Marc's Blog

Content Writing and Marketing Services

Do You Have Any Questions About Social Media, Business, Or Blogging?

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I’ll answer them. However, answering your question with a comment will not be the only thing I do. 2014 is going to bring forth a lot of changes. Starting in April, my YouTube videos will have a different setting. One of the big additions is a white board (idea paint on a wall).

If you have any questions about social media, business, or blogging, I will reply to your comment with an answer. I will also create a YouTube video that is revolved around your question. In the future, I will also do a Q&A or two (they will be announced).

I am in the New Year resolutions lifestyle, and 2014 is going to be a big year. I have a lot of things planned such as a giveaway in April of my Twitter Domination Training Course, other giveaways, longer videos, and more.

If you have any questions about social media, business, or blogging, you don’t have to search around the internet anymore. Just leave your question below and I will answer it as soon as possible.

 

5 Steps To Finding The Right People In Your Niche To Interview

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interview

When it comes to hosting an interview, a lot of things need to go right. The technology needs to be right (I recommend Google+ Hangouts), and the person you are interviewing needs to be someone who your audience will be interested in. In an interview, you are introducing someone to your audience. In order to get the best reaction from your audience, the person who you interview needs to provide really good information. That’s why I had Mike Michalowicz come by and talk about his book, The Pumpkin Plan. We have already scheduled an upcoming interview in August about his upcoming book, Profit First.

Here are the 5 steps that will allow you to find the right people in your niche to interview:

Step 1: You want to interview the people who are going to provide your targeted audience with the knowledge that they are looking for. My targeted audience is the people interested in social media, business, and blogging. This means I am only going to look for people in those three niches. Step 1 is primarily to identify which niches you want to find people in.

Step 2: There are going to be thousands of options. However, finding the people you want to interview out of those thousand is a challenging process. Before you decide whether or not to interview someone, read one of their books. A book will allow you to see some of the insight that the potential interviewee has. If someone you are considering to interview does not have a book or if you do not want to buy the book right away, read some of their blog posts instead. If you like the content of the blog posts, you know that person is a potential interviewee.

Step 3: The next step is to identify the people with big followings. The person with 100,000 followers is 10 times more likely to get the interview than the person with 10,000 followers (assuming that both are in the same niche). This person will most likely promote the interview when it goes up on YouTube. This will give you access to a new audience that is still a targeted one.

Step 4: Contact the people you want to interview. Some will respond while others will not. If you get a response, that response will most likely be a big yes. Entrepreneurs enjoy getting as much exposure and traffic as they can get. The interview will help them just as much as it helps you.

Step 5: Create a schedule for your interviews. Give your potential interviewees multiple options for the interview. When you and the interviewee reach an agreement, tell your followers about the interview. Get the ball rolling, and just like the snowball effect, it will continue to roll.

By implementing this 5 step plan, you will be able to find the best people to interview and successfully schedule a date to have them interviewed. All you have to do after that is find the right technology to host the interview (I’ll recommend Google+ Hangouts for a second time) and prepare for the interview.

 

Is Your Message Clear Or Foggy (And How To Tell)?

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Entrepreneurs create powerful businesses by having clear messages. Startups and people who just begin to get into the entrepreneurial spirit quickly learn how important it is to have a message. However, there are too many people who forget about having a clear message.

Having a clear message equates to more traffic, sales, subscribers, and everything else that a business wants more of. Having a clear message gives people a reason to come back and buy your other products. Most people have a foggy, or even worse, an undefined message. These messages do not equate to an increase in traffic, sales, or subscribers. In fact, these kinds of messages make it harder for people to find you. When people do find you, having a foggy message makes the visitor less likely to stick around.

Instead of playing by chance, there are some ways to tell whether your message is a clear or foggy one. If you are able to tell that your message is a clear one, that’s great. If it’s foggy, you need to work on your message so more people learn about you and decide to stick around.

In order to tell whether your message is clear or foggy, the first thing you have to do is look at your message and make an honest decision about whether your message is clear or not. Some people will be honest with themselves and realize that their message is foggy. Others will lie to themselves and say that their message is clear. There will also be the few who have a clear message for their target audience.

The fact that some people will not be honest with themselves is the reason this process has two steps. The second step will allow you to know the truth because you lose some control in this step. This step requires you to ask your friends what they think is the message of your business.

This part is very important. Here is the question that a lot of people ask, which is a big mistake (I used myself as the example), “Did I do a good job at telling people that one of the messages is that teenagers can do more than they think?” Your friend is going to say yes because they don’t want you to feel bad. Saying no would break the code of friendship. Then you and your friend don’t talk for a while. That’s why your friends will say yes to that question to avoid that fate.

Friends also say yes just to make you feel good. When you hear a friend say yes, that gives you the reassurance that your message is a clear one. Friends have said yes in the past so they don’t hurt the feelings of other friends. Asking the wrong question will taint the truth.

Instead of asking a question, just say, “Tell me what you as the consumer think the message of my business is.” This is not a yes or no question. They either go in detail about how clear your message is or how foggy your message is. Some friends will try to say that your message is clear when it is not. You will be able to identify most of these people because they will have a shaky voice when telling you how ‘clear’ the message is.

When you ask your friends, make sure you choose the friends that will take the time to come up with a good answer. Getting better answers will allow you to take more action.

 

A New Way To Look At Quitting

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We have been taught to stick with things and that quitting is never the right option. There are many inspirational quotes about never quitting and sticking with the task at hand. However, not everything we get taught is always correct.

When people think about sticking with something and not quitting under any circumstances, they are thinking of quitting at the moment. Deciding to quit while doing the work is quitting at the moment. By creating the circumstances that would make you quit before those circumstances actually come up, you will be able to quit strategically.

Some goals are worth pursuing. Other goals will result in you losing time and money. We need to pay more attention to whether or not we are going to accomplish a goal before we start. Starting and not finishing results in a loss in time and in numerous cases, money.

Instead of sticking with something you know you won’t be able to accomplish, you can quit. By quitting that certain goal, you will open up more time for yourself so you can accomplish your more important goals. By investing more time into the goals that matter, you will be able to get them accomplished faster and become the best of your niche.

We have been taught that winners never quit. They do, and some of them quit often. There is a difference between quitting in the moment and strategically quitting. Quitting in the moment is not helpful, but strategically quitting can be the difference between a powerful business and a flop.

 

Their Beginnings And Where They All Are Today

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new beginning

An online bookstore with 1 employee.

An online year book for college students.

The first one of these was sold for a penny.

A research project done by two PhD students.

This got created and maintained in an apartment for a fair amount of time. The founders encouraged a New York based magazine company to buy their creation. The publisher wouldn’t even meet with the founders.

This idea just happened to come up when another business was falling apart.

This business started in a garage.

Version 0.7 used to be the big thing.

Those were their beginnings. Clicking on the links will allow you to find out where they ended up. What’s your beginning?

 

You Have Two Choices (Think Or Do)

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The people we don’t know about choose to think about what they are going to do without doing anything.

The people who are remarkable and successful go for the other option which is to do what they think about.

You can’t do something without thinking about it. However, some people think to the point when nothing gets done.

People commonly think of ways to be perfect instead of realizing that true perfection does not exist. This leads to more thinking and less doing.

As Walt Disney said, “The only way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.”

My first YouTube videos were my computer on an ironing board. Then I got a table to put my computer on. Spoiler alert: starting in April, I will have a white board in my videos and will be standing. The lighting and sound qualities are both better.

Thinking does not equate to doing. Thinking is like the big snowball on the top of the hill. The only way to see progress (to do) is by pushing that snowball down the hill.

Make a choice today to do the things that will help you accomplish your dream because thinking about them is not enough.