We got this letter from Maritza and Jeff…
Hi Pat & Lorna,
With all the buzz about the launch of The Social Marketing Blueprint, you probably have some questions. So in this email we would like to take the time to address as many questions as we can.
We've poured through about a week’s worth of questions from the blog, email and Instant TeleSeminar and found the most commonly asked questions.
Here they are with our answers…
1. How & when can I get a copy of The Social Marketing Blueprint?
The 7 Module Video Training Course will be released on Tuesday October 27th at 12 Noon Eastern Time (that’s 9 am Pacific and 5pm UK) at this website: http://www.ToSocialMarketing.com
Memberships will be awarded on a first come, first serve basis. It’s important that I tell you that now, because I don’t want to put any pressure on you, it’s just that we are only taking on 212 people in the Training Course, and I’d really like you to have a copy. Now, as you may have guessed, we have a lot more than 212 people on the mailing list, plus some big players like Alex Mandossian, Mike Stewart, Pat & Lorna Shanks (Hey that's us 
) , Travis Greenlee, David Perdew and Lynn Terry will be mailing their lists on launch day too. Plus we have sent out over 10,000 direct mail pieces to small businesses.
When you add all this up well over 1 million people will have access to this launch.
So we're just trying to provide as much information now, on the front end, so you can go ahead and make your decision to buy it. And if you decide it is for you, then that’s great. Just please be ready on Tuesday October 27th at 12 Noon Eastern. http://www.ToSocialMarketing.com
2. Why are you limiting it to 212 people? Is this for real or just another marketing gimmick?
Good question. Well, first of all, we don’t do marketing gimmicks. If we say there is a limit, there is a limit. And 2 of those 212 will have already gone to our two scholarship winners by launch time. The main reason we are limiting it to 212 is because of the Bonus 2 Tickets to the Social Marketing Blueprint Workshop at Maritza’s Hacienda in San Antonio – we can only hold so many people there.
So that’s not some Big Glamorous Reason, just a real reason.
3. What if I am a beginner? Do you have a “mind map” or set of step-by-step instructions that even a beginner can follow?
Good news! That is exactly why we are calling this The Social Marketing BLUEPRINT!
When you come on board, you will get immediate access to a pdf version of the actual Blueprint, as well as have an 11 x 17 color copy sent to your address that you can hang right next to your computer and use everyday.
Plus you will get access to the step-by-step instructions for each part of the Blueprint, so you will know exactly what steps to take and when. Each module will guide you through from beginning to end, from setting up your Social Marketing accounts, optimizing them, to making offers and profits, and everything in between.
4. How is the course laid out? Is it all in Video? And how do I get started? Blogging, Facebook, Twitter, what?
The course is grounded in Video Training. Each of the 7 Modules will be Video Training, plus the following:
- Down loadable mp3s of the Videos so you can take the Audio with you
- Transcripts of the Video Training
- Other down loadable pdfs
- Down loadable version of the Diamond Deadlines Online Success Journal and the Reverse Engineer Your Income Journal
- A hard copy workbook binder of the Diamond Deadlines Online Success Journal and the Reverse Engineer Your Income Journal
- Follow up LIVE Q & A TeleSeminars for each Module
Here’s how the system will be laid out:
When you come on board you will receive immediate access to the Mindset Module – this is first Module because we have found you have to begin here for the optimal success. Get your Mindset and your Social Marketing Mindset working for you first and you will be well positioned to maximize the many tools coming your way.
You will also receive right away the first part of the Blogging Module, with new parts coming each day in your first week. Here are the Modules and the release schedule for each:
Module 1 – Mindset – Entire Module right away
Module 2 – Blogging – First part of the Module right away and then additional parts each day for the first week.
Module 3 – Article Marketing/Ezine Articles – Tuesday November 3rd
Module 4 – Twitter – Tuesday November 10th
Module 5 – Facebook – Tuesday November 17th
Module 6 – YouTube – Tuesday November 24th
Module 7 – MeetUps – Tuesday December 1st
We have laid it out this way for a very important reason.
You are MUCH MORE likely to succeed if you digest this one Module at a time. Both of us have taken many, many courses, and coupled with our extensive surveys and research with our students, we have found that gradually releasing the Modules step-by-step dramatically increases your success rate.
There are many reasons why this is so, a huge one being that many, many courses that come “all at once” end up being nothing more than “shelf-help” – sitting on a shelf somewhere collecting dust.
And though we couldn’t prove this, our hunch is that many big time gurus know this and even count on it so they can sell you more “hype & hope”…)
5. Is this gonna be all theory or will it be how to?
We don’t do just theory. That’s the “hype and hope” method mentioned above and used by many big time gurus.
We only do “how to.” Step-by-step from setting up your account to monetizing Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, EzineArticles, Blogging and MeetUps.
And integrating and automating them into a repeatable system. You are going to learn how to do what we do everyday.
6. With so many choices out there, how did you decide on these 6 particular Social Marketing Tools?
The criteria we used included
- ease of use and the learning curve of each,
- the reach and web presence possible,
- our success and the success of our students and others, and
- the traffic rack of each.
Alexa.com ranks websites based on the traffic coming to a website – a ranking of 1 means a website gets the most traffic in the world…the lower the number the better. Being in the top 1,000 means the website gets an incredible amount of traffic.
Here’s what Alexa says about our 6 Social Media Tools at the time of this writing:
Facebook – #2
YouTube – #4
Twitter – #13
EzineArticles – #149
MeetUp – #834
Blogging – Depends on your individual blog – and we show you how to get more traffic with the Social Marketing Tools and Blog Profit Strategies
What this means for you: You will learn step-by-step exactly how to leverage, integrate and automate these well trafficked sites to send highly qualified traffic to your site!
7. How much will The Social Marketing Blueprint cost?
A lot.
We have not decided on the exact price yet, but it won’t be cheap. We’ve been told we should not release it for less than $1997 because of everything you get in the course.
And the reality is just the Bonus of the 2 tickets to the Social Marketing Blueprint Workshop would be worth more than $1997.
Plus the 7 Video Training Modules complete with mp3s and transcripts, the LIVE Q & A TeleSeminars, the hard copy workbook binder of the Diamond Deadlines Online Success Journal and the Reverse Engineer Your Income Journal, plus all the Bonuses…
All together it’s worth the $1997 and more.
If you are wondering if this stuff works, go back and watch the videos and listen the teleseminar http://www.ToSocialMarketing.com
We’re not going to try to sell you on why this is worth it. Frankly, if you need us to “sell you on it” then this isn’t for you.
If you want to get your Membership you’ll be ordering online, so just be ready at your computer at exactly 12 noon on Tuesday October 27th…
So while the final price is still up in the air, we can tell you for sure that it wont be$1997…or anywhere near that.
Also – you’ll be able to pay in installments if you need to. This way EVERYONE gets a chance…
We’ll be back tomorrow with some more cool info and stuff we’re adding to the Blueprint (like the “Lifeline Pass”), this email has gotten long enough as it is…I just really wanted to answer your questions so you can be prepared on Tuesday October 27th at 12 Noon Eastern…
Until tomorrow…
Maritza & Jeff
==========
Pat & Lorna here now, but we made this offer to our list:
For those that sign up for this program through our affiliate link, we will give you a dynamic mind map of the full course (once it s completed).
You can see an example here => http://2yourpage.net/go/smb5
We hope to hear you on the calls and that you become part of the Social Marketing Revolution!
–Pat & Lorna
P.S. These two are the real deal and one of the nicest couples you'll meet in Internet marketing. We trust them and are already doing some of this ourselves, and its working great!
P.S.S. If you don t believe us go to Google and search for Pat and Lorna and see how many social sites that we appear on. We can t imagine how much we ll grow once we implement everything Maritza and Jeff teach us, and we can t wait!
About the Authors
Filed under Affiliate Marketing, Information Marketing, Reviews, Social Marketing by 
Our colleagues Alex Mandossian, Jeff Herring and Maritza Parra held a teleseminar to discuss Jeff and Maritza's upcoming Social Marketing Blueprint course and free videos.
To learn more about the Social Marketing Blueprint and to get the free videos now, go to ToSocialMarketing.com
On the call they discussed 6 main social media sites: Twitter.com, Facebook.com, YouTube.com, EzineArticles.com, MeetUp.com, and of course your own blog.
We want to demonstrate that they know what they are talking about, so we created a dynamic mind map showing a portion of their Social Marketing Blueprint; some of the Social Networks that Alex, Jeff and Maritza use. As a bonus, we have also included a glossary of terms.
Go ahead and discover (it's interactive) the blueprint below:
For a larger version of the Blueprint: Click Here
(You'll need to go to the larger version to display the web page and to see the glossary of terms)
Again to learn more about the Social Marketing Blueprint go to ToSocialMarketing.com
About the Authors
Filed under Content Optimization by
What do Articles and a Red Dress have in common? They make you stand out in a crowd, especially if you’re a man. But what has that got to do with Article Marketing?
Well as Jeff Herring (aka The Internet Article Guy) says, Article Marketing = Internet Marketing. That means getting your site, product or service to stand out in a crowd and get noticed.
Click on the video below and see what Jeff has to say about getting started in Article Marketing…
Get it now: Article Marketing For Beginners
We met Jeff about 2 years ago at an Alex Mandossian TeleSeminar Secrets Reunion where we created a friendship and working relationship with him. Jeff is one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet within the Internet Marketing space. He’s down to earth, super nice, and a great sport (he’s even been known to wear a Red Dress to stand out in the crowd), but don’t let Jeff hear that (Pat and Jeff have something going on about some sort of Red Dress).
Jeff is one of the best teachers on the topic of article development and we have taken a few of his courses over the years. If you want to check out some of our articles you can visit them at www.PatAndLorna.com/ArticlesLorna or www.PatAndLorna.com/ArticlesPat
Alex Mandossian
Another good friend, Alex Mandossian, who is another great Internet Marketer, says this about Article Marketing:
“Article Marketing is the absolute best resource for generating unlimited amounts of free traffic. And the traffic is evergreen – it keeps coming year after year” ~ Alex Mandossian
Jeff just launched a brand new 12 week course on Article Marketing called “Article Marketing for Beginners”. The course is specifically for beginners, but we decided to review it anyways. Here is the proof that we actually purchased the course. Most people tell you to purchase some course without actually buying it themselves, never mind using it.
We just completed the first lesson, and we’d easily say this is great stuff for any online marketer on practically any level. Even if you think you know article marketing inside and out, you’ll probably learn a thing or two from Jeff and his article marketing expertise. For us, having a simple task and checklist with a timeline, is super helpful for accountability and progress.
Knowing how to do something and actually taking action on that knowledge are two different things.
We like the idea of having Jeff Herring coming to our inbox every week, reminding us to have GUTS – “Go Use This Stuff!”
Here are the details of the course:
Course Name: Article Marketing For Beginners
Access Course: Article Marketing For Beginners
Length: 12-week course, weekly training (via email)
Investment: $37 per month (3 months only – Total investment $111)
Details of Course: There are weekly trainings with easy assignments, monthly bonuses, and several surprise bonuses built in – all designed to help you succeed at using articles to drive traffic, build lists and make sales. The lessons are short, very easy to follow, and come with actionable guides to walk you through every step.
Training Material: eMail, PDF’s, Videos, Assignments, Bonuses
Excerpt: 
Coolness Level: 4 Stars
Red Dress Level: Very HOT Jeff
What others are saying about the course:
With all that said and done, Jeff is right – it truly is painless.
Jeff’s course comes at the best possible time. Right now is a perfect time to use Ezine Articles for backlinks, indirect top 10 Google rankings, and targeted content marketing campaigns. This last quarter has been the biggest online shopping season of the year. All that, plus you’ll be setting yourself up for an incredible year of traffic for 2010.
Be Cool and Take Action
–Pat & Lorna
P.S. Here’s the link: Article Marketing For Beginners
As Jeff Herring would say… have some G.U.T.S.! (Go Use This Stuff) Red Dress and All… and remember to Stand Out in the Crowd!
About the Authors
Filed under Affiliate Marketing, Information Marketing, Online Marketing by
It is said that the best things happen when least expected or unplanned. Well, last week we found out how true that is.
On the Saturday night following the TSS Reunion we were graciously invited to dinner by Jeff Herring along with Maritza Parra and Mike and Susan Stewart. The dinner was superb… we had good food, good wine and fabulous company.
The next morning at breakfast they extended the invitation to join them on their trip to the Napa Valley and Indian Springs at Calistoga. We couldn't say no… it sounded like so much fun. So we rented a car and were on our way.
The next two days were packed with speed wine tasting (so many wineries, so little time), fabulous meals, a mud bath (oh so spectacular), a campfire, and most of all the absolutely fantastic friendships we formed with Jeff, Maritza, Mike and Susan.
The best wine tasting experience (I'm sure we'd all agree) was the one where we all joined in on a sing-along lead by Mike Stewart on guitar. Simple and spontaneous… and so much fun.
Our last day together was spent visiting Alex Mandossian at his home, a wonderful experience that we are so grateful for, and having our last fantastic supper together down on Fisherman's Wharf.
This whole adventure proved to us that worrying about plans or all the other obstacles we could have imagined, didn't mean a thing. Going with what felt right and "seizing the moment" turned into an adventure of a lifetime and most importantly, friendships of a lifetime.
We are going to carry this on into the rest of our lives and into our business. Go with the flow, go with what feels right… yes add plans into the mix… and create something spectacular!
In the infamous words of Mike Stewart… "This don't suck!"
About the Authors
Filed under Life Lessons, Social, Social Networking by
A seminar that is BIG on ideas of how to develop and grow your Internet marketing business into a huge success and is BIG on networking opportunities… is this for real?
Oh yes! We’ve just returned from Armand Morin’s Big Seminar 12 in Atlanta (Oct. 3-5), where we got all that and much, much more.
You should have been there… and if you were, you know exactly what we’re talking about…
Throughout the seminar, the speakers shared many extraordinary ideas on the systems and tools of successful Internet marketing. And each one of the speakers had the essential prerequisite for speaking on such a topic… they’ve done it themselves. Add to that the half-hour breaks designed to create an incredible networking environment, and it adds up to one amazing seminar event.
The range of expertise delivered by the speakers was incredible… Alan Forrest Smith on copywriting, Joe Polish on easy, lucrative and fun businesses, Mark Victor Hansen with his positive attitude, David Hancock on entrepreneurial publishing, Stephen Pierce with his success secrets, Jose Espana on membership sites, Michel and Sylvie Fortin on the “back end”, Eben Pagen with his Personal Success Ritual and hiring tips, Brendon Burchard on non-profit and corporate sponsorships, Kirt Christensen on adwords, and of course the insightful teachings of Armand Morin himself.
Still, the biggest benefit of the seminar was the opportunity to network with and meet some amazing people. We’re sure that great relationships and joint ventures were a big part of the weekend for everyone… they definitely were for us. The quality of this seminar shows with the calibre of the audience in attendance, including Jay Conrad Levinson, Christina Hills, Jeff Herring, Paul Colligan, DJ Dave Bernstein, Connie Ragen Green, Brett Ridgway, Warren Whitlock, Heather Kirk, and many, many more.
A major bonus from this seminar are the meals that are provided… giving everyone even more opportunities to network. Take it from us… it truly is a treat. Remember, it’s all about connecting.
We would definitely recommend attending this seminar next year in Las Vegas… totally worth it!!
And… we would like to say hello to all the wonderful people we met last weekend… we appreciate you all.
Filed under Affiliate Marketing, Articles, Electronic Marketing, Information Marketing, Online Marketing, Reviews, Testimonials by
It seems that there are a few blog posts and comments going around on "Creative Imitation" ,
What Is All The Fuss?
So here is the original blog posting at Alex Mandossian's blog that was posted by Jeff Herring (aka. The Internet Article Guy)
And it has to do with one of the quotes that Alex teaches his students:
“Never invent, always improve”
Heck, even we made a comment on the original blog posting, because we are good friends with both Alex and Jeff and it made sense to us. We try to Creatively Imitate when ever or where ever possible.
Jeff also posted the same posting on his own blog here. No big deal.
Now a couple of days later Stu McLaren (aka. The Idea Guy) (we are friends with Stu too, he's Canadian, eh) posted a comment on Alex/Jeff's original blog posting and also created his own blog posting here.
A quote from Stu's blog post:
"Personally, I have mixed feelings regarding the way this is presented to small business owners. On the outside, it sounds like all you have to do is model leaders in your industry and you’ll succeed."
Then Stu got a comment from Diane Eble, who then posted her own blog entry here. A quote from that blog entry:
"There’s quite an interesting discussion going on about “creative imitation”–what it is, and whether it’s good or bad."
So we searched Wikipedia.org for "Creative Imitation," and it couldn't be found. So we searched for Creative and Imitation
For Creativity we get:
"Creativity is a mental process involving the generation of new ideas or concepts , or new associations of the creative mind between existing ideas or concepts. An alternative conception of creativity is that it is simply the act of making something new."
And for Imitation we get:
"Imitation is an advanced behavior whereby an individual observes and replicates another's. The word can be applied in many contexts, ranging from animal training to international politics ."
So what is all the fuss? Didn't we just "Creatively Imitate" everyone?
We would love your comment.
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