Carlon Haas.com

All right. Here’s a cautionary tale of a man who shall remain nameless (name starts with C and ends with an N, last name Haas) systematically destroyed a blog and in turn made one of the crucial blunders in Web 2.0 marketing.

And that blunder is…

…failing to maintain relationships.

Here is how I systematically destroyed my previous blog.

#1 No RSS feed

How dumb is that? A simple RSS feed on a blog allows people to get notified when you post new items. And the beauty of an RSS feed is that it allows people to subscribe and unsubscribe at will. So, your readers are more empowered.

#2 Posted erratically

When I did post, I posted erratically. So, not only am I not posting, but when I do it’s once a month and then maybe a couple of posts now and again. Nothing says I don’t value you like posting whenever you feel like it or not at all. And then topping that off by being all over the place.

#3 Stopped posting

In all fairness, I was moving on to a different business venture that the blog was not associated with. But nothing ruins readership like not posting.

#4 Promotion? What promotion?

What did I do to promote the blog I never posted to and when I did, it was erratic? Nada. Zip.

So, how I systematically destroyed a blog. Erratic posts to no posts with no promotion and no way to let people know when it was updates (which it never was).

Welcome to my world, partners! That’s the way a blog ends, a blog ends. Not with a bang but a whimper.

Any questions?

Of course, I don’t intend to do that to this blog. The secret to marketing (and maybe the secret to life) is learning from your mistakes and not repeating them.

Tune into my next post as I go into the #1 mistake most people use when using MySpace to market their business (and 9 times out of 10 will get their MySpace accounts deleted!). If fact, it is so crucial, I just might turn it into a teleseminar and post the audio right here on this blog.

Success to you,

Carlon

www.BraveNewMarketing.com

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OK. If you hate American Idol, feel free to skip this post. But I just have to say that watching American Idol these days is a heart-wrenching experience.

Man, I feel so sorry for most of the contestants because Melinda Doolittle is wiping the floor with them.

I mean, nice as she appears to be, she’s a pro and the rest are rank amateurs.

It would be like watching Michael Jordan and yours truly in a game of horse. How fun would it really be to watch Mike swish one after the other while I clanked them off left and right.

And what if you were forced to watch weeks of this agony? That’s American Idol.

Though I am going to speculate here…and I don’t do this much, but I think Melinda will get voted off in the top 4. You heard it here first. Yes, everyone will be surprised. There will be all sorts of conspiracies, but I’ll save you the trouble of needing one.

No one likes bullies. And right now Melinda Doolittle is picking on the less-talented singers out there. If the game of horse between Mike and myself was decided on votes instead of skill, I might just be able to get the sympathy votes required to knock Mike off his pedestal.

I think the same thing will happen to Melinda Doolittle.

Sorry Melinda,

Carlon Haas

http://www.BraveNewMarketing.com

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SPAM. That’s was easy. End of post. Seriously…

…now that that’s out of the way, we can get to all the other mistakes people use when using social media (Web 2.0) to market. But know this: I am telling you these things because I have made these mistakes and in this series, I will humiliate myself for your benefit.

Mistake #1 No Focal Point

Many people go to different social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook. The only problem is that those sites are best for driving traffic to your main web site. This is important for 2 reasons:

1. If you try to sell products on these sites, they will shut you down. Recently MySpace rightfully deleted SPAM profiles and the profiles of those who use automated bots to add friends and maker comments. Good for MySpace!

2. Social networking is about building community, not about selling. You may find this an odd statement coming from me since this blog is about using social networking to market yourself (well…you may not know what this blog is about if you are new because I failed to port my more recent posts from my other now-defunct blog and am now having to manually put them back…but I’ll leave that mistake to another post in this series.) But think about this: when you become part of a community and establish yourself as an expert, people will seek you out elsewhere…and isn’t it convenient that there is a link to your web site or blog (I prefer linking to a blog) on your profile! You made it so simple.

By not having a focal point to send people to, you are not maximizing your social networking. In fact, you might end up spreading yourself out so thin that all of your social network marketing is rendered useless.

Tune in for another top mistake and discover how I systematically destroyed my own blog before I realized I had a system for destroying it. It’ll make you laugh. It’ll make you cry. It’s a must see!!!!

To your success,

Carlon Haas

www.carlonhaas.com

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Reporting from the nation’s Capital: I’m Carlon Haas.

Hey all,

I’m in DC for Yanik silver’s Underground Online Seminar III.

This is one cool event. I’ve heard about it for years, but this is the first time I’ve been able to attend. I’m hoping to learn cutting-edge internet marketing and internet business tactics.

I stress business here because a lot of people who have e-mailed me think that I want to teach them “how to make money on the internet”. But that’s not what I do.

I want to teach people how to grow a business online. When I talk about marketing on Web 2.0, it is a way of doing business that stresses the person behind the company rather than the company itself.

People buy form people they like and trust. And the internet has made it much easier to get to know and trust others. Just go to my MySpace page, and you’ll learn all about me. Or look at my bookmarks to see what interests me. Soon, I’ll be uploading videos to YouTube (I know…some of you are e-mailing me about my lack of videos…but in all fairness, I’ve had some technical issues on the videos which I will fix next week…but wait I have a great video of my daughter singing Frosty the Snowman…priceless).

Yes, I could be lying on all those pages. But then again the internet doesn’t let you hide very well. So, I don’t recommend it. But the point is all “internet tactics” should be about growing a business whether it’s all online or an offline business you are promoting online.

Anyway…I’ll post about these issues individually. But take this nugget from today’s post:

You are in business first and online second. By using social media (Web 2.0) to connect with others individually, your chances of marketing that business successfully will go up. And when your business is successful, then and only then will you make money on the internet.

To Your Success,

Carlon Haas

www.carlonhaas.com

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OK. This isn’t about marketing or social media…but I was looking at the cover of the Wall Street Journal yesterday when lo and behold I saw my wife! I had no idea she was a model for Jil Sander. Or is she?

I was pretty upset because I have not seen a dime of that “model money” coming into the company coffers. She (of course) proclaims her innocence.

You be the judge. One is from the journal, the other my wife’s passport picture (yes…it’s from her passport). Tell me if I shouldn’t be expecting some extra “model money” this year?

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The story you re about to read is true. Names have been changed to protect the innocent and the word alleged inserted to protect my bum.

Cue music: bum-bum-bum-bum

It was a night like any other at SXSW. Carlon Haas & Steve Harper were out, looking for the next party. The party that would get them free booze. But instead they found rain.

Lots and lots of rain.

But there was hope. Shelter. A calm amid the torrent. A shelter that included the much sought after free booze.

The tent. They thought of it as a second home, as they had hit it every day it was open. With booze, it sure felt like home.

But this time, it was different. A strange aura filled the tent. As they strode in, Haas again explained why he forgot his drink card, but emphatically pointed out that he was an important panelist and should be let in.

He was let in. But just then someone was walking out. A police officer—one of Austin’s finest—noted, “Hey, did that guy who just walked out of here work for you?”

“No,” door lady replied.

“Well, he took your laptop.”

The laptop. An old clunker of a laptop. More akin to a paperweight but useful nonetheless. Haas and Harper used it the day before to sign up for free accounts. F-R-E-E.

The criminal, now apprehended about 3 footsteps away from the tent came in with laptop in bright fluorescent bag. Haas and Harper stood ready to assist the police in case this alleged hardened criminal decided to bolt (yet gingerly held their cups of beer so as not to spill any).

The alleged criminal sat there, accepting defeat. Then, he strung together a heartwrenching string of incoherent sentences about why he did it. Confusion and compassion prevailed.

A SXSW official was called to the scene. And alas, the alleged criminal would feel the wrath of SXSW.

The official’s anger was palatable (Haas and Harper, innocent as they were, were even afraid and so went back to the comfort of the beer stand).

It seems this criminal mastermind had been kicked out of SXSW twice in the last 3 years. And now his $500 badge would be revoked all for a laptop that he could have bought for $10 on eBay.

They stripped the alleged criminal of his badge and all the cool buttons he had collected. He was left badge-less, and escorted out in handcuffs by Austin’s finest.

Banned from SXSW!

As well it should be. Haas and Harper wanted to tell the alleged criminal to get into a new line of work. But they didn’t get the chance. They were off in search of free food.

SXSW continues…

Brought to you by:

Carlon Haas of

http://carlonhaas.com

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Well, yesterday my friends and fellow marketers Steve Harper and Jen Blackert conducted our panel “How to Easily Attract Your IDEAL Client.”

The panel was great and I enjoyed spreading the word about direct response marketing and Web 2.0. I even mentioned the pioneer of marketing by selflessness Paris Hilton.

I’m not so sure that everyone got it…but readers of my blog get it. And if you don’t you should read my post about Paris Hilton and her pre-Web 2.0 marketing genius.

At some point in the future SXSW will podcast the panel, and I’ll let all of you know when they do so you can listen to it.

Celebrity sightings: So far, I’ve managed to see the following celebrities at SXSW: Elisha Cuthbert, Neil Young, the guy from “Boiler Room”, Jenna Jameson (sort of), and some more celebrities that I can’t remember because I have had one too many “beverages” provided to me by my good friends at DMX.

Stay tuned as I will blog about some useful technologies I’ve discovered for internet marketing at SXSW.

To your success,

Carlon Haas

www.carlonhaas.com

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As some of you know, I am speaking tomorrow at South by Southwest (SXSW).

And let me tell you…

…I am loving this event so far. Given my love of Web 2.0 marketing, I am planning to try to meet some of the people behind many of my favorite Web 2.0 siteslike the guys from Upcoming,org, Digg.com, and a whole lot more. I’ll be hitting the FireFox event later for sure (if you don’t have FireFox, I suggest you download it immediately).

If you see me on the streets of Austin, give me a shout out.

And please come to my panel tomorrow if you are attending.

You can check out all my upcoming events on the sidebar.

I’ll be updating it daily during this whole week at SXSW.

To your success,

Carlon Haas

www.carlonhaas.com

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