Aligned Marketing Blog

If you’re looking for niche markets, hot topics and new ideas there are a bunch of sites that can help you beyond the search engines although, in some cases, they are sub-domains of the search engines.

I check out the hottest search trends at Google Zeitgeist. Since I’m usually targeting the US market, I’ll click on “U.S. Zeitgeist,” otherwise I’ll look at “Zeitgeist Around the World.”

Lycos Top 50 and Yahoo! Buzz are two other sites, like Google Zeitgeist, that I review when I’m looking for the latest trends in digital products and hot topics.

The eBay Pulse site is also an excellent place to start looking at niche markets and topics and is one very few people, from what I can tell, use for research.

If you still can’t find anything to get your creative marketing or writing juices flowing then here are some other sites to investigate:

Nichebot - http://www.nichebot.com

Shopping.com Searches – http://www2.shopping.com/top_searches

AOL Hot Searches - http://hot.aol.com/hot/hot

Google Groups - http://groups.google.com

Craig's List - http://www.craigslist.com

Delicious Popular - http://del.icio.us/popular

Digg - http://www.digg.com

Google Catalogs - http://catalogs.google.com

Google Suggest – http://www.google.com/webhp?complete=1&hl=en

Technorati - http://www.technorati.com

If you want to focus exclusively on what’s selling visit the Clickbank Marketplace (http://marketplace.clickbank.net).

The web is constantly changing so it requires effort to stay current, to remain relevant.

As a marketing consultant it’s my business to stay abreast of web-trends. Feel free to call me if you’re having trouble finding the information you need.

Steve Hartkopf

800-707-9150

 

Chris Brogan wrote a blog a week or so ago about what he'd do if he suddenly found himself with some unscheduled time, such as a flight delay. The only thing I remember from his list is he'd write a recommendation on LinkedIn. That's a good task to knock off your to-do list but probably wouldn't make my top ten list. If I had 30 minutes of unexpected time open up, here is what I'd do.

1. Re-organize and prioritize my tasks. I'm always making lists and checking off completed items, which means sometimes my lists get messy. I find that taking a few minutes to clean them up and create clear priorities helps me stay relaxed and be more productive.
2. Investigate new social media sites. I have a list of social media sites that I keep meaning to investigate. 30-minutes is just about the right amount of time to really dig into a social media site, see what they're trying to do and then compare their value to some of the better known sites. Since a lot of people ask me about social media I feel an obligation to be well versed on the subject.
3. I like to take 30 minutes and focus on one client. I ask myself one question: What can I do or recommend that will improve their business? Sometimes this results in a proposal but most of the time I just call them, share the idea and let them know that I'm thinking about them. In my experience these types of phone calls are very well received.
4. Call a friend. Everyone is busy so it's hard to stay in touch with all the important people in our lives. Give me 30 minutes and I can leave voicemails, no one answers anymore, for 5-6 people and just say, "Hello, I was thinking about you and wanted to touch base.". (I need to do more of this.)
5. I subscribe to the online version of the Wall Street Journal but don't read it everyday. Sometimes, as a change of pace, I'll open it up and read whatever interests me. Typically, I tweet a link to the most interesting articles. It's my favorite source of Tweets.
6. I subscribe to several business journals and receive summaries regularly. It's a good way to keep current and has, on occasion, been the source of new business. It typically takes 5-10 minutes to get through one summary.
7. Promote my blog. Few blogs grow readership by themselves, you have to promote them. I use Twitter, FaceBook and LinkedIn (primarily) to let folks know a new post is up. In addition, I read several other blogs and leave comments, which is a good way to get people to read blog, in return, and you help grow an audience.
8. Speaking of blogs, 30 minutes is just enough time to brainstorm blog topics and write a short paragraph outline.
9. Take a walk or just look out the window. I have long days and seldom take a day off so every once in a while I just need to step away from the desk or whatever I'm working on to relax and regain my perspective.
10. Clean up my desktop. By the end of the week my computer screen is often cluttered. I don't like clutter so spending 10-15 minutes to get files organized and into a folder is time well spent. This is similar to #1 so here's an extra bonus.
11. Bonus: Check out the competition or one of my clients' competitors. Websites are being changed all the time. My arsenal of intelligence gathering and website analysis tools is constantly expanding so it pays for me to take the time to do a little competitor checking.

So, what would you do?

Steve

On Monday we learned that About.com forecast Twitter to reach 26 million users (15.5% of adult internet users) by 2010, taught you how open your own Twitter account and discussed being a good Twitizen. Today you’ll learn how to:

How can you locate the right people to Follow? Here are some tools:

• Wefollow (http://wefollow.com) lists the Twitter people –Tweeps, Twits or Tweople – with the most Followers by tag usage. Think of a tag as a subject, such as music or news.Follow the people with the most Followers in the subjects that matter to you.
  
• Twellow (http://www.twellow.com) is “a search directory of people by area of expertise, profession or other attribute listed in personal profiles. Use the same Follow tactic here as you did with Wefollow.
  
• Nearby Tweets (http://nearbytweets.com) is a very cool tool because it lets you find other Twits in your, or some other, geography. Personal note: I walked into an event in my home town and the first person I introduced myself to said, “Oh, I know you, I Follow you on Twitter.” It was cool. We both started laughing. The lesson: Follow people close to your home or work.
  
• Twitter Search (http://search.twitter.com) allows you to search the Twittersphere for keywords or topics and is an excellent way to find like-minded people, potential clients or business partners to Follow.
• Listorious (http://www.listorious.com) was explained in detail in my November 4 post (http://tinyurl.com/yal4ay5) so just let me say, it’s a super directory of lists on Twitter and I highly recommend you use it to locate people to Follow.

How you get people to Follow you:

• The first tip is a no-brainer: Provide good content. Post (Tweet) content that is interesting, useful and/or entertaining and your followship will grow.
• The second tip is to make sure your profile is well written, your page design is well executed and, in general, you treat your Twitter account as a marketing tool. Most people prefer to know the people they Follow and your online presence is your introduction, the beginning of knowing you.
• List your Twitter account on your website, blog, all of your social media accounts, email signature and printed materials, if you have them, and provide a link to your Twitter account whenever possible.
• Pick a tweet-niche and stick to it since it is, in effect, your online brand. Most of my tweets are about business communication and using technology in digital marketing. However, I also throw in a few posts about current events, sports and fun stuff, such videos, to show the lighter side of my personality.
• Since most of the people you Follow will Follow you in return, using the previously mentioned tools will drive your Follower number up is a great way to increase Followers.
• Retweet (RT) the people you want following you. Most Twitters review their list of RT’s and if you are helping them spread their message it’s likely they will Follow you out of courtesy/reciprocity.

How you can locate topics to Tweet and Retweet:

• Follow your passions. If, like me, you enjoy social media, current events and fun-stuff, then post about those topics.
• Visit websites that have great content and either comment (tweet) about what you read or RT articles, posts and videos.
• Here are the sites I visit often for content.
  • Google (http://www.google.com) is my #1 source. When a topic strikes my fancy, I Google it to learn more and that often spurs a post.
  • The Wall Street Journal (http://online.wsj.com/home-page). WSJ is right in my wheelhouse as far as business reporting, quality writing and politics. I think the online subscriptions is, like, $69.00 a year.
  • YouTube (http://www.youtube.com) is my #2 source. I’m always amazed at what is available on YouTube. There’s a video on almost every subject imaginable and a lot of them are either hysterical or surprisingly informative.
• For information about technology and what technology marvel is coming next I visit:
  • Fast Company (http://www.fastcompany.com)
  • CNET (http://www.cnet.com)
  • TechCrunch (http://www.techcrunch.com)
  • Alltop (http://alltop.com) is an online magazine rack where you can pick up great information, current thinking, well-written articles and post about almost any subject.
  • There are a lot of great blogs and blogger directories online. Here are the ones I use the most:
    • Mashable (http://www.mashable.com) is a blog dedicated to social networking news and events.
    • Copyblogger (http://www.copyblogger.com) promotes itself as a site for “copywriting tips for online success” and, in my view, it delivers.
    • Problogger (www.problogger.net) helps “bloggers add income streams to their blogs.”
    • The Bloggers’ Bulletin (http://www.thebloggersbulletin.org) is an excellent source for “Tips, Tools and News on Blogging!” (Yes, this is shameless self-promotion since I’m a contributor. So sue me. Check it out, I think you’ll agree that the team is producing good content and helping a lot of people get started blogging.)

Final thought on behalf of all bloggers, most of us put a lot of time and energy into our blogs. We take this stuff seriously. So tell us how we’re doing? Is this information useful? What else would you like us to report on, discuss or teach? If you’re not comfortable making public comments, send me an email at shartkopf@aligned-marketing.com. I’d really like to hear from you.

It’s Wednesday, the only one this week. Do something remarkable!

Steve