Marcus Haggard, co-founder and Chief Strategist for Magneti,  said “I’m thrilled to bring the Global Seven and Magneti teams under one roof.  They are a dynamic, talented, and hard-working team, and they share Magneti’s focus on delivering solid results to our clients. I couldn’t be more happy to acquire a company of this caliber.”

In addition to their workwith clients such as the Pikes Peak Community Foundation, Logiix, and Brokers International, Magneti’s team was instrumental in the massively successful Wildfire Tees fundraising campaign, as well as the Rebrand the Springs effort in 2012.  Global Seven’s clients include YoungLife, Character.org, Xledger, CodeBaby, Altia, BookCheetah, and Digital Beam. Global Seven was founded in 2010 by CEO Adam Williams and Chief of Global Development Jon Hoppin.

“We’re truly honored to join forces with the folks at Magneti. They’ve been a part of huge projects in the past and we see new opportunities pop up every day because of their expertise and networks,” said Adam Williams, CEO of Global Seven. The Global Seven team has already begun working closely with Magneti.

“This acquisition is a huge win for us. Global Seven gives us the ability to provide customized marketing solutions even better than we did before,” said Tucker Wannamaker, co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Magneti. “Their expertise in business and marketing strategy puts us in a unique position to work with more complex companies, campaigns, and causes.” Wannamaker is also being recognized by the Colorado Springs Business Journal as a 2013 Rising Star.

The terms of the deal have not been disclosed. The two companies crossed paths and worked out a deal while working at downtown’s Epicentral coworking space. “This merger represents so much of what we wanted to have happen in the space,” said Lisa Tessarowicz, co-owner of Epicentral. “Two amazing companies, with incredible founders, coming together to grow their business, better serve their clientele, and be an even stronger force in the world of internet marketing. We look forward to celebrating their continued, and now combined, success.”

1) Strategy isn’t a to-do list item

Setting up an hour tomorrow afternoon to “work on strategy” likely won’t yield much. It’s something that evolves and develops over weeks–months. Think of it like a pilot flying at 50,000 feet. You take in lots of information about the conditions and your plane’s path through them. It’s a macro view that can’t be polished off in one fell swoop. Strategy development is collaborative, iterative, and painful. Throw the spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks. Do it over and over with lots of different stakeholders.

2) Strategy isn’t uniform
What I mean is this: developing company, brand, product or marketing strategy looks very different as a process from company to company. It relies on strengths and resources. One marketing strategy for company A in industry X might be VERY different than marketing strategy for company B in that same industry X. Companies have culture, histry, and people that require appropriate balancing.

3) Strategy isn’t about what you do
Often times it’s about what you choose NOT to do. Look at all the product lines Apple has chosen to avoid: printers, TVs, etc. They do fantastic at all of them, no doubt. But by focusing on disrupting things like music and cell phones, their singular vision has lead to a user-centric product development model that has lead to be the most powerful technology company in the world. As famous strategist Michael Porter once said: “Trade-offs are central to a company’s strategy. They create the need for choice and purposefully limit what a company offers.”

4) Strategy isn’t something to outsource
You know your business in and out. You know your customers, their needs, and their perceptions. Paying a consultant to come in and “do strategy” doesn’t make sense. You’ll probably spend more time explaining things you’ve taken years to learn only to have them recommend a canned and cliche business strategy. You CAN bring in outside help, but keep it collaborative, open, and leverage each other’s strengths.

5) Strategy isn’t always active
Because company and product strategy is navigating the appropriate path for a given industry and marketplace, sometimes the correct action is purposefully not acting.

6) Strategy isn’t boring
It’s living and active and your business relies on it. Big ideas affecting entire companies and organizations is the high-stakes game of business poker. It’s an honor to be a part of that process.

7) Strategy isn’t easy
Strategy is really similar to raw creative work. You could spend weeks on something and get nowhere–or you could have a stroke of genius and make headway in no time. Find your strategic inspiration and trust your brain.

Here are two ideas that we’ve had at GlobalSeven to help you adapt your social media strategy to improve your website’s SEO:

1. Develop high quality content that your readers will be inclined to share with their followers. Google no doubt is trying to gear their algorithms to follow what people want and are actually looking for. This is why fake back links will never hold a positive place in Google’s eyes. If there is a natural flow of traffic (links or clicks) to a specific site then Google will give priority to that site. One of the best ways to do this is to create great content that people will want to share and click on. The question is how do you create that content?  As we all learned in Economics 101, it is simply a matter of supply and demand. What do people want to know? What are they asking for help on? Where there is a demand for knowledge, you cannot go wrong if you are supplying that demand with answers.

There are a few ways to find out what people are asking.

• Search on Twitter for what people are asking questions about. We shared a tool recently that does this well. Check out InboxQ on our post about free twitter tools for awesome engagement.
• Keep track of your retweets. People only retweet what they like and are interested in.
• Keep track of your click throughs on twitter. When I do this I build a catalog of click throughs and the posts with the highest click throughs are usually the direction I take my content.
• Check your Facebook insights. Facebook will tell you what people like and what they don’t. A jump in reach or talking about this is a good indictor to watch.

• Ask a question on Facebook. Never hurts to ask!

2. Continue to build your social media following for back links. Google and Bing do count your social media links and click throughs as back links so the more you can put out there the better. One social media platform that is often forgotten about is Google+. Nobody can prove it but it’s highly likely that Google is somewhat biased to content coming from G+. If you’re not on there and posting regularly it might be time to start.

Make sure that your site is linked to your social media account as well. This can be done by using different Facebook apps or Twitter apps to share your blog posts as soon as you publish them. Or you can use an automatic posting tool like Buffer or Hootsuite to help get your posts out there.

In a final note I think it is wise to mention that as you build your social media following you will not need to rely on your SERP as much. The greater your following the more direct influence you will have and the less you will be affected by Google’s algorithm changes in the future. Always remember search engines follow traffic, if build your SEO strategy on a steady flow of traffic coming from your social media followers you should be on the right track.

What other ways might social media influence your SEO? What else have you seen work? We’d love to hear your thoughts. 

We believe that creating a robust yet easily managed online ecosystem is key to your organization’s success. One of the things we really strive to do is to take the guesswork out of inbound marketing so that it frees you up to do what you do best. Here are five steps to consider for creating a healthy online ecosystem:

1. Build a content-rich website – It’s vital that your website warrants a reason for traffic. You want your consumer to feel satisfied while visiting your website and remember it later. Concerning the amount of content your website should contain, remember there is a fine balance between providing too little and too much information. Too little leaves one unsatisfied. Too much leaves one overwhelmed. Put yourself in your consumer’s shoes. What would one be looking for on your particular website? Is the content appealing, engaging, relevant, and informative? Does it draw them in and make them stay? It’s also important to remember that your website is often the face of your organization—your content should be easily accessible and easily navigable. Poorly constructed websites are guaranteed to keep consumers away. Website design and functionality are worth the investment. Improve your visibility by understanding and implementing SEO (search engine optimization) throughout your website.

2. Determine which social media platforms are right for your brand – Today’s consumer enjoys being connected. Consider your market, your product, and your goals. Which social media platforms will most effectively reach your market and give them access to information? How much or how little do you want to interact? Watch how other organizations interact with their market. Take cues from their outcomes. Continually assess what’s working and what’s not. You may find that one platform is more effective than another. Consider dropping the ones that become ineffective time wasters. Whatever you choose, it’s vital to update frequently, which means having someone dedicated to the task.

3. Collect every email you possibly can – The more contacts you have, the broader your reach. In addition to the standard newsletter signup option, there are many effective and creative ways to obtain emails through promotions, offers, and contests. People love free stuff, coupons, relevant and interesting information, etc. But before launching this platform, recognize that some people are a bit jaded about email signups—especially if they believe they’ll be bombarded constantly. So don’t over-email, and remember to keep your emails direct, relevant, attractive, and simple.

4. Create a plan of attack – With regard to social media marketing, consider the platforms you want to implement and the time they will take to maintain. Organize who will take on the role of updating certain platforms, and decide what sorts of things your organization wants to share through each one. With your website in mind, decide how often you want to update content, what you want featured, and who will take on this role. It may take a few or many personnel, depending on the scope of your website. It’s important to stay organized and delegate responsibilities for all of the many ways you reach your market.

5. Update your ecosystem constantly – Being up-to-date is key. It’s important that your market sees that you are on the cutting edge and fulfilling their needs. Having an “alive” presence means updating your content regularly and engaging on social media frequently. Maintaining this “alive” online presence is a constant job. The more they see how active you are, the more reliable you appear. And the more your audience sees you, the more they are aware of you and will remember you. It’s also important to be flexible with how you interact online. Your strategies will need to be adaptable in today’s quickly evolving social media networking and marketing world.

Here are 7 components to building a brand:

1) Understand the value you provide.

This sounds obvious but is much harder than you’d think. Boil down what you do and value you provide. But no, REALLY…why should busy people stop what they’re doing and listen to you. Why should people with thousands of choices choose to take hard-earned money out of THEIR pocket and put it in YOURS. No, REALLY? What do you ACTUALLY do that provides unique and sustainable value. Knowing the answer to this is a great start to developing a brand.

2) Brands are about emotion and experiences.

A study showed that you get more brownie points with a customer if you mess up, then recover well–than if you never messed up at all. This isn’t logical: this is emotional. Things like purchase decisions and loyalty are driven by emotion…don’t waste your time thinking otherwise. Build holistic experiences where customers can experience your brand in a new, non-intrusive-but-still-emotional way.

3) What taste do you want to leave in your customers mouths?

Strange phrase, I know. But when a customer had an interaction with your brand, what “vibe” do they get afterwards. Many seek cozy, heart-warming and familial (think Hallmark, Pampers, Bounty) some aim to be silly, quirky, and memorable (Dos Equis, Old Spice, State Farm), still others want you to get a sense of prestige and exclusivity (Mercedes, Johnny Walker, Ralph Lauren).

4) Don’t worry about competitors.

Providing the most value to your current customers will do amazing things for your business and -subsequently- your brand. By worrying about your customers and not your competition, you learn more about Point 1 (Above). Besides, a happy customer who becomes an external evangelist for your brand is more powerful than spending hours analyzing what other people are doing. The one caveat when it comes to brands — be unique enough of a peronsality (See point 6 below) that customers can keep you and your competition apart

5) Brand must be present in an increasing number of places

Conversations are happening in every nook and cranny of the web. Social networks, forums, SMS, native apps, etc. Be a part of as many conversations as possible.

6) Create a personality

Imagine your brand sprouted legs and you met it at a party. What would it be like? What is it’s vernacular, behavior style, and MO. Defining that up front will be surprisingly helpful in building a brand. Where would your brand be seen? Go there.

7) Lose control.

You hope to set up the channel markers, but let customers say what they want. Don’t over moderate or censor– an overly sanitized message means the “marketing people” have had their hands all over it. Don’t be afraid to lose control of your message a bit. At the end of the day, the brand belongs to the customer. Your brand is the relationship THEY have with it.

Also, below you will see boxes that look like this:

These are QR Codes! They are 2D bar codes that allow you to simply scan the code on the screen with your iPhone and it will take you directly to the App Store on your iPhone for easy download of the app mentioned.

My favorite scanners are Scan (free) and QuickMark ($1.99 but also let’s you create QR Codes from your iPhone)

1) Gift Plan

Many of you give gifts to your clients for Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries, etc… I’m not sure about you, but I like to get something as relevant as possible to them, you know… something they may actually like or appreciate. This app makes it easy to jot down and remember what those great gift ideas may be. There are also reminders about different events so you can be in the know with notifications about events coming up. What also makes this app stand out is not only it’s ease of use and practicality including Facebook connecting, but also it’s lovely colorful design.

One way to think about this for a gift is everytime you see one of your clients, jot down in this app what kind of phone they have… If it is any kind of a smart phone, it is generally pretty easy to gift apps to people and (with 300,000 iPhone apps) there is a good possibility that there is a cool, personalized app that you can gift them with ease!

COST: $2.99

Click here to view the embedded video.

2) Remember the Milk 

Everybody has their way of to-do lists. Some use planners, some use sticky notes, some use Outlook… But my problem is that I remember things I need to do at the most inopportune times. If I could have a to-do system that syncs with everything(except paper) and can be everywhere I go, then sign me up!  In comes Remember the Milk! This to-do platform not only has a great FREE iPhone app, but also integrates and connects with most everything out there that you use.There is a PRO version which is $25/year. For the iPhone, that means unlimited syncing vs. only syncing once/day.

Here is a link to all of the features, but here are some of them:

• Sync with Remember The Milk online, MilkSync for Outlook(pro), Gmail/Google Apps, Chrome plugin, Mac app, etc. Great for backing up your tasks and notes.
• Organize the way you want to with priorities, due dates, time estimates, repeating, lists, tags, and more.
• Search your tasks and notes, and save your favorite searches as Smart Lists.
• See tasks nearby and plan the best way to get things done.
• Get reminded via email, SMS, and instant messenger; see www.rmilk.com/reminders to set up.

• And more! See www.rmilk.com/iphone for details.

Here a quick video to show you what it can do!

COST: FREE

Click here to view the embedded video.

3) Evernote  

A great quote I heard once, “The mind is for creativity, not for storage.” I think Einstein said it, but I’m not sure… Nevertheless, I agree in many ways; I know I can’t remember everything and in fact I try not to. I need some good tools to help me remember so I can use my precious brain power for other things. That’s why I use Evernote.

I know as Advisors you encounter so much information on a regular basis: contracts, receipts from expenses, ideas that pop in your head on a regular basis, whatever it may be. Evernote is a great tool to “remember,” organize, keep track of, and have access to all of that info anywhere. Also great about Evernote is that many other services sync with it… i.e. JotNot Scanner Pro (coming up next)

Want some great ideas on how to use it? Check out this search in Youtube for “How I use Evernote.”

COST: FREE

4) JotNot Scanner Pro   

Now, I know you’re probably not the type of person whose receipts and papers are all messy like this. But just in case you are (just like me), you’ll find the JotNot Scanner Pro to be an incredible way to keep your papers and receipts pretty and organized through this fantastic app. A few ways you can use it:

1) Take a picture of all your receipts, upload them to your free Evernote account, categorize and tag them for easy organization and search-ability.

2) Take a picture of that recent life insurance contract that you need to fax over to that insurance company stuck in the 1990′s. It will turn it into a nice pdf then send a fax directly from within the app to wherever you need to.

3) You have a paper in your hand that needs to be copied, but you aren’t around any scanner/copier/printer… Take a picture of the document, email it directly from your phone to your co-worker who is around a printer and have them make a copy for you to bring to the meeting you have later!

COST: $.99

5) SocialWare  

 

6) SugarSync  

There are quite a few file sharing/storage apps out on the market right now. I’ve tested some of the major ones, Dropbox | Box.net | SugarSync. Personally, I’ve found that SugarSync has more bells and whistles, a better free plan(FYI: scroll down a little and you’ll see the completely free plan as opposed to the trial plans,) more storage space for their free and paid plans, and more team collaboration and syncing than any of the others. You can also sync between multiple devices and Operating Systems.

Here’s a situation: You have this document that you need to get to your colleague on your real estate team and it is on your homecomputer…. What should an agent do? Well, SugarSync allows you to back up any folder on your computer that you want to the Cloud, email that file directly to your colleague and let you know when they have opened the file!

The great thing is also that SugarSync automatically syncs any file with the cloud that you put into the syncing folder… no extra steps included.

- Anytime, anywhere access to all files, photos and music

- Instantly share remotely-stored files from your iPad with friends and colleagues

- Stream a music library from any computer (save valuable local storage space for favorites)

- view quick thumbnails of synced images

- sync select files direct to my iPhone’s harddrive for offline use

- Sync photos taken with your iPhone or created on your iPod or iPad back to all your devices access all of the files I have synced easily

COST: FREE

Click here to view the embedded video.

7) CardMunch  

Being an Elite Advisor, you are probably a prolific networker. That also means you probably get a ton of business cards. These cards can quickly cause clutter on your desk, in your briefcase or on your night stand at home. It sure would be nice to get someone to input the info from these business cards into your contact list.

Now you’ve found that person.

This is a Business Card Scanner with Human-Powered Transcription.

Here’s how it works:

Step 1 – Use your phone to take a picture of that business card using the application

Step 2 – The people at CardMunch manually transcribe every card you submit for guaranteed accuracy

Step 3 – Contacts are returned directly to your phone within minutes.

COST: FREE

Click here to view the embedded video.

 8) PULSE News Reader   

How do you read your news and follow your favorite websites/blogs/authors as easy as possible? Do you still read the (gasp) paper? Do you have to go and check your favorite sites all the time to see if there is anything new and relevant? Why not have the news come to you.

Have you ever seen this symbol? This symbol stands for RSS which literally stands for “Really Simple Syndication.”

1st > Watch this video about what and how RSS feeds and Google Reader works.

2nd> Setup your Google Reader account. If you have a Google/Gmail account already, when you log in, there should be a READER link in the top left hand corner to click. Add RSS Feeds to your Google Reader account.

3rd> Get Pulse for the iPhone and sync it to your Google Reader account. Start enjoying my favorite RSS reader for the iPhone. Have your news coming to you, on the go, and in a simple and beautiful way.  Check out this video to show you the way!

COST: FREE

Click here to view the embedded video.

9) Find My iPhone  

I have never lost my iPhone, except for that one time. That one time was that time that I was glad I had this app.

This app is a must for elite advisors.  

You probably have lots of information on your iPhone. Some of this information is personal and confidential to you and your clients. The big deal with this app is that you can remotely lock or wipe everything off of your iPhone!

Here’s a guide on how to set it up from Apple. http://www.apple.com/iphone/find-my-iphone-setup/

Here’s where you go to login online to locate your lost phone. http://me.com

COST: FREE

10) HeyTell  

You know those times when your driving down the street and you need to relay a quick message to your secretary. Usually you’d call because you thought that was your only option in the car(because we certainly texting isn’t), but you don’t really want to get into a conversation nor wait 5 rings just to hear their voicemail message and then finally get to the point of leaving a message.

Here’s where HeyTell comes in. It’s a cross-platform(iPhone and Android) voice messenger that allows you to instantly talk with whomever you’d like on the HeyTell platform. It also shrinks down the amount of data that’s used equivalent to sending an email so you don’t go over your data limit.

Check out their website for a quick demo. http://heytell.com/

COST: FREE

1) It makes me think that maybe I’m not the one doing the leading.

2) It makes me think that I have forced someone to enter into a relationship that the person on the other end didn’t actually want nor intend to get into.

3) It makes me think that this business is all about the deal, and not about the people.

4) It makes me think that the only value a real estate agent has is by controlling information.

Now, maybe it is merely semantics, but do you think we should think different about “lead generating” including the words we use for it?

What if we could be the leaders? What if we could be given permission from them to work with them as their agent, instead of forcing them to deal with us and us dripping on them? What if we, as Chris Brogan said in an interview about online marketing, “…treat[ed] people like people,” because then “everything goes a lot better.” What if we realized that agents can and (some) actually do have a legitimate, non-commoditized value that far surpasses any kind of MLS information access (and worth the fees we charge)?

We should answer ourselves this question: What is our truly legitimate, differentiated value? Some of us know it, some of us don’t, and some of us don’t have much. After that question is answered, take that kind of value to the people (and guess where many of those people are). Become a trusted agent, become a thought leader, become a servant to people you don’t even know yet, by going out of your way to give them value. What could happen?

Like one business I know. They got a call from someone whom she had never met; the client told them that he wanted to use them for business because of her blog/value. Was that a lead? I don’t think so. That was trust-generated business.

Maybe then we wouldn’t have to do any “lead generating” because we have already generated their trust and then subsequently their business.

What do you think? Would changing our language help us change our approach?

What is a QR Code:

According to Wikipedia, a QR code is a “matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code), readable by QR scanners, mobile phones with a camera, and smartphones. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on white background.”  They were created by a company called Denso-Wave, the “QR” stands for “quick response,” and their goal was to create a high speed way for information to be decoded, or as they say, “Code read easily for the reader.”

Why QR Codes for business:

QR Codes have been used for multiple purposes, from tracking manufacturing parts to being entire books. Because of the incredible growth of smartphone app usage and the quickly growing number of smartphone users, QR codes have and will continue to become a way for marketers to reach their audiences through extending the internet to objects and locations in the real world. One mobile scanning company saw a a 700% increase in 2010 in mobile scanning usage. These codes can be trackable so you can manage response rates with a higher degree of precision, they can open the end user up to much more information(i.e. mobile videos, virtual tours, websites, giveaways), they can be a replacement for expensive print material or can be a new way to use print marketing altogether.

Places where QR codes have been deployed up to this point include: billboard ads, giveaways, in-store displays, food, events and ticketing, stadium displays, business cards, contests, direct mail campaigns, cars, websites, email marketing, coupons, and just a bunch of other crazy stuff(below)!

How to get started using QR Codes for Business

Here are some ways to get started with scanning and creating different QR Codes.

Android Platform: BarCode Scanner ;QuickMark for Android (Both FREE); Google Goggles works for QR codes as well (FREE)

iPhone: QuickMark is my favorite iPhone app for reading QR codes ($.99);  NeoReader(Free); QR Reader (Free); Google Goggles work for scanning as well.

Blackberry: ScanLife Barcode Reader (Free); QR Code Scanner Pro (vibrates when code connects AND Free); NeoReader (Free)

Here are some QR Code Generators:

ScanLife: I like this one because it allows you to track and create multiple different types of codes, includingas well as change the info that you already have on a code.

Kaywa: Like above you can choose to embed a URL, text content or contact information.

Goo.gl: This is Google’s trackable link shortening tool that creates a qr code for each link you make. Limited only to website links.

What thoughts do you have on using QR codes in business? Comment below!