Bulldog Marketing

Bulldog Marketing

I started my blog almost a year ago, and I started it with a series of posts called Finding Your Inner Bulldog, where I used each letter in the word Bulldog to describe how you have to be to get the most out of your marketing efforts.  So I figured I would revisit the letters of the word Bulldog, as it relates to marketing, and what I learned over the last 12 months.  So here goes:

B- Blog, Blog, Blog!  Blogging is the fastest way to establish internet presence, and is the most flexible and inexpensive and for the average person, it is easy to do. 

U- Utilize the same material in many different ways.  Record a teleclass, cut some pieces out and use it for marketing, a podcast or sell the entire call as a product.  If you have an ebook written, you can read and record it, creating an audiobook.

L- Leverage other peoples popularity.  You may not be able to get a meeting with Seth Godin or Scott Adams, but if they write about something that you know something about, you can piggyback off of them by leaving comments and trackbacks.

L- Lifecycle. Develop a product portfolio that includes many items and different price points to allow your prospects to buy, rebuy and refer others to you.

D- Do only the things that you are passionate about.  Life is too short to spend time on products and projects that you aren't that interested in.

O- Online Visibility.  Make sure that you are visible online, and use things like keyword searches and nichebot to find the holes in cyberspace.

G- Go Ugly Early. Get your stuff out there, and let the market fine tune it for you.  I have beaten this one to death, so hopefully you get the concept.

TypePad's New Page Feature

Wouldn't it be nice if it was as easy to create a web page as it is to do a blog post?  You never can tell how this stuff really works until you try it, so I had to find out for myself how it all works.  Here is what I did:

1.  I went into my TypePad Account, and clicked on New Page.

2.  I gave my New Page a title, just like I would a blog post.

3.  I put content on the page just like I would a blog post. 

4.  I turned on the HTML editor just like I would a blog post.

5.  I typed in the words, just like I would a blog post

6.  I put in a cool piece of HTML code- thats right...just like I would a blog post.

8.  I hit publish and save...You got it...just like I would a blog post.

9.  Then I came back to new posts, and created this post, just like I would a web page. (gotcha!)

10.  I typed in check it out, highlighted it, clicked on the link tool, and typed in the new page address, which is your blog URL with a / and_the_new_ file_ name.html  just like I would a blog post.

And check it out there is the new page!

In less than 10 minutes, you can have a page up on the web, without the hassles of FTP and a hosting company, and, it really is as easy as creating a blog post.  Thanks TypePad!

Woof!

 

Typepad Rocks!!

Wow!  I have been waiting for a feature like this almost as long as an eye cream that will REALLY work and reduce the bags under my eyes!!  Check it out, Type Pad has Pages now!   So lets say that you want to feature some information, or create a separate page for a calendar of events, etc... All you need to do is go to create a new page, type out the information that you want on that new page, and link the two, or have a separate home page for your blog. How easy is that?  Read all about it here, and I will play around with the new feature and let you know how to implement it.
I gotta run now and cancel my web-hosting account and getting rid of my FTP software that I had to use if I wanted to create a stand alone page to go with my blog.  Stay tuned!

Choosing the right provider

I have  been working like a dog lately, not like a bulldog, but more like a Jack Russel Terrier who knows there is a small rodent in the backyard.  What am I working on? (Thanks for asking) I am building a membership website.  A membership website that ties into a shopping cart, gives people private access to download-able products and will automatically deposit money into the bank account while I sleep.  I am excited about it, but let me tell you, I have learned a lot in the process.  Here are a few tips for you to consider if you are looking at brining a new piece of technology into your life.

All or None Thinking, Isn't

I don't listen to a lot of music, but there are a few people that I really like to listen to.  John Mayer is one of them.  There is something about a guy who can sing 'Your Body is a Wonderland" to a bunch of screaming girls, and then turn around a do a song like 'Stop This Train' that makes me cry every time I listen to it because the lyrics and melody are so good.  So from time to time, I stop by his website to see what he is up to, and I don't mean to find out  whether he is dating Jessica Simpson or not.
If you haven't seen his blog, and are interested in reading great content by  someone who is an exceptional writer, check it out.  His post on Global Warming is very thought provoking and  really got me thinking about something...
Do we have to do something 100% for it to make a difference?

Was it good for you too?

One of the things to consider before embarking down a specific product development or internet strategy path is to consider your market, and HOW they want to receive your products or services.  As an equestrian, I get really excited about the possibilities of creating cool  information products that will help people ride better. These products could be easily downloaded to their computer, which makes it a nice fit for me.  But here is the problem.  Most people who ride and show horses competitively aren't sitting in front of their computer and they tend to live in rural areas and don't have high speed internet access.  In fact, most of the people I work with in actually want to see me face to face and not even work over the phone, since they are used to doing business 'the old fashioned way'.  Does this make sense?  Before you spend hours and money creating something consider:

1.  Who is my target customer for this campaign or product?

2.  What is their typical level of technology expertise?  In other words, does the word Download scare or confuse them?  Do they still want the information on a cassette tape to play in their Walkman?

3.  Are they geographically desirable to high speed access?

4.  Do they typically use products or services in the manner you want to deliver your product or service?

I know this sounds like basic information, but I am surprised at how many times we forget that we aren't the customer, and not everybody wants to do things the way we think they should.