Happy Valentines Day!

Recently Facebook introduced their Timeline… their brand new look for your profile. 

The slogan for it is “Tell your life story with a new kind of profile”…

And it is definitely optimized for  you to easily be able to share important, fun, and memorable life events with your friends and even include them in on it.

From your birth, to first kiss, getting engaged, meeting an influential person in your life, first job, graduation, getting married, having your first, second and third child… and the list goes on….

I haven’t spend much time going back and entering any events really, but when I recently lost a client to leukemia, I didn’t want to ever forget about him and the amazing and giving, and energetic person he was… I did create a special space for him on my Timeline. 

It was a truly sad event, and writing this got me sobbing again. 

But it’s not the purpose of this email. 

I just noticed that only about 1450 of my close to 5000 friends, have activated their Timeline. 

So that means that there’s a big chance you haven’t done it as well. 

I know, so many of us are afraid of all the changes that Facebook, introduces. 

But if you are in business, I want to share with you just one of the reasons why I love my Timeline better than my old profile. 

With the new Timeline you now have more precious real estate to advertise your business or anything you want to really. And you can easily through images express yourself and who you are.

And you do this by the very first huge image at the top of your profile.

It’s called the cover. 

You can use any image from your FB albums, or upload a brand new one, or there are plenty of sites, that offer great, fun and funny and cool covers. Just search for FB covers on Google. 

But if you’re in business you might want to use your cover a bit more wisely.

You can use it just like a Billboard, that advertises you and your brand, your website, an online or offline event, a brand new product, your FB business page… or anything else. 

And as you can see in the image below, I’m utilizing it quite effectively to promote my upcoming online webinar. Check it out:

So if you haven’t activated your Timeline but you’re in business, not only do you want to show you are staying ahead of the curve with the newest technologies, but you also want to start utilizing it in the most effective way. So just make the move… it’s not so scary!

If you want to leverage Facebook, this year like the Pros go ahead and head over to:

http://ewebinars.com/4203/ncn8zeg2ci/webinar-register.php

…so you can join me on this special complely FREE online event this Saturday at NOON PST where I will be sharing strategies like this and many more on how to effectively make Facebook work for you in 2012. 

Stop wasting your time on Facebook, and join me on this webinar so you can discover a fast, easy and time leveraged strategy that will create consistent,  visibility, engagement and profitability for your business in 2012. 

Seating is limited so go ahead and reserve yours here right now. 

I’ll see you on Saturday at Noon PST. 

To your success, 

DiDi

How much time do you spend on Facebook?

Based on some of the latest stats you may easily be spending anywhere between 1 and 3 hours on Facebook each day.

Yikes! That’s a lot of time…

Question is, how much of that time you spend is actually productive and with the clear purpose to create results in your business?

Perhaps indeed your intentions and attempts are to accomplish exactly that, to create results and be productive, but it isn’t working quite like that, is it?

I want to change this for you, and help you spend a lot less time on Facebook that what you’re spending right now, but make it three times as lucrative for your business than it is rigth now.

I am putting together a webinar this Saturday the 11th at NOON PST, where you’ll discover how you can totally leverage Facebook in 2012 and create consistent visibility, engagement and profitability for your business with a simple, easy and leveraged strategy.

Join me at:

http://ewebinars.com/4203/ncn8zeg2ci/webinar-register.php

See ya soon, 

Didi

I’ve been talking a lot about the concept of input vs. output lately.

I first heard it in these terms from Rich Schefren.

Most people tend to focus on way more input i.e. devouring education, training after
training rather than emphasizing on the output, the action, the implementation of all that new knowledge.

For the last few months I’ve certainly have been the other way around where I started to
feel like I seriously needed some more input.

Creating a balance between the two and finding the “sweet spot” should be the goal.

So today, while I encourage you to spend time on output, make sure you get in some
good quality input too.

There’s all sort of flashy distractions out there when it comes to input.

What you want to make sure is that you’re getting your daily input from a reliable and
quality source, plus on training that actually matters for the progress of your business.

The training that I’m devouring today is focusing on TRAFFIC.

I think we all know that without traffic, there’s no leads, nor there’re sales.

And this industry has been a little bit on a dry traffic spell ever since the Google slap.

So I’m super happy to see some new quality traffic training and for free out there.

My friends Ferny and Ray from SEO networker just released a series of 4 videos on the topic of traffic, and the 1st full hour video is now available.

Inside they are teaching on the different traffic sources and strategies, they’ve focused on researching for the last couple of years, as well as what’s worked best for them and how you can too best utilize their new found secrets.

I am in the middle of watching video #1, and I am blown away by the value, this seriously should cost money…

Anyways, since it’s getting late here in Bulgaria, I thought I would send you this quick email so you can join me too in watching it.

Click here to get your share of input today.

This is truly valuable training so make sure you remove all distractions and focus intently on everything Ferny will be sharing with you.

Oh and don’t forget your pen and paper, you’ll need it to take notes, so you can then turn around and get into output mode.

Ferny and Ray are seriously promising that if you do everything they tell you to do in these 4 free videos, you’ll be getting some substantial results when it comes to traffic, leads and sales.

And I know these guys to be oozing in integrity! So I trust them when they make such huge claims.

To Your Success,
DiDi

So yesterday, we had a great on Saturday.

Applause and reviews are still flying in as we splash into 2011.

If you missed the call yesterday…

Well 2 things.

#1 Unfortunately can’t slip you a recording because it’s going into a product that we’re putting together right now.

#2 We decided to run a contest.

Glenn Arcaro and I will be giving prizes away to the top 3 people who can throw out the most creative testimonial video for the “How To Create Social Media Buzz With Video” Series.

Fist the rules, then onto the prizes.

A. The video has to mention Glenn Arcaro and Didi Alcheva by name.

B. Call out the video series by name. “How To Create Social Media Buzz With Video”

C. Mention at least 1 benefit you’ve taken from the series. (After almost 10 hours of laser focussed social media and video content we’ve put out over the last 6 weeks, that should be a problem…

D. Post the video in our group “Social Buzz With Video” (request to be added if you’re not in and we will add you up)

Also post the video on Glenn’s and my Facebook pages.

http://www.facebook.com/didialcheva and http://www.facebook.com/glennspage

Make it as creative as you can and make it fun. This doesn’t take any special video skills, just an open mind.

Prizes… (All products graciously provided by XShot Inc.)

First Place Prize:

An Xshot extender so you now don’t have to shoot weird videos with your arm sticking out. Check it out.

http://budurl.com/pocketxshot

and

The Iphone 4 Case with Tripod attachment so you can protect your
little baby and set it up to shoot videos. It’s pretty cool.

http://budurl.com/iphone4casetripod

NOTE–If you don’t have an Iphone you can take a 30 min consult with Glenn Arcaro and I on video marketing or any other aspect of your business.

Second Place Prize:

1 Xshot Extender

Third Place Prize:

1 Xshot Extender

Again, these videos don’t have to be slick by any means. Just use your creativity and do something fun.

(Skydiving would be cool but I don’t think the audio would work out.)

Just kidding but you get the idea…

Looking forward to seeing your videos!

Didi

You don’t want to miss this one.

But more on that later this week…

Back in 1862 the Russian writer Ivan Turgenev wrote (in Fathers and Sons in 1862), “A picture shows me at a glance what it takes dozens of pages of a book to expound.”  (source Wikipedia)

Today we say it this way – “a picture is worth a thousands words”.

And especially in marketing.

It is believed that the modern use of the phrase stems from an article in the advertising trade journal Printers’ Ink, promoting the use of images in advertisements that appeared on the sides of streetcars. The December 8, 1921 issue carries an ad entitled, “One Look is Worth A Thousand Words.”

So yes, in marketing “a picture is worth a thousand words” but change is inevitable and in this digital age going into 2011 we can certainly say “a video is worth more than thousand words”.

That is the power of online video marketing.

While no amount of sophisticated technology will take away the power of the in person, belly to belly, eye to eye contact, when you can shake hands and feel a persons energy today the closest thing to that is video.

So, are you integrating video into your marketing strategy?

Let me ask again.

Is video a part of your marketing arsenal?

If not, and you are not taking action to change that you might be very well left behind.

Cisco predicts that by 2013 Video will be 90 percent of all consumer IP traffic and 64 percent of mobile. No wonder they bought the maker of the Flip video camera.

Big companies are taking action. Are you?

Hollywood TV producer/editor Glenn Arcaro and I are continuing with our Saturday live webinar series on “How to create social media buzz with video”.

These are available for free only at the time of the broadcast.

I want to remind you that we will be packaging them into a product we sell later. We are giving you an opportunity to move your business forward by creating social media buzz and mastering video for free right now.

So come and join us this Saturday at NOON PST. Reserve your spot at this link now: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/393285734

Partners in Success,
DiDi Alcheva

May I ask you a question?

What are you doing this whole internet marketing thing for? Why the heck do you call yourself an entrepreneur? What does that mean anyways?

You know, these are some quite essential questions that you might want to ponder upon at least once a week if not every day and several times a day. Because if you are connected to the reasons and the answers to the above questions, you will with no doubt reach the level of success you desire so much faster.

What about adventure-preneur? Have you heard that term before? Do you know what adventure-preneur is? Are you one, maybe?

If you are not sure about that one, hear and watch how one very passionate adventure-preneur Kari Baxter explains it all for you in 43 seconds in this video below:

You name it!

I am everything that has to do with entreprneuership.

This is totally my passion.

And if you are following my “Creating Your Profitable Online Presence” series then you know how I came to that conclusion and the direction I’ve taken to live fully my passion every day.

I am passionate about supporting your as well as my brilliant entrepreneurial journey, and I would very much love to have your support in the process too, so that we can all make a bigger impact in the world and with moving forward this whole Global Entrepreneurial Movement.

I would like you to visit The SMP Project site and Vote for me and help me move to round 2 of “The Best Brilliant Idea for Humanity” contest.

Please go to: http://SocialMediaPress.com – watch the video, click on the VOTE button and then register to VOTE. Once you do that you would be two steps away from completing the process. Just check your email box for the confirmation Email, click the link inside the email, and then click the VOTE For This Contestant Link. You would receive a message on the page saying: You Successfully Voted For the SMP Project.

One last note here: I just wanted to say that I am soo soo grateful to all of my friends and collegues who have and are supporting me in this journey. Your supprt, positive comments and uplifting messages fill my heart with joy. I very much love you all!

With Love,
DiDi Alcheva

I was watching an interesting webinar today with Ann Sieg and Ty Tribble that got me inspired to write this post, next in the series Developing My New Online Presence.

In the webinar Ann shared how her 81 year old dad has told her that he thinks he needs a blog.

Which immediately reminded me of the cool conversation I was having with my mom today as we were taking a walk.

My Mom, Me and My Aunt (from left to right)

She was telling me how she read about “parabens” and the disastrous effects they have on your health, and that she immediately threw away her brand new sunscreen lotion once she read that in had all kinds of methyl and ethyl parabens inside it (btw, if you don’t know about the bad effects of Parabens in your cosmetic products, you might want to consult with my very trusted wellness coach Sharon Graham).

Bare with me here, I am not trying to sell you any paraben-free cosmetics or supplements.

But, then as we kept on walking my mom told me about these new supplements she has been using that had really helped her with a small health challenge she had experienced last month.

Then she told me about everything she has been researching about my personal individual horoscope based on my birth date and time

And finally she decided to share some wisdom bits about “the power of patience” having seen me throw a few tantrums just a  few hours ago on my desk in front of the computer. (I know sometimes I can act like a 2 year old and wanting everything to happen right now!:D)

So, as I was listening to her, I couldn’t help it, but say: “That’s it! We got to make you a blog.”

I said: “You should have a place where you can share all this stuff with people.

You are so passionate about wellness, astrology and personal development and spiritual stuff and there isn’t a single day you don’t engage in and talk about at least one of these topics. So there is no question it’s what you’re passionate about.”

In fact, I was kind of struggling with coming up with the exact words about what she was passionate about in my native language Bulgarian (believe it or not when you speak a different language for 5 years 24/7, like I did with english you could become an object of laughter amongst your own should you get back into speaking your native language. In, fact my sister already has started creating a new dictionary called “Didictionary” where she writes all the new Bulgarian words I invent so then she can share stories and laugh on my back with her friends sharing what new words I’ve invented while trying to express myself in Bulgarian.

A bit of a sidetrack there…but anyways. My mom actually was finishing up my words when I was trying to say what I feel she is passionate about, which was just the  confirmation that she was way ahead of the game and clearly knowing her passion.

So, she was listening tentatively and quietly, nodding down her head, but I could feel her excitement for sure.

She then just proclaimed “Ok”

I told her we will get her own domain name with her name. Btw, Ann Sieg mentioned in the webianr she is also starting a blog with her name soon. And so have you started one or are you planning to?

We even brainstormed a few tag-lines like “Healthy, Empowered and Balanced Living with Juliya Alcheva” (her blog would be all in Bulgarian btw!)

And then we talked about all the different possibilities she has to build her list by offering free advice, or a free report or a personal individual horoscope to people landing on her blog and subscribing to her newsletter.

I am really excited for my mom, because having a daughter who’s so much into the Social Media and online marketing world, she’s come to the realization that sooner or later she’s got to have a blog too. And that’s why she just said “Ok”, she was ready to get going, with no resistance whatsoever.

The reason I shared this story with you is because this is the absolute the next step for moving forward with establishing your own profitable online presence.

Once you know your passion, you know who you want to be perceived as and establish yourself as, then you got to start taking actions and one of the very first things you want to do is create your own blog.

Now even if you haven’t gotten completely clear on your passion and online presence vision, your next step should still be getting started with your own blog.

You’ll anyways have some things to figure out first, so while you’re getting more clear on your online vision, you can be moving forward with the stuff that’s a no-brainer.

So the first thing you’ll want to do is get your domain name. I recommend you use your name for starters (www.YourName.com). Or you can also start brainstorming names that might fit your online presence vision too. Here you’ll have to review the answers to those fundamental question we shared in the previous post. Who would you like to establish yourself as? Think about that when you are brainstorming the name of your domain.

Because the way I have decided to approach my online presence my name won’t be the best fit for the domain name and I am using it for this blog anyways.  It actually took me two months to get the light bulb and come up with this domain name http://SocialMediaPress.com. It actually ended up being a premium domain and I had to pay $500 for it, but it was worth every penny, because I knew it’s in complete alignment with where I am going next.

But don’t worry you most likely won’t have to pay more than $9 bucks for your domain domain. Yes, it’s that cheap, truly! You can buy your domain name by going to GoDaddy.com

Or if you need more help on the topic, read my article “The 7 Rules to Follow When Buying a Domain Name“

Tomorrow we are going to talk about some other steps and I will share some resources about blogs and blogging and give you some more action steps.

If you have any particular questions please submit them at the Contact Form at the top menu here at this blog.

Please share your comments and feedback below in the comments area and also share the love by re-tweeting this article!

To your success,
DiDi Alcheva

Let’s do a quick overview of what we’ve covered so far in this series. We have barely started to set up the basic foundation so that we can begin creating our online presence, but what we did go through has been some of the most important and impacting long term actions that we can take to make sure things will be running smoothly and successfully when we actually begin being truly present online and building and establishing a certain brand for ourselves.

OK, So here is what we’ve covered so far in the Creating Your Online Presence Series..

First I introduced you to the idea of creating my new online presence. I wasn’t sure if you would actually be interested in following this journey, but so many of you responded that you need it, and would love to follow it along, because you felt the need for re-establishing your online presence as well, that I decided to stick with it and share everything I was going to do to accomplish it.  Many of you are also just getting started online, and so following these series came just in time to help you get started properly and ensure the most optimized results.

Before I shared with you exactly what I am doing to create my online presence I had to cover some basics that I had actually been going over, during the past few months.  (So in a way I am bit ahead in my actions than what I’ve shared with you so far…and I am hoping to catch you up to speed very fast in the next few posts).

So I talked about the importance of making a commitment to you and to a group of people that will help hold you accountable. The importance of committing yourself to this process, and that no matter what happens, no matter what obstacles come in the way, no matter what excuses and negative self talk that try to stop you, that you will still stick with taking the action and moving forward one step at a time. That you will keep moving forward toward that place of success and achieving one goal at a time to create and accomplish your entrepreneurial dreams and establish a powerful online presence for yourself no matter what.

I also talked about the importance of allowing yourself to approach the process with a sense of calm intensity (this is a huge reminder for myself, I have to constantly remind myself of it, and I appreciate anyone who reminds me of the importance of calm intensity, so feel free to do it too, and btw my biggest challenge is the calm part ).

Why calm intensity is so important? Because, while very exciting it can also be very overwhelming at first when you are just getting started with a brand new project, a brand new venture, when you are starting something completely new. It can be very challenging sometimes when you just don’t know where to begin or what to do exactly, when you get the feeling of information overload, or you get stuck and begin feeling desperate and anxious that you are not achieving anything, when you reach that point of action paralysis. But and this is one BIG “BUT” when you remember to be calm while you still put in some intense effort to make it happen anyway, things become so much easier, the answers naturally show themselves up to you much faster and easily and you achieve a lot more than what you could ever imagine.

Coming back to basics and reviewing your plan of action can empower you to approach the building of your online presence from that state of calm intensity. And we are in the process of creating that plan of action here.

We talked about some basic fundamental and absolutely important questions that you must know the answers to before you begin seriously building your online presence.

These are questions that will allow you to know how to build your brand online and who to present yourself as and at the same time be happy and love what you do on a daily basis while you establish yourself as the absolute leader, expert and authority of the niche you’ve chosen.

These questions are also great for you to keep coming back to when you start feeling that heavy sense of overwhelm and are action paralyzed.

The real goal of these questions was to help you get in touch with your true passion so that when you decide how to establish your online presence, your passion is entirely weaved into it too. Because when you love what you do and do what you love, you never feel like working and you are able to live a happy and fulfilling life making a living with your passion.

Lastly I share how I answered these important questions and what I found out to be my passion.

So today I will briefly share what is the online presence I decided to build in the next several months and help you decide on yours. Remember I told you this would be a process of a minimum of 6 months to establish it. Nothing big and substantial happens overnight.

After realizing what my passion is and what I love to do, all of it connected to entrepreneurship, helping the Global Entrepreneurial movement forward, being good at connecting and networking and loving being in front of the camera and thriving around lots of people, I decided that I am going to establish myself as the #1 press person/reporter for the entrepreneur industry delivering the news through social media (medium), not tv, radio, or newspaper. I have already chosen a name for my blog – SocialMediaPress.com (will be up soon) and so my brand and online presence would be established around the name Social Media Press.

I am going to start taking action, building my brand and presence, my blog, and everything that I do in a way that allows me to establish myself as the person that helps the Global Entrepreneurial Movement forward by bringing the latest entrepreneur news, tips, resources and also help expand the sphere of influence of the Global Entrepreneur out there to help him/her succeed beyond their imagination.

Now this all sounds great and that’s how I first started creating the idea by first defining it a bit broadly. Since then I have become a lot more clear and detailed in my vision on lots more stuff that my online presence will actually represent and involve and I will be sharing it with you as we move forward.

(Btw, I just posted a 99design contest brief for designing the blog for it and there you can not only learn how to post design briefs but also learn more about the vision of SMP -(http://99designs.com/custom-wordpress-themes/contests/social-media-press-unique-special-wp-theme-design-45142/brief)

What I like you to do now here is to think about who do you want to establish yourself as. Remember that last question we talked about last time?

Ask yourself  “What would I love to do, and who would I love to be perceived as, with the kind of value I know I have in me to provide”

Notice how I was not afraid to say “the #1 person”. So when you reflect on what your passion is based on the questions you answered last time, think of what is it that you would love to do on a daily basis, who you would love to establish yourself online as, what kind of expertise would you like to bring to the table online? And think of it in terms of being “the #1 person” in that area. Don’t be afraid to dream big. And always know that there is always enough people in this planet and you can absolutely be “#1″ to your own following and tribe. (as we establish your online presence, you will naturally start building your tribe as well)

Please share what Online Presence are you in the process of building? Who are you or would like to establish yourself as?

Are you “The Coach of Coaches”? Are you the “Rat Race Rebel?” Are you “The Silver Marketer” Are you “The Relational Marketer?” Are you “The Video Boss?” Are you “The Renegade Network Marketer”?

Btw, all of the above brands already exist and all the people representing them have done very well with coming up with the name based upon their passion and purpose and establishing their brand around them.

Please, share your comments below. Let us know what your brand is if you have already decided on it, or who you would like to establish yourself as to best represent your passion and expertise and how you decided on it exactly.

*If you haven’t subscribed yet to follow these series about Building an Online Presence please opt in at the upper right side of this blog, right under my welcome video.

Oh, and don’t forget to share the love by re-tweeting this post!

P.S. If you are interested in one on one caching with me to help you with deciding and establishing your online presence. Please let me know in the comments area below or contact me directly from the contact link at the top of this blog.

Well, while I was working full time at Marketing Merge, putting in tremendous amounts of hours into the growth of the company, I always had the excuse of not having enough time to fix it.

But now that I’m working full time on my own marketing I have no more excuses left and I’ve decided to take up on Mike’s challenge.

For those of you who didn’t watch Mike’s training, here is what the underdeveloped marketing funnel sweet spot is that he referred to:

Go ahead and Google the words “network marketing leads”. What you will see is one of my videos about Twitter and Leads Generation coming up 3rd or 4th on the page, right after the paid advertising. That’s very good, btw!

Click on the video and you’ll end up at YouTube and be able to watch my video that has close to 16k (that stands for thousand) views. Btw, that’s very good as well.

Here is the not so good part about this funnel which is now fixed to a degree:

Before Mike’s training I had posted 5 different links in the description area of the video. These were 5 different directions and paths I was asking people to take, which is a very weak call to action model.

During the pre-launch of Renegade Professional last year this was actually very appropriate for what I was trying to do then, because of the training provided in these links. But now it is distracting and confusing to someone who wants to continue learning and getting more information on the topic.

Although at least 3 of the links I had there were leading to other Twitter training I didn’t make it easy for the person wanting to take some action, to really feel confident that they are doing the right move. And that’s vital. You don’t want to confuse your prospects, you want to make them confident in you, in themselves and in the action steps you are recommending them to take.

After Mike’s comment I immediately removed all the links and added a more appropriate one that I decided to leave there temporary until I create a better and more optimized for monetization solution.

But at least for now it is straight forward and there is nothing to distract or confuse the viewer/prospect with what their next step should be and where they should go.

What I have decided to do is take on Mike’s challenge and create something more optimized with this marketing sweet spot. I would create either a product, a free report or something that is related to the video that is taking the viewer/prospect one step further into my funnel and getting to know me better as a leader.

I will be sharing that with you as I create it.

I wanted to mention it since it’s a bit of a side track of my posts and the theme you are following at DiDiAlcheva.com. But, I do believe that this will also be beneficial to you so I suggest you continue to follow me along the way.

What can YOU do right now?

Many of you already have a lot of things/marketing pieces in place that you have put up a long time ago, in the beginning of your online attraction marketing journey, when you started learning and as you continued progressing. Now you have reached a completely different level, with a lot more knowledge and skills, because of that practice and the time you have invested in your business growth.

So, one of the things you could do is review your current content out there, pieces you’ve created that are spread out all over the Internet and see if there is anything you could add or remove or edit to improve and get better results from the effort already put into it.

With the higher expertise you have now, see if you can do some simple things to optimize and strengthen some of your marketing underdeveloped sweet spots.

Just like I changed the link at my YouTube video. Even though not the best solution it is a much better route than what I had there before.

How do you recognize your underdeveloped sweet spots?

Well, that’s a long topic, but here is how you can begin: by simply going through and reviewing what you already have in place and asking yourself this simple question: Is this fully optimized, am I getting the results I know I could be getting with this, when it comes to generating leads and cash flow?