Many fingers were pointed, accusations made, feelings hurt… and ultimately the program TTP (TheTRAFFICPlan) basically ceased.

However, since I still get many visitors to this site and it’s one heck of a URL, I will keep writing and talking about what it takes to get traffic to your website, blog, Facebook page, and Twitter page.

Wayne Clayton

If you want success in your online business, website or blog using what you’ll learn from Franco Gonzalez or Bob DeCecco in theTRAFFICplan, you’ll undoubtedly start to come across some, if not most of these sites.

Learn of them, use them, capitalize on them.

A Cheat Sheet to Sites We Should Know: Part One

There is so much going on in social media, it’s difficult to keep up. So I’m starting a series on different aspects of the social media landscape. We start with social networking and bookmarking sites. I tried to focus on the sites with the most traction so the articles don’t get unwieldy. If the reader feels like I missed a social networking or bookmarking site with more traffic along with stickiness, please let me know (john@buyersteps.com). I’ll be happy to update the list if I feel your argument has merit. Also, if I made any mistakes, please let me know. There were a lot of numbers here and I learned long ago that I am not infallible by any stretch of the imagination.

On the market research part of this, I used Alexa, Compete and Quantcast to reflect sometimes similar metrics and sometimes differing opinions. I put some description of these services at the end. Some of Quantcast’s estimates were rough which means the website hasn’t registered with Quantcast. The demographic profiles of the users also came from Quantcast so if they use a rough estimate, please weigh that into your analysis. I hope all sites register with Quantcast soon to improve all transparency for everyone. Congratulations to everyone on the list, it’s not easy to get this much traffic, that’s the first hurdle.
http://www.buyersteps.com/profiles/blogs/the-az-of-social-media

To read more of this article, click here

Different groups with different identities and views come together in a limited space. But, guess what will happen? Of course, you know all too well - clashes and havoc breakout as the different swarms collide. In our example of the teen party, the following morning they get greeted by a trashed house that reeks of beer and if they’re lucky just a few scratched or stained furniture. (It’s strange how teens never learn from the mistakes of others or even from their own mistakes.)

Nowadays those groups are called SWARMS. A swarm has been defined as **a set of (mobile) agents which are liable to communicate directly or indirectly (by acting on their local environment) with each other, and which collectively carry out a distributed problem solving.  Researchers tell us the swarm model is: degree of separation, alignment, cohesion, and avoidance between the individuals.
** http://www.molbio.ku.dk/MolBioPages/abk/PersonalPages/Jesper/Swarm.html

What you’ll learn in theTRAFFICplan, as you get involved in marketing, you find (sometimes) the adult social networking space can show many of those same dynamics. When different groups come together in a single space, the chances of collisions are always present. As more and more presences join in you can well expect the number of collisions to increase.

With the increase in the number of meeting places, (and by that I mean forums and networking,) add to that the immense number of people who can join in from every part of the world at same time, differences will surely arise. Arguments will surely cover every conceivable aspect with conversations turning accusatory or inflammatory. How groups communicate and their attitudes soon become their brand.

Individuals then gravitate towards a group based on searches or referrals and eventually to conversations that become a point of identity for the group. The collisions of many different swarms create chaos through which an individual would have to sort through to be able to create the identity that he desires. This identity will then target on its desired goal like productivity enhancement, social enrichment, improved economy or values.

Technology and leadership is the partnership that optimizes the outcome regardless of the swarms’ size or identity. Hopefully advances in technology will make it possible for the different swarms to stay within their boundaries, thus delineating visions and values. If we want to set the stage for the value creation of tomorrow, we need to focus on:

A) What we want our brand to represent?

B) What are the company vision and value statements?

C) Does the brand match the statements?

D) What are the best “spaces” to join in?

This is a fascinating topic, and I’m excited to share how it applies to business today. I will go into more details as we explore how understanding the swarm can help you build your business and brand. Next time we’ll look at the primary core of swarm business… they are -
1. How power can be gained by giving it away
2. Why you MUST share with the swarm
3. In today’s economy, it’s imperative you concentrate on the swarm, not on primarily making money

G. Wayne Clayton is the founder and Chief Visionary Officer of Integerol LLC  along with SocialMarketingExpert.org.  He’s a former newspaper publisher and investigative journalist. He has been seen seen and heard on CNN, Fox News Talk radio, quoted in The Toronto Star and is a Guest Blogger on FastCompany.com.

If you experience any intermittent issues this evening, please know that we are on top of this and look forward to a speedy resolution with our third party provider.

Also, don’t forget to attend our webinar training tomorrow evening. If you haven’t yet registered, please register here:

FIRST go to:
http://www.thetrafficplan.com/wc12439

then…

Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/864099914

theTRAFFICplan Internet Marketing 101

Join us for free training and learn what the fundamentals of Internet Marketing are and how you can leverage theTRAFFICplan to:

1. A - Attract & Build A List

2. B - Build Relationships With Your List

3. C - Cultivate and Close Sales From Your List

You’ll learn SIMPLE tactics to start generating traffic, building
your list and making money with theTRAFFICplan and in your
Primary Program if you already have one.

Great Training. Content Rich.

The rise of social networking sites over the past few years has been nothing short of phenomenal, but yet, many people still don’t understand why these types of sites have succeeded. Especially given that many of the sites are extremely basic, and simply offer methods of communicating that people have enjoyed for decades.

Read more at http://socialmarketingexpert.org/social-marketing/how-“friending”-with-social-networking-can-boost-your-brand/

I actually found Franco Gonzalez (one of the founders of theTRAFFICplan) before finding out about theTRAFFICplan. I was impressed with his approach and quality of giving and sharing real world, brass knuckles information that does what it’s supposed to…namely GET RESULTS. Franco is wise in remembering his sources and teachers when Franco told me,

“If it wasn’t for Mike Dillard’s training and concepts, I would not have understood internet marketing (in our home business niche) like I do today and Mike has been an incredible influence in my own business.”

The real world, “does it work?” litmus test for Mike Dillard is really just as impressive.  Mike has attracted over 100,000 targeted people to his newsletter and his BetterNetworker Community is vibrant and active. People are sharing there every day… all day. How many forums have you seen by big-name “gurus” who barely have anyone sharing, and if someone does, its basically just to spam others? Dillard’s community is there  to give back — to reciprocate what they’ve received from his training. As Franco continues,

“Mike puts out quality training product. And his products flat out convert! It’s easy to put a review email together, send it to my list and generate sales from putting them into Mike’s product pipeline and newsletter.”

“So if Dillard’s program is so good, why am I talking to others and sharing theTRAFFICplan with them,” you ask? If it’s basically the same, why spend the money for both?

Good question. Here’s my answer. It’s more of a reinforcement rather than a competition. Imagine holding your hand out in front of you with your fingers spread. Now lay your other hand on top and fill-in-the-gaps with your other fingers… get the idea? It not only fills in the gaps, it reinforces it. Both the model and approach of theTRAFFICplan fits’ over whatever current program you’re working or learning from.

However with that said, there are some differences in the models and approaches and overall functionality of Magnetic Sponsoring by Mike Dillard compared to theTRAFFICplan.

According to Franco,

“We allow people to link our lead capture page to their own autoresponders so they are building THEIR OWN list. Mike does not allow that. Granted, that way he takes full control of the sales process and generates sales for his affiliates.”

Second, there is a differences in the”sales process and generates sales for his affiliates. We also retain communication with our affiliates and lead the sales process, however we thought it fundamentally critical to allow people to build their own lists, as that is the most valuable asset you can build online.”

I mentioned to the man I talked to who really spurred this article for me, that I felt it’s important to build you as a brand and a business… not just your program. It’s a totally different mindset. Less of “what’s the next big thing” to “I AM what drives the thing. I help decide if it’s the next big thing or not.” It’s based on efforts..not timing.

I like what Perry Marshall said in “What to Do, and What NOT to Do, in Email Marketing“. He gives a great example of what I’m shooting toward.

Last week a guy asked me, “OK, Perry, so what should I try to do with my business, anyway? Promote a bunch of affiliate programs? Develop my own product? Or what?”

My answer: “What you want to be when you grow up is a guy with a big, responsive email list, people who bond with you on a specific topic. Or even multiple topics. But what you want is a bunch of people who read everything you send them, and buy something when you ask them to buy.”

And honestly that’s the best advice I could possibly give anyone. Nothing equals having an asset like that. While I was gone, the autoresponders continued to do their job. Sales continued to come in. My able assistant Jeremy handled the calls and all of that. When I came home, the balance in the business account was bigger than when I left and there were checks to cash in my mail pile. Why? Because I’ve cultivated a list and built a relationship with thousands of people.

from “What to Do, and What NOT to Do, in Email Marketing” ©2005 Perry S. Marshall & Associates

That last point dovetails nicely into the next point, which is The Viral List Building System. Franco continues,

“The Viral List Building System in theTRAFFICplan is designed to invite people to free training and as they do that it builds our affiliate’s lists AND places people in positions under the inviter so that any sale that is made going forward generates a commission to the inviter, EVEN IF that inviter is a free member.”

Now if we compare that with Dillards Magnetic Sponsoring, you’d have to buy the Magnetic Sponsoring book to qualify to earn any commission from your invitations or promotions to others. One build a list for someone else, the approach taken by theTRAFFICplan is building you and YOUR list first.

Let’s talk about training. Last year I joined a training program by a very well known Web 2.0/ Social Web “guru.” For my $200 per month I got access to his site with reports on it and audio and video training. Sounds good..but it was TERRIBLE. How could it be terrible you ask? In was lonely. Let me relate a story for you.

Have you ever gone into a huge big box store and needed info and wanted a product but couldn’t find anyone to help you? Did you feel lonely? Well that’s exactly what I experienced. It doesn’t do any good unless there is some type of REAL interaction. Who do you talk to and WHEN can you talk to them when you have a question? In my opinion live training is key.

So I asked Franco about live training, and he said,

“we conduct live training without cost to our basic members and teach them fundamental internet and direct response marketing tactics so they can improve their abilities to promote their own primary program as well as theTRAFFICplan.”

Not only that but there is also the iLobby - this is a Communication feature that allows you to use theTRAFFICplan system and tools to TEAM BUILD and build relationships with your growing team. Far as I know, Dillard’s Magenetic Sponsoring has no feature like this, instead it’s more of a straight affiliate product that you choose to drive traffic to….and build his list…remember? And on top of that theTRAFFICplan has the TRAFFIC Rotator - Premier members get positions in the rotator that receives our own traffic. Mike does not send anyone any traffic.

Next Franco goes on to state,

“Our free and paid members get access to the iVAULT which is a space dedicated to promoting THEIR primary programs of choice. The Magnetic Sponsoring system does not have any feature like that.

You basically are using Mike Dillard’s products as a funded proposal in your follow up email marketing and it’s like a JV relationship… Mike sells his stuff to the traffic you send him and sends you a check… You send in traffic to Mike… but it does not directly help or assist in promoting or closing sales in your primary program…”

Franco closes our conversation with these thoughts,

“Mike Dillard’s products and promotions convert like nobody’s business. Based on his NAME alone, his promotions sell and will always be a GREAT JV partner for ANYONE that needs to convert affiliate sales… We just took from his concept, and built theTRAFFICplan with some additional tools, and functionality that we saw lacking in Mike’s and other systems out there. We wanted to combine the elements of TRAINING, List Building, and built in Affiliate Marketing into ONE SYSTEM that promotes the free training and list building aspects on the front end and helps monetize the community by offering our own line of educational products built into the system.”

Bob Dececco wraps up this article with his insights,

“In my humble opinion, the focus shouldn’t be so much on what the differences are today, as much as what the vision holds for the future.  I personally believe we are on the forefront of a fundamental change in how business will be conducted in the next 3 -5 years; Social Media Marketing and Social Commerce (e.g., Social Profit Streams) will be a much more common and accepted practice for EVERY business; whether its the home based business entrepreneur, or the small local enterprise (e.g., local doctor/dentist practices), or Fortune 1000 companies.

Bottom line is this, what we are doing for folks today is to begin to prepare them with the basics necessary to create a solid foundation which will begin to position themselves as leaders and be prepared to take advantage of future opportunities ahead of us.  All while benefiting financially today.

At the end of the day, we may be competing in the same space today, but if my vision holds true, this will likely morph into something much more mainstream than just helping Network Marketers grow there Network Marketing businesses  (that’s where the real ‘blue ocean’ of opportunity lies…)”

G. Wayne Clayton is the founder and Chief Visionary Officer of Integerol LLC  along with SocialMarketingExpert.org.  He’s a former newspaper publisher and investigative journalist. He has been seen seen and heard on CNN, Fox News Talk radio, quoted in The Toronto Star and is a Guest Blogger on FastCompany.com.

Good question Bunko… what, if any, are the differences? Is it a waste of money to buy both? Is one better than another? If two trains were racing toward each other at 50mph…never mind,  you get the idea.

I am going to answer that plu more questions in the next exciting article (lol) from TrafficPlanPro.com.

I have been waiting for over a month now for this program to launch… and found that some were out there touting verbage like this about theTRAFFICplan:

Did You Know? theTRAFFICplan is going to COMPLETELY change the way we think about how to do business as a online or offline marketer. It’s such a simple, yet powerful concept, that if grasped early, it will create more value for selling any particular product or service…EVER!

SOURCE: http://thetrafficplanrevealed.com/

Will SocialProfitStreams and theTRAFFICplan.com do as promised? Frankly… I don’t know, but I believe so. I think this based on the people associated with it, but I go off of whats been communicated lately which has been not so frequent as I thought it would.

Does a lack of communication really matter? Probably not. The team and culture being built here is strong with proven result AND more importantly, the ability to transfer their knowledge to others.

I like what I’ve seen and heard so far, and will look forward to sharing theTRAFFICplan - SocialProfitStreams ideas with others. DISCLOSURE: I am a Master Affiliate with theTRAFFICplan. If you’d like more info, please click here.

So what exactly is theTRAFFICplan and SocialProfitStreams? Based on what I’ve seen so far, let me tell you what it isn’t.
* Not another prospecting system
* Not another training center
* Not another business opportunity
* Not another social networking type community.

So what is it? In a nutshell:
* Offers traffic generation resources
* Offers educational tools which are designed to help regardless of what other program you’re offering
* Offers a built-in monetization opportunity for new members
* Offers the information, even to free members, that teaches HOW to monetize their opportunity.
* Offers basic and advanced prospecting system tools available to both newbies and “experts.”

As I get more information in the next few days, I will share just if, and how, you can benefit from theTRAFFICplan.com and SocialProfitStreams.com.

If you’d like to follow me on Twitter, let me share with you a couple screen names:
Twitter.com/TrafficPlanPro
Twitter.com/SocialMtgExpert

Or to get more information on theTRAFFICplan.com or SocialProfitStreams.com click here for access to the free webinar.

G. Wayne Clayton is the founder and Chief Visionary Officer of Integerol LLC along with SocialMarketingExpert.org. He’s a former newspaper publisher and investigative journalist. He has been seen seen and heard on CNN, Fox News Talk radio, quoted in The Toronto Star and is a Guest Blogger on FastCompany.com.

In part, I check people out when they follow me and read the DM (direct messages) they send back.

Some DM’s are funny…most are ok…some are sad… some are pathetic.

I feel various emotions when I go through my DM’s. But the ones I loathe are:

“Thanks for the following! Interested in growing your Twitter following, on auto pilot? Click here: (link)”

“Thank you for following, Discover the secrets to get 16.000+ followers in the next 90 days and make money promoting to them (link)”

I go to their page and they have 200 maybe 500 people following them…with the obviously software created 2000 following and all of 2-20 tweets (posts.)

STRIKE ONE

Then I go to their website. Many usually have an affiliate link in their website address listing in Twitter, or NO site listed at all…

STRIKE TWO

Then they have NO picture in the avatar (the place that is supposed to display YOUR picture.) Or worse yet, their use some obviously not them but a gorgeous girl as their picture.  It’s easy to see if its the same pic.. just go to their website… wait…what’s that…no website…

STRIKE THREE. YOU ARE OUT!

Twitter is a tool. Much like a hammer is a tool that dependent upon who’s hands that tool is placed in can be either constructive or destructive. Put a hammer in the hands of my 4 yr old darling daughter, and there will be holes in the wall eventually. Give it to my brother-in-law and he can literally build a house with it.

What are you doing with the tool Twitter?  Are you trying to use Twitter to build your business? Using DM’s wisely can be one the the best strategies that your competition is NOT using. Think about it. It goes directly into their Twitter message box, and if its set up like mine is, I get an email telling me someone (tells me their screen name) has sent me a DM.

WOW! Powerful. No blocking it. It goes there. whether they want it or not. Even if they want to delete it, they still have to read some of it.

Here are a few I decided NOT to delete…again for various reasons…but mostly because they DIFFERENTIATED themselves…

“@msjenniewalker Thank u for following me! Please enjoy a free mp3 of my song titled “SIMON” at http://www.reverbnation.com…”

“@BlogBuilderz Want to create a blog or move out from blogspot? I can help u design/transfer the whole blog click here to start  http://secure.hostgator.com… msg me back n we can get started!”

“@Vincej871 Hey, thanks for following. I appriciate you wanting to connect with me. If theres something I can help you with, I’ll try my best to get back to you. Let’s stay in touch from now on. Later Dayz!”

“@RealhomeBiz Hey, how are you doing? Thanks for following me. So, what do you think about twitter, is it working to help you market? If you could give me some advice on marketing my business I’d appreciate it, I’m always up for learning.http://www.dblahut.ws” Cute but I had to re-read that one a few times.

“@HollyChantal Thanks so much for following me! Tell me more about yourself. What are you currently up to? How can I help you with your direct sales business?”

“@hemorcuresecret Thanks for the follow! Want to get rid of your hemorrhoid in 48 hours? Here’s the solution for you  http://bit.ly/hsRsZ” hmmm… first time I’ve had someone concerned about my backend…no the “other backend”

@nerdwerx Uh oh! You’re following a nerd…Are you sure you want to do this? Get @ me!

and then there’s…

@itsFranco Sweet! Thanks for the follow! See ya - Stop by my Facebook too when you get a chance  http://Facebook.FrancoGonza… - Don’t be a stranger! ;0)

Do you see the difference? First batch could really care less about me. It’s obvious they have an agenda. The second group, they are more into making a connection with me.  Yeah, sure some are trying to market to me…but I felt a connection. I ask myself, “would I want to be friends with this person?” I may never be, actually I will say I probably will never be friends with most, but if I choose to, would I want to? Their DM (and their tweets) help me make that conclusion. If I like them (DM’s & Tweets) then I STAY their friend and continue following them. If not? Then they’re out. I can’t stand lemmings. They all follow each other off the cliff.

Make a sincere effort to make a sincere connection. Like Aristotle said once:

“Wishing to be frinds is quick work, but friendship is a slow-ripening fruit.”

If you’d like to follow me on Twitter, let me share with you a couple screen names:

Twitter.com/TrafficPlanPro
Twitter.com/SocialMtgExpert

Or to get more information on theTRAFFICplan.com or SocialProfitStreams.com click here for access to the free webinar.

G. Wayne Clayton is the founder and Chief Visionary Officer of Integerol LLC along with SocialMarketingExpert.org.  He’s a former newspaper publisher and investigative journalist. He has been seen seen and heard on CNN, Fox News Talk radio, quoted in The Toronto Star and is a Guest Blogger on FastCompany.com.

You’ll hear more and more about the “Blue Ocean Strategy” in the upcoming
months. Yesterday while in a Barnes and Nobles I noticed the book is in the New Releases section… interesting since the book was published in 2005.

Soon it’ll be talked about all over, not just here in the SocialProfit Streams.com and theTRAFFICplan.com launch. If you’d like more info on SocialProfitStreams.com and how it could successfully benefit your wallet…click here.

So WHY is this strategy SO vital? Well, lets look at a couple of opinions.

First: Recently I came across an article in AdAge by Brian Sheehan, who is an Associate Professor at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. In his article, he admits that during this “tough economic downturn,” the “Blue Ocean Strategy has never been more relevant.” Another alternative benefit Sheehan also suggests that come out of using the core tenets of Blue Ocean Strategy?  The ability to carve out a stronger competitive position.

Sheehan says,

“The entire global economy today requires Blue Ocean Strategy. It requires going into a whole new space — a whole new space in your mind, in your corporate strategy, in your corporate tactics — to do well, to prosper.

The old rules are changing.  They’re dissolving, they’re not working. We are really falling into a disastrous global recession… This requires a new mindset. It requires taking the old stuff … that got us through the 90’s and generated a lot of wealth a lot of prosperity, and we’re going to have to dump that.  As we deal with and come out of this recession, we are going to need in both civic culture and business culture a new framework. We are going to have to design new rules, new structures, new relationships, new values to deal with a different world.  We have to assume the world is going to be very very different”

The rest of this article can be found at http://adage.com/cmostrategy/article?article_id=135680

“the “Blue Ocean Strategy” has embedded within it the makings of a great “Red Ocean Strategy.” The book offers a particularly powerful tool for coming to grips with value innovation in a down market: the Eliminate-Reduce-Raise-Create Grid. The grid is a matrix that guides companies to list the things they need to eliminate, reduce, raise and create….

In a tough economy, protection of the core, shedding of extraneous strategies and refocusing of available resources make you a more formidable competitor in the long run. Overall, what an organization decides to stop doing, or do less of, is just as important as what it needs to start doing.

Today, our economic ocean is getting redder a lot faster than it can get bluer. Funnily enough, Blue Ocean Strategy has never been more relevant.”