Directions University  

by Gina Gaudio Graves, Dean and Founder of Directions University

This is probably the most important email that I've sent you in a VERY long time!  So I want you to grab a pen and paper, kick back, and pay attention!

What can be SO important?

Well, I'm about to tell you exactly how to use web 2.0 and social media to grow your business.

In fact, I'm not just going to TELL YOU how to use web 2.0, I'm offering to do all the work to get you started using web 2.0!

I'll get to that lesson in just a moment but first let me tell you how you can get my help getting started with web 2.0!

On March 12th, 13th, and 14th, my good friend, Dr. Ron Capps (the "Niche Prof"), and I want you to join us in Atlanta, GA for a weekend of social marketing!

Prior to the workshop, we will be setting up more than 15+ social media accounts and profiles for your business.  We will then tie these profiles to your websites.

We will also help you to get a WordPress blog set up on YOUR site using our customer software installation wizard.

A few days before we meet in person, we'll get together in a webinar to get you ready for GETTING RESULTS in Atlanta!

Then, the entire weekend, we will work  with you to help you get traffic to your blog, help you get subscribers to your opt in list, and even help you get your first S'ALES before the end of the weekend!

The first morning of the workshop, we're even creating a product that you can se'll as an affiliate from your blog.  You'll get 100% INSTANT COMMISSIONS for every sale you make so it's quite possible that you can be in profit before you ever get back home!

Unlike most seminars, we'll also be  getting together for several webinars long AFTER our weekend together is over! That way we can help you tweak your system to get even better results AND we can show you more ways of using web 2.0 to grow your business (things like using video in web 2.0 sites, using podcasting in web 2.0 sites, and more will be covered on these calls).

If you went out and hired outsources to do all this for you, you'd likely spend well over $1,000!

So, it would only make sense that your ticket to this once-in-a-lifetime event would be even higher since you're getting our PERSONAL HELP putting it altogether  for your business!

But Ron and I just don't operate like that!  We're doing this because we WANT TO! We're doing this because we want YOU to truly have a life changing experience -- one that can get you started reaching ALL your goals and dreams for your business!

That's why we're not holding this at some ultra fancy hotel.

... Instead, it's being held in a state of the art conference center where there is low overhead and no high price rooms to keep you from coming.

We're not going to keep you in a hotel that has 1 restaurant where the cheapest thing on the menu is a $15 bowl of oatmeal either!

... Instead, the conference center has its own restaurant where the owner is the chef! They serve 5 star meals at 2 star prices!

Can you imagine going to a seminar and not having to pay more than $10 for a hamburger! I can't remember that EVER happening in any seminar I've attended!  But it IS happening with THIS workshop!

Just one of the bonuses that we've lined up would set you back more than your tuition to attend "Your Social Marketing Workshop" on March 12th, 13th, and 14th at the DeFoor Center in Atlanta, GA!

I'm talking about an event that is UNDER $100 for a ticket!

An event that is NOT about "learning" to do something.  It's about "DOING SOMETHING" and about "GETTING RESULTS" before you ever get home!

You'll find all the details at:
---> http://www.askggg.com/workshop

Now -- let me explain the WHY to you so you can better appreciate how VERY, VERY IMPORTANT it is to your future success that you attend  this workshop...

If you've been online for more than the last day, you've probably already heard the terms "web 2.0", "social media" and "social marketing".

No doubt you've also heard that if you truly want to be successful in your business, you've got to be using "web 2.0" right now!

In fact, you've probably even tried using some of them -- like Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and Ning.

But -- have you ever made a single do'llar using any of these sites? Have you ever made $100 using any of them? What about $1,000?

Ron and I have -- and we DO make this kind of c'ash on a regular basis from social media and social marketing.

What are you doing wrong?

Why haven't YOU gotten these kinds of results for YOUR business?

There are 2 questions that you'll need to answer before web 2.0 and social media can put even $1 into your wallet.  These are:

1.  What the heck is web 2.0", "social media" and "social marketing" and how do they grow MY business?

2  How will web 2.0 help you grow your  business?

and

3. How can you tap into web 2.0 to make more mo'ney in your business without spending any more time or mo'ney to use it?

So, let's tackle each question separately.What is "web 2.0" and "social media"? The term "web 2.0" refers to the new style websites that are interactive by their very nature.  These are sites that both allow your visitors to interact with you and with one another.  

Web 2.0 sites differ from web 1.0 sites because you're no longer talking AT people but instead, you're talking WITH people!

Ok, let's move to answer Question #2 -- How will web 2.0 help you grow your business?

I need to move into teacher role for a  bit so that you can better understand why web 2.0 sites are SO powerful (and SOOOO pro'fitable too!).

Back when I got started growing my business online in 1997, the buzz word regarding metrics was "conversions".

Every website owner knew that if you could increase your conversions, you'd make a lot more mo'ney -- even if you had the same amount of traffic. In other words, if you routinely sold 2 out of every 100 people who visited your site, having a way to increase that so that you could sell 4 or 5 out of every 100 visitors would literally double your in'come.

In the early 2000's, though, big companies like Home Depot and Walmart started asking "What fuels conversions?"

Their studies showed that "engagement" fueld conversions.  In other words, the more engaged a visitor was while on your website, the higher the conversions would be.

Engagement is measured by looking at the number of page views per visitor, the amount of time a visitor stays on your site, and other ways of telling how  "engaged" someone is with your website.

As companies started finding new ways to engage website visitors, industry average conversions rose from 2 out of every 100 visitors to more like 3 to 4 out of every 100 visitors.

By the mid-2000's, though, big companies started asking yet another question.   This time they wondered, "What fuels  engagement?"

They already knew that if they could increase engagement, they would increase conversions.  And, if they increased conversions, they could make more mo'ney from the same amount of effort.

So, how can you improve engagement so  that you can make even more from every 100 visitors?

In the last few years, the answer has become apparant.  It's called:

DISCOVERY

The concept of discovery is really kind of interesting, and it's what makes web  2.0 so powerful.

Advanced studies have shown that when people visit a website, they initially have a scarcity mindset.  They can't even see all that a site has to offer because of this scarcity mindset.

They're skeptics at heart. They doubt the honesty and sincerity of the website owner.

If they don't immediately see the exact thing that they are looking for or that they expect, they leave!  

In fact, that's in part why so many people are making mo'ney with AdSense on their sites. By design, the AdSense program  rewards website owners for having visitors  who are not very engaged.

In order for "discovery" to happen on your website you need:

*  Information that requires the visitor to interpret it

   (Video, audio, and slideshows all    require the visitor to interpret    what they are seeing in order to use
   it.)

*  A way for your visitor to get recognition for himself

   (That's what a visitor is really    doing by putting up a profile on   Twitter or Facebook -- they're
   getting recognized!)
 
*  A way for your visitor to interact with other people WHILE getting  recognition at the same time

   (Why do you think people "Tweet"?    Why do people put comments on other    people's "Walls" on Facebook?  They    are interacting with others as they    are getting recognition for themselves!)

When all of these elements are present on a website, a chemical reaction takes place in the brain of your visitor.  It's kind  of like a light bulb turning on -- one that illuminates everything else your site has to offer!

Once that chemical reaction takes place,your visitor sees the abundance of what  you offer!

And, as that happens, it means that the visitor will start exploring your blog, your website, and the things you offer on those pages.

If you can build a relationship with your visitor as they're looking around, they're likely to become more engaged!

And, as they become more engaged,  conversions skyrocket, and sales boom as well!

If you think about sites like Twitter, Facebook, Ning.com, MySpace, and others like them, they are all carefully crafted to cause DISCOVERY to happen!

You want that DISCOVERY to take place when the users happen to be on YOUR profile! When it does, the visitor will feel like you're the cause of that chemical reaction and it will make the visitor feel compelled
to click on links to your site!

Once there, the visitor starts out feeling like they know you already because they met you on the other site.

If you understand "engagement" and  "discovery" even a little, can you predict the outcome of having a visitor come to your site already feeling like they know you?

Yep -- you guessed it!  Higher conversions even still!

So let me "bottom line" this for you...

When you use web 2.0 to grow your business, you're reaching a more TARGETED audience -- one that will only get to your site AFTER they get to know, like and trust you --  and, when they get to your site they will:

... Opt in to your list much more often!
.... Click on more links while they're there
.... Stay on your site longer
.... B'uy more than any other visitors who happened to find you from search engines and other ads!

This typically results in conversions of more like 10% to 15% rather than industry average conversions of 2% or less!

Talk about LEVERAGE!

Web 2.0 is the ultimate leverage in that web 2.0 both brings in a larger number of sales for every 100 visitors AND brings in a LOT more visitors as well!

Heck, last year, I met another one of my good friends from Atlanta, Joey Smith.

Joey had presented a project on a hot seat at JVAlert.  In the presentation, he told us about one of his clients - a health insurance company that he was managing an AdWords campaign for.

This company was spending around $30,000 a MONTH to generate enough traffic to produce sales of around $70,000.

That's not a bad return on your investment, right?  Put in $30,000.  Take out $70,000. Pro'fit of $40,000.  Not bad at all!

I went up to Joey after his presentation and told him that he was doing it all wrong.  The reason his client was spending $30k per month on AdWords was because they were using the WRONG keywords.

The keywords that are outrageously expensive are SOLUTION keywords like  "Health Insurance".  They're words that also have a LOT more competition and a LOT less people searching for them.

On the other hand, if he chose keywords that related to PROBLEMS, he would not only pay a LOT less per click, he would also find a LOT less competition and a LOT more demand.

AND -- better still, if he used web 2.0, his client wouldn't have to pay a dime for advertising!  They could get all the traffic they'd need F'R.E.E.!

So Joey took what I said to heart.  He started a blog for his client.  He found the right keywords -- those that were PROBLEMS like "fibromyalgia symptoms" and "prostate cancer treatment", etc.

Within 90 days, not only did the company's advertising expense decline to $0, their sales also skyrocketed to more than $120,000!

This meant that they were really making an EXTRA $30,000 + $120,000 = $150,000 per MONTH!

Needless to say, they absolutely LOVED Joey!  That made it much harder for them to have to let him go when they didn't need him any more!

But that was ok because it really opened Joey's eyes to Social Media and the power it can bring.

One year later, Joey's a total convert! No more AdWords for him!  Today, he uses Twitter and blogs and Ning.com and Facebook to drive ALL of his traffic and his client's traffic.

So, let me wrap this up so I can get to a late dinner...

By now you should understand WHAT web  2.0 is, and you should understand that  web 2.0 helps you not only bring in more  traffic, but also bring in more TARGETED  visitors that result in HIGHER  CONVERSIONS and MUCH, MUCH higher sales.

The dream of every entrepreneur is to have MORE TIME!  I'm sure that you're no different than the other millions of entrepreneurs.  You want MORE TIME to spend with your family and friends, to do things that you love doing, and to just kind of relax, right?

Well, if you want all those things the ONLY way you're going to get them is  when you start using web 2.0 to grow your business!

Ordinarily, getting started using web  2.0 means spending a week or more of your time getting all of your accounts and profiles set up.  Getting your blog up on your website and getting it tweaked in the way that will get the best search engine rankings.

If you value your time at only $25 per hour, that means that you'll be spending around 60 hours x $25 per hour or $1,500 just getting things set up.

And that assumes that you know WHICH of the THOUSANDS of web 2.0 sites are the ones YOU need to use to grow YOUR business!

If you don't guess right the first time, you'll be spending that $1,500 repeatedly trying new sites until you get the equation just right!

(I don't mean to be harsh, but isn't that what you've been doing already?)

Web 2.0 can be a real time drain that can quickly eat up your days (and your nights and weekends too!) if you don't have a SYSTEM and a PLAN for using it to get RESULTS!

And that's exactly what you'll get with your ticket to "Your Social Marketing Workshop" in Atlanta on March 12th to March 14th.

Dr. Ron Capps (the "NicheProf") is also the other of the "Web 2.0 Economy of Action Guide" and he'll be showing you EXACTLY how he manages to get between 500 and 1,000 posts per DAY out to his "tribe" in a way that brings him THOUSANDS of TARGETED visitors every single day!

When you join us for this workshop, you will also get access to the 5 additional webinars (1 set up webinar and 4 post- event webinars where we'll look at your results and make them even better!) AND you'll get our help in putting all the pieces together for YOUR business!

You'll find all the details at:
---> http://www.askggg.com/workshop

This is a last minute thing we decided to do because our students (and YOU!)  need this NOW  -- not 6 months from now! So we're really going to reward those who take action FAST!

Your reward is that your seat will never be less than what it is right now!  You see, about every 20 to 25 reserved seats, tuition will be increasing.

PLUS -- you'll have less time to get everything ready for the weekend workshop! So make sure you grab your seat right now at:

---> http://www.askggg.com/workshop

We'll make this weekend one that you will remember for years to come as the day you started making all your dreams come true!

We're looking forward to having a great time getting to know you and helping you to start getting the RESULTS you deserve!

To Your Abundant Online Success!

Gina Gaudio-Graves Author, aka "The JV Queen" Founder & Dean, DirectionsU.com
& TheJVUniversity.com