On this episode of the Online Marketing Made Easy Podcast, I cover part two of a three-part strategy that I use with my customers to teach them how to look at Facebook marketing.

When it comes to marketing on Facebook, consider building a plan around these three phases:

• Phase 1: Attraction
• Phase 2: Promotion
• Phase 3: Selling

In my last podcast episode, I talked about the attraction phase, where it's all about growing your community on Facebook. If you missed that, or if you'd like to listen to it again, you can find it at amyporterfield.com/7.

Today's episode is all about the promotion phase. The focus during this phase is growing your email list, where you put out great, valuable content in exchange for a name and email. I cover how to use Facebook to get a genuinely interested fan to become part of your email list.

In this episode, here’s what we’ll cover:

• How to grow your email list on Facebook

• How you should think of Facebook when it comes to the part it plays in growing your business

• How my business has grown as a result of using Facebook (with specific numbers given)

• Two Facebook lead-generating strategies (hint: one tip is how to run a contest on Facebook!)

• How a business owner in a small town with no list created a thriving business using Facebook

• And so much more!

This session is Part 1 of a 3 Part mini-training all about Facebook marketing.  On this episode of the Online Marketing Made Easy Podcast, we are diving into Facebook Marketing.  Specially, I'm going to give you three strategies that are working RIGHT NOW to attract more quality Facebook fans.

Why are Facebook fans important?  Well there are a few reasons.  First, when you grow a big community of loyal fans on Facebook, your chances of getting seen and heard inside Facebook increase.  It's really just a numbers game.

The more fans you have talking about you, liking your posts and sharing your content, the more often people on Facebook will see your content. You want an army of raving fans talking about you - and Facebook can do just that!

Also, your Facebook fan count acts as social proof.  That means when someone comes to your Facebook page and sees you have a few thousand fans (or more!) they think, "Ok, this company is legit."  Crazy, I know.  But true!  We want to become fans of pages our friends and peers like.  The more fans you have, the more new fans you can get.

In this episode, here’s what we’ll cover:

In this episode, I share with you three super simple, but highly valuable, Facebook fan attracting tips.  Implement these and start seeing more fans overnight. Simple as that!

Strategy #1: The Facebook Like Box

A Like Box helps you attract Facebook fans that are genuinely interested in you and your business.

Here's why you should add a Like Box to your website:

• Your website audience is a warm audience and are very likely to follow you on Facebook too.
• It's easy to implement (takes less than 5 minutes!) and is one of the more effective ways to grow a quality fan community.
• The Like Box will  get you more fans, but NOT move your existing website traffic over to Facebook.

Strategy #2: Target Friends of Fans with Facebook "Like Ads"

A Like Ad can be shown to the friends of your fans and does not require any special copy or images. It's easy to set up, inexpensive and extremely effective!

Here's why "Like Ads" work like gangbusters:

• These ads are the simplest ads to set up, and the cheapest too.
• When you attract fans who are friends with your existing fans, you are more likely to attract a "quality" fan.
• When you run Like Ads, your exposure, reach and impact on Facebook increases quickly.

Strategy 3: Increase Your Engagement

Here's how engagement will help you attract more fans:

• One of the most common reasons why people on Facebook struggle to get more fans is that they don't have any engagement on their Facebook page. When you don't have engagement you won't be seen in the news feed and the news feed is where all the action is on Facebook.
• When you get people talking about you on Facebook (liking your posts, commenting and sharing your content) your exposure organically increases (meaning you don't have to pay for the engagement, it just happens natuarally).  When your exposure increases, your fan base increases.
• I will show you how to make sure you never have another moment where you say, "I can't think of anything to post on my Facebook page today!"

Remember!  This episode is Part 1 of a 3 Part Mini Facebook Training.  In episode 8 I will show you how to promote your programs, products and services on Facebook and in episode 9 I'll show you the smartest strategies to use when selling on Facebook.  So make sure you don't miss those upcoming sessions!

On this episode of the Online Marketing Made Easy Podcast, I interview Anne Samoilov, on the topic of online launches. I consider Anne to be an online launch expert, and while that's not a title she would likely give herself, it's very fitting.

Anne has worked on several big online launches including Marie Forleo's B-School launch that you have may heard me talk about in episode 3.

It's a strategic and smart strategy to think about the promotion of your business in terms of launches, and I wanted to interview Anne because she has a unique, holistic look at launching anything online that I know you'll find helpful.

In this episode, here’s what we’ll cover:

• How Anne defines launching (it's not what you think!)
• A common misconception regarding launches
• How to set a foundation for a successful launch
• How having the right systems in place can free you up to be creative
• How to make sure you're targeting the right people
• And so much more!

On this episode of the Online Marketing Made Easy Podcast, I interview Mike Volpe, the Chief Marketing Officer of HubSpot.

Today’s episode is a special one because it’s something many of you actually asked for in response to a survey I sent out a few months ago. In that survey, many of you indicated that HubSpot is a site that you frequent often, and it was clear that many of you feel that Mike Volpe and HubSpot is the place to go when it comes to list building, content creation, content marketing, and overall social media.

For those of you who aren't familiar with HubSpot, they offer inbound marketing software that allows you to blog, tweet, capture leads, optimize your SEO, view analytics, basically everything you need to do to market your business and HubSpot puts it all in one spot. Hence the name.

In this episode, here’s what we’ll cover:

• How inbound marketing can be defined
• How SEO is interwoven with inbound marketing
• The most important lead generation strategy
• How to make calls to action more effective
• What caused HubSpot's conversion rates to increase significantly
• What led to an 82% revenue growth for HubSpot
• Advantages that small companies have over big companies
• How to streamline content creation
• The most important tips to keep in mind when it comes to SlideShare presentations
• The biggest content marketing mistakes companies make

On this episode of the Online Marketing Made Easy podcast, we talk about a topic that I have a love/hate relationship with, and that's video marketing. I love video, because it has been one of the most important ways I've built my brand, but I hate it at times because it doesn't come naturally to me.

Since I'm not a video marketing expert, and because I believe that video is essential for anyone building a brand online, I asked a good friend of mine, James Wedmore, who is a YouTube and Video Marketing Expert to come on the show and share his tips and proven video marketing strategies that you can implement today, even if your budget and experience with video up to this point is limited.

In this episode, here’s what we’ll cover:

• How James created a wildly successful video around a list-building strategy -- a strategy that you can model for your own business.

• Why videos James created in college to promote an entirely different business are still paying dividends today. 

• How James plans his video marketing efforts to make the whole video making process much easier.

• How to create great videos without being on camera.

• What you have to do first before you can raise the bar on the quality of your videos.

• How to get around using a teleprompter without memorizing an entire video script.

• The list-building with video strategy that James personally uses. 

• The simple 6-step process that James uses for all of his videos, that you can easily copy, regardless of your level of experience with videos.

Today I’m beyond excited to introduce you to a mentor of mine and a great friend, Marie Forleo! Marie is not only a bestselling author, entrepreneur, and online marketer, she is also the founder of an award-winning weekly online show, Marie TV.

With nothing more than a dream, a laptop, and passion, Marie has created a multi-million dollar empire from scratch. She’s even been interviewed by Oprah on Super Soul Sunday, where Oprah referred to her "as a thought leader for the next generation."

I can trace my own online success directly to Marie, who had a huge impact on me as I transitioned from working with Tony Robbins into venturing out and starting my own business.

In this episode of The Online Marketing Made Easy Podcast, Marie shares her own inspiring success story with us, and also provides some tips and strategies which will help take your own business to the next level.

In this episode, here’s what we’ll cover:

• How Marie got her start and what she does in her business.
• How she made a living while she pursued her passions.
• The conventional wisdom she chose to ignore.
• How to quiet self-doubt while building your business.
• Advice for those struggling to find their own voice.
• A simple brain exercise that is a great creative workout.
• How to figure out who your ideal audience is.
• How to streamline content creation so it's not so overwhelming or painful.
• Marie's signature program, B-School.

The focus of today's podcast episode is content marketing, and specifically how to do it on a shoestring budget. Let's face it; we all need to create content consistently but we all love to save money, right?

Because we're all so busy, consistently creating content is a challenge and is often an afterthought -- something we'll do when we "have more time." However, in the same way that paying bills and answering email is a priority in order to keep your business alive, so is content marketing. Few people survive in today's fierce online world if they don't continually produce unique content!

In this episode, here’s what we’ll cover:

• The answer to the question, "What is content?" I provide a quick list to remind you of how many opportunities you have to create content.

• The most important question you need to ask yourself regarding your content. The answer to this question will help you create content that engages and interests your audience. I also talk about the importance of solving problems and providing information that will enable your audience to take action and implement what they learn.

• How to brainstorm ideas for content.  I cover 3 tips for coming up with stellar content ideas that fit your ideal audience.

• How to repurpose your best content. Brainstorming is important, but you may have already created a lot of content that you can repurpose. In this segment of the podcast I give you ideas for ways you can repurpose your existing content and provide examples of how I use this strategy myself.

• How to get inspired by mixing things up. I share one of my best sources of inspiration; it drives my husband crazy, but it's one of my favorite ways to get fresh content ideas!

• How to become a ninja outsourcer. I cover 3 main roles you need to have in place when it comes to content creation. I provide tips for finding great people who will treat your business as if it's their own; content marketing is a direct reflection of your brand, so it's worth investing in the relationships you have with your contractors.  I also talk about the importance of staying involved in the process and how to communicate your needs and expectations  without micromanaging.

• How to optimize your content calendar. To get the most from your calendar, it needs to be extremely easy to use and easy to access. I explain how and why I use Google calendar for my content calendar.

• The importance of creating content with the big picture in mind. My tip here is something that most people don't teach. (Hint: less just might mean more for you!)

• I share some tactical content creation tips including how to capture and keep track of ideas for future content. I talk about mistakes I made early on and what I did to improve my process for organizing my content creation ideas so that I can find them when I'm ready to use them.

• The importance of responsive design.

• I wrap up this episode by sharing my motto, "Give more than you ever expect to receive." Tony Robbins put it perfectly: "If you can make it your goal to always find a way to add more value to people's lives than anyone else, then you'll never have to worry about success."

Welcome to the Online Marketing Made Easy Podcast.

I am seriously thrilled to jump into this podcast! I know it sounds a bit silly, but I could talk about online marketing all day long - I just can't get enough of it. (But I must admit, sometimes it drives my husband crazy!)

About this podcast:

As you might already know, for the past few years, I’ve been focused on Facebook marketing, and while I’m obviously a big fan of Facebook marketing, I've also found great success in other social media platforms and online marketing strategies outside of social media marketing.

So this podcast is going to go beyond Facebook marketing and dive into smart, proven strategies worth implementing when it comes to marketing a business online.

In this first episode of the Online Marketing Made Easy Podcast, we dive into social media list building strategies to help you attract your ideal audience, strengthen your relationships beyond your social media platforms, and of course grow your email list.

In this episode, here's what we'll cover:

• The 3 big reasons why some emails always get opened and most are ignored

• Learn the very specific, big questions you want to ask before you create a free giveaway offers

• The most successful valuable giveaway offers are those made up of premium content. I'll give you a list of the most popular giveaway offer formats that work great on social media sites.

• There are two types of social media list building strategies: Indirect and Direct.  Get examples of each to make sure you're maximizing your social media activity to ensure your list is growing daily with quality leads.

I'll  also cover specific list building strategies for Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest and Twitter. To help you better understand each strategy, I've included image examples below:

Experiment with Facebook Offers

Facebook Offers are a FANTASTIC list building strategy.  Offers are highly valuable because they get out into the news feeds of fans, friends of fans and non-fans, depending on your targeting focus.

Step 1: Create Your Facebook Offer and Promote it with a Facebook Ad

Step 2: An Email is Sent to the Facebook User's Personal Email

Step 3: Drive Traffic from the Email to Your Opt-In Opportunity

YouTube List Building Strategies

It’s important to strategically leverage your videos to drive traffic to your opt-in opportunities. When people watch your videos all the way through, they are likely interested in what you have to say, so you want to make sure not to lose them after the video ends.

Pinterest: Optimizing Your Images

Recent data shows that Pinterest drives more referral traffic than LinkedIn, Google+ and YouTube combined. Facebook is the only social media site that drives more traffic than Pinterest. And that is precisely why Pinterest can be a solid list building platform for you when you get strategic with your images.

When list building on Pinterest, create images that are relevant to your giveaway offer and then pin them to Pinterest.  Make sure to include the link to your opt-in page in the description field when pinning your image.

Optimize your profile by adding a link to your opt-in page via your Pinterest profile. Plus, make sure to add your website to your Pinterest profile; it doesn’t have to be a link to your homepage, but can instead include a link to your opt-in page to drive more traffic to your giveaway offer.

Twitter Strategies

List Building Tip: Embed your opt-in link in your Twitter bio.  This will allow two different links in just one profile.

List Building Tip: Use the free tool, Click to Tweet, to create an automated tweet you can use all over the web. It's easy to use and works like a champ to help you promote your content on Twitter.