"Feeding the Good Wolf"

An old Cherokee tale of a Grandfather teaching life principles to you Grandchild. The wise old Cherokee said "Son, on the inside of every person a battle is raging between two wolves. One wolf is evil. It's angry, jealous, unforgiving, proud, and lazy. The other wolf is good. It's filled with love, kindness, humility, and self control. " These two wolves are constantly fighting," the Grandfather said.

The Grandson thought about it, and said " Grandfather, which wolf is going to win?" The Grandfather smiled and said. "Whichever one you feed."

Ask yourself this, Which wolf do you feed?

I welcome anyone's comments on this great story.

Thank you for your time.

Jim Cobb

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?

Blog Nut Toolbar the Internet Business Best Friend

Blog Nuts Kathy Paquette and Linda Hoy On Google Me Talk Radio



The Social Network Toolbar has made it's way into the industry and it is Free to download with FireFox and With Internet Explorer. The Blog Nut Toolbar is a free download that saves you time and helps you get and stay organized.

Blog Nuts Kathy Paquette and Linda Hoy

Come and Join Google Me Talk Radio when we welcome Kathy Paquette & Linda Hoy Founders of BlogNut.CommunityToolbars.com and Get it all in one place! BlogTalkRadio, MySpace, Plaxo, LinkedIn, Facebook, Digg, YouTube, MedaCafe and much more. Don’t see your favorite link? We can add it! Download this powerful tool today! Includes: games, TV, e-mail notifier, rss, radio, weather, chat, free advertising for business, advertising discounted and more. Your guide to what people use everyday.

Come Join Us Live Saturday July 5th at 3pm Eastern or Listen In Anytime After As All Shows are recorded For Your Convenience At GoogleMeTalkRadio.com

Write Effective Free Advertising for Your Online Business Branding Part Two

From my previous post “Write Effective Free Advertising for Your Online Business”. We talked about the importance of the subject line and how it hooks the reader to your ad copy/ad body of your advertising; it's amazing what works and what doesn't work.

If you're an accountant, lawyer, or business consultant with a marketing program, you don't have to know how to write an ad, but you should know some things about how to produce exciting ad copy. You should know also that what you think works, may not.

While a great deal is known about what works in ad copy, there’s even more we don’t know. What makes it difficult for new ad copy writers is that what you may judge to be great copy because of the poetry, imagery, sound, and lyricism, may be lousy for accomplishing the mission of the ad. “But have no fear your ad copy lesson is here.”

When the advertising expert, David Ogilvy, was told that copy should be short and terse, because nobody reads more than a few words of an ad, he wrote the classic, "At 60 miles and hour the only sound you hear is the clock." It was a full page of text, describing the features of the Rolls Royce. It sold a lot of cars. Now I want you to really think about how these twelve words attracted the reader/consumer.

Now take a look at very short one liner’s the really attracted million of readers and listeners. “Where is the Beef”, “Got Milk”, or even “The Other White Meat”, you all should know the companies and organization that branded these short lines. These very attractive words triggered and branded your mind to them. The same goes for creating good ad copy.

But in an imitative world, a great many ad people imitated not the selling aspects of the ad, but its length. We were then treated to a bunch of long text ads, most of which sold nothing. Some ad people simply didn't get it. The good news is you do and will write great ad copy.

Perhaps the hardest thing for people who are not marketers to understand is that the process is a function of imagination. All of which are what we usually mean when we use the word "creative." There are rules, and these rules are always made to be broken. Like the best abstract artists, who know better how to abstract because they are fine realistic artists, it's likely that those who know the rules best are those who break the rules best. So as you begin writing ad copy do something different, the sky is the limit, and breaks the rules.

Some Simple Suggestions for Writing Ad Copy

1. Sentences should not be longer than seven words,
2. The number of sentences should be no longer than seven.
3. Make sure to place a space between the sentences.
4. I use an ellipsis at the end of my sentences (What is next…) these three dots provides for continuous thought. The reader is going to go to the next line to see what is…
5. Next…
6. Single line ad copy can be just as powerful as using the above rule of sevens.

Now we have covered the basics. Let me use the previous example from “Write Effective Free Advertising for Your Online Business” blog post.

Subject/Headline: You've Never Seen This Before…

Ad Copy/Ad Body: Or you'd be DOING IT!

And you wouldn't be wasting your time...

Posting your BRAINS OUT here in the free ads!

Let us help you escape this mess!

http://www.WorldWideWealthBuilders.com

First the subject/headline is invoking interest and the power line in the ad body is “Or you’d be DOING IT” invites the mind eye to see what else the message has in it. It invokes emotion, mystery, and you want to see what’s next. The credit for this ad goes to Digital Don Hill. He really makes the mind engage with this ad.

Now lets look at a brilliant one line ad copy to get your mind thinking and unleash your creativity:

Subject/Headline: Your Secret To Internet Success Are Waiting

Ad Copy/Ad Body: Along With The Tools You Needed… http://www.BerryCritter.com

Now take a look at the headline, do you see two very powerful words? They both stand out. “Secret” and “Success” if you really study advertising you will find that these two words are in the top 10 of words to attract and evoke emotion. Again they trigger the minds eye. Now to the Ad Copy; “Along With The Tools You Needed” this connects to both Secret and Success. Your question is how these words connect to each other. Just think about it. “Secret”, you really want to know the secret. “Success” you need tools and help so you can be successful so the line “Tools You Needed” is the hook or the lock to getting the reader to respond by clicking on the url. I give the credit for this ad to Stephanie “Wavecriter” Haile. Stephanie one line ad is powerful and grabs attention and really attracts the reader by offering a solution to there need. To be frank, I really think one liner’s in free classified adverting campaigns produce results. They are simple, easy and really fun to create.

Now I will let you mind absorb this material and in my next post I will go in depth on your objectives and the elements of Writing Effective Free Advertising.

Write Effective Free Advertising for Your Online Business Branding

Free advertisement branding requires some marketing skill. A lot of creativity and knowledge goes into designing an effective free advertisement. In order to write effective free advertising for your online business and increase sales, you need to gain some essential knowledge.

Good online advertisements are designed in a simple, yet attractive way to catch a customer’s eye and attention. The first step towards writing an effective free classified advertisement is to read it from a customer's point of view. Look at what catches your eye, what are the subject lines that attract you. These are very important. Now look for the subject line that repeat over and over again, for example works like opportunity, home based business, MLM, make money, the best thing since slice bread. Do not use these. Focus on making sense and attracting the targeted audience for your free advertisement to generate the attraction factor.

The attraction factor is very important in free advertising. What is going to make someone click on your subject to read more? Remember these possible prospective customers are looking for something that sticks out and grabs them. I like to call it eye candy. See a person looking at a free classified ad is a captive audience and they are looking for a specific item. I equate this difference between using Google & Yahoo. People who use Google are a captive audience searching for something specific and people who are using Yahoo are catalog shoppers.

I not knocking Yahoo here but what do you see first when you search Yahoo. Sales, Sale, News, Music, and if you take into consideration the eye can only send the brain a certain amount of information at on time. So a person eyes tend to move all around the Yahoo page and does not stay focused.

Now lets really think about Google. When some goes to Google to search they are searching for specific, they know what they are looking for. Now when you open a browser and type www.Google.com do you see any sales, news, and music? No, you see Google logo or a special logo for that day.

When it comes to writing free classifieds you have to put your minds eye to attract Google users. Not a Yahoo catalog shopper. So your subject line has to be attractive and grab the attention of the people who are searching. So think about it. Which subject line would attract you?

1. Best Home Based Business Advertising
2. If This Doesn’t Work For You, NOTHING WILL!

Take a look at number 2 what draws you attention. Look at number 1 is just a bland, burned out subject line. I see this subject line at least 100 plus, a day in one form or another. Let go back to number 1, when a person reads this what are they thinking. This may, could, will or work for me and then the punch line NOTHING WILL! These two words have a powerful attraction. Because when someone reads this it tell there brain that this very important for them to read more.

So when writing effective free adverting for your business, be bold, be different, be POWERFUL. In my next post I will take you step by step in constructing your advertisement body.

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

Wet Paint Power - My VM Team

My VM Team Wet Paint Wiki is ranked in the Top 500 Wetpaint Wikis at number 186 out of more than 950,000!

What an outstanding site for the new and advanced Internet marketer! We have a tremendous team here at My VM Team that shares information on what is working Right Now with their own personal on and off line business.

In this mighty team there are SEO experts, Blogs and Social networks experts, communication managers, technical professionals, and everyday people all combining skills to tailor their individual online presence and marketing techniques for their own personal business opportunity. Whether they have an online business or a brick and mortar business, My VM Team gets the information out in real time and FREE! Never a dime, dollar, or peso. Free to sign up, everyone involved isn't about salesy selling to the team members but actual advice and learning how best to market that members business.

Get with this team by signing up for an invitation to the My VM Team Wetpaint Wiki http://www.MyVMTeam.net">http://www.MyVMTeam.net>

If you would like to hear more about this brilliant team, come take a listen to their Radio Show at http://www.MyVMTeam.com">http://www.MyVMTeam.com>

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

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

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.

The "CEO of YOU" Step by Step Part 2

What makes “You” different?

Start today you're going to think of yourself differently! You're not an employee, staffer, worker, or a manager. You don't belong to any company for life, and your chief affiliation isn't to any particular job function. You're not defined a job title and you're not confined by your job description.

Starting today you are a brand.

You're every bit as much a brand as Nike, Pepsi, Ford or the local Body Shop where you live. To start thinking like your own favorite brand manager, ask yourself the same question the brand managers at Nike, Coke, Ford, or the Body Shop ask themselves: What is it that my product or service does that makes it different? Give yourself the traditional 20 words or less challenge. Take the time to write down your answer. And then take the time to read it. Ten times, and really think about it. WHAT ARE YOU DIFFERENT?

If your answer wouldn't light up the eyes of a prospective client or command a vote of confidence from a satisfied past client, or worst of all, it doesn't grab your attention, then you've got a big problem. It's time to give some serious thought and even more serious effort to imagining and developing yourself as a brand.

Start by identifying the qualities or characteristics that make you distinctive from your competitors or your colleagues. What have you done lately, this week, to make yourself stand out in the crowd? What would your friends, colleagues or your customers say is your greatest and clearest strength? Your most worthy personal trait or what do you think creates the buzz about you.

Now commit to yourself that you will re-write it. What makes you different, unique, from the rest. This is one of the most important parts of your brand.

Your comments and back links are appreciated. Thanks for your time and make sure to come back to continue this series of blog post on the “CEO of YOU”.

Thank you for your time,

Jim Cobb - Google Me

CEO of "YOU Step by Step Part 1

Now we are going to really start digging into branding “You”. So I don’t want to overwhelm you with a 30 page blog post. I would like to take you step by step through understanding more about branding and most of all BRANDING YOU.

Fortune 500 Companies understand the importance of brands. Today, with the emergence of the Google Me Revolution of the Individual, you have now branding “YOU”. Here's what it takes to be the CEO of “YOU”.

Except is...your mind is branded in today’s world.

That cross-trainer you're wearing, one look at the distinctive swoosh on the side tells everyone you got branded. That cardboard coffee cup you're carrying, yea, you're a Starbucks Venti Caffe’ Americano! Your Tee shirt has a distinctive Champion "C" on the sleeve, the blue jeans you are wearing with the prominent Levi's rivets, the watch with the Rolex icon on the face and back cover, your laptop computer with the Apple on the on the outer case cover, and when you open what do you see…… the Branding. I could spend the next month doing post to www.askjimcobb.blogspot.com every minute, hour, and day and still not reach all of the “Branding Triggers” that are deeply embedded into your branded mind.

You're branded, you have been branded, and your mind is branded. Now….

It's time for us to take a lesson from the big brands, a lesson that's true for anyone who's interested in what it takes to stand out and prosper in the new world of “Branding YOU”.

Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of YOU: To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called YOU.

It's very simple, think about it - - let take a look at your mind branding triggers.

Smell - - A very evocative sense in our memories. Everything has a smell and the mention of that sense in connection with a memory almost always makes connections. Think about when you drive by a bakery or even when you were a child and waking up in the morning and the smell of breakfast coming from the kitchen. How did that make you feel.

Sound -- Helps form the background of all the important places where we live and work. Invoking these sounds in the branding process can greatly enhance the minds ability to mentally create an experience using sounds.

Taste - - This one is the easiest. Is much like sound and smell. Now branding the experience of tasting it, the smell of the bacon frying in the kitchen or even the sound of it frying.

Touch - - A full body experience. Beyond the apparent uses of touch you can use the more subtle uses, like when your mother picked you up from sleep or your first hint that the hot water in the shower was running out just as your hair was filled with shampoo.

Sight - - Now this is the powerful one…this one everyone remembers. Look how Television, Radio, Print advertising uses your sight to brand your mind.

Senses can be great fun to use in branding. Experiment with using one or all the senses in branding YOU. Really think about it. Visualize it, now put it to paper.

Now I want to stop so you can focus on this. Really trigger your minds triggers. The more clearly the reader, prospect, customer, client, and person can see where you are, when you are, and who you are within YOU branding, the more clearly they can identified YOU. Now you will create a “Mind Trigger” of YOU.

Your comments and back links are appreciated. Thanks for your time and make sure to come back to continue this series of blog post on the “CEO of YOU”.

Thank you for your time,

Jim Cobb - Google Me

Why Pay it Forward in Todays Business World…

If you don’t give, you most likely will not get very much in return. I know that this is a harsh statement. However, you really have to look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself this question. Do I give and pay it forward?

In today’s business world you have to give in order to receive. The more you give the more you will receive. I always present paying it forward in this way. “Give ninety percent of the time and you will receive ten percent back.” So look at it this way. Would you be happy with one million dollars? Of course you would. But what if you take ninety percent of it and just gave it away. At this point you probably think I am a little crazy. But what I am trying to do is open your mind to “Paying it Forward.” Just think of what or who you gave the ninety percent to. How would it help someone else’s life or lives.

See “Paying it Forward” as not about you, but about helping someone else. Not expecting something in return. If you expect a return, then don’t do it. But if you do it with kindness and no expectations then what happens is you will cause a phenomenon to happen and the law of attraction will turn on and things will start to happen in your life.

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." This is what we know as the golden rule. In today's society, it seems to have been altered just a tad - "Do unto other's before they do unto you." Albeit a negative connotation, it can be turned one hundred eighty degrees into a positive thought and gesture. The movie Pay It Forward does just that. This movie tells the story of a social studies teacher who gives an assignment to his junior high school class to think of an idea to change the world for the better, and then put it into action.

Now it is time for you to put it into action. What can you do to make a change and make something better?

Today I woke up filled with emotion that really inspired me to do something for others. I have been in the business world for over 30 years and have always given back to others. But when I woke up my mind was filled with stepping my “Pay it Forward” up. I wanted to help more people with success in there off line and online business. Now here is what I have done.

I've have created "Friends Pay it Forward" Community. The premise of this program is the idea of repaying a gifts or kindness, not back to the person who gave it, but forward to someone else (or to many someone else’s), and to keep the idea going by asking them to do the same thing.

How does this work? See Friends always “Pay it Forward” and in most friendships, giving is a way of life. I wanted to give free business information, gifts, tips, tools, and help people help others with success. So I started www.FriendsPayItForward.com a website where this is absolutely no cost to be a member. I like to refer to it as a “Friends Pay it Forward Community and all we ask you to do is “Pay It Forward”.

I will provide everything through emails and newsletters to the membership. As the community grows, so will the website. The first step is starting a list of people who really care and share. Then the evolution of the website will begin. One Step, One Person, One Friendship at a time and then “Pay it Forward”.

You are invited to become a part of the evolution of www.FriendsPayItForward.com . I thank you for your time and welcome any comments to my blog post. You are also invited to listen or call in to my Radio Show “Google Me Talk Radio” every Saturday at 3:00pm eastern US time zone. Go to: www.GoogleMeTalkRadio.com.

Remember to Pay It Forward,

Have a Great Day...

Jim Cobb - Google Me

Using Branding to Grow You an Your Business

As an independent professional, and a self employed online small business owner one of the most challenging tasks is marketing “YOU”. You know how to do what it is you do really well, you know you can offer value to people, you just don’t know how to locate people (prospects) and convince them to use your services or products (become customers).

One of the most powerful techniques in marketing is to open your mind to ideal client and brainstorm how they would find your business. This helps you to refine who exactly your target market are and what would be the best marketing methods to communicate your message to them.

I bet right now if you used this technique on your business one of the first things you would think of is the yellow pages. Most people automatically go to the yellow pages because that’s how people find businesses. Coaches, Realtors, plumbers, Mortgage Brokers, financial advisor's, consultants and any needs can be met by your fingers do the walking on your computer key board.

The Internet Google Me Search Revolution

The Internet is fundamentally changing how people find things. The physical Yellow Pages, the big yellow book, is becoming superseded by the Google me web search. People use websites like Google, Yahoo! and Ask Search to find answers, buy products, and locate professional service providers. Not to be left behind, the Yellow Pages have reacted to the shift and have worked hard to make a web version of their directory available. It’s quite clear that the future is online and you can’t risk being left behind.

Thankfully it’s early days and most small business are reacting slowly or badly, either not bothering to have a web presence at all or not thinking things through. It’s very common for a small business to slap a poorly conceived website online, hoping that somehow people will find it and become new clients. The fact is that one out of ten business on line do nothing with there website and use it for a business card. To be frank if you are not actively changing your website and improving it then all you have is a business card. Today is an opportunity for individuals that take their time and use smart tactics to create a purposeful website focusing on a specific niche.

I would hazard a claim that for many small businesses, including yours, the web could become the only marketing tool needed to acquire more clients than ever before “ more clients than you can handle on your own. Just think about this. 70% of everyone who sees and advertisement on TV, Radio or in print search the internet first before making any kind of a decision to make a purchase or use a service

Why am I so confident? Because right now I use the web to generate all my business and I know of many others that do the same. For example, take a look at my friend an new and up coming Attorney. He uses the Internet to get nearly 100% of his new clients. He focuses on the Columbus, Ohio marketplace and faces almost no online competition. Hence whenever anyone searches for a Columbus Ohio Attorney or Lawyer his website is in the first page of search results. I could tell you a similar story about a realtor’s and a mortgage broker that both dominate a geographic demographic and face little competition online.

It’s Not Too Late to Branding “You” Online Marketing

There is no good excuse for not initiating some form of branding “YOU” online marketing. Even simply having a website listing your contact details is a start and should be leveraged using other marketing methods, such as including your name on business cards, letter heads and brochures followed up with Google Me (example Jim Cobb – Google Me}. The real power comes when you use the worldwide web as a marketing process to help generate a constant stream of eager clients just dying to purchase from you. While this is not a straight forward process the principles behind it are quite easy to follow and merely draw from the skills you already have.

The important thing to understand is that right now is the best time to start building an online marketing system using Google Me. Many online markets are not crowded and it is easy to find a niche you can dominate. I guarantee there are people out there searching the web for “YOU” and what you offer.

The Internet rewards people who maintain a web presence for a long time with regular updates. This means that over time as competitors come into your marketplace you can remain the leader because you have first mover advantage. You established your website first and enjoy the constant flow of traffic that comes from having a long standing Google Me web presence.

Just try it…You will not be sorry…

Jim Cobb – Google Me