Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

“Tell me who your friends are and I’ll tell you who you are!”  My Great Grams!

Every Wednesday instead of interviewing someone like we do on Mon, Tues, and Thurs, I’ll be doing a solo podcast to share my thoughts on Business, Internet Success, Marketing, Branding, Networking & Connecting, and other things that I’m seeing out there online.

Today I talked about Surrounding Yourself To Success! The podcast runs about 19 minutes.

People mentioned in this podcast & thanks for your input!!:

@jenniferbourn

@chaunna

@justinbrooke

@seotips2go

@amyvenezia

@jamespierini

@garyzelesky

Follow these folks!!

What are YOUR thoughts on surrounding yourself by the right people?  Please leave me a comment below, I’m interested to hear what you thoughts on the subject?

Tweet it, Share it, Digg it, Stumble it, share the word friends!

John Halderman writes about personal growth and online marketing , helping people take command of their income, personal growth and wellness. He is also on Twitter

Real time web is evolving quickly and being offered in more and more places. As we all experience how everything is moving faster and faster communication on the web gets quicker. At one time, long ago, we thought email and RSS feeds were an efficient way to get information out there, but now there is the speed of Twitter. How will this increased speed help your social networking and marketing is the question?

Frederic Lardinois, in his post “Five Sites that Let You Experience the Real-Time Web Today” details some of the fast, near real time communication sites operating today. The question becomes, do you really need communication to be this fast? Does it have a purpose? Or is it all just an example of creative oneupmanship, where we keep going faster just because we can.

Is the speed of communication holding you down? Or do you just find it hard to keep up with now? Have you been upset with RSS feeds only updating about every hour? If you have, Notifizious may just be what you are looking for.

As we see on Twitter, there seem to be two general uses, one of holding conversations which is essentially a chat. And the other of posting messages, which the speed of delivery is usually not so critical.

For those who have a need for fast, or just want it because it’s there:

* Notifixious is a very new service and still has limitations where it can be used, but if you want it fast -might see if you can give it a try.

* Monitter is interesting – quite addictive. You can set any keywords you want to follow on Twitter and it pulls them all in for you. You choose, a tool or a distraction!

* And for those who have stayed away from Facebook because it’s too slow on the update- coming soon, real time updates of users news feeds.

As with everything, these are tools that we each choose how to use for ourselves, so it is us alone that must ask the important questions;

* Do we have a need to receive immediate information?
* Do we have a need to transfer information out immediately?
* Does a given service offer the speed that supports it’s use, or
* Does the increased speed open up new uses?
* How much time should I spend in front of it?

As with any service, I think these communication services will eventually get a thumbs up or down from the online world depending on their usefulness. I must admit, all these new faster services are real neat, but they can be addictive ending up consuming more of our time rather than saving it. I suggest, don’t get involved just because it’s there, rather choose the communication methods that best serve your needs.

Salwa is a digital artist, designer, blogger, and writer from U.K. She authors a blog at www.blogriffic.com. She is also on twitter

With the recent increase in social media programs, internet marketers are beginning to target social media sites for their marketing campaigns. But how exactly do you market your products through social media?

Most advertisements in social media are presented casually. Many ads don’t even have hyperlinks, and the viewers actually have to type in your URL into their internet browser. While you probably won’t get as much traffic as you would with a normal hyperlink advertisement, those who view your site will be HIGHLY targeted, as they have taken the time to visit your site.

Most social media marketing is done through YouTube. Short ads are often added to the beginning or end of videos, or even mixed in to the middle. Be warned that advertisements in videos can be very annoying to viewers, so don’t over do it. One small, tasteful ad in each video will suffice. Do not overwhelm your viewers with tons of long ads.

Many types of social media marketing do not appear to be done by the actual promoter, but rather the general public. Often a “fake grass roots” movement is started intentionally by a marketer. A blog or other webpage will be created, with a “normal guy” talking about a specific product. Statistically, people are more likely to purchase something recommended by a “normal dude” that they can relate to, rather than an advertiser. Viral videos are often used as well in order to promote a specific product or website.

The entire goal of marketing in social media is to be the next big thing. The internet is constantly changing, and new trends seem to spring up every day. If your marketing campaign is part of the latest trend, you can receive millions of visitors. Do not underestimate the power of suggestion. If whatever you produced is considered by the public interesting or funny enough to recommend to a friend, you can expect to see your traffic and sales rising rapidly.

As I said, YouTube videos are the most common medium for social media marketing. But why exactly is this? Because popular videos on YouTube receive massive amounts of views within hours. The top videos of the day usually have from 100,000-500,000 videos within the first 24 hours. As with any form of advertising, not everyone who views your ad will actually click on it. In my personal experience, a normal click through for YouTube videos is about 20-30%. This means that out of those 100,000+ views, you will receive 20,000-30,000 unique visitors to your site, all within 24 hours. Of course the click through rate will change drastically depending on ad placement, video subject, quality, etc, but if a popular video has your product in it, you can expect massive amounts of traffic.

Opinions vary as to whether or not social media is a good medium for internet marketing. Some think that traditional advertising works better, while some prefer social media. However, with social media on the rise, I expect that more people will be marketing through social media sites.