ChrisKilber.com

Health · Wealth · Freedom in a Modern World

What’s Your One Thing?

November 8th, 2010

For the last month I’ve been immersing myself into the study of procrastination. What I’ve found is a combination of parts of right vs. left brain thinking, of rational vs. emotional thinking, of conscious vs. sub-conscious thinking, psychology, and a self discovery of what “The Thing” was in the movie, City Slickers.

Now I can’t really tell you what it is because it’s going to be different for everybody. What I can do is tell you that it will make you realize that you know what you don’t know. That is that you are being controlled by your subconscious that was conditioned in the past by things that happened in the past.

What I’ve found is that many of the habits you need to succeed in life and in business, persistence, confidence, discipline, integrity, empathy, character, curiosity, genuineness, and honesty, you are aware of in your everyday conscious thinking, may be at odds to what your subconscious tells you. Your sub-conscious has been conditioned by experiences you’ve learned over time, but most were learned when you were a child.

People act because of really only two things; it’s because either they like something, or because they don’t. We’re talking about the pleasure and pain dichotomy here. In a sense, we are like Pavloinian subjects and the first word everyone learns is “no”. We learn real fast what that means. We are told it starting when we are infants and it continues for as long as we let it. In some respects just about everyone is telling us what we can do and what we can’t. So when we decide to buck the trend and become an entrepreneur we are faced with people who say we can’t do that. It’s expected we get a “real” job and

A Perfect Day – Where Would You Live

January 31st, 2010

I was over on Chris Hughs blog, (definitely check it out WhosChrisHughes.com ) and he asked as the title of one of this blog posts, “What’s Your Perfect Day”?

This is a very subjective question and we all have different answers. So to help with “MY” and maybe “YOUR” introspection, here is the answer to the first question. And even though I’ve seen this question asked before out here on the web, I’ll answer his. Remember, it’s a “Perfect Day”. I will get to several other questions of the set in later posts. So I ask you to also answer this and let someone know what it is either here, on his site, or your own.

So for now…

Where would you live?
I am a novice traveler but only because I’ve not spent time in been to places that most people haven’t even thought about going to. So my definition of a novice means that being or spending time in Paris, London, Rome, or Berlin, I’ve only gone through their airports. Yes, one day I will be going to Katmandu. I’m one that ALWAYS like to take the path that is least traveled. I enjoy being a rebel. I don’t choose paths because there is less resistance, but because I’ve taken a comprehensive critical look at the facts. This doesn’t stifle any of curiosity nor does it say I’m predictable. I’m number one, an individual. (This information really prefaces all my answers to all of Chris’s questions as well.)

I would like to have homes all around the world. They also are not all going to be in the cities either. I may give locations that are large cities or are a country, but only because either I have not been there yet, or would always have to explain where they are located. The places I have got to live that were outside the United States are limited but I’ve been lucky to spend weeks at a time in may places.

Curiosity is Cool for a Marketing Cat Like You

October 27th, 2009

coolcatOne way you can get traffic to your blog is to get people returning to your blog over and over. You should have a heavy emphasis on your returning visitors. After all, they took the time to visit your blog before and if you can keep your content valuable there is no reason they won’t come back. Yes, people like the valuable information that you provide, but they also enjoy you. Gary Vanerchuck says in his latest book, CRUSH IT, that we have to admit there is a bit of voyeur in all of us. I’m not sure about that but I do know people are curious.

My Mistake
One thing that I may be guilty of but have remedied recently is letting people know more about me. I was remiss in stories about “me”. These stories are the things people like to read. They do it for many reasons. The number one reason in my book is curiosity.

Welcome Curiosity
Curiosity may kill the cat but it will not kill the sale and this is why. If you look at the experience of someone visiting your site, they not only look at the content but also try and make formulated hypothesis about the characters they read about as well. The truth is that people love stories. They like to relate to the story and the characters they read about. They like to read about preferences, history, culture, and practices. They want to be a part of the plot. They do this by finding and reading information about you and those who leave comments on your blog. See http://www.chriskilber.com/using-psychology-to-sell/. The better you are making yourself someone that your readers can relate too, the more they will return.

Curiosity Raises Questions
Curiosity also makes people ask questions. These are usually not questions verbatim to others but questions they ask themselves. If you can figure out what they may be and answer them you then positioned yourself as someone who has great insight and can be considered an authority in your potential customer’s eyes. If you are clever you can also craft your writing to lead people to ask questions to themselves and then answer them. Not only will this build insightfulness into your writing but they will also gain their trust.

Focus on Readers
An aspect of using curiosity in your marketing is that by focusing on the curiosity of your potential customers, you can use it to provide value to your readers that are based on their questions and needs. It will help you hone in on value. Traditional sales and marketing has you always focusing on getting the sale, the closing, or qualifying. These tend to devalue the customer which is the farthest thing from what you want to do.

Respect
Using curiosity helps reinforce that it’s the relationship, not the product that sells. It may surprise the potential customer in a positive way by re-framing their expectations and view of you. It shows the potential customer that you can focus on things outside of yourself and your product. The customer or prospect will also realize you have a process that respects the customer. By using this approach you will always have a reasonable and best possible excuse for a follow up call. Finally, you will gain enormous respect.

Summary
So you see curiosity can helps both the potential customer and you by staying focused on the customers internal and external questions that they may have. You can use this to come across as being insightful and an absolute authority in your niche.

Questions
Have you use curiosity to help attract customers or clients?
What was it specifically?
Do you have any examples that you particularly like best?

Twitter 101 – Tools For Twitter

August 28th, 2009

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Twitter has earned a reputation for not only super communication, but for actually improving your life.  People  can use it to expand their social circle, promote their side business, keep their coursework organized, and more.  These tools will help you for whatever purpose you want to use it for.

Twitter Analysis

If your goal is to be popular and influential on Twitter, be sure to check out these tools that will tell you how you’re doing.

  1. Twitter Grader: Learn your Twitter grade, your local Twitter Elite, and find new people to follow through Twitter Grader.
  2. Twitterholic: Check out the top Twitter users and find out your Twitter stats on Twitterholic.
  3. TweetStats: TweetStats offers a graphical analysis of your Twitter stats.
  4. Twitter Friends: Carefully measure your Twitter conversations using Twitter Friends.
  5. Twinfluence: Twinfluence will measure your Twitter influence based on reach, velocity, and social capital.
  6. Tweetwasters: Find out how much time you and other users waste on Twitter.
  7. Tweet-Rank: Learn about the quality of your tweets by finding out which ones won or lost followers.
  8. Mr. Milestone: Get a tweet when you reach various milestones using this Twitter tool.
  9. Retweetrank: Find out how many retweets you and other Twitter users have through this service.

Information Gathering

With these tools, you and gather information for market research, blog posts, and your own simple curiosity.

  1. search.tEarn.com: Unique, social network for viewing photos and videos on any topic and chatting with Twitter users interested in the same subject. Search on any topic.
  2. @myflightinfo: Use @myflightinfo to stay updated on your flight’s status.
  3. Twitterverse: Check out archived timelines and tweets through Twitterverse.
  4. Twitscoop: Twitscoop shares what’s hot on Twitter at any given moment.
  5. Twitbuzz: Twitbuzz tracks the latest conversations as well as popular Twitter links.
  6. StrawPoll: Use StrawPoll to make sharing your opinion as easy as sending an @reply.
  7. Retweetist: This service ranks the hottest links being retweeted on Twitter.
  8. Monitter: Get real time keyword monitoring on Twitter from Monitter.
  9. TweetNews: TweetNews ranks stories based on the amount of related tweets.
  10. TwitterBuzz: TwitterBuzz will tell you what’s being linked to the most on Twitter.
  11. Tweetscan: Set up Tweetscan to make sure you don’t miss any @replies, and to get alerted of your search queries.

Network Building & Management

Find more relevant Twitter users with the help of these tools.

  1. Twitter Local: With this service, you can see tweets from Twitter users in a specific location.
  2. Twubble: Twubble will expand your Twitter bubble, picking out people you may like to follow.
  3. MyCleenr: Sort your friends by their last tweets, and you can get rid of the inactive and useless accounts you’re following.
  4. Follow Cost: This tool will tell you how much effort it takes to follow someone.
  5. Tweepler: Use Tweepler to organize your tweeps based on whether you’re following them or not.
  6. Just Tweet It: Find Tweeple, tools, Twitter bots and more through this directory.
  7. TweetWheel: TweetWheel will help you discover which of your Twitter friends know each other.
  8. SocialToo: SocialToo will help you keep track of all of the people who have followed or unfollowed you.
  9. Twitoria: Reduce your clutter on Twitter by finding your friends that haven’t tweeted in a long time.
  10. TwitDir: With TwitDir, you’ll be able to search for people, and exploring categories including top followers and updaters.
  11. Who Should I Follow?: Using this site, you can get good recommendations for Tweeps to follow.
  12. Nearbytweets: Learn about all of the Twitter users in a specific area with the help of Nearbytweets.
  13. Twellow: Find Twitter users in a specific industry using this service.
  14. Mr. Tweet: Mr. Tweet is a personal networking assistant for Twitter, helping you find relevant followers.
  15. Qwitter: Qwitter will help you manage your network by sending an alert when a person unfollows you.

Twitter Management

Save your time and cull your Twitter list with the help of these tools.

  1. Summize: Retrieve information on Twitter quickly to search Twitter in real time.
  2. Tweet O’Clock: Trying to reach someone? Tweet O’Clock will help you find the best time to get their attention.
  3. Just Signal: Set up a filter using Just Signal to get only the tweets that discuss the keywords you’d like to read about.
  4. TweepSearch: Put your Twitter network to good use and search your followers for specific parameters.
  5. Friend or Follow: Manage your Twitter contacts and find out who’s not following you back through Friend or Follow.
  6. TwitResponse: TwitResponse makes it easy for you to schedule the delivery of your tweets ahead of time.
  7. TwitterSnooze: Put the pause button on a particular user for a while with Twitter Snooze.
  8. Twitterless: Get notified when someone stops following you with Twitterless.
  9. Twilert: Track specific keywords to receive alerts for using Twilert.
  10. Tweetdeck: Tweetdeck has a groups function that will help you more efficiently follow the people you really want to listen to.
  11. Twalala: Put the mute button on certain people and topics for a while if you are receiving lots of updates you’re not really interested in.

Sharing Tools

Promote your business, share photos, and more using these Twitter tools.

  1. Tweetburner: Use Tweetburner to share links, and you can track their usage.
  2. Twitpic: Twitpic makes it easy to take mobile phone photos and share them using your Twitter account.
  3. TwitterHawk: Get targeted marketing on Twitter through TwitterHawk.
  4. Acamin: Acamin makes it easy to share files on Twitter with your followers.
  5. Glue: Post links to books, movies, restaurants and more on Twitter through Glue.
  6. Ping.fm: This service will update all of your social networks at once.
  7. TweeTube: TweeTube makes it easy to share videos on Twitter.
  8. twiggit: Use this automated service to share the articles you digg on Twitter.
  9. Twisten.fm: Share what you’re listening to on Twitter through Twisten.fm.

Organization & Productivity

These Twitter tools will make your life a bit more streamlined.

  1. Twittercal: Link your Twitter account and Google Calendar to easily keep up with your events and appointments.
  2. Timer: Use Timer to get reminders about tasks through your Twitter account.
  3. TwitterNotes: Organize your notes using Twitter with TwitterNotes.
  4. Remember the Milk: Use Remember the Milk on Twitter to update your to do list.
  5. Tweetake: Tweetake will back up your Twitter timeline for archiving and more.
  6. Nozbe: Nozbe makes it easy to add and update your to do list on Twitter.
  7. Toodledo: This popular to do list app integrates nicely with Twitter.
  8. TrackThis: Send TrackThis your tracking number, and you’ll get Twitter messages every time there’s a change in location.
  9. Joint Contact: Get project management productivity on Twitter using Joint Contact.
  10. Tempo: This time tracking tool allows you to send in updates from Twitter.
  11. Tweet Later: Tweet Later offers a great way to set up alerts, schedule tweets, send thank you DMs, and more.
  12. OutTwit: OutTwit will make it easy for you to use Twitter inside of Outlook.
  13. Jott: Jott makes it easy for you to tweet without ever having to type, transcribing your voice message to Twitter.

Life Tools

With these tools, you can work on relationships, life tracking, and more.

  1. MyMileMarker: Keep track of your mileage with info sent via Twitter every time you fill up.
  2. 21Tweets: 21Tweets offers personal coaching on Twitter.
  3. TwtTRIP: Organize your travel plans and find other Twitter travelers on your way with TwtTRIP.
  4. Tweet Answers: Twitter Answers makes it easy to ask questions and get answers on Twitter.
  5. Twtvite: Twtvite is a simple event organizer that will help you create a tweetup.
  6. Vacatweet: Set up an autoresponder for your Twitter account with Vacatweet.
  7. plusplusbot: Share when someone goes out of their way to help you, or otherwise make your feelings known using plusplusbot.
  8. TrackDailyGoals: Use this site and the #dailygoals hashtag to keep track of your goals every day.
  9. ConnectTweet: Put the voices of your group or business together through ConnectTweet.
  10. Tweeteorology: Find tweets about the weather in any location through Tweeteorology.
  11. DreamTweet: Keep a reminder of your dreams and nightmares, and follow the dreams of others through DreamTweet.

Business & Finance

Use these tools to improve your business and finances through Twitter.

  1. Chipin: If you’re raising funds on Twitter, make use of Chipin to set a goal and let your supporters track the progress of the campaign.
  2. Xpenser: You can Twitter your expenses to Xpenser and they will be recorded for you.
  3. Twittertise: Schedule your tweets and track their clickthroughs with this app designed for Twitter advertising.
  4. TwtQpon: Create simple Twitter coupons for your business with TwtQpon.
  5. CheapTweet: Get all of the deals, sales, coupons and more being discussed on Twitter through CheapTweet.
  6. Tipjoy: Like Chipin, Tipjoy offers a way to create social payments for your cause, content, or people.
  7. SalesTwit: Get contact management for Twitter with the help of SalesTwit.
  8. Tweet What You Spend: Track your cash in a really effective way using Tweet What You Spend.
  9. StockTwits: StockTwits shares the investment discussions on Twitter in real time.

Health

Track your health using these Twitter tools.

  1. Qwitter: Update Qwitter to shame yourself into quitting smoking.
  2. TweetPlot: Use TweetPlot to chart your food and fitness statistics.
  3. Tweetwhatyoueat: Keep a food diary to track what you’re eating every day using Tweetwhatyoueat.
  4. gtFtr: Use the gtFtr tool to record your exercise activity on Twittr.
  5. SugarStats: Track, monitor, and share your blood sugar through Twitter with SugarStats.
  6. FoodFeed: This Twitter-based food log makes it easy for you to track what you’re eating.

Blogging

Bring your blog life and Twitter life together with these tools.

  1. Add to Any: Get your posts shared on Twitter by using Add to Any on your WordPress blog.
  2. TwitThis: Make use of this plugin to send Twitter messages about your blog post.
  3. MyTwitter: Use the MyTwitter plugin to display your Twitter status on WordPress.
  4. Twitpress: Twitpress will send out a Tweet every time you post a new blog entry.
  5. TwitterCounter: With this plugin, you can display the number of followers you have on Twitter.
  6. TwitterFeed: Announce your blog post on Twitter with a customized message using TwitterFeed.
  7. FriendFeed: Announce your blog post on Twitter.

Using Psychology To Sell

June 23rd, 2009

Instincts are innate and built in patterns of behavior that are not necessarily triggered consciously. You sometimes hear them referred to as tendencies or urges. They have been studied for years and will likely be so till infinity. They are highly studied by psychologists, and marketers. What if you could use your knowledge of human instincts and triggering mechanisms to set off a desirable sequence of behavior in a potential customer or prospect, for example, filling out one of your opt-ins, or purchasing something? Using apprehension, anticipation, premonitions, suspicion, discernment, inspiration, curiosity, perception, and evoking emotions such as fear, happiness, horror, laughter, concern, hate, envy, jealousy, and hunger in your content are key techniques that can trigger these built in patterns of behavior.

You see, the use of psychology plays an extremely important role in determining the correct and instinctive approach to trying to sell someone a product. I feel that if you are able talk about your product and speak directly to a consumer’s need in terms of their own buying motivations you can psychologically make them buy something from you. The classic example is that people buy the sizzle not the steak. They buy the adrenaline rush they get when pushing down the gas pedal, not that it goes from 0-60 in 8.5 seconds.

Another item that captivates people’s attention is that deep down under, people just love stories. They like the drama and the emotions that they evoke. They like the people that are involved in them. They like that life is a stage and they are simply actors. They become involved with the characters. They especially like good endings.

So now that we know that there is psychology behind the instincts and emotions of people and that it’s these emotions that drive them to act; imagine if we could reach into their psyche, involve them into a story that has high drama, and at the end be able to be superman and save their day, with our product.

So I’m hoping that what you come away from this is that it is emotion that drives people to buy, not rational facts. Not all psychological reactions are conscience. Weaving a story that directly involves deeply felt emotions and then positioning you as the hero can result in a tremendous increase in sales. Start incorporating this into all your content and copy.

ChrisKilber.com

Health · Wealth · Freedom in a Modern World

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