Nathan Hangen » twitter

Saturday Project Update

Nathan — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 02:35:06 +0000

Whew! Looks like I made it just in time. If you get my newsletter, I apologize, as some of this might be redundant, but so much has happened this week that I had to give you the full scoop.

The Webrepreneur’s Guide to Twitter

I just released an advanced Twitter guide called “Twitter for Game Changers,” which focuses on advanced Twitter tactics that aren’t covered in Twitter Rockstar. The back story to this project is that I hadn’t planned on creating a new supplemental guide at all, as I’ve been working hard on the next update to Twitter Rockstar (working title, Twitter Rockstar 2.0).

At the same time, I have also been working on a complete social media guide, which I plan on publishing via Lulu.com and the Amazon Kindle. But as I was working on this book, the Twitter section just kept getting larger, large enough that I realized I needed to cut it down for the sake of brevity. Although I slimmed it down in the social media guide, I decided I couldn’t just ditch the content, and so Twitter for Game Changers was born.

It’s a 54 page PDF that covers everything from brand monitoring to creating organic campaigns, the bulk of which are tactics I’ve developed while working with my clients in the music and blogging industry. If you’re interested in checking it out and grabbing a peek at the awesome samurai robot on the sales page, you can head to TwitterGameChangers.com to get more info. I just released it this weekend, but I’ve already received overwhelmingly positive results, which proves that anyone has the potential to share their knowledge by creating an ebook or video course…sometimes in a matter of a few days. You just have to get the pen to the paper and get started.

Beyond Blogging

If you watched my review of @garyvee‘s book Crush It, then you probably saw that this past Thursday evening, Mike and I had a great interview with the man himself. In that interview, we delved deep into the secrets of Gary’s success, including his move from a kid selling baseball cards to an up and coming celebrity, with a million dollar book deal and a slew of TV offers.

You’re probably wondering what we did to get the interview, and although I mentioned that we worked out a deal where we’d review the book in exchange for an hour on the phone, there’s a bit more to the story than that. You see, when I decided to create the Beyond Blogging book, I knew it wouldn’t work without the cooperation of the guys and gals on the A-list. Although I didn’t have relationships with many of them, there were a few that I talked with regularly. Still, even if they didn’t know me at all, I just felt it in my gut that this project was going to work, which is when Mike and I just started doing the unthinkable…we asked.

Sure, we received a few no’s, but the important thing is that we followed our instinct and went for it. The result is a great list of A-listers that said yes, and many more that have offered to help in other ways. Although we didn’t realize it at the time, we were basically using Dave Navarro’s strategy for getting to the next level by bringing A-listers over to your side (you’ll have to fill out the form at the bottom to get to that post), and it worked!

Coming this week, we’ve got an interview with Penelope Trunk, Chris Brogan, and David Risley…and we’re just getting started.

Anyway, this book is going to be awesome…as in you probably can’t afford to live without it. Throw away the four hour workweek, blogging for dummies, and anything else you need to in order to make room for this bad boy. You’ve got some time, but you’ll need to get on our pre-order list in order to get the @garyvee audio interview and access to some of our awesome contests (we’re giving away a signed copy of Crush It, Crush It wristbands, and a bunch of other cool stuff).

Up and Coming

So, on the way we’ve got the Social Media Guide (still no working title yet), Facebook Rockstar (still in the early phases), and the Webrepreneur’s Guide to Growing a Blog. Oh yeah, there’s a re-design coming too. All in all, there’s lots in store and I can’t wait to bring it to you.

As a final note, I want to say thank you for being here and taking part in the experience. There area few great ideas brewing, but I can’t talk about them yet. Let’s just say that everyday is an evolution and soon we’ll all be moving to the next level.

Saturday Project Update is a post from: Nathan Hangen

Saturday Project Update – Let’s Do Lunch

Nathan — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 13:00:04 +0000

This is a very exciting time for bloggers like you and I. We’ve got IZEA rocking in Orlando, the Problogger community just opened, and Blogworld Expo is coming up in a little over a week. As a matter of fact, I’ll be there from Wednesday through Sunday and I would love to meet up with any of you that can make it. I’m staying at the Las Vegas Hilton and you’ll probably catch me at the bar meeting with David Risley, or at a pre-game Tweetup with Chris Brogan.

I think one of the most important aspects of becoming a successful blogger is networking with other like minded individuals. Although this will be my first Blogworld event (I was in Afghanistan last year), I plan on attending as many of these as I can. But those events are just the primer for even bigger things. I’m also a member of a mastermind group, a Twitter group, and a variety of other JV projects. Effectively “buying in” to the community is a great way to not only meet some great people, but to get noticed.

One of the things I talk about in Twitter Rockstar and in my upcoming book, The Webrepreneur’s Guide to Twitter, is how to hang with the big boys. This is essential to changing the game in your favor. When you hang out with people above your level, you naturally elevate your game, which means you stop thinking small potatoes. I can’t tell you how important it is to make this mental shift, but you’ve got to do it.

As for the other projects, stay tuned for the launch of the upcoming Twitter book, as I’m still waiting on a final draft from my designer. I planned on launching it October 5th, but we might be delayed just a few days. I’ll keep you posted.

Mike CJ and I are also feverishly working on Beyond Blogging. We’ve got a great interview with Gary Vaynerchuk next week, one with Penelope Trunk, and a bunch of great material to digest from the rest of our blogger panel. Make sure to stop by the book site and support us with a Twibbon and by signing up for the pre-order list. Very soon, we’ll be announcing some great giveaways as well as some free content over there, so don’t miss it!

Saturday Project Update – Let’s Do Lunch is a post from: Nathan Hangen

Ideas that Change the Game – Tribal Author

Nathan — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 13:00:37 +0000

Getting a book deal is one of those goals that many of us dream about, but few are able to achieve. It isn’t because we aren’t talented writers, but it is much easier to say that you are going to write a book than to actually go out and do it. Not only is the effort one that usually outweighs the monetary return, but the armies of gatekeepers that stand in the way of you getting that deal signed often intimidate authors into giving up.

Let’s face it…writing a book proposal isn’t something that many of us are well versed in doing. We also don’t often interact with publishers and old media marketing firms. The book industry is in flux already, considering the influx of free PDF’s, eBooks, and digital content. Book publishers aren’t sure if they want to sell via Kindle and unless you are a top selling author already, you will have to do a lot of work on your own in order to see your book show up on Amazon or at your local bookstore.

To help authors tackle this beast, Jonathan Fields, also known as @careerrenegade, has created a very cool guide at tribalauthor.com to help people like you and I understand and overcome the obstacles and intricacies that keep people from achieving their dream of a book deal. I’d say that Jonathan knows a thing or two about this, as his Career Renegade book is not only a great read, but was a huge hit. He’s also profiled other bloggers that have done the same thing, such as Gary Vaynerchuk, Darren Rowse, and Pam Slim.

We’re in the middle of an awakening in which bloggers like you and I are learning how to make our own way using tools that are not controlled by publishers. I appreciate what Jonathan has shared with us at the Tribal Author and personally, I’m going to make use of it when Mike and I publish Beyond Blogging. I hope you find this game changing idea useful on your path as well.

The Webrepreneur’s Guide to Twitter

Finally, I’m nearing a launch date for what I believe to be my greatest work yet. The Webrepreneur’s Guide to Twitter is an intimate guide to using Twitter to become relevant. Using this guide as a supplement to Twitter Rockstar, you’ll know everything you need to know in order to become an authority presence on Twitter. The book is lengthy, and will probably require several reads in order to tackle it, but I think you’ll enjoy it. We’ll be releasing it on October 6th at 9AM, so be ready!

Ideas that Change the Game – Tribal Author is a post from: Nathan Hangen

Saturday Project Update – Now Becomes “Ideas that Change the World”

Nathan — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 10:30:59 +0000

I admit, I’m a bit of an act first apologize later type of guy. When I started the project update, I wanted to share behind the scenes info with you to help you understand how I’ve built my business in my spare time and created a wealth of opportunity for when I leave the Army. However…I’m starting to realize that doing this every Saturday might get a bit redundant for both of us. I’ve also had a few new ideas that I’d like to throw at you so I can continue to work on bringing you interesting, yet useful content on a weekly basis.

As a result, I’ll be changing the Saturday updates to a bi-weekly session. In fact, I still might add a bit at the end of the normal Saturday post, but for the most part, you’ll find that the bulk of project stuff will be released on the 1st and 15th’ish of every month. In between those updates, I’ll be adding a new segment that I’ll call “Ideas that Change the World.”

I thought about this while I was cutting my grass tonight with scissors to a length of 2 inches per blade. I realized that there are so many cool technologies and ideas spreading across the world that I’d be doing you a disservice (just kidding about the grass by the way, at least the by hand part!) by not sharing them. One of the things I am most passionate about is future technology and how it will integrate with human spirit. Robots excite me, social media excites me, great design excites me, and good books and music excite me. This new series will share all of this and more.

Like everything, it is a test to see if it sticks (mostly if I find it useful for longer than a month), but we’ll start off by sharing our very first idea, which comes courtesy of one of my favorite Game Changers, @garyvee

Changing the World of Email Updates

Email updates you say? Sounds boring right? Well guess what…normal email updates are. Sure, you get my blog posts delivered to your inbox on a weekly basis, you get to hear my behind the scenes action, and you get to join the Webrepreneur Community, but that’s so passe. Today, we’re stepping it up a notch and changing the way that email is used for blogs.

On Gary Vaynerchuk’s blog, you’ll find an opt-in box…but this is no ordinary opt-in box. It takes a 2nd look, in fact I didn’t even notice it until I’d been on the site for the 4th time today, but when you click on the (learn more) link, you’ll see something very cool.

Rather than bore you with regular updates, Gary is integrating his blog, with Twitter, with his behind the scenes newsletter, and a mix of other cool stuff he finds. Although I just subscribed and cannot tell you exactly how he’ll use it, I can tell you how I will. I’ll combine the following feeds into a simple feed for you:

My blog posts
My newsletter
My Twitter feed
My Posterous
Facebook Updates
Other blogs or interesting content

To me, this is the start of lifestreaming on a higher level. This is business gone lifestreaming and I think it is beautiful. Thanks Gary for continuing to innovate.

Here’s what it looks like

Would you prefer this or the basic blog broadcasts?

Saturday Project Update – Now Becomes “Ideas that Change the World” is a post from: Nathan Hangen

The King of Content

Nathan — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 10:30:51 +0000

Content Is King, But It’s Not What You Think

We’ve all heard the adage that content is king, but usually that refers to the content in a blog post, eBook, or another form of web content. However, I’d like to propose that within that meme, there is a king of kings when it comes to content and it probably isn’t what you think.

Before we get started though, I want to share a story about what inspired this post. You see, I lost a friend recently to a longtime battle with lung disease. He was a good man and although I’m sad he passed, his life taught me so much more than his death. However, what really hit home for me was when I was on Twitter asking for a moment of silence and I was flooded with responses from people I’d never talked to before. At that point I realized that what makes social media so wonderful, is that if you take away the spammers and bots, you end up with a community that embraces each other…often without asking for anything in return.

The Power of Social Networking

At that moment, none of us were trying to make money or launch a product, we were simply trying to pay our respects to a lost friend of mine. I didn’t want anything but to just hang out and talk with people to share my respect for this man. Incredibly, and what is really cool, is that these people I’d never met before were sending me replies and DM’s as if we’d known each other for years. Such is the power of social networking, particularly Twitter.

What’s Your Agenda?

Now, let’s get back to the king of content. You see, when it comes to content, I believe there are 2 types: content that has a hidden agenda, and content that seeks nothing but to be shared. In my opinion, the latter of the two is by far the most powerful and important. You might say as a rebuttal that all of your content falls in to the 2nd category, but let me ask you…are you sure?

Look, I’m not trying to claim sainthood and say that no one should sell anything, but I am saying that your intentions should always be clear and good hearted. If you want to sell something, make sure it benefits people and that you believe, without a doubt, that it does. Don’t try to trick people into clicking your link or buying your product if you aren’t relying on transparency and there is not congruency in your message.

I’m tired of meeting people and getting to know them only to find out that they are not what they seem. Let’s face it, that’s easy to do online. The way I see it is this: If you are trying to build a long-term relationship with people online as a brand or business, then you need to be able to look them in the eye and level with them. You need to be comfortable sharing information with no hidden purpose or agenda other than to enrich other people’s lives. You need to be the best at what you do.

I don’t expect your business to become a charity, but I believe there are times to focus on profit and times not to. Don’t be afraid to share your secrets and don’t cling to everything you know like it is your last dollar. I’m betting that a lot of what you know was inherited from others and rather than trying to squeeze a dollar out of someone, why not help them earn one first. Life is too short to worry about money all the time and I’m a firm believer that if you do what you love and help others do the same, then you are already wealthy beyond your wildest dreams.

The King of Content is a post from: Nathan Hangen

The Consulting Conundrum

Nathan — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 10:30:53 +0000

As I mentioned in my Saturday Project Update, I do some consulting for a variety of artists and other bloggers. However, since the needs of my clients are rarely the same, I most often find myself custom tailoring a consulting package for every new client. This means that I don’t really have any standard packages and that my prices are all over the map.

What I like about this is that in any single day I can work all of my given strengths and spend time doing many of the things that I enjoy. I’m not stuck on a particular model or activity long enough to get bored, and I’ve got the freedom to plan my days how I want.

However, as much as I love consulting and as great of an income builder it can be, there are some potential pitfalls that have had me questioning my desire to continue.

Consulting forces you to trade hours for dollars. If you are struggling to make money, then this might be a great deal for you, however if you find that you don’t have enough time to work on your big money projects, then consulting will only make it worse.
Consulting emergencies pop up from time to time, forcing you to abandon everything you had planned in order to fix a problem or put out a fire. Although this isn’t a great way to remain consistent, it is the price you pay for the work.
Consulting can take you in different directions, meaning that your business lacks focus. It is tough to plan a business when you don’t have unity of purpose and it can be a frustrating experience when you try to make sense of it all.

Now, although these 3 factors can be a deal-breaker, there are ways that you can mitigate their effect so that you can still be a consultant without having to dedicate your life to the clock.

Hire a team to help you manage mundane tasks so that you can free your time for more important things. Many people won’t want to do this because of the cost involved, but you have to ask yourself how much your time is worth. Does the CEO of Wal-Mart spend time sweeping the floors or stocking the shelves? Doubtful…if you are charging enough, which you should be, then you have more than enough spare cash to hire someone to help you.
Set clear boundaries when you take on a new client. If you have established work hours, then make sure that they know this and are comfortable with it. If you set a deadline, stick to it. If you have to drop everything for a problem, then charge extra for it. Remain in control of your own time or the client will dictate your time for you.
Offer email consulting rather than phone consulting as a way to free up your time. Although I still do over the phone strategy sessions, I spend most of my time replying to emails. I offer unlimited email consults with many of my packages, which allows me to respond on my own time rather than having to allot 30-60 minutes for a phone call in the middle of my day. This is even easier with my iPhone, which allows me to do business from anywhere.
Offer streamlined packages rather than monthly consults – I’ve toyed with this over the past few months and will soon be moving all of my consulting services over to this model. Rather than offer a monthly service, I will be offering kick start packages custom tailored for each individual client, but streamlined enough to allow me to do other things. Really, many of the tips you offer on a monthly basis are similar across the board and although they might vary based on the service (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube), there are ways to create a package that allows a client to be a DIY client rather than one dependant upon your time. Combine a DIY blueprint with unlimited email consultations and you have a strategy that allows you to make most of your money upfront and still be able to charge a monthly fee. If this doesn’t work for you, then refer to point #1.

Consulting is a strange beast, but it is a great moneymaker when you take the time to think about your services up front. If you don’t mind being a slave to the clock or trading hours for dollars, then you won’t have any issues. However, if you still have a slew of projects begging for your time, then think about changing your model using one of the 4 strategies listed above.

It may not bother you at first, but over time you’ll feel the need to make a change. Better to fix it before a problem arises than in the middle of a busy year.

On a side note, I’m interested in hearing about your consulting experiences. Comment below and let me know if you’ve experienced any of these issues and if so, how you solved them.

The Consulting Conundrum is a post from: Nathan Hangen

Why You Need a Blog

Nathan — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 10:30:39 +0000

Blog, What Blog?

As a business owner, the odds are high that you have some sort of sales page for your product, otherwise you wouldn’t be selling much of it. However, although you probably spent hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars and hours crafting the perfect sales page, I’m wondering if you did the same for your blog? Wait…you don’t have a business blog? Why would you need one, you ask?

Well, for starters if you sell something, be it a product or service, and you don’t have a blog on your site, then you are letting your customers walk out the door. In fact, many of them won’t even walk in unless they see one. The reason for this is because these days, when there are so many other places to buy, having a blog allows you to introduce yourself to your customer as they walk in. Think of a blog as a salesman at a car lot. Although some of them are quite annoying, overall they are there to help you make a decision and guide you towards the car you want at a price you can afford. They educate you and act as a buffer between you and the company.

The Importance of Education

Your blog acts very similarly. It educates people, which is an oft-overlooked part of the sales process. For instance, I’m currently looking at buying boating supplies, such as a VHF radio and a GPS, which I know next to nothing about. The sites that I buy from are those that help me figure out what to buy and don’t expect me to figure it out for myself. Also, if I’m searching for a product, such as a boat radio, my search query will look like this: “best radio for boats.” The results that hit the top spots are those sites that have a blog about how to find the best radio for a boat. I don’t search for Panasonic VHF-U6574 (not a real model) because I don’t know it exists. Thankfully, there are electronics dealers that understand this and guide me towards the right radio for my needs.

As for something less technical, such as a book, a Twitter course, or a consulting package, the process is exactly the same. In my Twitter Rockstar blog, I talk about how people can use Twitter more effectively, some current problems with social media, and issues with Twitter time management. All of these posts explain problems and show how my Twitter Rockstar course can help.

If you are a consultant, posting once a week about a related topic will show your customers that you not only know what you are talking about, but will show them a little bit more about what makes you unique and how your approach can help them.

You Complete Me

Buying is a very personal decision, and anything that you can do to bridge that gap will do wonders for your business. Just imagine trying to buy a car without the help of a dealer…just you and a bunch of cars. The process would be horrible and you’d have no idea where to start. The salesman, just as a blog does, completes the car buying experience.

Regardless of what your product is, consider adding a blog to help educate your potential customers and show them a little bit more “behind the scenes” action. The SEO benefits alone will make it worthwhile. However, just make sure that customers can easily find their way from your blog to the sales page for when they are ready to buy. If you are successful, you’ll lead them down a path like this:

Introduction -> Education -> Solve Problem -> Sell Your Product -> Continue Education

The process is cyclical, so make sure to keep that relationship growing. Many times, your customers become the best part of your sales force.

Why You Need a Blog is a post from: Nathan Hangen

Nathan Hangen » twitter

Saturday Project Update

The Webrepreneur’s Guide to Twitter

Beyond Blogging

Up and Coming

Recommended Posts

Saturday Project Update – Let’s Do Lunch

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Ideas that Change the Game – Tribal Author

The Webrepreneur’s Guide to Twitter

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Saturday Project Update – Now Becomes “Ideas that Change the World”

Changing the World of Email Updates

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The Consulting Conundrum

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Blog, What Blog?

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