Meet Max Shelton, Online Marketing Specialist for International Hair Transplant Clinics

Max Shelton is an online marketing consultant who specializes in the hair transplant niche. He has been helping hair loss clinics around the globe with their online marketing objectives for over five years, and in that time has helped his clients gain exceptional growth in the market with more leads, inquiries, and business. In this interview we talk to him about how he got to where he is today and the journey that it involved.

1. Would you share a little bit of information about who you are, where you are based, and any interests you might have outside of online marketing?

Sure, well, I am 37 years old and live in the mid-west of the United States, and I'm a husband, father of three, dog owner, and keen paraglider when I get the opportunity to do so!

2. Why did you focus on hair transplant clinics as your chosen and specialist industry niche?

OK, so about 10 years ago I started to experience hair loss myself, and spent a lot of time trying to find a reputable hair loss clinic and surgeon that I could trust and rely on. Unfortunately, there are a few charlatans in the industry, so it took me a long time and several failed attempts before I found a good hair transplant surgeon.

I realized that if it was hard for me to find someone I could trust, then I probably wasn't alone. Because of that, I decided to start up an online directory of cosmetic surgeons, but in particular hair transplant clinics. That website allowed people to review and rate their surgeon, and brought me to the attention of one of America's largest clinics.

They actually ended up buying the website from me and asked me if I could start working on their online marketing strategy and plans… and the rest, as they say, is history!

3. What type of things do you do for the hair transplant industry and your clients?

In the main it's all about helping them to generate more online business and patient inquiries. So for example that could mean developing them a specific lead generation website or creating Facebook ad campaigns designed to make their phone ring more!

I now have around five hair loss and hair restoration clinics that I work for around the globe, and I like to think that I am now regarded as one of the go-to experts when it comes to the hair loss industry and the businesses in that niche.

4. What does a typical day look like for you?

Once the kids have been taken off to school, it's straight down into the office with a coffee. The emails get checked, and then I follow a strict project plan where possible. I read a lot of self-help business books by people such as Tony Robbins and Grant Cardone in order to help me plan and execute.

Ultimately the daily aims are all about numbers, so if my clients are receiving a steady stream of online inquires from people (both men and women) seeking hair transplant treatments, then my job is done. For example, at the moment, it's all about generating more business on the female side as hair loss for women can be a taboo subject – more information on that on this website.

5. With that in mind, what are your plans for 2017, which seems to be fast-approaching?

Good question! I want to get more clients onto my existing roster of hair loss clinics, in particular the UK market which is definitely growing at the moment. There are some superb hair transplant surgeons in England at the moment, so attracting some of those guys to my portfolio would be fantastic, especially as we share a common language, so the expertise I offer should be easy enough to transfer to another geographic area.

You just to need to look at the UK market to see how good some of the hair loss clinics are (here is an example) to see that it's a great market to hopefully get into.

6. And finally, if you could give any tips to aspiring online marketers, then what would that be?

Well, find yourself a niche to work in. I have found that if you can position yourself as an expert in a particular industry, then it's far easier to attract high paying clients… just like I have done in the hair transplant industry.

It can help to build up an online portfolio of work, including interviews such as this one which should help position you as a leader in the field.

Aside from that, just work hard. Harder than the competition!

Thanks, Max!

Meet Vito Jamieson, Voice Over Artist and More

Vito Jamieson is a voice over artist, internet marketer, and copywriter who has worked on campaigns for Google, Seagrams, and many other businesses around the world.

Learn more about him by visiting VoiceOversPlusMore.com.

1. What drew you to the field of voice over work?

When I was about 13, my voice dropped overnight. Suddenly girls were paying attention and I liked it. Whenever there was a school project that required a voice, then I was "voluntold" to put my voice on the projects.

Over time the same thing started happening at work. At one point, my boss wanted me to put my voice on an animated project but wanted me to keep up with my regular work. I let her know that I couldn't do both and named a price to do it on my own time, and my first paid gig was in the pocket.

2. Do you find that a lot of your voice over clients also benefit from your copywriting services?

Copywriting is a natural extension of my voice work. So many times, people sent me work with errors, so I began to charge them to correct the work. People also started asking me my opinion, and at times the material was so bad I would tell people I could not put my voice to bad material in order to maintain my reputation.

My voice is a tool for sales and moving people to action. Copywriting does the same thing and it can be just as fun.

3. What types of projects do you find yourself doing most often--and what are some of your favorite things to work on?

It's really a mixed bag. I find myself doing a lot of narration, radio commercials, and station identification. I would say the most common are when people want a deep voice and a tone like Dennis Haysbert or Morgan Freeman. Quite often I get people who want me to imitate James Earl Jones' "This is CNN." That's always fun.

I think my favorite thing is when parents ask me to call their kids as Santa Claus. Kids get a kick out of it, and parents are thrilled when their kids behave themselves!

4. Why do small businesses need to hire voice over professionals instead of just doing their own narration for videos for social media (etc)?

When people do things in a less than professional way, it is a disservice to their business. Yes, people may be passionate about their business, but a lot of times they are going to come across as too cheap to use a professional or worse, cheesy.

If you own a store front shop, would you create a hand painted sign for your business and expect people to take you seriously? I hope not. A hand painted sign for a lemonade stand is cute but not elsewhere. Using a professional voice is like using a professional sign that says, take a look at me, and look at me for the right reasons.

5. What else would you like readers to know about you and your work?

Well, I'd be remiss if I did not say go to VoiceOversPlusMore.com and listen to samples of my voice and to connect with me. I love doing creative projects and would be happy to discuss whatever your project ideas may be.

Thanks, Vito!

Meet Vicky Wu, Marketing Guru

In her own words, here's a bio of Vicky Wu...

My clients are like my family. In over 30 years spent working the marketing and advertising for businesses big and small, I've uncovered some golden themes and tactics that work wonders, no matter the size of the budget. Nothing puts a smile on my face more than enjoying my client's success as the result of their marketing plan. In my years of experience doing marketing with top level organizations like Nokia, Southwest Airlines, the Dallas Cowboys, CENTURY 21 Judge Fite, and a number of nonprofits, I've uncovered some tough strategies that are super powerful and can easily be applied to smaller business with minimal time and budget. I love teaching others, from simplifying complex marketing strategies, to teaching couples to ballroom dance for their wedding!

To learn more about her work, check out http://vickywu.us/ and Vicky Wu's Facebook page.

1. How did you first know that you wanted to pursue a career in marketing?

Looking back, with 20/20 hindsight which we all wish we could have before we begin, I was thinking with a marketing brain when I was still in elementary school. I remember designing things; one that comes to mind is this amusement park which had a theme of fruits and vegetables. I've been an artist since I was that age, drawing and painting, so I would sketch out the whole park on paper, drawing the rides. A tomato would be a spinning cup-type ride, with the seeds being the cups you ride in. But I would go beyond that and be designing all of the other little pieces that would go into it, the parking lot, the logo, totally branding the entire thing on paper. I would even draw out what the customers look like--I was doing customer "avatars" before it became a big thing or I had even heard of them--and what the TV commercial would look like.

I didn’t know any of this was "marketing." I just knew I was having fun.

Moving into middle school or junior high, I continued taking art classes, in addition to having personal lessons from family members who were professional artists, and while I wanted to be an artist, I didn't want to be a starving artist--a business acumen was emerging even then.

In high school, I began taking journalism classes and became editor of the school newspaper and the school yearbook. I knew I didn't want to become a journalist, but it's when I first became interested in advertising from working on the ones in the newspaper and yearbook. I remember going to meet with the counselor to talk about college, explaining how what I wanted to do wasn't offered at any of the local community colleges, which was all I felt there would be any hope of affording, and knowing my parents wouldn't be able to help with bigger colleges anywhere else. His suggestion was I needed to decide what I wanted to do with my life that wouldn't require college at all, or something I could take at the local college. Even as a teenager I didn't think that was much help and felt it was just trying to squash my dreams. So I knew I may have to blaze my own trail, and that's exactly what I started doing. I like to tell my clients I made the mistakes so that they don't have to!

I didn’t realize that the field of marketing was exactly where I wanted to be until my second full-time job (the first one was in advertising), but once it all clicked together, I forged ahead by learning as much as I could from the best in the industry, and continuing my education and earning my degree (from a four-year university, not our local junior college). Continuing to learn and seek and develop best practices is a big part of my professional life today.

2. I noticed a variety of both "DIY" and "done-for-you" solutions offered on your website. Could you tell us a little more about your business and what you do?

Our services are broken down into three levels:

Do it yourself – this is for the entrepreneurs who want to do the marketing, graphic, or social media work themselves, have the time and desire, but may not have all of the technical skill. Our training programs help them learn the skills they need to know without having to make all of the mistakes that we learned from over the years.

Our newest addition to this level is our Business Startup Marketing Mastermind training program, which is a convenient hands-on platform which takes a small business owner step-by-step through a proven system to begin and boost their business marketing. Each lesson has specific how-to instructions and helps the business owner tie everything together without needing any prior knowledge of marketing. It's fed out in small bite-size pieces so that the program is convenient and not overwhelming.

Do it with help – this is for businesses that have someone on staff, maybe the owner or another employee, who can do the work (either they already know some of the technical skills or they've gone through our training) but need help with strategy and direction to implement it in the manner most strategic for their business to realize the greatest return on investment. This includes our marketing coaching programs, Marketing Bootcamp, business coaching, and the "Hire a CMO" program.

Have it done for you – this is for the business that wants to outsource some of their graphic design, social media, and other marketing pieces. The problem with finding your own freelancers is that you often have to go to multiple places to have the differing pieces accomplished, and this can result in a lack of brand consistency, which is very bad for a business. We have a whole team of freelancers on call so that you can have all of your needs met in one place, and provide an account manager who acts as your Marketing Director or Art Director to oversee it all and make sure your brand messaging and design is consistent.

3. For small business owners, how can they know when it might be a good time to work with a coach or consultant?

When an owner has the desire to grow their business to the next level, whatever that may be, yet is feeling the pain of already too much work and knowing they won't have time to invest to achieve that growth without something else dropping, it's a good indication that it's time to bring in some expertise.

In every business, and every area of every business, there's a tipping point where future growth is limited by current resources. Every small business owner understands exactly what I'm saying. A point at which, to take the business to the next level, it is either going to require more time than the owner can devote, or require more expertise than the owner currently has (or wants to have). Yet they haven't grown enough yet to justify additional salaries.

There are a lot of things a small business owner can do on their own in the vast realm that is marketing. There are SO many choices today in the area of marketing; it can be very hard to know which ones you need to pick and choose. If they have little experience in marketing, they may not be as easily able to determine which tactics could be most efficient for their business and provide the best return on investment – which can result in being inefficient with their finite time. No business owner has the luxury of things taking longer than they need to or not bringing the best results!

A coach or consultant can bring years of expertise with numerous business large and small, and help a business focus their marketing strategies and plans based upon what has been proven to work. It can allow the business the flexibility of not having to hire a permanent position before the business has grown large enough to justify that type of ongoing expense.

4. What are some of your favorite parts of your work?

There are so many stories I could share, but they really all boil down to developing people and businesses. I am proud when a business achieves a goal (and I'm a HUGE fan of a business envisioning and achieving a big, hairy, audacious goal--when it's right for the company--and even better when I'm the one helping achieve!).

I am proud when I coach an employee or company and they enhance their marketing efforts and achieve their goals. I am proud to see them proud of themselves.

Really for me it;s all about the win. The win for the company I'm working with. That's a win for me.

5. Is there anything in particular about marketing that you wish more people knew?

Not knowing what you don't know can make it harder on you. Yet it doesn't have to be hard at all; you need a simple plan and a simple strategy and to know how to tie it all together. The biggest concept that I share with all of my clients is don't keep switching up your strategy. Most strategies are longer-term and take time to fully develop; yet once they do, they quickly snowball and bring bigger results than you may have imagined. But you never may get to that point if you give up after a week to try something new.

Thanks, Vicky!

Meet Hyder Ali Zaman, Digital Marketing Strategist

Hyder Ali Zaman is a highly accomplished and experienced internet marketing professional with a successful track record extending 13+ years. His ability has helped startups grow into successful business enterprises, drive online marketing strategy in sync with the offline marketing tactics, deliver SEO results, cost effectively manage SEM / PPC / FB Ad campaigns, and use non-traditional yet highly effective organic (SEO) traffic driving techniques to help organizations become successful in any highly competitive online industry in any region of the world.

Learn more by visiting http://www.hyderalizaman.com/ as well as Hyder Ali Zaman's profile on LinkedIn.

1. How did you first become aware of SEO?

I was one of the earliest adopters of the internet and the World Wide Web, not only in Pakistan but globally. Back in those days, people did not know much about the internet. However, to me I could see the potential of the internet to actually change the world. I came to know about SEO through my own interest in the internet. For me, SEO has always been a passion to help online businesses succeed. And I strongly believe that when you work for passion, money automatically follows.

2. In the years you have worked in the industry, how have things changed when it comes to improving a site's search engine rank?

Yes, a lot, to say the least. Those old shoddy tricks up the sleeves of the so-called SEO experts to get you to the first page of Google do not work anymore. Google and other search engines have evolved a great deal. In the coming years, you will see a lot of people complaining that SEO is not working (many are already doing it). It is the SEO they know that is not working. Look, SEO is a patience-driven, watch and act kind of endeavor where you keep on adjusting to the changing dynamics. SEOs who are trying to get quick results will not see any success. Areas in which you particularly need to focus in the future include natural link building, social media marketing, blogging, guest posts, and relevant content marketing strategies. Niche-oriented focus would greatly help improve your site's rankings. SEO has finally become something which would only reward people who are willing to work hard and know what it actually means to be an SEO expert.

3. What are some common mistakes you see businesses making with their websites?

Here is my top list of mistakes online businesses really make.

a. They think onsite SEO is just a hoax and they do not really need to think about it much.

b. They spend so much money on paid advertisements, but eventually they run out of money. They should diversify and think about SEO and other ways of generating traffic online.

c. A lot of businesses do not pay any heed to social media marketing when it actually makes a lot of difference. Paid social media advertisement is good, but you also need to find a way to generate leads through other regular updates as well.

d. Old online businesses established for years think that mobile responsiveness is not for them. Google has already penalized such websites, and we are going to see more of that happening.

e. Content does not just mean rewriting everything which is already there. Instead it gives online businesses a way to connect with their customers.

4. What are some of your own best practices?

Here are some of the most important things for me in terms of SEO.

1. Content Marketing
2. Affiliate Marketing
3. SEM & SEO
4. Social Media Marketing
5. Guest Blogging
6. Onsite SEO (deep enough to identify and resolve onsite issues)
7. Offsite SEO
8. Work on domain authority and increase website's authenticity.
9. Evolve my overall SEO strategy in light of the changes recommended by Google and other search engines.
10. Diversify and rely on multiple sources of traffic.

5. What else would you like readers to know about you and your work?

Well, whomever you choose to work with, make sure they are worth their money. Do not work with anyone who does not understand everything and has not been proactively following SEO from the start.

I strongly believe in living up to my clients' expectations, and my work speaks for what I have done in the past. I have successfully helped many startups getting from zero sales to thousands of USDs or even more in revenues per month. I am passionate about my client's website and take every step to ensure that their interests are watched. No matter which SEO expert you wish to work with, always remember that experience has no shortcut. I do not promise my clients to deliver quick results but meaningful results where they can actually see the return on their investments.

Feel free to get in touch with me via email should you have any questions or need SEO consultation for your online business.

Thanks, Hyder Ali!

Meet Paulo Sousa, Web Developer and Publisher

Paulo Sousa moved from Brazil to America in 1995. He has always been passionate about computers and technology, and around the same time that he came to the US, he began researching the workings of the internet. Soon he discovered the secret to ranking at the top of search engine results. This discovery made him one of the pioneers on SEO field, when this word still did not exist.

Over time, he became interested in e-commerce and attended Boston University to study web development. In 2010 he started a self-publishing website, www.e-selfpress.com. Since late 2015, he has been revamping and updating this site to provide more resources for customers. Learn more by following e-selfpress on Facebook. You can also learn more about Paulo and his work on http://www.askpaulo.com/.

1. How was SEO changed since you first began learning about it and using it?

When we look back 20 years ago, we did not have the idea of how SEO would change the way to do business online. SEO in those old days was a very simple thing to do, since the search engines then did not have enough technology to evaluate all aspects of the site. Today, the engines acts like a very smart human being, looking at every aspect of the site in order to deliver the best results for the searchers. Today, we have many more areas to work on each site to achieve a good recognition on the engines.

The engines are getting smarter and smarter, acting like a human. But 20 years ago, if you just created a good title for your site, it would be enough. Today, titles still remain as important as before, but they're just a fraction of the game. The engine needs to read your site, and follow the links from and towards to the site in order to understand what is the site is about. It's very easy for a person who does not know SEO but understands HTML to make a web site and fail to please the search engines with information in the source code of the page.

To succeed today, you have to start with a domain where you have keywords on it, instead of choosing a URL that does not tell anything to the search engine. We always have a solution when we talk to our clients. Of course you can always work on names that do not have keywords in them. If you sell, for instance, mattresses, the ideal URL should have mattress in it. This factor increases your relevance to the engines, and a website with this behavior gets some consideration of the engine doing that.

In short, each business website is evaluated differently, but the evolution has been huge.

2. What interests you most about doing web development work?

First of all, I love to see the happiness of my clients at the delivery of the work. The second beauty of this work is to perform a search and see your results in the top results of search engines. This is a priceless reward.

3. Would you tell us a little more about how you and your wife got into writing and publishing e-books and how you found success in that project?

Before I had even thought about starting my self-publishing website www.e-selfpress.com, I wrote a book about Secrets of the iPad, since Apple did not sell the iPad with a manual. This book became a bestselling book in Brazil. After that success, I decided to create my own publishing platform to help people in Brazil.

With my knowledge on SEO, I received over 70K "likes" on my Facebook page ( www.fb.com/eselfpress) in just one year, and then I knew I was on the right path.

Last December (2015), I decided to invest $96K to rebuild the platform which will be done at the end of September (2016) when I will re-launch the platform with a wide advertising campaign on the internet.

The success came because people were looking for such services in Brazil. I had an entrepreneur here in USA and also in Brazil who came after me offering an investment in my eSelfPress project. I did not accept by that time, since I could handle financially the initial expenses of the project. So I declined, but now, after the new version been made available, I can talk with potential investors about it.

4. Why did you decide to start e-SelfPress, and what are the services you provide?

The decision to start e-SelfPress came after the success of my book "Segredos e Atalhos do iPad" when I discovered that the world was changing the way to buy, sell, write, and read books.

We provide a friendly environment where people can easily understand the concept of how to use our platform. We offer services such as cover design, proof writing, and a free ISBN for those who also buy our services for wide distribution on stores such as Barnes & Noble, Apple Store and more.

The list of services is available in Brazilian currency at http://e-selfpress.com/services.

5. As someone who provides services to people in many different countries, what would you like people all over the world to know about you and your business?

We are very serious about business, and our goal is always make people happy by giving then the best option to write and sell their books. I know that writing a book is only part of the process: writers need to learn how to market their book.

We have a blog that we will teach writers how to succeed like I did with my book Segredos e Atalhos do iPad. That is going to be a big difference between e-SelfPress and the other guys. We are also going to help people who want to write a book and do not have an idea. We will help them to create content.

Please feel free to contact me at paulo@askpaulo.com. Thanks, Paulo!

Meet Justin Davis of Traffic Source SEO

Justin Davis is a SEO (Search Engine Optimization) expert and internet marketer. He also has a website development company that builds websites for businesses and organizations. He is 31 years old. He travels as often as possible (which is quite a bit). In his spare time he watches documentaries, studies new business trends, hangs out with old friends, goes fishing and camping, visits with family, and studies his SEO (even when he has told himself he is supposed to be working).

Justin is a familiar face in the SEO world and on social media. He is a certified Google partner. His personal goal is perfecting the science of manipulating and removing bad Google search results in favor of his clients. He specializes in identity restoration services and other forms of search engine optimization tactics involved in fixing the search results page on the world's biggest search engine.

Learn more about Justin's business, Traffic Source SEO, by visiting www.trafficsourceSEO.com.

1. How did you first become interested in SEO?

I started getting into search engine optimization because I just believe in the power of it. It's marketing that happens in live time, as the person is using a search engine and transcribing their thoughts into keyword phrases. It's at this moment, possibly right before the buying moment, that I want to be in front of the prospect with my product or service. Hence, search engine optimization.

2. What are some of the advantages for a small business when it comes to hiring one company to handle both web design and internet marketing, rather than working with separate firms for each?

I believe that most people in the internet marketing or web design industry generally prefer sticking to one specialty. It's pretty rare that someone is good at both. I personally specialize in SEO, and I have a designer to do all of the design aspects of my websites and ads, and a developer to bring it all to life. That's why I say we are so good at both. But my attention is on marketing. I let the website guys deal everything else.

3. I sometimes see people working hard on creating new content for their websites and not seeing results. What do you see as the secret sauce in terms of content being effective in gaining return visitors to a site?

I think you have to create content that adds value to the user. If they are not coming back, it is probably your fault for not getting their attention again. Did you retain their contact information when they visited your site? Are they part of your e-mail list? When you noticed a surge in traffic what was the source? Did you follow up with more high quality content down that avenue? Question everything, and monitor the results. Duplicate what works, and throw punches in bunches.

4. What added benefits to you bring to your business in being a certified Google partner?

It just verifies that I'm authorized by Google to have a high level of competence in various forms of marketing and how it is seen by Google and other professionals innovating the web. I think it just shows a validated credential. People like to know who they are doing business with. That's why I'm in business.

5. What else would you like readers to know about you and your work?

You can check out my website or call any time with questions on what we do and how it can help your business or organization. Also, check out our blog for updates and interesting topics in the search engine optimization industry.

Thanks, Justin!

Meet Samantha Higgins: Las Vegas SEO Blogger Outreach

Samantha Higgins is in charge of blogger outreach for Las Vegas SEO. She has created content strategies for casinos, surgeons, lawyers, and now the new clients under her guidance.

1. Your primary role for Las Vegas SEO is blogger outreach. What is that?

Well, here is the perfect example, ha. Blogger outreach is simply reaching out to people on a human level, connecting with them, and exchanging engaging, interesting content their readership would enjoy consuming for brand exposure and a chance to say, this is us…this is who we are. It's a win win for both the blog and website owner (their readership gets a new perspective), and for the client brand seeking to showcase their expertise and value to the community.

2. Do clients see the value in blogging or content marketing?

Luckily I don't focus on sales, but I tend to always hear feedback that the client was expecting boring results as they had experienced in the past through other article marketing or press releases. Once they start to see the time and quality and effort into their brand message and unique proposition, it really transforms their thought process from a necessary evil to--can we do more of this?

3. Forming relationships and reaching out to bloggers can be time consuming. Is this expensive?

Again, content outreach isn't for every business as it can certainly get expensive relative other inferior forms of advertising online. Some choose to do it themselves, but writing content, reaching out to contacts, and forming connections over social media is a full time job. We have systems in place, and my rolodex is insanely large and responsive because they know the quality of work I bring and willingness to help cross promote.

4. What are typical results from a large-scale monthly campaign?

We typically deal with three months to gauge the success of a campaign. Often we see Google love to see all the new content, and client's rankings begin to increase dramatically, and it makes sense. If you are a company, wiling to educate and inform potential clients of your expertise in your industry, Google and the search engines see this, and want to rank you higher. It's a sophisticated system which often gets complicated, but at the core it's about relevancy and popularity. Our outreach ensures both facets of digital marketing are addressed.

5. How is this better than competing Internet marketing agencies in Las Vegas Nevada?

The owners have been doing this for over ten years, and I've personally been writing and reaching out to press contacts for the last six years. It's just a really rock solid group of people that actually enjoy what they do, which can never be overstated. Client results are really the focus and it starts with a proper promotional strategy rooted in compelling content, which I'm happy to supply, coupled with massive outreach to website owners in Las Vegas as well as contacts worldwide based on your exact target market. To inquire about blogger outreach with Samantha contact:

Las Vegas SEO
321 N. Minnesota St
Las Vegas, NV 89107
(702) 518-0485
contact@lasvegasseo.marketing
https://goo.gl/maps/hYG1zACG1eE2

Meet Christine L. Robinson, Entrepreneur

Christine L. Robinson is a serial entrepreneur and the founder of MegaWebPromote and SocialAccelerator. She holds a Master's degree in Business Administration and a Bachelor's in Liberal Studies, and she served seven years in the U.S. Army. Christine is a personal development and business coach and is the author of two books.

1. Have you always wanted to be an entrepreneur?

It wasn't until I was in my early 30s that I realized I could be an entrepreneur. Like many people, I had to get to a point in life where I was able to take the leap into being self-employed and make following my passion a reality.

2. What inspired you to start MegaWebPromote.com and SocialAccelerator.info?

My inspiration for starting MegaWebPromote and SocialAccelerator is the desire to help small businesses grow. Having once been there, I understand that it is difficult to balance every aspect of the business. As a business coach, I would give clients strategies on how to increase traffic and engage in meaningful social media marketing, right after telling them that as one person there is only so much they could accomplish in a day. I had to ask myself, why am I telling my clients to outsource a service I could provide; MegaWebPromote and SocialAccelerator were born from that self-reflective question.

3. Why is it so hard for many small businesses to get traffic to their sites, even when they are posting new and informative content?

In my opinion, it is hard for small businesses to get traffic to their sites because the World Wide Web is so vast and there is so much content that it is easy for a site to get lost. You could have the best blog about dog training, but if you don't have daily traffic to your site, and a strong social media following, how many people aren't reading the best dog training blog? The other problem that I think small businesses face is resources; most small business owners don't have a dedicated employee who can spend all their time generating traffic and/or creating content. It can be a difficult juggling act when trying to focus on the people and product of the business. It's important to outsource what you are unable to do, so that you get the results without having to spread yourself thin or neglect other aspects of the business.

4. I think a lot of people get overwhelmed by the idea of establishing a social media presence and end up undertaking a scattershot, inefficient approach. What do you suggest as a starting point--or as a way to start anew when social media seems flat?

I think the starting point for a business' social media presence is to figure out what you would like to gain from being on social media; is it a means of showcasing your product, engaging clients, sharing content, or providing information/research to funnel potential clients through a sales funnel? Once you have a purpose in place, it is easier to tailor the content so it can be effective and yield results.

5. What are your goals for 2016?

My goal for 2016 is to continue to follow my dreams and live life to the fullest. I know that is what everyone says, but I truly believe in being happy in the present. When you are genuinely the best you that you can be, everything else falls into place; and life is just better!

Thanks, Christine!

Meet Timothy M. Houston, Author and Entrepreneur

Timothy M. Houston is a father, a #1 Bestselling Author, an in-demand speaker, a high-energy and motivational trainer, and an entrepreneur with 20 years of making businesses and people more productive, profitable, and prosperous. Learn more about his book, The Referral Rules, by visiting www.ReferralRules.com. You can also learn more about Tim by reading this previous With Five Questions interview from 2013.

1. You have written about business networking and referral marketing in the past. What inspired you to write another book about referral marketing?

This book was actually written out of frustration. As a business person who has 20+ years of experience, it always amazes me how some of the most seasoned business people forget the basics and how some of the newer people to the business world were never taught the basics. In the introduction of the book, I tell the story of how I attended a networking event and witnessed a behavior which encouraged the attendees to believe that they were entitled to getting referrals just because they showed up to the event! That kind of attitude and behavior continued even after this particular event when one of the attendees assumed he was going to get referrals from me just because we had interacted.

Referral marketing is an ever important and ever evolving subject area in the business world. I decided to write a short book called The Referral Rules that teaches seven time-tested, proven ways to generate more qualified referrals for almost any business. I designed it so that both the veteran and novice can read it in under an hour and immediately implement what they learned.

2. After releasing The Referral Rules as an ebook in 2013, why did you decide to release a paperback version in 2016?

It was in response to an interesting phenomena/trend. My first two books were published both as paperback and as ebooks. By the time I released The Referral Rules in November 2013, the ebook versions of my prior books were outselling the paperback by a four to one margin each month.

So I decided The Referral Rules would be my first book to be released only in ebook format, and I made it exclusively available for sale on Amazon and available through their KDP Select program.

Then two things happened. First, many people who had my previous books would ask me if The Referral Rules was available in print because they wanted a physical copy of it (plus I couldn't autograph a digital copy at any of my in-person events). Second, since The Referral Rules is a short book (only 75 pages) many people told me that they would be not only be inclined to read the book in an hour or less; they were less likely to be distracted from reading a paperback versus a digital book on their phone or tablet as emails, texts, and other things would distract them.

So I decided that I would give my audience what they wanted: an actual, physical copy of The Referral Rules.

3. What are some common reasons that some entrepreneurs seem to come up empty when it comes to getting referrals?

I teach in my seminars and online programs that many people although being "relationship rich" are often "referral poor" due to five common reasons. In brief they are:

1. People are too distracted and don't "care" about you or your services/products yet. You have to break through to them and cause them to take notice of you. One solution is to create a system that motivates and causes them to take action refer someone to you. (I discuss and provide the various outlines to do this in my book, Leads to Referrals).
2. People prematurely ask for referrals when the relationship is too new or not deep enough. People won't refer because they won't risk their personal and professional reputation or even take a financial risk by referring their best clients to someone they really don't know, trust, or have confidence in.
3. People's image doesn’t match their message. They may portray themselves one way in person and very differently on social media. Everything that you say and do both online and off creates an experience point to which people will refer in their mind that helps to convince them why they should refer a prospect to you.
4. Others don't know how to give referrals to you or what would be a qualified referral for you. It's your responsibility to educate them how to identify the opportunities, open a conversation, and refer a qualified person to you.
5. You are not giving referrals to others. In order to receive, you have to give to those you trust, admire, respect, and have confidence in.

4. What distinguishes a viable prospect from a lead that doesn't go anywhere?

In The Referral Rules I define a qualified referral as being: "the privilege of the opportunity given to you by someone else to potentially do business with someone who wants, needs, or desires the products or services that you offer."

The person who wants, needs, or desires your services or products is a viable prospect because a) they have a relationship with the person who is referring them to you and that person has told them about you and in essence has pre-qualified them for you, and b) they are ready to have some form of communication with you.

Dictionary.com defines a "lead" as: "a suggestion or piece of information that helps to direct or guide; tip; clue: I got a lead on a new job. The phone list provided some great sales leads."

A lead is a person who, at best, is seeking information. They can come from a variety of sources such as a business card or a list, or they can even respond to an advertisement.

Usually, leads are not really in the market or at the very least, have not yet committed to one solution or another. From a business person's standpoint, a lead is similar to a cold-call: you have no relationship with the person, they aren't really expecting to hear from you, and there's no one to vouch for the quality of your services or products and about you as a person.

5. You've written three books and owned/managed four businesses. What do you see yourself doing next?

I always see myself being busy (in a productive way), so there's always another project I'm working on. My long-term plan has me writing more books, producing more online courses and in-person seminars, and getting back on the road to do more speaking engagements.

I'm already working on two immediate business goals. First, later this year another book called No-Nonsense Networking will be released. It's a collaborative effort between me and several other business people and noted authorities that teaches people what to do before, during, and after your networking efforts.

The second goal has already started in that I just launched a new event for business owners and entrepreneurs called The Entrepreneur's Epiphany which I have been beta-testing over the past two years. It's a mastermind/learning experience where the attendees are not just the students but the teachers as well. It has been very well-received and we just launched our first event in New York City in January. My long-term goal is to have these events on a monthly basis in cities and towns across the US and then around the world.

Thanks, Tim!

Press Release Distribution Services Online

The content below is a guest post provided by Release-News.com.

Press Release Distribution Services Online - Choosing The Most Effective Service

There are hundreds of press release distribution services online, but how many are effective, and more importantly, which should you choose? There are several important points to consider when submitting your press releases to a PR distribution service.

A press release distribution website normally starts by submitting news to their own website. Depending on the quality of the service, this will give varying results to your submission. If the service only publishes the news to their own website, it's likely the results won't be too great.

A good press release distribution service will offer many add-ons. Unfortunately, this usually comes at some sort of cost, but the good news is that with a little investment, you can gain helpful results.

A great starting point for anyone submitting a press release is to make sure the service submits to Google News. If so, make sure your press release is written well, is newsworthy, and includes important facts. The reason for this is that all press release distribution websites will reject your story if it doesn't meet good news criteria.

Another important thing to consider when choosing a press release distribution service is to make sure they aren't too costly. There can be a massive difference in prices for literally the same thing. You are normally safe with the big distribution services like PRNewswire and PRWeb; however, they come with a big price tag, too.

An all-around service which meets all the points stated above is Release-News.com. They offer everything from free distribution to more expensive packages that submit to 500+ other major news outlets. They also make sure your news gets into Google News, and they offer nice PDF reports. In a comparison between Release-News.com and PRWeb.com, it was noted that similar distribution was seen between the two services, but Release-News.com was far more affordable.

Press release distribution services are often a major part of many businesses' marketing strategies. Some have even paid hundreds of dollars for Google News inclusion alone, which reflects the importance once again. As there are many using PR distribution services, there's even more who simply do not know they exist, so there are a great deal of people missing out on an important marketing strategy.

We Support Indie Artists: 50djs50states.com

The information below is a guest post provided by 50djs50states.com.

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We also offer professional high quality mixtape services and great results that will deliver a very good outcome for all musicians that choose our services. Our services are created to work seamlessly and deliver a great outcome for the indie underground artist. You can also buy beats from our site, beats that will help you create better music and stand in front of the competition.

If you want artist promotion or just need the proper mixtape placements, we can help as we have all the platforms, tools and people need to get the best possible results the industry can offer.

Price examples

1. We are offering you mixtapes and mixtape slots for $50 and more. If you want to stand out by including a slot and picture on the cover, then we will charge $75 or more.

2. Our website has an indie playlist app that offers a similar service to Pandora. If you want to receive online promotion via our app, you will have to pay a one-time fee of $14.99. It's a good idea to opt for both mixtape placement and online promotion via our app, as both these options will help your career! Our app reaches thousands of listeners on a daily basis and sometimes the listener number can go up to 500,000 or even more, especially when we drop promos and mixtapes.

3. Our artist promotion service uses the online promotion tools at our disposal in order to offer professional marketing and branding services for producers, DJs and artists. With just $500 per month you can have a constant presence on our social sites such as Twitter, YouTube and Facebook. Most of the time you can end up with thousands of views, thousands of followers and a wide range of new subscribers as well.

If you are serious about your music and you do want to generate a career in the industry, then you just need $595 for all our services. It's a great way to receive the artist promotion you always wanted, and an inexpensive one as well.

You can reach us at #join 2166597542 if you want to access our services or if you have any questions about them! You can also use our site to kickstart your career as well, since you can easily buy beats and integrate them into your projects!

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Meet Marc Heighway, Online Marketing Consultant

Marc Heighway is an online marketing consultant who lives and works on the south coast of the United Kingdom. He has worked in the industry for over 15 years and specializes in helping law firms generate more business online. He was worked abroad and for some large companies and in this interview offers his insights into the world of online marketing, strategies, and some of his own personal experiences.

1. Could you please give a brief introduction to who you are and what you do?

Thanks for giving me the opportunity! I am English and have worked in the online sector since the year 2000. I currently run a business that provides online marketing services and lead generation to the legal industry. This involves quite a few different disciplines including search engine optimization and in-bound marketing strategies.

2. I know that you worked abroad for a few years--what's your insight into that experience, and do you have any advice you can give to other people thinking about doing the same?

Sure. Before I ran my own business, I was the European online marketing manager for an American company called Garmin. They moved me over to Switzerland to manage all their online marketing, and I ended up living in the north of the country.

It was a fantastic experience for my wife and me. We would wake up and see the Swiss Alps from our bedroom window each morning, traveled extensively, and tasted a very different way of life. If any of your readers are given a similar opportunity, then I hope they grasp it with both hands.

3. Could you tell me a little more about your own business and what exactly it is that you do?

For the last few years, I have run SEO agencies serving a wide range of clients. Many of our clients have been personal injury lawyers and personal injury solicitors. It made sense to start specializing in that field, because I think that you can bring a lot more value as a specialist marketing agency to companies in a particular field.

So with that in mind, recently the parent company of my SEO agencies that I own, FIMA Digital, has started to exclusively work with personal injury firms, in particular the field of online lead generation. On the FIMA Digital website there's a lot more information about how this works.

We provide specialist solutions to them, and help generate millions of pounds of business into the industry each and every year.

This also involves aspects such as an affiliate program which you can read more about on our corporate website. That lets other suppliers jump on board with us and start monetizing their content to visitors which can then go into use the services of the UK solicitors and accident claims companies that we partner with.

4. What does a typical day involve in your offices?

Currently, it seems to involve a lot of phone calls from our clients. My role is really to be the main point of contact for the firms using our services, providing the specialist knowledge to them, whilst the employees of FIMA then action the strategies that I have helped to develop.

No one day is the same.

5. How it the world of online marketing changing, if at all?

Good question. I think that search engine optimization in particular is changing, and has undoubtedly become more difficult over the last two years. This has meant that a lot of the old agencies who didn't really understand it have started to drop off.

Consequently, there is a demand for more specialist support, which is how I view FIMA Digital and how our proposition fits with the aspirations of our clients.

6. One more question! Do you have any tips for aspiring online marketers and have any advice on what they could do?

I started out with SEO, building my own websites which I then ran through affiliate marketing channels. This is a great way to start if you want to dip your toes into the industry. I also think that it's very worthwhile now looking into paid search, because ultimately you don't want to have all your eggs in one basket as can often be the case when relying just on organic search traffic.

Thanks, Marc!

Meet Kate Morris of Personal Injury Solicitors of Bolton

Kate Morris is a marketing manager for a UK firm of personal injury lawyers. She is based in Bolton, which is near the larger city of Manchester, and has been involved in legal marketing for over a decade. In this interview, she tells us about how she got involved in working with lawyers, and what her aspirations are for the future.

1. Could you give us a quick introduction to your current role and what you typical day looks like?

Sure! I am currently the marketing manager for Personal Injury Solicitors of Bolton. For your American readers, a solicitor is the English term for a lawyer. In simple terms, the company and law firm offer legal advice to people who have been involved in accidents where they need legal representation.

We are a team of no win no fee solicitors in Bolton. You can find out more about the mechanics of the company on our corporate website. No win no fee essentially means that we work on a client's behalf for free until successful completion of a personal injury claim, at which point we take a fee from their final compensation payment.

As the marketing manager, it's my responsibility to implement and grow strategies that bring more clients to our door. The no win no fee and personal injury market in the UK is very competitive, kind of like the US market as far as I am aware, and as such you need to be on top of your game to stand out.

2. So how exactly do you differentiate yourselves from the competition? If the accident claims industry is so competitive, this must be quite a challenge.

You are absolutely right. But we try really hard to be different. From the moment we get a call from someone who has requested accident claims advice, we try to put them at ease, listen to them, and treat them like a person, not a number with a financial figure placed on it.

So many accident claims companies, not just in Bolton but around the UK, are all about the bottom line. In other words, profit and revenues. I like to think that we are a little bit different in our approach to our clients, and our no win no fee solicitors are all selected on their personality as well as their expertise.

The reviews that we frequently get online should bear that up to scrutiny, so I hope that we continue to grow our business based on our reputation. It certainly seems to be working in the Bolton area at the moment, so I hope to grow that further.

3. What is the process when someone in Bolton calls you for accident claims advice? I see from your website that you are open 24 hours a day.

That's right. An accident can happen anytime and anyplace, so we think it's imperative that we are always available on call, so to speak. I believe, and as far as I know, we are the only no win no fee personal injury lawyers open 24 hours a day and 7 days a week in Bolton.

In terms of the process, when a person calls us, they will at first talk to one of our phone operators, rather than an actual personal injury lawyer. One of our team take some details about their accident and the circumstances and can quickly ascertain whether or not there is a case for a personal injury claim for compensation.

If there is, we will then arrange an appointment with a local Bolton personal injury solicitor. It's worth pointing out that this whole process is free, and the consultation over the phone is absolutely no obligation and no strings attached. That's how we like to work, and all cases are run through the no win no fee agreements in this manner.

4. It sounds like you're having lots of success. What are your plans for the future with the company and marketing strategies?

For me, I still have so much in mind that I want to achieve in Bolton. I think I am a year off completing our initial targets. After those are hit, it would be nice to see if we can roll our services out to the rest of the UK. But that's going to take a huge amount of work. But, if you don't aim high....

In terms of marketing, I know we still have a lot to do with our social media marketing. We want to get more active on Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus as so many people now look for personal services in this way. We might have to recruit soon for a social media manager, so watch this space!

Thanks, Kate!

Meet Dan Anton, Atlanta SEO Online Marketer

Dan Anton is an Army veteran who has found success as an online marketer and SEO expert. After experiencing a a combat injury in 2008, he found a new career online--in fact, within six months, his online business had made him over a million dollars. See a full list of Dan Anton's military achievements and awards at http://dananton.com/awards-testimonials.

1. Before you were known as one of the best online marketers in the world, you were in the Army. Can you tell us a little about your military life?

When the towers fell on September 11, 2001, I was 21 at the time and ready to graduate with honors from Mount Clair State University. This event altered my life forever; I decided right then and there that I was not only going to become a soldier, but I was ready to defend America and aggressively pursue anything that threatened her existence.

I didn't want to just "join"--I wanted to test myself, which is why I became an Infantry Army Ranger, and retired as a Major, completing two tours of combat duty in Iraq. I received two bronze stars for combat related actions, but on my last deployment my convoy was hit by an IED, badly injuring my spine, which directly led to my next career, online marketing.

2. You primarily focus on SEO, and software. How does it work?

SEO is short for search engine optimization. One of the lessons I learned from the Army was systemizing and streamlining processes. Creating large websites, optimizing them, and promoting them is more akin to a science than random happenstance. Of course, the human element is critical, which is why experience and the right team in place is critical to success. Simply put, I develop SEO software and services that deliver results.

3. How useful is your computer science background for your career?

I've always been fond of working with computers and technology. Even before going to Officer Training School, I studied Computer Science. Fast forward to today: it's invaluable as it allows me to not only see problems from a "coder" perspective but also intelligently lead and critique our development team. Considering the bulk of our business is software based, college helped prepare me well.

4. What was your first venture online?

I've been making money online since 1999, when I use to sell informational guides for video games such as World of Warcraft and sell used video games online. My military career always came first, so I had to back burner a lot of ideas until I had more time and more money. In 2006, around the time of Myspace and social networks popping up, my brother and I created a social network for gamers. We had thousands of loyal members but just didn't have the big venture capital required to launch a massive website to rival Myspace, Facebook, Reddit, etc. It taught me a great lesson on scaling properly, cash flow, and focusing on services to help others, versus trying to be an island and achieve success alone.

5. Do you have advice for anyone looking to switch careers?

Never switch careers because you are picking the lesser of two evils. There are so many different ways to make money and/or help others, so you should really sit down and think about what type of person you want to become, and not force a decision. In my case, I knew my military career was over, but a new, growing passion pulled me towards helping business owners achieve even more success. The more you attempt to help others, the more you will see a new career unfolding before you as a service is a need, and if it's a need it can become a fine-tuned skillset to earn a living as a career and not just a job.

If you are a business owner and wish to reach out about our Atlanta SEO brand, follow the website and contact form.

Thanks, Dan!

Meet Chris Spaulding, Creator of the Simple Marketing System

Creator of The Simple Marketing System®, Chris Spaulding is a marketing consultant and on-demand lead generation specialist. With more than 13 years experience in direct response marketing, copywriting, and face-to-face selling Chris has a proven track record of success. He knows how to sell. In the Simple Marketing System, Chris has created an intuitive, scalable, customized approach to marketing and selling products and service off- and online. The Simple Marketing System is a multi-step approach to growing a business that increases leads and sales without spending more money on marketing. Chris is also an adjunct professor in the Rutgers University mini-MBA programs.

1. What inspired you to create your Simple Marketing System?

Well, my background is sales and marketing. I started off in real estate and then moved to selling consulting services to the financial industry. I've always been sort of a business growth addict, and I consume anything I can get my hands on related to business growth. Sales, marketing, copywriting, anything that can help me more effectively convince someone to buy.

While I learned something useful from every book I read, every course I took, or every cd I listened to, there was no real system or framework behind it all I could use to put it all together. I took a little bit from one expert and a little bit from another and applied it to the businesses I was involved in.

Then, after a lot of frustration, I realized, in order for a business to be successful, it needs two types of systems. And, if you can build these systems, you can grow any business predictably. First, there needs to be systems to find, engage, and convert prospects to paying clients, customers, or patients. Then, there needs to be systems to increase the value of current and past clients.

Most businesses only concentrate on finding new clients, and they practice what I call "random acts of marketing." They do everything tactically, with no clear strategy around growing their business.

That's why I created Business Marketing Solutions and the Simple Marketing System. I wanted to give business owners a way to strategically grow their businesses by creating a steady, predictable flow of new business, and a way to maximize the business they already have.

2. Why is lead generation so difficult for many people?

Most business owners and unfortunately most people who hold themselves out as marketing or advertising professionals do not know or do not understand the purpose of marketing. They practice random acts of marketing, and they are always looking for the "next big thing" or some magic bullet that will solve all of their business woes rather than thinking and acting strategically. Because they don't know how to effectively generate leads, they constantly worry where their next client will come from. They stay up at night and wonder how they will keep the lights on or make payroll. This is no way to run a business, and it affects their whole life.

As I said before, businesses need systems to find and convert new prospects into high value clients. There are three steps to creating effective lead generation. Unfortunately, most businesses skip the first step.

To create marketing or lead generation programs that work, you need to deeply understand who your ideal prospect is. Not just their demographics, but also their psychographics. You need to know their interests, behaviors, beliefs, values, fears, goals, etc. so you can reach them effectively. You need to understand what problem they have or what goal they are trying to achieve and how your product or service fits in. What problem does it solve? What transformation does it deliver that your ideal prospect cares about?

As behavioral expert Wyatt Woodsmall said, "If you can describe someone's problem better than they can describe it themselves, they will naturally assume you have the solution." As a marketer or business owner, you have to have a deep understanding of who your ideal prospects are. Most marketers make lots of costly assumptions and never take the time to develop this understanding of their target market. Because they skip this step, it becomes very hard for them to create effective offers and compelling messages that capture their markets attention and generate quality leads for their business.

This is why we created our "on-demand lead generation" services. We use cutting edge technology to generate high quality, highly qualified leads for our clients, and it all starts with getting deep inside the heads of our ideal prospects.

3. Can you give us an example of a marketing-related activity that a lot of businesses are making a lot harder for themselves than it should be?

Most businesses make marketing and business growth overall a lot more complicated than it has to be. It is not easy, but it is not rocket science either. As we discussed a little while ago, most businesses are tactical, not strategic. They are constantly worried about generating revenue to meet their immediate needs, like payroll. It's like their business is living paycheck-to-paycheck. What they need to do is strategically engineer a plan to get their business where they want it to be.

Part of this is to develop systems to generate clients and systems to increase the values of the ones they already have. Rather than running an ad in a local newspaper, doing some radio or TV, trying google AdWords, or whatever other media they can find, businesses need to assess where they are today, optimize their current marketing assets and then, look to strategically implement new marketing channels. Before the business starts introducing new means of attracting customers, they need to first make sure they are fully leveraging everything they are doing today. This is a core philosophy within The Simple Marketing System.

They also need to realize that the only purpose of marketing is to generate profits for their business. It is not to be cute, creative, or funny. Most of what passes for marketing today is pathetic. Results matter, period. If a business runs a campaign and it sells, that is good. If it doesn't, it's not, and it needs to be stopped or changed until it starts generating positive ROI. Unfortunately, most businesses are sold immeasurable marketing. If you can't track the success or failure of a campaign, don't run it.

I recently had a client tell me she was told it could take up to a year for an ad she is running in a local paper to generate a return. The media salesman told her she first needs to build brand recognition. Brand recognition has its place, but it doesn't trump ROI. BS like this gets me so mad. Too many businesses are led down this path.

4. What do you most enjoy about working in the marketing field?

I love interacting with entrepreneurs and figuring out how to take their business to the next level. Whether it's turning around a struggling business, helping a startup get into profitability, or taking a six or seven figure business to the next level, I love working with and having the opportunity to help entrepreneurs.

5. For a small business owner who is feeling stuck when it comes to growing their business, what's your best advice for starting to get un-stuck and learning how to find new clients/customers?

Focus on marketing. It is the most powerful leverage point within your business. It's critical that you learn how to generate clients, customers, or patients on-demand, and you have to know how to get the most value from the ones you already have.

I offer free 30 minute Business Opportunity Strategy sessions to business owners to help you get started. You can apply on my website, www.SimpleMarketingSystem.com.

Meet Dave K. of FanPageCash.org and ViralAccounts.com

Dave K. is the founder of a company that buys and sells viral social media accounts. Learn more about how to buy or sell accounts by visiting FanPageCash.org/ and ViralAccounts.com.

1. How did your company get started?

I started in 2010; back then the company was called FanPageCash. The website was built for my needs only, and it was never intended to be used commercially. I wanted to purchase Facebook fan pages to boost traffic to my websites, and in order to do so, I needed to raise legitimacy. The website provided just that, and FanPageCash.org was basically used as my online business card / portfolio. Even though the website was finished and I used it a few times, I had abandoned the project and moved onto different things. The website just sat there, collecting dust for nearly a year. Two months before the domain was set to expire, I noticed that people had actually started to visit the site, as I was getting new emails from willing fan page sellers. I decided to capitalize on this, and since then I've been buying and selling viral social media properties.

2. What are some reasons why people want to buy or sell social media accounts?

Well, people sell for obvious reasons, and the main one is money. Most viral account owners became popular out of pure luck. Usually a single funny image or video (and a bit of luck) is enough for a social property to become viral. The buyers, on the other hand, are mostly website owners who are looking to boost traffic on their websites. Social properties are the most cost-effective way of doing so (compared to paid ads). Typically, a website owner will purchase such a property and post relevant content to engage the fan base. In return, the fans/followers flock to the owner's website, and the owner reaps the benefits of extra ad revenue.

3. If an account was popular at one time but has been dormant for a while, what are some ways you've seen that buyers generate new interest in an old account?

This is really a hit or miss. There is no way of telling if a dormant account can be brought back to life, and on top of everything else, it is very difficult to revive one. One of the methods that works from time to time is to use a different, already active account to boost the popularity of the inactive one by shoutouts / retweeting or cross-sharing content.

4. What makes an account attractive to potential buyers?

Unlike paid ads where a business has to pay for every click or view, established social properties are a one-time investment. After the initial purchase, the buyer can advertise on it indefinitely, providing that he does it in a non-intrusive way. Over-spamming a viral property with irrelevant products will most likely kill the activity, thus ruining the buyer's investment. I always encourage posting quality content that complies with the social platform policies.

5. Are there any guidelines or terms of service that potential sellers should know about being asking you about selling an account?

There are too many to list. We go through extensive background checks, and not all properties qualify. Everything a seller needs to know can be found in our basic seller rules located here: http://viralaccounts.com/sell/.

Thanks, Dave!

Meet Hawk Mikado, Speaker, Author, and CEO of InVert

Hawk Mikado is an expert in online to offline marketing and sales systems. He has built over seven profitable businesses, in the multi-six figures. He is an entrepreneur, an adventurer, and a family man. He has a very giving heart, dedicating his time to helping companies increase revenues and their employees become focused on their passion and confident about their path.

You can contact him via email at Concierge@InVertStrategies.com, phone at 855.350.4295, and Skype at InVertMarketing. To download your free copy of The 3 Major Challenges That Can Kill Your Business... And How to Avoid Them, go to http://nvrt.me/3killers or text InVert to 96-000.

1. Would you tell us a little bit about your experience starting and running businesses as a teenager?

In sixth grade, everyone in my class had the opportunity to start a company. By that point, I had already had a few businesses, and I was helping with family companies. By the time I was 18, I had started six companies. To this day I've started over 21 companies, and seven of them have been profitable, including my current company, which started in that sixth grade class and had developed over the years.

It hasn't always been easy. There have been many companies, projects, products, etc that I've launched, and they completely failed and given me the experiences that have helped me to get our company to where it is today.

2. What inspired you to write The 3 Major Challenges That Can Kill Your Business... And How to Avoid Them?

The biggest change that I saw was when we were generating highly targeted and qualified leads, we started offering big-ticket sales, and we got the right people on our team.

Helping businesses succeed and be excellent is a passion of mine. Over the years I've seen the same three major challenges arise in every project, business, product launch, etc.

These are three major challenges that every business will face at some point. The challenge becomes how to overcome them if you're in the middle of them AND how to avoid them if you haven't experienced them yet.

In our eBook The 3 Major Challenges That Can Kill Your Business... And How to Avoid Them, we discuss the simple yet important keys to developing a business that will grow with you through the million and multi million dollar marks in your growth.

The best part about this is that these three "laws" of business are seen by businesses that are making multiple billions to those just starting out.

The first challenge is all about your relationships. Building relationships with the leads you have, with new leads, and most importantly with your centers of influence that will bring you more leads.

You're not going to get the QUALIFIED leads your business needs to grow if you can't get leads to come to your door in the first place. In our eBook we share very cool techniques on how to develop these relationships.

The second challenge is related to making sales. This means you have to convert the leads you get into PAYING customers. Yet not just any type of paying customer--you're going to need some BIG-TICKET products and services that you can offer and sell.

The amount of energy you spend to land a $500 client is about the same as a $5,000 or even $50,000 client. So why are you focusing on the $500s when you have $1,000s lying at your door! We share with you some strategies and tactics to make the transition in the book.

The last is around your team. Most companies hire fast and fire slow... We believe that you should be hiring fast and firing faster.... ONLY if they're not a good fit. The right team can make all of the difference, and having the tools that get you the results you want to begin with is even better.

Another part of your team is your centers of influence. They are the JVs, affiliates, and promotional partners that give you the ability to leverage everything you're doing.

If you're interested in learning all of these things, you can download our book and watch the free training video inside as well.

Text InVert to 96000 or visit http://NVRT.ME/3Killers.

3. Why did you decide to focus on selling your book through your own website rather than through online booksellers?

My book is actually free, and so is the training that's included in the book. It's going to be part of our 2015.5 CMO Handbook, which is an Amazon Best Seller. That book is normally $197, but we offer it for free as well as long as our clients cover shipping costs.

We do it for lead generation, and we teach all about this in our books and trainings.

If you're considering selling your book, you want to think of the question: do you want to make book sales or big-ticket sales? The latter of course, so give your book away for free and get their info so you can follow up.

4. Your book is geared toward people who are already entrepreneurs, but what is your advice to people who have always wanted to start a business but have felt hesitant and never given it a try?

You're never going to be fully prepared to have a baby, so why would you be fully prepared to start a business? Jump in with both feet. If you're not a CEO, then hire a CEO.

Go network, build relationships offline, get on LinkedIn (use it as your website to start), and get market feedback.

And read these books: City Of Influence by Influence International, The E-Myth by Michael Gerber, and Think and Grow Rich.

5. What responses have you received to your book so far?

Everyone wants to know all about it, and we have lots of people excited for the free LIVE training on June 30th that is gifted with the download of the book.

Thanks, Hawk!

Meet Matt Anton, SEO Consultant

Matt Anton is an online marketer with a current focus on SEO, also known as search engine optimization, creating products and services to help clients rank their businesses in Google.

1. You and your brother spent a long time learning-by-doing before starting your own company. What ultimately was the tipping point that led you into going into business for yourselves?

The tipping point was when I had a corporate job as an online marketing manager of a billion dollar travel agency, and I realized the companies we were outsourcing to, i.e. the SEO agency and PPC agency, were not doing a whole lot to earn the amazing amounts of money the travel agency was paying them. I loved the corporate job at first because I wanted to really help with my knowledge and passion, but the red tape and middle man mentality really left me wanting more. Around the same time, my brother Dan Anton was injured from a combat IED in Iraq; he is a retired Army Ranger Major having completed two tours in Iraq, receiving two bronze stars for valor in combat. He didn't want to be a desk general, and so he started to get more serious about our online marketing efforts. From 2006-2011 we were both part-time online marketers, though we made some money with it. In 2011, the corporate rat race was over, and Dan and I were ready to take the plunge and provide services to other marketers.

2. How would you summarize the scope of your business and how you help people?

Our mission is to help businesses achieve more success, and the vehicles were currently use to get there are focused around SEO, search engine optimization, and social media marketing. Dan and myself played video games constantly growing up, so we always love to figure ways around systems, test them, break them, and thrive at them. SEO and online marketing is just a game, and we love it, and there is no better feeling in the world than helping others, so it's a true win-win.

3. Why is it important to hire a professional SEO consultant rather than only taking a DIY approach to online marketing?

I believe if you hire someone you should always have a basic understanding so you don't get taken advantage of; however, the economy runs smoothly because everyone has a specialty. You wouldn't expect your local butcher to change your oil and fix your broken arm. If you have a real business, you need to have a real SEO consultant/service behind it; otherwise you will be dividing your efforts.

4. What are some things that people can do for free to help build reputable backlinks to their websites?

A great user experience. It sounds cliche that a quality website and content means a lot, but it truly does. In my younger years, I assumed all it took was the right mass media machine and all would work out. While it's probably easier to promote a decent product with mass marketing, few of us have this type of budget, so the easier solution is to create a great product (website/content) and have effective marketing behind it. Reaching out to others and begging sounds good in theory, but it's a waste of time. Would you want to link out to someone begging you for a link? Relationships are good, but they are founded on trust, and that starts with your reputation, which is directly linked to your internet presence and content.

5. For people who have always wanted to be entrepreneurs but have never quite managed to take the leap, what's your advice?

Keep your day job. I lived in my parents' basement more or less for years while I worked odd jobs saving up the funds to start. The thing about services is you don't have to invest much money at all to help someone else; most services can be time consuming, not capital consuming, so do it before or after your regular full/part-time job. It will make you appreciate it more, and not having a job while you work on your journey will make you desperate and take unnecessary risks and decisions. You'll know when you are ready when your workload begins to exceed hours available, and then you go down the outsourcing/delegation rabbit hole.

Thanks, Matt!

Meet Jordan Hernandez, Entrepreneur and Afghanistan Veteran

Jordan Hernandez is a veteran of the US military who served in Afghanistan. Now living in Texas with his wife, Dulce, he is working on starting his own business called Article Express. He is raising start-up funds for his business through this GoFundMe campaign. Jordan also hopes to help his parents and brother through his new business.

1. When it came to developing a business idea, what inspired you to focus on an online-based business?

The thing I love about doing anything online is that it's liberating--it's totally creative. I feel as though this was how the "American Dream" was back when we had such a massive and booming society. It allows anyone with a vision to create it and get the benefits from that creation.

2. Why did you decide to create a site focused on articles and content marketing?

Well, I started meditating a few years ago, and it has helped open up my consciousness so much. It helped me understand what thoughts ran through my head, and how to better interpret the meaning of those thoughts. The way I understood what popped into my head has led me to a gut decision that this is something that I am meant to do too liberate my family's life! So I'm doing it, one way or another!

3. For you as a reader, what makes for interesting web content--and what keeps you coming back to a website?

Anything that would keep me coming back would have to be giving me insight on something. It's that feeling whenever you hear something so true that you just can't help but smile and shout "YES!!! I know exactly what you mean!!".

4. Why did you decide to kick off your project by seeking backers through a crowdfunding platform?

Honestly, I decided to go this route because I would like to avoid the debt of a loan. My wife and I are trying to get a new house which we got pre-approved for, and took on a new car bill recently as well. Reaching my goals this way will avoid all the excess debt we just can't handle. I believe when people see a legitimate cause, they are compassionate, and they are loving. I have high hopes for humanity.

5. As you and your wife look ahead to the next year or so, what are your goals?

I try to place myself in this present moment. If I do try to think of a future, I'm creating separation from this moment, and now have a chance to be dragged down by thoughts of anxiety and worry. In the present moment that will be in the "future" so to speak, we are hoping to accomplish an income that will take care of us and my family around us. I hope to help my father and brother who are addicted to antidepressants, and to free my mother from a household of gang retaliation due to my brother's lifestyle. I just wish to ease the pain and hurt from their minds. Thinking about that every day must be torture.

These pictures show my brother today, and back when we were kids.

Thank you for taking the time to interview me!

Thanks, Jordan!