Silos have long been bemoaned as preventing the optimization of everything from enterprise resource�planning to cohesive customer experience.� If Phase 1 of corporate social media development is scattered maverick experimentation and Phase 2 is creating integrated�strategy, chances are Phase 3 is likely�defining�silo-based�roles & responsibilities.��For example,�Corp Comm could own Facebook, Consumer Marketing�owns Twitter, �Care runs branded communities, and�Recruiting runs LinkedIn (although�we often see platform ownership split by business unit focus in marketing as well)�.� There is a very real reason for doing this.� Clear ownership assures great responsiveness and allow for organizations to get appropriate social staffing and funding�approved.� It is also true that the different social platforms have different audiences and dynamics (what & how you share) that are likely more appropriate for one part of your org than another.� It is safe to assume�that this is not going away�so let�s make it work.

Whenever you get to the point of splitting platform responsibility between�different departments, you run the risk of creating a new set of silos.� 6 months in, you may find your boss praising what you�re doing in LinkedIn and questioning the way Facebook is being run.��You may read something posted on Twitter and realize it would have been perfect for you to capture video around for the YouTube & Facebook audience if only you�d known!� Here are 5 suggestions to systematize collaboration�and prevent those silo walls from re-growing around you:

1) Group Governance- If you are not installing a hierarchical leader over your distributed channel plan, we do recommend that governance over decisions like adding channels, brand voice, changing policies, or cross-platform initiatives be discussed at a cross functional steering committee.� This can successfully be done in a somewhat informal manner or highly formal group with a charter, etc.� But the discussion that these decisions will spark can create trust and shared understanding among the partners.� It is likely that your friends from legal and HR should be a part of this as well.

2) Share Measurement - As a platform manager, it is easy to dive a mile deep on your own�metrics and have only a glancing understanding of anyone else�s.� Because metrics are guideposts to measure progress on a strategy, they are a great way to re-ground your colleagues in exactly the role your platform plays in your company�s success.� A�monthly�measurement snapshot that you put together with the rest of your council is a great way to�share learnings, troubleshoot issues, and will create a great artifact to be circulated around the company or management team.

3) Collaborative Content Planning-�Managing a social platform means taming the�beast�s insatiable hunger for content.��Content�is gold and chances are, it is often appropriate across multiple channels.� By sharing conversation calendars – not just at the�top of every month but as news happens and circumstances change will be the ultimate show of respect for your colleagues and the customer experience and will futher support the trust you are building.

4) Fight Social Silos with Internal�Social Media -�Beth�Kanter wrote a great post on how silos impact non-profit social media where she expresses the social media mandate to be able to �Work Wikily�.� You may not be able to change your whole organization, but sharing your planning�docs�and measurement documents on a wiki, discussing ad hoc opportunities on Yammer, or even using a shared document platform to edit the next version of your employee policess�help bake collaboration into your working group.

5) Evolve Together – The plan that you created in 2009 or 2010 may no longer be working or at the very least may have room for optimization.� Instead of firing suggestions over the wall, institutionalize evolution around your plan.� Quarterly meetings of your working group�that are either offsite ot at least lengthier�will help you review progress and ask the tough questions about what needs to change and when.� Going through that process together can foster strategic discussion and veer away from channel analysis or criticism becoming a land grab.

Go forth and bust those silos for the good of your customer and your own career!� If you have other tools that you� hae seen successfully work, please add in the comments.

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Google has been the talk of many for its push in local Internet marketing. That has been happening for good reason since it seems that�s where the innovation is occurring for the search leader.

Now, some of the same attention is being turned to the mobile environment which, for the most part, plays hand-in-hand with local. From events discussing the mobile environment that feature the likes of Mary Meeker of Kleiner Perkins (February 10 at 1 pm EST and are being livestreamed) to more Google videos (see below), Google is firing up the mobile ad machine in earnest.

The mantra that is guiding the efforts is stated on the Google Mobile Ads blog in the following three points.

Seamless: We�re bringing the best characteristics of desktop advertising to mobile devices. We want to help marketers and developers extend the benefits of their desktop advertising to people on mobile devices, while effectively managing their campaigns and ad space across many channels.

Inclusive: It�s clear that mobile is about more than just one device, one type of ad format or one style of ad campaign. Our ad solutions span across search, text, display, video, commerce and more, on a wide variety of devices, and enable businesses and consumers to connect in newly relevant and useful ways.

Made for mobile: Mobile devices have unique characteristics like location awareness and touch screens (and the ability to make phone calls!) that make it easy for people to engage with information conveniently, and create unique opportunities for businesses as well. Our ad solutions are built to help marketers, developers and publishers take advantage of these mobile-specific characteristics.

So it�s just the same Google message in a mobile environment. Sell more ads.

We�re not saying this is necessarily news but whenever Google draws attention to itself for something other than its core web search business you have to pay attention.

Couple that with what promises to be a �Is it the death of Android?� rush in the news once the iPhone hits Verizon tomorrow (oh boy, can�t wait for that), and you can see why Google wants to shift the focus to something they can profit from whether it�s on an Android device, an iPhone, a BlackBerry or a whatever.

Ads are platform agnostic and that�s enough to justify this view from Mountain View. Whether we like it or not, if Google is paying attention then we need to as well.

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As a freelance copywriter, I�ve put together a nice portfolio of major corporate clients, ranging from Bay State Gas to Pizzeria Uno. And I found most of them in a rather unusual way.

I didn�t use SEO or pay-per-click. I didn�t go to networking events and shake hands with half the Rotary Club. And I didn�t take out billboards by the highway that said AWESOME COPYWRITER FOR HIRE.

I got most of these lucrative gigs in a way that wouldn�t cross many people�s minds � a way that�s unconventional and highly effective.

I sent them a sales letter.

Not the kind that�s an HTML page, but a good, old-fashioned paper letter in an envelope with an honest-to-goodness stamp.

The same copywriting techniques you use for online pages can be moved to the physical mail world. (In fact, that�s where they came from in the first place). Direct mail can still be surprisingly effective, and it has a few real advantages.

Why prospect by direct mail in the internet age?

I conducted my first direct mail campaign in 1997 and got an amazing 11% response rate of prospects asking for my information kit. From that I landed several high-paying, long-term clients. After a hiatus to focus on magazine writing, I decided to get back into copywriting this year and garnered a good client base (and a lot of interested prospects for my pipeline) with my very first wave of direct mail.

Here are a few benefits of prospecting via mail as opposed to e-mail:

• You stand out. When hordes of other freelance copywriters are shooting off e-mails (which are all too easy to delete), you stand out from the crowd by sending a nicely-presented mail package.
• You can customize your mailing. With e-mail, you wouldn�t want to send an unasked-for attachment because you run the risk of being labeled as spam. So all the prospect gets is your bare-bones e-mail introduction, and you hope like crazy that she clicks on the link to your online portfolio. With a direct mail sales letter, you can include your business card, a reply card, a sample, a white paper � anything you want.
• You don�t feel overwhelmed. E-mail can reach prospects all over the world and in all different industries � but just thinking about where to start can be overwhelming. When I tried prospecting via e-mail, my efforts were scattershot and mostly fruitless. Using snail mail forces you to focus on either a particular geographic area or a type of business. For example, with my first campaign I concentrated on businesses of a certain size in my home state of Massachusetts.
• Prospects can keep your information on file. I recently got a $1,000 assignment from an exec who kept my information kit on file for over two years. It�s difficult for your potential clients to dig through (or even remember) old e-mails, and often a lot easier to pull a paper packet out of a file.

Want to try the low-tech way to land clients? Here�s where to start: the essential components of a simple direct mail campaign.

The letter

Multi-page sales letters typically pull in clients better than single-page ones, so my sales letter is two pages long.

It starts with a question that readers are sure to answer �Yes� to, tells the reader about the benefits my clients experience when they work for me, and makes the offer of a free information kit with my samples, client list, testimonials, and fee schedule.

Sound familiar? It should � the ingredients of this paper letter are the same ones you�d include in an effective landing page.

If you�re looking for the mechanics of writing a killer sales letter, you�ll find articles on persuasive copywriting every week here on Copyblogger. Even better, sign up for Copyblogger�s Internet Marketing for Smart People newsletter. It starts with a 20-part tutorial that includes lots of tips for writing killer sales copy.

The mailing list

For my first campaign, I went through a business directory at the library and entered likely prospects into a Filemaker file. I then called every one of those businesses to make sure the information was up to date. Only then did I compile my mailing. Time consuming, yes � but also effective.

For my second campaign (which started late last year), I bought a list of 900 marketing executives in my new home state of New Hampshire from Hoovers.com for around $225. (There are tons of list services out there, but most of the ones I found had a $500 minimum order.)

I stupidly had faith that a purchased list would be as accurate as the one I compiled myself � and received an e-mail from a prospect complaining that both his first and last names were spelled wrong. (Though, thankfully, he still did ask for my information kit.)

Now before I send a letter I always call the business to check all the key information, or I at least verify the information online. You�ll save yourself from making a poor first impression with someone who could turn out to be a great client.

The reply card

I include an old-fashioned reply card that the prospect can fill out and mail back. My mailing address is on one side, and there are blanks for the prospect�s name, phone number, e-mail address, and mailing address.

The prospect can choose to receive my information kit via snail mail or e-mail, schedule a phone call to discuss a project, or be removed from my mailing list. (By the way, to date, no one�s ever checked that last box.)

For my first campaign, there was the question of whether to include postage on the reply card. I did this for the first wave or two, but another, more experienced copywriter told me that something as small as a stamp is not a barrier for people who are genuinely interested in contacting you. In other words, if someone really wants to send the reply card back, they�re fine with sticking on a stamp. I stopped stamping the cards and my response rate didn�t budge.

The information kit

When someone requests your information, it�s really helpful if you have something to actually send them.

For my first campaign, my information kit was in hardcopy and I kept all the components � samples, testimonials, etc. � in folders, ready for me grab the components when needed and stick them in a large envelope.

Now, I also have each component in PDF format so I can send the kit via e-mail if that�s how the prospect chooses to receive it.

You can use any electronic resource you have available (your blog, some great web sites you�ve done copy for, or even a well-crafted Facebook page) to support your direct mail efforts. Just because you�re prospecting by direct mail doesn�t mean you have to stay there.

The cover letter

Along with my information kit I include a one-page cover letter that restates my experience and the benefits I offer, and invites the prospect to call me to discuss any projects she may have.

If I have a particular interest in this company, I can easily customize the cover letter to show that I�ve done my research and understand that company�s needs.

The follow-up

Over the last 13 years that I�ve been freelancing, I�ve learned the value of the follow-up e-mail or phone call.

Every few months, go through your database of all of the people who have asked for information from you � your prospects. Touch base with each one to let him know what you�re up to and to ask if there�s anything you can do for him.

I know this sounds like a lot of work, but once you have a system in place it becomes second nature.

Also, I prefer putting in some work up front and reaping real rewards, rather than taking the seemingly easier route of shooting off e-mails to untested addresses and not get any response for my time.

How about you? Have you ever tried a direct mail campaign to land clients? What did you learn? Would you do it again? Let us know about it in the comments.

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Over the last 12 months, I�ve continued to shift some of my own online business activities to producing products to sell on my blogs (I wrote about some the process here).

This has been a profitable move for me, but has also been one that has meant making a fairly significant mind shift in the way that I operate. In fact, it�s probably more accurate to describe it as a series of smaller mind shifts.

I�m not alone�in talking to many bloggers who are making a similar transition, I�m seeing a number of questions come up again and again that indicate to me that we�re all having to jump over the same hurdles.

One of those hurdles is money-back guarantees.

I spoke with a blogger just yesterday about this�they shot me an email asking whether they should offer a guarantee on their ebook�s sales page. Their concern was that in offering a virtual product which could not be physically returned people would take advantage of the guarantee: they�d pay for the product, download it, and then ask for a refund to get what would end up being a free ebook.

I remember wondering the same thing when when I created my own sales pages for the first time. Is offering a money-back guarantee on a virtual product simply setting yourself up to be ripped off?

Answering the question of money-back guarantees

Lets start out by saying that you will certainly find that a very small percentage of people will probably take advantage of this refund to get a free product. I�ve been selling ebooks for a couple of years now and in the times I�ve been asked for refunds I�ve certainly suspected a handful of people doing this�but it�s a very very small minority.

Here�s what I�ve seen when it comes to refunds on my own ebooks. In the last two and a half years, I�ve sold around 40,000 ebooks here on ProBlogger and on Digital Photography School. I don�t have an exact figure on how many refunds have been requested and given (we refund 100% with no questions asked), but I would estimate that the number is less than 100�at the most it�d be 150.

The majority of those refunds have been requested for genuine reasons:

• from readers who thought they were buying a real book, not a downloadable file
• from readers who felt that the ebooks were too advanced or too easy for them
• from readers with download problems (e.g. those on dialup)
• from readers who accidentally brought two books.

You can tell that many of the requests are genuine from the way that the customers approach the refund; you can see for yourself that others are genuine (in that, for example, they didn�t attempt to download the product). Either way, refunded sales make up around a quarter of 1% of my total sales. They�re not very significant.

Also keep in mind that even if someone does request a refund with the intent of getting a free ebook, it doesn�t actually cost you anything more than a moment for you to process a refund. That�s a sale you�d never have had anyway, and if the person actually does read the ebook, they may just become a fan if what you�ve written is worthwhile.

On the flip-side I think offering a money-back guarantee comes with some pluses.

1. A money-back guarantee removes a barrier to purchase

I know for a fact that at least a proportion of my readers buy my ebooks because they know that if they don�t like them, they can get their money back. I regularly receive emails, see tweets, and get comments on posts from readers explicitly saying that they liked the idea of being able to taste and see before being committed to the purchase.

2. A money-back guarantee can help build trust

The web is a place where people are rightly suspicious. Having a money-back guarantee doesn�t automatically make people trust you, but it can help to build trust. Your guarantee is an indication to people that you�re not just after their money, but are interested in providing them with value.

Also, by issuing money back guarantees quickly and without any strings attached, you�re building a relationship with those who do seek them. Of the 100 or so refunds that I�ve given over the last couple of years, I often get emails back from people who are impressed with how easy it was, showing relief that I�m trustworthy, and at times indicating that they�re going to buy another product of mine that�s more appropriate to their needs.

I�ve also had quite angry and unsatisfied customers who emailed with dissatisfaction turned around when I offered to refund their money. I often communicate to readers who complain that I�d rather them be satisfied and happy with my company and not have their money, than have them unhappy and have their $20. I�ve also seen people publicly tweet or leave comments about how my sites are trustworthy because we issued refunds.

Refunds are an opportunity to build trust and goodwill with customers and readers.

3. Money-back guarantees differentiate you from the competition

Not everyone offers a guarantee (at least, not everyone promotes that they do). This provides an opportunity for you to differentiate yourself from the competition.

This was illustrated by an email that I received from a reader of dPS recently who told me that they�d bought our new ebook instead of a real, hard-cover book from Amazon because they saw our refund policy and didn�t feel that they�d be able to return a real book to Amazon.

If a person has the choice of two products (virtual or real) and one will give the buyer a refund if they�re not satisfied, it could just be that guarantee that gets that customer over the line.

4. Money-back guarantees drive you to produce value

One of the side-effects of offering a money-back guarantee is that it keeps you accountable to your readers and customers. I remember having this conversation with an author who was in the process of writing an ebook several months ago�

Author: I�m worried about offering a money back guarantee. Won�t that lead to lost sales?

Me: It could, but most people only ask for it if they�re genuinely unhappy with the product.

Author: I guess that means I better make it good!

While I�m sure the author would have done a good job one way or another, he expressed to me six months later, after the ebook was launched, that our short exchange had motivated him to put extra effort into developing his ebook. The threat of lost sales made him more accountable to his potential customers.

Why guarantees are worth it

Summing up, I offer money back guarantees of my info products because:

• they don�t cost me anything
• they do lead to higher sales
• they do help me build trust and relationships with readers
• I think it�s a good business and ethical way to be
• they keep me accountable to deliver value to those who buy them.

Ultimately, I want those I interact with online to get value and I�d rather not have their money if they don�t feel that value is delivered.

P.S. There�s another factor to consider: if you�re using PayPal, you�re pretty much forced into giving refunds at times. Buyers can issue a dispute with PayPal within 60 days of a purchase and, in most cases, a refund is granted. I spoke with one ebook seller recently (who�s a lot bigger than me) who said that they couldn�t remember a time when PayPal had sided with them in disputes, and refunds were almost always forced on them by PayPal.

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This past weekend I went with my family to my great-Aunt�s 96^th birthday.� The whole family met in Long Island, coming in from other parts of the island, New York City and as far away as Connecticut.� As we were leaving, I thanked her 60+-year-old daughter for inviting us, and that�s when she uttered the phrase that left me thinking all weekend – she said �I�ll post the photos on Facebook.�

Had my 30-somethings friends said that, I wouldn�t have batted an eye, but since when were my baby boomer-generation family members actively using social media (nonetheless Facebook)? I began to wonder, do boomers actively use social media?

Some quick research made me began to realize, that they are, and the number of boomers turning to social media is increasing. A recent article in Advertising Age reported use of social network sites such as Facebook in the 50+ demographic grew 88% between 2009 and 2010 (to a total of 47%). Of those age 65+, use doubled to 26% making them the fastest growing segment. [i]

And with the first wave of the generation hitting the retirement age in the next year, I began to wonder, are boomers using social media to talk about healthcare?� Is this an effective place for marketing healthcare products to boomers?

A search online brought another conclusion. I found anecdotal evidence of boomers sharing their experience with products and disease categories online (especially among those they live with daily such as arthritis).[ii] What was interesting was the number of boomer-aged caregivers turning online for information, experience and support who are taking care of their own older parents.

I realized that a lot of younger boomers have the dual role of being both patient AND caregiver, making them an even more appealing target audience.� They are actively looking for information for two members of the older generation.� This made it no surprise to learn that boomers who are caring for aging parents are even more heavily reliant on sites like Facebook than boomers in general.ⁱ

So what have I learned from this exercise?� I�ve learned when looking to reach boomers, don�t rule social media out. My new mantra: have faith in social media, but always do your research.

[ii] Note, every disease category is different and we recommend tailored listening work be done in the appropriate treatment category before engaging in a social media campaign

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On Wednesday around noon, half of the 10th floor at Ogilvy Washington made a mass exodus to the corner of 20th and L � all in the name of grilled cheese served out of a truck. Not many things make a large group of very busy people suddenly crave the same lunch and wait outside in the cold for it. While gourmet food trucks are nothing new in cities across the US, the excitement surrounding them hasn�t waned. Why? Because their whereabouts are unpredictable, they exude an air of mystery � and you can personally beg them via Twitter to go to your neck of the woods, not Virginia.

Like many of the clients we work with, food trucks� entire business models are built on social media and word of mouth. It�s their lifeline. But with more mobile businesses staking their claim on street corners, these entrepreneurs can�t just tweet about their coordinates or shortages of bulgogi steak and call it a day. Thanks to new technology and mainstream acceptance of the trend (restaurants and fast food chains are getting in on the action), food truck entrepreneurs are thinking outside the box to keep customers coming back for more. Here are some online and offline tactics we�re seeing:

Online:

���� Mobile Meteor just launched a new app (it works with an existing Twitter account) that optimizes food truck websites for smartphones, so they can reach new customers who may not use Twitter as regularly. A Google map feature with their exact location will automatically appear on the mobile site. With half of all Americans expected to own smartphones by the end of 2011, it will be interesting to see how many trucks go this �route�.

���� Huge corporations see the value of reaching consumers through food trucks � Virgin America worked with Loopt and rebranded two taco trucks in California with specials to market the airline�s new flights to Mexico.

���� Food trucks are joining forces on tracker sites, like Food Truck Fiesta (DC) and Mobile Cravings (which covers about 30 cities), making it simple for fans to get a quick glimpse at the daily food truck scene.

Offline:
���� Trucks are hosting unique events, often with partners, to expand their fan base and build loyalty. Seattle�s Skillet, doesn�t just care about your lunch. They care if you have a hot date, or at least something to do on Valentine�s Day. They�re teaming up with two other local vendors to host a street food style v-day. Unrelated � they sell bacon jam.� Just thought you should know.

���� Rather than let the Twitter-challenged resort to fast food chains, Holton Farms (a farmer�s market on wheels) has a 1-800 number, which provides info on the truck�s location when it�s on the move. So, going �old school� to reach people outside of social networks (lots of offices block them!) isn�t a bad thing.

���� Food trucks are using social media for social good, by getting behind local charities that their followers care about. DC�s TaKorean truck donates 1% of gross sales to local environmental and youth based non-profit organizations � and they write about it on their community giving blog. So, the more tacos I eat, the more I can help people? Done and done.

Although social media is the driving force behind sales � it�s important to work with a mix of online and offline mediums to grow, reach a diverse audience, and continue to build business.

Would you use an app to track your favorite food trucks, or stick with Twitter?

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If you run an online business, blog or website you know you need to be marketing. Maybe you aren�t sure where to start. These ten tips are things you can start implementing right away to grow your business and start getting the word out about your product or service. These tips should be used over and over to continually grow awareness of your blog/product or service. Use them weekly, but they are easy enough that you can start using them today.

1. Interact on related blogs & forums. Simply find blogs and forums that are in the same niche or category as your site and start interacting with people. You can leave comments, offer helpful advice and suggestions or just get to know people.

2. Write and distribute to article directories. Writing an informative article is something you can do today. There are many article directories that will allow you to post your article for free. Not only is this a way to give readers pertinent information but you also get a backlink in your bio or resource box.

3. Guest blog. You may not get a guest blogging spot today, but you can write the blog post and start contacting blog owners to see if they are interested.

4. Create a compelling email signature. You need to do this in your autoresponder signature as well as your personal email signature.

5. Create videos and put on Youtube. Videos are getting more popular every day. You can create several short videos, upload them to Youtube and then share the links with your readers, in your email signature, on Twitter and Facebook. Don�t like seeing yourself on screen? That�s not a problem, you can create Power Point Presentations for the visual and then read from a script so all that�s �seen� of you is your voice.

6. Write a review. You can write reviews on products you�ve tried, ebooks you�ve read, webinars, videos, books you�ve read, affiliate programs. The list is endless on things you can review to help your readers and give you exposure.

7. Tweet to your followers. You don�t have to get on Twitter every single day and bombard your followers with tweets, but you can use Twitter as a strategic source to build your following, set up your personal brand and reach out to others looking for your information.

8. Share your stuff on Facebook. You can set your blogs to post on Facebook through Networked Blogs, you can set up plugins that allow you and others to share your blog posts on social networks. Utitilize these tools for yourself too. Your readers aren�t the only ones who can use them�you can too.

9. Email your list. This one is pretty self explanatory, you can email your list once or twice a week with updates, promotions and other stuff. If you don�t have a list, start a list building campaign and start sending people to your opt-in page.

10. Create a free report. You can write up a report to give away that contains relevant information to your website, product or service. Brand it with your website address in the footer so people know where to go to find more information.

These are all pretty simple methods you can start doing immediately to grow traffic to your blog or website. Do you have any simple solutions not mentioned here that you�d like to share? We�d love to hear from you.

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Every time you publish a blog post or send a message to your email marketing list, your readers learn from you.

But they may be learning something entirely different from what you think.

Your headline might say �10 Tips for Amazing Azaleas� or �How to Change a Tire in 7 Minutes.� And your readers will get some information on that topic from your post.

But readers get more than they bargained for every time they read your content � they�re unconsciously getting an underlying secret message in addition to the more obvious how-to tips.

Each bit of content you write gives your readers a message about who you are.

It�s a hidden message � your headline isn�t �Here�s What I Want You to Know About Me.�

(At least I hope it isn�t.)

But every message in your content marketing is an opportunity to tell readers what you�re about � to convey your personality, your passions, your expertise, and your attitude.

More important, it communicates how all of those things are going to benefit your readers and customers.

Connecting with readers and helping them get to know and trust you is the primary reason for content marketing. You�re hoping when people read your work, they will want to take an action that brings them closer to you � to buy your products or services, subscribe to your blog, tell all their friends about you, or maybe want to collaborate with you.

That�s your secret message. It�s the undertone that permeates everything you write.

If you�re not aware of your tone, you may be sending unintended messages to your readers. Fortunately, it�s not hard to analyze and adjust your tone until it gives off the vibe you want.

Tone problems

Here are a few common tone problems I�ve found on various blogs:

• Schizophrenic � You�re mad as hell in one blog post, then try to be a rational authority in the next, and crack jokes in the following post. Your tone is all over the place. Result: Readers are confused and not sure which one is the real you. They�re not coming back for more.
• Annoyingly formal � You sign your blog posts with your full name (including middle initial), company name, street address, and phone number, like you�re addressing a letter to the IRS. You use words such as �moreover� or �therefore.� Your sentences are five lines long. You�re blogging, but your head seems planted in 1897.
• Speaking in tongues � Every third word you use is industry jargon or an abbreviation, which you never explain. Unless I�m your exact same flavor of tech dork, I�m not reading you.
• Too cute � You�re using five exclamation points at the end of every sentence, and lots of all-caps and bolding. This makes your blog look like a note you passed to your best friend in high school. You could be an expert in nuclear physics, but with this tone, no one is going to take you seriously.

Tonal mistakes drive away the readers you�re trying to reach. Setting a consistent tone that invites readers in � because it fits both your personality and your blog topic � helps build your audience.

Here are two strategies for decoding and changing your secret message:

Decoder ring for your current tone

The first step to crafting your ideal undertone is to map what your tone is now. To do this, take several of your recent blog posts and extract all the adjectives and descriptive nouns from them. Look at them as a group. These words go a long way toward setting your tone.

Applying this exercise to my own recent blogs, I get a string of words like intuitive, strong, start, great, fearless, raves, �no biggie,� terrific.

Together, these help create the tone I want � empowering and positive about moving up to better-paying writing. My word choice keeps the tone informal and accessible.

If you have a list that repeatedly turns up words like: moron, freaking, weirdo, asinine � you�ve got a pretty rude, snarky tone going on. Maybe snarky works for you and that�s how you want to be known. But if it isn�t, you�ll want to change it.

By the way, if during this exercise you spot a lot of words like: somewhat, not sure, possibly, maybe, and kind of, you�re killing your authority, no matter what tone you�re trying for. Your unintentional secret message is that you�re a giant wimp. Just strike them out and say what you mean.

Decoder ring for setting your future tone

When I work with small-business clients on their blogs, we always do a short exercise before I write any posts. I ask them to describe, in five adjectives, the message they want readers to get about their company.

Maybe your company is smart, personable, efficient, collaborative, and customer-focused. (I could see web improvement expert Sherice Jacob using these terms.)

Maybe it�s irreverent, industry-leading, groundbreaking, innovative, and snarky. (This sounds more like Outspoken Media.)

Or maybe you�re goofy, funny, results-oriented, challenging, and passionate. (Sounds like Johnny B. Truant to me.)

If you can boil your essence down to five words, you can use them as a quick guideline when you�re writing blog posts.

It has an added bonus too: if you have a team blogging at your company or organization, it can help the blog maintain a consistent tone among multiple authors.

It�s usually a fairly easy exercise to do. You know, in your gut, who you want to be on your blog. Or you know your market�s core values. In my experience, it doesn�t usually take more than five or ten minutes to nail down the words that best describe the impression you want to make.

Once you�ve set your compass for the tone you want, implement it in all future blog posts.

Make a habit of reading each post one last time, just for the tone. Adjust any off-kilter words that express personality traits at odds with your five defining words.

Grabbing readers with an edgy tone

There�s nothing wrong with getting audacious, silly, or sexy with your tone � if it�s who you are, it draws readers, and helps your blog accomplish its goals. Actually, pushing the tonal envelope can be a great way to set yourself apart in the blogosphere.

For instance, over on the funny, frank site Toy With Me (their tag line is �nothing risqu�, nothing gained�), the bloggers write just like they�re talking to their best girlfriends on the phone. Toy With Me�s sexually explicit, ultra-casual, confessional tone would be the death of many blogs, but for that blog, it�s a perfect fit.

This tone works for them because the site is all about sex toys (which they promote) and sexuality in general. There�s more to the tone, but I�m keeping it G-rated here.

Contrast this with the attitude over at the blog for the popular email marketing firm MailChimp. This company takes its tone from their chimp mascot, putting out messages that they�re frisky, easygoing, fun, friendly, and fast-moving. They�ve positioned the company as a small-business alternative to the industry leaders, so they say things like �Whew!� or discuss their new app, which they�ve named �Chimpadeedoo.�

For a small business that might be intimidated by a bigger, more �professional�-seeming email provider, MailChimp is sending signals with their word choices that they�re a friendlier sort of place. But their tone may also put off the corporate client looking for what they see as a �serious� provider.

Working with a creative or edgy tone can be a tricky tightrope to walk. It�s easy to fall off that tightrope into off-putting crudeness or embarrassing goofiness. Make sure your tone works for the specific customer you�re working to attract.

How about you?

What five words sum up your blog�s secret message? Leave a comment describing the tone you�re going for on your blog. Be sure to include a link to your blog in that field for �Website,� so your fellow commenters can see if your self-description matches what we think your secret message is.

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Every once in a while I will meet someone who is very smart about the industry in one area, but not taking a full advantage of what they have available to them. One of these instances was when I met with Rich Gorman at DK�s ThinkTank last year. Rich is a really smart guy, and he�s making some serious money online. Rich is already fully dedicated to his work at Health Converter, but once I told him about the power and benefits of blogging, he just had to get started. A few months later and Rich is up and running with his own flashy and content loaded blog at DirectResponse.net.

Direct Response Blog � Must Read Content

Rich�s blog is off to a great start. What�s going to be exciting for Rich, is that he most likely has hundreds if not thousands of awesome topics to write about, and since he just started, his blog will be full of killer content for a while. Here are some of my favorite and most useful posts since DirectResponse.net went live.

• Building A Million Dollar Offer � For Less Than 2k

This post might seem like generic information, but once you actually put everything in place and realize how crucial it is to your success and business, you will appreciate the value in this post.

• How To Improve Conversion Rates By 2,100%

An excellent post that walks through various ad copies and landing pages. The easier and more direct you make your ad campaigns and landing pages for your customers, the more money you will make.

• How Experts Get Paid For Their Time

This one is a personal favorite, and perfect for anyone that has ever has someone come up to them and say, �I�d love to sit down with you at the show and pick your brain sometime.�. Believe it or not� we really do value our time!

What Can Direct Response Marketing do for You?

Having a blog is all about getting your name out there and building contacts. Rich is now putting his name out there and wants to help others succeed, and build a super networking group around himself and his blog. Whether it means partnering on a new project, or simply hiring Rich for his wealth of knowledge and consulting, I�m sure you will be happy with the results. Just from sitting down with Rich at ThinkTank, I still think back at some of the crazy ideas, insane numbers and potential projects we discussed over breakfast.

Be sure to check out DirectResponse.net and add it to your blog reading arsenal.

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Corey Bornmann comes to Internet Marketing from a strong programming background. Born an Entrepreneur, he loves to watch anybody selling anything to anyone. Corey is the founder of AffPortal.com, an ever growing Internet Marketing toolkit that is born of tools he developed to build his own profitable campaigns. Corey also has a 1/2 stake in PPVPlaybook.com, an internet marketing forum that teaches PPV, PPC, SEO and general shop talk having to do with making money online.

Tell us a little background info about yourself. Where are you from? How old are you? How long have you been working in this industry?
I am originally from Doylestown Pa and now live in central Pennsylvania with my awesome wife and super good daughters. I just turned 40 years old this fall, gulp, and have been in Internet Marketing for over 4 years now.

What accomplishments so far are you the most proud of?
I am proud of three major accomplishments so far in marketing. 1. That I had made enough in affiliate commissions two years ago to allow my wife to quit her job and stay at home full time with our youngest daughter and run our home.

Second is that I kept working hard to build an income stream that allowed me to quit consulting and work from home full time.

Third is how AffPortal has grown to be a multi national presence in Internet Marketing with long term members from all over the world. When we combined with PPVPlaybook.com last year it completed us to be more than just tools but a killer community as well. I’m very proud to be part of the AffPortal.com / PPVPlaybook.com community.

How did you come to learn about this industry? Why did you choose this career? When did you first realize the full potential in affiliate marketing? When did you first �hit the big time?�
I first learned of making money online when I purchased a book at Borders about Adsense and started down that rabbit hole. Once I gained a little traction I found my account had been closed and I was back to square one. That was the best piece of bad news I had ever received.

It was then that I really dug in and discovered the old forum at Click Consultants. Ironically Jon, you were in the same group as I was if you remember.

I realized the potential in affiliate marketing when one of my first sites started to gain some traction in the email submit realm and dishing out free baby stuff. I hit my first $30 on Superbowl Sunday night and from then I knew I could scale this to MUCH larger heights.

It was that next monday that I wrote my first tool, a keyword permutator, to help build a massive list of city relative keywords. That was the beginning of AffPortal but I didn’t know it at the time.

I had initially chosen Affiliate Marketing as a second income and eventually realized with enough work I could build this into a full time income.

I “hit the big time” with a killer funnel I built for the netflix offer using PPV as a paid traffic source. The income from that far surpassed what my wife was making and it allowed her to quit her job and come home for good.

What do you think it takes to be successful as an affiliate?
It takes a never say die attitude to become a successful affiliate along with realistic expectations. It’s not easy, won’t always work, will be challenging, will keep you from sleeping your full 8 hrs and will test your creativity. But most of all it takes a Village. Seriously, if you’re an island in IM, you won’t reach your potential because by talking things out with others in the industry you get insights and new ideas you may not have.

What have been your biggest failures and frustrations?
My biggest failures in IM has been that heart breaker of a niche, dating. I have promoted about every offer and only found one that made a profit for me. THEN, that one, mature dating, switched up their lander and never converted the same for me because I was direct linking and the automation on their new lander wouldn’t get approved by my traffic source. Geeze that’s a frustrating one. I’m gonna get that niche eventually though, you’ll see�

What is the single toughest problem you’ve had to face, and how did you get through it?
The single toughest problem I had to face has been when I was working full time consulting and learning Internet Marketing in the evenings and super early mornings. Up at 4am for 3 hrs of IM work then off to work at 8. Pick up the kids, make dinner, wife comes home, have dinner with the family then down to my office from 7:30 PM until at least 12 midnight or later.

I averaged about 4 hours of sleep every week day for about 2 years and the only way I got through it was with the encouragement of my wife and friends online that were doing the same darn thing� clawing forward and burning the midnight oil.

Is there anything that you don�t like to do, that you just hate working on?
I’m not crazy about writing content. I don’t like to write about things that don’t interest me like recently, Wedding Favors. So I have a girl in the Philippines that I outsource content writing to. She has been with me full time for a month and it’s working out better than I ever could have imagined. It was hard to find someone I trust and that could deliver content that I didn’t need to edit but the search was worth it.

What is the future of marketing?
Internet marketing is never going away. It grows every year and I’m looking forward to the day that we can build campaigns for automobiles. Now that would be a fattie commission.

If it�s possible for you to share, are there any particular niches that you currently favor? Or that you aren�t necessarily in right now but that you would recommend?
I favor niches that I see that are popular around me. I watch what my kids like, what my neighbors and friends are up to and what I see on TV. This Christmas I got into promoting popular stuffed toys because my daughters like them and there was a good search volume online for this particular toy.

I really recommend evergreen niches and to stay away from fad products if you are looking for sustainability. If you can bring traffic fast and furious for any keywords, then get into fad products but I like long term assets b/c we spend quit a bit of time on our campaigns here.

What niche has worked best for you?
My favorite niche to date has been Netflix. The checks coming in from that campaign and the dollars being spent on PPV traffic was big. I have yet to find one like that again.

Which methods of promotion do you favor?
I like a healthy balance of diversification. For affiliate products currently I am splitting my time 50/50 between SEO niche blogs and PPV traffic. However my partner and I are developing our own front end adware and private PPV network using a very interesting open source (not free) script that we are helping to expand on.

How have you made those promotion methods successful?
SEO is new to me and I love a challenge so have tried just about everything out there and let me tell you there’s a lot of crap advice and techniques. So with SEO I have a back to basics approach of solid upfront research and strive for exact match domains (but not always possible). I rely HEAVILY on my google suggested keywords scraper inside of AffPortal to find kw phrases that translate into available domains in the .com, .org and .net range.

Next with SEO is consistant content creation and for back linking I employ a strategy that we discuss in length inside of PPVPlaybook lead by a long time SEO expert that goes by DanTheMan.

What have you been up to recently? What projects are you working on?
It’s no secret that I love making and selling things online to anyone and I also use PLR a lot of the time as a foundation for those products. So what I’m doing is building a searchable PLR library of all my PLR material at www.PrivateLabelRights.cc. I’m still adding content every day and it’s open for foundation members for less than $10/month but it’s a ways from where it will be. This is a long term project.

The key with PLR is to group several products together so you can pick and choose pieces of each to use, rewrite and combine together to make your own product or content. This site, with it’s searchability will allow that once the products are all loaded.

What problems have you had with those new projects?
It takes FOREVER to go through mountains of PLR material and sort the crap from the good stuff that’s going into my library. Setting up the membership system, DAP, is a little tricky too to make sure the content is locked down enough but still shows enough to get indexed well.

Also I put this on a .cc domain really as a test to see if I could get substantial rankings over time using a .cc domain. So far we have luke warm results but it’s still a new site.

Do you think anything particular in your past prepared you for this industry? Your education? Jobs you�ve held before?
I know being a programmer has helped me BIG time to prepare me for this career choice. Not only for myself but for my partnership with David Ford at PPVPlaybook.com as well. We compliment each other like yin and yang. I’m a stronger tech guy and he’s a stronger marketer and together we are a solid one, two punch.

What are your greatest strengths?
I am not afraid to fail. This enables me to try things that some people may not try for fear they will fail. I am also naturally technical minded so the more technical aspects of this industry do not intimidate me. I see a lot of opportunity in the tech aspects of IM.

What are your greatest weaknesses?
I have general anxiety disorder so sometimes even though things are solid business wise, I find myself worrying about the future and if this or that falls apart, what will I do. This is where I try to rely on my faith.

What motivates you?
I am naturally an entrepreneur from a very early age. I used to dig through dumpsters to gather out wine bottles that my brother and mom and I would decorate and sell back to the residents at our complex when I was in 3rd grade. I made candles to sell every Christmas and I LOVE infomercials.

On top of that, my family motivates me. I want my wife to be able to spend her days with our youngest while she is still young.

What is the best advice you�ve been given and try to apply to your life?
“Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle”�. yea Ryan!

Who has impacted you most in your career, and how?
My partner David Ford. He’s always there to bounce ideas off of and is not afraid to tell me if an idea is good or bad. He’s also not afraid to tell me when I spout off a little too hard in our forum. We’re in the same phase of life, live on different ends of North America, partners to the end and have yet to shake hands in person.

What kinds of people do you have difficulties working with? Any good stories?
I can work with pretty much anybody that is genuine. I have worked with a few guru’s and some are impressive and I consider friends, and some others, well� they are matchstick men.

What are some of your long-term goals? How much is enough? If money was no object, what would you be doing?
My long term goals include a solid portfolio of aged niche blogs selling physical products on auto pilot using only SEO traffic that provides for all my family expenses.

I want to write a SEO Scheduler program to track an SEO project from conception to managed maintenance and all points in between.

I am building a private PPV network for myself and my partner to test out which could develop into a much larger network for PPVPlaybook down the line.

If money were no object I’d be making niche blogs and snowboarding to keep in shape at least 3 times a week.

Where do you want to be ten years from now?
I would like to be back to working 40 hours a week and get in some of those snowboarding days back into my life. Living possibly in Sedona AZ with a large portfolio of my own products and seo niche blogs.

How do you like to spend your free time? What doe work-life balance mean to you?
Now my free time goes to my family. My daughter Araella is 13 now and I am trying to steer her into her teen years as smoothly as possible. My youngest Greta is 5 and I’m savoring every little girl thing she does while I’m still bigger than life in her eyes. Finally I’m working on building a strong marriage stronger with my lifelong love Carrie.

If you could go back to being 18, what different career choices would you make?
I would pursue programming and wait around for the internet to be unleashed from Arpanet.

What is your greatest achievement outside of work? What are some of your unfulfilled dreams?
My greatest achievement outside of work was probably being an all conference center in college playing football for Shippensburg University in PA.

I have an unfulfilled dream of cruising on a power boat for a year all over North America.

What is your favorite quote?
“Look beyond the Battle”

Do you have a Twitter account or Facebook �Like� page?
I can be reached at AffPortal.com, affportal@gmail.com and on skype at “affportal”