s’ world of politically correct speech most people walk a line that’s so bland, they blend into the white walls they’re standing in front of. Most people are afraid to say anything that they’ve been indoctrinated to believe is “wrong” or “evil” or… God forbid… something that some man, woman, child, (or cross-dresser, molester or red-footed blue-nose field mouse) may take as “offensive.”

The good news is that this makes it really easy for you to stand out from the crowd. And actually, if you stop being a squishy Jello-like person and stand for something — you’ll attract a crowd.

When you speak your mind, unfiltered and unabashed, you’ll be surprised to see you’ve got a Tribe of raving fans who’ve quietly been thinking what you’ve actually had the guts to say.

The Gabby Cabby example

My good friend Wayne Kelly over at On Air Publicity has a great example of this “get-real” approach. It’s a quick radio interview with the Gabby Cabby.

In the 3-minutes of audio that Wayne shares, you’ll see how a strong, straight-shooting Personal Brand transformed a NYC cabby into a internationally known “expert” on the streets of New York City.

Of course, when you decide to be different, to be edgy, you’d better be able to back up what you’re saying.

• Be passionate about your niche, know your stuff, and use facts to reinforce what may “seem” like outrageous comments.
• DON’T rattle off facts or opinion to hammer people over the head with your views.
• DO use facts to make people think and come to a conclusion on their own.

I have a saying that I’ve used for years… “Most people think in screams, and speak in whispers.” In world dominated by brainwashed Jello-minded people, you don’t need to scream to get noticed. (Leave that to the Marketplace Molesters.)

Just speak what your Tribe is thinking and you’ll not only get attention — you’ll be remembered.

When is the last time you spoke without filters? And what happened?

OK, I finally got two minutes to breathe here, and a question came to mind. How are you using New Media to grow your subscriber list, get more clients, or make more money?

I’ve been dedicating every spare minute to managing our terrific programming team and prepping for the latest upgrade to the BLOGi360 system. And Deb has been managing the production team for the Tribal Seduction course. Deb’s been Twittering and doing some postings at our other blogs, but I’ve chosen to use what little free time I have to Kite Board and go to the gym. (Yeah, yeah… that’s right - priorites.:) )

As I just got ready to sign off and head out to 24-Hour Fitness for a workout, I caught this commercial on my office TV.

And it hit me. We’ve been spending most of our time helping create tools that help others leverage the power of New Media. And systems that make it easy for the average small business owner and entrepreneur to build a business from the inside out, focusing on what they do best.

You know, the things that make them money, instead of the techie-geek stuff or “trial-and-error” strategies for growing a profitable business.

And yes, these New Media tools are making us money by helping other business owners save time, focus on their strengths, and make more money. Pretty obvious, straight forward stuff.

But then I thought about it. How many people out there are leveraging the power of New Media to make more money? I didn’t know the answer. I have no idea how many people are “innovating” and how many are making real gains in their business.

So here’s the big question:

How are you using blogs, podcasts, online video, social networks, or social filters to:

- save time?
- grow your subscriber list?
- get more clients?
- leverage your passions and strengths for more profits?

And if you’re not putting New Media to work, what’s holding you back?

What’s your story? I’d love to read them. More importantly, what you share may inspire another business owner to keep moving forward.

Whether it’s wins or struggles… it’ll help us all.

So let’s hear your stories!