Do you know who I am - Google Me

Let me first ask you this question, do you know who I am? Well if you have been coming to my blog over the past few years you may have "Google Me". See over past few weeks I am been Googled thousand of times and the interesting thing that I have found out is that people are looking for me to find out who I am and what I am doing. They have Googled:

• Jim Cobb
• Ask Jim Cobb
• Google Me Talk Radio
• Or one of the project or joint ventures that I am involved in
  

So let me ask you this. Do you people know who you are? Your branding is the most important thing you could do for yourself if you want exposure, huge exposure.

I was speaking to my friend Michael McGranahan last night and that is how he found me and we become friend and now are involved in several joint ventures. I was contacted by Brian Hafen of G5nexus and he Googled Me to learn more about me and now I am a part of their team. I am also involved in a weight loss program and everyone there is Googling me to find out about my on going weight loss.

See what I am find out that more and more people are Googling other people. Each of the people are looking for more information. Those who are Googling your name are look for you. Step up and get on top of Google fast before you miss the rush and secure you good name.

I found a very inexpensive program about a few year ago and literally got my name on top in less than 24 hour. So Google Me

You are welcome to leave a comment or Twitter this.

PCMag.com Top 10 Twitter Tips for Beginners

If you don’t know what the fuss is about Twitter, you’re not alone. But if Karl Rove can do it, so can you. Find out how with 10 Twitter Tips that will actually tell you what a retweet is (clue: it’s not Barbara Walters running from the enemy…”Retreat”! Oh, never mind), and how to shrink your URLS. Go here for enlightenment: PCMag.com Top 10 Twitter Tips for Beginners

Hale Dwoskin: The Way to TRUE Happiness ...

Finding true happiness is like finding yourself. You don't find happiness, you make happiness. You choose happiness. Discovering who you are, who you want to be and YOU are the most meaning and contentment to your life over the long run....Jim Cobb

To find out More About Hale Dwoskin: http://successis.askjimcobb.com

Pick The Right Domain Name Is Important to Your Brand

Pick The Right Domain Name - Bob Parsons of GoDaddy.com

47% of internet users have searched for their own name online, up from 22% five years ago

Pew/Internet & American Life Project 12/16/2007 Release Releases

47% of internet users have searched for their own name online, up from 22% five years ago

Most internet users are unaware and unconcerned about the extent of the data available about them online

WASHINGTON, DC, December 16, 2007 – Forty-seven percent of internet users have searched for their own name online, but few monitor their online presence with great regularity. Fifty-three percent of internet users have searched online for information about personal and business contacts.

These findings represent a significant change from when the Pew Internet Project first reported on this activity in 2002, at which time 22% of internet users had searched online for their own name. Read More at PewInternet.org

About the Pew Internet & American Life Project: The Pew Internet Project produces reports that explore the social impact of the internet. Support for the non-profit Pew Internet Project is provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts. The Project is an initiative of the Pew Research Center.

Taking your Blog & Branding to a Community

I was reading one of my favorite blogs this morning and found this great post. This can take not only your blog to a community but when you follow all of the steps you can take your Personal Branding to the next level as well. Enjoy the post and let me know what you think about it.

Taking your Blog to a Community
From ProBlogger & Written on July 6th, 2008 at 12:07 am by Darren Rowse

Today Community Strategist Connie Bensen shares some tips on taking your blog to a community.

Every blogger wants more readers. I’ve always appreciated how Problogger regularly features ideas for improving your blog & writing techniques. As people happen upon your blog they may decide to join your community of readers. But what if you could take your blog to a community?

Choose the new Community

Let’s step back & take a few minutes & think about your niche(s) & focus area. At this point there are two directions. Do you want to bring in more readers in your subject area? Or do you want to reach out to a related niche? The latter will require some creative thinking and be a bigger challenge, but don’t be afraid to go beyond the obvious! Decide on your keywords & spend some time with Google & search engines & find out where your new communities are at. Do this quarterly or so because new sites are always springing up.

When I was a librarian we called it outreach. I would go out & speak to groups & my challenge was highlight resources of interest to that group (whether it was a community service group or quilting club).

Two ways to Extend Yourself

There are a number of ways to do this online. Some are automated & others will require action on your part. Building community takes a bit of effort (although you’ve maybe noticed this just in blogging). But this will be fun. (It has to be otherwise it won’t work!)

Automate your Outreach

Where can you put rss feeds for your blog so that it automatically streams at other places?

• Social networking sites such as Facebook (use notes), LinkedIn
• Aggregators such as Friendfeed, Tumblr, etc
• Forums when it’s appropriate - it’s a bit hard to tell but ask the admin
• Related Communities - ex: scroll down on the left to see an example of my blog streaming
• Sites that aggregate RSS feeds:
• You feed your rss in & editors choose which to publish -ex: 1067 views on my post on Twitter that Social Media Today picked up
• Make it easy for your readers to ‘forward to a friend’ on your blog

• Join social voting sites such as StumbleUpon, Digg, Sphinn, Mixx, etc
• Be generous in helping your friends. They will help back. Most have groups by topic areas.

Set up google alerts & Tweetscan for your new keywords. For example I have an ongoing search for ‘community manager’. My goal is to connect with Community Managers on Twitter & keep up to date on the latest news. It makes growing my connections effortless.

Send out a regular newsletter with links to your blog. Less than 10% use blog readers, so they may prefer getting a compilation of your links & news in their inbox on a regular basis. (Make sure that people opt-in for the newsletter & can unsubscribe).

Engage with the new Community

The next steps require more effort but once you get started you’ll enjoy getting off your blog. The purpose is to meet new people and introduce them to you and in turn your blog. It’s not like flipping a switch & it will take some time. Please don’t go out & spam blogs or forums with links as that won’t be appreciated! You really need to be sincere. And remember this is fun. Do some Googling or set up Google alerts for keywords describing the new community that you’d like to embrace.

Join Communities & Participate

Provide something free that represents your niche (whitepaper, ebook, podcast, etc) & link others to it

• Comment on other’s blog posts & add links to your relevant blog posts & free resources
• Join forums and get involved in the conversations (make sure that linking is allowed)
• If you’re shy about this, I have some suggestions.
• tip - use a tool like Trailfire to keep track of the forums, social bookmarking sites work also
• Write for a group blog - there’s no pay on this but it’s a different niche than my blog & there’s a community with it that many new people I’ve never met (yet!)
• Join group projects - this book project that I’m participating in has 275 authors (meaning lots of back links as we all blog about it! LiveWriter allowed me to copy/paste them as a whole) - I see traffic coming from many new readers as they browse the list posted at the 275 authors’ blogs
• Can’t find a project like this? Why not start one then?
• Memes are powerful & you never know how far ranging they’ll be - this one went on & on (and people started making lists of the people who had replied & evaluating that = more links!)
• participate when your friends call you out
• If you see something meme-like, just do it! Ex: Top 10 Social Media Tools/Platforms
• Start one - they’re fun! Usually it’s a list

Don’t forget about groups at social networking sites such as Facebook & LinkedIn

Include links to the new community in your blog posts

As you spend time in the new community you’ll start to identify the influencers

• Invite them to guest write for you.
• Offer to do guest posts for them.

Signs that you’re making progress

Watch where your traffic is coming from & what searches are hitting your blog/site

*use Feedburner or Google Analytics

An increased network - if you’re doing the second part then it will grow

If you found this intriguing then you will enjoy my list of Resources on community building.

I’m sure that you have ideas that I haven’t thought of… What are your suggestions for taking your blog to a community? What has worked for you?

Call Calling For Gold Part Three

Prospect = Asset = Gold

Now you have this gold/prospect you have to refine it and turn it in to an asset which will offer you a return on your investment. So think about gold and how it can be refined, gold bar, jewelry, and many other precious materials. How do we do this? We take our next to the final step and what I like to refer to as “create a jewel” or in the sales word the close. If you have effectively asked the correct right questions then this will be the easy part.

If you are in the online business world then all you have to do is take them through the process that you take any new client/prospect or new team member. See, though the entire process I have not talked about price, investment, cost, or how much money they are going to spend. If you have done your job right they already know the value and benefits to investing in you. You know if they can afford the investment. So now just act as there guide and get them all set up with everything they need. Once you have completed this and everything is signed, approved, and the investment is sealed then you will have your precious jewel, your asset, and your return will be bountiful. Not just today but for the rest of your life. Just like a gold ring you have to now take care of your new relationship for the long haul and I can assure you if you do this it will make you proud for many years to say that I have great assets your client/customer.

Now for the final step this one is easy but should not be taken for granted. Make sure to say “Thanks You”. Thank them again for their time, and offer them your help if they should ever need it. This strategy is not only a touch of class on your part, but also gives you another opportunity to continue your relationship and leaves the door open for you again and again.

Now you are a Gold Miner you will definitely hit a huge gold vein if you keep practicing and learning more about cold calling and sales. I would like to suggest the following blogs and websites for you to visit to continue your sales learning path:

www.SalesBlogcast.com

www.hellomynameisscott.blogspot.com

www.SalesRoundup.com

www.MyVMTeam.net

www.MyVMTeam.com

www.GoogleMeTalkRadio.com

www.qAliasAffiliates.com - “Google Me” it’s all about “You”

www.AskJimCobb.com

In closing, I would like to thank you for your time and I look forward to share more with you. Please feel free to leave your comment or even a question in my comment section or at www.MyVMTeam.wetpaint.com

Google Me Regards,
Ask Jim Cobb – Google Me

Cold Calling for Gold Part Two

The only way that you are going to do this is Practice, Practice, and Practice you’re panning for prospect through conversation out loud and role-play with friends or colleagues. This will set you mindset and focus on your prospect rather than your shyness. Even today I take a little time to visualize my prospecting for gold before I start panning. This allows me to focus on results and the gold at the bottom of the pan.

Now the introduction is over lets start building the relationship through asking question. But before we get started, keep this in mind:

“The shyness which is fear that you’re creating for yourself is far worse than the reality of panning for prospects. So overcome shyness and fear by doing. As you become more comfortable your mindset will change and you will focus on the gold. I can assure you that your shyness and fear will no longer be a challenge to you.”

Building a relationship through asking question is funs and exciting. You are getting to know someone new. So show respect and ask good questions that will allow for you to take down all of the bearers between you and your gold. The key words to develop questions from is who, what, where, why, and how. If you keep these words tucked in the back of you mind you will be able to generate great and power questions. So take a little time to develop a list of key question that you can build on. As your conversation grows with this prospect then so will your relationship. Once you are starting to feel comfortable in the conversation then you know that you are almost at the bottom pan and you will start see the gold in your mind. Now relax the gold will come but we have to add more water to really uncover it.

Why do you have to add water? Well you have to ask yourself two questions to validate your new relationship:

Is the prospect ready to invest in you? OR Should I wait and build the relationship more?

Now start asking more powerful validation questions, I mean asking: dangerous questions, guiding questions, killer questions, challenging question, pointed questions, smart questions, unexpected questions, well crafted questions, and well timed questions. I can assure you that if you ask questions like this, your prospect will form an impression of you as someone who is creative, intelligent, observant, and really cares about who they are and what they are all about. This will enable them to invest in you, entice them to continue a long term relationship, and will encourage them to tell their friends about you.

Obviously, after you have validated your relationship and the prospect is ready to invest in you. Pick the gold out of the pan and hold it in your hand and look at it. But you can’t stop here. You have to now refine the gold and turn it into your asset.

Watch for Cold Call for Gold Part Three , I would like to thank you for your time and I look forward to share more with you. Please feel free to leave your comment or even a question in my comment section .

Google Me Regards,

Ask Jim Cobb – Google Me

Cold Calling For Gold Part One

Many online sales professionals are shy when it comes to cold calling, that shyness, unfortunately, makes them ineffective when they pick up the phone to make the calls. The fact cold calling is on of the most effective way to get the word out about your business, your success, and you.

See I don’t call it cold calling, I call it prospect mining. Just like a gold miner I am mining for prospective client/customer. Gold mining consists of the processes and techniques employed in the removal of gold from the ground. Gold mining and prospect mining have a lot of similarities. So let’s take a look at my most successful prospect mining technique:

Panning for Gold – Panning for Prospects

Now I know that a lot of us should know about Panning for Gold. Panning for prospects is fun and exciting. Just think what you will uncover.

“Gold panning is a mostly manual technique of sorting gold. Wide, shallow pans are filled with sand and gravel that may contain gold. Water is added and the pans are shaken, sorting the gold from the gravel and other material. As gold is much more dense than rock, it quickly settles to the bottom of the pan.”

Panning for prospective clients/customer is done much in the same way. Our pan is the phone and our list of phone numbers and names are sand and gravel that contains the gold. So the first step is getting our pan and adding all of the prospects to it. Then we add water (building the relationship) to short the sand and gravel and other materials away from the gold and it quickly settles to the bottom of our pan. I visualize this with every time I am panning for prospects.

Now the most important process in panning for prospects is the water, building a relationship by asking questions. Just as you would meet someone at a party, maybe on a trip to the grocery store, or just meeting new people any where you may go. You begin a conversation with introduction. So if you are shy and want to overcome this you are going to have to prepare. Know your goal, what you want to say, how you want to say it and how you want to represent yourself, your business, and you.

Watch for Cold Call for Gold Part Two , I would like to thank you for your time and I look forward to share more with you. Please feel free to leave your comment or even a question in my comment section .

Google Me Regards,

Ask Jim Cobb – Google Me

SalesBlogcast.com is a big hit

Google Me Talk Radio says "What a brilliant place for sales and marketing professionals, small business owners, and online business entrepreneurs to come a gain a wealth of knowledge". I have been sales and marketing professional for over 25 years and have not found a place on the internet where like minded sales professionals come to share and learn.

Doyle Slayton, Sale and Leadership Strategist and Founder of www.SalesBlogcast.com has really taken old school sale fundamentals and combined them with current day online business sales practices to open Top Business Minds to a new way of thinking about sales in today fast-paced internet world. "Be the best that you can be in all that you do today, and tomorrow will take care of itself." in his post on May 22, 2008 on "Opportunity".

I would like to invite you to take advantage of SalesBlogcast and join the community where sales professionals network, share best-practices, and just get better! Receive new articles and interviews throughout the week. Participate in sales, leadership, and business discussions. Subscribe today... it's FREE! Learn More and also get Linkedin with Doyle Slayton.

Thanks for your time!

Jim Cobb, Host
Google Me Talk Radio

Microsoft seeks for search gains

Steven Musil, Staff Writer, CNET News.com reported today "Microsoft is determined to get a bigger presence in the search market, and it's willing to get creative with its checkbook to meet that goal." Read the full Story

Facebook's new profile design is all about tabs

Harrison Hoffman Of www.news.cnet.com reported today that Facebook has just published new photos and descriptions of its impending profile redesign to its Facebook Profile Previews page.

The new profile design will, as we have known for a while, be centered on tabs. Profiles will be broken off into five separate tabs: Feed, Info, Wall, Photos, and Applications. Facebook's latest round of screenshots seems to indicate that users will also have the ability to add additional tabs, with the inclusion of a plus sign to the right of the Applications tab. To learn more Click Here

Success is your focus.

Another key to successful CRR is the ability to build relationships while taking care of business. Here are some ideas for you: don’t make people feel invisible, always maintain good eye contact, remember, you can’t smile enough on the telephone or in person, to stay connected ask people who get your voice mail message to leave their e-mail address and telephone number, watch your body language, buy a notebook to record all your relationship building ideas, only do dog and pony shows if your client needs a dog and pony, add the words “for you” to the end of your sentences, every four months record your end of your telephone calls to improve the quality of your calls, always take notes to demonstrate that you care and you are listening, and always take the time to say “Thank you” to everyone who contributes to your success.

Passion is the powerful attributes for successful business owners.

Get excited about your work. If you don’t like it, change it. Your life is too important and too short, to waste it doing something you hate doing. Be yourself and avoid trying to imitate somebody else. Have an attitude of gratitude. Say “thank you” often. That kind gesture will make someone’s day a better one and you will feel the success that you have help someone else have a great day.

Enthusiasm is contagious. Enthusiasm is an acquired quality and it’s free! Go out and get some, if you’re running low. If you want to take your business to the next level learn to do the unthinkable. Never saying “I’ve always done it this way.” Never follow the crowd. Take a new and different path to solve old client problems. The old way may not be the better way. Don’t let “good enough” be good enough.

If your success becomes to comfortable, it’s time to change. Always aim higher and you’ll be rewarded handsomely. Being SUCCESS is no small task, especially when the client is doing the evaluation. If you dare to be different, strive to be effective, and are attentive to your clients’ needs, you too can be SUCCESS.

In closing, Customer Relationship and Retention is not a challenge it is a way of life for any business person and it all comes down to this. When you do the right things for clients with the right motives, there’s no limit to what the Client will do in for you. Take everyday as a gift and enjoy opening it. Because you never know what you will find when you mind is set for SUCCESS.

So why is the Client Important?

So why is the Client important? Because the people that have bought from you now trust you more, as a result they will deal with you again and again. The more they trust you, the more open the relationship will evolve over time.

So the next step here is to build trust and the best way to do this is say “Thank You”.
I mean more than that automated 'thank you' at the cash register. I mean a personal thank you, something that shows your Client that you do appreciate them. One of the first ways you can do this is by sending your Client a thank you letter after they have purchases from you.

Well, there you have it, this simple one page letter that thanks your Client and encourages them to come back and opens the door for future business.

Will sending a letter to your Client really work? Sure it will. After all, when was the last time you received a thank you letter for spending money? I have only received a very few thank you letters and I remember all of them vividly. Send one to your customers and they'll remember it and you too. Try this, it works!

So what does the question “How can I help” have to do with Client relationship? Did you think about it? Offering help shows that client that you care about there business or even them. The client may decline your help but the client will always remember you making the offer to help. This builds trust and build the relationship.

Watch for my next blog post and learn the Power of CRR.

Customer Relationship and Retention

The client relationships must be the heart of every business. All of us know what ROI (Return on investment) is all about. Now let’s discuss how CRR (Customer Relationship and Retention) works.

One of the largest challenges to overcome for off or online businesses is sell, sell, sell, sell, sell, and sell mentality. The other thing I see and hear is poor closing techniques with little or no follow up and no long term relationship retention established after the sale is closed. This is a failure point with most online businesses when they fail to recognize the value of a Client.

Every Client has a value to you and your business. What is the one thing now that you could start, stop, or change that would have a dramatic impact your client relationships retention? This is an excellent question and I hope you would take a moment and really consider your answer. Yes sometimes it takes a great deal of effort and an extraordinary amount of energy to close “a big deal” but what happens after the deal is closed. How do you turn this new relationship into a long term Client?

First, never forget, it may take even more effort and energy, to keep the business after you win it. It takes courage to get the business and creativity and imagination to retain it. Now let’s set you mind to never forget this word SUCCESS and all that means. To be success, success is to be grand, impressive, outstanding, excellent, remarkable, and even unforgettable.

Many business owners have not set there mindset in terms of SUCCESS. They walk around doing a great imitation but they don’t walk the walk and talk the talk. It doesn’t take much to leap from the ordinary to the extraordinary, but it does take effort. It’s all about leaving a great first impression, not merely a good one. It’s about delighting your clients, not just satisfying them, and being unforgettable.

It is about rising above the entire crowd, not being lost in it. It’s about speaking SUCCESS and breathing it. Here are some ideas for you on how have a SUCCESS mindset for Client Relationship Retention.

Googles Friends Connects Partial List of Applications.

Here is a list of some of the applications. As Friend Connect grows, expect the list of applications to explode; Google, like Facebook before it, is trying to create a "platform" for developers to make money by reaching an audience of millions. The List.

Google Wants to Facebook Friend You and Much More

This is some Great News!!!

Time Magazine "Google Wants to Facebook Friend" as reported by JOSH QUITTNER

"Upping the stakes in its ongoing battle with the popular social network, Google announced today that it was getting into the "social plumbing" business — giving every website a way to add a limitless number of applications and a means for those sites' users to communicate among themselves. Read More"

Welcome to the social mess, a good mess with results?

CnetNews.com Posting by Caroline McCarthy really sound promising. Caroline reports

"Google Friend Connect, Facebook Connect, MySpace Data Availability, OpenID, DataPortability: Managing a bunch of different log-ins and passwords suddenly seems easy and straightforward.

Within a matter of days, some of the biggest names on the Web announced new projects that all have a roughly similar aim of making it possible for Web users to have a single social-media identity across the Internet--"data portability," as the general term has come to be known. MySpace.com was first out of the gate with the announcement of Data Availability, a way for members of the News Corp.-owned social network to share their profile data with partner sites including eBay, Yahoo, and Twitter. The next day, Facebook launched Facebook Connect, an extension of its developer API so that third-party sites can incorporate Facebook authentication and user identities." Read More

Starting Good Business Relationships

"When I hear one of my clients say “Today was a tough day” I always follow up with this question, "How can I help?"

Really think about this question “How can I help” So what does this have to do with customer relationship, sales and marketing?

Now before we get into understand this we have to change our mindset. The change is every customer is really a Client. The title “Client” demand respect in today’s business world. Thesaurus.com defines the word Client “One who buys goods or services.” A customer is defined in the say way. However, let me ask you this. How does it feel when someone refers to you as a Client? It places importance. Where if you are a customer there really is no feeling of importance. I know it’s all comes down to semantics’ but changing your mindset will project to the Client that they are important to you and your business and is the first building block of any relationship.

The first step in any business relationship is to start a relationship. The biggest problem with most business owners today is that they do not start a client relationship. They just make a sale and go on to the next money source forgetting about the client and the relationship which was just started. See this relationship is very important. Why? Because statistics show that it can be as much as ten times easier to market and sell something to someone that has bought from you before, than selling something to a stranger.

Watch for the next blog post for the answer to "How can I help?" and to here open discussion listen to My VM Team Talk Radio

Facebook to open the gates

This is a excellent article from CNetNews.com on May 9, 2008

"Facebook to open the gates with 'Facebook Connect' by Caroline McCarthy"

"Social network Facebook announced Friday the debut of Facebook Connect, a new technology for members to connect their profile data and authentication credentials to external Web sites. It makes the company the latest major Web site to embrace the concept of data portability.

The formal announcement was made through a post on Facebook's developer blog by senior platform manager Dave Morin, who has been one of the company's most visible evangelists in the developer community over the past year. Facebook Connect will launch within the next few weeks." Read more about this.

Let me know what you like about this by leaving a comment.