Well they did it!

Facebook is now the largest social media network on the web. Facebook has now exceeded half a billion users.

Website magazine recently put it into perspective by comparing them to the largest retailer in the world -  Walmart.

Walmart has roughly 20 million people visiting their stores on a daily basis, whereas  250 million people visit Facebook on a daily basis. That's a staggering number of people!

Unlike Walmart, the people on Facebook spend time hang out, sharing stories, pictures, etc and "recommending" products and services to their friends. Its not a traditional retail environment. Its something more powerful.

Public opinion can make or break a product or service. Amazon and other large online retailers have demonstrated the power of product reviews. Good reviews can help increase sales whereas poor reviews can crush a product. The review process on a retail site such as Amazon means the consumer buys the product first then posts the review.

In a social network environment such as Facebook,  the "review" process  is more subtle but just as powerful.

Facebook members talk about anything and everything. The little like button at the top of a page is very powerful. We vote for things in our everyday lives and the like button is just that - its a vote for something. Its a positive "review" without the use of words.

What does this mean for you?

Well, if you are promoting a product creating a Fan Page is an absolute necessity. Unlike a personal Facebook page a Fan Page can be seen by everyone. You don't have to be "friends" with it to view the material.

Have a look at the Fan Page I just created yesterday.

It features a script that encourages the visitor to click the like button before continuing on and getting their free charm. Want to check out the page live? Go to Songster Charms Fan Page

What's more powerful then that little like button? I don't know. All I know is that I have the potential to have 500 million + people click that little button on my Fan Page.

You don't need a store to promote to create a Facebook Fan Page. You could be advertising your blog, a single product, promoting your brand, an affiliate offer. Anything where you want a large number of interactive people.

How You Can Create a Fan Page

If you are like me, you get promo after promo trying to  sell you the latest and greatest "how to" materials.  The Facebook material is no different.

Here at The Marketing Educator we try to bring you the best educational material we can find.

Today I have a collection of videos, pdf's, and scripts to teach you Everything You Need To Know About Facebook.

This is the only Facebook course you will ever need.

Currently our Facebook 201 course contains no less than 26 how-to videos showing you everything from how to open a facebook account to creating a Fan Page including the script used in the Fan Page above.

This course is evergreen meaning it is constantly updated with new techniques and methods keeping you up to date on your Facebook skills. Meaning this is the only Facebook course you will ever need.

If you've been looking for the complete blueprint
"Everything You Need To Know About Facebook - Facebook 201" contains it all.

Priced at:
$47 for Non TME member
$27 for TME members  all levels

Capitalize on the free traffic methods and super-cheap, highly-targeted ads to siphon a mind-boggling numbers of cash-in hand buyers from Facebook.

Here’s just a taste of what you're about to discover…

• How to use the "alias" technique to instantly multiply your exposure and get more friends than Mark Zuckerberg!
• Three "sneaky" and completely free techniques for generating floods of traffic from Facebook - 24/7 - automatically!
• The *Secret* Fan Page script that draws Facebook users to your group like bees to honey and make your fan page group go viral fast...
• Why Facebook Ads are the most targeted traffic source of traffic and how to get visitors for as little as 5 cents per click!
• Why it's better to use your instincts to create Facebook ads instead of following “fine print” guidelines...
• How to duplicate a specific product that was responsible for $5 million in PayPal sales last year alone (it's easy to make - I'll show you how)
• 3 key ingredients you must include in every Facebook ad
• 11 ways to guarantee a successful advertising campaign...
• The down side of Facebook ads and 9 mistakes to avoid!

Everything You Need To Know About Facebook - Facebook 201 is a step-by-step blueprint for getting server-crushing free traffic from the 500 million users on Facebook!

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Building a list is what all the experts tell you to do. Its one of those "must haves" if you are going to be successful selling online.
Course everyone tells you its the easiest things to do ... but is it really?

Maybe now it is...

Have you seen this yet?

Derrick VanDyke and Todd Gross have created a system and now they are giving
away six hot marketing products worth $297 when you signup for the new system!

Have a look at this list building system now.

Here's how it works:

1. You sign up for a free account

2. You give the free gifts away to others

3. You get free leads sent directly to your autoresponder (down six levels deep)

Plus you can have 100% *instant* payments of $97 sent straight to your PayPal account!

Sound interesting?

Free is good - What have you got to lose?

Click here to claim your free membership

After you signup - come back here and let me know what you think of the process and the system.

Personally I think they've done a good job but hey everyone has an opinion so let me hear yours!

Don't be shy....

The answer is yes.

When some links to you its shows Google (and the world for that matter) that your site has value.

Think about it

Who would link to a useless site? Would you post a link to one of the spammy little Adsense pages? You know the ones - Google has been working hard to "get rid of them" by giving credit to sites with real content.

But if you think about it who would link to one of those spammy sites? No one. The reason why? Because they are garbage sites. BUT - you would link to a site you like. One that you felt had value. One that you would like to visit again because you enjoyed the content.

Backlinks are "someone else" linking to your site. This isn't reciprocal linking. Backlinks are "I like your site" links.

What does Google think of that?

Well, apparently they like them. The proof is in the pudding - sites with good backlinking rank well.

In another post I talked about using the 3 way linking system as a way of getting backlinks but there is another way out there that is supposed to take 30 minutes or less per day.

If you have read the material on this blog, you will know that I like to torture test stuff before promoting it. So, I'm off to get my own account and test it myself. (Go here if you want to check it out for yourself)

I already tested the 3 way linking system and it gave me great results on a brand new ecommerce site. Within 3 months I was ranking on page one for major keywords in my Niche.

If you want to know more about that system you can go to this article

http://themarketingeducator.com/build-a-business/promote/seo-ranking.php

In the meantime - I'm going to test out this new system . Everything I have read so far is very positive.

Stay tuned for some results - I have a couple big new sites that I can't wait to test this system on.

More later.........

We all know that creating and submitting articles is an inexpensive way to create back links and traffic to your web site - but how many of us do it?

Everything we do takes time and creating articles is no different. Some people are terrified by the prospect of writing articles. Yes its another skill but it doesn't have to be difficult.

Pretend you are writing a letter to your mother explaining what your product or service is. Of course there are a few more parts to it than that but this will get your started. Sometimes just getting that first paragraph written is enough to get you started and your "brain to hand" motion working.

Don't worry about format at first - just put your "writers hat" on and write, write, write...

Take a keyword or keyword phrase that applies to your topic/product/service and answer the following questions.

• What is it?
• Why do we need it or want it?
• Who uses it?
• Where can we get it?

Write answering those questions and when you feel like you have written all there is, step away from the computer or paper and go do something else for a while. Go grab a snack or do something else - even if its for only 10 minutes. Then come back and put on your "editors hat" and have a look at what you wrote.

Resist the urge to edit as you write - that disrupts the flow of thoughts and you will have a difficult time getting all your thoughts and ideas out. Its better to have to much material than not enough.

Look at what you wrote and piece together an article containing 500-700 words. Does the new article answer the questions above? Avoid making the article sound like an ad.

You really should think about doing more than one article. Make a list of all your keywords phrases and do articles centered around each of them.

Then you need to submit those articles to directories.

There are hundreds if not thousands of them out there and submitting them takes time. If you Google article submission services, you will find many with a wide range of prices for the service.

Submission services also come in the form of desk top software and even though they are a little higher in price initially, it's only a one time payment. You may want to consider software if you plan (an you really should have this as part of your promotion routine) to submit several articles over several months.

http://themarketingeducator.com/article-submit

There is a free version of article submission software at the link above and of course there are paid upgraded versions as well. If you are serious about your web business, the upgrades are worth the price.

Check it out

http://themarketingeducator.com/article-submit

Do links really affect your rankings with the search engines - YES absolutely!

I know, getting links is a real pain in the A$$ but it truly is necessary.

One of the best ways to get links that are very effective is to get an account at 3 Way Links. This is a great service created by Jonathan Leger and its worth every penny. I tested this service using a brand new e-commerce site. For those of you who have an e-commerce site, you will know that getting good search engine ranking is harder than getting ranking for a one product sales page. The site I used was www.DoodleMyShoes.com. Using the 3 Way Links system shot that new e-commerce site to page one of Google for many of the keywords I was looking for.

I recommend the 3 Way Links system for all web sites.

You really shouldn't use just one method to get backlinks though. The 3 Way Links system is a great start and in fact it should be the first method you use as it will get faster results. But don't stop there.

Another method of getting good back links is the old fashioned method of posting on other blogs. I know what you are thinking - many blogs use the no-follow which makes your post useless as a search engine linking strategy (its still useful for humans though). To be effective, the blog has to allow the search engines to follow the link.

There are blogs out there that don't have the no-follow activated but how do you find them?

The answer is in this cool little piece of software called The Fast Blog Finder

It installs on your computer and you must be connected to the internet to use it. Type in your keywords for the niche you want and it will find all the related blogs. Here's the best part - you can sort the sites it finds by the "follow" tag. Then you click on the link and the blog shows in the preview window ready for you to make a post. Once you have made the post -add a comment in the Blog Finder software so you know you have already been to that blog.

If you would like to try the free version - download the software here

The free version only gives you 50 results and of those results, they might be all "no-follow" type sites - but try it out and play with it. It's not expensive software. You get a lot of "bang for the buck" with this software.

So, not only does it find blogs related to your keywords but it allows you to keep track of the ones you have submitted comments to.

Now a word of caution - this is a tool just like any other. If you take the time to visit another persons blog and leave a post - DON'T spam. Read the page and make a relevant comment about the page or subject. I can tell you that I get a large number of real visitors to my websites based on what I've posted on other people's blogs so don't just go for search engine visits. Write something worth reading.

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Jonathan recently released his ebook - Search Engine Myths Exposed - this is a must read and best of all IT'S FREE!

Recently Jonathan Leger was interviewed by Keith Baxter - The interview is below and I think you will find the information very valuable.

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