Would you like to capitalize on the marketing strategies of the most successful retailers in the world?  They easily and consistently get us to buy their products…and we do it almost instinctively.

The truth is pretty close.  Great brands create buyer loyalty.

Most network marketers have no idea how to use these strategies themselves.

Check out this video for some of the basic of Push (what virtually all network marketers do) vs. Pull Marketing (what all network marketing leaders do).

Click here to view the embedded video.

Please leave your comments and share this video with your networks.

As an emerging blogger online, like all of us, you want traffic.  You want people to rush to your blog with every new post.  You want people to hang on your every word.  Don’t you?

So here you are…you have identified your niche.  You are clear about your brand.   You are committed to writing a successful blog.  You sit down at your keyboard to crank out a new post and your start to write.

You publish it and wait.

And wait.

You check your dashboard for your stats.

8 visitors in 3 days.  Ouch.

You swear you can hear crickets chirping in the background somewhere.

“What gives?” you say to yourself.  You think, “This is phenomenal content.”

It may very well be, but it’s a bit like the old adage about a tree falling in the woods, does it actually make a sound if no one is there to hear it?

Of course your blog post still exists if no one is there to read it…but does it even matter?

Blogging has emerged as the center of most online marketers world and it’s incredibly valuable to understand how to cultivate traffic.  If your message is good, which I am sure it is, then the world deserves to hear about it.

Here is a simple introduction to 4.7 powerful strategies to get people running to read your blog faster than a bunch of drunken Scotsman run towards sheep.

1. Keyword Target Your Post – Sometimes great posts create themselves, but other times you create the post after identifying a keyword(s) you want to target.  Take some time and use a free keyword tool like WordTracker or Nichebot Classic to research some of the ideas you have.  You are looking for the wonderful combination of two factors…high search traffic and low competition.  This is the Holy Grail for internet marketing and great organic SEO rankings.

For example, if you were researching “Doggy Day Care” and found that it had 250 searches a day and 320 competitors, but      “Doggy Day Care Services” had 110 searches but only 35 competitors, you may want to go after the keyword with lower competition and dominate the page rankings.

2. Keyword Integration – Once you have identified the keyword phrase you want to go after, you need to integrate it into your post.  For best results, put it in the title of the post such as, “How To Find The Best Doggy Day Care Services In Your Neighborhood.”

It’s not enough to just put your keyword in the title, in order to really write a successful blog post, you must integrate it into your post as well.  Don’t be a keyword whore, but use it as much as possible to maximize your keyword density and improve your rankings.

If you look back over this post, I’ve pimped out my keyword phrase three times already and have a number of supportive phrases.  Unlike the unfortunate streetwalkers, these pimped out keyword phrases will keep working for you day in and day out without ever complaining.

3. Send Your Post To Your Inner Circle Network – my back itches, please scratch it.  Just let me know when you need a little help yourself.  This is a great rule to follow for bloggers.  Establish a group of partners that you appreciate their content and they appreciate yours.  Send your post through to them and ask them to comment on it, share it, Tweet it, Digg it and any other social networking or bookmarking site that lights them up.

Google is a bit like high school.  It’s a huge popularity contest.  If your content is relevant and people start talking, Google will love you.

4. Ask People To Take Action In Your Post – in addition to your inner circle, let all readers know that you would appreciate them sharing your post with others.  Ask them to share it with their networks.  If it’s good content, they should want to.  Content sharing is a great way for people to building up their lists…they may as well use yours.

Once you ask, make sure you provide them the means to do it.  Install a WordPress plug-in like Sociable or Share This to make is simple for people to tell the world about your amazing and successful blog post. <– Pimped out again!

4.7 Write Within Your Brand – Everyone may not agree with this, as there are lots of ways to put content out on the web.  But I think your brand is extremely important and I believe you want it to shine through as much as possible in everything you do.

When you first start writing your blog, it’s easy to get caught up in just writing to write.  You need to give it a bit more consideration than that.  This is a piece of your work…give it your personality.  If you would never ever talk about sheep boffing Scotsman, whores and pimps…then you shouldn’t.

Be you…all the time.  Authenticity is key.  Over time, your tribe will attach themselves to your brand & your style.  That’s what keeps you at the top of their mind and keeps them coming back like Courtney Love to the Betty Ford Clinic.

So, people go get your blog on!  Be creative & have some fun.

Please leave your comments below.  If you feel your network would benefit from this article, please share it with them.  Blow up Twitter.  Plaster it on your wall in Facebook.  Help me get some Google love…I often felt left out in high school…don’t scar me again!

Until next time…

Keith O’Brien

http://authentic-networker.com

Do you want to know how to stand out in the crowded world of social networking?

Would you like to develop a friends list that actually wants to hear what you have to say?

Today’s technology driven world moves incredibly fast and the vast majority of people are on autopilot experiencing information overload.  We see friend and follower requests, we add them.  We scan RSS feeds, status updates and tweets.  It’s daunting to keep up but it’s all the more reason to make an effort to do so.

Here are a few simple practices that will leave you forever imprinted in an amazing light in the hearts and minds of your connections.

1. Take time to write a short note to new friends

Almost no one does this and less do it with consistency.  It shows care and interest and it shows (whether it’s true or not) that you have some interest in actually getting to know them.  Of course, it’s significantly better if you actually do.  Do you want to hit a grand slam?  Actually go and read their profile first and make a comment that is personal to them.  Whatever you do, be authentic in your communications, the social web can sniff out posers faster than Chris Brown can say “Anger Management.”

2. Provide Value First

I honestly can’t believe how many insta-pitches I still get.  Apparently someone must respond or people would just stop doing it, but I can’t imagine anyone actually does.  I have written about this before.  People, really, put some value INTO the world instead of just trying to take it out.  What do your connections find valuable?  Provide it for them.  Imagine walking into a restaurant for dinner and as soon as the hostess seats you, the waiter comes up and says, “That will $85 please.”  Ah, what?  Can I have my dinner first?

Yeah, it makes no sense, but people still do it.  Then they quit their businesses saying that social media and social networking don’t work.  It’s no different on the web than it is in the restaurant.  Value drives consumer interest and action.  Give people the food they really want first.  If you constantly over deliver, people will beat down your door to connect with you.

3. Make Comments

Yes, people want to know you care.  Are we starting to see a pattern?  Take a few moments and extend a part of your life into theirs.  The world of social media is a bit of a paradox.  It can be a very impersonal personal experience.  We are connected to people all over the planet, but if we aren’t conscious about forwarding our relationships, the connection can be lost.  Comment on their FB status & blog post, retweet their tweets or tweet their blog post.  If you find value in what they are saying, it’s likely your friends will too.  (HINT, HINT PEOPLE!)

4. Create Groups To Organize Interest

If you use your social networks for both business and personal use as most people do, use groups to gather who is interested in what you are saying.  If you are in Network Marketing create a value based group for your company or industry instead of constantly exposing your entire friend list to your offers.  I have friends that I get 6 and 7 invites to things a week.  Honestly, it’s a bit much.  After a while, it’s like the gynecologist after a long day at the office coming home to his wife and she is wearing sexy lingerie, “Honey, if I see one more…”

4.7 Be Consistent

If you are going to establish an online presence, then do it.  Really do it.  I understand time is an issue for everyone, but make a commitment and stick to it.  Don’t add 500 friends in a week, post a few articles and disappear for 3 months.  Stay in the game.  Post your articles in places that they will create value for the readers.  Post them often.  I recently attended a webinar where the guy was talking about his LinkedIn strategy for lead generation.  It was great.  He generated over 1,600 leads in 6 months for his affiliate programs mostly through article submission and some of the strategies above.  But guess how many times he published an article?  1944 to be exact.  That’s right, 1944.  Now THAT’s consistency and his business exploded because of it.

Get out of here now…go make some friends or go actually be a friend to some of the ones you already have.  But before you do, remember to leave your comments and if you found value in this post, retweet me please.