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Once you've put all this time and effort into growing your list of Linkedln connections, you might then start to think about how you can use them to market your business, your website or your blog.

This is where 'influencer marketing' comes in - a relatively new term in the world of internet marketing but also one of the most powerful and important strategies that you have available to you. Essentially, influencer marketing straddles the line between conventional marketing and networking and combines them in a truly powerful way. What's more, it can save you countless hours when it comes to promoting yourself and getting ahead on the web. As it happens, Linkedln is actually perfectly influencer marketing and is perhaps the optimal tool for doing it effectively.

What is Influencer Marketing?

So how does this idea work? Basically, influencer marketing means that you're going to stop trying to reach as wide an audience as possible with your marketing and instead you're going to focus on the quality of the audience you market to. This might mean focusing on one individual and getting them to retweet or promote something you have to say.

So if you were to take conventional marketing on Twitter, you might spend countless hours trying to build your number of followers and then trying to create new content that would help increase your engagement. Over countless hundreds of hours spread over months or years, you would build enough of a following to become an influencer in your niche and to start getting more business each time you post.

With influencer marketing though, you would skip this step. Instead, you would focus on creating a relationship with someone who already had a huge amount of influence. Let's take Richard Branson for instance. If you could somehow reach Richard Branson and get him to Tweet about your product (and to include your username) you would likely get thousands of new follower's overnight and gigantic sales for your book or your services. In other words, you could leapfrog all of the competition by going directly to a key influencer who has the ears and hearts of your audience. This way, one single retweet, guest post or shootout could be an order of magnitude more effective than hundreds or even thousands would regularly be.

How to Reach the Big Influencers

Problem is, Richard Branson probably doesn't want to shout out to you on social media and in fact you probably have no means of contacting him...

This is where that 'degrees of separation' thing comes in again. You see, if you could find someone who knew someone, who knew someone, who knew Richard Branson, then you would be connected by 3 degrees of separation. And anyone who is connected to you by that many people, will then show you your connection to them. In other words, you would be able to go onto Linkedln and you would be able to see the two people who you need to go through to get to Richard Branson.

What's more, if you're connected to someone by three degrees, then you will be able to send them 'InMail'. This is a message that they'll receive in their Linkedln inbox and which statistically has a higher chance of being opened.

Suddenly, it becomes all the more possible that you could reach a big influencer in your niche -especially if you're working hard to grow the prominence of your website. Get big enough and you might be considered an E-lister. That might be enough to encourage a few 'C-listers' to contact you to potentially do business together. That in turn means that you now have the opportunity to directly contact some of the biggest thought leaders on the planet. This is powerful stuff.

Climbing the Ladder

Remember what we said earlier though: outright messaging Bill Gates out of the blue is not going to go down well - even if you have a vague connection by people neither of you really know all that well (imagine that!).

So how do you instead go about getting the attention of the big players? One trick is not to aim quite so big. Instead of looking to get free promotion from the biggest names in your industry, instead try to make meaningful connections with the rising stars. Look at the people who are just ahead of you and try to work with them instead of trying to jump ahead. These people will have a much better chance of wanting to connect with you because they won't be inundated with requests and because they have something to gain from the relationship as well as you do.

Even then though, you need to be careful about how you get in touch. Once you've made the connection, try to manage that connection by congratulating them on birthdays etc. and by sharing content they might find interesting (more on that in a bit). Then, when you do get in touch, make sure it's with something that they will genuineiyf\u6 interesting and avoid any thinly veiled motivations that are too self-serving. Think about the kind of message you would respond to and try to come across as genuine.

This is even more important if you're emailing a big name in your industry. Instead of straight away telling them you want to do business with them, try just saying that you're a huge fan and that you'd love if they checked out your website. Leave it at that for a while. Likewise, sharing something you think might be useful with them is another way to gradually build rapport.

Tip #1: Note that you already have some very powerful contacts in your connections! It could well be that someone you know is now a big name in a particular blogging sphere and if they've already connected with you then this is almost like a 'freebie'. Linkedln makes life easy for you as well by actually highlighting the true thought leaders with an 'Influencer' badge right on their profile.
Be Persistent... But Not too Much!

Don't be disheartened if you don't get a positive response right away, you will likely find that these people have a lot on their plate and they as such won't always have time to respond to your messages. The best strategy then is to wait a few months - even a year - and to try again.

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Taking Your Preparedness With You When You Travel

You have probably been planning your prepping around where you live and the likely disaster scenarios that are most probable in your area. You have done your research and you know whether or not you are in an area prone to tornadoes, earthquakes or a nuclear power plant meltdown. That is great, but what if you want to get out and see the world?

You don't want to spend every minute of the day focusing on what could happen. This will hold you back from really getting out there and enjoying life. It is important you see the world and all it has to offer just in case it is all gone one day. Traveling is something that some preppers are hesitant to do.

Some common questions that run through the minds of preppers who are well aware of the condition of our world and the potential for disaster are as follows.

What if disaster strikes and you are a thousand miles from home?

What if you travel to a place where disaster strikes?

What happens if a disaster occurs and you get separated from family while on vacation?

These are all legitimate questions that do require some thought. We cannot possibly know the time and place of the next disaster. There is always going to be a next disaster, that is a given, but where it will strike is unknown.

You need to do just like you do at home—plan for anything. Be prepared for anything no matter where you are.

How do you do that?

In this section, we are going to talk about how you can implement a plan that will walk you through what you need to pack and how to create a survival plan before you ever walk out the front door.

Do Your Research Before You Walk Out the Front Door

If you are going on vacation or if you are planning a business trip, you will likely have some advanced notice. Do some research about where you are going. Investigate the type of disasters that are prone to that area. If you are headed to Disneyland in California, you would want to plan ahead for an earthquake. If you are headed to Disney World in Florida, prepare to ride out a hurricane. Knowing the area will help you plan.

When you are prepping, you typically base your preps around likely scenarios that may strike in the area where you live and work. You know your home, your neighborhood and your typical route around town like the back of your hand. When you travel, you won't have that same luxury, which is why you need to collect as much information as possible before you head out the door.

Establishing Evacuation Routes

Before you head out the door, spend some time researching the area around your hotel and where you plan on spending the majority of your time while you are visiting another city. Most travel destinations are to cities or out of the way towns. This is great for you in today's world when you want to go sightseeing or experience all another area has to offer, but in a world where people are fighting for survival, this could be dangerous.

You need to have a plan to "get out of Dodge” and to safety. If you are visiting a touristy city, this is especially important. Imagine being in Los Angeles with the local population and the thousands of visitors to the city from all around the world. It is a recipe for chaos when you have that many people in the same are, all fighting for the same resources. You need a way out.

If you are in some sleepy mountain town, you won't have to worry about the population so much as finding resources. Mountain folk tend to be pretty possessive of what they have. They are not likely to welcome visitors who they deem to be a threat.

You need to locate where you will be staying and plan evacuation routes from your lodging as well as any of the main attractions you will be visiting. It is important you follow the rules of prepping and have a Plan A and Plan B. Know the highways and learn the local towns. It is easy to get twisted around when you are not familiar with an area.

Establish some reference points. This will help you get an idea of where you are and which direction you need to head. Your goal is always to find safety first. If you are dealing with a strong storm that puts the area at risk for flooding, head uphill. Run through various scenarios in your head and have an evacuation plan for each. Typically, you can use the same evacuation plan for any event.

Know the sounds of emergency alert systems in the area you are visiting. Some towns and cities have automatic road blocks that will lock you in or point you in the right direction should the alarm ever be sounded. Pay attention to signs posted along coastlines that indicate a tsunami evacuation route. These routes are often noted on city websites.

You can find a lot of information about a particular area by visiting their online city hall, Facebook pages for the city or town and internet chat rooms. Learn where the good areas of town are and the places a tourist should avoid. The last thing you want is to find yourself in a bad section of town when things are already in chaos.

Packing A Travel Survival Bag

While it doesn't make sense to pack along your entire bug out bag, it is a good idea to pack along a survival bag that includes some basic necessities. If you are flying, you will likely be unable to take along a knife, which means you will have to do without that key piece of equipment. However, there are plenty of other tools you can pack that will help you survive the aftermath of a disaster, no matter where you are.

Your bag could be a small backpack, a purse or a satchel. You want something that you can grab and throw over your shoulder or carry on your back. You don't want something like a briefcase or duffel that you have to carry with your hands. You need your hands free to help balance yourself, hold a flashlight and to defend yourself if necessary.

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Chapter VII: Shocking Email Marketing Case Studies.

Shoe Zone

Shoe Zone is a footwear dealer and wholesaler that has more than 500 stores in the UK (United Kingdom) and Ireland, which deals in shoes at modest prices.

The company wanted to extend and prosper from a digital marketing approach to boost their profits and attain their business objectives with more competitive online retail marketing.

Shoe Zone opted for Pure360 services to cultivate and remodel their biweekly email template with the added features of subject lines and layout. Pure360 also encouraged its social media followers to subscribe to Shoe Zone's newsletter.

Shoe Zone accomplished an ROI of 1000% with increasing sales of 100% year over year. There was a boost in CTR of 15%, website traffic straight from the emails improved by 150% year over year, open rate was increased by 2% and hard bounces were diminished by 0.2%.

Sobieski

Sobieski services Inc. is a part of The Sobieski Group that offers mechanical construction, commercial services, residential services, single and multifamily divisions and plumbing, HVAC, fire protection, alarm and security services.

The company's prime objective was to improve their understanding of digital marketing endeavors as a team. They were using not-segmented emails, non strategic SEO and unyielding CMS in their campaign.

Sobieski used HubSpot SEO built-in tools which boosted their website traffic by 55%. Sobieski started generating quality leads with HubSpot landing pages and inbound marketing. The company used integrated systems to learn the audience's demeanor and used lead intelligence to nurture leads.

Sobieski achieved great results, there was a 33% decrease in PPC spend, paying customers were increased 2 times, and online revenue was boosted by 125%.

Craghoppers

Craghoppers is a British exterior attire manufacturer and dealer that was established in Bately, West Yorkshire. The travel clothing

company delivered two catalogues per year - Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter. The goal of Craghoppers was to accomplish a positive outcome from cart abandonment.

Craghoppers associated with Redeye's powerful tagging structure to classify the features 0f products that customers had included in their cart before relinquishing the purchase.

Redeye sent two emails to Craghoppers abandoned customers - one was after 24 hours and the second was three days after abandoning the cart. The agency utilized numerous unique email layouts based on their previous purchases and interest with adaptable content.

Craghoppers obtained a return of investment (ROI) of 711% and recaptured profits from 56% of the existing audience that abandoned a purchase, with an increment of 30% in email click rate. Of emails sent, 10% brought in sales.

Bags ETC

Bags ETC is a series of suitcase and handbag outlets in the United Kingdom and Ireland whose products follow the latest trends and novelty with high prices. open rate and click from mobile recipients to generate revenue.

The company partnered with Genie Goals advertising agency, which is a specialist in PPC and email marketing campaigns. Genie Goals decided to cultivate mobile optimized email layouts. They moved to a single column layout, created an adaptable logo design, unnecessary content was eliminated and Calls-to-action were made easier to get clicks.

Mobile responsive email layout worked great, and assisted Bags ETC to achieve 1151% growth in mobile transaction, and mobile revenue grew 850%.

Mango Bikes

Mango Bikes was founded by Ben and Jezz in 2012 with an objective to assemble and sell high quality and stylish bikes at competitive prices.

The aim of the company was to increase sales by motivating customers who have bought a bike in the earlier years to upgrade or purchase add-ons.

Mango Bikes contacted Toinfinity, a digital marketing agency that assists businesses in increasing their online capability. Toinfinity established a reengagement campaign with a focused message noting the 'Birthday' of a bike by refining the customers' data by their purchasing date.

The content and copy of the emails appealed the to customers celebrating the anniversary of their bike's purchase by discounting their Mango Bike's accessories or upgraded peripherals.

The email open rate was increased 56% with the subject line “Your Mango is 1 year old! Say Happy Birthday with 10% off'. The email campaign improved 3 times to a 22% click-to-open-rate. Mango Bikes attained a 2337% Return on investment.

ITV Studios

ITV Studios is a television production company situated in London and owned by the British TV broadcaster ITV, plc. Attracting the right viewer demographics is why ITV Studios relies heavily on email to boost enthusiasm among the buyers.

The objective of ITV studios was to boost their program sale with an imaginative email. The company used dotmailer as their automation tools and utilized the precise targeting which was a seamless and integrated operation. They collected data from the audience that was viewing the trailers and similar kinds of programs and targeted the prospective customers.

ITV Studios website relaunched an email campaign and the results were amazing, 58% more visitors came on the launch day, Total visits were boosted by 163% and webpage visits were increased by 22%.

Sundance Catalog

Sundance catalog is a multichannel dealer which specializes in different varieties of collections such as attire, jewelry, home decor and other items.

The objective of the company was to boost their moderate order value and email click through rate; employ new subscribers to improve brand awareness and trust; enhance subscriber communication with brands and increase webpage visits.

Sundance Catalog worked with Experian CheetahMail to design customercentric email for good results. They added inducement into their welcome email. To enhance the deliverability and engagement via email, they utilized Real-time welcome emails for the customers who signed up via their home page and daily welcome emails for the customers who signed up via the checkout page.

For the daily welcome email, their transaction rate increased 11 times and revenue per email grew 19 times. The real-time welcome email enhanced their Click- through-rate 2 times and revenue per email 2 times higher.

The Motley Fool UK

The Motley Fool UK is among the country's well-known financial companies that is devoted to establishing the world's best investment association. Email is an important aspect of their business helping to achieve nearly one third of their UK revenue.

The prime objective of The Motley Fool UK was to enhance their customer retention, relevancy and deliverability. The company opted for StrongView to build engagement and fulfill their business need.

StrongView eliminated thousands of email addresses which were worthless and not responded from in a long time, and generated a fresh list of active users. The deliverability, real time reporting, segmented audience, unique and informative content helped the company.

As a result, the deliverability rates were boosted from around 85% to 99% and real time visibility of mailing was 100%. Email drove more than 30% of the company's revenue.

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Momentum killers are serious threats to your success in achieving both small and large goals. Threats to momentum might look like riding a bicycle on an uphill road versus a flat, straight road. The difference can make you tire easily and even give up if the road is too steep.

The fricton created by momentum killers work against your forward moton and has a negatve impact on your eventual accomplishments. Fricton examples might be anything from distractons when trying to work to negatve self-talk keeping you from achieving bigger and better things.

When a sports team suffers from loss of momentum, it's likely because the leader didn't recognize the signs of momentum killers in the midst. The same thing can happen in your own life and cause you to lose your sense of direct on and focus. A team may lose their drive and you may also lose your excitement and enthusiasm about the "game" you're in.

There are many examples of momentum killers. Some may not apply to you and your personality and way of geffing things done - others may cause pause for concern. Take a look at the following killers of motvaton and decide which you should be concerned about:

Procrastination - This is likely the biggest killer of momentum in anyone's life. When you procrastnate, you're at a complete standstll. If you're waitng for "things" to improve before you begin something, chances are the t me will never be exactly right and your procrastnaton atttude will only make it more difficult to move forward.

Fear - Another sure-fired way to stop the flow of momentum. Fear causes you to quit or at least stop taking risks by moving forward. Fear is what keeps a team from winning because they stop trying. Wayne Gretzky, ice hockey champion and head coach, said: "Procrastination is one of the most common and deadliest of diseases and its toll on success and happiness is heavy."

Success - How could success possibly be a momentum killer? Team leaders notce that after an enormously sought-after win, some teams tend to stop learning and are more reluctant to face challenges or implement risks. It happens to individuals too - when a lofty goal such as losing 20 pounds is reached, some people return to old habits of eatng too much and not exercising enough.

Routine - Sameness is a roadblock to momentum because it doesn't keep you motvated and moving forward. Momentum gets its power from challenges and interestng and excitng positve changes rather than repeatng the same actvity or thought patterns without change.

Bad Habits - If you've wanted to be fit and healthy for as long as you can remember, eatng junk food and avoiding exercise isn't going to build momentum to satsfy the desire. The "mass" of the desire may seem to be too much to gather momentum, but you can do it by transforming bad habits into good ones.

Distractions - Distractons can turn momentum into madness. No matter how badly you want something, constant distractons can pull the rug from beneath your carefully laid plans, causing it to crash and burn forever.

Negative Self-Talk - It's easy to be motvated and think positve thoughts when things are going well in your life - but when negatve things begin to happen, negatve self-talk can squash it in a minute.

Lack of Motivation - Motvaton can ruin a good idea or good intentons. At first glance, everything may be full of excitement and possibilites. As you move along with a project or idea, the sameness and little things you must do to make it a reality can become boring - much like a child's toy on Christmas Day becomes just another toy in the box within a few days.

Failure - Failure should be used to build momentum, but sometimes it can shoot down an idea or goal in mid-air. Failure can be a stepping stone to success if used to build momentum rather than using it as a reason to give up.

Apathy - Losing passion for a project or goal can cause momentum to wane and eventually disappear. Become your own cheerleader and keep the enthusiasm up to keep momentum up.

All of the above momentum killers can be dealt with if you're committed and determined to let momentum take over in your life and help you accomplish everything you're capable of. Read on to find out how fight momentum killers and win.

Ten Tips to Help You Win Against Momentum Killers

The list above may seem monumental to deal with on a daily basis, but if you're to accomplish great things in life (or even some of the small ones) you've got to learn how.

You've got to choose a directon and keep on the path by creatng a vision of what you want and never taking your eyes off it. Here are some bps for dealing with the above momentum killers and winning - even against all odds.

ProcrasSnaSon

Ironically, the best way to overcome procrastnaton is to create -momentum! The longer you wait to begin a project or a new way of life the more difficult it becomes. Procrastnaton creates resistance and that resistance is difficult to overcome because we perceive it as too hard to achieve. What you're really doing is avoiding the issue. Feel and think well by leaving procrastination in your rear view mirror.

Fear

Fear causes you to quit what you're doing or what you may have been capable of doing. You stop taking risks, stop trying to move forward and just give up when you allow fear run your life. The best way to deal with fear is to conquer it one step at a tme. Ask yourself what would happen if you were really brave enough to create momentum with a project or life change. You'll likely find that the positve results would outweigh the negatve.

Success

A_er you've "arrived," the passion may dwindle for you to accomplish more. The best thing you can do a_er a success in any area of your life is to immediately find a greater challenge or risk to concentrate on. You've already proven you can succeed in one area - now, create momentum for another of life's challenges.

Routine

Momentum isn't built on routnes, but on change. Change of some type must become part of your daily challenges and risk-taking so that boredom doesn't set in and make it impossible for you to become excited or enthused. The change mechanism can be small or large, but it needs to be enough to keep you challenged.