This is a Internet Marketing Master Mind Group that is absolutly wonderful. Everyone there is friendly and willing to help you know what it takes to make it in this business. Take a look at this video and if you are serious about making it in this industry come over and join us. We would love to share ideas and network with you.

Million Mind March

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How To Fix The Music Industry Documentary from MUSEXPO on Vimeo.

Director: Max Tolkoff

Co-Producers: Sat Bisla & Brandon Fuller

Editing: Kurt St Thomas



www.musexpo.net

www.passportapproved.com





I am seeing how this flock webb Flockrowser works

Blogged with the Flock Browser

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When I first heard of neobux I said the same thing to myself as most people Ohh No, here comes another scam. I never really looked into these programs because I thought my time would be better spent working on projects that seem to be more quality than a PTC (Pay To Click) scheme. While I was on myLot I noticed a lot of people trying to get me signed up with neobux. Around the 10th time seeing it I thought I would do a little researvh on the site. So I looked on the web and googled things like "neobux scam", "the truth about neobux", etc... I could find nothong negative about it so I went on over to youtube to check to see if anyone had put any videos out.

After watching these quick videos I said to myself "What the Hell" it is free - I may as well check it out. If nothing else I could at least warn my readers about it. So I am going to take a test run. I can not see making much money off of the site but if it is simple and does not take to to much time then it may be perfect to make sure My web domain is paid for every month. I am going to try it out and see if it is a scam or not. I will be back tomorrow to give you my thoughts.

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This is likened to the corporate business model of meeting people at social events, getting to know them better; perhaps invite them to your home for a party, and then after dinner with brandy and cigars is when the real networking gets done.Smart really - it’s been working for hundreds of years so it will work here too in the virtual world. Anyhow leave me out of the cigars, and I’ll switch brandy to a vintage port but other than that I’m a happy chappy.

Look out for more updates as the next trainings come through and I really get to grips with the power of Twitter!!

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n November 2008, I launched the Save $1,000 in 30 Days Challenge, where I offered ultra-tactical tips to save money and earn money using on credit cards, gas, automated savings techniques, and more. (See all the tips.) It turned out to be a huge success. Tens of thousands of people participated. You left over 1,000 comments. Together, we’ve all saved more than a million dollars.

Today, to continue those tips, I’m announcing a new program called The Scrooge Strategy. This is a subscription program that you can sign up for today to get new savings tips — about one per week — and continue saving even more money.

Perfect if you need ongoing strategies, tactics, and reminders about saving money
As a member of The Scrooge Strategy, you’ll receive an email to you each week with a new savings tip. As with prior tips, it will include a fresh way of looking at saving money — not more of the same old boring tips that nobody listens to. As a member, you’ll be able to request a savings tip in your particular challenge area: Maybe it’s eating out, or shopping, or spending too much on electronics. I’m also including a panel of expert writers, who will help you save money and conquer that problem area.

These tips work
I spend hours writing each tip, which tend to be 4-6 pages long. They include super-tactical tips with screenshots, phone numbers, call scripts, and my own tips on what to watch out for. As a member, you’ll get one tip per week — just enough to focus on for the week. Plus, each tip is a constant reminder to stay focused on cutting costs, earning more, and optimizing your spending.

“It’s like having a smart, articulate, and inexpensive financial advisor that calls you all the time to check in.”
–Matthew Earle, Boston, MA

“Tips are excellent–I really like Ramit’s emphasis on psychology and it is slowly but surely making me think about purchases I make, especially unplanned ones.”
–Kevin Foster, Blacksburg, VA

“So far, for 2009 I will be saving $660.60 over the course of the year (and I’ve only made 2 changes so far)!”
–Stacy Miller, St. Albans

Useful even if you’re already incredibly frugal
Remember, The Scrooge Strategy operates under the C.E.O. model of Cutting Costs, Earning More, and Optimizing Your Spending. Even if you’re already incredibly frugal, you can still save money!


And those were just my free tips. With each Scrooge tip — sent out weekly — I include tons of resources and details that I painstakingly research. Instead of saying, “Create a plan!” I include a spreadsheet with already filled-in data to get you started. Instead of telling you how I saved money traveling to Vegas, I show you the screenshots of the sites I used, including where to get coupon codes and a call script of exactly what to say when you call the hotel. Each tip is full of tactics to save you money, earn you money, and optimize your existing spending.

Contributors include millionaires, famous personal-finance bloggers, and Harvard MBAs
I’ve put together a dazzling panel of contributors. I’ll continue sending my own personal-finance tips, but by signing up, you’ll also receive tips from J.D. Roth (who blogs at Get Rich Slowly), Erica Douglass (who runs erica.biz and sold her web hosting company for $1 million), and Chris Yeh, (who graduated from Stanford and then, traitorously, went to Harvard for his MBA).

What other people have said about my savings tips
“What really sold me on The Scrooge Strategy is that the step-by-step guides make saving money so easy that I seriously have no excuse not to evaluate my financial goals. Sure, I’ve theoretically known that that I needed to shop around for car insurance… but did I ever get my Google on and actually do it? Not until you laid out a couple of links for me. That tip alone saved me $1800 annually — and BONUS — now I actually know what the hell my insurance covers.”
–Lesly, Houston, TX and Scrooge Strategy member

“This actually really worked for me! So I will be saving $30 a month on cable for the entire upcoming year and receiving an upgrade in service! How fantastic is that!! Love this challenge!! It’s the bomb!”
–Cindy T.

“The one selling point - specific high quality personal finance tips that is logical yet achievable at the same time.”
–Karthik Sainath, San Francisco, CA and a Scrooge Strategy member

“You can save well over a couple thousand dollars just with this tip alone. That’s more than some people save in a whole year.”
–Caleb

“IT IS FANTASTIC! My husband just lost his job (this was after starting Scrooge), but with the savings we’ve implemented so far, and the additional savings coming up soon, I don’t think we are going to be in danger of falling off that financial cliff that many families are teetering on right now…and I really do credit a lot of that to this program. Also…IT DOESN’T MATTER AT ALL whether you make a lot of money, or a little money, this is good information/knowledge for anyone if you are willing to just do it.”
–Stacy Miller, St. Albans and a Scrooge Strategy member

“I just wanted to say Thank You for this challenge! So far this month I’ve saved $264.49 and it’s only the 17th of the month.”
–Mary C.

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"If I had to do it all over again, rather
than build an old style type of business,
I would have started building a
network marketing business."

Quote by Robert T. Kiyosaki


I am sometimes asked, "Why do so few people make it to the top of their network marketing system?"


The truth is, the top of the network marketing system is open to everyone-unlike traditional corporate systems, which allow only one person to reach the top of the company. The reason most people do not reach the top is simply because they quit too soon. So why would someone quit short of the top?

Most people join only to make money. If they don't make money in the first few months or years, they become discouraged and quit (and then often bad-mouth the industry!). Others quit and go looking for a company with a better compensation plan. But joining to make a few quick dollars is not the reason to get into the business.


The Two Essential Reasons to Join a Network Marketing Business

Reason number one is to help yourself. Reason number two is to help others. If you join for only one of these two reasons, then the system will not work for you.

Reason number one, means that you come to the business primarily to change quadrants-to change from the E (Employee) or the S (Self-employed) quadrant to the B (Business owner) or I (Investor) quadrant.

This change is normally very difficult for most people-because of money. The true E or S quadrant person will not work unless it is for money. This is also what causes people to not reach the top of the network marketing system: they want money more than they want to change quadrants.

A B quadrant or I quadrant person will also work for money, but in a different way. The B quadrant person works to build or create an asset-in this case, a business system. The I quadrant person invests in the asset or the system.

The beauty of most network marketing systems is that you do not really make much money unless you help others leave the E and S quadrants and succeed in the B and I quadrants. If you focus on helping others make this shift, then you will be successful in the business.

As a B or an I, sometimes you don't get paid for years; this, a true E quadrant or S quadrant person will not do. It's not part of their core values. Risk and delayed gratification disturb them emotionally.


Delayed Gratification and Emotional Intelligence




One of the beauties of network marketing is that it focuses on developing your emotional intelligence as well as your business skills.

Emotional intelligence is an entirely different matter from academic intelligence. In general, someone with high emotional intelligence will often do better than someone with high academic intelligence but low emotional intelligence. That explains, in part, why some people do well in school but not so well in the real world.

The ability to delay gratification is a sign of higher emotional intelligence. In a recent study of emotional intelligence, it was found that people who could delay gratification often led more successful lives than those who could not.

This is why the educational system inherent in a good network marketing opportunity is so important. It's the emotional education or emotional intelligence aspect of their programs that I find so valuable for people.

Many people write me and tell me they loved my book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, but I fear that many of them don't get the most important point of the book: Lesson #1, "The rich don't work for money."

Once I have built or bought an asset, that asset works hard to make money for me. But I will not work for money-I will work only to build or buy assets. Those assets make me richer and richer, while I work less and less. That is what the rich do. The poor and middle class work hard for money, and then buy liabilities instead of investing in assets.


What Kind of Asset is a Network Marketing Business?

Remember, there are two reasons required to be successful in network marketing: to help yourself, and to help others. Reason number one means helping yourself get to the B side of the quadrant. What about reason number two

The beauty of most network marketing systems is that you don't really make much money unless you help others leave the E and S
quadrants and succeed in the B and I quadrants. If you focus on helping others make this shift, then you will be successful in the business

If you only want to teach yourself to be a B quadrant and I quadrant person, then a true network marketing system won't work for you. You may as well go to a traditional business school, which focuses only on your becoming a B quadrant person.

The beauty of a network marketing business is that your goal is to create assets, which are other B's working under you-and their job is to create other B's working under them. In traditional business, the focus is for the B to have only E's and S's working for them.

The type of business I was taught to build is a business with me at the top and E's and S's at the base. I really don't have room at the top for many other B's, which is why in my businesses, I strongly recommend that all my employees look into network marketing as their own part-time businesses.

The traditional corporate system really is a pyramid, because there are a few B's and I's near the top, and more E's and S's at the base. A network marketing system is a reverse pyramid: its primary focus is to bring up more and more B's to the top.

One type of pyramid, the traditional type, has its base on the ground; the other type has its base in the air. It's a pyramid that pulls you up instead of pushing you down. A network marketing business gives everyone access to what used to be the domain only of the rich.

This passage is excerpted by permission from The Business School for People Who Like Helping People, by Robert T. Kiyosaki, with Sharon Lechter, CPA, authors of Rich Dad, Poor Dad."

Buy The Rich Dad's the Business School NOW!

Rich Dad's Increase Your Financial IQ: Get Smarter with Your Money

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* Discover Your Profitable Niche
* Finding Keyword Gold Mines!
* Build Real Niche Sites Easily
* Rank On Google's 1st Page
* Build a Steady Monthly Income!
* Plus! Get 1 Year of Free Hosting!

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The Century of the Self
The Untold History of Controlling the Masses Through the Manipulation of Unconscious Desires

"The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.

We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized." - Edward Bernays

THE CENTURY OF THE SELF

Adam Curtis' acclaimed series examines the rise of the all-consuming self against the backdrop of the Freud dynasty.

To many in both politics and business, the triumph of the self is the ultimate expression of democracy, where power has finally moved to the people. Certainly the people may feel they are in charge, but are they really? The Century of the Self tells the untold and sometimes controversial story of the growth of the mass-consumer society in Britain and the United States. How was the all-consuming self created, by whom, and in whose interests?

The Freud dynasty is at the heart of this compelling social history. Sigmund Freud, founder of psychoanalysis; Edward Bernays, who invented public relations; Anna Freud, Sigmund's devoted daughter; and present-day PR guru and Sigmund's great grandson, Matthew Freud.

Sigmund Freud's work into the bubbling and murky world of the subconscious changed the world. By introducing a technique to probe the unconscious mind, Freud provided useful tools for understanding the secret desires of the masses. Unwittingly, his work served as the precursor to a world full of political spin doctors, marketing moguls, and society's belief that the pursuit of satisfaction and happiness is man's ultimate goal.

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(No Sales Letter Here, the VideOptin tells it all)




Free VideOptin Box

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If You Don’t Control Your Leads, You Don’t Have A Business.

This is a lesson I had to learn the hard way. When I got started in the network marketing industry, I got plugged into the marketing system I was using that revolved around purchasing recruiting leads.

Although I was able to build a business rather fast, I built a 1/2 a million dollar a year business in 6 months thru using this system, something just didn’t sit quite right as I was spending more each month that I was earning.

After 2 years, I had to take a step back and evaluate what I was doing, and that’s when I determined that this was no way to build a business long term.

And when I left that marketing system, guess what happened to the $20,000 worth of leads I had bought- I lost them because they were being controlled by the system, not me.

And all that money, all that time and energy spent and I was left to start from scratch.

So one of my top lessons I learned, was you don’t really have a business if you aren’t in control of your own leads.

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Today's charities face an increasingly competitive environment. With challenges like government funding cut backs, an aging donor base, increase competition and more marketing directed at ones disposable income is it any wonder more charities are scrambling to stay a float? In order for non profits to succeed, they need to embrace emerging ways or marketing to their current and future donors. Here are 5 tips that will help!



Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

1. Start a Blog

Blogging is a powerful way to show your organization is up to date on current events and issues related to your cause. A blog will also allow your supporters and donor base to engage with your work on their time, rather than having newsletters and mailers sent to them when they may not want them. If you create and set up your blog properly, you can take advantage of the online social marketing and have your readers promote your content for you. Consider adding tags for Del.icio.us, Digg and Reddit to each post.

I recommend: Some examples of good non profit blogs are:
One Campaign
Invisible Children (check out the "share this" under each post)

Facebook

If your organization wants to stay current and interact with a younger audience, you need to be on Facebook. Start with creating a Facebook group and inviting your staff and volunteers to join it. A Facebook group will allow you to post current events, message members, post photos and videos and inform your membership base of upcoming events. As more and more people join the group, others will see this activity on their "news" feed, a great place for free promotion. The trick to Facebook is to keep it fresh and relevant. Message users once a week, post something on the group wall regularly. Once your group is established, make sure you encourage your group members to invite their Facebook contacts. This will allow the group to grow! GuluWalk is an organization that has harnessed the power of Facebook to raise money. They have a "Facebook It" tab where users can add their personal fundraising page to their Facebook profile - effectivly reaching thousands of individuals who have never

I recommend: See example: GuluWalk Fundraising Page
GuluWalk Facebook Group Example

Google Ad Words, Yahoo Search Marketing and MSN Ad Centre

Advertising on Google, Yahoo and MSN can be a very cost effective way to bring qualified traffic to your webiste. Why is that traffic qualified? Simply because you are in control of who sees your ad and when by selecting the keywords and geographic areas your ads show. Depending on the industry/cause, you may be able to advertise for a few pennies per click. Make sure to define your overall goal for these campaigns and track your performance. All too often, charitable organizations want people to click their ad and donate money and seem to forget the concept of building a relationship with their potential donors. Relationship building works in the offline world and is important in the online world also. Set a goal that is realistic like users registering for your newsletter or viewing a key page of information. Give them something (like an white paper) in exchange for the permission to market to them in the future.

I recommend: Google Ad Words
Yahoo Search Marketing
MSN Ad Centre

YouTube and YouTube Not for Profit

Does your organization have videos? I am not talking about your promotional commercial necessarily, rather some video highlighting some of your projects success. Do your run an event? a run? a golf tournament? If so, assign someone to take video at the next one and post it on YouTube. Encourage those who attended the event to go online and see their video. This is a great way to keep participants engaged in your cause. Videos also allow your supporters to virally market you to others and send those videos to their friends. Be sure to put your YouTube videos on your blog too (see item #1 above). If you are creative, consider running a contest where users can submit a video of their best fundraising idea, top event site, etc etc, and win a prize from your organization. YouTube for non-profit is another great resource. Apply to have your organization featured there (you must be American with the proper 501 to be accepted).

I recommend: YouTube Non Profits

Search Engine Optimization

How does your website rank? Is it visible on search engines for keywords that are relevant to search engines? If not, you have work to do. Being on the first page of the three major search engines is so important to promoting your cause to potential donors. Optimizing your website takes time and energy but the pay off is worth it. Consider hiring an organization to consult with you or do the work on your behalf. There are many right ways to optimize and a lot of wrong ways that could jeopardize the future success of your search engine rankings. Breaking the guidelines that Google, Yahoo and MSN have written can be extremely damaging for your organization.

I recommend: Search Engine Optimization Companies and Resources:
Spark Internet Marketing
SEOMoz.org
SEOBook

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The Internet has revolutionized the way nonprofit organizations conduct their day-to-day operations, and has permitted entirely new ways of keeping in touch with members, reaching new donors, and communicating a message. This resource list contains citations to selected works on this topic from the Foundation Center's bibliographic database, the Catalog of Nonprofit Literature. For a more readings in this area, search the catalog by using the following headings in the subject field: Internet, Internet-directories, Fundraising-computer aided, or Computer technology.

* General Resources
* Blogging and Podcasting
* Digital Divide
* Fundraising
* Legal Aspects
* Marketing
* Volunteerism
* Web Design and Technology
* Links to Internet Resources


General Resources

Ghidotti, Natalie; Hrywna, Mark. "Turbo-Charged Web Use: Embracing Technology to Tell stories, Raise funds, and Create loyalty." NonProfit Times, vol. 21 (1 April 2007): p. 1, 4, 6.

Nonprofits are utilizing MySpace, mapping tools, and other emerging technologies to help expand the reach of their Web sites. Organizations profiled include Life Rolls On, American Cancer Society, New York City Coalition Against Hunger, Heartspring, Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Generations United, and March of Dimes.

Hart, Ted; Greenfield, James M.; Johnston, Michael. Nonprofit Internet Strategies: Best Practices for Marketing, Communications, and Fundraising Success. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2005. xiv, 345 p.

Covers the multiple aspects of utilizing the potential of the Internet, including developing a strategy, planning, staffing, building an online community, enhancing the brand, and creating an integrated fundraising plan. One chapter deals with legal issues, while appendices include a code of ethics for online practices. With glossary and index.

Waters, Richard D. "Nonprofit Organizations' Use of the Internet: A Content Analysis of Communication Trends on the Internet Sites of the Philanthropy 400." Nonprofit Management & Leadership, vol. 18 (Fall 2007): p. 59-76.

The author reviewed web sites of nonprofits listed in the Chronicle of Philanthropy's Philanthropy 400 to study online communication and fundraising practices of top charities. The content analysis explored various features, including online annual reports and shopping carts, with results broken down by organization size and type.

Westcott, Scott. "Face Time." Chronicle of Philanthropy, vol. 19 (25 January 2007): p. T-2-3.

Nonprofit organizations are using social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook to connect to volunteers, promote awareness, and increase membership. Westcott stresses the importance of understanding the culture of these sites and maintaining fresh content in order to sustain online relationships.
Blogging and Podcasting

Hrywna, Mark. "Blogging From the Top: Donors--and Everyone Else--Get Access to the Boss." NonProfit Times, vol. 22 (15 May 2008): p. 1, 4.

Describes the blogging experiences of two nonprofits, Soles4Souls and Humane Society of the United States.

Williams, Scott. "What's in Podcasting for Nonprofits?" Nonprofit Quarterly, vol. v. 14, n. 3 (Fall 2007): p. 69-74.

A discussion of how podcasting works, how it has been used by both for-profit companies and nonprofit groups, and why it may or may not be useful for particular nonprofit organizations. The article examines four nonprofits – Planned Parenthood, the Multiple Sclerosis Society, Volunteer San Diego, and First Book – and how they have used podcasting in effective and innovative ways.
Digital Divide

Cohen, Todd. "Despite Years of Discussion, There's Still a Digital Divide." NonProfit Times, vol. 19 (1 November 2005): p. 1, 42-3.

Treuhaft, Sarah, et al. Bridging the Innovation Divide: An Agenda for Disseminating Technology Innovations Within the Nonprofit Sector. Oakland, CA: PolicyLink, 2007. 66 p.

Technology plays an important role in enabling nonprofits to respond to social needs, and to perform fundamental functions—research, communications, public education, advocacy, fundraising, program development, and service delivery—with ever-greater speed and efficiency. But unequal access to the newest technologies has created an “innovation divide,” according to the authors. Therefore, adoption of many newer applications remain concentrated among a handful of organizations with high technology capacity. The report offers a plan for addressing the issue.
Fundraising

Hall, Holly; Panepento, Peter. "Donors Take Control: Grass-roots Fund Raising Flourishes on the Internet." Chronicle of Philanthropy, vol. 19 (22 March 2007): p. 25, 27-8.

In a growing trend, nonprofit groups are using Internet campaigns to collect small donations from large numbers of people. Bypassing professional fundraisers, these groups rely on word of mouth and social networking technologies such as blogs. The online campaigns also offer new ways for donors to get engaged beyond traditional one-time gifts.

Grobman, Gary M.; Grant, Gary B. Fundraising Online: Using the Internet to Raise Serious Money for Your Nonprofit Organization. Harrisburg, PA: White Hat Communications, 2006. 189 p.

Information about the options currently in use for online fundraising, with an emphasis on resources that are available to assist in decision making. The process begins with a fundraising plan, and may include electronic newsletters, podcasts, online stores, and other techniques. Practical advice is accompanied by numerous illustrations. With bibliographical references and index.

Hart, Ted; Greenfield, James M.; Haji, Sheeraz D. People to People Fundraising: Social Networking and Web 2.0 for Charities. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2007. xxv, 262 p.

Explains how to use the latest Internet tools and approaches to fundraise and develop support for your cause. Topics discussed in the volume include social media, advocacy, special events, Web site evaluation, integrated campaigns, widgets, and other technologies.

Wallace, Nicole. "After the Flood." Chronicle of Philanthropy, vol. 20 (12 June 2008): p. 7, 12-5.

An analysis of the Chronicle of Philanthropy's survey on the rate of online donations for charities in 2007. While online giving slowed in 2007, and comprises a relatively small portion of most organizations' fundraising totals, some charities have found that online donations are becoming an increasingly substantial part of their overall fundraising. Includes a chart tracking online fundraising at 203 charities.
Legal Aspects

Hopkins, Bruce R. The Nonprofit's Guide to Internet Communications Law. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2003. xx, 332 p.

Hopkins elucidates the relationship between laws affecting nonprofit organizations and their use of the Internet. Focusing on fundraising, lobbying, political activity, management of charitable giving, he explains and footnotes with case citations the relevant legal precedents. He also cautions that development of new laws in this area is fast-paced, and advisors to nonprofits need to remain current with the changing regulations. He notes that there are three paramount issues from a legal perspective: the cost of Internet use; essence of hyperlinks; and record keeping. Includes a table of cases.
Marketing

Bhagat, Vinay; Hauf, Brian; Donovan, Quinn. The Online Marketing (eCRM) Nonprofit Benchmark Index Study. Austin, TX: Convio, Inc., 2007. 17 p.

The first annual report on which aspects of online marketing nonprofit organizations should emphasize. Analyzes web site traffic, online registrations, and response to fundraising e-mail appeals from 30 Convio clients of various sizes and missions. Data is meant to provide a scale against which other organizations can measure themselves.

Krautzel, George. "Social Media: Marketing Myths and Universal Truths." FundRaising Success, vol. 6 (June 2008): p. 39-40, 42.

Gives an overview of social media and how groups can use it to increase their presence and fundraising ability online. Lists a series of myths and realities regarding marketing with social networking sites.
Volunteerism

Cravens, Jayne. "Online Volunteering Enters Middle Age." Nonprofit Quarterly, vol. 14 (Spring 2007): p. 65-8.

The author demonstrates why online volunteering is a management issue rather than a technological one. Beginning with an overview of how online volunteering has emerged, Cravens gives tips on how to successfully integrate online and face-to-face volunteer programs.

Ellis, Susan J. "Address It WWV: An Update on Technology and Volunteers." NonProfit Times, vol. 21 (1 May 2007): p. 20-1.

Topics covered include volunteers and the digital divide, virtual volunteering, and new technologies (Podcasts and blogging).

Tomaselli, Kathleen Phalen. "Kids, Volunteering and the Digital Age: The New Way to Recruit Youth Volunteers." Volunteer Leadership, (Winter 2007): p. 14-20.

The article provides examples of how organizations can promote youth civic participation, especially with the help of online technologies.
Web Design and Technology

Beveridge, David. "Why You Need a Content Management System." Nonprofit World vol. 24 (March-April 2006) p. 16, 18-9.

Explains the virtues of a using a content management system (CMS) for keeping an organization's Web site up to date. With a CMS, new content can be checked and approved, presentation can be consistent, and updates can be scheduled.

Burton, Heather; Gonzalez, Daniel. "Web to the Max." FundRaising Success, vol. 6 (June 2008): p. 45-6.

Instructs beginners on how to make the most of their nonprofit's web site in order to engage donors. Offers a brief overview on Web 2.0 strategies, design and content, tracking web performance indicators, and methods of increasing a site's visibility.

Dysart, Joe. "Analyze This: Let Web Analytics Software Be Your Guide to Dynamic Web Site Redesign." Association Management, vol. 57 (September 2005): p. 58-60, 63-5.

Four specific software products are compared.

Links to Internet Resources

General
The Foundation Center's Links to Nonprofit Resources

E-Philanthropy and Online Fundraising
The Foundation Center’s FAQ’s on E-philanthropy

Volunteerism
The Foundation Center’s volunteering FAQ

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Network marketers should not overlook a golden opportunity to promote sales through nonprofit or charitable organizations. The distributor makes money and so does the organization.

The network marketing industry has become attracted to nonprofit organizations (NPO), their members and friends as a vast potential source of distributors. Handled correctly, the benefits of a networker's involvement with an NPO are mutual and substantial. The tax-exempt organization receives a source of funds that are necessary to carry out its functions and to support the causes that are deemed worthy enough for tax-exempt status. The network marketing company gains access to a potentially large and motivated customer base.

In recent years, nonprofit organizations have played a growing role in network marketing sales. Overnight, the membership of a charitable organization may become an instant sales organization of hundreds of thousands. The charitable organization raises these funds for worthy causes and a network marketing company finds a new market for its products, all in all, a very sound match.

We have all seen pancake breakfasts, spaghetti dinners, dances and car washes for fundraising purposes. Such activities are generally sporadic or one-time events, which for the most part, have no legal ramifications. A charitable organization, which signs on as a network marketing distributor and sells products through its membership, is conducting a business activity, however, which may trigger some important legal questions affecting the group's tax-exempt status.

Use of charitable organizations for network marketing distribution typically works as follows. The charitable organization signs on as a network marketing distributor. The charitable organization in turn sponsors its membership as independent distributors. The charitable organization sells products and derives profit. The charitable organization also receives override commissions on sales of products by its downline, its membership being the first level of its downline. Another approach is for the organization to allow access to members for recruitment and sales, and to encourage voluntary contributions back to the group from members' discounts and overrides. A third approach which may be more complex to establish, but which may yield the most favorable of tax results, involves the establishment by the nonprofit organization of a wholly-owned "for profit" corporation for network marketing activities - see a future article on this approach.
Tax-Exempt Status

An important question raised by network marketing distribution through charitable organization goes right to the heart of the tax-exempt status of the charitable organization. The extent to which a tax-exempt organization may engage in income-generating activities without jeopardizing its exempt status has never been clarified by the courts or the Internal Revenue Service. The fact that there are so few cases that clearly define the scope of permissible business activities is perhaps resolved in the number and diversity of exempt organizations that have little or nothing in common with one another. Consequently, an activity deemed proper for one category of organization may result in the denial or loss of exempt status by another organization.

There are two possible consequences to an organization conducting a trade or business. First, the organization may be subject to unrelated business income tax. In addition, the organization may be denied tax-exempt status entirely if the trade or business is carried on to such an extent that it constitutes the primary purpose of the organization.
Unrelated Business Income

The Internal Revenue Code imposes a tax on the unrelated business income of otherwise tax-exempt organizations. "Unrelated business income" includes income derived by an organization from any unrelated trade or business regularly carried on by it. However, the first $1,000 of "unrelated business income" is not subject to tax. It ought to be noted, however, that an exempt organization is entitled to only one $1,000 deduction regardless of the number of unrelated businesses in which it is engaged.

The IRS has been fairly generous in terms of exempting unrelated business income of charitable organizations when the business activity is engaged in only discontinuously or periodically, for instance, for a period of a few weeks per year. For instance, the IRS regulations specifically provide:

"[c]ertain intermittent income producing activities occur so infrequently that neither their recurrence nor the manner of their conduct will cause them to be regarded as trade or business regularly carried on. For example, income producing or fund raising activities lasting only a short period of time will not ordinarily be treated as regularly carried on if they recur only occasionally or sporadically. Furthermore, such activities will not be regarded as regularly carried on merely because they are conducted on an annually recurrent basis. Accordingly, income derived from the conduct of an annual dance or similar fund raising event for charity would not be income from trade or business regularly carried on [emphasis added]."

The whole point of the IRS taxing unrelated business income is to eliminate unfair competition by placing unrelated business activities of otherwise tax-exempt organizations on the same tax footing with other businesses that do have to pay income taxes. In addition, the IRS recognizes that it will not tax business-type income if the sale of the goods or the performance of the services contribute importantly to the accomplishment of the tax-exempt purpose of the organization, for instance, musical organizations that put on concerts, educational organizations that sell educational books, or churches that sell Bibles are likely engaging in "substantially related" activity and thus will not be taxed for their profits.

IRS cases and rulings indicate that a good method, for tax purposes, of avoiding taxable income to a nonprofit organization is to approach the organization, gain access to its members through use of the organization's lists or a meeting. (It is important not to compensate the organization for the list of members as this may result in taxable income.) The direct seller would then offer the members the opportunity to participate in its program in their own right. Any payments to the organization must be voluntary contributions by the members. This could be achieved by offering each member the choice of either receiving any payments from the direct seller or assigning the payments to the organization. A one-time assignment is probably sufficient; however, assignments on a regular basis would provide a more solid case.
Caveat for Tax-Exempt Organizations

A tax-exempt organization, acting as an actual distributor of products or services, disseminated through a network marketing arrangement, is clearly engaged in a trade or business. In general, there is little relationship between the tax-exempt purposes of the organization and the products that are being sold. Finally, the duties of the charitable organization and its distributor are typically ongoing rather than sporadic. Therefore, income of an exempt organization derived from network marketing distributor activities will be subject to unrelated business income tax. Network marketing companies' distributors who sign up charitable organizations should be careful to point this out to the charitable organizations when they sign up as distributors.

The charitable organization should also be careful not to allow the network marketing distribution activity to endanger its tax-exempt status altogether. Under § 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, tax-exempt organizations must be organized and operated "exclusively" for nonprofit purposes. The IRS has interpreted this provision to mean, however, that an organization which engages "primarily" in activities that further its exempt purposes will be considered to be operating "exclusively" for exempt purposes. However, the operation of a particular activity may jeopardize the organization's exempt status if the activity is more than "insubstantial" in comparison to overall organization activities. Unfortunately, few cases discuss or define "substantial" in quantifiable terms. In one recent case, the Tax Court held that a tax-exempt organization, which derived more than 25 percent of its revenue from a business activity, was "too substantial" and thus it was denied its tax-exempt status. It is unclear from the opinion whether 25 percent is the "high water mark" to be applied in all cases or merely the line applicable to the particular facts in the individual tax case. Without further guidance, charitable organizations, which are engaged in network marketing activities, must carefully monitor their activities to assure that the activities do not become "too substantial," although just what constitutes "too substantial" is as yet unclear.
Wholly-Owned Profit Making Subsidiary

The least risky method of collaborating with an NPO is through the establishment of a wholly-owned subsidiary corporation to engage in business on the NPO's behalf. This corporation could be signed on as a distributor in the same manner as any individual. The corporation would be taxable on its income. Dividends paid by the subsidiary to the tax-exempt parent, however, would not be unrelated business income to the parent by virtue of § 512(b)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code.

IRS letter rulings to tax-exempt organizations desiring to do business, indicate the appropriate business structure for such an arrangement. In the private letter ruling, a tax-exempt organization began operating as a distributor of a food product and enjoyed some success in the next year. The organization did not want to jeopardize its exempt status. Therefore, it set up a wholly-owned taxable subsidiary to act as distributor of the food product, and the exempt organization would be paid through dividends. The IRS stated that for federal income tax purposes, a parent corporation and a subsidiary are considered separate taxable entities, so long as the subsidiary has a legitimate business purpose and the parent corporation does not completely dominate the day-to-day management of the subsidiary. In that § 512(b)(1) of the IRC excludes dividends from the definition of unrelated business taxable income, the dividends would not be taxable.

Use of tax-exempt organizations for network marketing activities can clearly be a bonanza for all of the parties involved. The most important advice that can be given, however, is that the company, the distributors, and the tax-exempt organizations should be fully briefed by professional tax, accounting and legal advisors on the network marketing legal requirements as well as the tax ramifications of marketing through the network marketing format.

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Since 1997, consumers from all over the world have become members of ClubShop.com to shop and save, and to earn "ClubShop Reward Points" on their purchases at our online ClubShop.com Mall and offline with participating ClubShop.com Merchants.

Our growing Group Buying Power enables us to provide increasing "Members' Only" discounts and ClubRewards Points. In 2006, The ClubShop.com Mall began it's international expansion which has now grown to over 60 International ClubShop.com Malls.

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Imagine being able to influence a 300 billion dollar industry and, at the same time, run your own global business with all the advantages of an independent company, without the disadvantages and risks normally associated with an independent business.

Where you have the freedom to focus on what you are best at - thinking, planning, preparing strategies, solving problems and influencing others in a positive way.

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A. Basic Principles - what's your marketing mix?
Before you begin the online marketing process, have you analyzed your organization and its environment using some standard analysis technique, such as SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats)?

1. Producer

Does your page convey clearly the benefits of your organization for donors and clientele? Should a mission statement or statement of purpose(s) be on your Webpage?

2. Purchasers

Do you need a special page or special features on your site for ethnic or foreign language groups? How about special community groups? How about the elderly? Is your page accessible to the disabled? (See section on accessibility below.)

3. Product

Which of your existing products or services should be featured on your page? Which cannot be delivered in whole or in part via your page?

4. Price

How much can your organization afford for the Web site? Consider site design and maintenance, as well as Web server costs.

5. Place

What new products or services are made possible for the first time by your page? Could any of your clients use your information 24 hours/7 days per week, even when your offices are closed?

6. Promotion

How does your message have to be adapted to the Web environment? Is the Web the best or only place to send this message to this client group? You still need newsletters, press releases, direct-mail pieces, telephone, fax, and personal contacts. Is your Web address on all your promotional pieces, business cards, and stationery?

7. Probing

Is someone in your organization answering, noting, and analyzing email and telephone messages received from Web site contacts? Instant market research! (More under responsiveness, below.)

[Based on: Fine, Seymour H. Marketing the Public Sector: Promoting the Causes of Public and Nonprofit Agencies. Transaction, 1992. (DANA HF 5415.122 .F56)]



For further reading, consult:

* Coyote Communications Technology Tip Sheets from Jayne Cravens, a web designer and consultant to nonprofit organizations [http://www.coyotecom.com/tips.html]
* 12 Web Page Design Decisions Your Business or Organization Will Need to Make [http://www.wilsonweb.com/articles/12design.htm]
* How to Attract Visitors to Your Website [http://www.wilsonweb.com/articles/attract.htm]



Some useful books are:

* Hofacker, Charles. Internet Marketing. 2nd ed. Digital Springs, 1999. This is a textbook with resources on its own Website. [http://education.smartpros.com/internetmarketing/] *UPDATED*
* Johnston, Michael. Fund Raiser's Guide to the Internet. John Wiley, 1998. Contains ideas that are applicable to all non-profits. (KLMR HV 41.2 .J64)
* Kotler, Philip. Kotler on Marketing: How to Create, Win, and Dominate Markets. Free Press, 1999. Of particular interest: Chapter 6, "Designing the Marketing Mix;" and Chapter 11, "Adapting to the New Age of Electronic Marketing." (DANA, KLMR HF 5415.13 .K638)
* Kotler, Neil, and Philip Kotler. Museum Strategy and Marketing: Designing Missions, Building Audiences, Generating Revenue and Resources. Jossey-Bass, 1998. Chapter 8, "Distributing the Museum's Offerings and Services," discusses the role of the Internet. (DANA AM 5 .K68)
* Levinson, Jay Conrad, and Charles Rubin. Guerrilla Marketing Online: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Earning Profits on the Internet. Houghton Mifflin, 1997. Includes 100 marketing "weapons." (KLMR HF 5415.125 .L48)
* Ramacitti, David F. Do-it-yourself Marketing. AMACOM, 1994. Very readable, with good guidance for the basics of marketing. (DANA, KLMR HF 5415 .R268)
* Sterne, Jim. World Wide Web Marketing: Integrating the Internet into Your Marketing Strategy. John Wiley, 1995. Lots of useful ideas here; the second edition (1999) replaces the word "Internet" in the sub-title with "Web." (CAMDN, DANA, KLMR HF 5415.1265 .S762)
* Zeff, Robbin. Nonprofit Guide to the Internet. John Wiley, 1996. A little dated but a good summary of the basics can be found in Chapter 7, "Making it Happen-Establishing Your Presence on the World Wide Web." (DANA, KLMR HD 62.6 .Z43)

Many more may be found on Tenagra's listing of Books that focus on Internet Marketing, Advertising, and Business Use. [http://marketing.tenagra.com/bookdesc.html]
B. Extending Your Reach - who's your target?
1. Directory Listing

You can usually be added to a business directory for free. Here are several Web directories of organizations; more may be found on the Company Research Guide. [http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/rr_gateway/research_guides/busi/company.shtml]

* ASAE Gateway to Associations (Trade Associations) [http://info.asaenet.org/gateway/OnlineAssocSlist.html]
* AllBusiness [http://www.allbusiness.com] *UPDATED*
* America's Charities [http://www.charities.org/searchx/index.html]
* Christianity Online Church Locator [http://www.christianityonline.com/churchlocator/]
* GuideStar (clearinghouse of information on nonprofit organizations) [http://www.guidestar.org]
* Idealist (global clearinghouse of nonprofit resources) [http://www.idealist.org/ip/orgSearch?MODULE=ORG] *UPDATED*
* njserves.org (covers the New Jersey civic sector) [http://njserves.org]

Many other lists may be found on Philanthropy Links: Meta-Index of Nonprofit Sites [http://pnnonline.org/links_metaindex.cfm]

2. Meta-tags and Search Engines

What are meta tags? Keywords and descriptive terms that identify your Website, used by search engines to index Web pages. Below are the meta tags for this page: <head> <title>Internet Marketing</title> <meta name="description" content="Promoting your organization on the Internet"> <meta name="keywords" content="marketing, promotion, ecommerce"> <meta name="author" content="Ka-Neng Au, Roberta Tipton"> </head>

To get a quick idea of whether your site has been indexed and where it ranks on ten different search engine sites, use PositionAgent, which is free but e-mail registration is required. [http://www.positionagent.com]

Many search engines also offer free registration of your Website. Here are a few sites which will register your Website for free with multiple search engines; many, many more may be found at Go Net-Wide. [http://www.gonetwide.com/gopublic.html]

* BigSubmit (20) [http://bigsubmit.com/freesub/]
* Submit In An Instant (10) [http://www.submit-in-an-instant.com]
* Web Site Garage (12) [http://register-it.netscape.com]

You could also do the registration yourself, with some software from SubmitURL.com. [http://www.submiturl.com/demodownload.htm]

If you want to spend some money, you could download WebPosition Gold, software designed to help you with meta-tags; or read a copy of The UnFair Advantage Book On Winning The Search Engine Wars. [http://www.webposition.com and http://www.searchenginehelp.com/submiturl/]
3. Link Exchanges

You can sign up with other related Websites so that the group as a whole can promote the sites associated with it. Check out:

* LinkExchange Surf Point [http://www.surfpoint.com/Non_Profit_Resource_Org]
* RingSurf [http://www.ringsurf.com]
* The Rail [http://www.therail.com]
* WebRing [http://dir.webring.yahoo.com/rw] *UPDATED*

And then there's Banner Exchanges:
* Banner Network [http://www.bcentral.com/services/bn/default.asp] *UPDATED*
* SmartClicks [http://www.smartage.com/promote/smartclicks/index2.html?]

4. URL Redirection

Should you have a long or less-than-memorable URL, there are a couple of ways to help your users find you. First, you can register a URL that will redirect your visitors to the actual location. For this approach, look at the Institute of Jazz Studies Webpage [http://welcome.to/IJS/] with a short URL from V3 Redirect Services. [http://www.v3.com]

You can also register Keywords which will allow Microsoft Internet Explorer users to reach your Website without knowing your actual URL. This is a fee-based service from RealNames. [http://www.realnames.com]
5. Domain-name Registration

One site that offers "free" registration for one year is NameDemo.com [http://www.namedemo.com]

Also, you can now register a new domain name with more characters than before - 63 characters instead of just 26 - and you might want to consider registering your domain name in other countries or TLD's.

* 000Domains.com (cheapest around) [http://www.000domains.com]
* Long Domain Registration [http://www.longdomainregistration.net]
* Network Solutions (the ultimate registrar, covering over 50 countries) [http://www.networksolutions.com]
* Register.com (23 other countries) [http://www.register.com]

C. Making Your Website Sticky - why should anyone return?
1. Value-added Information

Content is king. If there is no useful information on your site, no one will return, not for all the bells and whistles (or spinning globes and flashing lights). But some basic content is often forgotten in the midst of annual reports and project descriptions.

* Contact info: address, telephone and fax numbers, e-mail addresses, perhaps even names of individuals.
* Page updates: indicate when the content was first created or when something has changed.
* Privacy statement: assure your visitors that any information collected will be held in strictest confidence. A website privacy policy should include the following elements: [http://www.privacy-policy.com]
1. Notice: Is there a privacy policy posted on the site ?
2. Choice: Can you control how your information is used ?
3. Access: Can you see your own information ?
4. Security: Is there any assurance of security ?

2. Navigation and Layout

Start with an thoughful essay on Website usability from webreview.com. [http://www.webreview.com/2000/03_10/strategists/03_10_00_3.shtml] *UPDATED*Then, consider that an online user has to rely on visual clues to provide context and direction. Websites should incorporate one or more navigation tools such as:

* Menu bar
* Table of contents
* Site index
* Site map
* "Home" button

Design elements to avoid:

* Frames
* Image maps
* Overuse of fonts
* Overuse of color

For more tips, follow the Spotlight on Navigation Design from CNET Builder.com as well as Jakob Nielsen's useit.com Website. [http://builder.cnet.com/webbuilding/pages/Graphics/NavSpotlight/] *UPDATED* and [http://www.useit.com]

3. Accessibility

The U.S. Government is requiring that all Federal Agencies developing electronic products abide by Section 508 of the Workforce Investment Act Of 1998, which calls for comparable (not equal) access to information and data by all users. Even without this directive, it is recommended that your Webpages be accessible to the visually impaired, and you can start with some Quick Tips from the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative. [http://www.w3.org/WAI/References/QuickTips/]

* Universal Design for the Internet (Internet Society) [http://www.isoc.org/briefings/002/] *NEW*
* Web Page Accessibility Checklist (U.S. Justice Department) [http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/508/web2.htm]
* Bobby (Center for Applied Special Technology) [http://www.cast.org/bobby/]
* lynx (a text-based Web browser) [http://lynx.browser.org]

4. Responsiveness

If you invite your visitors to send you e-mail, be sure to reply promptly. It is very annoying to receive no answer, so assign someone to handle e-mail (just as you would handle phone calls).
To reach a new audience, you could use targeted e-mail lists, which are garnering an average response rate between 20% and 30% (compared to the 1% to 2% rate with the use of banner ads):

* DigitalWork.com [http://www.digitalwork.com/onlinead/directemail/learn/]
* Direct Media [http://www.directmedia.com]
* NetCreations [http://www.netcreations.com]
* PermissionDIRECT.com [http://www.permissiondirect.com]
* United Marketing Group [http://www.united-marketinggroup.com/optin.html]

* Instant Marketing discusses some new services for Internet marketers. [http://www.informationweek.com/746/mkt.htm]

Your organization can develop an online community through the use of forums or discussion groups, from simple e-mail to multimedia interaction.

* CoolBoard [http://www.coolboard.com]
* ListBot [http://www.listbot.com]
* WebCrossing [http://www.webcrossing.com]
* WebEx.com [http://www.webex.com]

5. Affiliate Marketing

A percentage (from 2% to 25%) of purchases made at selected online merchants will go to your non-profit organization or school. Register at one of the following:

* 4charity.com [http://www.4charity.com]
* CharityMall [http://www.charitymall.com]
* iGive [http://www.igive.com] *NEW*
* Non-Profit Shopping Mall [http://www.npsmall.com] *NEW*
* ShopForChange [http://www.shopforchange.com] *NEW*

* Electronic Scrip Incorporated [http://www.escripinc.com]
* SchoolCash.com [http://www.schoolcash.com]
* Schoolpop [http://www.schoolpop.com]

D. Other Resources

* Electronic Commerce Research Guide [http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/rr_gateway/research_guides/busi/ecomm.shtml]
* Market Position (Monthly newsletter with tips on URL submission) [http://www.webposition.com/newsletters.htm]
* Web Marketing Information Center [http://www.webmarketingtoday.com/webmarket/]

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If you’re a Twitter member, these are the kinds of updates you might see when you login to your account.

Ahhh yes, good ole’ Twitter — the official place to spy on people you know (or don’t know) 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. ;)

So what’s all the hype surrounding this free application and what does it have to do with promoting your Internet business online?
What The… ???

I’ll be honest. When I first heard about Twitter I thought it was the dumbest thing ever. :)

However, I became more intrigued a little later when I saw other Webmasters and Bloggers talking about how they use it to promote their sites and blogs.

So if you are wondering about Twitter and how it can benefit your business, here’s a video demonstrating how it works and how you can use it।

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Dear Friend,

If you are looking for a system, developed by millionaires, and proven to generate at least $354.97 per day from home, this may very well be the most important letter you will ever read!

Today's economic turmoil has caused every man and woman to take a hard look at the security of your income. Thousands are losing their jobs every single day. I personally won't stand for this anymore.

It's time someone stood up and said "No, there is a better way!"

That being said, let me tell you a quick story about this club that I've created for you...

My name is Mack Michaels, and let me tell you, I used to work hard. Really hard... like millions of other Americans... while hardly getting by, living paycheck to paycheck.

I always wanted to live the "American Dream" but no matter what job I had, I could never get anywhere close to making enough money to live the life I have always wanted.

From fast food to a Fortune 500 company, I tried everything to secure my families financial future.

No matter what I did, my bank balance was always close to zero at the end of the month and, my credit card debt kept piling up. I hated my jobs, my bosses, the debt, and most of all...

I hated not being able to provide my family the life I wanted to give them.

Then, when I thought things can't get any worse, they did...

I remember the exact day. It was December 7th (my birthday) and I'd been laid off from the only job I had. Christmas was fast approaching and I planned on buying my wife a very special Christmas gift (the kind that shines in the light and could only be worn on her ears).

But all of a sudden, there was no way I could afford that gift. Forgot presents, I didn't even know how I was going to afford putting a roof over our head and food on the table after my last paycheck was spent.

I felt like the world was crashing down on me, I had to do something fast, very fast, before my family and I were out on the street. I needed another way to make money immediately. And as I was thinking about it, I asked myself: Before I make any moves that will tie me into another job I'll just end up hating, why don't I consider what it is I want, and more importantly, what I don't want in a job?

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At 10:15 pm I discovered that I had not brought a Macbook power supply on the trip. I was in a hotel on Coronado Island, and early the next morning I was flying to an aircraft carrier off San Diego for an overnight visit. I doubted that the carrier had Macbook power supplies laying around, so I was in trouble. I posted a message to Twitter that I was in this predicament, and within ten minutes, five people offered to bring me a power supply. I took one of them up on the offer, and he delivered it to me within an hour.

This illustrates the practical implications of a large following on Twitter. In addition, of course, there is the sheer vanity of amassing more followers than your friends. The question, “How do I get more followers on Twitter?” is unspoken because admitting that you want more followers is to acknowledge that you don’t have many. Thus, you probably don’t need this advice, but you may “have a friend” who will find it useful.

Tip 1: Follow the “smores (social media whores*).” They are the folks with large number of followers and seem to be the opinion leaders (and perhaps even “heros”) of Twitter. You can get a good idea of who they are by viewing Twitterati.alltop, TwitterCounter, and Egos.alltop. There are three reasons to follow them: first, many have scripts that will auto follow you; second, you might learn something from watching what they tweet about; third, when people look at your profile to see who you follow, you want to appear that you have a clue. (*originally coined by @worleygirl who passed it to @pauladrum who passed it to me)

Tip 2: Send @ messages to the smores. They probably won’t answer you, but that’s okay. All you want to do is appear like you have a relationship with them to enhance your credibility. The theory is, “If she is tweeting with @scobleizeer, she must be worth following.” Bull shiitake logic, admittedly, but it helps. To bastardize what a famous PR person once told me, “It’s not who you know. It’s who appears to know you.”

Tip 3: Create an effective avatar. Your avatar is a window into your soul, so you need to create one that doesn’t look like you shot it with a camera phone while you were drunk. In most cases, use a simple, informal straight-up photo of just your face—not you and your dog, car, kids, or surfboard. Increase the exposure to brighter than you think it should be. Fix the red-eye. Crop the photo because Twitter is going to display it as a postage-stamp size image. If you can’t fix up your photo, send it to Fixmyphotos. Upload a large version of it (approximately 500 x 500 pixels) and let Twitter scale it down, so that when people zoom on your photo, they can see your gorgeousness and not an ugly pixelated image.


If you have access to cool image tools, then create an avatar that raises the question, “How did he do that?” (That’s the category I think my current avatar is in.) If you represent a company, then use its logo—but this is boring (sorry, Tony). Avatars with cleavage may help you get followers that you wouldn’t want, but that’s your call. Bottom line: When people view a stream of tweets, your avatar (and therefore your tweet) should stand out.

Tip 4: Follow everyone who follows you. When I first started on Twitter, Robert Scoble told me to follow everyone who followed me. “But why, Robert, would I follow everyone like that?” The answer is that it’s courteous to do so and because when you do, some people will respond to you and eveyone who follows them will see this—which is more exposure for you.

Having said this, when you get to more than fifty or so followers, it’s impossible to read what all your followers tweet. At that point, you have to focus on direct private messages (“Ds”) and direct public messages (“@s””).

Tip 5: Always be linking. The fact that your cat rolled over or your flight is delayed isn’t interesting, so get outside of your mundanity and link to interesting stories and pictures—you should think of yourself as a one-person StumbleUpon. The Twitter pickup artist’s mantra is ABL (“Always Be Linking”).

Fortunately, you don’t have to find these sites by yourself because there are companies and communities who are dedicated to this task. Here are my best sources.

StumbleUpon. People in the StumbleUpon community mark sites that they find interesting. You can install the StumbleUpon button by clicking here and go from site to site; you can visit the StumbleUpon recently popular websites list; or you can add this feed to your feed reader. Sample picture.

Alltop. If you’ve ever seen me post ten tweets in a row with links to (what I consider) interesting sites, it’s because I’m parked in front of these four Alltop sites: Psychology.alltop, Science.alltop, Lifehacks.alltop, and SocialMedia.alltop. At any of these sites you can scan hundreds of stories at a time and pick off the ones that will attact followers. (Disclosure: I am co-founder of the site).

CNN. CNN is hard to beat for up-to-the minute news. You’ll be competing with CNN’s own tweets which has 52,000 followers as of today, but still leaves you about five million other Twitter users to attract. Seriously, you can attract followers just by cherrypicking the best of CNN stores. To do this, you need immediate notification of breaking news, and CNN’s email alerts are as good as it gets. Click here to sign up. This is its recent stories RSS feed, but email notification is faster and therefore better for the purpose of attracting followers. Sample: “Monks Brawl Before Religious Holiday.”

New York Times. Like CNN, the New York Times is a lovely source for links because it provides both up-to-the minute news as well as carefully crafted, intellectual stories. This is its home page RSS feed. You can also pick from a bunch of feeds here. You and your readers do have to register, but it’s worth it— perhaps the only site that is worth registering for on the Internet. Sample: “A Political Manners Manual.”

Buzzfeed. Buzzfeed is a also a community of people looking for interesting stuff. You can visit its home page to find stuff or subscribe to its RSS feed. Samples: “Lunch Bag Art” and “Young People Love Obama.”

Truemors. This is the much criticized site that I started a while ago. I’ve subsequently sold the site to NowPublic. Like it or not, the stories at Truemors are carefully selected and highly edited. The woman behind Truemors, Annie Colbert, is an extremely good writer and editor. Its feed is here. Sample: “Facebook Tops BBC in UK Traffic.”

Newswise. Newswise is “a trusted resource for knowledge-based news, embargoed research results, and expert contacts from the world’s leading research institutions: universities, colleges, laboratories, professional organizations, governmental agencies, and private research groups active in the fields of medicine, science, business, and the humanities.” Holy kaw! In other words, it features hardcore science. Some stories are embargoed and you have to register to prove you’re a journalist for them, but even the stuff that’s not embargoed is very good. Its RSS feed is here. Sample: “New Generator Produces AC Current by Stretching Wires.”

ZDNet. If you want to push out info-tech links for nerds and geeks, it’s hard to beat ZDNet. Just about every day there’s some story that will interest the 95% of the world that uses Windows. ZDNet pushes out email notification here, and its RSS feed is here. Sample: “In Depth Look at Windows 7.”

Digg. Many people think that Digg is a good place to find stuff that approximately 100 forty-year old men living with their parents find interesting. I don’t use it very often because that’s not who I’m trying to pick up, but you can find many few gems there. Its main RSS feed is here, and you can find specialized feeds here. Sample: “Gears of War 2 sells 2.1 million copies on day 1.”

Kirtsy. Kirtsy on the other hand is “Digg for chicks.” It’s a social networking site where women post and rate stories. The stories here range from mommy/homey stuff to “Liz Hurley’s Boobs: They’re Real and They’re Fantastic” (I’m not making this up). Its links are particularly effective to attract female followers and sensitive men (oxymoron?). Its RSS feed is here. Sample: “5 Jobs You Wanted as a Kid (And Why They Suck).”

Techmeme. Techmeme makes no bones about it: it uses technology to find the hottest tech stories. It’s a community of one: Gabe Rivera, and he’s a good guy. Where ZDNet usually contains ITish stories, Techmeme casts a bigger net for anything tech. Its feed is here. Sample: “Google CEO on Obama Tech Czar Job: No Thanks”.

Bonus: Rewrite the headline. Here’s a power tip for you. The most powerful way to start a headline on Twitter is with the words such as ”How to… ” and “Why… ,” so don’t hesitate to blow out the existing headline and rewrite it to make it more interesting and relevant to the kind of followers you seek.

Double Bonus: Scan Goodtweet.alltop. To make it easier for you to scan the best sites for interesting links, we created Goodtweet.alltop. It aggregates the the feeds mentioned above plus my favorites from the various Alltop sites to make life even easier for you.

Tip 6: Establish yourself as a subject expert. One thing is for sure about Twitter: there are some people interested in every subject and every side of every subject. By establishing yourself as a subject expert, you will make yourself interesting to some subset of people.

Step 1 is to actually be an expert—but that’s beyond the scope of this posting. Step 2 is to find tweets that you can supplement (I explain how to find these tweets below in the TweetDeck and Twellow sections in Tip 8). Example 1: you’re an expert on Macintosh. Search for “Macintosh” and answer people’s questions. Example 2: you’re an expert in public speaking. Search for “Powerpoint,” “keynote,” and “speech” to add value to tweets. People are likely to not only follow you, but also retweet your posts and therefore give you additional exposure.

And if/when you are an expert, don’t be afraid to express your opinion. It’s better that some people follow you and some people refuse to follow you than no one knows who you are at all. There are so many people on Twitter that some are likely to agree with you.

Tip 7: Incorporate pictures and other media. Who can resist a tweet such as “Picture of my new puppy”? Nobody, that’s who. And your topic doesn’t have to be anything as sweet as a puppy. I’ve tweeted pictures of shower heads from Microsoft in the Singapore Airlines lounge, the world’s longest toilet flush, and two sacred cows in Mumbai to get followers, so I know multimedia works. The key is the tweet leading to the picture. Stuff like ““If Microsoft made shower heads,” “World’s longest toilet flush,” and “two sacred kaws/cows” works. (See reference to Posterous below to see how I post pictures and video.)

Tip 8: Use the right tools. At the end of the day, you either have many followers or you don’t. A good effort doesn’t count, so you might as well use the right tools to make picking up followers as easy as possible. Here’s what I use:

SocialToo. SocialToo provides a service that automatically follows everyone that you do. It also enables you to send them a nice welcome message. If you heed my advice to follow everyone who follows you, it’s indispensable. It can also inform you when someone has stopped following you too.

Adjix. This is a Firefox button that you install by dragging onto your toolbar. You click on the button, and it grabs the link of the page and creates a tweet while it displays a thumbnail of the page you’re tweeting. You can see how many people clicked on the link from an administration area. I create almost all my tweets that contain links this way.Finally, you can make money by allowing ads in your links.

TweetDeck. TweetDeck is an Adobe Air application that front ends Twitter. You can open multiple panes on it with specialized purposes like displaying your direct messages and custom searches. These custom searches enable you to create a “dashboard” to Twitter.


TweetDeck is what I use for custom searches. I have a pane with this custom search (brackets not included): [Guykawasaki OR Alltop OR “Guy Kawasaki” -Alltop.com]. This finds all instances where people mention “Guykawasaki” as well as my own tweets because they are from “@guykawasaki” and “Alltop” plus it removes all tweets with “Alltop.com” (Notice that there’s a minus sign before “Alltop.com” and you must capitalize the “OR”.). I remove tweets containing “Alltop.com” because hundreds of people evangelize Alltop news posts by using this Twitterfeed (see below).

You can also do custom searches like this at the Twitter site by clicking here, but the TweetDeck interface is much prettier.

Twellow. Twellow is a site that categorizes people according to their interests by monitoring their public messages. Its categories include accounting, advertising, marketing, real estate, and science. You can use it to find people who are interested in the same topics you are. Here is an example of the people in the beer category (Courtesy of @ducttape).

Twittelator Pro. This can provide the same custom search results as TweetDeck, so I use it whenever I’m not on my MacBook.


Posterous. Don’t click on the link. Instead, send an email to post@posterous.com with a photo, video, or audio clip attached. Posterous will create a blog for you and post the photo, video, or audio. You can even include the HTML embed snippet from video sites like YouTube, and Posterous will embed the player. Your subject line becomes the headline of the posting, and the body of the email becomes the posting itself. Then set your Posterous blog to automatically post to your Twitter account, and voila!, you have pictures, video, and audio in your tweets. This is how I tweeted the showerhead picture from the Singapore Airlines lounge. The Posterous FAQ explains it all. An alternative for posting pictures is TwitPic. It is also quite easy to use to tweet pictures, and it is integrated with TweetDeck.

Twitterfeed. This website enables you to automatically post RSS feeds as tweets. I use it, for example, to automatically post all Truemors posts as if they were tweets from me. When you really trust a site’s feeds, I recommend that you incorporate Twitterfeed to reduce the burden of manually finding good content.

Tip 9: Repeat your tweets. Try this experiment: take your most interesting tweets (as measured by how many people retweet them, perhaps) and post them again three times, eight to twelve hours apart. I used to think that people would complain about repeating tweets, but I’ve never had a complaint. My theory is that the volume of tweets is so high and most people check in at about the same time every day, so people don’t notice repeat tweets.

Tip 10: Ask people to follow. That’s right just come right out and ask them to follow you. For example, I’m here if you want to follow me.


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There you have it: just about everything I know and do to attract followers. If you have more ideas, please add them to the comments for this blog, and I’ll add them to my list. I look forward to watching you blow by me in the number of followers! Just remember: “Always be linking.”

For more news and information about Twitter, you can also visit Twitter.alltop.

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