Week 4 Advanced Personal Branding

Week 4: Advanced Personal Branding
1. Mission: Operation Rockstar
Defining Your Brand and Finding Your Life Purpose

What do you love to do if money was not an option?
What excites you – what would make you jump out of bed for every morning?
What would be your rock star job title?

Who are 2 people living their life purpose through their work that you admire?
1.
2.

What is it about them that makes them live this way/do the things they do?

Define Your Core Influence

There are 2 types of influence, core and shell.
Your shell influences are the physical things you want – the car, the house, the clothes,
the vacations.

Examples of shell influences

* Make a million dollars
* Live in a house on the beach
* Drive an Audi
* Fall in love with a "10"
* Wear designer clothes

Your core influence is the reason for wanting these things, the deeper connection to
experiences and the things that provide you value.

Examples of a core influence

* Confidence from driving that car, or having that girl
* Felling of accomplishment from living in that house
* The journey and experience
* Financial freedom or security

When developing your brand, you need to speak from your core influence and be
congruent to yourself and your own personal mission. In order to make a business
succeed by being transparent, your needs need to be congruent with the needs of your
market. You need to connect with them on an emotional level of their core influence. The
outcome you are looking for is a congruent connection between what you want in your
life and what your customers want, and your business acts as the facilitator between the

Under 30 Rock Star Business Series | www.under30ceo.com | www.rockstarlifestyledesign.com

two. When you come from a place of congruency and you connect deeply with the
emotional drives of your customers, then you have “core influence”, which from a
business standpoint means you can make a lot of sales simply by asking if people want
more from you.

This video from an old Monty Python episode explains Core Influence, as an accountant,
with years of experience and career projections to stay an accountant, actually wants to
be a lion tamer. His core influence is pushing him towards a career that he is passionate
about, something he dreams of and the way that he actually views himself. I see a lot of
this in Gen-Y and young people, who take jobs because they were good at it in school, or
they were pushed into that field, or just ended up there from a lack of other options.
Finding your core influence is vitally important, relaying that into your audience is
equally if not more to your future growth.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMOmB1q8W4Y&feature=player_embedded

Finding Your Core Influence

Ask yourself the following questions about your "ideal" day:

* Where would I live?
* What would the house be like?
* What time would I wake up?
* What would I do in the morning?
* What would I think or say?
* What would I eat for breakfast?
* What would I do in the first half of the day?
* What would I eat for lunch?
* Who would I eat lunch with?
* What would my friends be like?
* What would their behavior be like?
* What would I do for personal fulfillment activities?
* What is you life purpose?
* What is your business?
* What do you do for work?
* What are your duties that you are doing what at work?
* Who are your clients?
* How are your family relationships?
* How do you spend family time?
* What do you have for dinner?
* Where to eat?
* Who to eat with?
* What to do at night?
* Who to do it with?
* And where?
* What would my thoughts be as I go to sleep?


When you have your answers, and you are ready to start impacting others, ask these
questions again – except from the vantage point of your fans, audience, customers, etc.
This will create your inner rock star.

Taking This Influence and Creating My Rock Star Brand

Personal Mission:
Define unique qualities, what you want to accomplish in your life and leave behind and
what what my perfect world looks like, what people are doing, how they interact and how
it feels for you. Put this together into a sentence and create your personal mission. Mine
is below.

Personal: My purpose is to innovate and drive passion into people so that they create
better community living experiences to make amazing things happen.

Business Purpose:
What can your business be the "best in the world at?
What is the key need your business supports for your audience?
In the premiere magazine for your industry, what is the highlight of an article featuring
your business?
Create a statement around these questions that creates focus, energy, empowering
thoughts and motivates you and everyone involved in this business. My result is below.

Business: We help young people fulfill dreams, create businesses and change the world
through innovative training and education, technology, investments and the developing
their core influence.

These 2 statements allow me to focus on what I am saying and why I am saying it. If
what I am saying does not align with these 2 statements, I am working in the wrong
direction. I have these statements printed above my desk and look at them everyday,
when writing, on calls or just hanging in my office.

Creating a Path Towards Becoming A Rock Star

What I have done:
I took a look at who I am now and who I want to be. Then I looked at others that I admire
and who have created lives, businesses and purposes that align with my own vision.

* Tony Robbins
* Tim Ferriss
* Frank Kern
* Jay-Z

What steps can I take to get into their shoes?

* Develop an audience


* Create products that over deliver an experience
* Leadership qualities
* Use of multi-media
* Leverage networks that align with my vision

Specific Actions To Become a Rock Star

* What can I be doing right now to live up to my mission and business vision?
* What are the values these people possess? What are my values?
* How do they act in private, public, on stage, in their writing? How do they carry
themselves?
* What have the people I admire done, broken down into actions to get to their position
today?
* What “powers” do I possess to create a “best in the world brand.?”

Paying It Forward

* You are always training your replacement and looking to jump into the next
opportunity.
* It doesn’t have to be nonprofit, but you need to give back to your community.
* By creating this course, we are helping the next ring of great bloggers and voices. By
doing so, we are creating trust and a community that will in essence continue to promote
us.
* You need to find a way to always pay it forward.

Conclusion

* In order to become a rock star, you need to define what a rock star means to you.
* You need to ask yourself the hard hitting questions, find solid answers and look at
them everyday.
* Then you need to create actions that align with the values you have defined.
* Stay strict, stay consistent, pay it forward and keep looking for ways to connect with
your audience.

Bonus:
For everyone that answers all the questions in this section and feels so confident about
them, post them in the forum for others to see and I will send over a 2 hour video that
changed the way I think about core influence and the reason for doing the things I do.
This includes the opening questions, the core influence, the life purpose and business
vision. If you need help, please hit the forums or email me personally at
rollettmarketing@gmail.com.


2. Growing Your Credibility
Operation Rockstar is all about becoming an authoritative brand on a subject. Want to
look like a credible source and give people a reason to listen to you? You need to start
getting a wide array of experiences and building your public resume.
Exercise: Write your bio as you'd like it to look 6-12 months down the road.

This is a great exercise to let you know what you need to do to boost your bio. Plan out
who you want to be and then what things you need to do to become that person.

A good bio should include: your accolades in an impressive but not obnoxious manner.
Your bio should say something personal about you; this will allow readers or listeners to
believe you are a real person instead of just a list of awards. Always tailor your bio to the
audience--you want to be sure to tell the audience why you are a voice of authority on the
topic at hand.

Here's how I want my bio to sound in 6-12 months. (Someone please hold me to this
sometime Summer 2010).

Matt Wilson graduated Bryant University after leading the Collegiate Entrepreneurs’
Organization to becoming the world’s #1 entrepreneurship organization and earned
personal accolades as National Student Leader of the Year. --This part of my bio is the
beginning of my story--how I got my start. People like stories. This will be the same as
long as I'm in the "Young Entrepreneur" niche. Awards and education go a long way in a
bio.

Hungry for more, Wilson decided he had found a niche inspiring young entrepreneurs to
start businesses they were passionate about and to live life on their own terms. Everyone
wants to know what your purpose is, your mission. Don't just talk about yourself during
your bio, try to appeal to a greater good if you can. The most passionate people get lost
in something bigger than themselves, try to make this evident in your bio. Maybe you
need a personal mission statement? To be really cliche "People don't care how much you
know until they know how much you care." (barf)

He went on to co-found Under30CEO a media company that includes a lifestyle
magazine for young entrepreneurs, nationally syndicated radio show and television
program on MTV. Under30CEO also produces products for entrepreneurs to help them
get their businesses off the ground and design their life the way they choose. Okay, so tell
them what your doing now, and your claim to fame. Use words that you get excited
about. (This stuff hasn't all happened yet)

Wilson's success has come because of his ability to show people what he is passionate
about through social media, building his personal brand from regular college student to
being named to the 2010 INC Magazine 30 Under 30 List. Make sure your claim to fame
is known and there is no question what you are an expert about. (PS. I'll need your
nomination in 2010).


Matt Wilson is a billionaire. (Just kidding)

If Matt is around he will be easy to spot as his long luxurious hair is generally flowing
freely in the breeze. PSS. You are a real person! My business partner Jared O'Toole
actually wrote this part. If you aren't good at touting our own ego, have someone else
write it.

So how are you going to gain this credibility?
Take a look at the 59 Ways to Grow your Confidence eReport included in the Bonus
Material of this book. The eReport lays out 59 things you can including speaking,
serving on a panel, podcasting, blogging, growing your Twitter following, writing, apply
for awards, testimonials, and affiliating yourself with non profit organizations. Think of
this as your real life resume. You are creating a business around what you are passionate
about, so create a list of things you'll do to solidify yourself as an expert in the field.
Remember these are building blocks--you might have to start a podcast from your home
before you start approaching radio producers.

Here are some things that will get me to the next level so I can make the INC 30 Under30
list.

* Write for Entrepreneur Magazine
* Be a guest on National TV
* Conduct a 2,000+ person keynote
* Host a talk at a major social media conference
* Get a testimonial from someone famous
* Publish an e-book
* Interview several prominent business celebrities
* Network with other successful entrepreneurs at events like Summit Series

Each of these experiences is not only something to point to when people question your
credibility, they are also talking points. Effectively networking means having something
interesting to talk about with others.

Also think: what am I going to brag about? While, bragging is frowned up on, politely
mentioning interesting things you've done is the only way to get people to remember you.

Testimonials
Why not let someone do the bragging for you?

Nothing resonates better with a market than hearing others speak your praises. Letters of
recommendation, short video testimonials and quotes all work. Testimonials are all over,
whether they are on products "This product worked for me, I lost 900 pounds", services
"Joe's landscaping hasn't missed a blade of grass yet", books "Seth Godin is a genius",
people "Greg Rollett is the real deal ladies", even radio stations "OMG, I love Kiss FM
they play all the hits!"


Want an innovative way to show people your testimonials? Favorite all the nice things
people have said about you on Twitter and show people that
http://twitter.com/MattWilsontv/favorites

Speaking
Our approach for getting most press is the same: just ask. Grow your brand into
something newsworthy, something remarkable and people will take notice. Do
everything you can do build that credibility as someone remarkable. Just because you
ask doesn't necessarily mean you'll get written up or asked to speak. You should have a
page on your blog about the topics you are available to speak about, where you've spoken
before and why you are a good source of knowledge.

Here is an example of a killer speaking page by Chris Brogan
http://www.chrisbrogan.com/connect/

Find out when conferences are, who's organizing them and send them an email months in
advance. Many times you'll hear about a conference and have to wait until the following
year even to ask to speak. Last second volunteers are always helpful, this is a good way
to establish a connection at the conference and get in for free as Under30CEO is doing at
Social Ad Summit NY. Make sure you have your finger on the pulse of your industry.
Know when and where your conferences are.

Your Press Page
Ever visit a website and automatically know it's big time because of the big time logos on
the front? Ideally you want as many big names as possible and making it known where
you've been featured. Check this impressive Gen Y press page
http://www.dannijo.com/press.php

Getting Press
Radio: I've almost never been turned down from a niche radio show. While I'm not
pitching Howard Stern or Imus, if the show fits your niche, you are passionate about the
subject matter and you have a bit of a track record, shows will love to have you. It might
take some time building that track record, but start finding out what the niche shows are
in your industry.

Start by surfing BlogTalkRadio and uStream. Find out what shows are in your niche and
pitch them. Briefly tell them who you are, why you are an expert, how you'd fit into their
show and see what they say. Get excited about their show; if you send a boring pitch
they are going to think you are a boring guest. I also like to pitch on Twitter, but not too
often as the pitch is public. A message like "Hey XXX I've been listening to your show
and would love to come on to discuss XYZ" works.

Here is an example email pitch:

Hi XXX, my name is Matt Wilson and I believe I'd be a perfect guest for your show--I'm
the co-founder of Under30CEO.com and our goal is to inspire and encourage young


entrepreneurs. I'd love to come on your show and talk about entrepreneurship from a
Gen Y perspective. I've been on a lot of radio shows, I'd love to talk about finding what
you are passionate about, defying the 9-5 and using social media from a youthful,
enthusiastic point of view.

Here is a bit more information about me, my bio, testimonials, other appearances etc.
http://www.mattwilson.tv/about-2/

Hope to hear from you soon,

Matt Wilson

Looking for more shows to pitch? The best way of course is to google your niche and
also by searching big Internet radio providers like http://www.wsradio.com. Search
#radioshow or google your niche & radio, follow the host or producers on Twitter and try
to get to know them. If you become well respected in their circle the pitch will be easier
OR better yet, they'll ask you to be a guest.

One of our listeners on our uStream show loved what we had going and and happened to
work for Fox. Under30CEO got a great feature on the nightly news. It all comes down to
putting yourself out there. Think of everything you do online as one big way to network
and tell more people about what you do. If enough people know about you, you'll get
picked up by press one way or another.

Print: Yes, what you've read is true, the press release is becoming outdated, but its still
one way to get the word out. Send out compelling copy with a compelling angle. Our
friend Cameron Herold former COO of 800-Got-Junk? grew his business from $2million
to $105million in 6 years by getting press for his company. His best suggestion was to
simply call the editors and reporters and offer an interesting angle over the phone. He
explained that everyday writers wake up and think "what am I going to write about
today?" Help them out and give them a good story! If you have something newsworthy
they will gladly write about you. Once you get picked up by a newswire like Bloomberg,
or the AP you can call the smaller reporters and ask if they've seen it, directing them to an
already written article. Finally, Cameron suggested using your social media presence
then to push out the story to your followers and grow the articles readership.

Here is more information on writing a Press Release. Also check into using a distribution
service like PRNewswire if you are serious about your PR campaign.
You can also write a Feature Article and send it to the print publications.

Book Quotes: Well connected, well known people often get asked to be quoted in books.
There are a couple simple things you can do to achieve this. If you become an authority
on a subject you will become the go to person for advice on a subject. My friend Barry
Moltz wrote a book on failure called Bounce!: Failure, Resiliency, and Confidence to
Achieve Your Next Great Success, he's an authority on small business failure through
some unique experiences of his own (he'll tell you this himself) so when Pam Slim wrote


her section on failure in Escape from Cubicle Nation she asked Barry for a quote. Barry
has simply developed his personal brand around this. Jared, Greg and I have all been
asked by authors for quotes representing millennial entrepreneurs because we've gotten
our name out there and expanded the network of people who know us and know of us.

The other thing you can do is contact authors you admire and inquire to be a research
assistant. This summer author of the Four Hour Work Week Tim Ferriss asked for help
with his book via a blog post THE NEXT BOOK: From Rapid Fat Loss to Strongmen: A
Guide to Becoming Superhuman. How cool would it be to work for someone like
Malcolm Gladwell or Jim Collins! These guys build expansive teams and normally
stemming from their research institutions, but it doesn't hurt to ask if you feel you have
something to bring to the table. You will probably have easier access contacting a lesser
known author.

Blogger Relations

It's time to get friendly with bloggers. How to do this best? Leave comments. Nothing
tells a blogger "thank you" better than leaving an insightful comment on their post.
Chances are they will check out the link you leave along with your name and email
address. Bloggers want to know who their readers are, especially the ones that take the
time to engage with them. Start leaving comments on blogs in your industry, you'll soon
get to know both the writers and readers of these sites. The comments section of a blog is
also an amazing way to show off what you know. Many bloggers will do follow up posts
and credit your comment.

Next share links. Find your favorite bloggers on Twitter and tweet their links out with
their twitter name attached. See this example of how I tweet about my (now friend and
favorite blogger) Mike Michaelowicz:

Check out this article List of Free Resources for Entrepreneurs http://bit.ly/19ds4N by
@TPEntrepreneur

This Tweet does several things
A. Provides value to your own network
B. Helps Mike get readers for his blog
C. Says "whats up Mike, I'm a reader check me out" Eventually you'll establish a rapport
with the blogger and get to know them if they start following your tweets.

Bloggers don't really like to be pitched out of nowhere, but if you become a bit more
known in your industry it'll be easy to get them to write about you. If I was launching a
new project, I could easily call Mike and say "Hey can you help me out." As you can
see, there are no freebies here, it's all about networking.

If you are trying to get someone to help you the best way is to do the work for them.
Offer to write the story up for them if they'd like, or to do Q&A which is a really simple
way to create valuable content quickly.


Guest Blogging

Another great way to get to know a blogger is by helping them with content. Just like
reporters, they are looking for something to write about everyday. Bloggers need
vacations too, so why not help them out with a vacation and do their job for a day?

Keep in mind your guest post should not be self promotional. Always include a byline
with a link and a picture, but don't talk about yourself the entire blog post. Guest posts
are a great way to drive traffic and gain new subscribers to your blog, so put a lot of time
into it. You want to over-deliver and make it your best work as you should with anything
you put your name on.

Check out this excellent guide to writing a guest post -
http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/write-a-guest-post-for-i-will-teach-you-to-be-rich/

Resource
The Art of the Bylined Article--How to write for a big publication -
http://www.entrepreneur.com/marketing/publicrelations/prcolumnistrachelmeranus/articl
e176400.html
How to Write a Bio--instructions and templates - http://www.howtowritebio.com/


3. Driving Traffic
Now we have thrown a ton of information at you on how to use things like twitter, digg,
and SEO to develop your name and brand yourself. The worst thing someone can do is
try and tackle all of these things at once. So now I want to lay out a strategy on what is
important to tackle first and what can wait until later in order to drive traffic to your site.

The 1st thing to remember is traffic is all about building lists. Lists are anything someone
can follow you on facebook, twitter, email, RSS, youtube...where ever you have a profile.
These lists are what will build your traffic into a steady stream over time so you don't
have to worry about getting to the front page of Digg every week. You will have people
following you and wanting to hear what you have going on. What you need to focus on is
converting your traffic into these lists. An email opt-in at the bottom of your site is
worthless just like keeping your twitter link on your contact page. Make the links to the
lists you want to build front and center on your homepage.

Examples:
http://mashable.com
http://chrisbrogan.com
http://under30ceo.com

Now lets focus on a strategy of what to tackle 1st so you don't get over-whelmed when
driving traffic to your site. The important thing to remember is to focus and develop
strategies that work for you but you also enjoy.

1st Step

Twitter - Easiest way to get involved, meet people, discover interesting articles and start
making a name for yourself. Twitter is the ultimate platform to engage and communicate
with people in your industry without any credibility to your name. This is how you get
your start. Dive into conversations and build that credibility 1 tweet at a time.

Twitter is great for actually converting your traffic into the lists on your site. It's the
closest thing to a 1 on 1 relationship you can have with someone outside of meeting them
in person. As you make a name for yourself people will recommend you and its all
public.

Commenting - Leaving comments on blogs is an easy and effective way to drive traffic
and build relationships. It's important to be reading blogs to learn and understand your
industry take the 30secs to leave a constructive comment.

If your leaving comments on targeted blogs then you will be driving targeted traffic to
your site. This means conversions into your lists. Commenting can be a tedious task so
start small. Aim to leave 5-10 comments per day. Remember your not reading these blogs
just to leave comments you are reading to learn more about what is going on in your
industry.


2nd Step

Guest Blogging - It's now time to take on guest blogging which requires more time and
thought. You don't want to guest blog right out of the gate because you want to make sure
you are used to blogging and are confident with writing quality posts. It also takes time to
develop some contacts with other bloggers. Randomly pitching bloggers doesn't work
well you want to know what their blog is about.

Guest blogging is great for converting traffic but at the same time you will have to work
your way up. Larger blogs like Mashable will want to see writing examples or some
credibility so driving lots of traffic won't happen from day 1 as you will be on smaller
blogs. However the traffic you do drive will be very targeted and these posts will help
expose your name and material to other built audiences in your niche.

The great thing about guest blogging is those links will be there forever so you are
building your SEO juice at the same time.

Tip - Offer to do interviews or Q+A on your expertise. Can be a lot easier then constantly
coming up with creative new posts for other blogs.

HARO - HelpAReporter.com Start showing off what you know. HARO has the biggest
media outlets on it but also many small bloggers use it. Take time and give your input
because you never know who will pick you up. Many bloggers use it to build lists and
include every solid answer they receive for a post.

HARO can be tough to get cited in large media outlets because a lot of people respond
but its a simple enough process where you should provide your input if your
knowledgeable on the subject. Once again getting linked up or mentioned on another
media outlet in your niche will drive targeted traffic.

3rd Step

SEO - Although important should not be something to worry about early on. It takes time
to learn it and things like keywords and crafting solid titles and posts takes practice.
Relationships with people should be your primary focus so SEO can be worked in when
your comfortable with it.

SEO can drive incredibly targeted traffic but only if done correctly. It also takes time for
your site to become established in search engines as you build links from other sites and
content on your own site over time.

4th Step

Press - Traditional press still has a huge audience. However you won't get them to notice
you at the very beginning and not every blog is right for big media. Press outlets get tons
of press releases and only cover the most credible and interesting stories. You want to get
established with a solid foundation before you go after bigger media. You also need that


compelling story, a blog is unlikely to get attention from media outlets but maybe a coach
with products and a blog would. Even if you have a connection somewhere getting a
write-up about your project before its fully up will only lead to missing out on converting
the traffic you get.

Big media like the New York Times will send your site a lot of targeted traffic because
just a mention in a source like that gives your site credibility. But these types of write-ups
are difficult to get and the time and effort to get them shouldn't be a focus at first. Once
your site has gained some traction and you have crafted a compelling story around it,
putting effort into this type of media is well worth it.

Finally

Digg, StumbleUpon, and other traffic driving sites. The thing with these sites is while
they can drive a ton of traffic a lot of that traffic won't necessarily convert on your site.
Visitors from these sites tend to stop by for a short period and don't bother to look into
the site. These sites can also be hard to develop a profile on and gain recognition. It takes
a lot of time to become something like a "top digger" and achieving that won't necessarily
bring credibility to your name like a solid guest post or write up in a media outlet would.

This doesn't mean ignore these types of site but unless you really like them and have fun
putting the effort in there are better ways to establish yourself.

Key: All of these strategies should be brought together but over time. The important thing
is to not get over-whelmed and get comfortable with something simple like twitter before
taking big steps and pitching big media.

Now its time to dominate your niche!

This is done by getting offline and meeting these people face to face. As great as the
online world is nothing beats making relationships in person. These are the people that
will become mavens of you and your brand and will spread your message with word of
mouth thus driving traffic to your site.

Attend every event in your industry. Its easy to talk and network with people who all
have the same interests. Don't go into this blind though. People are going to ask you..

* What do you do?
* How do you make money?
* How would you help me?
* Who have you worked with? What makes you credible?
* How are you different from others doing this?

It's important to not only know these answers but know your story. Each answer should
be compelling and strong. You need to sell yourself, your blog, your product and
everything you do in only a few minutes with this person. Don't be afraid to mess up or


not have a great answer to something. Note what you were asked and learn from it so you
are ready for next time.

Key: Have quality business cards! Make something that stands out from the crowd and
include lots of info on it like phone number, email, twitter handle...make it easy for
people to connect with you. Also make it a point to take other peoples business cards.
Now you can initiate and stay in touch instead on relying on them to do so.

Eventbrite.com - The best place to find events in any industry
Netparty.com - Younger networking events but in most cities
Also check your local chambers of commerce

Tip - Leverage your blog. Contact the person holding an event and offer to cover and
review the event on your blog. Many times the person will be glad to have you do that
and will offer you a discount code, often you can get in for free! Just reviewing an event
can be great content on your blog as well.

Hold your own events:

Tweetups - Free and easy to organize. Who cares if only 1 person shows up. It was free
to put together and that 1 more contact you now have. The important part about holding
the events is everyone wants to talk with you because your the head of the event. They
will grow in time.

Use http://twtvite.com/ to advertise your tweetup and invite people on twitter to it.

Hold you own seminars or conferences once you have built some credibility. It can be
as easy as pulling in some local business owners to talk about their stories. There are
always tons of people in every industry that are looking for more exposure. If you can get
a crowd together of 50+ people these experts would be happy to get some exposure. Keep
it simple the important thing is that you are the organizer thus people will attach your
name to everything and you will meet most of the attendees.

Analyze your traffic:

Install the Google Analyticator plugin for wordpress and set-up your Google analytics
account. Track which of your efforts are driving traffic to your site. See if facebook or
twitter is your best resource. Determine what blog comments are being the most
effective. Don't get caught up in these numbers and think everyday you should be getting
better. See the big picture and use them to analyze what areas are working for you, what
articles types are most popular and where you need to improve or quit.


4. The Alliance
Top Secret Under30 Rockstar Business Alliance

Entrepreneurs helping promote entrepreneurs. Alumni of our course are teaming up
to mutually promote each others content, networking amongst themselves to drive new
readers and followers to each others brand. We need to take advantage of the insane
amount of traffic available from Digg, StumbleUpon and other social media sites.

The Alliance is about way more than just becoming a fan of each other on Facebook,
following each other and subscribing to each others RSS feed. It's about using your
social influence to multiply the social influence of the entire alliance. Sure, following
each other back and forth is great, but you want your brand to be exposed to all of the
other Alliance members followers and social pull. This easily multiplies into hundreds of
thousands of eyeballs instantly.

The Alliance can entail but is not limited to:

1. Twitter

There is no better way to drive traffic or bring brand recognition to your site than to have
a network of people tweeting about you. Ever ask a question on Twitter and not get a
response? Tweet about something but nobody clicks it? In the Under30 Rockstar
Business Alliance you will not have this problem.

Ways for mutual Twitter promotion besides just following each other:

A. ReTweets--one of your fellow Alliance members tweets something interesting?
Retweet it! Multiply the power of your tweets by the total number of followers your
Alliance members have. This will get very powerful very quickly. Keep all Alliance
members in a column on Tweetdeck or other Twitter Platform and keep close tabs on
them. Be there for support and Alliance members will reciprocate.
B. #FollowFriday--promote each other to your followers. On Fridays suggest to your
followers you follow a fellow alliance member with the hashtag #followfriday
ie:http://bit.ly/6Vkwg
C. Answer each others questions, help each other out if you have a question on Twitter or
Retweet that question so all your followers have the opportunity to answer it.
D. Tweet each other's links. See that an Alliance member put up an article? Tweet about
it! If you really liked the article, ask a few outsider friends to check out and tweet about
the link in a direct message. ie: "Hey John, I think you'd love this article http://xyz.com
RT it if you like it"
E. Use TwitterFeed to automatically Tweet about Alliance members new posts, by
automatically feeding their RSS into your Twitter account. **Warning, only do this with
Alliance members you trust to write good content. You do not want to tweet about
someones radical post about abortion if that's not your thing.


2. Blog Comments

Nothing kills a blog post more than seeing ZERO COMMENTS underneath. Was what
you said really that pathetic that nobody had anything to say? Probably not. Pad each
other's comment stats and start interesting conversation among the Alliance. If there are
10+ people going back and forth in your comments, that's pretty amazing stuff! Debate
points back and forth, leave positive feedback and some critique so that the Alliance is
constantly becoming stronger.

Nothing shows the quality of a blog better than quality comments. Blogger Tim Ferriss
of the Four Hour Work Week sets a goal of having every post he writes spawn at least
one comment that could be considered a post in itself. Imagine having that kind of power
where people cared enough to write an entire post about your post?

If people show up to your blog and see that there is already an engaged audience they are
much more likely to stick around, subscribe and leave a comment. It is much easier to
join an existing conversation than start one off yourself if you are a reader.

3. Linkbacks

Trying to improve SEO and increase traffic? Get on each others blog rolls. The more sites
you have linking to you, the more readers you will accumulate. The more links you have
to your site, the more important Google thinks you are, ranking you higher in search
results.

See a good relevant article an Alliance member did? Link to that post and reference it in
one of your articles on your blog.

4. Guest Posts

Are other Alliance members in your niche or industry? Want to tap into their reader-base
for subscribers or a new audience to showcase your knowledge to? Consider guest
posting on other Alliance members blogs.

Make sure to have a dedicated byline and picture so people know who you are and where
they can learn more about you:

Author Matt Wilson is co-founder of Under30CEO, challenging people to defy the 9-5,
stop doing stuff you hate and get innovative. Wilson graduated from Bryant University
with a clear goal of starting his own business and while there, led Bryant University to
becoming the Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization of the Year and became National
Student Leader of the Year.


5. Facebook Fans

Becoming a Facebook Fan of other Alliance members page becomes social proof that
there is an actual fanbase. When people visit your profile or fan page they see who you
are fans of, giving them the opportunity to also become a fan. Commenting on the walls,
"liking" other links shows there is actual conversation around a brand's Facebook Fan
page.

Are there Alliance members with fan pages who your Facebook following would like?
Suggest each other's Fan Page to your Facebook friends. This is how your numbers grow
dramatically.

6. Social Bookmarking Traffic

1x a week, submit someone's stuff to Digg, StumbleUpon, Reddit, Delicious, etc. Don't
overdo this as the communities are very particular about what you submit. Make sure
that is an Alliance member's best stuff.

Furthermore, digging, thumbing up and bookmarking each others stuff after it's submitted
can drive thousands of hits to a website in no time. As members of the Alliance social
media presences' grow, so will the power of the entire Alliance. Nothing gets a good
article on Digg off to a good start when you have a ton of friends who automatically Digg
it!

Resources
Let me Show You Inside a Secret Blogging Alliance -
http://www.problogger.net/archives/2009/08/25/let-me-show-you-inside-a-secret-
blogging-alliance/
Science of Retweets - http://mashable.com/2009/02/17/twitter-retweets/
How FollowFriday Works - http://mashable.com/followfri/
TwitterFeed - http://twitterfeed.com/
How to Guest Post to Promote Your Blog -
http://www.problogger.net/archives/2009/02/01/how-to-guest-post-to-promote-your-blog/

Remember this is a marathon not a sprint.

-Greg, Matt and Jared


Week 4 Advanced Personal Branding

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Week 4 Advanced Personal Branding