If you use social media sites (like Digg, MySpace and Squidoo) the right way, you can bring in a stampede of highly targeted traffic to your site. But what happens when this traffic arrives on your landing page? If you?re like a lot of marketers, this is where your system breaks down.

You see, the social marketing experts have told you plenty of information about how to use the social media sites. They?ve shared with you their secrets of creating compelling profile pages, building a big ?friends? list, networking with like-minded others, and even creating content that will be scooped up by the search engines.

But what they haven?t told you is one of the most crucial pieces of the whole social media marketing puzzle. Namely, you need to create a good landing page on your site that draws your traffic in and gets them on your list.

Here are a few tips to help you do exactly that?

* If You?re Linking to a Content Page, Make it Interactive

Think about it ? your social networking traffic is coming from a very interactive, ?social? site. So if you send this traffic to a sales page or other static page, these visitors are going to hit the ?back? button faster than you can say, ?what happened??

Instead, you should link to a blog with content related to whatever content your visitors were just reading. Make it provocative? and encourage comments.

* If You?re Linking to a Squeeze Page, Make it Compelling

You can?t just put a note that says ?sign up for my free newsletter?? and expect that people will sign up for your free newsletter. Instead, you need to give them a compelling reason to do so. And better yet, you need to give them a reason why they should do so right now.

In other words, you need to create a page that ?sells? people on joining your newsletter list. To discover the secrets of creating a landing page that practically builds your list for you, click here to get your copy of [[Social List Building]] right now.

MySpace.com. Facebook.com. LinkedIn.com. Friendster.com.

You?ve likely heard some of these sites. And maybe you?ve taken a peek at some of their home pages or even signed up for a free account. But let me ask you this: Are you generating a ton of qualified leads using these sites yet?

If you?re not pulling in traffic using these sites, you?re certainly not alone. Plenty of marketers haven?t even touched the social networking scene yet. And many of those that have ventured out into this relatively new territory aren?t matching their strategy or their message to the medium.

You see, you can?t just post a profile on MySpace and talk TO your audience. These are social networking sites, meaning you talk WITH your audience. In other words, it?s a two-way conversation. And if you try to make it into a static, one-way conversation, you?ll find very few people interested in what you have to say.

To that end, here?s what you need to do to start making the most out of social networking sites:

1) Join and Set Up Your Profile

Stay away from setting up a jumbled profile with lots of images, colors and fonts that make it hard to read. If people have to struggle to read it, they won?t. And you?ll lose a potential prospect.

On the flip side, don?t make your profile into a ?clinical white? corporate-type site. People don?t visit other people?s profiles to read about companies. If they want to look at a business page at all, it?s because they want to find solutions to their problems.

In other words, your profile isn?t really about you. It?s about your prospect.

2) Contribute Good Content

Social networking sites aren?t for blasting out one commercial message after another. And in fact, doing so can get you banned.

However, you can use these sites to establish yourself as an expert in your niche, as well as to attract qualified leads to your site. And to do that, you need to contribute good content on your social networking blog, on the forums and elsewhere on the site as appropriate.

Doing so starts the conversation with like-minded others ? and networking is the key to using these sites successfully.

3) Start Now

Today is the time to get started. And that?s because social networking is not only hot today, it?s the future of the web. We?re seeing this evolution right now ? and if you start using social networking sites immediately, you?ll be rewarded handsomely in new customers, new leads, new sales ? and plenty of money!

For the secrets of building a big list using social networking, download your copy of the brand new ebook [[Social List Building]] right here.

What?s viral content? It?s content that gets passed around until it?s sweeping through your niche like an out-of-control prairie fire on a windy day. And since your marketing message is a part of that content, you get instant, massive exposure when you create and launch this sort of content.

All marketers hope to create an ebook, video, tool, software or even an article that gets this sort of exposure. It?s easy to fantasize about creating a video or ebook that overnight becomes ?the next big thing? that everyone?s talking about. And we all feel like it could happen, because the social media sites (like YouTube and MySpace) make it so easy for anyone to create and share content.

But few marketers actually accomplish this. And even fewer know how to create content that?s ?buzz worthy? and likely to be shared. Here?s what you need to know before you launch your next viral campaign:

* Create Edgy Content

If your 85-year old grandma sees your content and approves, it?s probably not going to sweep the Internet like you hope. But if her jaw drops and she?s shocked and offended, then you might be on the right track.

In other words, bland ?newspaper style? articles, videos or other content won?t make the rounds online. It needs to push the envelope, be engaging, maybe controversial and a little offensive, and/or highly useful.

Just think about the last article, ebook or video you shared with a friend. I bet it wasn?t the sort of content you could find in a thousand other places, was it? It caught your attention because it was different. And likewise, you can catch your market?s attention by delivering something different than they?re used to seeing.

* Encourage People to Share It

You can?t create content and then just cross your fingers and hope someone shares it. Instead, you need to encourage sharing it. That means that you tell people, specifically, to pass it along to their friends. You may also use a ?tell a friend? form. And of course, you should make it easy for people to share it on social bookmarking sites (like Digg.com and StumbleUpon.com) by adding those badges and widgets to your site.

* Get Your Content in Front of People

Finally, you need to get your content in front of as many people as possible. Indeed, pretend it?s a paid product and ?launch it? with a marketing campaign. Use Digg, MySpace, Squidoo, YouTube, article directories, blogging and every other tool and site at your disposal to get the word out. The more people who initially see it, the better chance it has of going viral, fast.

For more information about creating buzz-worthy content ? and for all the secrets of using social bookmarking to build your lists ? check out the brand new ebook, [[Social List Building]].

At the time of writing this article, a quick look at Yahoo! Answers reveals questions like:

* What are the five most important things to look for in an attractive person?
* Should I get this dress?
* Why does weed just make me tired these days?

All of this brings our own question to mind: Do serious marketers actually use Yahoo! Answers? And if so, do they do it successfully?

The answer is a resounding ?yes!? on both accounts.

True, there are some juvenile questions (and answers) on Yahoo! Answers. But there are plenty of serious questions that give you the opportunity to establish yourself as a niche expert. And best off, many of these questions end up regularly at the top of the search engines? especially if you optimize your answers using long-tail keywords!

Here?s how you can use Yahoo! Answers to drive traffic to your site and build your mailing list?

1) Find Niche Questions? And Answer Fast

You should set aside time once or twice a day to answer questions that are directly related to your niche. But here?s the key: You need to be fast. If you?re one of the first to provide a thorough answer, your answer is more likely to be chosen as the best answer. (And that means more traffic and exposure for you.)

Otherwise, if you post an answer after dozens of other people have already posted, your answer will likely just reiterate everyone else?s answers. And that?s just a ?me too? answer.

2) Post Thoughtful, Thorough Answers

Don?t be slapdash. The better your answer, the more likely it is to be chosen as the best answer. And the more thoughtful answers you provide, the more your reputation will grow as a niche expert. Both of these lead directly to more traffic, a bigger list, and more sales!

3) Drop Your Link

Don?t forget to drop your link as the ?source? of your answer. But be sure to link to a content page rather than a squeeze page.

4) Get the Insider?s Secrets

Finally, the best way to dominate Yahoo! Answers is to get the secrets straight from the experts who use social media every day to drive traffic, build hungry lists and make money. You can learn all these secrets (and more!) at [[Social List Building]] site.

In Part 1 of this article series, we talked about how to create a buzz-worthy video that?s positioned to ?go viral? on YouTube. The next part of this plan is to officially launch and promote your video. The more people who see it in the first few days, the more likely it is that people will start sharing it and talking about it ? and that means more exposure and traffic for you!

Once your video is on YouTube, here are just a few tactics you can use to immediately start promoting it:

* Tell your list about it. Not only should you tell your list about it (and give them a good reason to watch the video), you should also encourage them to post comments on the video.

* Blog about it. Again, you should give your blog readers a compelling reason to watch the video. If your video is controversial, let them know ? and encourage them to discuss the video on your blog (as well as on the YouTube site). Indeed, you need to ask your readers for their feedback.

* Ask others to email their lists and blog about it. If you have joint venture partners who owe you a favor, ask them to share your video with their readers. You can also ?co promote? one another ? you tell your readers about your partner?s videos, products, newsletter, blog or site, and he tells his readers about your new video.

* Write and submit articles about the topic of the video. You can create articles around the same topic, again bringing in the elements of controversy, humor and entertainment that makes the video so engaging. Then link to your video and submit these articles to places like EzineArticles.com, GoArticles.com, ArticleCity.com, IdeaMarketers.com and similar.

* Post your video on your other social media sites. Your social media sites don?t work in a vacuum. Indeed, the more you use them together, the more powerful they become.

As such, you should use all your other social media sites to promote your YouTube video, meaning you can post your video on your MySpace page, your Facebook page, your Squidoo or HubPages, etc. Also, be sure to socially bookmark your video as well.

Summary

These are just a few of the tactics you can use to create, launch and promote your viral video on YouTube. For a complete social media marketing strategy, see [[Social List Building]].

In Part 1 of this article series, we talked about what social media sites are and how they can be used together to drive traffic, get links and build your list. But we didn?t get into any details? so we?re going to pick up where we left off and discuss your social media marketing strategy.

1) Register and Start Networking ASAP.

Social media sites are by their definition places where you network, socialize and get in contact with those of like minds. That means you can?t hold a one-way conversation where you ?lecture? to your prospects and participate in activities that will directly benefit you.

As such, that means you need start networking and participating on these sites before you start doing those things that directly benefit you. For example:

* Comment on and rate videos on video-sharing sites like YouTube before you start posting your own videos.

* Comment on and rate other people?s content before you start bookmarking your own content on Digg, StumbleUpon, ReddIt, and similar.

* Comment on and rate other people?s content while you are building your own Squidoo Lens or HubPages.

If you become a part of the community first, then you?ll be able to grow a good reputation quickly. This makes you more authoritative and influential when you do start submitting and bookmarking your own content. And that means more traffic, fast.

2) Start Sharing Quality Content

Once you?ve helped other members and contributed to the community, then it?s time to start contributing your own quality content. That means you can share videos, bookmark your pages and build your content sites. You can also run a blog on these sites, start niche groups and similar.

3) Network with Like Minded Others

You may find plenty of prospects on these social networking sites, which is why you should work to get people on your mailing list. But don?t forget that you may also find potential joint venture partners on these sites ? so network accordingly.

4) Commit to Doing Something Every Day

Finally, you should commit to doing one social media marketing activity every day. For example, load a new video, create a new Squidoo page or answering five questions on Yahoo! Answers.

The reason for this consistency is because the more you do, the more traffic you?ll get and the faster you?ll build your list. See, you can?t just ?do? social marketing for one day and expect it to pay off for months. But you can do just a little bit every day and watch as it pays you handsomely every day.

You?ve seen just the tip of the social media iceberg in this article. That means you need to check out [[Social List Building]] to discover what the gurus know about building their lists using YouTube, MySpace, Digg, Squidoo and other social media sites!

A viral video that takes your niche (and maybe the whole Internet) by a storm doesn?t just happen by accident. To maximize your chances of creating the video that becomes an overnight sensation, you need to execute this two-part plan:

Part 1: Create a buzz-worthy video
Part 2: Launch your video

Here?s how to do it?

Step 1: Choose a Topic Worth Sharing

Go to YouTube and see what?s hot. Which videos are popular and get a lot of views, comments and viral action? Chances are, the popular videos tend to be funny, outrageous, controversial, offensive, extremely useful or similar.

Look, if you want to create a video that everyone talks about, then you need to make it WORTH talking about. And that means making it different, engaging, useful, funny, controversial and/or offensive.

Step 2: Create Your Video

You don?t have to buy fancy equipment, but you shouldn?t a camera that films grainy pictures either. Upgrade your equipment to the best you can afford so you can present a quality product.

Second, keep it SHORT ? just 30 seconds to two minutes maximum. Videos go viral when they?re short and easy to watch? and easy to pass along.

Step 3: Keep Track of the Important Frames

Your first, last or middle frame should be visually appealing. That?s because YouTube allows you to use one of those frames as a thumbnail pic ? and you want to create a thumbnail pic that captures attention (and clicks) from YouTube users.

Step 4: Load and Tag

Finally, you need to load your video up, describe it, and ?tag? it using the keywords your niche uses to find related information. Ideally, you should use some long-tail keywords so that your niche can easily find your video both on YouTube as well as in Google.

Once you?ve completed the above four easy steps, you?re halfway done. Your next step is to officially launch your video and get it in front of as many people as possible.

You?ll discover exactly how to do that in Part 2 of this article series. But until than, check out [[Social List Building]] to discover what the gurus know about building their lists using YouTube, MySpace, Digg, Squidoo and other social media sites!