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This is so important. Video Marketing is the wave of today, and the wave of the future, and frankly, one of my old mentors just blew the lid of this thing.

All free, unbelievably awesome info:
http://www.VideoBosses.com

All I can say is WOW. So much info for free, and so much more coming. This is the kind of stuff I like to see on the net, and is very cutting edge. The video is cool, relaxed, and straightforward. It’s NOT salesy, and there’s REAL information.

Warning: This is information that ALL business owners need to know - whether they are on the net or not. Everyone NEEDS to know about online video.

I’ll be talking more about this soon!

http://www.VideoBosses.com

Ok, following up on my last post, this should be titled, MarketingCrazy’s crystal ball, but it’s not. This, frankly, is coming so quickly - a lot of it is here already, regardless of whether anyone knows it.

And the fact is, very few people do know it. Prepare for Internet Marketing knowledge that will be commonplace in 2011, but for now, is cutting edge. Only three fortune tellings for now, as I’m off to the movies (all play, and NO work, not good - so here’s my work).

1) The Year of Universal Search screwing everybody up!

What is universal search? it’s when a search engine brings in items from other properties, and puts your organic search results (that you’ve spent years creating) toward the bottom of the page (yikes). It’s when, instead of 10 organic search listsing, there are only 5, below youtube videos, google news clippings, comparison shop and search engines, etc…). It’s the process by which a search query, on all major search engines, returns results not only from it’s organic listings, but from myriad (”universal”) locations.

Oh, and it hurts!  And it’s going to hurt you … unless, you can ->

2) Be Everywhere in 2010

I hate Web 2.0, as you know. Hated more in 2008 than now, but still - what a waste of time. Argh, so much time spent in front of the computer versus at the movies, or on a beach. However, if you were #4 in google for removing “soap scum” and are now not even on the first page below all the youtube videos, news clippings, facebook pages, yelp reviews, and other “universal search” items that are appearing above your hard fought for organic search listing, you’ll immediately see the need to be everywhere.

It just got a whole lot harder (or a whole lot easier, depending on your perspective) to snipe someone’s top listing, or lose yours. A well done Youtube video can take #1 search rankings away from you in a week or less. A well crafted yelp (or insert web 2 property, flavor of the day) review can easily knock you off your pedestal.

That being said, it also allows brand new people to get into the game, if they understand what a game changer this is, and know how to capitalize on it. Let’s pray they don’t (or at least don’t read this blog, since I’m going to pretty much give all that away).

3) Local Search is king, and all the Search Engines know it …

The direction of the world is local. Local this, that, and the other thing. I’m just getting my hands around this power, and work, that will be involved in the rapidly growing local search market. It’s huge and the tools coming online, including google’s own local search business center, are massive. Every search engine, and every SEO firm, are creating tools like mad to harness it - even me.

So, apart from me ranting about these changes, and how it’s going to actually require me to work to keep my dominating web presence in every niche I play in, what exactly am I recommending?

You mean, apart from the enormous amount of work it would require to “be everywhere”. Time to learn Youtube - it’s now the second biggest search engine behind google (yes, it’s #2, Google is #1). Time to learn Facebook and Twitter (and by learn, I mean have a presence there). Time to focus on your local search listings, and time to make sure your Yelp listing are truly up to snuff.

And yes, this is on top of (and in addition to, as well as relation to), Hubpages, Squidoo Lenses, etc … Why do I get the feeling I may have to work really hard this year? Darn it! I’m going to do that right after I get back from Hawaii …

Until then, what are your game changers? Write em’ below!

Also, take a look at our new MarketingCrazy Podcast and Online Business daily video show, http://www.MarketingCrazyMinute.com

Whoa, color me surprised - this has been a great two months! Really …

Just a few month ago, and throughout the summer, we were noticing that things were getting quite rough. Sales were down across the board, advertising costs were way up, and we were questioning … well, just about everything. The news was filled with negativity, yes, everyone spoke of the rebound coming …

I’ll be honest. I didn’t believe it! I still don’t believe it. We are simply NOT turned around. We are NOT over the hump, and I predict things are going to get a whole lot worse. I see the entire rebound we are currently experiencing as entirely irrational, and I urge great saving, and even greater caution, in the coming year.

That being said - I have to admit when I’m wrong. And, based on our own results, I have to say … We sold a lot of stuff this last two months. It’s like all of America seemed to buy into the “hype” of the ending recession, and started spending like mad. It’s out of control, and we did very, very well. I’m shocked (but very happy) …

And believe you me, this has a great impact on our upcoming January, where I predict things will continue to go gangbusters on the web … We are currently refining our strategies, and predict a stellar January! Beyond that though - we think the irrational exuberance is going to wane, and we see some tough times in 2010. While I can’t argue with our exceptional November and December results, I also, can’t really say we saw it coming. How long can this kind of spending continue?

No, I am not complaining. Just making note of the fact that the country has not dealt (at ALL) with the housing issue, foreclosures, or bank financing (like my small business maybe being able to get a LOAN to expand even faster). These are troubling problems, and stand in the way (I believe) of any true recovery.

That being said - to the victor go the spoils, and in this instance, as we’ve “figured out” internet business, we’ve been strong victors. So ends a crazy 2009, and what will almost assuredly be a crazier 2010 …

Lessons Learned: Spend Less!
-> We went crazy with adwords and landing page testing, and paid the price. I am an avid tester, and PPC buyer, but we overdid it, and we paid a heavy (six figure) price. 2010? We’re going to do LESS, but more targeted, PPC. Think … hand done SpeedPPC campaigns.

-> Focus, Focus, Focus … We’re going to greatly trim our niches, and where we focus our energies. We cut down 100 sites this year, and we plan to trim 200 more in 2010. That’s right. 200 sites, bye-bye. In fact, we’re going to give MarketingCrazy members first crack at buying these sites and domain names (for very cheap).

-> No More Buying Internet Marketing Courses! Ha - I’ve promised this before, but this year - no way. We’re going to create one, that’s going to blow everything else out of the water. To do that, we’re going to need to stop reading everyone else’s for a moment. Yep, that means I’m going to drop out of the 100+ email marketing lists for the following year. Yay!

In my next post, I’m going to detail the top 3 game changers of 2010, with regards to internet marketing, and I’m going to tell you our plans of how we’re preparing to deal with them. What are you three things you’re planning for 2010?

Drum roll please … I promised you some results (in my previous post), good or bad.  Here it is, results from the Mass Control 2.0 4 day cash machine experiment.

So, here they are: Internet Marketing Results 101.  I like Frank Kern. Really - this guy is a riot. Funny, smart, and deserving of attention. The full course I can review a bit later, but the 4 day cash machine was presented simply, straightforwardly, and so a baby could do it IF (and only if), he had his basic internet marketing skills down (autoresponders, list, landing pages, sellable product, etc …). Let’s get to the stats, right after some basics about my execution:

1) I completely turned off my brain, and tried to follow instructions to the letter (not one of my strongest skills mind you).  So, you’re getting Internet Marketing Results 101, from someone whom has graduated 701 (i.e. 7 figures).

2) I did the exact plan, mirroring the landing page, AND 4 follow up emails, exactly, with no changes. In fact, I even left the word “Dog” in there instead of my chosen market. Whoops! So, my market has nothing to do with dogs, or dog traing, and this of course brough up some pretty funny questions.

3) I did this work myslef. No employees, no outsourcing. It tooks about 7 hours. I did the web stuff, AR’s, buy links, thank you pages, upsells, all by hand (and all by lonesome). I loved it - but felt constrained to follow instructions to the letter. There were many ways I felt I might improve results, but I did not want to do anything to throw off the expriment.

4) I chose a 12k cold list, filled with what was, at one time, targeted optins. The list had not been mailed in over 1 year. Of the 12k list, 10.5 were sent each email, and around 8k active received them.

5) My open rates were around 8-10% or less, using all the chosen headlines.  1ShoppingCart was my mailer - and yes, Aweber might have done better.

6) My product was $137, with two upgrades at $47 each.

and … care to guess? How many sales?

Sales were 20.

Upsells were 7.

Thank you sales were 2 (not talked about here, but results in ongoing income).

So, what do you think? For the newbie, I think it’s extasy, and opens up a new world of possibility. For the expert, it’s a disaster that I am REALLY GLAD I DID!

Ok, so the results stunk (from my perpsective), but the process was something I hadn’t done in years, and I did enjoy it. The feeling that a) I might be missing something, and b) there might be huge sales from this, and c) I didn’t know exactly what would happen was … really quite fun. Will I do it again - No.  Will the learning process improve my existing marketing? Yes. I think it will.

Honestly, this covered such basic stuff, and the real money, as I’ve said before, is all in the basics. The fundamentals! It’s not the next big thing, the new software program, the silver bullet, but rather, returning to the fundamentals of Internet Marketing, again and again, that creates real money on the internet.  It is through trial and error that almost all internet marketer’s succeed!  It’s that, and obsessive testing, tweaking, and tracking.

But you all know that already, right? If not, perhaps it’s time for you to visit the upcoming Basement Empires? Regardless, this brought me back to earth.

Other stats? Can you believe, only 61 people unsubscribed? Crazy eh? Makes me think FEWER people than reported ever saw the email. That’s just too low an unsubscribe rate!

Even more funny, are some of the emails I am recieving from friends whom are also great marketers, whom are testing out the exact same thing. I can’t name names, but I’ve gotten the exact emails from various people in various niches. It’s hysterical. I have sent them emails to confirm their results as well, so I may be able to post a follow up message.

And, now … the review of the Mass Control 2.0 course? The first course like this I have purchased in a long time (and now I went and purchase Russel Brunson Micro Continuity too, argh…).  Perhaps we’ll hit that in a later issue.

What have I done in 2008 (not 2009), that really impacted my business - either at a core profit level, or a core efficiency level. Here’s my Top three things I’ve done that have had a huge effect on my business. If you’re starting a business, or growing your business, these might make a big difference!

1) Apple, Gmail, and the Ultimate Shift in my tools and resources…

Ever seen those Apple commercials? Ever wonder if maybe they were right? 2008 was the year of the Apple, and while I still use my PC for certain things, my switch to Apple, and Apple products, proved hugely beneficial to my business!

I can get into specifics about why Apple versus PC, and why, and what tools I use on each, but I’ll save that for a longer, specific post. Suffice it to say, this was a huge time saver, and my business works better on Apple. now have 3 Imacs, 2 Powerbooks … and no headache.

2) Gmail and Google’s paid suite of business tools.

I may live to regret this, but since I was on PC, I used Outlook. Outlook is a horrible program, but I was so stuck in it. So many years wasted… so many emails lost…

Outlook is… quite possibly, the devil.

With my switch to Mac, I made the switch to Gmail, which was very difficult, laborious, and to my way of thinking, a waste of time. Yet, no single thing has catapulted me in productivity than switching to Gmail, and Google Docs, spreadsheets, etc…

Yes, I may live to regret this, putting so much faith into one company, but the paid version (pay the paltry $50 per person), is amazing beneficial to me, my employees, my company, and our productivity.

They simply work, and they work anywhere.  I can travel, and be completely connected to my business. Does anyone still actually use Outlook? I feel like I was a late adopter of Gmail, but it has catapulted me to a better Internet Lifestyle (work and play together).

3) Focus on fewer sites…

We have hundreds of websites. Yes, hundreds. Sometimes it feels like even more!

In 2008, we trimmed it down. Fewer, larger sites were the word of the day, and guess what? It’s working! Follow our lead … this is the wave of the future.

Ever notice how hard it’s getting to rank in Google? Yep - big sites win. Focussed sites win. I’m not saying the ocassional sales letter site can’t garner an easy 20-100k, but if you’re around for the long run - think big, and think, single or small group of sites.

What about link farms? Blog Farms? Etc…  Been there, done that!

Save those for the people whom want to work harder than you do!  You simple won’t need them if you work on creating a big site, with big content, and big community. That’s a fact!

What’s your top 3-5 business changers? What have you done in your business to blow up your productivity or bottom line? We’re getting our 2009 list ready, but would love to get your thoughts and insights first.

What are your game changers?