Dear Reader,

I would like to welcome all of the new subscribers who have joined the Social Media Business Results community since my last e-zine. Remember to claim your free gifts and complimentary 30 minute Social Media Business Assessment.

Rediscovering "Life" in San Deigo!

I spent last weekend in San Diego, CA attending Lisa Sasevich's Big Mission, BigSales, Big Life seminar. Most small business owners, Internet marketers, and service professionals attend workshops and conferences every year, but not like this one. These three themes were woven together in such a way that all particpants saw how integrated our mission, selling, and healthy lifestyle really are. For me, it was all about defining who I am, who I serve, how I can deliver my message while giving you what you want from our connection, and re-assessing my health and nutritional behaviors.

Richard Bach, writing in his "Messiah's Handbook," says "Here's a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished: If you're alive it isn't." You cannot live your mission if you are not healthy, your sales will suffer if you are not living your mission, and if part of your mission doesn't include taking care of yourself, you will not be around to finish it. All three themes are equally important, and definitely need to be mastered!

Lisa is married to Michael Sasavich, M.D. who is a Thorasic Heart Surgeon. Just recently completing 14 years of medical study he is ready to take his California State Boards at the end of November (wish him luck). He gave a speech on Saturday morning that caused shivers in the audience, yet was so heartfelt and genuine that I just have to share some of it with you.

He came right out and said he was selling something. "I am selling you YOUR LIFE." He wants to put "your life" back into your life. Many days he witnesses death "close up and personal," and even though he and his surgery teams do the very best they possibly can, some people cannot be saved.

Michael was emphatic that "we're all going to die, we are able to live longer than ever, yet we squander our lives." He stated very succinctly that we all wait for retirement to do those things we feel we cannot do now, or have the time to do them now. We may not live to see retirement so do one of those things you've planned each year to make sure you get to experience them. "Time is running out" for you to live your purpose and mission. "Most people in your life will not stand for you. You have to stand for yourself. I invite you to stand up, that is all it takes, just set it in motion."

He gave us five points to remember in the form of a made up acronym S.L.O.C.N (poking fun at acronyms):

• S = Stand for it.
• L = Listen to yourself above everyone else.
• O = One Thing - do the one thing that's calling you to be big. Leap, the net will appear.
• C = Coachable - find a great coach and be coachable.
• N - Never Give Up - you will hit a fork in the road that will be familiar to you, that is where you must push even further.

Michael finished his talk to a standing ovation, with many tears "Follow the Illuminated Path - you need to put yourself in the place where people will stand for YOU. I wholeheartedly agree!

Thank you, Michael Sasevich for that passionate and inspiring presentation. Lisa will soon be releasing the audio and video of the entire conference, including Michael's full presentation. I'll let you know when that becomes avaialble.

In This Issue

Inbound Marketing is the method of "pulling" the buyer, rather than "pushing to" the buyer. Attrracting buyers through Blogs, Search, Social Media and Links from other online sources is what Inbound Marketing is all about. Believe it or not, The Grateful Dead used Inbound Marketing techniques way before the Internet became popular. In the feature article, I'll share what I've recently learned about The Grateful Dead's methodology and the effect is can have on our success as we find new ways to market our products and services. I hope you will enjoy the "flashback."

My Pleasure, Always,

Steve

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How Do You Measure Up?

There is a company called HubSpot which is focused on "Inbound Marketing." I talk about Inbound Marketing in this issue's feature article about the Grateful Dead (below). Hubspot has created a series of "grading" tools that measure the effectiveness of some of your inbound marketing platforms. They have even created a site to link all of them: www.grader.com Here is a list of what they have today:

1. Action Grader - Evaluates your marketing calls to action
2. Book Grader - Measure and improve your book marketing <
3. Facebook Grader - Measures effectiveness of your profile or business/fan pages
4. Gobbledygook Grader - Check your content for "those" words
5. Personality Grader - Mental Health professionals beware (this is for fun!!!!)
6. Press Release Grader - Evaluates your press releases and SEO impact
7. Twitter Grader - Measures power, authority and reach on Twitter
8. Website Grader - Evaluates any website, gives a grade and suggest ways to raise the score

These are great tools, they are all free of charge, and will be a great help to you in your Social Media efforts. I wouldn't put too much faith in the Personality Grader, we both know how awesome you are already!

Social Networking Profile Guide for Business People

I mentioned in the last ezine that an E-Book I wrote with MaryPat Kavanagh is ready to be offered to my community. There have been a few delays in getting this ready for distribution. I am working on clearing that up this weekend and by early next week I will be able to make this book available to you. This book will give you the tools and insights to create the right profile that will attract the right people to you to be your clients.

BTW - You will be able to gain access to MaryPat's proprietary "Social Networking Profile Template" which you can download once you purchase the ebook. This template has all the information you will need to use in order to make your profile portable across Social Media platforms. We are able to offer this time-saving e-book at a very attrative price so be on the lookout for an e-mail announcement next week.

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The Grateful Dead Knew How to Market
by Steve Ulrich

I've been reading a new book called "Inbound Marketing - Get Found Using Google, Social Media and Blogs" by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah. These authors also are the founders of Hubspot, the creators of the "Grader" family of online measuring tools, and providers of software tools to assist companies in their inbound marketing efforts.

The book highlights how The Grateful Dead flipped the model which rock bands traditionally use to market their music, into a unique marketing phenomenon.

When The Grateful Dead were beginning to get popular in the early to mid 1960's there were plenty of rock bands to compete with. Bands were playing to the mass-market, and focused on getting their music played on radio stations. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, and others, were huge, and were the prime competition for The Grateful Dead. These bands focused on selling albums and building an audience to buy those albums. They focused on record sales, radio promotion, teen magazine article promotion, and television shows like "American Bandstand," "The Ed Sullivan Show," "Hullabaloo," "Shindig," "The Smothers Brothers," "Laugh-in," and other variety shows to get their music noticed.

In fact, I remember watching the band The Strawberry Alarm Clock take sledge hammers and use them to smash up a car, all to the sound of their hit song "Incense and Peppermints." The music was pushed out to the market, played on the radio, danced to, and then played on your brand new stereo system. The traditional rock bands did live performances to augment their record sales. The concerts were mostly songs from the newest album. The album sales were what mattered, not the concerts.

The Grateful Dead had other ideas. They made the concerts the product and the album sales secondary. They weren't going to compete with The Beatles and The Stones, they really didn't care about getting the airplay that other bands were craving. The Grateful Dead were about the music, and only the music. They integrated rock, country, jazz and other genre's into a unique sound meant for a niche audience. OK, so the audience was hipper, drug oriented, revolutionaries, boundary breakers, and college students. The Grateful Dead's audience was drawn to them and a sub-culture was created. In fact "Dead Heads" were what their hard-core fans were called.

The Grateful Dead focused on their concerts. Those "events" had the best lighting, sound, mixers, road crew, and instruments. The concerts became "events." The Grateful Dead played for hours, they allowed their concerts to be taped, booglegged and shared with your friends. Their following grew and grew. For the niche, seeing them play over and over, in different venues, was a really big thing. Some people cris-crossed the country following them, some went overseas when the Dead travelled, you could hear them say "I saw them in Boston, Philly, and "Jersey City, did you see them in Chicago, I really wanted to be at that one."

The Grateful Dead packed them in. In large arenas, small arenas, outdoors, indoors, it didn't matter. They created an experience, a culture, a lifestyle. They attracted the audience, and the audience came, again and again. Sure, they got airplay on Classic Rock stations, and progresive stations, but not the mainstream "drive time" radio. They sold plenty of albums, but that was the upsell. The concerts were the product, and they didn't have to push the concerts on people. All they had to do was say they were playing in so and so city, and fans were buying tickets. The Fan Club sent out newsletters, Rolling Stone Magazine wrote article after article, the Fillmore East and Fillmore West booked them over and over, and they played the big festivals. Their albmums sold well, but they were not chart toppers. I have most of them, and now DVD's and bootleg collections, but for me, the concerts stil bubble to the top.

What you can take-away from this discussion is that in order to be "remarkable," as Seth Godin would say, you have to market in unconventional ways. Your market wants you, is attracted to you, and has been looking for you for ever. Use blogs, Facebook, and the other Social Networking platforms to share your message. Get known by commenting on other blogs, build a network of friends, have folks opt-in on your site, get permission to market to your as they find you. Hold events, teleseminars, interviews and panel discussions. Let your "tribe" know where you'll be and have them connect with you. Save time for the personal connection, the chance to be visible, the chance to learn about your market, and be willing to let your market learn about you. Create an experience for your audience that will be memorable. The Grateful Dead knew what they were doing, they knew what worked and milked that strategy. I trust that you will do the same.

In closing, I leave you with a part of the lyrics of "Playin' in the Band" written by Robert Hunter "Some folks look for answers others look for fights, Some folks up in treetops just a looking for their kites. Whoa, I can tell your future just look whats in your hand, But I cant stop for nothin I'm just playing in the band."

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1. New on the Website

I have added a new video to the Inspiration-Station section of the site. This video features Leesea Barnes of Marketing Fit and the host of the Social Media Telesummit helping you push through your resistance. You can view the video by clicking here.

2. David Neagle's Recession Rescue with Rapid Results Teleseminar Series - On-Going through May 2010

I am currently entrolled in David Neagle's newest program which runs through May 2010. At this writing we have finished 10 business makeovers, and have had our first monthly call for October. There is still time to enroll in this Teleseminar Series. You will be able to hear all of the previous makeovers featuring well-known guest coaches such as Lisa Sasevich, Bill Harris, Katrina Sawa, Kendall Summerhawk, and Bernadette Doyle. The remaining monthly calls will involve teaching and some coaching about shifting our mindset during the recession. The very reasonable price of $247 for the entire series, all recordings, transcripts, user community and all sorts of bonus items is an incredible value.

Get all of the recordings of past calls which have been made available to date. You can check out the program by going to the RRwRR Website

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1. "Inbound Marketing - Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs"

This new book by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah, the founders of Hubspot is a winner. I'm reading it now, and it is absolutely fascinating. We are all looking to attract the right clients and get people to find out about us. This book provides some excellent strategies to improve your search rankings, as well as using Social Media platforms to build a strong following. If you are interested, Click Here to Learn More

2. Create Your Signature Program - Course begins on November 5, 2009

My friend, Shawn Driscoll, business, marketing, and product development coach is offering a sure-fire method to jump start your info product or program development efforts. She is offering her expertise and group coaching skills to help you find out your signature program and the impact the program will have for you ideal clients. This is a 6-week teleseminar program. You can find out all of the details at: www.budurl.com/e29f

Shawn held a brilliant preview call for this course earlier this week where she shared an incredible amount of information. The (no-cost) replay of this call "The Signature Program Payoff: 5 Simple Steps to Confidently & Consistently Multiply Your Impact and Income" is available at: www.shawndriscoll.com/signaturepayoff.html I urge you to download your copy today!

3. SuccessNet Summit is happening next weekend (November 6, 7, 8)

I've been a member of SuccessNet for many years and I'm always impressed with Michael Angier's business knowleldge and his ability to get people to really start committing and taking action with their businesses. He has again teamed with Allyn Cutts, Marketing Strategist, to orchestrate the 2nd SuccessNet Summit. This 3 day event is being held in Dallas, TX this year, and will bring 150 entrepreneurs together to learn and work on building, growing and managing their businesses.

You will get more in-touch with your business during this weekend than you have ever been before. Working with Michael and Allyn is a transformational experience. The Summit is about business, your business, online and offline. As a participant YOU, will be taking a really good look at where you are in your business, getting clear on what you want for your customers, your services, your infrastructure and your revenue targets. By the end of the Summit you will have created a blueprint for your business with the choices and detailed steps you've decided to take that will take your vision to reality. You'll want to take a look at what Michael and Allyn are cooking up in Dallas on November 6 - 8, 2009. Use the link right here to get all the detals for SuccessNet Summit 2009 If you're serious about your business, this conference will be just what you're looking for.

There is still room at the event for you to attend. Check the Internet (Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity) for lower cost airfare, and the hotel may still have rooms at the event discount.

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Ezine Editor Shares His Story!

Growing up in NYC, I really believed New York was the only place on earth. The Saul Steinberg New Yorker Magazine cover art called View of the World from 9th Avenue which shows New York City in the foreground and the rest of the world looking really small, is very true for folks who live there. In 1976 a breakthrough in my life occured when I moved to Columbus, Ohio for Graduate School at The Ohio State University. I left New York City, and haven't moved back!

Thirty-three years later, I have my own business, work out of my house, married for 30 years with my wonderful wife Lynda, raised two kids - now grown, daughter Lauren 18, a freshman at Ohio State University, and son Ross 21 continuing his graphic design education at Columbus State Community College. All four of us co-habit the house at this time along with 2 Shetland Sheepdogs (Sage and Ty) who really run the place. A new resident joined the family on October 15, 2009, a Shiba Inu puppy named Todd.

My purpose in life that I bring to my work is helping people make their business dreams come true. My purpose lives in the world by helping people get the knowledge they are looking for and helping them apply what they learn in their businesses.

I serve my awesome solopreneur and home-based "service professional" clients by helping them get started in using Social Media platforms as a primary marketing method to grow their business. I teach the fundamentals of blogging, web site creation, social networking, Internet marketing, product creation that help clients get noticed and attract more business. I specialize in connecting people and being a resource "gold-mine" for them.

I offer hosting services, autoresponder and shopping cart services, Wordpress implementation, Social Media implementation strategic planning and small business consulting. Twenty-five years of Information Technology and International work, coupled with coaching and student services training, serve as the foundation for the business and personal transformation my clients celebrate.

I believe in an "Integrated Social Media" approach that weaves the elements of Social Media and Internet Marketing, Podcasts, Teleseminars, Blogging, and ezine-newsletters into a mix of connected platforms that can get a client's message out, and get my clients found by their prospective clients. Web Analytics, Search Engine Optimization, Paid Advertising, Community Involvement and off-line marketing are part of the process as well.

You can learn more about me, my company, my background, and how I can assist you with your Social Media, Blogging and Website challenges by visiting my Website, Social Media Business Results - www.socialmediabizresults.com or by contacting me in person. I love to connect with folks and welcome the opportunity to get to know you better.

Connection Points

e-mail	steve@socialmediabizresults.com
Facebook	www.facebook.com/stevenulrich
Linkedin	www.linkedin.com/in/sulrich
Twitter	www.twitter.com/steve_ulrich
Friendfeed	www.friendfeed.com/sulrich4733
Delicious	www.delicious.com/sulrich4733
Digg	www.digg.com/users/sulrich
Stumbleupon	www.sulrich4733.stumbleupon.com/
By Phone	1-614-236-2396
Mailing	4733 McBane Court, Columbus, OH 43220-3114 United States of America

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