Going Viral part 2 - A Personal Story

In the first part of this article I tried to explore the subtle differences between Viral Marketing and MLM and Network marketing. This time I would like to show an example of a product that I knew was going to go viral and explore what made them so popular

A Real Viral Product goes Global

When I was in living in Israel 4 years ago I saw that a lot of people were wearing a new type of shoe, It looked ugly and clumsy but I was intrigued and asked one guy if I could try his pair on. He then told me how amazing they were and gave me a ten minute sales pitch. I instantly loved them and spent the next few weeks hunting out a shop for a pain my size. This was a lot harder that I had expected because everyone was buying them up and many shops had a long waiting list for the next order. I have quite large feet which made it even more difficult. I finally tracked down a place and bought the last pair. which I wore constantly for 2 years and still wear to this day. I knew that these were going to go global because they were so good. If I was on a commission I would guess I must have been responsible for at least 100 sales due to all the people I recommended them to

A Business Opportunity

When I looked around for Crocs in England no one had even heard of them. At that time I seriously thought about starting a business related to these shoes but I had other commitments and my life was too travel oriented for this to become possible. A year later I bought my second pair at a stall at the county fair. I spent a while chatting to the guy. He has just discovered them 2 months before in America and became an agent. He wanted to buy my shoes so he could show people what they looked like after wearing them everyday for over one year.

The Tipping Point

Over the next two years crocs reached the tipping point and went global and for me the real proof came when my parents arrived for a visit a few days ago and my mum was proudly sporting her first pair. She had laughed at how strange they looked and is now singing their praises just like I was 4 years ago. This is a great example of viral marketing. Crocs spread via word of mouth because they are great shoes. They have a great design, are lightweight and extremely comfortable. They add value to the life of anyone who wears them and it’s the happy customers who do most of the advertising. Now they have created a whole range of products but it is still the original style that continues to be most popular I even saw a great squidoo lens that someone had made that about recycling old crocs. They even had a survey and I became part of the 2%, that said "You'll never pry my Crocs away from me!"

Get People Passionate

To make anything go viral you need to get people passionate and excited about your product or service, You have to create enough buzz so that people choose to promote what you have to offer so you either have to have a great product or you have to give away something of high enough value to get others talking about it.

Facebook Spam Slam

Spam has become a menace on Facebook here is your chance to become proactive, to stop complaining and take some action......join Facebook Spam Slam today and get it going viral by inviting all your friends.

"If a complete stranger came and knocked on your front door and demanded that you go with them to look at their new car or dragged you out of you house and forced you to go inside their new shop, don't you think you might get a bit upset. Why is it then that so many people act that way on facebook" Attention Grabbers - click here to see full post

Following the huge interest that came from my last post, I would like to test the waters and see if anyone would actually like to do something about this situation. And help me start a campaign to reduce the amount of spam and unsolicited mail that we receive on Facebook

Self Policing

Other areas of the internet police themselves, especially some of the more technical forums and hacker communities. A person who spams these places could very well face a serious reprisal from people who know how to hit back where it hurts.

Reprisals

I remember a story John Reese told about when he had crossed the line in his younger days on one particular site which took offence to his promotional activities . He was punished by having himself subscribed to every gay porn membership site and magazine over the whole internet and his personal and business email accounts flooded with mail so that his inbox ground to a halt. He laughs now but this gives out a reminder to all those who may be tempted along this route.

Positive Action

While I am not suggesting anything so drastic, I would like to see if there are any people who want to take some positive action to send a message to those thoughtless group masters and self centred individuals who bombard our inboxes with offers and invitations we have no interest in.

Facebook Groups - We gave them our permision

Firstly, these people can do this because we have signed up to their group, so the first thing I suggest is to start a systematic campaign to remove yourself from all groups that don't offer any value. I would also suggest writing a message to the admin to inform them why you have chosen to leave. This strategy becomes effective when lots of people are doing it at the same time so the group owner can see that droves of people are leaving because of how they treat their members, they might start to change their behaviour and adopt a different strategy.

Here is a sample message I would suggest

Dear Group Admin

I would like to inform you that I am leaving your group, the promises that you made when I joined have not materialised and I am tired of receiving your promotional offers that offer me no real value.

Please read this blog post which I hope might offer you some inspiration to improve your relationship with your group in the future.

http://tinyurl.com/5ys37w

Sincerely

Ian Chapman

Unsubscribe

Rick Butts started quite a controversial post on his blog where he suggested that

If you unsubscribe from every email list that pounded you, you can free up your inbox and become less distracted . Here he was describing what happens when you opt in to lots of Internet Marketing lists, and you end up getting bombarded with email from lots of affiliates promoting the same product.

Facebook doesn't warn you clearly that when you sign up for a group that you are effectively giving the group admin permission to email you as often as they like. Maybe a bit more checking into the background of group admins might be a useful exercise, and see If they are running multiple groups in the same niche. It is your own responsibility if you join a load of groups all run by the same person and then get flooded with the same offers again and again.

What to do if you are a Group Admin

I have a no spam policy in all my groups, and as they are still growing it is a manageable task to go each day and moderate the comments and remove any offending or unsuitable posts. I like what Trevor 'Toecracker' Crook says regarding spam in his group Pay It Forward For Entrepreneurs

"WARNING SPAMMERS and ADVERTISERS:"

I am deleting your crap and removing you from the group. Post this crap at your own risk as you will discover exactly why they call me 'Toe Cracker!

To my genuine members, feel free to message me should you be concerned about any posts or discussion which violate what your group is about, after all I set it up for you and NOT wankers who are clueless.

Trevor

PS. If anyone has a problem with this, contact me if you have the balls to do so where I will 100% guarantee you will discover why they call me 'Toe Cracker' so go ahead, make my day if you are game.

Don't be Intimidated

I guess this direct method is effective if you have the personality and reputation that Trevor has. The problem I have discovered is that many group admins are intimidated by the people who post spam in their group and as they haven't made a clear policy from the beginning are hesitant in case they offend some of their members who like to use the group as an advertising billboard. I believe there is a place for such groups and probably some people who want to keep their group organised this way, but it can create a real problem as one spammer can often attract more due to the Broken window effect( check out The Tipping Point by Malcolm Glaldwell if you want the background theory). So in order to keep a group clean and functioning the admins have to regularly go and remove any unsuitable and irrelevant posts.

When a group gets too big

When a group reaches a certain size the group Admin is often forced to restrict the groups functions by controlling what links can be added and videos posted and in extreme cases disabling the wall. This basically restricts and sometimes kills the ability of the members to interact with each other and the group reverts to just an archive where you can read all the old posts and discussion threads and a place to find like minded people in the members list. This doesn't have to become the accepted norm if the group members take action and police themselves.

New Friends

Next we need to address all those who send us unsolicited messages when they have only just become our friend; we need to carefully distinguish between those messages that are made out of ignorance and those that are made as a carefully planned and orchestrated spam campaign.

For the first category I suggest adopting an educative approach. Many people who are new to social media marketing have no idea about etiquette and what is or is not acceptable. This is definitely a grey area as everyone has different standards and tolerance levels, and I know that there are some people who actually like to receive junk mail. I suggest that you send this person a message similar to the one below, feel free to use this one or you can make up your own.

Dear Friend,

Thank you for the request that you made to look at your promotional offer. As I hardly know you and I have only just accepted your friend request I though I should inform you that I don't like being propositioned in this way before we have even begun to develop our relationship. Your behaviour makes me conclude that you are only interested in my friendship in order to promote your own business.

This type of self centred attitude is frowned upon in many circles and is considered to be spam which is becoming a serious problem here on facebook. It not only damages your reputation it also makes me seriously consider whether I want to have you as a friend. Please read this Blog post so you are better informed about this issue

http://tinyurl.com/5ys37w

I hope that this may inspire you to adopt a different approach to social media marketing

Kindest regards

Ian chapman

Profesional Spammers

For the next category where it is clear that it is a business or a person who are blatantly flouting Facebook's terms and conditions then I would suggest a more hard lined approach. Often these Users have set up multiple profiles that often have a company name or logo or have images of flashy cars or beautiful models.

If you accepted friendship with these people then you may be partly to blame, but since many spammers are getting more cunning at setting up dodgy profiles and then changing the image at a later date to promote their company or product they may have slipped in the back door without your notice.

So first go and check to see if you are actually friends with them and if you are go and look at their mini feed, this will give you a clear indication of their recent activity and you can decide what action to take, if you see they have just posted in 30 groups in the last 10 minutes then you can conclude that they are strategically spamming and are aware of the possible consequences , you can also quote this when you write to them

Next send them a message telling them that you have removed them from your friend list, explain why and tell them that you have reported them to facebook. Whether you do this or not is entirely up to you. So far I have only done this once to one company after they repeatedly spammed my group by posting 4 videos, 1 link, about 20 photographs and starting one discussion post. I believe everyone should be given the benefit of the doubt and reporting someone should always be a last resort. The threat is maybe enough to get them to change their ways so I would suggest to include it anyway.

Here is a sample letter that you could use

Dear Friend/Business Owner

I have adopted a zero tolerance to spam so I would like to inform you that I have removed you from my friend list and reported you to facebook for breach of their terms and conditions. I would strongly suggest that you rethink your approach to Social Media Marketing as you are damaging your companies reputation and also annoying innocent people with your activities. Please read this blog post as it gives some useful advice that I think you would do well to follow

http://tinyurl.com/5ys37w

Sincerely

Ian Chapman

Warning : give people the benefit of the doubt

One word of caution, before you go sending these messages to anyone who annoys you. What you consider spam might be considered innocent advertising to other people, so opening a dialogue first is often a good approach. There are a couple of people who I thought were spamming my groups who ended up becoming good friends after I told them how I felt about it. They were both professional internet marketers so they fully understood my situation.

If you take this proactive approach you must be prepared for some Flak. When you make this kind of stand you are going to upset some people. You can't avoid it, so if you don't like to rock the boat or create waves then I suggest you just quietly remove yourself from the offending groups and remove the offending people from your list of friends.

In the eyes of some people I may also be considered a spammer, I have to accept this as the price I pay for being an active group leader, not everyone is going to resonate with my messages and my style of communication, this is just a fact of life.

Or Give them the Boot?

Mari Smith talks about this in one of her blog posts Where she suggests giving certain friends the boot, I fully support her in her freedom to choose who is in her friend network and who is not. She has every right to make her friend list as exclusive as she wants. That is the beauty of Social Media, If someone is spamming you or doesn't resonate with your values or share your point of view you can exclude them from your community.

Naming and Shaming - pros and cons

Another word of warning before you hit the remove friend button, some people might get offended and wonder why you chose to pick on them or target their particular group. It would be detrimental to adopt a name and shame policy as there is no way a person or group would have any way to redeem themselves once you have tarred them with the label of Spammer. Everyone should be given the option to improve and adopt a more respectful approach. I would suspect that most people who spam do so only out of ignorance because they have not had the training or education to know any better, and see this approach as the easiest, least effort way to build their business. People who have purchased out of date ebooks or have been signed up by less than reputable MLM and network marketing companies can only be partly to blame for this plague that is sweeping the social media platforms. Myspace, the biggest social networking site has been dubbed SpamSpace by many of its user because of their failure to tackle this problem effectively. Facebook must take some action soon or risk losing all its members to private membership sites.

Hit them in their pocket

I myself am a member of a really amazing private membership site that is just opening its doors , The Master Business Builders Club, built in response to the spamming problems on the public sites like Facebook and also as the next step into using Web3.0 technology. Its like Facebook on Steroids and is a place where business people can come and network without the annoyance of spam and unsolicited emails, They have a very interesting anti spam policy that you can only see when you sign up for membership and you will only find if you study the small print, It reads as follows

MBBC reserves the right to restrict the number of emails which a Member may send to other Members in any 24-hour period to a number which MBBC deems appropriate in its sole discretion. If you breach this Agreement and send unsolicited bulk email, instant messages or other unsolicited communications of any kind through the MBBC Services, you acknowledge that you will have caused substantial harm to MBBC , but that the amount of such harm would be extremely difficult to ascertain. As a reasonable estimation of such harm, you agree to pay MBBC $50 for each such unsolicited email or other unsolicited communication you send through the MBBC Services;

Lets Spread the Word

I would like to hear from any group leaders who would like to support this and ask any everyone else to join the new group I have started Facebook Spam Slam and then to invite all their friends. If we get enough members then our self policing policy will have a strong effect and we can also investigate ways to get Facebook to help in dealing with this issue by adding mail filtering and spam protection on or inboxes.

Implementing Change

No one individual can do this task alone, It requires many people to take the time and the effort to send this message to the required places. Social Media has such a huge potential for implementing change but it needs people who are ready and willing to take action. Even if you just devote 2 minutes each day you can help to make a difference

I look forward to hearing your comments and reactions to this post

The Power of Testimonials

Today I would like to explore the Testimonial and why it is used as a sales technique, I will be explaining the different types of Testimonials and their relative effectiveness and using this to analyse just what Brian Campbell has been doing in the past 2 days and why he has plastered testimonials on every group page he can get his links onto.

Establishing Trust

Have you noticed that whenever you read a sales letter or visit a website that is selling you something, or see an advert in a magazine or newspaper they are often Jammed packed with Testimonials from satisfied customers who thought the product or service was amazing. How often do you think that some of them are fabricated, that the website owner or Business just sat down and made them all up. If you had this suspicion then the testimonial that you just read didn't do its job effectively. A Testimonial is designed to establish a feeling of trust.

A Total Stanger

If you meet a complete stranger in the street, you would relate to them very differently if they were on their own or if they were accompanied by one of your best friends. A total stranger is an unknown quantity, you know nothing about them, they might want to hurt you, cheat you, steal from you or take advantage of you in some way, you approach them with caution to see if it is safe to interact. You might exchange a few words but you wouldn't invite them back to you home straight away. Only after establishing some type of conversation would you decide if you wanted to develop the relationship further, but often this conversation would never even begin.

A Friend of a Friend

On the other hand, if this stranger was with your best friend, or a good acquaintance you would instantly have a different attitude, Because your friend is establishing the strangers credibility and trustworthiness by association you change the way you would interact, you are instantly more friendly and receptive because this person could be a potential new friend. I can give a great example from many years ago when I was living in Israel, I knew a lot of people by sight, having gone to the same social events but never really felt accepted by them, I always felt like an outsider because I was not Jewish and didn't speak Hebrew, I realised that as a nation Israelis have an inbuilt mistrust for non Jewish people following centuries of persecution and invasion in their own country. But it didn't make any sense to me that this was carried over into the social sphere. It wasn't until I became close friends with an Israeli woman who happened to be one of those people who everyone knows and likes that I got welcomed into what was before a closed community. Suddenly everyone accepted me and treated me in a totally different way than before. My association with a trusted friend had lowered peoples defences and gave me access to a much richer social life and deeper more lasting friendships. She had given me a non verbal Testimonial just by being my friend.

The Cold Sale

No one really likes to have a Salesperson trying to convince you to buy something, It can make you feel uncomfortable and manipulated , like someone has mentally assaulted you, or invaded your privacy. Unsolicited email, Telesales cold calling or doorstep sales men often use this old tactic, that has most normal people running a mile. The technique relies solely on statistics, that out of every 100 people someone might be interested. Conversion rates for this type of method are generally low. If you want to test it there are many companies that sell email lists of 1,000,000 names that you can spam with your sales message.

Soften up the Ground

For a smart marketer, engaged in a sales war, testimonials are like artillery barrages fired against a prospects defence mechanisms and B.S. detectors. They are a way to soften up the ground for when the real sales message is to be delivered. This is the way to establish trust and credibility through the opinion of your customers peers so they will actually listen to what you have to say.

Written Testimonials

There are several types of testimonial, the first I would like to discuss is the written testimonial, using words in print to convince and cajole into taking your sales message more seriously.

If you study the best copywriters, you can learn some of the subtle techniques they use, most of these were developed in the direct response mail arena, where they could track and test to see what is the most effective. One technique is to reprint the customers actual letter, showing their actual handwriting, a variation of this is to make the testimonial in a separate coloured box with different typeface to make it look like a typed letter. What happens now, due to the internet and the widespread use of email the testimonial is written to resemble an email, they even use the same calibri typeface and the same font sizes to make it seem more like a personal email from a friend. This is subtle but has been proven to be very effective. It goes under the radar and makes you more likely to believe and trust what is being written

Background and Photo

Showing where the person is from and their employment status is also important, and depending on what type of product or service you are offering, it can be an indicator of the type of person who you want to attract. And also including their picture so you can really see that they are a real person, further increasing the credibility of the Testimonial

An Audio Testimonial

Radio, Podcasts, Teleseminars and Audio Postcards are another way to deliver powerful testimonials, The power of the voice creates a much more personal connection, You know that it is a real person who is talking, and you can pick up subtle hints through the tonality, degree of excitement or enthusiasm whether they are telling the truth or hyping something up. Teleseminars can be used as a backdoor testimonial where the interviewer can express their own personal opinions about something that is being discussed. Done well, and you hardly even notice you are being sold to, done wrong and the Interviewer an quickly lose their credibility and the teleseminar can feel like one long commercial advertisement. If you want to listen to one of the masters, check out anything done by Alex Mandosian, he is a someone who really know how to use the power of Audio to sell.

A Video Testimonial

Since the invention of the Television video has become the most powerful means to advertise a product or service and now with the advance of Web2.0 and 3.0 technologies, anyone with a webcam , or video recorder can make their own adverts and ask all their customers to give them what is now becoming a standard, The Video Testimonial. One of the top Marketers, Joe Polish, from Piranah marketing even buys his customers a cheap camcorder as a freebie gift for making the testimonial. He knows how powerful it is and knows that for less than $50 he can get something that will attract even more customers to him

Cover all your Bases

Everyone is different, not all your customer like to watch Youtube videos some prefer to listen to radio and podcast, and others like to read in print. That is why the best strategy is to repeat all your sales messages in all three mediums, this way you cover all your bases. Making sure that you provide written audio and video testimonials will greatly increase your sales conversion and build a stronger rapport with your potential customer. Check out Travis Greenlees webpages for an example of a true master of using testimonials to generate sales

Help your prospect Identify themselves as a customer

What you are really trying to do with a testimonial is to get your customer to identify themselves as your customer, so they come to you instead of you to them. This is why the content that you choose is important. Testimonials work best when they identify a difficulty and show how it has been overcome or show an areas in your prospects life that can be greatly improved by using your product or service. If your target market are overweight people who want to learn about dieting then your ideal testimonial will be from an overweight person showing a before and after picture. Anyone who is overweight can instantly identify with the pictures and its easy to develop a propulsion desire towards the slimmer looking body, especially if someone else has already achieved this result.

Brian Campbell

So now back to the Brian Campbell story, I left it until the end so that those who are oversaturated can leave having enjoyed the main article and those who want to hear more can listen to my analysis of what Brian has been doing these past few days. If you have noticed there are a lot of video testimonials scattered around all the group pages.

Motivation

Earlier this week, Brian gave all his students an offer many of them couldn't refuse, he said that in exchange for an honest video testimonial of their experiences in the Social Media Marketing System he would upgrade their membership to the next level. This was great motivation and all the really serious students whipped out their Webcams eager to get access to more than they initially paid for. What it also did on the Inside of the Social Media Marketing System was to make a lot of the members come together to help each other.

Helping each other

Brian has been unavailable to answer questions so many of the newbies and non technological members were having trouble making their videos and uploading them to Utube. What followed is typical for how this community of paying it forward members acted, those with the most video experience started sharing their knowledge, giving helpful hints and tips of how to make an effective testimonial, One member even went so far as to offer a free training, her name is Dulcita Love, from dulcitalove.com, she made a whole free course just for members, showing them all the steps so even a total beginner could learn how to make, edit and upload a video to Utube and then post a link onto a website or facebook profile. If you know how to do this already, please remember back to your first time and understand the frustration and difficulties some members were having. To see a Dulcita in action here is the link to her testimonial - Dulcita Talks about the Social Media Marketing System,

She gets my prize for the best testimonial and you can see how she has embedded text into it. After I saw hers, I immediately went out and tried to improve the one that I had made.

Action gets rewarded

So what Brian has done is mobilised his whole membership to action, given them a great incentive and also forced them to learn a new skill and to help each other in the process. Brian effectively ensures that only those who are motivated and who take action are shown sharing their experiences and they are the ones who will reap the real benefits.

Participation is essential

Anyone who expects a free ride had better not bother joining, you have to participate in order to benefit. There are plenty of other systems and programs that promise the world and will allow you to be a passive observer, The Social Media Marketing System is not one of these systems. Its true strength is not in Brian's leadership or fantastic marketing and sales skills but actually in the combined energy and experience of all the members. You don't have to be an expert, but you have to be prepared to learn to become one.

Real People

So while you are bombarded with all these testimonials, remember these are real people who are sharing their honest experiences, you can probably identify with at least one of them, I would expect that many of them are already your friends on facebook, and you will soon be learning alongside them when you sign up for the free training that Brian will be releasing soon,

Earn while you learn

As part of his affiliate scheme where he wants his students to earn while they learn he has made it so that if you want to register you need to get the link from one of the existing members. I am sure that you have heard from many of them already, and I trust you will choose the one who has given you the most value.

Social Media Monetisation

Here is the backdoor link to the Social Media Monetisation training go and sign up now to ensure your place. In the meanwhile I will be keeping a close watch on what Brian is up to and give you some insight into what he is doing and his underlying motivations.

Leave some feedback

If you enjoyed this article please leave any comments on the group wall - I want a piece of the pie

"How much money do you want?"

"How much money do you want?"

Among other things I'm a musician and one of the ways I used fund my travels was to play music, it was also a great way of meeting people and also improving my playing and I loved the feeling it gave me when I had touched people in their lives.

8 years ago I spent a year travelling around the Balkans, and used to enjoy going into these old beautiful towns and playing music on market days. This story takes place in Split, one of the major cities half way down the Croatian coast.

I had been playing for about half an hour, The street was bustling and I was enjoying myself when a complete stranger came and stood in front of me and asked, "How much do you want?"

He was an old man around 60, Tough looking but quite well dressed, he had on several large gold rings

"What?" I said, I looked at this old man taken aback by what he had just asked me. He Repeated the question again in his Balkan accented English,

"How much money do you want, How much?" I was shocked as I looked at him and even more shocked when he opened his jacket and took out a Wad of notes an inch thick.

"How Much?" he said again for the fourth time. My mouth was opening and closing like a fish, I was completely stumped and at a loss for words. He held out the money to me urging me to help myself. I still didn't do anything, I just stood there staring dumbly at him, wondering if this was some sort of joke or that he might be about to mug me or something. He saved me by peeling several notes from the block he held in his hand and stuffed them into my pocket. He then proceeded to walk away down the crowded narrow street, leaving me speechless but also excited.

I am remembering this lesson now as I observe what is happening in my life again, I am being given a huge opportunity and it basically up to me what I make of it. When opportunity comes knocking at the door I want to be ready to say yes. This is how I feel again when I see what Brian Campbell is offering in his Internet Marketing University, I knew something like this was coming, I just didn't know what form it would take.

Don't be like me 8 years ago and sit there with your mouth opening and closing, paralysed with inaction or you will be left only with the crumbs from what is going to be a sumptuous banquet. Participate, communicate and learn, don't worry about the money, that is only a side product of being successful, that will come with time and persistence and with using each others talents in positive creative ways.

Brian Cambell, 37 day Mastermind on Facebook

Brian Campbell 37 day challenge - Creating The Mastermind.

Brian has started to leverage his friends on facebook, He first started with a call for an attorney to get some more expert advice about how to proceed, Now he has made a call to other experts to join him and share in his forthcoming success. He is wise enough to realise that he can't do everything by himself and even though he has his own team of employees, he needs a more specialised group for this next step. He is implementing a strategy recommended by Jay Abraham which is to create a Mastermind Group around him. In effect a virtual team of individuals who are all working together for each others mutual advantage.

I am doing this right now by writing this blog post, Brian has encouraged all his friends to help him and also showed that even by just blogging about what he is doing we help him and also help ourselves by being the first to reveal our personal stories and success by following his group strategy.

Brian has already started to create the group Hologram by asking everyone to focus their energy and intent towards him. He is bringing cohesion and as each individual joins and actually participates they will start to see where they themselves fit into the puzzle and can play their own part. The beauty is that everyone can share in the pie and it is not just a financial pie that is being offered, that was just Brians trick to get our attention.

Participation

Clarity and understanding will only come to those who participate, if you only watch from the sidelines you might understand on an intellectual level what is going on but will not have developed the relationships with actual people and this is the real long term value.

Short term winners, Long term losers

Anyone who abuses the structure and only wants attention for self promotion will always end up being short term winners but long term losers, selfishness is quickly dealt with on facebook, you can exclude someone with a click of the mouse and word travels very quickly. Spammers are not tolerated for very long.

Group Mind

I predict that as groups and networks are formed, people who have the same purpose will naturally cluster together share resources and have access to what I term the holographic group mind. What this means is that you open to the collective wisdom of the group and start to experience higher levels of creativity and thinking. To fully access this mode of being you need to adopt the right attitude which starts with asking yourself how you can be of service to others. A second major mindset is to know that you will be rewarded for your actions and therefore don't have to worry about money all the time.

Financial Freedom

If you focus only on personal financial gain you lose the full benefit of the group energy because you have become self centred. Start by thinking what you can do to help others make money, you will always be rewarded in the end. Money is actually only one very small and limited potential that is available and is maybe the first stumbling block that most people get stuck on. Financial freedom has to be developed strategically and also with a clear understanding of what your strategy is going to cost you. Becoming a slave to your business won't make you happy or the world a better place.

Brian Cambell and his 37 day Challenge on Facebook

Brian Campbell and his 37 day Challenge on Facebook

Brian Cambell has been creating quite a buzz on Facebook in the last two weeks, by setting up a group called the Internet Marketing University. He is keeping his real strategies somewhat secret and is only giving out information as and when it becomes necessary. Brian Campbell is an Internet Marketer who has 100,000 people on his list and has generated $2 million in sales so he knows what he is talking about, but he is also doing this stunt to show people some of the deeper spiritual values that he lives his life by. That abundance is available for everyone if they just choose to allow themselves to have it.

Virtual Company

Anyone who is watching closely what he is doing can maybe have a few ideas about the magnitude of his plans and understand why he is so excited and also why he is building a mastermind group of people around him. Basically a virtual company of individuals who are joining forces for their own mutual benefit. Brian already revealed his strategy for growing a list of friends quickly, I have been doing it the old fashioned way and now have over 200 friends. Brians technique is to leverage your own friends and to help each other.

Leverage your Friends

Each person recommending friends to each other so that everyone's list grows quicker. I have just started to implement this strategy myself and already new friends are being sent to my inbox, anyone who wants to partner up can contact me on http:/profile.to/ianchapman/ . My main concern about this startegy is that I want to really meet everyone who becomes my friend on facebook, I am meeting such amazing people everyday and I need to know which ones are the most important, That is why I am keeping a notebook in and tracking all the people who stand out so I can have a core of talented people who I can build a stronger realationship with. and ultimately join forces with.

Brian Reveals the real reason Marketers are so excited

On one of his training videos Brian revealed one of the most important aspects of using Facebook and how you can create a very targeted list of people in your own niche by using some of the application that you can ad to your account on Facebook.

As I have been studying what applications all the top marketers have on their profiles this little piece of information blew me away when I realised its actual potential and also how Facebook might start regulating usage of these types of functions if too many unscrupulous people start using them. I am not going to reveal anything more right now,

Keep control of your own Business

Facebook is all about sharing and networking, there is a huge potential to build your own business there but Brian warns of the danger of having someone else controlling your contact list. It is too easy for Facebook to shut someone down overnight if the choose to do so and Brian has already been warned for moving too quickly. He suggests using Facebook as a gateway and access point to bring people to your own website where you can then have total control over the interaction.

Stompernet to Reopen the Doors

Brad Fallon and Andy Jenkins will be opening the doors to Stompernet again soon, I read a twitter from AJ which said he has just sent out the PDF's to the JV partners, They also sent out a very sneaky marketing mistake on their autoresponder series to people who were not yet members of stompernet showing what was coming up in the next year, then they sent an appolgy saying it was a mistake.... yeah , I believe that!! those guys don't make any mistakes, every move is carefully calculated. So if you want access to the best training I would make sure you don't miss the boat. As they are sure to be innundated.

StomperNet Membership Update:

So here we are, April 15th.

For those of us in the U.S. it's the deadline for filing our
income tax returns. It's that dreaded day where the U.S.
government comes knocking to take a nice big bite out of our
hard-earned profits.

Now, I'm not here to talk politics (Good LORD don't get me
started) - taxes are taxes (cough...CHOKE), and whether you
agree with them or not (AHHHH), the government says it's time
to settle that bill. (Pfffft)

And when you've worked hard all year, it can be quite a big
blow to have to cough up what you owe. I wish I could make it
go away. For you AND for me.

But sadly, there's just not a whole lot I can do - that's
between you and the IRS. :)

Look, if you got bumped up into a higher tax bracket, well...
that's just a side effect of success, right? And isn't that
what we're all here for? To learn how to earn more? To earn
so much that the government actually puts you on a whole
different pay schedule?

I mean, as far as consequences go, that's not a bad one, but
MAN is it painful to have to put that check in the mail. It
can make enormous success seem like a bittersweet victory.

For small business owners, today is almost like a day of
mourning, and I feel your pain. We all do. Heck, I'm even
wearing black as I write this (and not just because it's
slimming).

That's why at StomperNet, we want to do what we can to
counteract this annual attack on our members' pocketbooks.
We can't pay them for you, and we can't just cut a check...

But hopefully, as we showed with the announcements at LIVE
Five, we're got our members' backs - not just with words, but with
PROOF and ACTION.

We've once again done our best to extend the benefits of
StomperNet membership - FAR beyond what's ever been
advertised.

As you may know, at the event, announced FIVE new faculty members
and TONS of new courses and features that StomperNet members will
have full access to as part of your membership.

And today, April 15 - while the IRS TAKES your hard earned cash
(BOO!) - StomperNet gives back to members with the beginning of
FOUR new educational series designed to make NEXT year even
better, so 2008's tax bill is just a wee memory. (YAY!)

And this gives us a chance to put our newest faculty to work
getting member businesses firing on all cylinders as we head into
the springtime here in Georgia.

But before we get into the new content, I want to remind you
about StomperNet Personal Coaching. This valuable component of
StomperNet is now NO LONGER exclusive to Veteran members.
That's right, Personal Coaching will soon be expanded to serve
EVERY FULL Stomper that wants it (and a LOT of you want it)!

I wanted to mention that before we get into all the new
offerings we're beginning to release today. We know StomperNet
can be like "drinking from the fire hose" - and we don't want
to further bewilder those members who are already frazzled.

Does StomperNet seem like too much info coming at you too
fast? Hang tight!

Coaches will soon be ready to help all members get organized, stay
focused, and accomplish all their business and personal goals.
This is the CURE for that feeling of being overwhelmed.

Listen, name me one world-class athlete that ever made it to
the top without a coach in their corner, keeping them focused
on their goals, and holding them accountable for just getting
it done.

We want members to be the "gold-medalists" of online business, and
that's why we've got coaching for ALL FULL MEMBERS.

So, as you read about our new courses, just remember that very
VERY soon, we'll have a personal coach assigned for every member, ready to help
with planning and really put ALL of this great new content into play.

...

So, now that I've told you there's no need to panic,
here's the fire hose!

Now, if you were at the LIVE Five event, you know that we
REALLY wanted to show you what we've discovered over the past
year. VIDEO is the future of internet marketing, and it's
still a new and unconquered field, ripe for some sharp Stompers
to step in and really stake out some territory in this new
frontier.

Of course, if you're a Stomper, or SMARTS member, or if you've
come aboard with us in ANY capacity since we opened in 2006,
you know that WE KNOW a little bit about using videos to really
grab attention in a marketplace.

But as good as we are at using video to PROMOTE our products
and services, the fact is - we DIDN'T have a lot of experience
when it came to using video to actually SELL our products and
services.

But if we were able to do so well with video promotion, it's
pretty much guaranteed that using video for SALES is going to
be a HUGE tactic in the near future.

So in the StomperNet tradition - we went out and found the most
successful REAL WORLD PRACTITIONER of video sales letters, and
brought him on board to show ALL STOMPERS how we can put the power
of video to work not only generating leads...

... but to harness the raw, immersive, persuasive magic of
video to CONVERT interested prospects into SALIVATING
FANATICS - and most importantly - PAYING CUSTOMERS!

Though he needs no introduction from those of you that were
there, I'm going to introduce him anyway. :)

A down-home local boy, Mike Stewart proves beyond a shadow of a
doubt that when it comes to using online video to sell, you
don't need a Hollywood budget, expensive equipment, or
superstar good looks. (Not that Mike isn't a handsome man...)

We brought Mike on board because not only does he know how to
make videos that SELL, but he knows how to do it FAST - he
knows how to make it EASY - and he knows how to make it WORK!

If any of you saw his presentation - you know that if video is
helping a small-town exterminator corner the local bug-killing
market - there's no DOUBT that a savvy Stomper can utterly
DOMINATE their niches by using video NOW - BEFORE the
competition can catch up.

That's why we've teamed up with Mike to bring Stompers this course
on Video Sales Letters ASAP!

NOTE: We also just got Mike Koenigs (of Traffic Geyser) on
board, and more installments in my own video series are coming
to the member portal as well - video is going to be huge in the next couple of
years, and we want members more PREPARED than the competition, and
poised to do no less than DOMINATE - by the time any one else
can catch up to Stomper's video marketing education, our members will
already have cemented in their positions as market leaders in their
industries.

But start today with Mike Stewart's first installment of Video
Sales Letters - check out the forum here.

###

Next up, we want to talk to Stompers that are already started
up, who are already making money - but who are just spending way
too much on PPC, or who just aren't getting the traffic they
should be.

Our members came on board StomperNet because you knew that we're the
BEST in the WORLD at SEO. Brad Fallon and I made history with
the first "Stomping the Search Engines" course, and it's
because of that course that our members are all called "Stompers"
today - that was the course that started it all.

But of all the aspects we deal with in online business - SEO is
the MOST fickle - the game with the QUICKEST rule changes, and
the most drastic impact on our profits.

If you depend on SEO for your success, then StomperNet has
ALREADY given our members more firepower - more unfair advantages - and
MORE secret tactics than any other resource known to man.

But the fact is, the cutting edge gets dull fast.

New discoveries are made, new opportunities for domination of
the SERPS arise.

And we're on top of it! Bit by bit, we keep Stompers updated with
the new ins-and-outs of the SEO game. But eventually, so much
stuff changes that we reach a tipping point.

At that point, so much new stuff has come to light that it
becomes time to just go back to square one and re- draft
everything you know.

That's not to say that anything we advise is obsolete - what
we're talking about is going back and re-exploring the
fundamentals of SEO, but looking back with the intervening 2
years of hindsight - looking back with the added expertise of
faculty members like Leslie Rohde and Jerry West...

And let's not forget the guy who's lacing it all up for members,
Dan "the Man" Thies. If you've spent any amount of time in our
forums, you know that Dan is ALWAYS ready with a quick (and
more importantly) INFORMED answer to any SEO questions our
members may have.

And now, after months of ongoing research and organization,
we're ready to introduce what we're calling "Stomping
the Search Engines 2" - and we intend for this to not only
REPLACE the old stuff, but to update every still-working
strategy and drag it kicking and screaming into 2008.

Now, other courses may have just stopped there, but
we've taken it farther than anyone else possibly could.

"Stomping the Search Engines 2" is only going to be the tip of
the iceberg. Last year, we teased you about something we've
been working on - something that will be the end-all be-all of
SEO education. We call that project "ULTRA" - and this is
training wheels...

Once our members get cruising with STSE2, they'll be ready for the
cutting edge strategies and tactics of ULTRA.

But you have to start somewhere, so why not check out the first
video in the new "Stomping the Search Engines 2" course, with
Dan Thies leading the way. All the new resources are linked
from this dedicated new forum.

###

On to the next tasty treat:

We've brought on board Paul Colligan, a guy many of you may
already know as a podcasting guru and new media expert. In
Paul's new capacity as a StomperNet Faculty member, he's
designed an absolutely killer content strategy that's unlike
anything we've ever seen before.

Heck, if we hadn't seen it in action at LIVE Five, I wouldn't
even believe it was POSSIBLE.

Imagine creating a single piece of content - not that hard,
right? We do it all the time.

Now, through the processes Paul calls "Uber- Distribution" and
"Uber-Syndication" our members can simply go thorough a short series of steps -
and each step MULTIPLIES and AMPLIFIES the step before it.

Once this system is set up, a single action sets in motion a
MASSIVE and INTEGRATED system that will multiply, distribute,
and syndicate messaging across nearly EVERY Web 2.0 property
that matters.

As a Stomper, your message propagates across the internet with
almost no effort at all - and when you're done, you and your potential
prospects are left with an undeniable "big picture" - you MUST
be the expert on the topic at hand because your stuff is
EVERYWHERE!

Coming right off of the tail-end of SMARTS, Paul's "Uber"
series is going take every bit of social marketing know-how
we've delivered and crank it up so loud, it'll break off the
knob!

But enough of my crummy analogies - let Paul tell you himself
what "Uber" is, and why it's going to revolutionize your
content strategy in 2008, no matter what your business is.
Check it out in the dedicated forum we've set up just for
the "Uber" series.

###

So that leaves us with one more major addition today,
and I'm very excited about this one.

You see, even though all the stuff we've already talked about
is spanking new, super-fresh updated content, it's all still
stuff we've at least talked about before. Business basics,
SEO, Video Marketing - the courses that start today are all the
best-of-the-best when it comes to their topics, but they're all
things that StomperNet is already known for. (At least we HOPE
so!)

But this is different. I saw something on TV years ago, and
hopefully you've seen something like it so you "get" this
analogy. If I recall correctly, some guy was making a world
record attempt and knocking over the most dominoes. We've all
seen that, right? Thousands and thousands of little bricks are
all meticulously arranged to create a seemingly magical chain
reaction when that first domino is tipped over.

Well, the big finale of this spectacular display of tumbling
blocks was when instead of tumbling one at a time, one domino
knocked over two - and then each of those knocked over two -
and then each of THOSE knocked over two... in a split second,
it became impossible to see the individual dominoes tumbling -
all you could see and hear was this massive WAVE of falling
blocks. It was like an avalanche.

But don't forget - it was a PRECISION ENGINEERED avalanche.

After all the blocks in the "wave" were tipped over, the
colored dominoes formed the image of a corporate sponsor's
logo (I think it was Pepsi!) - much to the delight of the
crowd. Out of what was seemingly pure chaos, a nice and
orderly pattern is achieved.

Now, I know it's kind of a weird story to tell, but that image
of the tumbling dominoes is just the perfect illustration for
what we're calling the "StomperCORE".

StomperCORE is shaping up to be the answer to what a lot of
Stomper members feel is the BIGGEST problem with our
membership.

Do you feel overwhelmed?

Do you feel like StomperNet has everything you need, but you
just have no idea where to start?

It's a lot like you're missing a couple of key dominoes in your
little "chain reaction" right? You knock a few down, but you
hit a gap, and all your forward progress is halted. Does that
sound familiar?

What you need is a CORE set of fundamentals - a CORE set of
values to prioritize, and a CORE set of strategies - you need
to start at the basics and build the FOUNDATION for your future
success.

If you feel like you're holding back because you just need
someone to show you where to begin - or where to fill in the
gaps - wait no more!

StomperCORE is designed to consolidate and distill everything
we know about business fundamentals and create a simple, easy
to execute "battle plan" to let our members quickly and easily create
and organize their vital business processes BEFORE they worry
about SEO or Social Marketing...

For a lot of Stompers, CORE will BE the missing dominoes in
your chain. Once the foundation is laid, no force on
earth is going to be able to stop the chain-reaction that's
going to happen in Stompers' businesses.

And this is why Howie Schwartz, our newest full-time
Faculty/Staffer, is the best choice to lead this project.

Some people would have thought Howie was a COMPETITOR of
StomperNet, considering that his last course, "Conversation
Domination" was compared to SMARTS.

Some people would have thought we'd somehow be ENEMIES when it
came to teaching people Internet Marketing. But nothing could
be further from the truth. Howie IS what StomperNet is all
about - he learns by DOING this stuff EVERY DAY in his own
businesses, and he taught his students ONLY the stuff that
worked.

And that's our philosophy too.

And though Howie's had great success teaching people about the
newest Web 2.0 Social Strategies, the fact is, Howie's been
around a while now. And more than any other marketer on the
scene today, we knew that Howie would be the MOST capable at
teaching our students how to get started the RIGHT way, and how
to do it FAST.

Once the dominoes are in place, all it takes is the
slightest touch to put all that preparation and hard work into
motion. And that motion represents an exponential growth, just
like the domino world record grand finale.

We want Stompers to experience a growth in resources, a growth in
traffic, a growth in profits, and most importantly, a growth in
personal freedom.

But it all needs to start with fundamentals, and setting up
those first few dominoes JUST RIGHT!

That's what CORE is all about, and that's what Howie has in
store for our members just as fast as we can put the videos on the
server. I can't WAIT - for the Stompers that have been
struggling and just haven't been able to get traction - CORE is
here, and there just aren't any excuses any more.

Go check out the first CORE video NOW! The best place to start is -
you guessed it, a brand new dedicated forum just for CORE.

###

And there you have it.

What you see before you today has been
the culmination of no less than six months of behind-the-scenes
wrangling and working - the faculty and staff all putting in
overtime to get this content to you with the speed and quality
you expect from us.

And now it's ready, so gear up!

While the rest of America is crying as they drop huge checks in
the mail to the IRS, or they yell less-than- pleasant words at
their accountants for being late...

StomperNet members can kick back, relax, watch our new videos...
and rest ASSURED that if you put this stuff to work in your business,
your 2009 tax bill will be even higher than this year's...
because together, we're going to push your profits OFF THE EDGE
and into unknown, wild territory. We have the map and the
tools our members need.

Let's go blaze those trails and make some
history, huh?

On behalf of all the StomperNet Faculty and Staff who have
worked so hard to bring this wonderful, powerful new
material to our exclusive membership - we wish you a HAPPY Tax Day!
(And may you have many more!)

Keep Stomping,
~Andy Jenkins

Frank Kern and Eben Pagan get Holographic and they are embarassed to tell anyone

GROUP MIND MASTERMIND

How many on you have ever experienced the phenomenon where you are with a certain group of people and at some point the energy in the room becomes cohesive to the point where you can actually sense the buzz and then everyone in the group becomes lifted to a higher level of awareness than their normal state and suddenly Ideas start flowing and it's like everyone is thinking from the same page. A person opposite you will speak the thoughts that you were just about to express. The excitement of the experience is often hard to explain after it has ended and for most people it is only a peak experience that leaves them and seems sometimes vaporous like a dream, The next day it is hard to remember everything that took place, Like you have memory loss but at a deep level you know that you touched upon something very special, but you just can't explain it

FRANK AND EBENS GURU MASTERMIND INTERVIEW

I heard a great example from an interview I heard recently where Frank Kern and Eben pagan were talking about the experiences that they had at Eben's Altitude seminar last year. Everyone was buzzing on a high energy level that had to be experienced but couldn't be explained An how during the break, Frank just sat down and wrote the whole sales letter for his forthcoming mass controll project. In the interview they were almost embarrased to admit what they had experienced in case people thought them a bit weird or new age .

When you take a group of people and you place them together and you focus all of their attention on one thing you create a laser beam of consciousness,

A laser is an electronic-optical device that emits coherent light radiation. The term "laser" is an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser>

Now the photographic plate is peoples perception of reality itself, everyone is drawn into a group experience that they can only fully experience when they are coherent and all aligned towards the same purpose. Now in Eben and Franks case that was a $10,000 seminar that was designed to help entrepreneurs grow their business. The seminar was aptly named "Get Altitude" and it lifted everyone who participated to a much higher level. I know this for myself just through watching the recording on DVD. It totally changed my life. And gave me ideas to grow my own business and was the springboard that got me to this place and is the reason why I am writing this blog post.