Lately, I’ve been using Google a lot more in managing my business.  My main e-mail is a gmail account,  I communicate with my team using google docs, a check my website stats with Google Analytics and I post videos using You Tube.

Recently,  Google send me an e-mail that their privacy settings are changing.  Here is an outline of the changes from Google.  Essentially,  Google is streamlining their 70 different privacy policies (one for gmail, one for google docs, one for You Tube) and morphing them into one policy for all of Google.  They are also making your information available across platforms so that you can access “all things Google” with just one login.  On top of that, they made it easier to get your data from Google and transfer it to another service.

Here is my take on the new Google privacy policy.

The good: The privacy policy is now much more clear.  And, now there is only one document to read rather then 70+.  Additionally,  it is somewhat convenient to move seamlessly between Google products.  Also, google ads (and search results) will be even more tailored because google can base them off of data from all the services you use.

The bad: The “key to the kingdom” approach of having everything accessible under one umbrella makes it difficult to have different “personas” on different platforms.   I get that google wants to make it easy — but this makes having You Tube channels for different niches a bit for difficult.  It also makes it harder to delegate access to just “certain” parts of your business to your team.

The uncomfortable:  Yeah, I know that Google has all of this data about me already.  And, I mostly accept that as the cost of using their free products. (Side note: If you want to see what information google has about you – go to http://google.com/dashboard).  However, putting all the data together and having it used throughout the system makes my slightly nervous (but not   nervous enough to stop using Google).

What do you think of the new Google privacy policy?

Since I’ve been posting a lot about consistency lately, I thought I would share what the Buzzboosters,  Shahar and Nash Boyayan posted on the Global Social Media Managers Association blog about what it takes to be consistent at social media.  Let me know in the comments how often you are posting and if you agree with their guidelines… This is a question we get everyday with some variations. How often should I put a video on YouTube? How often should I blog? How often should I Tweet? How often should I update my status on Facebook? I can tell you how often you should post on social media environments when you are doing it for business. There is no rule on this topic but some tests have been done for optimum results. The world is not going to end if you cannot follow one of them. Remember social media marketing is a process and you have to set your goals to get attention from your market, not only visibility. Also take into consideration that you have to provide good content most of the time and 2% of the time have a call to action. Your audience needs to be educated on the fact that you are doing this for business and they should not expect everything for free. i know this is a touchy point but remember you are marketing a business and businesses need to have sales in order to have profits. Lead with good content but remind them of your business. Here it goes: Twitter: 8 to 18 posts a day. Twitter has a short shelf life. Facebook: No more than 3 posts. YouTube: 3 a week (for generic videos, not a Web Show) Blogs: Once a day.  

Yesterday, I wrote about my new free video series.  Thank you to everyone who has written in to give me some great comments.  I’m glad you are enjoying them and learning some new strategies for marketing your business with social media.

In today’s video, I’m going to share my two favorite social media strategies.  One strategy is for doubling your website traffic with Linked In — the other is my 3 step Facebook fan page strategy.  Individually, both of these strategies are helpful — together – they form the a solid foundation for an effective social media strategy that positions you as an expert in your niche.

The video also talks about how you can actually monetize your social media efforts and easily form relationships and collaborations to build your business.

Check the video out by signing up here.

Are you using social media effectively in your business?  According to recent surveys, the majority of small businesses have a social media presence of some sort (a Facebook page or a Linked In profile) but a very small minority are actually posting anything to social media on a consistent basis.

When asked why they don’t post more often, business owners respond that they either aren’t getting the results they want or they never had time to “learn” the right steps in the first place.
If you are like most business owners I talk to, you are either spending a lot of time with little i

Yet, if done right,  smart social media *saves* you time because it allows you to target, meet and build relationships with your prospects much more quickly than traditional networking events.

What if I were to tell you that there are some definite shortcuts to creating an efficient and effective social media strategy?

After a bit of trial and error, I’ve discovered an easy 5 step system for cashing in on your expertise using social media.  I’m making it available to you as three half hour videos this week.

To get the videos, all you need to do is click here and put your name in the sign up box so you’ll get notified as soon as each new video is posted. I’ll be posting one each day for the next three days.

Here’s what people had to say about video #1:

“Wonderful tips in a very clear and concise video! You are very gifted in your ability to share something which can be very complicated, in a very simple and easy way.

Thank you very much and I look forward to watching the next 2 videos.” – Kellie Hosaka

“Great tips Michele! Even though I do this on a daily basis I still took some great notes on everything and came away with some strategies to add to my social media marketing! Thanks! Can’t wait for the next video!” – Kate Wilber

Did you know that I have my own internet .tv station.  OK… actually it’s a video blog called decisiveminds.tv.  If you haven’t been over there to check it out, you should.  I have lots of great content and training videos waiting for you (including the one below about making it as easy as possible to share blog posts and other information.

So… you might be asking, why do you have a separate .tv blog?  There are two reasons 1) it makes it easier for search engines to find my videos and 2) having your videos together on a site makes them eligible for syndication.  That means that someday my videos might show up on your TV set through a set top service like Netflx or Roku.

Creating the station is as easy at creating a domain name with .tv (these are a bit more expensive than .com) and uploading a video blog theme.  Woo Themes has some great ones to choose from.

Here’s a sample of the type of videos you’ll find on takeactiongetprofits.tv

Are you still staying away from Linked In? Many people I talk to shy away from Linked In’s “buttoned-up” very professional image.

Not using it is turning your back on access to millions of people. Where else can you get that kind of advertising for your business?

The second step to getting the most out of Linked In (after setting up your profile with keywords) is to start getting involved in groups.

Of course, you don’t want to waste your time by randomly joining groups.  You want to join groups that have many members of your target audience — that are full of people who you can help (and who can help you).

Once you’re involved in the group (and you can narrow the industry groups down further by niche groups) build a presence there. Make sure that youíre active. No one likes a lurker that takes and never gives back.

Get involved in group discussions and share your knowledge, paying close attention to the question,  ”what’s in it for me” and give back each time you post. People appreciate those who give and they’ll learn to look to you as the nice guy, the expert, the go-to person who has the answer for their questions.

You can use groups to get feedback, which can help streamline a marketing campaign. You’ll get insight (by participating in the discussions) into what the target audience thinks and what theyíre looking for to help them in their own journey.

This information will help you understand the best way to market your product. It’s a great (and free) way to get your market research done before launching a product, too. Make sure that you have a business blog that links back to the websites selling your products.

When you’re a member of a group on LinkedIn, you can put a link in your group so that every time you add to your blog, it will show up in the group. For example, if you write a blog about the latest Internet marketing product and how you think it will make their job easier (or not), that blog will post the link to the group. But the key here is that your blog link is getting viewed by thousands of potential customers.

When you’re not the group owner, you donít have the same freedom and itís not all about your business. You can change that by starting a group of your own. The number one reason for this is because it moves targeted traffic your way – letting people get to know you, learn about your product, visit your site, and more.

When the group is set up, itís a free advertising tool for you and introduces thousands of others to your circle of potential leads where you can build relationships. Building relationships builds trust, which works to sway decisions when it comes to who to buy from – the guy they know in their LinkedIn group or the guy theyíve never heard about but stumbled across.

Groups are almost never stale – they’re always growing and always adding new members because LinkedIn continues to grow. LinkedIn hit the mark for over 100 million users. Thatís quite a potential field where you can sow the seeds of your business and you don’t want to miss out!

Getting more likes, follows, stumbles or subscribes at the end of the day means you’ll get more traffic to your website and more money in your bank account. It also means you’ll have more long-term reach to launch viral campaigns from and promote new products.

So how do you get more likes, follows, stumbles or subscribes?

==> Make It Prominent on Your Website

By default, Facebook has a very small “Like” button. The same is true for the default “retweet” buttons. In fact, each social network generally doesn’t have buttons that are very well optimized for conversions.

Did you know that you can actually create much bigger buttons? Depending on the service, you might need to use a program or just get someone to do a tiny bit of code for you ($5 to $10 outsourced), but you can really make your “Like” or “retweet” buttons look any way you want.

The same is true for subscribes. Make sure it’s large and prominent on your website. Don’t just put your opt-in box in the upper right corner of your website and hope someone opts in.

==> Use Social Proof

Another powerful element you can use to get more likes, stumbles, follows or subscriptions is to post how many other people have already done the same.

Are you more likely to “Like” something if nobody’s liked it, or if a hundred of your friends already have?

There are many ways to take advantage of this principle. For example, for StumbleUpon, you can display the number of stumbles you’ve already gotten on your website. For RSS subscriptions, you can display the number of existing subscribers.

==> Ask for It in Your Content

One overlooked technique is to simply ask. Want more follows on your Twitter? Ask! The call to action is so intuitive that some people leave it out. Yet the simple act of asking for it can make a big difference.

An even more effective way to ask for actions is to give some sort of incentive for it. For example, tell people to “Like” your page, then post on your wall if they want to enter a contest. Since there’s such a strong incentive, they’re much more likely to do so than if it were free.

==> Give People Options

Some people will prefer to “Like” you on Facebook. Others prefer to follow you on Twitter. Others prefer subscribing by RSS or by email. Still others want to “Thumbs Up” you on StumbleUpon and so on.

Give people the option of interacting with your website in whatever way they like. If you only have the “Like” option, you’ll miss out on all the RSS users. The opposite is also true.

If you use social proof, make your buttons prominent, ask for the action in your content and give people options, you’ll have a very high visitor-to-action ratio at the end of the day.

Do you want more followers on Twitter?  Right now, there is a bit of a controversy whether more followers = better on Twitter.  When you get a lot of followers it is probably true that a few hundred followers might be just as effective for you as a few thousand.  But, many of the people who read this blog are just starting to use Twitter and need to build a critical mass to start with.  Just make sure that you keep your following small enough so that you can pay attention and interact with them rather than just having them scroll through your Twitter feed.

There are two ways of adding more followers — the natural way and the mechanical way.  I think that both methods have their place.

How to Find Twitter Followers the Natural Way

Chris Brogan has some great tips for getting more twitter followers – here is a summary:

1. Post unique information – 3-4 times a day (no, autoposts and shares of other people’s blogs don’t count).

2.  Search Twitter for people talking about your passion — and then join in the conversation.  Replying 10 to 20 times a day is not too much.

3.  Devote some time every day to sharing up and coming people’s posts.   This is a great way to make friends with with the people who you share with and with your followers who get to meet new resources.

4. Take part in #hashtag discussions.   The Ultimate Blog Challange has a great ongoing chat — the hashtag is #blogboost

5.  Give people enough room to retweet your posts (i.e. don’t use all of the 140 characters).

6. Spend some time on your Twitter profile and make sure that it is intriguing.   Have someone else review the profile and photo and tell you honestly whether your profile draws people in.

I think over the long term, the natural way is the only way to build followers.  But,  when you are just starting out on Twitter – sometimes it helps to mechanically get your first couple hundred followers just to get going.

How to Find Followers on Twitter  the Mechanical Way

The easiest way to build your follower base quickly is to follow other people.  The easiest way to find people who might like what you have to say is to look at who is following people “just ahead of you” in your niche.  You can go to Twitter and see who is following a given person and follow those people.  There is a service justunfollow.com that allows you to easily find and follow people who are in your niche.

What are your best strategies for finding followers on Twitter?

Knowing how to use keywords is essential to creating an effective website.  The internet is a giant database — all of the information is sorted and organized by topic and the keywords that best describe the information.  By paying attention to keywords and search phrases, you can position your site to be found more easily on the web.

Here are six good reasons why keywords matter:
#1 Search phrases help you achieve good page rankings. When your website shows up on the first page or two of search results, you will get more website visitors. Each website visitor is a potential customer.  So yes, search phrases directly impact your profits.

#2 Keywords force you to target your appeal to your ideal customer.. Appealing to a broad audience can be difficult. There ís a lot of competition. However, when you narrow your focus and target specific keywords and search phrases, you can focus on appealing to a smaller audience. You can be the big fish in a little pond. Narrowing your niche allows you to charge more — and ultimately create more success in your business.

#3 Keywords and search phrases help you learn about your audience and prospects. Keyword research helps you learn what your audience is looking for. Entering your keywords or keyword phrase into a keyword research tool will generate other relevant keyword phrases. You can use the supply and demand data to learn what your prospects are searching for.

#4 Keywords and search phrases help you organize content in an effective and meaningful way. They help you organize your website navigation by tier one, two and three pages. You can use them to create a streamlined navigation system.

#5  Keywords help you create content and provide value. Keywords can give you content topics and topic ideas. Simple keyword research will generate potentially hundreds of content ideas.

#6 Keywords help you market and advertise. Finally, keywords and search phrases help you create targeted advertisements. They help you market to your audience. When a PPC ad, for example, contains the keywords itís targeting, itís been shown to be more effective than an ad that doesnít contain keywords.

Finding keyword search phrases is a matter of research. Utilize keyword research tool (search for google keyword tool) s. Install and review  google analytics. Pay attention to trends. Participate on social networking sites and other blogs and websites. The more you integrate keywords into your overall business strategies, the more success you will achieve.

Website traffic is the lifeblood of any business that operates online.  More traffic means more potential customers — and (of course!) more customers results in more money in your pocket.  One of the complaints I hear fairly often – is that sometimes the expense of advertising and driving traffic to your site isn’t worth the few extra customers you get in return.

Getting traffic to your website doesn’t have to be expensive though.  Here are seven very cost effective ways to get more people looking at your site.

#1 Social Media – Networking via social media  is free. It costs time and energy; however, there is  little else to do on a social networking site except interact. And that is  how you drive traffic. Whether you are  using a Facebook fan page, a Twitter page, LinkedIn or another social networking site, the key is interaction. Create a compelling profile. Interact, share and comment. Then when it is  appropriate, post links to your website and website content. You will drive traffic to your site.

#2 Comment on blogs in your niche  – You’ll be surprised to find out how much traffic a blog comment can generate. Subscribe to industry blogs. When appropriate and relevant, comment on new blog posts. Be sure to register with the site and to include a link to your website. Fellow commenters are sure to visit your website, as are other blog readers. Commenting a great way to drive traffic.  Make sure that you are making worthwhile comments though — making bad comments might drive traffic –but you’ll lose potential customers.

#3 Publish - Publishing is still one of the best ways to drive traffic to your website. Publish on article directories. Publish on other people’s websites. Publish in print and online magazines. And syndicate your website content – this will help it get published all over the web. Each time someone reads something you’ve publishes

#4 Blog – Blogging is similar to publishing. However, in addition to posting to your own blog, try to become a guest blogger. Write posts for other relevant blogs. And be sure to link to your website in your profile or authorís resource box.

#5 Giveaways – While the above four tactics are free, giveaways aren’t. You can give away free content like a downloadable report or online course. You can also give away something thatíll generate a lot of attention, like a Kindle or an iPad. Make sure, however, that your giveaway is related to your niche. When youíre giving something away, be sure to promote it. Spread the word on social networking sites. Blog about it. Ask others to share the link.

#6 Facebook Ads – Advertising is not free either. However, if you handle a campaign strategically it can be very cost effective. If you’re using this tactic to drive traffic, make sure that the page you are sending people to has a specific call to action.  That way you can track results and keep your budget in check.

#7 Affiliates – Starting an affiliate program can take time, but it doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. Affiliates can send traffic your direction. You only pay when their traffic results in a conversion. Itís extremely cost effective.

Getting traffic to your website doesn’t have to be expensive.  You can save money and generate results by mapping out a strategy and tracking how much traffic different strategies bring to your site.