Today on the news, I saw a story of a woman from Arizona who was so fed up with the latest invasion of privacy from Facebook, she had her lawyer file a federal complaint against the company. Her lawyer said the intention was to make it a class action suit and according to the Arizona Republic, she is not the first to attempt a class action suite against the social media giant.

I have to say, I am not a big fan of the latest changes, especially the “we want to track everything you do”‘ feature. I don’t believe it is necessary and people already give up enough information and privacy to participate. The new tracking is confusing to most people, so they will most likely end up giving more information than they want to. And for some, it might even be embarrassing as this Mashable article suggests.

I am curious to see how this one plays out. Stay tuned

Some of the highest paid professionals excel for one reason; they have had good coaches. And it’s not just athletes either. Business coaching is a huge industry and I can attest first hand their worth (if you find the right one). I have a business coach and he has advised me on a specific area of the internal operations of my business. I have finally come around having lost lots of time and actual money doing it “the way I thought I should.”

It’s no different with Internet Marketing. Failure of your business is not an option. You have too much invested and too many people counting on you to succeed. If you want to reach a goal, the fastest way to get there is to talk to someone who has done it already. A coach might be just what you need to point you in the right direction. Sometimes it’s just a few tweaks and sometimes it’s helping you put together a winning long term strategy, but either way each coaching session should leave you with a step in the right direction, and specifically put you closed to connecting with more customers.

We currently have a few openings for coaching clients, so if you are looking for a coach, now might be your opportunity. Visit our website to learn about the Internet Marketing Coaching program and get pricing info, then contact Anthony at 480-338-6744 for more info or to get started.

The last several weeks have given us plenty of changes on Facebook. Most reacted with disappointment, and a few embraced the new changes. Others kept reminding people they were getting what they were paying for (because it’s free). Some even talked about jumping ship for Google+, which for the record is NOTHING LIKE FACEBOOK

I was disappointed for two reasons. First, I originally joined Facebook to stay in touch with people. This was before business pages and I found that this was not as east of a task and that I no longer felt in touch as much as I had. Granted, I don’t spend all day going through old news feeds because I am quite busy, but there was clearly a difference in the volume of data I could see.

As a marketer, I was very disappointed in that my business page notifications seemed to be of less importance to anyone, especially because they weren’t there to get my updates anyway. They, like me, had joined Facebook to connect with people so they weren’t going to complain that they could not see my business page updates.

Some took the position that Facebook was doing this to make businesses have to pay for Facebook ads to get the visibility they were seeking. And if you have not at least tested Facebook ads, I do recommend it, but I would be disappointed if the underlying ploy was to get us to buy ads.

In the end, I regard Facebook as a great means of branding and connecting, but I would say it’s lost a bit of favor with me. Don’t hear what I am not saying; I didn’t say it doesn’t have value, but when the core of a websites users is frustrated with changes, does not know how they work, and really not willing to fight to stay current, you have to be cautious how much emphasis you give it in your overall marketing equation.

I’d love to hear your thoughts below. Have a great day!

I find the news pretty discouraging for the most part, but the good news is that you can use what is shared in the news to grow your business in two very specific ways.

Blogging
I am a big advocate of blogging for the purpose of growing your online reach. When I share this with business owners, I am often asked “what should I blog about?” The simplest answer is to listen to what your prospects are asking you and then blog about those answers. Chances are, they are not the only ones asking the questions.

Another great way to find relevant content is to keep up with the news. For the most part, the news is discouraging, so I keep my intake at a bare minimum. In fact, I get most of my news via the web and social media. If you listen to what’s going on in the news, it will certainly give you relevant material to talk about. If it is directly related to your business, that is ideal, but even if it is not, you can either find a connection of just give your commentary. People want to know that you are human, and not always just about business.

The more you do this, the more you will be seen as a thought leader in your field, because you are staying current with what’s gong on, and you are relating it to your business.

Getting Quoted in the News
It’s no secret that being quoted as an expert by the media can help elevate your positioning in the marketplace. I always encourage business owners to build relationships with local and niche market journalists to get on the short list of “go to” experts that are called upon when someone is needed for a story.

A few great ways to connect with journalists are:
1. By making direct contact. Many use Twitter, so I recommend starting by connecting through Twitter and being a good netizen.

2. Respond to their requests. Journalists make requests all day long; you just have to know how to find them. One great resource is HARO, a free service that literally sends these requests to you three times per day.

Creating press releases can be a good way to get in the news as well. The key to a successful press release is making sure it is actually newsworthy (and not just an advertisement) and sending it to the right journalist at the right time.

My one caveat is that in the quest for using the news as a means of growing your business, that you don’t become addicted to it

Wishing you success!

I don’t know if it did or not, but what I do know is that I am no longer a fan. I have used Gmail happily for 4+ years and until recently never had a problem. I used secure passwords, virus protection, and all that other good stuff, but this morning I was awakened by a “way too early” phone call. You know, the kind that make you wondered who just got sick or died? Well, thankfully no one was died, but my email was sick. It had been compromised by some @#$%$! who has no life.

So here is my question (since the support number is glaringly missing from your website.) Is Google Plus secure? I am tending to think NOT.

I am fully convinced that I have no interest in gathering yet another database just to have it compromised. I actually deleted my Google Plus account immediately because I know that is the only place in my Google network that people can randomly add me whether I know them or not.

And for the fool who instigated this, I really to pray for your soul. It’s clear you are headed to a bad place. And karma is real, so you’ve got lots of trouble coming your way. It’s not from me, but from the karma police. You really can’t escape it.

P.S. Google, I have been a faithful patron for many years, spent thousand of dollars in your Ad Network, and managed hundreds of thousands of dollars (directly of indirectly) so it would be great if you’d have someone contact me. I know you know how to find me.