The other day, out of the blue, my (Scott) 11 year-old daughter, Clarissa, decided that she was going to help a child in Africa to get cleft pallet surgery.

In a matter of a few hours she had started her own campaign in our neighborhood and had collected $12.60. I was so impressed that I asked her to make a short video about it.

Isn’t that awesome? She’s such a sweetheart. I love her to pieces.

One of the things we truly believe is that every one of us has the power to make a difference in the world.

And one thing we’ve learned is that once we truly dedicate ourselves to taking action, amazing things start to happen.

For example, just a few days after Clarissa started her campaign, Garrett and I flew to San Diego for a seminar. On the very first day I happened to sit right next to one of the leading orthodontists in the country, Dr. Dustin Burleson, and we became friends.

As we got to know each other, I mentioned that Clarissa had started raising money to help a child get cleft lip surgery, and he told me that he was the Director of The Rheam Foundation – a non-profit organization that provides surgery for children with cleft lips!

What are the odds, right?

So, I asked him if he would shoot a quick video to encourage Clarissa in her efforts. Here’s what Dr. Burleson said to her…

Is that cool or what?

There is definitely a higher power at work here.

Anyway, when I got home I showed her the video, and I told her that if she raised the $250, not only would Dr. Burleson match it, but I would match it too – so through her efforts she would be able to help 3 kids instead of 1.

She was ecstatic!

So here’s where I need your help…

In the video she asks for donations, but what I’d rather have you do is to leave a positive message of encouragement for her below this post in the comments area.

Here’s why.

As a parent, I want her to raise the $250 on her own to teach her the value of hard work. She’s going to have to put in a lot of time to raise all of the money, but the reward will be so much sweeter at the end.

But at the same time, I also want to reinforce her efforts with as much positive love and support as possible.

So the more people that I can get to cheer her on, the more motivated she’ll be and the harder she’ll work to obtain her goal.

Make sense?

So, if you can, please take a moment to add a word of encouragement. It would mean a lot to me and to Clarissa.

Thanks so much for your love and support!

Sincerely,

Scott Brandley

P.S. If you really want to help Clarissa with her goal, contact me directly at scott (at) shopperapproved.com and I’ll keep you posted on her progress.

Below is an inspiring story from one of our subscribers that we felt that we had to share. The story comes from Mark Smith and his son Josh Smith who have decided to Never Quit!

We ask that you read the story below and see if there is anything that you can do to help Mark and Josh with a sponsor for their race car. If there is something that you can do to help, feel free to send us an email in reply to the email that we sent you or you can contact us at support (@) outstandingventures.com – let’s see what we can do to give Josh a break!

Here’s the story told by Mark Smith:

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Josh Smith, my son, has dreamed of being a professional race car driver for most of his life.  We currently run the #88 race team called NEVER QUIT Motorsports.  We are trying to find a sponsor for the 2012 race season, as tough times have hit and we are struggling to get the car back on the track.  Over the past four years, through hard work and perseverance Josh has earned respect and gained knowledge from the Michiana area’s most talented veteran drivers.  I have watched him do amazing things with a car built with very limited resources, and can only dream of the places he could go we had what we needed to put him in a better, more up to date race car.  We are looking for someone who has ever had a dream of doing something great, and would like to be a part of this journey, through sponsorship.

Image of Josh Smith in Victory Lane with his car and Mark (Dad) behind the care in glasses.

Josh has an interesting story, which I need to tell you for this to make more sense.  At the age of 5, Josh experienced the divorce of his mother and I, living with her until the age of 10, before coming to live with me permanently.  Unfortunately, the school system he came from had a lower scholastic level which created some tough learning challenges for him from the beginning.  We eventually moved out of the city, into a new school district where the well-to-do sent their children.  Josh attended this school where he felt discriminated against for not being as smart, not being as wealthy and for being a dreamer.  With the support of family and friends, he persevered and “Never Quit.”

High school became an even bigger challenge for Josh. During his freshman and sophomore years, he was reminded that if you didn’t learn fast enough, you wouldn’t make it.  After trying hard to learn in that environment, Josh decided to be home schooled and get individual attention rather than always feel left behind.  This worked out great until he felt the need to finish school with his peers and graduate on time.  As his senior year approached, he decided to go back. I was reluctant to have him go back to a place where he had been rejected so badly, but he was insistent.

The school did not want to give him credit for the work he did with the correspondence high school, even though it was nationally accredited.  They said he had to take a test to prove what he had learned.  I fought them and told them I would file a lawsuit that would require all of the transfer students to take tests for all of the credits received.  They gave in.  When he went to see his counselor about going to college, she told him he should plan on going to a community college in a technical program because there was no way he would earn a “Core 40” diploma, which was needed at the time to enter the state universities like IU and Purdue.  She also said there was no way he could graduate with his classmates because he needed so many credits.

They had a night school where students that were 18 (usually having dropped out of school) could go to finish school.  They would let him go to the night school to catch up but only when he was 18, which was Feb 13.  Well, from mid February to Mid May he finished a year and a half worth of school in night school, and his senior year during the day, graduating with a Core 40 diploma.  While simultaneously going to high school, attending night classes and holding down a part-time job, Josh received his diploma and graduated with his peers because he “Never Quit!”

He then went to work at an RV factory where I was doing consulting and had implemented a for-college-credit corporate university with a state Community College.  He received his two year AAS degree from Vincennes University in one year, taking classes on the job while working and attending classes in the evening.  He received a two year Associate’s Degree and decided that wasn’t good enough.  Factory work was not the answer for him, he wanted more for his future. He had childhood dreams of a greater future, a home of his own, and to race stock cars. Now was not the time to quit, it was time to push forward!

Josh knew the only way to succeed was to further his education.  He applied to Purdue University with a goal of earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Sales Management. He submitted his application and was denied.  This was unacceptable to the man that had come so far.  He did not accept the denial. The next day he drove to the Purdue University’s admissions office and fought his way in.  He sat in their office as they explained to him that he needed to go to a community college and earn more credit before they would consider his acceptance.  Josh tried to explain that he already had a degree, but they were not listening, so he left and took his case to the Dean of Undergraduates. He was able to state his case and the Dean agreed there was no reason he should not be accepted to Purdue. The truth was they did not understand his transcript and that he had already earned a degree from Vincennes University.  Throughout the course of the day, after speaking with other school officials and refusing to leave, Josh finally made them understand that he had a two year degree, got one official to sign off, and was accepted to the University of Purdue. My son won that day because he “Never Quit!”

Josh earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Sales Management within three years.  Throughout those years, Josh never gave up on himself or his dream.  With the support of his family and racing community friends, he drove home every weekend, sacrificing his college experience, to build his first Sportsman Stock Car.  The same day my son walked across the stage to accept his degree from the University Of Purdue, he made the two and half hour drive home to finish his race car that night.  Through all this, he remained committed and “Never Quit!”

We have come to the point where we cannot put a car on the track without a sponsor.  I am confident that with the right car, Josh will be a contender for the track champion at South Bend Motor Speedway.  The time is short.  We Never Quit…

———-

Isn’t that an amazing story! We need more kids like Josh in this world.

Again, if you can in any way help Josh out, contact us at support (@) outstandingventures.com and we will get you in contact with Mark and Josh ASAP! You can also check out this PDF brochure to help in understanding how you can possibly help.

Thanks for everything.

~ Scott Brandley & Garrett Pierson

Why is having a Facebook fan page so important to help build your business’ social networking? Jay Baer is a social media expert who tells us that “Social media creates kinship between companies and customers, and kinship equals purchase intent.”

If you build and create a strong relationship with your customers through your fan page, facebook blog, and with customer surveys, you profit is going to skyrocket!

So, let’s learn how to create a fan page on Facebook so that you can increase your online sales.

1. You need to Log in on Facebook through your business web page. Then at the very bottom left-hand side you will see a link that says advertising. Click on that link and then find the link that says “Create a fan page.” Facebook will carefully walk you through the steps you need to take to create and add to your basic fan page profile.
2. What Facebook won’t walk you through is the behind-the-scenes tricks on how to make your fan page look more professional and become more magnetic to online consumers. Once you have 25 friends you will have the ability to enhance your page, so do this a.s.a.p. After that is done, do some research on how to use HTML if you don’t already know how to use it. Facebook has an app called FBML that is their version of HTML.
3. After you learn how to use FBML you can add photos, videos and borders that will enhance your Fan page to make it look more like your website’s home page.
4. When you have your Facebook Fan Page looking the way you want it to look, remember to constantly update it. Be active on Facebook by reading your friends’ and customers’ comments and connecting with them. Post upcoming events that consumers can attend and offer discounts and promotions to thank your customers for helping you endorse your business online. Stay connected by engaging with your community. This is the most important step to being successful online.

You now know how to create a successful Fan Page on facebook and know that by staying connected online with social networking sites like Facebook, you are building relationships that will create loyal customers. Building this rapport is crucial to increasing your online sales. If you want to make more money more often online, invest your time in social networking.

We are all dreamers at heart. We have desires and goals we wish to someday accomplish, and all of us want to live lives that are worth being remembered. Some of us have thoughts and ideas in our heads that others do not see – and that they can’t see unless we put those ideas and thoughts onto paper.

I am a writer at heart and someday I want the world to read what I have to say. I want what I write to be so powerful, so breathtaking, that not one soul will be able to ignore the message. I want to successfully shout my thoughts through to the echoing mountains of the published word.

But how do I get started? What are the steps that I take first? Should I just write and see what I end up with or should I start by organizing every little detail down to the color of the flowers in the closing scene? And what about getting my book published?

Perhaps you have heard of the New York Times best selling author Nicholas Sparks who has published many books from which have been created several memorable movies. Mr. Sparks said that, “Because publishing is becoming more business-oriented each day with more examination of the bottom line, it’s harder to break out now more than ever.”

Learning how to write a book and finding out the best way to publish your book is critical for first time writers. To be successful, you need to have your words available to the public.

The wise Eleanor Roosevelt stated, “People grow through experience if they meet life honestly and courageously. This is how character is built.” But every experience we learn from doesn’t necessarily have to be our own. We should study the traits of successful writers if we want to be successful as well. We should find out where they get their inspiration and how they know when they have an idea that the world will enjoy.

The more time we take to learn from the experiences of others, the better our own experiences will become. Social awareness can help us reach our full potential. So, if you want so learn the ins and outs of writing a book start doing your research and learn from those who already know how.

Twitter now has at least 105,779,710 registered users, and about 300,000 new users sign up each day. Twitter’s search engine receives more than 600 million searches per day, and you want your business or product or service to be one of the topics searched.

Twitter is growing constantly, and some people think that soon it will be more popular than Facebook. This is why Twitter marketing is the thing to use, because it is so enormous and constantly growing still.

So here are some key steps to help you use Twitter Marketing to make more money for your business, and allow you to relax and take the time to just sit back and watch the money roll in like cool ocean waves on a hot California beach (sorry, I guess I’m a little too excited about my vacation coming up next weekend!).

Step 1: Think about a game plan. Who is your audience? Who are you trying to connect with? Do your homework and find specific Twitter handles of actual target users. Develop qualities that represent your customers that spend their time on twitter, and connect with them.

Step 2: Know your goal! Remember, it doesn’t matter how many followers you have on Twitter, it matters who those followers are, and who you are connecting with. Spread your links and generate traffic to your Twitter page, doing this will lead more people to your official website and then create more customers for you.

Step 3: Fit Twitter in. Know what you want twitter to be for your company. Is it your customer service page, sales monitoring, expo events site, etc. Why do you want people to visit it, and how will you use Twitter to help your marketing.

Twitter fits in with the overall aspect of online and mobile marketing and allows you to communicate with everyone for everything. Make sure that you utilize that communication to increase traffic generation and profits.

Step 4: Use useful tactics to increase your Twitter tool success. You want your Twitter marketing page to be designed in a creative, professional, and comforting format. You need to be consistent with your website themes and designs, as well as being unique. You want to stand out. Make people notice you, and notice the benefits your company offers.

Step 5: “Follow twice, tweet once.” What this means is that you need to listen to your followers twice as much as you advertise. Really build rapport and a solid friendship with them. Build a business relationship through social equity that makes them want to listen to what you have to say and do business with you, because you are a friend.

There are of course many other things you can do to help increase the value of your Twitter marketing, but these five keys are some of the most crucial and easy steps to do. The main thing you need to remember is to value your customers and know that without them your business can’t thrive. If you understand this, your company’s priorities will fall into place and your company will become more successful.

Have you been trying to create your Facebook Fan Page the one with the most fans in your market and industry? Do you want to know what other successful businesses are doing right?

Well read on and you will know exactly what to do to make your Fan Page the most successful one yet!

Below are the Top 5 Most Successful Fan pages, and the little secrets that they use to become that.

#1 Red Bull

Their secret is they know their audience. Red Bull has a large target audience and they know exactly how to persuade them to purchase their product. They know the best ways to deliver their product; one of the ways Red Bull does it is through video games. Remember each business has a different audience; know how to connect to your audience and you will be successful too.

#2 Burt’s Bees

This one surprised me. But the main feature that makes Burt’s Bees so successful online is their use of social networking and video links. On their Facebook fan page, they have their Top Video that brings in all the traffic. This video gives a ‘behind the scenes’ look at what they do. Their customers love it. So how can you incorporate pictures and videos to help your page stand above the other companies? Brainstorm ways to involve your next potential customer.

#3 Uno Chicago Grill

Imagery is everything. Uno Chicago Grill takes advantage of the Facebook app FBML and uses fan page generators to entice their audience with vivid design and photos on their fan page. They also have a “Fan of the Week” photo contest that makes their customers eager to be fans, and want to participate. Looks are everything in the social networking world, along with connecting with the people, so look good and treat your customers great.

#4 LiveScribe

If you are like me you may have not heard of this company either. But when I visited their fan site, I discovered why they are ranked number 4. First, they make it so easy to purchase their products. You can buy whatever you need directly from their Facebook fan page! Convenience is everything. You can also comment on the product, tweet about it, and read other customers’ opinions on them too. As a consumer, it’s important to know what people who have purchased the product have to say about it. People trust people and being able to read testimonials is always a big seller.

#5 Toy Story

Say What?! I know Toy Story is a movie not a business, however they do have products, and make an significant profit every day. How they do this is with the “TOY CREATOR” option on their fan page. If you become a fan, you have the opportunity to create your own toy. The best ideas win prizes and even have the chance to become real. They give you the option to purchase movie tickets, previous movies, and video games. It is a cool fan page, and it looks more like a website than a regular Facebook page, because they use fan page generators.

Now you have seen the inside look at the Top 5 most successful Facebook Fan sites. Some of them were surprising, but they all gave us the keys to improving our own fan page so that we can make our businesses even more successful! So watch out Red Bull! I’m making my way to the top of this list!

Did you know that over 70% of the world’s population now has mobile phones? That is more that 5 billion people that communicate daily with the use of cellular phones! In the USA, about 9 out of 10 people talk to friends and family with mobile phones.

It is crazy how many people own mobile phones, and the statistics are constantly rising. Everything we do, it seems, is either online or on our cell phones. We live on them. In fact, more children own mobile phones than they do actual books… 85% of kids own a phone and only 73% have books; now that is an extreme statistic.

This is why mobile marketing is so important and crucial to marketing success.

Companies know that they have to have an online presence if they want to be seen. If you aren’t online, there is a good chance that your competitor is. When people who want your service and go online to find you and find your competitor instead, they often end up using your competitors service.

Even average marketers realize the immense power of mobile marketing and the truth that success comes from being online. In today’s marketing world. Being online is a must. But to really succeed, you need to work hard at making sure that people find you before they find your competitor.

You don’t just want to be average, you want your company to be outstanding. You want to show up on the first page of Google’s search engine so that when people search for your product or service, they will find you first.

Most companies increase their online visibility and page rank by writing articles relative to their product or service and then submitting them to online libraries. There are several companies willing to provide this service for companies too. Most also use survey software to allow their customers to express themselves and to maintain excellent customer service.

These systems allow companies to show off positive testimonials on their one website and through social media networking sites. Today, these sites can be easily accessed on mobile phones.

Google recognizes facebook, twitter, Hubpages, and so on as great networking sites, so when you post testimonials on these blog sites and people search your company online with their mobile phones, your page rank will increase and they will see your website.

Mobile phones make searching for anything online vastly easier and in today’s online generation that is how everyone is doing it.
The power of mobile marketing is constantly rising and if you know how to build your social equity, submit professional articles, maintain superb customer service, and connect with the mobile generation, your company will never fail.

The success of your business rides on your online visibility and acknowledgment of the authoritative power of mobile marketing.

Most of us know the importance and associated enjoyment of having a business Facebook page. Facebook allows us to display our business online and create stronger customer ties through social networking. It also gives us the opportunity to give our customers discounts and promotions for clicking “Like” on our Fan page, and statuses which in turn helps increase the customer’s loyalty to our business.

If your business Facebook page is not increasing your online sales, then you need to learn how to make a Facebook page come to life.

To start, you will need to be sure that you have your company logo firmly displayed across your facebook home page. Also, make sure that your slogan is constantly present so that your customers and friends that visit your home page will know exactly what your stand for.

Video marketing is taking off in the online world. In fact, in a recent survey done by Outstanding Ventures, YouTube with online Video networking beat Google at profitable conversion rates by 647%. That is immense!

If you don’t have business videos, tutorials, and slideshows on your Facebook page, then your need to make that change. Online consumers can sometimes be lazy or extremely busy. In either case it is much easier to watch a video article than sit there and read about it. Because of this, customers love looking at business videos, webinars, and tutorials. Most consumers find this form of marketing informative, fun, and lively, which is exactly what you need to make a Facebook page successful.

If you want to make a successful Facebook page you need to create online video articles, post them on your page, and constantly update them. It also helps if you utilize social equity by posting them on other video blog sites such as YouTube. This will bring in more traffic to your website and to your Facebook page.

You can easily make a Facebook page come to life by simply adding a video, keeping your page recent and by including fun photos and quotes.

Click Below To Play Interview – Greg Habstritt – Authority Formula Interview

I recently had the opportunity to interview Greg Habstritt on how to become the Trusted Authority in your market. Listen above for free to learn the Authority Formula from a true authority.

Here are some of the questions asked on the interview:

• How does becoming the Trusted Authority affect someone’s social equity? Why is it so important?
• What is the difference between being an “expert” and being the “authority?”
• What would you say to someone who doesn’t feel like they’re at a point yet where they can call themselves the Trusted Authority?
• How does someone go about becoming the Trusted Authority? What are the steps? Is there a formula?

Learn more about how Greg Habstritt can help you with his amazing program – The Authority Formula <<— Reopening Soon