• Showing Gratitude and Appreciation for Online Entrepreneurs 2008

    December 18, 2008 // No Comments »

    Gratitude album cover
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    As the year’s end draws near, I thought I would dedicate a blog post to highlight the online entrpreneurs who have influenced me the most in 2008.  I also wanted to express my sheer appreciation and gratitude for connecting with the following individuals this year.

    The following online entrepreneurs , bloggers and marketers have made a great impact on my business and success this year, and I would love to share who they are with you.

    Go follow these amazing folks on Twitter , and subscribe for their blog feeds (if you’ve not yet done so already).

    • Remarkablogger , Michael Martine, @remarkablogger , blog consultant extraordinaire, is someone I’ve recently had the pleasure to connect and work with.  He’s provided solid feedback on my growth as a blogger and is someone I call a friend.  Michael, thanks for all your advice and for your guidance.  You really helped me narrow my focus as a blogger and helped me with SEO. Congratulations on your upcoming launch of SEO Nomicon.  I’m reading it today!  Michael also suggested the title of my new e-book Mindset Marketing , so many thanks!
    • Web Success Diva , Maria Reyes-McDavia, @websuccessdiva is someone I closely follow because she is always at the top of her game when it comes to Wordpress blogging and social media marketing.  I’ve learned tons simply by reading Maria’s blog and following her Tweets on Twitter.  Maria, thank you for all the valuable information and insights.  I look forward to all you have in store for 2009 and look forward to getting to know you more personally.  You totally rock!
    • Myron Golden , my millionaire mentor, Mr. Golden.  Myron has helped me see the true value in myself and also has helped me develop the mindset of a millionaire.   It was after one of Myron’s Six Figure Business School seminars, this Fall that I got inspired to create my e-book and affiliate program for Mindset Marketing .  I appreciate you for all of your phenomenal training and guidance.  Myron’s not on Twitter yet.  Hey Myron hurry up and join us on Twitter!  You rock, my friend.
    • Cenay Nailor , my good friend, mastermind buddy, and Chief Leveraging Officer @cenay .  Thanks for all the technical assistance, as I learn code myself :-)  You’ve been a lifesaver this year, and I look forward to working with you on our consulting blog in 2009.  Cenay is a super savvy online marketer and software developer.  If you’re an affiliate marketer her I Frame Generator affiliate link cloaker is a must. Cenay, you rock!
    • Andrea Goodsaid , my good friend, Chief Leveraging Officer, and first accountability partner @agoodsaid .  Andrea and I have been friends for some time.   She has helped me tremendously, especially when I was a newbie who didn’t know a thing about blogging.  Andrea inspired one of my earlier blog posts about the importance of accountability partnerships in one’s online business success.  Andrea , thanks for all the talks and keeping me on track.  I look forward to working with you more closely on our consulting blog.
    • Deontee Gordon , my buddy and Chief Leveraging Officer @deontee .  I’m so glad we connected and that we’ll be working more closely in 09 at the blog!  Deontee is a Facebook marketing pro, and I’m really glad we became friends in 2008.  You have one of the most radiant personalities online.  I’m so looking forward to your Facebook 101 product and working with you!
    • Anthony Whyms , my friend and host of Moving Forward Marketing at Blog Talk Radio @anthonywhyms .  Thank you for being such an instrumental part of my e-book launch and for having me on your show.  You provided so much great advice and have helped me a great deal.  Anthony , I look forward to our continued relationship and Joint Venturing on many many other projects.  It has been really fun!
    • Ed Phillips of Teleseminar Nation and Telesemainar Web Folk @EdLovesSumo .  Thanks for the friendship and assistance in promoting Mindset Marketing.  Ed and I have so much in common it’s not even funny.  I look forward to working with you in 2009, Ed.
    • Ray Johnson - New breed Internet marketing and relationship builder extraordinaire @RayJohnson .  It’s been awesome following you and getting to know you.  Congratulations on the launch of Subscriber List Secrets !  I look forward to working with you in 2009.
    • Jonathan Gillardi - Thanks for your powerful testimony on Mindset Marketing @Jgillardi .  I am honored to know that an online newbie helped you see from a different perspective and helped you gain more clarity and focus.  I am so humbled.  I look forward to getting to know you a lot better.  I appreciate you a great deal, my friend.
    • Paul Cooley - Internet Mentor and Blog Talk Radio Show Host @paulcooley .  Thanks for always commenting here on the blog, Paul.  I am excited about your new blog at Possessing your Land and look forward to joining you on your Blog Talk Radio show in two days.  I’m excited to be working with you too.  Gosh, I’ve met some cool folk leaders year! :-)
    • Michael Millman , my copywriting hero @MichaelMillman .  I met Michael, as most of the above people I’m grateful for having connected with on Twitter.  He graciously looked at some email copy for my e-book Mindset Marketing and gave me some phenomenal advice.  I was quite floored he said my copy was very good overall.  Michael, I appreciate you and look forward to learning from you.
    • Levi Wardell, my SEO champion, blogger at Serpable , and frequent blog commenter @trontastic .  It’s awesome to have connected…yes via Twitter and here on the blog.  I look forward to your new SEO e-book!

    There are many many other awesome folks I’ve met online this year by simply being on Twitter and blogging!  I appreciate all of you.  And I really appreciate you as my reader for taking the time to read my blog and participate.

    What’s in Store for Dali Burgado in 2009?

    1) More Blogging

    • Here and at Secrets to Web Success , with my Chief Leveraging Officers and business partners.
    • To cover tutorials on Twitter, Facebook, Copywriting, Joint Venturing, Relationship Building and more!

    2) Video and pod casts (yes I’ll be producing some video for ya - I’ve had technical issues here this past week, so maybe I’ll crank out one or two before the year is out) :-)

    3) More Information Product Launches - Mindset Marketing on steroids next year.  I’m making it into a course, and I’ll be working my tail off to coach others to create their own information products.

    4) Public Speaking -  First here locally in Stafford, VA, but also anywhere and everywhere.

    Who are the people YOU are most grateful for meeting/connecting with in 2008, and what are their Twitter IDs?

    To a phenomenal 2009!

    In appreciation!

    Dali Burgado

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    Posted in Gratitude

    Permission Based Email Marketing Case Study

    November 29, 2008 // No Comments »

    As the marketing fanatic that I am, I dissect blogs and websites on a daily basis and keep an eye on how I would improve upon them as a marketer.  Within the last few days I have been looking at permission based email marketing strategies to improve my own list-building efforts.

    I thought I’d share some valuable insight on permission email marketing here and engage you in the conversation of email marketing best practices .

    When I am scouring the web and stumble across good blogs and websites, I look at it from the perspective of a consumer who wants something special…something that is rare and unique…

    If you’re familiar with Seth Godin, marketing guru, you’ll know that he’s passionate about teaching marketers how to transform their businesses by being remarkable.  If you’ve read his "Purple Cow " book you know what I mean.  Let’s see which of the following three email marketing strategies wins the "Purple Cow" award.

    I’ve selected three examples from the web to dissect the verbiage.  Let’s see which optin form creates the most urge to subscribe in a reader.  Let’s get into the customers’ mindset here and get to dissecting…

    Example #1

    The following example comes from a blog and was inline text (a form directly stationary on a site).

    Valuable FREE Information

    Sign up for my Regular "Insights" and get over $100 in INSTANT Bonuses!

    Name

    Email

    Your emails will NEVER be sold or used by anyone else.

    In this example we have no idea what we are going to really get.  The First sentence "Valuable Free Information" does nothing to entice a person to optin.  There is neither any indication of perceived value here nor any indication of what types of emails the person opting in would receive.

    Also, who cares about receiving "insights."  This is plain boring.  The $100 Instant Bonus sounds nice, but this verbiage is not compelling enough for me to opt in.

    The "submit" field above "improve my results" sounds good, but what kind of results is this email marketer referring to?

    The only good thing I see here is that the person mentions the subscribers email will never be sold or used by anyone else.

    This optin email marketing strategy is a "no go."

    Example #2

    Most people visiting ­­­­Our Site join our Free ____Newsletter
    - I would like you to do so as well.

    Every week get tips addressing important issues, such as:

    • A
    • B
    • C

      Sign-up and start receiving your ____ Tips now!

      Name:

      Email:

    This example was a "pop up" email and automatically turned on the "oh no" look on Dali (lol).  Just the subject line "I would like you to do so as well."  A prospect would not care about what the email marketer wants them to do unless the site owner established the value in the prospect taking action.

    It would be much better to have a headline quickly peaking the subscriber’s interest and then establishing some value - explain why the person should opt in.  This email marketer could have done that in the bullet points, but unless the headline really appeals to the potential client, I don’t see anyone opting in here.

    How about you?

    Example #3

    The following was also a pop up optin form:

    "Email List Name" - A Different Kind of Email List

    Get the email newsletter that isn’t an email newsletter. ______ is more like getting short emails from your friends .  2 or 3 times a week, I have cool links and short bits of behind-the-scenes advice on _________, _____________-, ____________. Basically, it’s great stuff you’ll never see on the blog.

    Subscribe now and get a 38-minute audio download of _____________ !

    And yes, I will sell you stuff from time to time (what did you think, LOL). If you’re not comfortable with that, don’t sign up.

    Sign up now:

    Email:

    Your address will never be shared or sold. You will only see this message once.

    Right from the beginning of this optin form the email marketer speaks directly to the prospect who is tired of the likes of the optin forms discussed above.  This person already says "hey there, this is ‘a different kind of email list."

    This form also tells the subscriber exactly what they can anticipate.   The email marketer also mentions the information is "behind the scenes information" that cannot be accessed on the site.  This invokes a sense of loss and desire to get information that is scarce and "secret."  This pushes some buttons.

    Additionally, there is a pretty cool free gift - an audio tutorial of "38 minutes."  This number "38" sparks curiosity and also is not the run of the mill free e-book or "free tips" free gift lure you normally see in op tin forms.

    The email marketer even puts some personality and humor into the form by being straightforward that the person will receive sales offers from time to time "what did you think."

    I actually opted into this email list right away.

    This one definitely wins the "Purple Cow" award.  Whaddya say?

    Any other pointers out there on optin/permission based email marketing?

    Looking forward to hearing your feedback!

    Your Partner in Online Marketing Success,

    Dali Burgado

    Posted in Remarkable Marketing

    Redefining Online Marketing Success

    November 20, 2008 // No Comments »

    What is your definition of online marketing success ?

    Becoming the next Frank Kern or Eben Pagan?  Being a big time Copywriter like Michel Fortin?  Is it to make an excess of $10K per month?

    The crazy thing I’ve realized is that too many of us define online marketing success in complete wrong terms.   Oftentimes, we set a goal to be someone else instead of developing and nurturing talents and skills we already possess.

    When we unknowingly set goals that are not really our own, we force ourselves to learn skills that we don’t have the slightest affinity for, and we dismiss uncovered passions and skills that are yearning to be expressed.  These passions and natural talents allow us to shine in what we do best but in trying to reach success through someone else’s eyes, we lose sight for true success.

    I’ve set goals this way, and when I realized was not making any headway focusing on talents I did not inherently possess (and set a goal that I did not define myself), I had to take a step back, think and redefine what success meant To ME.

    You see, success is not a "one size fits all" definition. Your definition of success may be very different than my definition of success because we are all unique in our talents, strengths, and personas.

    However, I’ve also found that although each of us have our own definition of success, success is achieved overall when entrepreneurs accomplish a noteworthy goal and find fulfillment in having reached that goal.

    It takes a mindset shift to realize this very concept.

    Too many folks coming into the Internet marketing game come to strike gold without realizing that success is a journey. In addition they dismiss the fact that that they must also develop:

    • Personal/Communication skills
    • Marketing, influence, and their own natural talents and affinities
    • Online relationships

    Are you truly following your success and passions or are you following someone else’s vision of success? What are you wanting to accomplish?

    Yesterday, I picked up my copy of Joe Vitale’s "The Attractor Factor" and read about a study concerning two groups of individuals; the first group worked just to make money and the second group worked on their passions.  The first group consisted of over 1,000 people while the second group consisted of about 225 people.  Out of the first group only 1 became a millionaire and out of the second group over 100 became millionaires.  What a big clue!  When you work on your passion, you find "success."

    What’s your definition of success?

    What are your talents and skills?

    Are you truly marketing your passion?

    My new e-book Mindset Marketing will show you how to redefine success in your own terms AND find and further develop your NATURAL God given talents and skills.

    P.S. I will most likely be releasing a leaked chapter of Mindset Marketing so you can also read about all the 6 reasons you might actually be unconsciously self-sabotaging your online success.  Stay tuned, my friends!

    Dali Burgado

    Posted in Internet Marketing Productivity