Dane Cook comedy – breaking and entering

If you’re having a bad day or you just need a really good laugh, stop what you’re doing and watch this video. Then carry on reading this post when you’re done (I don’t want to run anything):

Now I dare you to tell me that wasn’t one of the funniest things you’ve ever seen in your life? Dane Cook is a genius.

** spoiler alert **

The part where he describes how the family sits around and asks “what did he take”. The way Dane Cook tells his jokes is like a great author writing a novel. You can actually visualize the entire scenario.

Now that we’re on the subject of Dane Cook. Here’s a guy who made his entire career off the web. He started off by promoting himself to anybody and everybody that was online and took notice and man did it pay off. Just another great example of how Internet Marketing is absolutely MASSIVE.

Social media marketing in a recession

Lets face it – times are tough at the moment. Jobs are being cut, businesses are losing money, spending is down and the general attitude towards just about everything is negative.

There is, however, one area where things are looking good. Not only are they looking good, but they’re actually looking better than ever. I’m referring to what’s known as social media marketing. Wikipedia describes social marketing as “an engagement with online communities to generate exposure, opportunity and sales. The number-one advantage is generating exposure for the business, followed by increasing traffic and building new business partnerships.”

Social media marketing is smoking hot at the moment and it’s only going to grow. I just read a great article on ReadWriteWeb.com about how more than 50% of marketers are increasing their spending on social media marketing despite reduced budgets due to the current recession. That’s incredible news for people that believe in the future of social media marketing.

The recession has made us all more aware of our spending habits and how we need to watch every dollar, but there are certain areas that merit more attention than ever and Social Media Marketing is definitely one of them.

It’s not just a buzz word; it’s a legitimate business strategy for driving more targeted traffic to one’s site and/or business.

Keep marketing my friends…

The famous YouTube.com Guitar video

This is one of those videos that have hit the big time on youtube, but there are many people that don’t buy it. They think it’s fake. I’m posting the video so you can judge for yourself and voice your own opinion.

The most important factor from the video’s standpoint though is that the thing has generated a ridiculous number of hits. Over 58 million to date. A large percentage of these hits are from sites and blogs around the globe showcasing and discussing the video itself. They say that all publicity is good publicity and I have to agree in most cases, especially this one.

YouTube is an incredible platform for showcasing one’s work and skills to the world and the Google/YouTube partnership makes it the most powerful medium for doing so. Where else can you post a piece of work for free (unbelievable) and have it viewed by this many people!!

Watch this video and admire the simplicity that results in marketing genius for their site:

The lure of fake traffic

Anybody that’s launched a new website or forum knows how difficult it is to drive traffic to that site initially. It takes a serious combination of SEO and smart internet marketing to drive solid organic traffic to the site, however, not everybody has the perseverance and skills required to do that. These site  owners often look for a “golden ticket” or quick way to drive traffic to their site.

There are numerous services out there that promise to drive traffic to your site and even make claims about the visits coming from people that are specifically interested in your niche. While I’m sure there are some people that have successfully benefited from this approach, most will end up throwing their money away because the traffic will not be targeted at all and targeted traffic is exactly what we’re looking for.

This type of “fake” traffic might drive visits to your site but you should not expect to see conversions. Conversions are a direct result of people that visit your site because they want to be there or were directed there by something or someone that interested them. Simply popping open a window with the contents of your site is not going to do that for you.

So the best advice I can give when it comes to Internet marketing and to driving traffic to your site – be very careful about fake traffic. There’s a good reason google and other search engines are not fans. Keep it “real” and keep on pushing to get your site viral numa numa style.