[Gary] Peeples Helping People, LLC

Anyone can get paid for tweeting now and here's how

Tweet and get paid, seriously.

Well, in the form of $$ credits back to your credit card, but, money is money right?

Amex launched Tweet your way to savings and it's ridiculously simple:

The cardholder can signs in with Twitter to sync. The customer is then eligible to tweet current hashtag offers to receive savings. The savings is applied to the credit card. Done.

No coupons, printouts, or anything necessary.

For example:

Tweet “#AmexWholeFoods” hashtag and you’d get $20 back on your next trip to Whole Foods [with $75 or more purchase]. When you use your synced Amex, of course.

Take a look at this short video:

 

When something can be explained this simply, it's likely going to be successful. 

Most of the fundamental ideas of science are essentially simple, and may, as a rule, be expressed in a language comprehensible to everyone. -Albert Einstein

Do you think this is something you would use?

I Tried To Crash The Super Bowl. Don't Act Like You're Not Impressed.

So, with the Ravens now out *sigh* I can focus on one of my favorite parts of the Super Bowl: Commercials. KNOWWHATIMSAYING?!!?!?

We all know enough about the culture of SB commercials, so I won't bore you with post about that.

I will however, bore you with a post about my attempt at "Crashing The Super Bowl" with a commercial about 5 years ago. 

Myself and two friends got together and created the following entry into that Doritos contest; they still do the contest today, in case you've been living under a rock. Or not caring.

Although we did quite well in the fan-fav department [top 20 on votes] we did not win. But we had a blast making them. Especially hanging in the bar. 

Credits to: Me, Ryan Schemmel, and Matt McDermott

Enjoy.

 

 

Feels good when client results look like this

Current results from some work I'm doing. Loving it. 

[Click to enlarge]

11 useful Google+ tips [cheat sheet]

The is a re-blog of a post by Kipp Bodnar [@kbodnar32] that I found on Hubspot.

As Google+ begins to make some traction [and we all try to figure out how in the world we are going to have another tab open in our web browser] we are all going to be looking for tips on how this thing works.

Here is a cool cheat sheet courtesy of Simon Laustsen. This handy guide uncovers some of the mechanics and shortcuts to help you successfully use Google+.

Outbound marketing vs. inbound; how balanced are you? [Infographic]

Outbound vs. Inbound

Outbound marketing is the "traditional" effort: cast a wide net [trade shows, cold calls, emails] and if you go big enough, you'll hit the few needles in the haystacks. Most of these people are trying to ignore you.

Inbound marketing is a focused effort: drill down to the people who are looking for you [searching, learning, raising their hands]. All of these people are looking for your help.

I would never advocate that there is a magic mix [i.e. 50/50 or 70/30] but I can say, put as much of your budget as you can into inbound because:

1. There is less noise and distractions in the search and learn channels

2. It's easier then ever to research and learn so more people do it

 

Transform Your Marketing

Here is a great presentation I found on Hubspot:

Transform Your Marketing

View more presentations from HubSpot Internet Marketing

 

Where Is Inbound Marketing Headed? [Infographic]

And here is a fantastic infographic on spend, also from hubspot. But first, check out this quote from poster Jeanne Hopkins:

[Businesses employing inbound marketing techniques are] experiencing business benefits that include a 62% lower cost-per-lead average from inbound marketing compared to traditional outbound marketing.

Where Is Inbound Marketing Headed? [Infographic]

 

 

5 Improvements with new Pandora

Pandora has put on a fresh coat of paint, and along with it — added some features.

I once read that the dude that invented Pandora was in the red for years — like, since 1973 or something.

The company has recently gone public, as many know. My assumption is that he is no longer in the red.

The downside to "public" is: the public now owns Pandora; there is an accountability to perform that didn't exist before. Hello Wall Street. [I'm sure it will be fine though.]

Personally, I'm excited for the facelift.

It's done in HTML 5, which I know almost nothing about. What I do know is: HTML 5 is a current trend, and the buzz on it is picking up. For me, that is plenty of evidence that it's cool and good.

Here is a quick list of things you'll be able to enjoy with new Pandora:

1. Looks cooler and loads faster. The 10 seconds you were waiting for it to load should now be 2-3.

2. It's a social network now. create profiles, friend people, check out their music, activity feeds, Farmville [SIKE]. No Farmville. I would never visit Pandora again.

3. Better controls. Now that you can go "deep" in the site [looking at profiles and such], it was important to have a playback bar that is always accessible. It stays with you as you surf the site.

4.  Better artist & song info. They've beefed up the ability to click and learn — artist, song, album, lyrics, etc.

5. Easier to share. Because of the HTML [which used to be flash], stations will have their own url, making them easier to share. PS. you can also use the "back" button now too [without killing the whole pace and silencing the music.]

All in all, great updates. I'm sure something will be screwy, but they'll figure it out. 

What do you think?

Testimonials, infographics, and making cash with your blog

I liked a lot of content this morning, and I was thinking, "man, if I just tweet these, they will get burried. And I think they are more valuable then that."

I decided to give them a home. All three of these posts are worth the read. Enjoy!

 

Use Twitter For Testimonials

Social Media Examiner released a cool post about using tweets [that you mark as "favorites" to populate a custom testimonial on your site. Seems pretty easy to do; check it out: How To Embed Twitter Testimonials On Your Website

 

Make Your Own Infographics

Great post from Mashable: "If you like clever data visualizations, you’ll love Visual.ly, a startup that lets you find and make infographics with all kinds of web-based data." Check out this video [warning: it might be the greatest video of all time]:

 

 

12 Ways To Turn Your Blog Into Cash

Use that dusty old archive to make some bread with this post from Copyblogger: 12 Ways to Turn Your Old, Dusty Blog Archive into Cold, Hard Cash. Here's a little of it:

1.  eBook. Once you’ve accumulated 50-100 posts or so, you have plenty of material you can repackage into an eBook. Probably two-thirds of my first ebook was adapted from my first 75 blog posts. You can slice and dice your stack of posts different ways, too, using the same post in more than one eBook. Create a “20 Best Blog Posts” eBook, for instance, a “Best of the Mailbag” for the reader questions you answered, or several short eBooks on a few of your most popular topics.

The easy way to get them to choose YOU

What if people were interested in DVR'ing commercials? 

Or what if they googled their favorite ads every morning? 

Or signed up for advertising email lists from brands [specifically to be sent commercials, banners, sales pitches]?

Crazy thought. [But not so crazy if you are a marketer or advertiser. We are nerds.]

But the funny thing is, that is exactly what good content marketing leads people to do. 

Good, informative, relavent content will have people looking for — and engaging with — you everyday.

Bookmarking your page;

following your twitter;

linking-in;

subscribing to your blog and email.

It may seem counterintuitive: give your good stuff away for free — but look, it's 2011. And it's the easy way to get them to choose you.

It's like this:

the people that are perfect for your product or service are out there;

they want to buy your product or service;

at some point they are likely going to buy it from someone;

who do you think they would rather buy from:

(1) someone they've received good relevant information from, over a period of time

(2) or someone random. 

I know who I would choose. #brandloyalty

Social Media Explained. With Pee.

Yup; that's pretty much it.

Follow Friday Top 10 [Vol. 1]

It's Friday, you ain't got no job, and you ain't got $hit to do! [If you have no idea where that is from watch this clip] 

Also you are a nerd.

But enough about that! I connected and interacted with some great people this past week, so I decided to share. Now go follow them! 

 @editorcamille (Camille Torres)

Bio: editorial director at Talk Back Media marketing & custom publishing co., champion for content marketing, writer, food critic, latte lover, & TCU football fan

 @josephbushnell (Joseph Bushnell)

Bio: I help businesses get more targeted website traffic & sell more of their products & services using online methods like Social Media, SEO & PPC

 @katiewinchell (Katie Winchell)

Bio: Content & community strategist, passions = marketing, PR, copywriting, education, SMB, nonprofit, branding. Hike, surf, cook, garden. Also @leaguelearn. M.Ed.

 @coach_bowman (Bob Bowman)

Bio: Olympic Swimming Coach, Motivational Speaker, Aquatic Facility Designer and Performance Consultant.

 @redracer (Kevin Kennedy)

Bio: Racin' (PR) and baseball (fan) Fool. EVP at PCGCampbell Marketing and Communications

 @laura_nolte (Laura Nolte)

Bio: Passionate about helping startups, a strategic marketer with a full digital arsenal, fascinated by the convergence of pop culture + technology.

 @if_fit (Integrated Fitness)

 Bio: We are a Crossfit, Fitness & Sports Training center located in Bethel Park (Pittsburgh), PA. Our goal is to build our clients both physically and mentally.

 @frauenmesse (Christine Hartmann)

Bio: Welcome to Women networking: Entrepreneurs, startups, Informationen für Unternehmerinnen http://frauenmesse.com/ http://www.facebook.com/frauenmesse

 @chriscookgb (chris cook)

Bio: Commonwealth, World & European Medalist & Olympic Finalist. British Breaststroke Swimmer

 @robdevereux (Robert Devereux)

Bio: Student, athlete, aspiring world traveler, sports and social media lover. From the Baltimore Area. http://bit.ly/f8am1T http://on.fb.me/gKDu19

Last but not least, don't forget moi: @garyawesome

Happy socializing!