Niche Web Marketing and Viral Concepts by Tony Rocks

Yesterday a few of my Facebook apps suddenly stopped working.  I did some digging and found something interesting. Facebook has recently been making updates to how their platform communicates with their applications, both on Facebook and externally, through Facebook Connect.

In doing this, they now require any iframe applications running on Facebook.com to include the callback url (the url where your application is being hosted from) to exist in two places in the application’s settings; in the "Canvas" settings page, and the "Connect" settings page.

Placing it on the connect settings page is where the application now references and looks for the cross domain reciever file, which ensures that the iframe app will render xfbml.  Thanks for Matt for finding the fix for this (this dude knows his stuff)

Anyways, we’ve fixed the problem before it became and issue.  Let me know if you need to build any Facebook Apps.

Facebook claims they have been running scripts to update any application that has referenced the file in your xd_reciever.htm file…but they lied. So check your app.

For those of you using FCKeditor, make sure you have things locked down!  The section of the editor that lets you upload files may be exposed and not secure.  What does this mean?

• You can use the page to upload a malicious script (asp, aspx, php), such as a root kit
• You can use the root kit to gain local access to the server box and destroy things
• You can upload images and files to be used for a Warez storage site

It is easy to find this file, all you have to do is type in the path to the upload page in Google and you will find a ton of websites using the editor.

fckeditor/editor/filemanager/browser/default/browser.html

If your site is getting indexed, make sure you update your robots.txt file to include a disallow for indexing for that path. 

Also, if you are using local NT username and passwords, you must instill a strict password policy.  You may want to even place directory level security if you are using IIS.  Using simple usernames and passwords will only get you into more trouble!

It seems that social marketing is quickly replacing, or at best, supplementing traditional marketing approaches these days.  I make use of quite a few social marketing angles, but realized I typically stick to 5 tools on a regular basis. 

Before you even think that social marketing is the silver bullet in your marketing arsenal, you must first have something “sociable” (not the crackers, although they are yummy) to spread…like a virus, but in a good way.  If you don’t then chances are that social marketing won’t work for you.

So here they are, my top 5 social marketing tools for almost every post I make to the blog:

1) Windows Live Writer- The absolute best blog posting application, surprisingly from Microsoft.  This client allows me to not only post to Wordpress blogs, but it will also ping to my super super list of ping servers.  Windows live writer allows you to add/edit/adjust images (which will automatically ftp them the your server) and make use of a ton of third-party pluggins such as suggested images, embed media and other cool things.

2) Pingoat - One of my go-to sites to ping servers that I may have not added to my Windows Live Writer config.  I kind of make it a habit of that when I post something to immediately go over to Pingoat and submit my site.

3) StumbleUpon - I actually use this site to “stumble upon” some cool websites.  It is nice to build up a network of “friends” and let them know about your latest post.  I’ve seen great results with StumbleUpon and they seem to be less “cliquey” than Digg.

4) Feedburner - A great site to manage your rss feeds and makes it easier for other to consume them.  If you don’t think that rss feeds are important, then well, you can go ask Google why they thought it was important enough to incorporate Adsense with it.

5) Twitter - Some think of Twitter as just a place to talk about where you are hanging out, but realistically you have to think of it as a tool to announce socially what you are up to!  Made a change to your website? Wanted to review a new product?  Just a few things to think about for using Twitter as a social marketing tool.

Now, of course you may have a few more items (as do I) but I figured a top 5 post would look better than a top 6 or top 9 social marketing tools post. Seriously, these are the main tools that I use regularly.

Is there anything worth talking about other than the new Google Voice Search application?  Many of my friends have iPhones and it seems that it is the only thing the want to talk about.  Forget about the BlackBerry Storm from Verizon…this week is all about Google voice search for the iPhone.

It seems to be pretty useful, but like with all voice apps it is a good idea to speak slowly.  Even my BlackBerry voice recognition is buggy.  For instance, you could say “Call Fart” and the phone would reply with “Did you say, call Katie?” 

It is annoying, but amusing at the same time, knowing that my friend Katie is known as “fart” to my BlackBerry.

With everybody going silly over how cool the new Google voice search is, it is easy to forget that Google is in the business of making lots of money.  What is a Google search result without the paid Google Adwords?  The tough thing here is to cram real organic search on the same screen as paid Google ads.  Yes…I put those two things in that order :)

Take a peek at this screen shot.  Google has done a fine job of cramming in what needs a crammin’:

The search app works pretty nice and I can honestly say, as an Adsense Publisher, that I’m quite pleased that Google is yet again creating new revenue streams for us. 

Ever wondered how online marketers can send an email and see $2,500 or $5,000 or even $25,000 or more flow right into their bank account?

It probably seems like magic…or a scam. But let me tell you, it’s neither one. In fact, it’s pretty easy once you have the business tool these big-profit
marketers have. And Michael Rasmussen’s new “Get More Buyers” video course shows you how to get it.

The secret weapon these marketers have is a mailing list absolutely stuffed with buyers. What’s great about Michael’s course is that he hands you 10 practical strategies for attracting eager buyers. Actually, he’s showing you the way he built his own list, which is pretty much legendary as a JV profit powerhouse.

I’ve reviewed the course myself, and I can say a few things with confidence…

First, the quality of the course is excellent. This was obviously professionally done. The audio is near studio quality, and the presentation he walks through
makes the concepts completely clear. Michael’s previous products were clearly made by somebody who KNOWS how to make a great product, and this one continues the tradition.

He starts with a brief introduction to the common list-building mistakes people make when they’re just starting out online. This certainly explained some of my own struggles—it’s not just “fluff” material.

For example, he tells you how to create your own profit-pulling marketing “funnel”, even if you’re starting from scratch. He also tells you the root cause of the two major challenges most people face…but then he goes one better. He tells you specifically how to crush those challenges.

He walks through 10 strategies for stuffing your list full of buyers. This is amazing material.

Here’s just a sample of what he covers:

• The “magic” price that can get you buyers almost immediately if you’re selling your own product
• How to increase the profit you make on each sale by 50% of more, almost immediately, and with hardly any effort (it’s all about buyer psychology)
• How to “steal” buyers from other marketers, and actually have them thank you for it!

List-building books and courses are a dime a dozen, but Michael’s course is one of the best I’ve ever seen. There’s no tired old advice that doesn’t work
today. He’s giving you real strategies that he uses himself, and that helped him create a list that routinely brings in five and six figures when he sends an email.

If you want results like that for yourself (and who DOESN’T, right?) then you check out Michael’s “Get More Buyers” course. Your business profits will be very happy you did!

Here’s the URL where you can check out the course for yourself: http://getmore.tonyrocks.com