After many hard working months from all the folks who contributed to WordPress 3.0… You can now download it for your blog.

I’ve been running a development release as well as the release candidate version for about a month now on MarkDelDegan.com and numerous other sites and have enjoyed all the new features like shortcode generators, the look and feel, and new custom page links.

WordPress has truly graduated to the full blown content management system. And I love it.

I will do a follow up post to this one on some of the cool stuff that I’m doing with WordPress 3.0 so you can can look forward to that.

But in the meantime here is how you upgrade your blog. (Your plugins should be updated but it always best to backup first; I use this plugin for easy WordPress backups WP-DB-Backup.)

Step #1 – Login to your self hosted wordpress blog.

Step #2 - Click the upgrade to WP 3.0 button at the top of your screen. (See image below.)

Click on the please update now. (So polite.)

Step #4 Click on the upgrade automatically button.

Click the upgrade automatically.

Step#5 – Wait for the downloader to do it’s thing. And…. Your done! (Easy eh.)

There is going to be a lot of really cool implementation techniques come out of this release, but for now enjoy the work of the people who made this all possible.

One last thing…

Check out this video for a overview on some of the new features.

That’s all for now.

- Mark

I don’t teach social media. Nor do I want to.

And social media is here to stay (for as long as anything stays on the internet).

But, it absolutely grinds my gears when people say you can make money with social media or use it as a “marketing source” for lead generation in every niche market. The truth is you can’t.

Sure there are always exceptions. And there are folks out there that are absolutely crushing it with social media. Good for them.

But for most niches it does not work as a “marketing source”.

If you happen to be in a niche that social media works. Great!

If you are not (like most of the clients I work with and most of my niche businesses) then it is a total time waster.

And your valuable time can be better spent elsewhere.

Notice how I said “marketing source” earlier. Not all traffic is created equal and social media is not a place where you pump out offers or promotions all the time.

I heard once that, “If it is something really important it is worth repeating to get your point across.” So here goes…

Notice how I said “marketing source” earlier.  Not all traffic is created equal and social media is not a place where you pump out offers or promotions all the time.

Also, it takes forever and there is so much noise out there and you are most likely not to see any results.

There are 2 truths about social media.

Truth #1…

Social media is about engaging your potential customers and turning them into virtual friends.

And…

Truth #2…

Social media is about building brand awareness (aka turning yourself into an expert).

That’s it. None of this B.S. about siphoning off twitter followers or publishing offers continually or (spamming) your “friends” about every group/event known to man, women, child, or beast.

And the list goes on… and on… and on…

Let me back it up a bit.

About a year ago I started following and unfollowing Twitter followers, I did the Facebook thing for a while, etc.

It took hours of my time away that I will never get back and at the end I really have nothing to show for it.

That’s what the so called “gurus” said. And it was hot at the time so I bought into the kool aid. Hard.

However, I did find it works for more mainstream markets (video games, entertainment, sports, teaching social media, etc.) but good luck trying to monetize your twitter followers, or friends/fans. (Are they even called fans any more or are they called “likes”.)

Some traffic will never monetize. Period.

Side Note: I think over the next 6 months to a year facebook fan pages are going to go down the toilet in terms of responsiveness unless you’re super super cool to them. Let me explain…

If more people “like” things. The more noise there is on their FB profile. The less responsive they are. And the glory days are over.

Gary Vee said on his blog that he likes the “like” button. I totally disagree. Look at twitter. Everyone is a spammer. I sent a tweet out the other day to 45,000 followers and it got one click. One lousy click!  (By the way, I don’t spend much time engaging folks on twitter so that was probably the problem but still only one click.)

TOO MUCH NOISE.

Great for Facebook because now they can serve ads to all these people and make profit from advertisers. But really bad for marketers.

Anyway I digress. Back on topic.

It’s not all bad news. I have seen some examples of doing it right.

• Like adding squeeze pages in facebook fan pages.
• Using graphics to explain your story on your fan page.
• Becoming the pivot point of news.
• Communicating with folks at a conference with a hash tag.
• The annoying orange. Nuff said.
• Running contests that give away free stuff.

Let me explain the last one.

My brother Colin is on FB all the time so I said one day, “Hey, why don’t you start a fan page for one of the products we’re selling and give stuff away from time to time.” He agreed.

The most successful strategy he runs are contests on the Facebook fan page that gives away the item every time the page reach another 100 fans. In order to win he tells em’ they have to comment or like the post. Which increases fan page quality score and “engages” the customers. They tell their friends and voila. Instant super hungry fan base.

We’re cool to them. And there cool to us. Plus, I get over 20% of my website traffic for that niche from this Facebook fan page alone.

Simple.

However, if you are just starting on the interwebz I would not start at social media.

Here why…

That micro niche business in the example above has been growing for a year now so I knew with a high degree of probability that it would work.

If you don’t know your market (or don’t have one yet), defined your niche; preferably a micro niche, haven’t built a list, don’t have a website, are not creating great content…

Then why are you on social media wasting your time???

You will have more success if do these things…

• Doing market research.
• Building great content.
• Crafting offers.
• Finding new products.
• Sending emails.
• List building.
• Direct mail offers.
• Managing outsourcing.
• And creating JV partnerships.

Notice how I did not say social media once.

If you are not working on the things above then you are probably having issues making money online, or at the very least you’re not making as much as you should be.

So get  to work on the things above.

In conclusion…

If you are not engaging or being super cool to your folks on social media then stop. Reevaluate. And change. (And change only if it fits your marketing strategy)

Do the things above and I guarantee you will have more success online!!!

What do you think of social media??? Do you agree with me or not? Leave a comment, I am always interested in what you have to say.

Thanks for taking the time to read this article.

Talk soon,
Mark

P.S. I didn’t mention LinkedIn or YouTube. The truth is I don’t spend a lot of time on LinkedIn so I will not pass judgment; and YouTube is great!

P.S.S. As for local businesses I think you can see better results elsewhere in the beginning. Social media is great for setting you as an expert in your marketplace. And being the “expert” is cool and profitable. But social media shouldn’t be the only marketing source you use, and it should receive the appropriate amount of time and effort for the results it generates.

I have a really cool offer for you.

Yesterday, I shot 4 brand new training videos as a bonus for opting in to my list. (Cause I’m like that.)

Here are the topics…

• How to choose a niche market
• The blog “profit” blueprint
• The easy sales video formula
• 5 secrets to get more traffic

They are broken up into modules so you can reference them later if you like.

I really enjoyed making them for you so here is how to get them…

Go to the home page on http://markdeldegan@gmail.com and opt in to the newsletter in the middle of the page.

After you confirm I’ll send em’ out to you.

That’s it for this time. Have a good week!

Talk soon,
Mark

P.S. Tell your friends about the offer.

P.S.S. If you like the videos let me know, I’m always interested in what you have to say.

Sure, I’ve seen a ton of his movies and respected him as an actor but this totally caught me by surprise.

“Just decide what it’s going to be, who you’re going to be, and how you’re going to do it. Just decide; and from that point; the universe is going to get out your way.” – Will Smith

Hope you enjoy it…

Credit to the ever cool Frank Kern for posting this vid on his blog.

Talk soon,
Mark

WordPress 2.9 has just been launched and with it comes an exciting blend of new features like.

Watch the video below to get a brief overview of the new WP 2.9.

I will have a full video coming out later this week on a few tricks in WordPress that I’ve learned over the past months, so stay tuned for that.

Talk soon,
Mark

Hey,

You might of noticed the nifty toolbar at the bottom of the homepage.

I have to say it is the geekiest thing I found in awhile on the net!

It translates, provides social bookmarking, notifies, picture gallery, and even washes the dishes in the kitchen sink.

Ok, obviously I am pulling your leg on the last one. But I’m serious, it is web 2.0 at its finest.

Want one for yourself?

You have to sign up for private beta at this website; http://www.wibiya.com/

It is totally free, but you have to hurry because it is in private beta so I don’t know how long it will be available.

Enjoy!

Talk soon,
Mark

P.S. Really looking forward to Dan’s HypeFree JV Event this weekend in Tampa!!!

Hey guys,

As you know, I’m a bit of a movie buff, and this weekend is the release of Paranormal Activity. If you haven’t heard; Paranormal Activity is supposed to scare the pants off you which will lead to running out of the theater screaming for your life!

Well, maybe not that dramatic but you may be asking what the heck this all has to do with internet marketing?

The producers and the team behind the extremely low budget movie have run a brilliant marketing campaign that included reaching out and getting the end customers (like me) involved. As I write this, Paranormal Activity is the #1 trending topic on Twitter right now.

Everyone (most likely horror fans, and Gen. Y) throughout social media is talking about it. Obviously, it is working because look at the word-of-mouth marketing that is going on right now as a write this.

Let me get some numbers for you, the theater count was 34 last weekend and expanded nationally to 194 according to @giteshpandya. He runs the boxofficeguru.com and is predicting a total of $6 million gross this weekend, which translates to a sensational $38,000 per theater!

To add to the marketing voodoo, PA has scared enough people to request it at their local theater by going online and voting for the hometown if they got enough votes they would bring it there. Also, the movie is being rated very fresh 88% from Rotten Tomatoes, which means they made a good quality product.

The folks behind Paranormal Activity used theater scarcity, killer trailers, good reviews, customer interaction, and above all else they made a crazy amount of money this weekend. Some huge Summer blockbusters don’t even come close to that per theater average!

The moral of this story, is to listen, and increase the cool to your customers. Limit scarcity, and get involved. After all they do pay the bills.

Talk soon,
Mark

P.S. You can view the movie trailer at the official website here… http://www.paranormalactivity-movie.com/

P.S.S. Comment it up below, and tell me what you think about the movie!

I was researching a new product to sell online and it dawned on me that you guys might want to know how to find a product to sell online as well. So, let me share with you a few things to consider when looking for a new niche product. Keep in mind, there are always exceptions to everything but I have tested a bunch of niche markets over the last year and the rules below stood out the most.

#1 – Is it trending???
I always start out with an idea. Either I saw the item while walking the mall, or heard about it, or read about it online. It doesn’t matter where I received the inspiration, it just matters if it is a hot and trending niche. You can make a lot of money with less popular niches, but I find the profits are better when you sell stuff people actually want. Imagine that. For example, in the spirit of Halloween you should stay away from the “clown costumes for monkeys” niche. It is not large enough in size, and the vast majority of people don’t think it is “cool” to own a monkey, so this market is not “hot” at this point in time.

#2 – Is there anyone searching for it???
You can use to see if folks are actually looking for the stuff you had in mind.
See the screen shot below… (Yes, I did just search “clown costumes monkeys”)

As you can see, nobody is searching for it. This is an indicator that the product is not viable. However, the keyword tool pulls back other keywords that people are searching for. You might start looking into “scary clown costumes”.

#3 – Established Markets
I’ve found older markets that have been around for awhile tend to do better than newly established ones. The market for “costumes” is already anchored to society; the market for “social media based costumes” is not. So you need to weigh the benefits of being a pioneer. I like to play in resurging markets. For instance, 80s retro sunglasses were huge during the summer. So, I dedicated a site totally devoted to this niche of an already established sunglasses market. Also, there is less competition because it takes a while for your competitors to catch on. By the time the big guys (Amazon, WalMart) figure out what is hot, it officially isn’t hot anymore and there is waayyy too many people selling the same stuff which dilutes market share and makes the product not profitable anymore.

#4 – Highly Passionate
Look for markets that people are highly passionate about. Let’s take Guitars for example. I know guys that have dozens of guitars, follow the latest guitar news, download guitar tabs off the net, and spend almost every ounce of free time playing their guitars. This is the type of market you want! Another example is 24 hour plumbers. The people looking for these companies are really passionate to use the bathroom again! They are at the mercy of the plumber because water/sewage is most certainly spewing everywhere and they need it to stop ASAP. So, think about what market you know emits this passionate fever and what products they buy so you can cater to their needs.

#5 – Easily Reached.
The last rule to keep in mind is your target customers must be reachable. If your market is stuck on a deserted island with no internet or UPS trucks; it’s not a good market. So, we focus on the online customer when selecting a niche product. The product must be delivered to the consumer digitally or shippable via the post office/ups/fedex. For instance, at the shop we sell a sea shell figurine that breaks every time we ship it, it does sell like gangbusters online and people love it and want it, but the customer service hassles and cost to replace far outweighs the $15 price tag. I love digital products and affiliate products. Those are a good place to start if you are beginning you online ventures. However, I do sell a lot of regular merchandise, but you must be able to staff and maintain a customer service and shipping center. To be honest, there are more efficient ways to do business on the internet if you are just starting.

In conclusion, the world has an endless number of niches for us to play in. However, some are just not worth our time and effort to grab a handful of sales. Please use the above as some rules to think about the next time you go searching for a niche product.

Thanks for reading, and talk soon,
Mark

P.S. I’d love to hear from you! Drop me a comment below.

P.S.S. Want a $47 dollar internet marketing terms dictionary with master resale rights for FREE? – Click here to download a copy for yourself today!

In the Search Engine Optimization arena backlinks are one of the key elements to getting ranked in the Google search.

And this free tool, which can be found at http://backlinkwatch.com will scan your website for all the inbound links.

Talk soon,
Mark

Folks ask me all the time what should a website look like? Looks do play a role but before you start down the design path you should really take some time and considerer other aspects like functionality, marketability, demographics, and what is the goal of this new online venture.

So, if it ok with you, let’s begin with the top 5 ways…

#1 – Identify the Goal of Your Site.
I know this one seems obvious but so many businesses and individuals miss the mark. Is it a portal site that directs you visitors to other websites you have? Is it for personal branding purposes? Is the goal to provide customer service? Is the ultimate goal to close a sale? Is the website’s goal to collect your customers email for follow up? Those are some of the questions you need to ask before you ever start working with a web designer or begin tackling the project yourself.

#2 – Choose A Type.
One website does not fit all. Corporate sites like Apple and Dell are pretty slick but they also require an extraordinary budget to maintain and create. There are a few basic types to choose from, and I will list them in order based on ease of entry; blog, squeeze/opt in page, sales page, corporate/billboard site, and ecommerce.

In my case, it was the ecommerce site unfortunately. But, the majority of my activity and what generates me the most profit are the lower entry websites. I love blogs, and so does Google so if the whole idea is to get found blogs are one of the best ways to go.

#3 – Select How Your Visitors Will Find You.
The primary source of traffic to my one of my sites is through offline advertising campaigns like business cards, telling folks about the website through the brick and mortar store, and word of mouth. However, I have other websites that 70% of the traffic is from organic search engines. So, the third tip is to say, how will visitors find my site? Once you have that figured out, you can use the text, images, domain name, and headlines on your website to go after that target market.

For example, if I want to be found from potential customers searching Google for “General Contractor Tampa” then I would create an entire site, or the majority of the site would be about that topic. It is good to stay specific in the beginning. Remember you can always branch out later.

#4 – Define How Much Time, And Money.
Folks miss this step all the time. In an ideal world, a website would be updated all the time with tons of content, videos, photographs, product, etc. But, you have to recognize that doing all that isn’t free. I tell my clients all the time that if you start with at least one update to your website or blog a week that is good enough when you are starting. Then if it starts producing a profit you can ramp it up.

Narrow down your budget, and decide what you are willing to throw at it.

#5 – Where does the money go?
The above question is absolutely vital. If there is no clear call of action, or a way to collect payments then all of your efforts are for not. For an ecommerce site this takes shape in how easy the shopping cart is to use. For local businesses, if a phone call to setup an appointment or speak to a person on staff is the ultimate goal then you need to spell it out for your customers in detail.

If you are personally branding yourself then maybe just a comment at the bottom of an article is payment enough. Whatever the case maybe, you have to be clear and distinguish where and what you want your customer, reader, or potential client to do. At the end of the day, you have to get paid.

In conclusion, these fundamental steps are certainly not everything in the world that you can do with your new design, but it is something to consider when you are redoing your website.

Remember, being something for everyone is not an option. I don’t care how big you are.

Talk soon,
Mark

P.S. In the next article, I am going to cover how social media can get your next blog post read by more than just your folks.