Influence is a tricky thing. If in striving to be influential you succeed, at what cost. If failure is your outcome what can you learn? In either case it’s worth asking “was it worth it?”. No problem with influence here, but influence is best when it is a result of other business and marketing activities. The reality is, many strive for influence to get the sale, what can often be overlooked is that the most profitable influence happens after the sale, when customers have experienced results of your product or service. 

Influence without the Hype

It’s true, there are many over-promised and over-hyped Internet marketing products, viable prospects are looking for a reason to dismiss offers in many markets. Yet those new to Internet marketing can be subject to influence gone wrong.

For those striving for influence, it may be that they don’t have it at all. If successful, is it influence, or something else? Important as influence may be in business and life, in my experience it begins to break down when authenticity is compromised.

In marketing, a good principle to consider is giving them (visitors and prospects) what they want on the front end, and what they need, on the back end. Show them you understand the pain in their world, and that you have a working solution, and you have influence.

Recently I attended a seminar where some ideas shared about influence, specifically when working with clients:

Influence Tips

1.) Establish Trust- People are influenced only by someone they trust.
2.) Educate- The more your clients know, the better.
3.) Explain Why- “It worked on my last three projects.” (demonstrating experience), or “It would cost less.” (demonstrating partnership). etc.
4.) Do it in private - If there is something you need to share that is likely to be mis-understood in a group setting, do it in private, it’s less confronting.
5.) Show them, then sell them - This is the “free sample” strategy. Could be a case study of what other clients have experienced.
6.) Balance the give and take - Recognize that sometimes you have to give a little to get something in return.
7.) Sooner is better than later - Clarity is important, but no matter what you do there can be unknown expectations. These get firmed up the longer they are left alone. Deliver services as soon as possible, so any unknown expectations come to the surface and adjustments can be made early in the process.

These tips seem to fall in line with common sense in most areas of life, especially business. Sometimes in our quests, however, they can get lost…so they can get lost.

Caution: A problem arises when we focus on being influential. The 7 items above can serve as influence indicators if you like. They are a partial list of attributes of those who influence.

How do you react to this? What are attributes of those who have been influential in your professional experiences? Love to hear from you in the comment boxes below.

Image credit: Just_Bryan

There has been a lot of activity recently with our friends at Google. Last week they announced the rollout of Google Plus Your World. This is essentially a more elegant version of personal search, with a snazzy video (shown a bit later). Now that the dust has settled, the question marketers are asking is how to leverage this? What does it mean for SEO?  It means a lot. We’ll cover that and share 7 things you can do now to make the most of Google’s recent changes.

7 Ways Marketers Can Leverage Google’s Personal Search

The farm. Google is pretty much betting that on their social initiative, Google+. Before sharing more on that, if you haven’t seen the video of this new functionality it’s here:

From my vantage point there are several forces in play here:

• Delivering more relevant search results.
• Unifying many of the Google properties and services with the Google bar and Google+.
• In doing so, training users that the cloud is where they should put their data (and that it’s safe with Google).

1-Have a Long-Term View

Similar to SEO projects, your ability to penetrate personal search results will take time. So many get burned out when they don’t get “instant” results online. The fact is, “instant results” only become (more) instant once your site is viewed favorably, trustworthy by Google.

Having a long-term view is a step in that direction. I like to think of Google as a business partner. Built value and trust into the relationship and over time they will reward you for it. [Tweet Me]

2-Get on Google Plus

Many of you reading this likely already have a Google Plus account. If you don’t, go set one up. Be sure to fill out your profile data, and created an engaging introduction. If you want to get a head-start, here are some Google Plus Tips to get you going.

3-Hook in your other social profiles on your profile page

While personal search doesn’t currently support other social profiles like Twitter, this is certainly something Google has done in the past, and wants to do going forward. When creating your profile, be sure to add links to your other social profiles. This not only tells readers of your profile where else you may be active, but it informs Google to look there as well.

4-Get on YouTube

I’ve been a fan of YouTube for some time. It is one of the top referral sources of converting traffic (screenshot here) I’ve seen. If you don’t have channel on YouTube, it’s important you get one.

Why? We know that YouTube videos show up in Google search results, but more than that is the social component. YouTube is a social network. You comment, rate, favorite, subscribe. Those are social actions, and social indicators.

It may or may not happen this year, but look for Google to integrate YouTube more tightly into the Google + social framework. As evidence of their integration of Google apps, Android apps, Blogger, and AdWords ads (to name a few).

Last summer Google started cleaning house on YouTube, shutting accounts down what they deem invalid, and of no value to users (more on this here and here). I believe this is part of the process before Google integrates Google+ with YouTube.

5-Establish a Brand Page

Beyond having a personal profile, it’s important that you have a brand page for your website, or business. Learn more about how to build your Google+ business page here.

This additional profile page is important in telling Google that you are serious, and that you intend to deliver value to the web.

6-Build Your Networks

Targeted. This is key. Build connections with people who are influential in your market. Personal profiles, and business profiles. If what Jon Henshaw says is true and Google has a new page rank coined as the Google Profile Authority (GPA), it’s wise to think in terms of building authority into your profiles. Numbers take a back seat here. Value, relevance, and authority will factor in Google rankings.

The Premium version of Google Plus Secrets “How to Build a Power Network” is designed to help users do just that, build a targeted network on Google Plus.

7-Have a Steady Diet of Online Social

This ties into the points of thinking long term and thinking of Google as a business partner. Sharing valuable content with those who have added you to their network is nice, sharing content that is engaged with via +1, shares, and comments is better. Doing the former consistently will lead to more of the latter. This presents a challenge, and requires consistency, but in the end, it is worth it.

In the end, if you depend on SEO traffic as a significant portion of your traffic, you need to be involved and engaged in the social web. These 7 tips are designed to help set you in the right direction. What do you think? Do you think viewing Google as a business partner is smart, foolish, or somewhere in between? Do you think that the hype about Google+ is overblown, or is there merit to it? Chime in below.
Image Credit: xddorox 

Let’s agree on something right now. Internet Marketing is not simple. Principles exist, as with any business, but as a whole it’s not simple. 

What makes it ‘not’ simple? The first half of that phrase, Internet. Agreed? 

Good.

Marketing is simple. Couple it with Internet, and things get complex in a hurry.

You may not have world-class mad skills at copywriting, email marketing, blogging, video, social media marketing, SEO, PPC, or any other point technical Internet marketing skill, marketing  alone still equals (=) simple.

Say It With Me ‘I am a marketer’

Some among us find it difficult.

If that’s you, don’t dodge it any longer.

You may not know everything there is to know about “Internet Marketing” (who does?) but that doesn’t disqualify you.

You are a marketer.

Let me explain.

It’s all about how you define marketing.

Marketing in it’s essence is persuasion. Education that invokes change in behavior.

Persuasion requires leadership.

If you can persuade, you do so by marketing.

Telling a story that compels the listener to act is marketing.

Marketing precedes selling in most cases.

This post is marketing the topic of marketing.

If you are still reading, this post is having success persuading (to a degree).

Those turned off will tune out. Those turned on will tune in, and turn it up.

We all want to be heard. It’s up to us to lead by compelling others to listen. That effort is marketing. It’s that simple.

So no need to deny it any longer.

You are persuading, prodding, but hopefully not begging, people to engage your stuff.

If you do it well, you get rewarded.

It starts with the agreement in your heart and mind that “You are a marketer.”

It’s your turn.

I am a marketer. (Read that again, out loud, it’s ok.)

There.

All better.

Back to work.
Photo credit: Hans_van_Rijnberk

You’ve likely read a handful of posts, tweets, and articles online when it comes to everything of the New Year. There are some really great nuggets out there.

Which brings you here.

What to do with all those fancy ideas?

How to implement all those power tips?

Don’t.

What?

Don’t.

Don’t seek to implement many of those things, without focusing on the main thing. Your greatest asset.

Well, that’s what I’m doing. Focusing on a skill. Well, skills that master all other skills.

Skills that help marketers implement. Get more done. Fast.

Let me share with you what I mean.

Our Greatest Asset in the New Year

Marketing is about leverage.

Marketing is about timing.

We all have varying amount of money, talents, and social currency.

Time, however, is the great equalizer. It levels the playing field. Some of us may live longer than others, or have more remaining years on this mud ball, but we all only have 24 hours in a day.

Time is our greatest asset, and should be leveraged as well.

Regular Reminders of Your Greatest Asset

A New Year, hopefully causes us to reflect on the last year. Perhaps this year, you are going through life, holidays, birthdays missing someone who was around at this time last year. It could be a family member or a friend who was taken suddenly.

In any case, life is faithful to remind us of its fragility. If it takes its proper effect, it compels us to as questions, and ultimately ask questions of ourselves as to how we are spending our days.

Time is your greatest asset in the New Year. As it is for all of us. Leveraged well, it can make a greater impact in your marketing.

I thought I’d share two things I’m doing to improve my use of this asset. Let’s get down to brass tacks shall we?

Using a Timer

There are a multitude of distractions in the online world. Every service is competing for our attention. We may have varying degrees of effectiveness in doing so, but it is important to shut it off. The best way to do this I’ve found is by using a timer (more on this here).

I’m now experimenting moving away from a kitchen timer and going with a pomodoro timer on my Android device (it’s here). A screenshot of the app starts off this post.

It’s nice because it is very visible, and it ticks out-loud. The idea behind the pomodoro technique is that the human brain works best with short bursts of focus, followed by a break. An Italian graduate student in the late 80s discovered that time to be 25 minutes focus, and a 5 minute break.

Before Pomodoro I found 55 minutes of focus and 5 minute break was effective, but I am looking forward to the results of this updated approach.

Learning to Read Again …FAST

As a result of joining Infusionsoft, I was extended the offer to learn how to speed read. There is huge value there, as this is what I do a lot of, and can be a huge leverage point. I’m relatively new to this and finding it to be hard work. No speed writing class yet, tho, chime below in if you know of one.

The greatest challenge is changing how I read. Reading by grouping words in chunks, and turning off the 4th grade voice in your head is not easy when you’ve been reading as I have for this many years.

I’m encouraged that it is worth the effort, as I think of reading books in 1/2 or 1/4 of the time that I do without speed reading.

If it makes sense I will post an update on my speed reading achievements as they unfold.

If we agree that our greatest asset is time, it’s worth considering new ways to maximize it. Above are two ways I’m moving to do so…any more than that and my effectiveness goes down. What about you, what are you doing to leverage time in the coming months? Chime in below.

Hard to believe that another year is behind us. I recently was reviewing some Google analytics stats for this site to get ideas for content in the coming year, and saw some interesting trends. There were posts that were highly trafficked, some that were highly engaged by readers, but not all highly trafficked posts were highly engaged. I’ll get to these in a moment.

Google analytics can provide valuable insights as to traffic, engagement, conversions, keywords, etc. but what it doesn’t do is clarify the experience of human visitor. What really matters is what you think as a reader and subscriber. Truth be told, you are the reason we do what we do here.

Take a moment to chime in and share you thoughts on what you liked, didn’t like, and what you’d like to see

As the saying goes, we may not have it all together, but together we have all we need.

This Year’s Top Content Awards Go To

Below are two categories classifying top content here. Most trafficked content is not always the best indicator of the quality of content for this site, or yours. What bloggers should aspire for is engaging content, that visitors would stick around, read, even visit other pages. That said, here goes:

Most Visits: Top 10

There were a lot of interesting things that happened this year. Not the least of which was the Internet’s biggest search engine launching a social media service. Here they are.

1. 40 Google Plus Tips: This was a landslide post for some time, and still gets a decent traffic. More than 2x the traffic of the next most trafficked post. Social sharing on this post helped.
2. 6 Steps to Small Business Marketing with LinkedIn: LinkedIn continues to expand and establish itself as the social network for business professionals, here are ideas on using it.
3. Review of Lewis Howes Linked Influence Training: Useful product for leveraging LinkedIn to expand your network strategically. Social sharing on this post helped.
4. How to Advertise on Facebook in 10 Minutes or Less: It’s pretty easy to do it. Really.
5. WordPress Membership Software Plug-in WishList Member: Online marketers are looking for tools to manage their business. Membership site software serves this need.
6. 8 Ideas for Using QR Codes in Your Marketing: Finding ways to employ mobile marketing in one’s business is important, but it has to make sense.
7. Video Traffic Academy Review: Continuing education product designed to help marketers leverage video for more engagement, traffic, and sales.
8. Review of DigitalAccessPass: Product that offers a more robust and flexible approach to membership site management.
9. 7 Reasons to Use Mobile Marketing in Your Business: An emerging interest segment for digital marketers, but why?
10. 3 Strategies for Profitable Followup After and Event or Seminar: Many need insights and a little inspiration here. This post is designed to provide that.

It’s worth noting that some of these posts were not written in the past year, neither were those in the engagement section below. This speaks to the value of blogging. Online marketers can publish content that can give them a steady stream of content for some time in the future.

If you review products as a part of your content marketing strategy, and are compensated as an affiliate when someone purchases (similar to what we do here), the value of the post and your time in creating it actually increases with each sale made.

Most Engagement: Top 10

These are ranked based on longest average time on posts with a minimum number of visits. The idea here, if they are staying on the page they are engaging in the content. I also looked at average number of pages per visit (are they looking at other, sometimes related, posts on the site).

1. FB Influence Review: If you think your market is on Facebook, there is an affordable marketing course to help you.
2. Twitter Advertising: This was written some time ago, but continues to get traffic.
3. Case Study WordPress Theme Doubles Revenue: This is a theme used on one of our other sites.
4. 21 Ways I Use Infusionsoft for Follow Up Marketing: Infusionsoft is a powerful software. Here are some examples of its use.
5. Review of Easy Video Player: Video is cool for online marketing. This custom video player software makes it fun.
6. How to Advertise on Facebook in 10 Minutes or Less (Linked in previous section):
7. A Reason to Use the Google URL Shortener: Title says it all.
8. Video Traffic Academy Review (Linked in previous section).
9. WordPress Membership Software Plug-in WishList Member (Linked in previous section).
10. Review of Lewis Howes Linked Influence Training (Linked in previous section).

Photo Credit: Shandi-lee

There are many ways to accelerate and supercharge a marketing career. It involves hard work, salesmanship, and even a little luck. It’s important to understand your goals in light of the phase of your career and why change might be just what you need. If marketing is indeed your game there are three possible avenues to consider. As always, your comments an input are welcome.

Super-Charge Your Marketing Career

Understanding Your Goals

Zig Ziglar is to have said “Aim at nothing, and you’ll hit it every time.” For those of you “running your own show” it’s easy to forget the reason you went into business to begin with. Taking time to put down the hammer and pick up the pencil in your business and life is critical. (Tweet Me)

Thinking about what you want to do is good, better is still is understanding *why* you want to do what you want to do.

If you haven’t yet set aside time for dedicated goal setting or business planning, it is great to do as the New Year approaches, just be careful.

Consider the phase of your career: When thinking of goals, be sure to think long-term. It’s a natural trait of most entrepreneurs to be optimistic, but it’s not against the rules to do some contingency planning should things not go according to plan. If you are younger in your career, on the surface you can afford greater risks. The idea being, there is more time to recover than someone who is further along in their career.

Regardless of size or number, goals are key.

Example: I liken it to investments. Several years ago, I was a part of an investment that didn’t turn out well. Let’s just say I lost a lot of money. Everyone in the investment lost. There were several who were of retirement age. One was a friend ended up going back to school. She hoped to get a job to support herself and her husband with the increasing medical bills from his recent cancer diagnosis. Upon completing school, jobs were hard to come by. Today she’s outside her profession working in a retail store.

As difficult as financial recovery has been for everyone, no more difficult than for those on the near side of retirement. For me and my family, time was on our side more than our friends.

It is wise to consider risk against the season of your career.

Assuming you are in motion. Which way are you going? Toward entrepreneurship, away from entrepreneurship, or perhaps you’re a fit for an emerging hybrid option (more on that in a moment).

Time for a Change?

Change is all around us. Personal and professional growth is key in adding value in the marketplace. If you aren’t growing, have been doing the same thing for years, or doing something that has little alignment with your gifts or talents (and likely little or no joy) it may be time for a change.

A Word About Opportunities

Some of the best opportunities may come when you least expect it. This has been true for me, and has often resulted in the best situations. Sometimes, you need to be more aggressive, intentional, preparing yourself for that next opportunity. You can do this simply by informing your network that you are considering other career options. This can consist of former colleagues, family members, your church, etc. with personal phone calls, or emails.

CAUTION: Buffets of Opportunities Ahead

In preparing for an opportunity, it’s also important to dedicate regular time to social networking activities. While not the only source, LinkedIn is the most notable source for job and career related profiles. With well over 100 million users, it is also most widely used. Learn techniques I use to maximize LinkedIn here.

Look at what trusted advisors and partners are doing. Social networking is great, but nothing will replace face-to-face time. Perhaps they are interested in partnering to make a more compelling offer to the marketplace, or maybe they have a part or full-time opportunity that fits nicely with your skill set and goals.

Is Marketing Your Game?

Sometimes subscribers dabble in marketing, learn it wasn’t for them, and move on. Others dip their toe in marketing, fall in love, and go all in. Both situations are good because they move you closer to where you should be.

It’s important to have confidence that marketing is where you want to be. Need help? Here are some reasons to have a career in online marketing.

Some Want to Be at Home Solopreneurs

Solo-act entrepreneurs

If you are eager to work at home alone, and have all the benefits, freedom, and challenges that presents, the solopreneur path may be the one for you. The Internet is setup for situations like this; you might consider starting in affiliate marketing.

This is ideal for those who have a lifestyle that lends itself to the flexibility that the work-at-home world offers. Sometimes family and health issues force people into making this lifestyle change. As for moving your career forward, you will have to be a quick study and have an ability to implement quickly.

With the current conditions of operating an Internet-based business, to come from nowhere and build a full-time income you will take hard work. You may want to outsource tasks, or even hire staff to accelerate things a bit . This brings us to the next option.

Classical Entrepreneurship

Moving beyond the solopreneur, you believe that success is a team sport, and you are willing to do what it takes to sell and implement your ideas by building a team. This fits a more classic entrepreneur.

As an online marketer, success in this role means you develop systems that are flexible, repeatable, and transferrable to incoming employees. You will develop a nice set of results-oriented online and offline data most solopreneurs will never attain.

Hybrid – The Coopreneurs

This is a word I’ve never heard before, who knows, maybe the word was just ‘coined’ here. At any rate, Coopreneurs are entrepreneurial individuals (perhaps solopreneurs) working with larger organizations that value and can harness the energy and assets an entrepreneur brings to the table. They work together toward common goals, often involving aggressive growth. This is a rare combination, but when it works it can be a very rewarding and mutually beneficial.

The Coopreneur: An entrepreneur who looks to connect their talent and experience with other entrepreneurs.

It’s unique because entrepreneurial individuals have a reputation of not lasting in a situation where they aren’t running the show, and organizations that bring them in are equally reluctant concerned that entrepreneurs might leave when they get bored, overcome a short-term financial hardship or both.

For online marketers, entering in this situation offers the potential of working without common fears associated with non-coopreneur opportunities. Everyone knows going in that this is an entrepreneurial relationship for both parties, with the goals of leveraging one another for the common good. These are environments that encourage continuing education, are fast paced, and make decisions quickly. A great combination to propel ones online marketing career.

I imagine there is a list of companies that embrace this coopreneurs approach, I just didn’t find one. Drop a comment if you can recommend one (or some). From my own experience, Infusionsoft is one such company. Learn about my coopreneurship with Infusionsoft here.

Getting Your Online Marketing Career Super-Charged

In the end supercharging an online marketing career involves clarity on what you want to accomplish, as well as coming across the right opportunity. Whether striking out on your own as a solopreneur, aiming to build a team as an entrepreneur, or becoming a coopreneur. In every case there can be a fit to take your personal and online marketing career development to the next level.
Image Credits: Perry French, HikingArtist.com, USAG-Humphreys, jonrawlinson, runneralan2004

Google continues to ramp things with their social initiative for business Google +. Along with some of the new features released yesterday, the most useful by far is the ability to designate managers for business pages on Google Plus. This is an effort to bring functionality that already exists with Facebook Pages. They are also toying with a new “on air” Hangout live streaming feature, but that’s a post for another day.  For now, I’ll cover these new features briefly, why I like them, and how to use them.

Google Plus Business Pages Seek Parity with Facebook

More than that, Google is aggressively playing catch up, and responding to user input with meaningful changes that are intended to help the adoption rate of the 50+ Million social network.

A list of the latest features added as documented here include:

Improved Photos on Google+

This one deals with the frustration of photo tagging on Facebook. Especially when it comes to images with a lot of people in it (at 0:50). I also noticed that when selecting an album you uploaded it has a tagging wizard that seems to be a huge time saver over the old way of tagging. Watch the new feature in the video below. Can’t see it? Go here.

Google has an uphill climb to begin to make a dent in Facebook, but with their constant stream of updates like this, coupled with their global commitment to improving the service, things may look very different this time next year.

What feature do you like most of this latest set of updates?

From time to time I’m asked what tools I use to create videos. The question behind the question is often really, “How can I use video effectively to get more traffic and sales.”

Software and tools are important, but equally important is understanding how to use video marketing to extend your online marketing for maximum benefit.

In this post, I’ll share the video marketing hardware, software, and training used to market this site and others.

My Video Marketing Toolkit

Video marketing is one of the most effective ways to connect with real people, prospects, and customers. It continues to be one of the top conversion sources of visitors to this site. Here is a list of tools I use to help product and market videos.

Video Marketing Hardware

There are three pieces of hardware I use depending on the situation.

Webcam: Sometimes I’ll record interviews that I have via Skype, or even using the Hangouts feature Google Plus for group video chats. I’ve owned an HD webcam for about 2 years that has worked very well for this purpose. It is by Logitech 720p Webcam Pro 9000. It’s currently available on Amazon here for $39.99.

Pocket HD Camera: This is great if you don’t have a lot of room but want to get decent video quality. The camera I use is a Kodak Zi8, and is the one I use for interviews. If I were to purchase a replacement I’d likely go with the Kodak Playtouch.

DSLR Camera Video Mode: Recently, I’ve been sneaking some time with my wife’s DSLR with one of those fancy lenses. What’s nice is the camera allows for HD video, and the lens creates a nice depth of field. You can get an idea what this looks like in the video on the Muvee Reveal Review (found toward the bottom of the post).

Video Marketing Software

When it comes to software, I’m going to focus on the software used to edit and render the videos, not software that promises SEO benefit through mass-distribution, etc.

Muvee Reveal X: Simplest way to create polished videos fast from photos and videos. This is something I re-discovered recently and may be the best tool available for those who want to create professional movies quickly. If you want the full scoop, see this Muvee Reveal review.

Camtasia: This product was the first video marketing product I purchased. It makes it easy to record your screen on either your PC or Mac. Useful for training or illustrating a product features, or even to record PowerPoint or other slideshow presentations. Recording slideshow presentations has become popular when used in conjunction with automated webinar software like this one (review) to sell products or services. Find more details on this review of Camtasia.

Video Marketing Training

Online marketing is a rapidly changing field. Understanding how to create videos is helpful, but knowing what to include in your videos and how to do with them to maximize your online marketing opportunity is another thing altogether. This goes beyond video marketing, but in every facet of what you are doing with your online business, learning from experts gives one the potential to leapfrog competitors just by executing a proven tip or strategy.

I’ve taken several video marketing courses, but the one I’m currently recommending to readers is the one by James Wedmore, Video Traffic Academy.

One thing James does to make it easy for customers of his course, is to download various formats of the course modules, be it ‘Cliff Notes’, MP3, Slides, or the Transcription. He also provides a whole video resource library so you can create videos that sell. See our Video Traffic Academy review here.

Creating Your Own Video Marketing Toolkit

Video marketing takes some time and work. These products are ones I’ve added to my toolkit incrementally. Don’t feel you need to have all these products in place to start marketing effectively with video, I didn’t! Commit to video marketing and strive to produce quality videos with the least amount of time and effort. Tools and training like these will help you get there.
Image Credit: Julia Manzerova

Have you heard of Tim Tebow? If you are in the US, and pay attention to sports, you may have. I like sports and share some things about it from time to time (like here and here). I think there are a lot of lessons sports can provide us in marketing, business, and life.

Tim Tebow is a second year player in the NFL. In his first year in the league, before taking any snaps or having his first professional debut his jersey was the best-selling jersey in the league and currently surging.

He is a winner.

He was the first sophomore college player to win the Heisman Trophy (essentially the MVP of college football). His team won two national championships under his 4 years of leadership.

Yet he confounds most NFL sports analysts.

Marketing Tim Tebow Style!

He is not an accurate thrower. He resists ‘staying in the pocket’, important for most quarterbacks in the Pros, as the NFL favors those who can pass the ball well. He doesn’t have good footwork they say, yet he has the 3rd most rushing of any other quarterback so far this year. Some say he shouldn’t be winning.

Yet he does win. He and his teammates have become the most respected and feared in the league in the last few minutes. In fact, the Denver Broncos (the team Tim Tebow plays for) have won 6 of the 7 games Tim Tebow has started, and of those 6, 4 were won in last 3 minutes of the game, and 4 of those wins were on the road.

He took over the team when it was in last place with 1 win and 4 losses, and now are tied for first place with 4 games to go, having won 5 road games in a row, the first time since the team did it with now boss John Elway at quarterback in 1998 (the year of their last championship, and Elway’s final year). More stats here.

What can marketers learn from this? A LOT.

Tim Tebow is a controversial figure. He honors his God by praying before and at various points throughout a game, and “Tebowing” as it’s called has been added to the English dictionary (well, maybe…). There’s even a website dedicated to Tebowing around the world.

Know What You Believe

Tim Tebow style marketing means you know what you believe, and live that. In Tim’s case he gets a lot of flak for giving Jesus Christ glory and credit in his interviews. It appears he doesn’t care much what people think. Born into a missionary family, based on his college career it seems he’s been this way much of his adult life.

What do you believe in? What would happen if you were that bold? You’d be marketing Tim Tebow style!

Understand Your Talents and Limitations

“It wasn’t pretty, but fortunately we got the job done, and got the win.” Tim knows that he gives NFL sports analysts a lot of fodder to critique his style of play, mechanics, and etc. He doesn’t deny that. He seems to openly acknowledge his game needs work. Nobody likes to acknowledge limitations or weaknesses they have, let alone talk about it.

What part of your “game” are you not so good at? (Tweet Me) Are you open about it with your colleagues, coworkers, and peers…to get better? If so you’d be marketing Tim Tebow style!

Work Hard

Understanding your weaknesses, doesn’t mean you just accept it. Apparently neither does Tim. His coaches have said that Tim has one of the hardest working young players they’ve seen. Evidence of this is the fact that they’ve changed their game plan to cater to his strengths instead of game plans that demonstrate his weaknesses.

Surround Yourself with Skilled Position Players

A professional on any level understands that his or her success isn’t a solo act. Position players are key to victory. Tim understands this and regularly praises his teammates for “making me look better than I really am.” 

As an online marketer you cannot do it all. If you are just getting started, it may be a decent hosting service or an email marketing service to start. When you are further along adding a virtual assistant or other key position players will free you up to “look better than you really are.” In which case you’d be marketing Tim Tebow style!

Remain Coachable

Based on the NFL analysts’ comments from the beginning, it’s pretty clear that Tim Tebow’s game needs a decent amount of work to be positioned for long-term success in the NFL. Despite of his success (instant millionaire out of college) he knows it, has a desire to get better, is working hard, and based on his comments, knows his coaches can help him get there.

You may or may not have a professional coach, but it’s important to have someone who understands what you are attempting to do to act as a coach. It could be a spouse, parent, or someone who is a leader in your industry. And, as you may have guessed, being coachable means you’d be marketing Tim Tebow style!

Lead by Example

See “Work Hard” section above. Turns out his teammates have responded well to his effort, and respect his leadership. In part because they see him in practice and off the field, in part because they believe he gives them a great chance to win. This creates a rallying effect with his teammates, and it is fun to watch. Here’s a comment.

“He’s the comeback kid,” said Broncos wide receiver Eric Decker. “That’s what we call him. He brings this attitude about him that he’s so positive and always optimistic. That does rub off on guys. To be able to consecutively do this on the road, at home and in the fourth quarter is great. If we have a chance to win, we’re going to win.”

Leaders leading by example in the office and in their market, not asking others to do things they aren’t willing to do themselves, can experience this rallying effect as well, and are marketing Tim Tebow style!

Remain Humble

I watched the post-game interview after a thrilling victory by Tim Tebow and the Broncos earlier this season. Tim was asked questions, and had every opportunity to accept credit and glory for his play, but he went the high road, and commented on how his teammates made all the difference and gave Glory to God for the chance to play a game he loves.

Use Success to Communicate a Life Changing Message (Tweet Me)

An interesting part of that post-game interview was when Tim clarified that as much as he loves the game, football is not what defines him. As wonderful as that win was, that he’s more concerned for the hospital he’s building in the Philippines and the lives it has the potential to impact. That football provides a platform for him to give glory to God, and be an example to an up and coming generation.

Not everyone agrees with Tim’s message, but as long as he’s winning he will have a platform to share his message.

What’s clear? Tim knows his purpose, and it lies outside the lines of the playing field. What is your purpose off the playing field? Knowing it, and moving toward it means you’re marketing Tim Tebow style!

What Will Tim Tebow Marketing Lead To?

Some say Tim Tebow may be paving the way for future quarterbacks whose style doesn’t translate well from college to the NFL. While they are currently 7-5, and have had an amazing run, it’s too early to tell if this will change the game for future quarterbacks.

What we do know is Tim’s faith and belief in his teammates and coaches has led to victories in a year that looked to be a “throw away” season after the first 5 (1-4) games. His outlook and humility is refreshing in a sports culture that has many celebrating their own success.

For Bronco fans and the NFL this may go down as the year of Tim Tebow.

What does it mean for you? While marketing Tim Tebow style is somewhat tongue in cheek, make no mistake the lessons for marketers like you and me are numerous. As you know what you believe, your talents and limitations, work hard, surround yourself with great teammates, lead by example and remain humble, you too will be in a position to communicate a life changing message…your purpose. On purpose. What better marketing is there than that?