A Warm Welcome to You All!

If this is your first edition of this newsletter: Welcome! And if that welcome seems delayed, we apologize. We recently discovered some glitches in our list management, so some of you may have subscribed quite some time ago. If I met you in New Zealand, an especially warm Kiwi "g'day." And, if any of you wish to unsubscribe, no worries. There's a link below.

That said, it's been "high times" at ComBridges and we are excited to share "news you can use" from social media marketing insights and optimization strategies, to a book that uplifts us and a new video webinar that you can check out right now.

Let's get started, and please click here if you prefer to view this email as a web page. And, of course, if you like it, please share and/or forward this email and/or:  Thanks!

Optimize or Perish

Our culture seems to demand that we optimize everything from pleasure to efficiency. But, in the world of Internet marketing, the word "optimization" is most commonly associated with SEO or search engine optimization.

What many people don't completely understand is that the key component of optimizing any SEO or PPC campaign is specific, carefully-targeted keyword phrases.

What has now become an even bigger opportunity is that this same kind of keyword optimization is a critical component of how your social media gets found or attracts viewers. This is happening on sites like YouTube (now the world's #2 search engine) and Facebook. Yes, more and more people are now searching on Facebook as well.

As ComBridges expands it's capabilities to include Facebook Pages, YouTube Channels and on-going SEO campaigns, our optimization expertise is paying dividends because we are implementing our research and strategies across these various platforms.

Is your optimization doing what it needs to do? Are your new media efforts even optimized? All the way down to your tweets? They certainly should be. Please let us know if we can help.

For more on this subject, please see the TopRank Content Marketing and Optimization guide under "Lucious Links..." below, or contact us for a free consultation.

My Social Media Prezis Hit Home in Kiwi Country

My four-city speaking tour of New Zealand turned out to also be a keynote creation opportunity. I had big fun engaging audiences with my brand new keynote entitled, "Social Media Optimization: The Strategic Keys to Successfully Navigating the Sea Change (or, How to Find New Customers, Create an Engaging Edge, & Expand Revenues in Our Rapidly Changing World)."

I am currently looking for groups and organizations who would like to offer this presentation. And it is, by the way, enhanced by the latest in visual presentation technologies. If you know or are associated with any groups, conferences or companies who could benefit from this kind of engaging and informative presentation, please let me know.

Or, if you'd like more details about the NZ tour and/or the Prezi software I used, please check out this blog post: "Social Media Fun, Keynote Presentation with Prezi Software, On the Road in New Zealand."

And, if you'd like to view the dynamic presentation visuals themselves, my Prezi is available for viewing online: Click here to view the "Social Media Optimization" Prezi. Or, click here to read an interview where some of my social media insights were published in a New Zealand newspaper.

New 15-min. Webinar Video: How to Use Videos & Podcasts for Better Marketing

Our new membership website offering Internet marketing education for business professionals, NewMarU.com, is up and running. Both "Free-Level Participation" and "Subscribing Member" registrations are available and you are invited.

Our most recent offering is a free, 15-minute, video-enhanced "Appetizer" webinar, "How to Leverage Videos, Podcasts and New Media for Better Marketing" with Sallie Goetsch and myself, Jon Leland. The "Full Meal" one-hour webinar on this same subject will take place live next Tuesday, May 3rd. Details and registration links for becoming a Subscribing Member or to participate in this event "a la carte" are on the NewMarU Courses page.

There's also information about next week's "SEO Super Session: Secrets, Tips & White Hat Tricks" with Jonathan Green & Jon Leland. That starts next Wednesday. Click here for more information.

If you'd like to watch the Free 15-minute Webinar Video on using videos & podcasts, please click here.

And please register as a Free-Level Participant in order to receive links to all of our free programs and other offerings.

Tiny Business Book, A Must Read: "Do The Work"

Whoo-hoo. Steven Pressfield, one of my favorite writers, has just published a new 'prequel' to "The War of Art," which is the best book I've ever read about overcoming the resistance that seems to plague all of us in our creative endeavors.

As much as I love "The War of Art," I love this new one even more. Pressfield (shown here) not only addresses the "evil" of resistance—the self-sabotoging, self-doubting behaviours that separate us from our dreams—but he also lucidly illuminates "assistance" or the kinds of grace that support us when we take committed action.

This is a little book that can make a big difference in your motivation and your momentum as you move step-by-step toward launching your new business, writing that book, or whatever it is that calls out to you from your creative self.

Click now to buy "Do the Work" (affiliate link) (Special Note: The Kindle ebook edition of this book is currently FREE on Amazon.)

Lucious Links & More Free Stuff

Online Video Offers Low-Cost Marketing For Your Company -- A nice validation from the New York Times for the kinds of video marketing strategies I've been advocating (and delivering) literally for decades (blush).

Social Business vs. Social Marketing: Understanding the fight over “content” -- Don't confuse social media with social marketing. In this excellent blog post, the author of "Social Media ROI" makes the case for social business. "Social" is bigger than most people think. I remember telling companies that they needed to pay more attention to their email. Now I'm saying that company-wide, they need to pay more attention to social networks.

TopRank's Guide to Content Marketing & Optimization -- Today's buzzwords du jour include "expert" and "thought leader." But content marketing is for real as long as you've got valuable content to share. If you think this approach makes sense for your business (and it probably does), this is a solid PDF download that is worth the required registration, IMHO.

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Thanks for reading! We look forward to hearing from YOU.