2009 Is Here ~ Happy New Year!

Happy New Year From @simonleung (The Google Insider)	Happy New Year From @coolsi (His Evil Twin)

Images Credit: Cassey Lim

Here on the West Coast, we’re finally winding down to the final hours of 2008…

Even though we’re behind most of the world where 2009 is already underway, I actually appreciate having the extra time to reflect on 2008 and to be able make my final post of the year.

A lot has happened this year, both positive and negative, which has resulted in a time of my life that I will never forget.

I’ve learned many things about life (both personally and professionally) – a lot of them the hard way – that will greatly affect the way I move forward.

In retrospective, this experience has taught me a ton about how to proceed with my own business as well.

As we step into the new year, it’s traditional for many of us to make a new year’s resolution, so that we can make goals that we’ll strive to achieve.

Since my business direction will result in my traveling internationally for over 50% of 2009, my new year resolution is to not lose touch with my friends, colleagues, partners, clients and the countless relationships we’ve worked so hard to build.

In 2008, I spent pretty much every weekend on the road, either speaking at seminars around the country or doing the same in other countries, while building teams and companies at the same time.

As a matter of fact, I can count the number of weekends I was actually at home with one hand.

In 2009, my focus will shift to working on building a lot of the same teams and momentum in other countries by starting new businesses, growing existing ones and organizing more of my own live events.

I’ve seen and witnessed the tremendous value live events have brought to attendees, and I want to be able to capture more of that by expanding my brand to as many parts of the world as I can.

With that said, I know it’s going to be a challenge keeping and maintaining my current online relationships, not to mention building new ones.

That’s why I want to upkeep my level of networking accomplished through attending live events in 2008 by increasing my presence online through the power of social media sites and social networking.

Yes, I’m talking about the popular social media portals like Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, and the latest one to hit the scene which I predict is gonna be HUGE in 2009… Google Friend Connect!

Social media is going to be my primary way of communicating with my friends and partners in 2009, and I’d definitely like to connect with you on there as well

So please, connect with me… chat with me… interact with me…

Take a look at all my favorite social media sites and feel free to join and connect with me in any or all of them!

I’d definitely like to be able to communicate all my news, updates and announcements with you as quickly and easily as possible…

Click Here To Connect With Me Now!

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Hello from Ventura Technology Development Center on the filming set of the Social Media Simplified Web 2.0 Master Class in Ventura, CA!

Social Media Simplified Presenters Mari Smith, Deborah Micek, Linda Taylor, Denise Wakeman, Simon Leung And Nancy Marmolejo

Even though I only had one hour of sleep that I snuck in during my 6am flight from San Jose to Ontario, I was too excited to be tired as my partner Andy Huang and I then made a 2-hour commute to Ventura to take part in Social Media Simplified filming.

As a late addition to the Social Media Simplified team of talented presenters, I was extremely stoked to accept the invitation to join the ranks of Linda Taylor, Deborah Micek (AKA CoachDeb), Mari Smith, Denise Wakeman (one half of the BlogSquad team with Patsi Krakoff) and Nancy Marmolejo to speak on Google Optimization through Social Media.

Throughout the day, we learned a ton of great information about marketing with social media, utilizing Web 2.0 tools such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and CoachDeb’s own Blog i360 system as a blogging platform.

During my time on stage, I was excited not only to share some of the social media tools, widgets, plugins and strategies that I personally use for my own blog to maximize the quality and quantity of traffic coming into my website, but also to have some fun and share some laughs with the great audience, as well.

In fact, we had so much fun that most of the attendees at Social Media Simplified felt that my presentation was more entertaining than it was informative! (Haha… just kidding…)

All joking aside, I’m confident that every one in attendance had a good time and hopefully, have already begun implementing some of the effective social media marketing strategies shared on the Social Media Simplified stage.

Towards the end of the shooting, all the presenters got together on stage to organize an expert panel, where we conducted live critiques of attendees’ blogs and answered questions from the audience.

After the Social Media Simplified event was over, we brought the party over to our VIP dinner at a nearby French restaurant, where we had the opportunity to network more with one another.

Before leaving town the following evening, I spent the day hanging out with CoachDeb, Andy Huang and James Lee, taking advantage of some of the best dim sum in town, as well as organizing our own “working party,” complete with sake and snacks!

Overall, I had a ton of fun and made a bunch of new connections at Social Media Simplified, so I am definitely glad I was able to make it out to Southern California for the one day event before returning to Singapore next week for The SMART Seminar.

If you weren’t able to attend Social Media Simplified, the entire event has been recorded and the DVD set will be made available within the next week, so stay tuned for more information about how you can get your hands on the amazing social marketing content so you don’t miss out!

In the meantime, you can keep up with posts, comments and photos from the Social Media Simplified presenters, attendees and fans on the #SMSV Twitter stream.

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Hello from Room 345 of the Long Island/Huntington Hilton at the Three Sides of Traffic workshop in Long Island, New York!

The Three Sides of Traffic workshop is a sequel to the Two Sides of Traffic workshop I did with Howie Schwartz last December in San Diego, CA.

This time, we were joined by our good friend and fellow traffic generation expert, Ross Goldberg, and the three of us decided to team up to reveal some of our latest and most coveted traffic weapons yet.

And as a surprise bonus, we introduced an additional fourth side of traffic utilizing the power of online and offline marketing, presented by hybrid marketing experts Lee Collins and Robin Collins on the second day of the event.

The additional speakers and content were pleasant surprises for our attendees, some of whom flew from as far as Germany to join us in New York this weekend.

We always have fun at our own workshops, especially when we are joined by fellow marketing friends, whether they attend to contribute, or even just to learn.

At the original Two Sides of Traffic workshop, we had VIPs like Dr. Mike Woo-Ming, Mark Widawer, Mike Koenigs, Jason Moffatt, Ryan Kaltman and Rex Wisehart.

This weekend at the Three Sides of Traffic workshop, our VIP guests included Ken McArthur, Donna Fox, Sanyika Calloway-Boyce, as well as Mike Filsaime and several members of his team, Joe Jablonski, Jason Dinner, Michelle Galvin and Lucius Kern.

In fact, on Thursday before Three Sides of Traffic started, Ross Goldberg, Donna Fox, Lee Collins, Robin Collins and myself visited with Mike Filsaime and his team at their Long Island office.

We spent the day hanging out there and entertained ourselves with foosball, movies and video games.

Back to the Three Sides of Traffic workshop itself, Howie Schwartz, Ross Goldberg and I felt that the content wasn’t enough, and that we should have some social proof that our teachings were more than just theory.

Just like at the original workshop where Howie Schwartz and I demonstrated video marketing, we decided at the very last minute to do another live demonstration, this time the power of Web 2.0 technology and social media – just to prove that these strategies actually work (and to have a little fun).

An impromptu decision was made to actually take our workshop on the air with UStream, and we didn’t even really get the word out about the show until literally within about 10 minutes before we were scheduled to go live!

Implementing just a few of the social marketing tactics covered during the first half of day one, the attendees began using Twitter, Facebook and email to begin spreading the word about our live show.

Despite the time constraint we were working with, we still managed to get close to 400 unique viewers from all over the world (including Singapore, Spain, UK, Australia, and Canada) watching our show within just several minutes of notice!

We even had special visits from our expert friends like Tom Beal, Ben Mack, Pat O’Bryan, Jason Moffatt, Alejandro Reyes and Lasse Rouhiainen, just to name a few.

And as the show went on, more and more viewers joined us, and before the weekend was over, we had almost 600 views to our Ustream channel.

The viewers were also very much into the interaction, so we also had an extremely interactive chatroom that remained active during the show, and over 60 people actually remained in the room to chat even hours after we went off the air, which goes to show just how powerful social media is for traffic generation today, and will continue to be.

As a matter of fact, the sudden influx of visitors flocking to view our Three Sides of Traffic show impacted the streaming activity so much, that our show actually made it to the FRONT PAGE of Ustream while we were still live!

Oh, and that didn’t just happen once…

Our show made it to the homepage of Ustream AGAIN the next day when we went live on the air for the second time:

Hey, I don’t know about you, but I think that’s pretty darn cool!

Also, take a look at just some of the Twitter activity we had with a few of the most popular Three Sides of Traffic related searches this weekend:

If you didn’t get the chance to experience the Three Sides of Traffic workshop live with us this weekend in Long Island, we’re bummed that you couldn’t be a part of all the fun we had.

However, it’s not the end of the world because the entire weekend’s content was recorded, and you’ll be able to not only access it, but also get full resale rights to it by taking advantage of our special offer that we made available to attendees and viewers

Next year, Howie Schwartz, Ross Goldberg and I plan to return again with the Four Sides of Traffic, and this time, our friends Lee Collins and Robin Collins are going to be an official part of it.

This means that the Four Sides of Traffic promises to contain even more of the newest and most effective traffic strategies for 2009, so definitely stay tuned for more information on that.

In the meantime, you can check out the replay of the Three Sides of Traffic live streaming by clicking on the play button below:

Three Sides Of Traffic Live Streaming – Day One

 Three Sides Of Traffic Live Streaming – Day Two

 Want More Traffic And Marketing Tips?

Click Here To Access Three Sides Of Traffic Workshop Recordings!

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Hello from Room 1170 of the Drury Plaza Hotel at Pat O’Bryan’s UnSeminar 5 in San Antonio, Texas!

It’s great to return to San Antonio since my very first Internet Marketing seminar in May of 2006, as well as my first speaking engagement three months later in August, also happened right here in San Antonio.

But this time, it was a much more exciting experience…

In front of a jam packed room, I had the honor of sharing the stage with Dr. Joe Vitale, Craig Perrine, Bill Hibbler, Ben Mack, Donna Fox, Eric Farewell, Scott Lewis, Tony Laidig, Erica Douglass, and of course, Pat O’Bryan himself.

As with most seminars, the live networking at UnSeminar 5 was amazing, especially with the killer line-up of speakers and motivated attendees.

However, you know that time has definitely changed when the power of Web 2.0 not only brought on an additional 150 viewers from all around the world through live streaming…

But Twitter (one of the most popular Web 2.0 social marketing tools available today for networking) was also responsible for selling 1/3 of the tickets to the event, as well as booking several of the speakers!

Plus, throughout the weekend, we continued to network both online and offline, getting more and more people to sign up for Web 2.0 profiles like Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and more.

UnSeminar 5 was probably one of the most interactive Internet Marketing conferences I’ve been a part of that encouraged so many people to take action, whether or not they were live at the actual event.

I personally had a lot of fun not only at the conference itself, but the most invaluable experiences of all was the opportunity to hang out with speakers and attendees alike for lunch, dinner and throughout the evenings at the Riverwalk, Alamo and some of the more happening downtown areas.

Now, because my camera is broken (boo) and I haven’t gotten a replacement yet, I’m now at the mercy of my friends who did take photos to send them to me.

But while we wait for them, here are a few TwitPics (photo service for Twitter) that my friends and I took on our phones and posted online throughout the weekend…

Stage View Of The UnSeminar 5 Audience

Persian Dinner With Dr. Joe Vitale, Pat O’Bryan, Betsy O’Bryan, Donna Fox, Heather Duease And Eric Farewell

Mexican Dinner With Marlon Sanders, Ben Mack, Donna Fox, Bill Hibbler, Craig Perrine, Scott Lewis, Eric Farewell And Erica Douglass

Texas BBQ With Eric Farewell, Donna Fox And Erica Douglass

Remember The Alamo, Y’all!

Special thanks to my friends for making this a weekend to remember: Donna Fox, Eric Farewell, Ben Mack, James Wedmore, Heather Duease, Marlon Sanders, Erica Douglass, Pat O’Bryan, Scott Lewis, Joe Vitale, Craig Perrine, Bill Hibbler and Tony Laidig.

I’m sure I’ll be seeing you guys around, especially if you’re interested in attending some of my future events in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.

But if you don’t want to wait that long or travel that far (depending on where you’re located), you can catch me at my final U.S. workshop this year on August 8th and 9th in Long Island, NY, when Howie Schwartz, Ross Goldberg and I host the Three Sides Of Traffic Workshop.

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