Blog Masters

How to use twitter for business

2009-04-24T21:23:00.000-07:00

Learn how to use twitter to grow your business. Learn all about Twitter Power by Joel Comm. Learn to use Twitter to explode your business, develop your brand and make...

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2009-04-21T10:48:00.000-07:00

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Blog and website Ranking

2009-04-14T21:23:00.001-07:00

The Future of WebSite Ranking

The recent shakeup in Google's search results, which set the SEO (search engine optimization) community buzzing and saw tens of thousands of webmasters watch their site ranking plummet, was in many ways inevitable. Almost all SEO companies and most savvy webmasters had a fairly good handle on what Google considered important. And since SEO, by definition, is the art of manipulating website ranking (not always with the best interests of searchers in mind), it was only a matter of time until Google decided to make some changes.

If you've been asleep at the SEO switch, here are a few links to articles and forums that have focused on the recent changes at Google:

Articles:

http://www.searchengineguide.com
http://www.searchenginejournal.com
http://www.accordmarketing.com

Forums:
http://www.webmasterworld.com
http://www.jimworld.com
http://www.searchguild.com

To date, most of the commentary has been predictable, ranging from the critical and analytical to the speculative.

Here's a typical example from one of our News readers:

"I'm not sure what has happened to Google's vaunted algorithm, but searches are now returning unrelated junk results as early as the second page and even first page listings are a random collection of internal pages (not index pages) from minor players in my industry (mostly re-sellers) vaguely related to my highly-focused keyword search queries."

So, what is Google trying to accomplish? As one author put it, Google has a "democratic" vision of the Web. Unfortunately for Google and the other major search engines, those with a grasp of SEO techniques were beginning to tarnish that vision by stacking the search result deck in favor of their websites.

Search Engine Optimization or Ranking Manipulation?

Author and search engine expert, Barry Lloyd commented as follows: "Google has seen their search engine results manipulated by SEOs to a significant extent over the past few years. Their reliance on PageRank™ to grade the authority of pages has led to the wholesale trading and buying of links with the primary purpose of influencing rankings on Google rather than for natural linking reasons."

Given Google's dominance of search and how important ranking well in Google is to millions of websites, attempts at rank manipulation shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. For many, achieving a high site ranking is more important than the hard work it takes to legitmately earn a good ranking.

The Problem with Current Site Ranking Methods

There will always be those who are more interested in the end result than on how they get there and site ranking that is based on site content (links, keywords, etc.) and interpreted by ranking algorithms will always be subject to manipulation. Why? Because, for now, crawlers and algorithms lack the intelligence to make informed judgements on site quality.

A short while ago, author, Mike Banks Valentine published an article entitled "SEO Mercilessly Murdered by Copywriters!." The article rightly pointed out SEO's focus on making text and page structure "crawler friendly." Other SEO authors have written at great length about the need for "text, text, text" in page body content as well as in Meta, Heading, ALT, and Link tags. They are all correct and yet they are all missing (or ignoring) the point which is that the "tail is wagging the dog." Search engines are determining what is relevant, not the people using those engines. Searchers are relegated to the role of engine critics and webmasters to being students of SEO.

SEO manipulation will continue and thrive as long as search engines base their algorithms on page and link analysis. The rules may change, but the game will remain the same.

Therein lies the problem with all current search engine ranking algorithms. SEO's will always attempt to position their sites at the top of search engine results whether their sites deserve to be there or not, and search engines will continue to tweak their algorithms in an attempt to eliminate SEO loopholes. If there is a solution to this ongoing battle of vested interests, it won't come from improving page content analysis.

Incorporating User Popularity into Ranking Algorithms

The future of quality search results lies in harnessing the opinions of the Internet masses - in other words, by tying search results and site ranking to User Popularity. Google's "democratic" vision of the Web will never be achieved by manipulating algorithm criteria based on content. It will only be achieved by factoring in what is important to people, and people will always remain the best judge of what that is. The true challenge for search engines in the future is how to incorporate web searcher input and preferences into their ranking algorithms.

Website ranking based on user popularity - the measurement of searcher visits to a site, pages viewed, time viewed, etc. - will be far less subject to manipulation and will ensure a more satisfying search experience. Why? Because web sites that receive the kiss of approval from 10,000, 100,000 or a million plus surfers a month are unlikely to disappoint new visitors. Although some websites might achieve temporary spikes in popularity through link exchanges, inflated or false claims, email marketing, pyramid schemes, etc., these spikes would be almost impossible to sustain over the long-term. As Lincoln said "You can fool some of the people all the time. You can fool all the people some of the time. But you can't fool all the people all the time." Any effective ranking system based on surfer input will inevitably be superior to current systems.

To date, none of the major search engines have shown a serious interest in incorporating user popularity into their ranking algorithms. As of this writing, ExactSeek is the only search engine that has implemented a site ranking algorithm based on user popularity.

Resistance to change, however, is not the only reason user data hasn't made its way into ranking algorithms. ExactSeek's new ranking algorithm was made possible only as a result of its partner arrangement with Alexa Internet, one of the oldest and largest aggregator's of user data on the Web. Alexa has been collecting user data through its toolbar (downloaded over 10 million times) since 1997 and is currently the only web entity with a large enough user base to measure site popularity and evaluate user preferences in a meaningful way.

The Challenges Facing User Popularity Based Ranking

1. The Collection Of User Data:
In order for web user data to play a significant role in search results and site ranking, it would need to be gathered in sufficient volume and detail to accurately reflect web user interests and choices. The surfing preferences of a few million toolbar users would be meaningless when applied to a search engine database of billions of web pages. Even Alexa, with its huge store of user data, is only able to rank 3 to 4 million websites with any degree of accuracy.

2. Privacy:
The collection of user data obviously has privacy implications. Privacy concerns have become more of an issue in recent years and could hinder any attempt to collect user data on a large scale. The surfing public would need to cooperate in such an endeavor and be persuaded of the benefits.

3. Interest:
Web search continues to grow in popularity with more than 80% of Internet users relying on search engines to find what they need. However, with the exception of site owners who have a vested interest in site ranking, most web searchers have not expressed any serious dissatisfaction with the overall quality of search results delivered by the major engines. Harnessing the cooperation and active participation of this latter and much larger group would be difficult, if not impossible.

The future of web search and website ranking belongs in the hands of all Internet users, but whether it ends up there depends on how willing they are to participate in that future.

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Auto Ping Your Blog

2009-04-14T21:19:00.000-07:00

Just What Is Blogging and Pinging?

There is a new partnership in cyber-town called Blogging and Pinging. It is not a new comedy team or even a singing group, but a new way to build links and attract visitors to your website and to make more money. Blogging and Pinging is a marketing tool that can help anyone build their online business.

Let’s start with a definition of a blog.

Blog is short for weblog. A weblog is a journal that is frequently updated and intended for general public consumption. Blogs generally represent the personality of the author of the Web site.

Ok, so what about pinging? Originally, a ping was a program that bounced a request off another computer or server over a network or the Internet to see if the remote computer was responding. That same program is now used as a method of informing others that your blog exists and it also let’s them know when a new post has been made.

When you put blogging together with pinging you get a technique that is extremely effective at getting any web site, no matter how big or small, indexed by the major search engines.

Why Is Blogging and Pinging The Newest Marketing Tool?

Most of you are now saying, "Yeah, so what? I can get my site indexed now. What’s the big deal?" The big deal is that blogging and pinging gets your site indexed almost immediately and it is free!

If you have any experience trying to get a site indexed and listed in the major search engines, then you know that it is frustrating and very difficult to get done in a reasonable amount of time. After working hard to get your site together, collecting and writing content, worrying about keywords and keyword densities, you are not even close to being finished. Now comes the even harder part! Now you have to manually submit your site to all the major search engines. And finally, you get to wait.

That’s right, you have to wait for the spiders to come to index your site. This could take weeks or it could take months. There are some methods that will help bring along the spiders a bit faster, but these take lots of time and effort and money. And still, you can’t be sure that the spiders will come fast more quickly.

Blogging and pinging solves this problem. You can guarantee that spiders will come to your site and that you will get listed in all the major search engines with minimal effort and no money in about 48 hours.

How does it work? The largest search engine, Google, owns Blogger.com. This is the site that many people use to create their blogs. Google frequently sends their search engine spiders through Blogger.com to find new content.

So, if you have a blogger.com account you can add content from other websites to the content of your blog and when you blog the content of your site the URL of the page you are blogging is automatically attached. That way, when Google’s spiders index your blogger.com pages, they see your website URL within the content. If that URL isn’t listed in the Google database, the spiders are almost certain to follow the link to index your site!

So, rather than wait for weeks, months, or even up to a year, you can get your site listed virtually immediately! Google themselves will tell you that they would rather discover new URL’s by finding links than getting them via submission. So, why not blog and ping and give them what they want!

One critical success factor in boosting your link popularity is to use the blog and ping technique to notify lots of other sites anout new content on your web site. This is achieved by using your blogger.com publishing function to ping the major blog directories such as Technorati and Blo.gs.

Another good piece of news is that once Google has indexed your site, other search engines that use Google’s feed will list your site too. And it all happens at lightening speed!

Blogging and pinging is a really effective method to get your site spidered by the major search engines and, more importantly, getting those all important links.

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Alexa Ranking

2009-04-06T10:14:00.000-07:00

Alexa is a kind of search engine that measures the popularity of websites that are visited by surfers who have an Alexa toolbar installed in their browser. Since the toolbar has been downloaded over ten million times, it is safe to suppose that a lot of surfers use it - a lot, but not the majority.

How does Alexa calculate a website’s traffic rank?

Er, difficult to say exactly. What the boffins at Alexa say they do is take all the previous three months of surfing data from the toolbar users and kind of mash it together in a saucepan. Then they throw in a few “secret ingredients” and other undisclosed “diverse traffic data sauces” and leave it to simmer until it has reduced down to a single number - your website’s Alexa traffic rank!

Some people have expressed a degree of scepticism about Alexa’s cookery.

Despite the scepticism, Alexa is still important in providing some sort of guide to overall website ranking, especially for the higher ranked sites and is used as a rough guide by a lot of website owners, who see an improvement in their Alexa rank as evidence that they are making progress.

It is important to stress that Alexa rank and traffic volume are not inextricably linked. You could have a great site that attracts a lot of targeted traffic, but still have an Alexa rank of over a million. (The lower the number, the higher the rank.)

Still, a site that ranks highly on Alexa will gain a lot of credibility and you will find plenty of highly ranked websites (i.e. anything below 100,000) that display their Alexa ranking on their homepages.

So, here are a few tips to help you get your site up the Alexa ranking ladder:

For best results use Firefox and install the Alexa toolbar using Firefox’s Search Status extension and set your website homepage as the default page.

Next, place the Alexa widget on your website. The widget will display your Alexa rank, and send feedback about your site to Alexa.

Customize the Alexa tool bar and add a link to the toolbar download page. Every time it is downloaded you will get some credit from Alexa.

A lot of Website owners tend to have the Alexa toolbar on their browsers. They also tend to visit web directories, so if you post your site on a number of popular directories you stand a good chance of having it viewed on browsers that have the Alexa toolbar installed.

Website owners also tend to hang out on Internet marketing and SEO forums. Join those forums, post a link to your website in your forum signature and you might pick up some extra Alexa juice.

Write articles about Alexa and other SEO tips and post them on your website or blog. Your aim is to attract visitors who may be interested to learn about Alexa and download the toolbar from your site.

Add a page of marketing resources to your website and place a link to the Alexa toolbar on it.

Get some friends to bookmark your Alexa articles on Stumbleupon and similar social marketing sites, use Twitter to get the word out about Alexa and so on.

These are just some of the ways that you can improve your Alexa ranking. Remember, the higher your website ranks on Alexa the more seriously it is likely to be taken by people who visit your site and by people who might want to advertise on it.

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Technorati

2009-03-24T09:30:00.000-07:00

Technorati is an Internet search engine for searching blogs, competing with Google and Yahoo. As of June 2008, Technorati indexes 112.8 million blogs and over 250 million pieces of tagged social media. The name Technorati is a portmanteau, pointing to the technological version of literati, or intellectuals.

Technorati was founded by Dave Sifry and its headquarters are in San Francisco, California, USA. Tantek Çelik was the site's Chief Technologist.

Technorati uses and contributes to open source software. Technorati has an active software developer community, many of them from open-source culture. Sifry is a major open-source advocate, and was a founder of LinuxCare and later of Wi-Fi access point software developer Sputnik. Technorati includes a public developer's wiki, where developers and contributors collaborate, as well as various open APIs.

The site won the SXSW 2006 awards for Best Technical Achievement and also Best of Show.[3] It was also nominated for a 2006 Webby award for Best Practices, but lost to Flickr and Google Maps.[4]
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Technology
* 2 Criticism
* 3 References
* 4 External links

Technology

Technorati looks at tags that authors have placed on their websites. These tags help categorize search results, with recent results coming first.

Criticism

In February 2006, Debi Jones pointed out that Technorati's "State of the Blogosphere" postings, which claimed that they track 27.7 million blogs, failed to take into account MySpace blogs, of which she says there are 56 million. As a result, she says the utility of Technorati as a gauge for blog popularity is questionable. However by March 2006, Aaron Brazell pointed out that Technorati had started tracking MySpace blogs.

In May 2006 Technorati teamed up with the PR agency Edelman. The deal earned a lot of criticism, both on principle and as a result of Edelman's 2006 fake blog scandals. Edelman and Technorati officially ended the deal in December 2006. That month, Oliver Reichenstein pointed out that the so called "State of the Blogosphere" was more of a PR-tool and money maker for Edelman and Technorati than a reliable source, explaining in particular a) why Technorati/Edelman's claim that "31% of the blogs are written in Japanese" was "bogus" and b) where the financial profit for the involved parties was in this.

In May 2007, Andrew Orlowski writing for the tech tabloid The Register criticized Technorati's May 2007 redesign. He suggests that Technorati has decided to focus more on returning image thumbnails rather than blog results. He also claims that Technorati never quite worked correctly in the past and that the alleged refocus is "a tacit admission that it's given up on its original mission".

Twitter Power

2009-03-22T05:34:00.001-07:00

Subject: Have you got Twitter Power?

Currently in twitter you can post tweets and respond to tweets with the goal of developing a dialogue. The point is to be able to introduce yourself and make your services and products known to your target audience. The chances that your message will actually be read by your followers is pretty slim because active users are looking for the same exposure and are not paying attention to all the 100’s of tweets posted on an hourly basis.

Because of this, you need a way to connect with your new followers and actually get them interested in your message. Your window of opportunity is short and you only have one chance to do this. Before you can even get them to follow you and present this opportunity, you need to lay the groundwork to ensure that you have all of your details in place:

Twitter.com Account

If you are new to the twitter experience then the first thing to do is create an account. Be sure that you read this full article before creating a twitter account. You might find some useful tips.

Setting Up Your Twitter Profile “Creatively.”

Creating an account on Twitter is very simple. Before you start make sure you register using a Gmail account or something that you can check but it not connected to your main emails that you use daily. This will help you filter out your twitter message more easily. Once you have created an account and are logged in, make sure to take the time to edit your profile and give your viewers your bio so they know who you are and what you are about.

Log In to your account, then click on “settings” and the first option you have there is “Account“. Here you have the following options:

Name - put your name or something creative there to capture your audience’s attention. If you are looking to brand your name, then this will be your opportunity. If you are not interested in branding your name, then use something that relates to your industry. For example, you might use a nickname like “Social Guru” or another catchy phrase.

Username - this was set when you first created your account, I suggest you leave it. If you are just now creating a twitter account you might want to use a keyword or phrase. You might want to use a nick name or even your real name; it really depends on your target audience.

Email - I highly suggest that you create a gmail account specifically for your twitter.com account. Once you start becoming popular you will receive a lot of emails. This will prevent you from having to filter emails from your primary email account.

Time Zone - Choose the time zone you are in.

More Info URL: Here you can put your main web site or blog that you want people to find. This should be the site that you want to expose people to the most. If you have more than one site, then you may need to create multiple twitter accounts.

One Line Bio (or micro bio) - this is a 160 character bio that you can create to get everyone’s attention and encourage them to follow you. You may be tempted to put a marketing message to try to sell something here, but this is not advised because you want people to follow you not look at other profiles. Try to be fun and unique. You can disclose a little bit about what you do, but be sure to talk about other things like your favorite food or animal etc.

Location - There are people who search for specific cities or states. I prefer to use a state that offers the most coverage area possibilities.

Language - find your language option and select it.

Protect My Updates - this is if you want your messages to remain private. By doing this you are possibly losing out on opportunities to get people to read your tweets, and this means losing possible followers. I do not recommend using this option here. Once all of your details are entered, you can save your data.

There are some other settings that you may want to use like Devices and Notices. You can connect your mobile phone for updates and you can even set your preference on when you want to be notified. If you don’t want to be notified, you can select this as well.

Picture - This option is a great because Twitter will put an image in automatically. If you want to make your profile stand out then add a photo of yourself or something related to your industry. A funny picture will work well here too. Again, the point is that you will want to get people to notice you.

Design - Here is where you can really get creative. The recommended size for twitter design is 1800 x 1100. You want to place your primary message into the design itself. Place this on the left side and make it about 230 - 250 wide and about 400 high. You can use photoshop or another design program to make it as fun or professional as you like. There are some services out there as well that will do a custom design for about $50.00 - $150.00 on average. You can find tools and resources out there like: http://theclosetentrepreneur.com/create-a-twitter-background-using-powerpoint that will help you design your own custom background as well. Don’t get stuck on this point or let it stop you from you moving forward to the next steps. You can always come back to this later.

Once you have a design ready to go, then go to “Design” in your settings on Twitter and use the “change background image” option to upload your design. This is a great way to get people to want to follow you and another chance to get your URL noticed.

Ready to Automate Your Message?

Are you ready to Automate your message? Well, before you do this, make sure that you show your twitter account to your friends and peers. Get their feedback and make sure you have no mistakes in your content or any other issues.

Once you are certain your account looks good, then you will need to come up with a marketing message that will grab the attention of anyone who follows you on twitter. Think carefully here as you want to make sure that your message is heard and that it actually compels people to follow you. Your message is limited to 160 characters and it must include enough space to place the URL you are trying to promote. At this point, your followers will receive a onetime message from you and a link to the URL you are promoting.

There are a few tricks here you can use to help turn your standard URL into a “Tiny” URL. There are some free services available like http://www.tiny.cc/ and http://bit.ly. I recommend http://bit.ly because you can create an account. They also give you a username and API which will be needed to create your automated message.

STEP 1 - Create your Bit.ly account

Go to Bit.ly and create an account there. Follow all the details they give you and once you create an account then login and click on “account” in the upper right hand. After you do this, you can see your API Login and API Key. Save this information somewhere as you will need this later

STEP 2 - Make a Tiny URL

Still being logged into bit.ly you will click on the home button and enter the URL you are directing people to. It can be an affiliate URL or just a link to your site or blog, etc. After this, click “shorten” and copy your new tiny URL and save that for later use.

NOTE: Now add your tiny url to your 160 character auto responder message and make sure the total character count is 160. Save this message as you will be using it very soon here.

STEP 3 - Create an OpenID Account

You will now need to create an OpenID account. There are many options out there, I would recommend using http://openid.net or http://myopenid.com. Create an account and when you are finished you will be given an openid URL. Save this URL for the final step.

STEP 4 - Open an Account on TweetLater.com

Tweet Later is a great tool created by Dewald Pretorius who has given a lot of his time and care into the development of this program. He has personal contact with the people at twitter and he keeps everyone updated via his blog.

This service has both a free and a paid option. I recommend the paid option as you get more use of his tools and it is a very reasonable price considering the quality of the program created by Dewald.

In addition to this, his site also offers tutorials that explain everything I have been talking about in this article and more.

Now you are ready. Go to: tweetlater.com and create your account. You will see during your registration process that you will need to include your Bit.ly login name and API key, plus your OpenID as well. Once you have created your account you will be ready to login.

Once you are logged in, click on “Accounts” and then a sub group of options appear. Select “Add Account“. Choose The Twitter for “select type” and then click continue.

You will then be asked to enter your twitter user Id and password (Do not worry. This is a secure site)… Once you enter the information, you will need to read through each option that is provided and decide which of these works best for you. There is a place to put in your automated message and tiny URL along with your message.

When you are finished, click “save.” Now your goal will be to get as many followers as possible. This is something that I will cover on our next lesson series.

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and stay tuned in for our next lesson “Don’t Waste Your Twitter Account and Make Some Friends Today!

Dear Associates and Friends,

If you were to ask me which web site is the MUST
use site to get free traffic, there can only be
ONE answer.

It's not MySpace.
It's not YouTube.
It's not Facebook.
And it's not even Google.

These are all valuable sites, but the one site
that should be a part of your traffic strategy in
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I'm going to cut straight to the chase...

If you aren't using Twitter, you are missing out
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You are missing out on the best free branding
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Profiting With Blogs

2009-03-22T05:31:00.000-07:00

How to Profit From a Blog

Blogs permit you to quickly and easily communicate with your market at very low cost. A blog is a low cost tool that permits you to add, remove, and update online content without knowing anything about web programming or html.

Blogs complement, rather than replace, your website, e-mail, and One-Page Newsletter. You can use your blog to promote your other communications, and vice-versa.

Easy, fast, and cheap

Blogs are easy to update because you enter information in forms. These are automatically formatted as you upload them, saving time and effort.

Since blogs are easy to update and new information immediately appears, you don’t have to wait until your next e-mail or newsletter to update information or announce new website content.

Hosting for blogs is often free, or you can pay less than $15.00 a month for multiple blogs from a top provider.

Characteristics

A blog consists of numerous, short posts—or mini-articles—each containing as few as two or three sentences. Each post focuses on a single idea.

Links are an important part of blogs. Links permit readers to quickly access other locations for more information.

Blogs are interactive; most encourage readers to submit comments or alternate viewpoints on each post.

Readers can subscribe to RSS—Real Simple Syndication—which notifies them each time you post new information.

Tips for developing content

Blogs permit you to promote your expertise by relating it to current events and trends. This provides you with an opportunity to promote your knowledge of your field without “bragging.”

Other ways to profit from blogs include:

* Drive web site traffic. Use blogs to point to updated web content. Otherwise, new content might only be seen by first-time visitors attracted by search engine marketing and optimization.

* Promote existing content. Blogs permit you to comment on current events from the perspective of previous books, newsletters, or website content. This breathes new life into existing content.

* Promote upcoming events. Blogs make it easy for those who don’t know html to easily update their event calender.

* Frequent, non-intrusive updates. Blogs avoid many of the problems associated with e-mail, such as filled in-boxes and spam filters. Blogs make it possible to keep in touch without wearing out your welcome.

* Learn from your market. Blogs invite reader comments. These permit you to “test-market” new products or find out what your market thinks about current products and services.

Getting started

The easiest way to get started is to visit www.blogger.com or www.typepad.com. Both contain a simple “3 steps to success” process that helps you publish your first blog within five or ten minutes after you arrive at either site.

Costs are surprisingly inexpensive. Blogger, a part of www.google.com, is a free service. Typepad is free for the first 30 days, less than $15.00 a month thereafter. Best of all, you usually don’t have to pay a penny for design or production costs. Both Blogger and Typepad offer dozens of templates, which you can customize by changing colors, layout, or type.

What about content?

Start by taking an inventory of currently available newsletters, special reports, and web site content. Look for content you can use to create an information archive blog, like www.rcpmarketing.info.

Can you extract tips from previous content, so you can create a tips blog, like www.rcpdesign.info or www.rcpwebblog.info? If you often speak at events, conduct workshops, or host teleseminars, create a calendar blog like www.rcpevents.info.

Why not create a commentary blog focusing on an single aspect of your expertise, like www.rcpnewsletters.info, or a book review blog?

Because they are so easy and inexpensive, you may want to consider multiple blogs for different markets you serve—or want to serve

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Profiting with blog.....continue

Okay. For the rest of this article I want to focus on how ONE can $$Profit$$ from having their own Blog.

I'm going to list three ways that I think are the best and most powerful ways to get the most out of your Blog.

So, with that said, let's go to Profit Tactic #1.

Profit Tactic #1. Writing "Articles."

Writing "articles" is a very powerful way to profit from your Blog.

There are many reasons why "articles" are valuable to your Blog, but for the purpose of this article, I'm going to give you the most important part and that's your "resource box" at the end of your article.

Your "resource box" is like a classified ad and holds critical information about you, your websites and what you have to offer them after they've read your article.

The links within your "resource box" could lead to your own product or service you have to offer, or they could lead to an affiliate product related to the content of your article.

This is a great way to give them something of "value," which is the information within the article, and a great way to get them to take action by way of getting them to click on one of the links within your "resource box."

That's "Profit Tactic #1."

Profit Tactic #2. Writing "Product Reviews."

Writing "product reviews" is a great way to profit from your Blog simply because they allow you to soft-sell your potential customer by way of giving them your personal opinion on the product you are recommending and then providing them with a link if they wish to look into it further, instead of throwing a sales pitch at them.

Nobody likes to be sold, but offering them your insight on a product and/or service that could help solve the problem they're dealing with is yet another great way to profit from your Blog and make you look like a Hero.

That's "Profit Tactic #2."

Profit Tactic #3. "Text Ad" Programs.

"Text Ad Programs" like Affiliate Power Ads or Google Adsense are yet Another great way to profit from your Blog.

I've listed these two "Text Ad" programs for a reason. One is a Pay-Per-Click (Google Adsense) and shows related ads to the content on that particular webpage and the other one (Affiliate Power Ads) makes You up to $60 to $100 dollars in commissions on a single click.

Here are the links for you to check them out further if you wish.

Google Adsense --
http://www.internetwondersezine.com/googleads.htm

Affiliate Power Ads --
http://www.internetwondersezine.com/powerads.htm

They are both FREE to join and only take you minutes to set-up, depending on your experience.

Here's an example of how mine looks if you were to set-up your Blog through Blogger.com -- http://www.blogger.com with both of these programs.

The great thing is... they'll be displayed on every page of your Blog when you make a post.

I also provided a link below that shows you how to set this up step by step, making it easy for you to get started. http://www.internetwondersezine.com/help.htm

Now, I'm sure there are many other ways to $$Profit$$ from your Blog, but I believe these are the most powerful.

Well... there you have it, "3 POWERFUL Ways To Profit From Your BLOG... Starting TODAY!"

If you haven't started a BLOG, maybe it's time you considered it since NOW you have some incentive.

I truly hope this article helped you realize the $$Profit$$ potential your Blog could have and how you can start incorporating it... Starting TODAY!

Adsense

2009-03-22T05:28:00.000-07:00

If you have joined the blogging revolution that is sweeping the net, and you think you might want to make a little revenue – or a lot of revenue – from your blogging efforts, you need AdSense tips for bloggers. Blogging has opened up an entirely new way of how non-technical people interact with the Internet, and now, anyone can publish anything about any topic – without having a website – and anyone can profit without even having a product!

Adsense for blogs make perfect sense. Google’s advertising programs are designed to work with sites related to the keywords for the ads that are being presented. Each time you add content to your blog, the Google spiders gobble it up. The more you update, the more the Google spider visits your page. Ultimately, you move up in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) for the topics that you write about. You see where this is going. The higher your search ranking, the more traffic you receive, which ultimately leads to higher revenue from AdSense ads.

The beauty of blogs is their potential for rapid growth. If you become known as an expert in your area of expertise, word of mouth spreads quickly and your blog can become very popular. So it is vital that you always teach something with every blog entry. You want your readers to come back frequently and they will if they know they will learn something. Not only will your readers bookmark your blog and return often, but they will link to your blog enthusiastically as well. People in forums will refer to your blogs and discuss what they learned. Websites will link to you as a valuable resource. In short, an informative blog can grow very quickly if the information it provides is valuable.

It is important to write about specific topics, and sprinkle your blog entries with specific keywords to get the best results – and the highest revenue – with your Google AdSense ads. There is a method to the madness. Start your revenue generating blog by testing the waters.

Decide what area you would like to write about and then do some keyword research. Research is easy if you use Google’s keyword tools found at https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordSandbox . The keyword tools are located in your Google AdWords account. Yes, you need a free AdWords account to be successful but you don’t have to fund it to use the keyword tools. Look for keywords related to your subject that are high paying. These are keywords where the bid amounts are high. Make a list of the top paying keywords, and use that list to determine what topics you will write about.

Remember, you want people to visit your blog time and time again, and build up a readership, make sure that your blog is well written and informative. Don’t just target keywords for the sake of targeting keywords – the writing needs to make sense! Writing valuable content is the first step to generating traffic to your blog, and traffic is needed to profit from AdSense ads!

You are allowed to use the AdSense ad units in two different places on each page. You can accomplish this in a couple of different ways. First, you can add the AdSense ad code to the template for your blog. This is done through the control panel for your blog, and some knowledge of HTML is needed. The other option is to paste the AdSense code directly in your blog post each time you submit a new post. You can use it once at the top and once at the bottom, or once after a few paragraphs of the post, and again after a few more paragraphs.

Get that code in there however you see fit – but then pay close attention to the results so you can see what is working and what isn’t. Tracking is everything if you want to make real money!

Of course, you need to advertise your blog as much as possible as well. Make sure that you provide Trackbacks to other people’s blogs as often as possible, and that you visit blogs, leave comments – and leave a link for your blog as well!

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Social Media

2009-03-22T05:27:00.001-07:00

The Future of Social Media

Social networking sites seem to be the biggest thing on the Internet right now, and there are no signs that this will change anytime in the near - or far - future. The fact is that social networking sites, such as MySpace, FaceBook, and others, have given people the opportunity to express themselves, meet new people, and communicate effectively, and nobody is going to give that up.

Social networking on the Internet may seem like a new concept to most people - but it really isn't. The first social network appeared on the Internet as far back as 1995, with Classmates. Classmates offers people the opportunity to reconnect with old classmates from High School and College, and is still in operation today - and doing quite well.

From there, social networking advanced with the onslaught of Internet dating sites. However, these days, it has advanced to the point where social networking sites often do not have a specific 'theme.' MySpace, which is by far the most popular social networking site in existence, is an example of this. No matter what your interests are, there is room for you on MySpace.

Social Networking Features

Social networking sites often have common elements. Some have more features than others. In all cases, you are able to create your profile. Sites, such as MySpace, actually allow you to fully customize your profile page, so that it is very unique, using layouts that are available all over the Internet. You can also create your own layout.

Other features include messengers, email systems, blogging features, friend's lists, and comments sections. Some social networking sites will allow you to send individual emails to other site members, or to send broadcast emails out to all of the people on your network or friend's list.

Most social networking sites will allow anyone to join, and are typically free to join. However, there are some that require a fee for membership, such as Ryze, and some that require an invitation from another member, such as Pownce.

Connect with Other Like-Minded People

Many people view social networking sites as 'something to do.' However, they are much more than that. Social networking sites allow members to express and develop identities, to build relationships, to garner trust among their peers, and much more. The social networking sites simply provide the means - it is the members who create the content of the site, making these social networking sites user content driven.

Internet Marketers, large corporations, and even television shows make use of social networking sites. For example, many popular reality television shows have profiles on the more popular social networking sites.

This encourages public participation. They use the concept that 'everyone wants to feel like they are a part of something' and it is successful - because social networking sites allow everyone to be a part of something, regardless of who they are, where they are located, their sex, religion, beliefs, careers, backgrounds, or any other consideration that exists. Everyone who has access to a computer with an Internet connection has a 'voice' and they can use it with ease thanks to social networking sites.

Some of the best known social networking sites include:

http://www.MySpace.com
http://www.Facebook.com
http://www.hi5.com
http://www.Xanga.com
http://www.linkedin.com
http://www.reunion.com
http://www.friendster.com
http://www.bebo.com
http://www.tagged.com
http://www.classmates.com

Signing up is usually very easy, and only requires you to submit your name, your location, a screen name, a password, and of course a valid email address.

Today, it is estimated that there are more than 200 social networking sites in existence. You can get a more complete list of social networking sites, as well as the 'theme' or group of people that each site caters to and the number of members through Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_websites.

Marking Via Social Networking Sites

The popularity of social networking sites stems from the Search Engines. The Search Engines love these sites, as they always contain fresh content. What's more, if you look at the Alexa rankings for some of these sites, such as MySpace, Facebook, etc., you will find that they are amoung the most popular sites on the Internet.

Although you can't advertise on these sites, you can create a profile and include a link to your web site. This will provide a great way to not only increase your ranking in the Search Engines, but also drive traffic to your web site.

Social Networking Sites also provide you with a great way to spread your content all over the Internet. For example, you can share your articles, news, and post comments.

The key to using these sites successfully is to create a complete profile that contains a link to your site and an RSS feed. Add fresh content on a regular basis to drive a continuous stream of traffic to your web site.

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Mini Sites

2009-03-22T05:19:00.000-07:00

If you're looking for a highly effective method of increasing your Internet sales, then mini-sites may be your answer. Mini-sites are one of the most effective marketing tools online. Not only are they effective, but they're also very inexpensive and easy to create.

The concept is simple. Create a one or two page website that completely focuses on one specific topic. Everything within that page should have one purpose -- getting the visitor to take action.

This page should be neatly designed in standard HTML with no Flash or fancy plug-ins and very few graphics. There should be no banners or outside links of any kind and nothing that will distract your visitor's attention.

The sole purpose of a mini-site is to attract highly targeted traffic. The more targeted the better. For example, if you have a website that sells a number of products, a good mini-site would focus on one specific product instead of all of the products. You could create a mini-site for each product you offer.
Designing Your Mini-Site

Each mini-site you create should be optimized for that one specific product. Concentrate on just a few keyword phrases, as this will help you to tighten your targeting. Remember ... the tighter the targeting the better.

Title - Your "Title" should contain your most important keywords. You've probably heard that before, but I've found a slightly different method for optimizing the title. Since mini-sites focus on just one product, place the "most" important "keyword phrase" first. Not just your most important phrase, but the keyword phrase that you think people will use when they do a search. Instead of capitalizing the first letter, type it in lowercase, as most people type in all lowercase letters when searching. This will assist you in ranking higher in the Search Engine for your targeted audience.

Description - Your description should focus on one specific product and not generalize. Make sure you include your most important keywords towards the beginning of your description. In addition, make sure your description describes your site in detail. You want your potential visitors to know exactly what you're offering. Your description should be less than 200 characters.

Keywords - Concentrate on just a few keyword phrases.

Heading tags - Search Engines pay close attention to the text displayed within the "Heading" tags. Place your most important keyword phrase within a "Heading" tag.

Graphic Alt tags - Place a readable keyword phrase within your graphic "Alt" tags.

Text - All of your text should focus on your product. There should be no filler text whatsoever. It should have one specific purpose -- getting your visitor to take action. Make sure you include your keyword phrases throughout your text.

If you'd like to set up your mini-site using tables, try to place your "Heading" text above your "Table" code. If this isn't possible, make sure you include your keyword phrases within your top left "Table cell" to assist you in ranking higher in the Search Engines.

Mini-sites are not limited to just your products. They can also be used with any affiliate programs you may be promoting. You can include extra incentives such as a free bonus for purchasing the product or even your personal recommendation. This is a great way to presell the product.
Hosting Your Mini-Site

Although it is much better to have your own domain name, these sites can be hosted on a free server and still rank high in the Search Engines. Keep in mind, free sites do not build trust and credibility. No matter which option you choose, make sure you place your most important keyword phrase (the keyword phrase that you think people will use when searching) within your web address.
Drive Targeted Traffic to Your Site

Once you have tested the effectiveness of your site and have a good conversion rate, (the number of visitors compared to the number of sales) you can buy targeted traffic. Goto.com is the number one pay-per-click Search Engine and will most likely produce the best results.

For additional options, visit: http://www.payperclicksearchengines.com They provide information and reviews on a number of pay-per-click Search Engines.

The key to using this technique effectively is to bid on "very" targeted keywords. This will weed out the casual visitors and only attract your target audience. There's no sense in paying for visitors who really weren't interested to begin with.

In addition to bidding on keywords, you can also advertise in targeted ezines and even purchase some targeted banner advertising. Be creative and take the time to test all of your promotions prior to spending a lot of money.

If you really want to increase your sales, create some mini-sites. They are one of the cheapest and easiest to create profit generators online.

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Minisite Profit Exposed review

Michael Rasmussen's "Mini Site Profits Exposed" Video Series: How To Create A Mini Site That Runs On Autopilot And Makes You Money While You Sleep!
Body Text:

Most Internet marketers understand that having mini
sites is the fastest and easiest way to make money
online. They don't require a lot of time, energy, or
money to set up, and once you've got one up and
running, you can sit back and just collect money from
all the sales you're making.

At least... that's how it's supposed to be, right?

The truth is that mini sites really ARE easy to set
up. They really DON'T require much time, energy, and
money to set up. So why is it that so few people
actually make money with their mini sites?

The answer is that they never learned how to actually
turn their mini site into a profitable moneymaker that
runs completely on autopilot. The good news is...

*************************************************
YOU'RE ABOUT TO LEARN HOW TO DO IT!
*************************************************

Here's what this is all about: My colleague Michael
Rasmussen has just released a brand new video course
that will walk you through the process of creating a
killer mini site from the ground up, and then he'll
also teach you how to actually start making money with
it right away and into the future.

If you've been looking for help with monetizing your
mini sites, then this is exactly what you need. The
best part? The videos are FREE! I'll tell you more
about that later. First, let's talk about the videos
themselves.

If you're in a hurry, you can just check the
videos out right now for free. Here's the URL:

http://www.minisiteprofitsexposed.com/?thankyou-page=96683

*************************************************
OVERALL QUALITY
*************************************************

It's important to note that these are online videos
that you access from your web browser. Michael uses
Camtasia Studio to create these videos, which is the
premier software program for creating screen capture
tutorials such as these.

The first thing I noticed when I hit the play button
on the first video was the incredible production
quality. These are NOT your ordinary screen capture
videos. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen someone
make videos that are this high quality before.

He uses beautifully created graphics to pass his
wisdom along to you, and the sound quality is the
highest you will ever hear in an Internet marketing
product. They sound like they were recorded in a
professional studio.

Michael explained to me that he was sick and tired of
seeing all the low quality videos out there, and so he
set out to create something different in order to
raise the bar in our industry. I think that, when you
see Mini Site Profits Exposed for yourself, you'll
agree that he has succeeded.

Now let's move onto...

*************************************************
THE ACTUAL VIDEOS
*************************************************

Here's a brief summary of each video. Obviously
it's impossible to list every single thing here,
but I want you to get a feel for what each one
covered, and how well it covered it.

If you're in a hurry, you can just check the
videos out right now for free. Here's the URL:

http://www.minisiteprofitsexposed.com/?thankyou-page=96683

VIDEO 1 - INTRODUCTION

This videos introduces you to the entire course, as
well as the teacher himself. You'll learn what you can
expect from the course, and why it's structured the
way it is.

Michael realizes that you may not have heard of him,
and so he spends some time establishing his
credibility with you by sharing some of his biggest
successes. It doesn't come across as bragging at all.
Michael explains that, in order for you to get value
from the teachings, you need to have faith that the
teacher actually knows what he's talking about. By the
end of this video, you will have no doubt.

By the way, this is a good lesson for all of us
product developers. If you want people to accept you
as an authority on any subject, you first need to
establish your credibility with the reader. That way
he's willing to relax, and trust that what you're
telling him is sound advice.

VIDEO 2 - THE BASICS

This video will introduce you to the basics of mini
site marketing. This will set the foundation that all
future learning will rest upon, so it's important to
pay close attention to this one.

You'll learn:

* What mini-sites are, and what makes them different
from regular content sites.

* Which businesses they work well for… and which ones
they don’t.

* The right mindset to have when it comes to creating
mini sites as part of your online business strategy.

* And the different tools you need to get started.

This was a great video, and did an excellent job of
kicking things off, and building the foundation for
the rest of the course.

VIDEO 3 - SQUEEZE PAGES

This is probably one of the most useful videos of the
entire course. Every Internet marketer needs to build
an email list, but how do you do it? What is the best
way to capture the most opt-ins?

The answer is 'squeeze pages'. This video will teach
you:

* Why using a squeeze page is far superior to other
opt-in methods.

* The single most important thing you must include at
the top of your squeeze page to skyrocket your opt-in
rate.

* The secret structure of a squeeze page, and why most
marketers get it wrong (which costs them a LOT of
money).

* The most important to include in your opt-in process
that will make sure that people actually receive your
email.

After watching this video, you'll know everything you
need to know to start building a massive opt-in list
right away. This will probably be the first video that
you 'take action' on. You'll be so excited about the
possibilities, that I guarantee you'll go and create
your own squeeze page right away.

VIDEO 4 - MINI SITE COPYWRITING - PART
ONE

Nothing happens until the sales copy is written.
Graphics alone will never sell a product, but sales
copy alone WILL. This video begins to demystify the
mysterious process of writing words that make people
whip out their credit cards and buy.

Specifically, you'll learn:

* Why you need to learn copywriting, even if you “hate
to write”

* What a compelling offer looks like, and how to tell
the difference.

* How to write an eyeball-grabbing headline that
practically forces your readers to go through your
entire page.

* A simple trick you can use in your opening to make
your reader want to learn more.

There is no skill that is more important to your
success than the ability to write killer sales copy.
Make sure you pay extra attention to this video, as
well as...

VIDEO 5 - MINI SITE COPYWRITING - PART
TWO

This video dives right into the individual components
of a killer sales letter. You'll learn how to create
the "secret structure" of a mini site sales letter
that makes big money. Specifically, you'll learn:

* How to create captivating body copy that draws your
reader into the sales letter.

* Bullets that force your reader to keep reading the
whole page, and makes them insanely curious and want
to buy your product

* How to take the risk off people's shoulders, so
they'll feel safe buying from you.

* How to craft your 'call to action', and get people
to whip out their credit cards and buy immediately.

* The secrets of writing a killer P.S. that helps seal
the deal, and flip your prospect into a buyer
instantly.

This video covered a surprising amount of detail,
especially considering that this course is not
specifically about copywriting. Michael Rasmussen is
definitely someone who overdelivers in his educational
products.

VIDEO 6 - HOW TO AUTOMATE THE
DELIVERY OF YOUR INFOPRODUCT

Unless you want to be chained to your computer, you
must learn how to put your mini sites on autopilot.
The only thing you should be doing is driving traffic,
and letting the site itself do all the work, including
the work of instantly delivering the product to the
customer.

This video will walk you through the process of
automating your product delivery, so you can just
relax, and collect the money. The best part is... once
you have this automated system set up, you never have
to touch it again.

VIDEO 7 - HOW TO "GROW" YOUR SALE

This video is guaranteed to be an eye opener for
almost everyone who watches it, even the experienced
marketers. Michael dives into some of the most
effective 'upselling' techniques that I've ever seen.

Nowhere else on the Internet have I seen such a
thorough tutorial on how to increase the 'size' of
your orders. You'll learn:

* The psychology of 'upselling', and how to use it
make your customer spend even more money with you.
The best part? He'll think it was his idea!

* The absolute best time to upsell your customer. This
one will surprise you when you realize how much money
you've been leaving on the table by skipping this
step.

* 5 simple techniques to increase your profit by up to
100%.

If you've already got a mini site that's up and
running, this video will make a big difference for you
right away. Use any of these 'plug and profit'
strategies to increase your income literally
overnight!

VIDEO 8 - CREATING AN AFFILIATE SALES
FORCE

If there's one thing I've noticed that all successful
marketers have in common, it's that they have a great
affiliate program. They create a program that allows
other people to make good money by promoting their
products, and they get to just sit back and relax,
while everyone else is doing the hard work of
promoting FOR them.

If you've ever dreamed of having an army of motivated
sales people working hard to make you money, then
you're going to love this video. Michael will teach
you:

* What an affiliate program is, and how to set one up
very quickly.

* Exactly what tools you need to give your affiliates
(most people miss the mark here, so pay extra
attention to this part).

* Why merely having an affiliate program is NOT enough
to convince people to sign up, and what you can do
instead to have people eagerly trying to become one of
your affiliates.

* How to motivate affiliates to sell for you.

VIDEO 9 - MINI SITE MISTAKES TO AVOID

Let's face it... it's not enough to explain what you
should do. You also need to know what mistakes you
should avoid. Michael has already made these costly
mistakes, but you don't have to. You'll learn:

- Why people do judge a book by its cover... and how to
capitalize on that for your mini-site

- The single biggest reason people don’t buy from a
mini site, and how you can apply this 'instant fix'.

- The single biggest thing that will kill your
mini-site (it's not what you think, and making this
mistake is a surefire way to drain money from your
bank account FAST!)

- Two list building mistakes that’ll cripple your
long-term profits.

VIDEO 10 - SECRETS OF CREATING A
PRODUCT FUNNEL

This video will walk you through the process of
designing a product line that will make you a TON of
money. There's a lot more to it than you'd think,
which is why this important concept (which was taken
from direct marketing) gets it's own video.

After watching this video, you'll understand why you
can't just have a single front end product, and you'll
know exactly what to do in order to get your customer
to keep buying more and more expensive products from
you... completely on autopilot!

This video is a MUST for any serious marketer who
wants to make a lot of money from their online
business.

VIDEO 11 - OUTSOURCING SECRETS FOR
WORKING LESS, AND MAKING MORE

The title of this video says it all. You'll learn
all of Michael's secrets for getting top notch
freelancers to help you create your mini site empire
in record time.

Let's face it, you can't be an expert at everything
that mini sites require. For example, it's really
tough to be a top notch graphic designer, while also
mastering HTML, and then becoming a killer
copywriter, on top of also creating the product
itself.

And the list goes on and on. If you want to be
efficient, and begin making money as fast as
possible, outsourcing is the secret to making it
happen. This video will show you exactly what to do,
as well as some common (and very expensive) pitfalls
to avoid.

VIDEO 12 - OUTSOURCING SECRETS FOR
WORKING LESS, AND MAKING MORE

Let's face it... it doesn't matter how great your
mini site is if you don't get any traffic coming to
it. Getting traffic can be one of the most confusing
and mysterious parts of making money online IF you
don't get the proper education.

Thankfully, Michael really dives in, and gives you a
lightning fast education in this area. Specifically,
you'll learn:

* How to use Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising to get
targeted traffic fast.

* 3 ways to get targeted traffic without spending a
dime.

* 2 ways to leverage the experience and contacts of
other people to explode your traffic.

* 3 traffic strategies to avoid like the plague!

By the time you're done with this video, you'll know
what to do right away to begin driving targeted
visitors to your mini site.

Wow, you get all those videos for free? Click
here to check out the Mini Site Profits Exposed
course for yourself:

http://www.minisiteprofitsexposed.com/?thankyou-page=96683

*************************************************
DELUXE VIDEOS
*************************************************

Mini Site Profits Exposed comes with 12 videos, and
has more content than most 300 dollar home study
courses. And did I mention that it's free?

If you decide that you want to continue your
education, and get the biggest possible advantage, you
can also upgrade to the deluxe course for a small fee.
The deluxe course contains four full-length videos
that each cover one advanced topic in great detail.

Here's a breakdown of each video:

*************************************************
VIDEO 13 - DESIGNING A KILLER BACK END
THAT RUNS COMPLETELY ON AUTOPILOT
*************************************************

This deluxe video could easily be a whole course in
itself. It walks you though the entire process of
setting up a back end that is completely automated
using an autoresponder system.

You'll learn how to set up your autoresponder to
automatically remove a person from your prospect list
after he buys, and then insert him into your customer
list. This is where your new autoresponder sequence
will start promoting your back end products
automatically.

Bottom line... if you want to make the big bucks like
all the Internet marketing gurus, you need to create a
back end that works hard for you while you're out
creating new mini sites and developing new products.
This video will show you how.

*************************************************
VIDEO 14 - LIST BUILDING SECRETS
*************************************************

In this deluxe video, Michael will walk you through
some of his best tactics for growing a massive list
from your mini site. He'll not only teach you what to
add to your mini site, but he'll also show you what
you must REMOVE from your mini site in order to get
the most possible subscribers.

Building a list is about SO much more than just
offering a free newsletter. In fact, Michael shows you
five different things you can offer your readers to
get them to instantly give you their name and email.

You'll also learn the best places to actually put the
opt-in email form on your mini site. You'll also learn
about pop ups and tell-a-friend scripts, as well as a
bunch of other incredible tactics for growing your
list.

I have a hunch that you'll find yourself referring to
this video over and over again.

*************************************************
VIDEO 15 - MARKETING ACTIVITIES THAT
MAKE YOU MONEY
*************************************************

When you think about all the 'stuff' you can do to
drive traffic to your site, it's hard to know what you
should focus on first. This video will walk you
through the four most important marketing activities
you can do to drive traffic to your mini site.

Once you master these four, you'll never have to
wonder what you should do when you start a new mini
site. You'll have an easy-to-follow road map for
driving tons of targeted prospects to your site, so
you can begin making money ASAP!

*************************************************
VIDEO 16 - MAKE MAXIMUM PROFITS FROM YOUR MINI SITE
*************************************************

In this final deluxe video, Michael will reveal his
best kept secrets for squeezing maximum profit out of
any mini site. These are techniques that you have NOT
seen before, so you'll want to pay extra close
attention to this one.

Think about it... if you're going to put the time in,
and set up a mini site the proper way (like Michael
shows you in these videos), then it only makes sense
that you'd want to make the most amount of money
possible from it.

In this video, you'll learn:

- How changing one sentence on your mini site could
double your profits easily.

- How to instantly increase the dollar amount of your
average order (which puts more money into your
pocket).

- The one thing you must add to your 'download page'
that will instantly increase your income (with no
extra work, once this thing is put into place).

- How to turn your actual product into a money making
machine!

*************************************************
CONCLUSION
*************************************************

Whew! That was a lot of information, and I hope it
helped you decide to check out Michael Rasmussen's
Mini Site Profits Exposed video course. Remember the
course is absolutely free, so you have nothing to
lose.

Michael believes that it's important for him to prove
himself to you before he ever asks you to buy anything
from him. He wants to show you that he will deliver
you the absolute best education available anywhere,
and he'll gladly do it for free... just to win you
over!

So go ahead and check out Mini Site Profits Exposed
right now, and see what all the fuss is about. I
highly recommend that you upgrade to the deluxe
course as well. Here's the URL:

http://www.minisiteprofitsexposed.com/?thankyou-page=96683

Warmly,
Bob

Blogging Tips

2009-03-19T03:52:00.001-07:00

One of the biggest problems with blogging is to be able to create content consistently that is both useful and helpful. So I am going to share with you some tips for creating content on hot topics your market will find both useful and helpful.

Market Related Forums

Busy forums related to your target market are an absolute gem of a place to find information to write articles on for 2 reasons.

Before I tell you why I must point out the word BUSY, you should be gathering a list of popular forums within your niche anyway because they are useful for so many reasons. Don’t waste your time with forums that aren’t regularly posted to, I would say a free public forum should be updated hourly at the most any longer than that don’t bother.

Back to the 2 reasons, first a popular forum will be full of posts asking How do I …..? or Does anyone know how to….? type questions this tells you what your market wants to know about. Second knowledgable people in your market will make helpful posts and from the feedback/ replies of the other users in the forum you will be able to see what are the hot topics.

If you can’t get article/ post ideas from the popular forums in your market then there is seriously something wrong.

Other Blogs

As I mentioned in the forums section above you should be gathering a list of the top blogs targeting your market. Not just for competitive reasons but also for ideas on what works in your niche.

Other blogs can give you an indication of what is hot in your market. This is especially useful if the niche you’re in, is something you’re not personally interested in, which by the way is something I would advise against for your first blog.

Article Directories

Article directories are another golden source of information for ideas. The thing you should be looking for here is what articles are being read the most. The top directories like ezinearticles.com will tell you the most read and downloaded articles in your category.

This will tell you what topics are hot in your market and they can help you learn how to write a good and informative article.

Google Alerts

Google being the smartest search engine in the world from a marketing/ webmaster point of view has a utility called Google Alerts.

If you’re not taking advantage of this great little tool or worse haven’t even heard of it I suggest you get yourself over to (URL) after reading this article and find out more.

Google alerts will send you an email with links to stories for keywords you specify on a hourly or daily basis, this is so useful because the quicker you react to big news in your market by publishing a post on your blog the more likely your traffic will increase and your visitors will come to you because you’re “in the know” giving you expert status (priceless).

PLR Content

Last we have PLR content or Private Label Rights content. I love PLR because I am not a natural writer, actually I hate writing which can be a big disadvantage on the internet.

PLR is great because you can have pre written articles or ebooks that you can put in your own voice. Granted a lot of PLR is questionable quality BUT I would rather have something to start with rather than a blank notepad file.

You can then put in your own voice and do your research to better the quality which to me is fantastic.

I hope these tips have helped you see how you can get an endless supply of ideas for updating your blog consistenly with quality content your visitors will find both useful and helpful.

Twitter

2009-03-17T23:10:00.000-07:00

A new feature appearing on Twitter has everyone.. well… Twittering today. A short time after Twitter posted about un-scheduled maintenance this morning, people started noticing in-line text *notices* appearing below their Twitter stats when they logged into the web based application (see example pictured).

For now, the so-called notices simply define a couple of Twitter services including Twitter Search and Twitter Widgets. The notices include a linked headline that takes people to the service being defined.

To my eyes, the notices looked very similar to AdWords style ads and I immediately tweeted asking if anyone else was thinking what I was:

“Has Twitter decided to achieve monetization via Pay Per Click advertising?”

A quick Twitter search for *twitter ads* and *twitter monetization* confirmed others were thinking the same thing.

One by one, people began to notice the changes and started to tweet about them:

Twitter users and industry pundits have been predicting for months now that Twitter will roll out a monetization model. It looks like this is a sneak preview of that model, although there is nothing on the Twitter Blog announcing such a move. If they really are testing a PPC model, I think it’s a wise move.

I’m not sure how effective a single ad unit will be, but perhaps they will test and rollout multiple ad units in time. As for the ad channel content, no word yet whether the advertising will come from one of the major PPC providers or be a network of Twitter’s own making (although the former would be much more viable and less costly to implement). Perhaps Twitter is close to an announcement of a partnership with Google, Yahoo or MSN. I’ll be keeping a close eye on developments.

Update: A little birdie told me that Twitter Japan already displayed ads so I went digging and found this TechCrunch article confirming this little nugget of information. But I wanted to know if Twitter Japan was displaying the new information notices AS WELL AS the display ads. To check, I had to change my default language to Japanese and login to Twitter again. Voila! proof positive that Twitter Japan is publishing display ads in addition to these new notices. So perhaps Twitter.com will use display ads in the near future and leave the new text blurbs as information notices. It’s all speculation at this point.

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TWITTER ADVANCE

Currently in twitter you can post tweets and respond to tweets with the goal of developing a dialogue. The point is to be able to introduce yourself and make your services and products known to your target audience. The chances that your message will actually be read by your followers is pretty slim because active users are looking for the same exposure and are not paying attention to all the 100’s of tweets posted on an hourly basis.

Because of this, you need a way to connect with your new followers and actually get them interested in your message. Your window of opportunity is short and you only have one chance to do this. Before you can even get them to follow you and present this opportunity, you need to lay the groundwork to ensure that you have all of your details in place:

Twitter.com Account

If you are new to the twitter experience then the first thing to do is create an account. Be sure that you read this full article before creating a twitter account. You might find some useful tips.

Setting Up Your Twitter Profile “Creatively.”

Creating an account on Twitter is very simple. Before you start make sure you register using a Gmail account or something that you can check but it not connected to your main emails that you use daily. This will help you filter out your twitter message more easily. Once you have created an account and are logged in, make sure to take the time to edit your profile and give your viewers your bio so they know who you are and what you are about.

Log In to your account, then click on “settings” and the first option you have there is “Account“. Here you have the following options:

Name - put your name or something creative there to capture your audience’s attention. If you are looking to brand your name, then this will be your opportunity. If you are not interested in branding your name, then use something that relates to your industry. For example, you might use a nickname like “Social Guru” or another catchy phrase.

Username - this was set when you first created your account, I suggest you leave it. If you are just now creating a twitter account you might want to use a keyword or phrase. You might want to use a nick name or even your real name; it really depends on your target audience.

Email - I highly suggest that you create a gmail account specifically for your twitter.com account. Once you start becoming popular you will receive a lot of emails. This will prevent you from having to filter emails from your primary email account.

Time Zone - Choose the time zone you are in.

More Info URL: Here you can put your main web site or blog that you want people to find. This should be the site that you want to expose people to the most. If you have more than one site, then you may need to create multiple twitter accounts.

One Line Bio (or micro bio) - this is a 160 character bio that you can create to get everyone’s attention and encourage them to follow you. You may be tempted to put a marketing message to try to sell something here, but this is not advised because you want people to follow you not look at other profiles. Try to be fun and unique. You can disclose a little bit about what you do, but be sure to talk about other things like your favorite food or animal etc.

Location - There are people who search for specific cities or states. I prefer to use a state that offers the most coverage area possibilities.

Language - find your language option and select it.

Protect My Updates - this is if you want your messages to remain private. By doing this you are possibly losing out on opportunities to get people to read your tweets, and this means losing possible followers. I do not recommend using this option here. Once all of your details are entered, you can save your data.

There are some other settings that you may want to use like Devices and Notices. You can connect your mobile phone for updates and you can even set your preference on when you want to be notified. If you don’t want to be notified, you can select this as well.

Picture - This option is a great because Twitter will put an image in automatically. If you want to make your profile stand out then add a photo of yourself or something related to your industry. A funny picture will work well here too. Again, the point is that you will want to get people to notice you.

Design - Here is where you can really get creative. The recommended size for twitter design is 1800 x 1100. You want to place your primary message into the design itself. Place this on the left side and make it about 230 - 250 wide and about 400 high. You can use photoshop or another design program to make it as fun or professional as you like. There are some services out there as well that will do a custom design for about $50.00 - $150.00 on average. You can find tools and resources out there like: http://theclosetentrepreneur.com/create-a-twitter-background-using-powerpoint that will help you design your own custom background as well. Don’t get stuck on this point or let it stop you from you moving forward to the next steps. You can always come back to this later.

Once you have a design ready to go, then go to “Design” in your settings on Twitter and use the “change background image” option to upload your design. This is a great way to get people to want to follow you and another chance to get your URL noticed.

Ready to Automate Your Message?

Are you ready to Automate your message? Well, before you do this, make sure that you show your twitter account to your friends and peers. Get their feedback and make sure you have no mistakes in your content or any other issues.

Once you are certain your account looks good, then you will need to come up with a marketing message that will grab the attention of anyone who follows you on twitter. Think carefully here as you want to make sure that your message is heard and that it actually compels people to follow you. Your message is limited to 160 characters and it must include enough space to place the URL you are trying to promote. At this point, your followers will receive a onetime message from you and a link to the URL you are promoting.

There are a few tricks here you can use to help turn your standard URL into a “Tiny” URL. There are some free services available like http://www.tiny.cc/ and http://bit.ly. I recommend http://bit.ly because you can create an account. They also give you a username and API which will be needed to create your automated message.

STEP 1 - Create your Bit.ly account

Go to Bit.ly and create an account there. Follow all the details they give you and once you create an account then login and click on “account” in the upper right hand. After you do this, you can see your API Login and API Key. Save this information somewhere as you will need this later

STEP 2 - Make a Tiny URL

Still being logged into bit.ly you will click on the home button and enter the URL you are directing people to. It can be an affiliate URL or just a link to your site or blog, etc. After this, click “shorten” and copy your new tiny URL and save that for later use.

NOTE: Now add your tiny url to your 160 character auto responder message and make sure the total character count is 160. Save this message as you will be using it very soon here.

STEP 3 - Create an OpenID Account

You will now need to create an OpenID account. There are many options out there, I would recommend using http://openid.net or http://myopenid.com. Create an account and when you are finished you will be given an openid URL. Save this URL for the final step.

STEP 4 - Open an Account on TweetLater.com

Tweet Later is a great tool created by Dewald Pretorius who has given a lot of his time and care into the development of this program. He has personal contact with the people at twitter and he keeps everyone updated via his blog.

This service has both a free and a paid option. I recommend the paid option as you get more use of his tools and it is a very reasonable price considering the quality of the program created by Dewald.

In addition to this, his site also offers tutorials that explain everything I have been talking about in this article and more.

Now you are ready. Go to: tweetlater.com and create your account. You will see during your registration process that you will need to include your Bit.ly login name and API key, plus your OpenID as well. Once you have created your account you will be ready to login.

Once you are logged in, click on “Accounts” and then a sub group of options appear. Select “Add Account“. Choose The Twitter for “select type” and then click continue.

You will then be asked to enter your twitter user Id and password (Do not worry. This is a secure site)… Once you enter the information, you will need to read through each option that is provided and decide which of these works best for you. There is a place to put in your automated message and tiny URL along with your message.

When you are finished, click “save.” Now your goal will be to get as many followers as possible. This is something that I will cover on our next lesson series.

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and stay tuned in for our next lesson “Don’t Waste Your Twitter Account and Make Some Friends Today!

Get Twitter Power NOW.

Content Writting

2009-03-17T00:48:00.001-07:00

At this time of year, it’s hard to resist making predictions about what the coming days hold. Financial analysts, doctors, politicians and experts from virtually every industry in the world give insights into what they think may happen during the course of the next 12 months. Although my mother always warned me about following the crowd, I’ll chip my two cents into the pot anyway and give you a couple of predictions about the future of SEO copywriting.

Looking Back Before Gazing Forward

In the beginning was the word. The keyword, that is. And when it was placed into the keyword META tag of any web page, that page received high rankings. Then the Internet boom raged throughout Cybertown. It soon became a greater challenge to rank in the coveted top 10. Enter search engine copywriting.

As algorithms changed, a need arose to use keywords (and soon, keyphrases) throughout a page’s copy in addition to its tag set. Here’s where typical Internet behavior set in. The online marketing mindset that is so common took hold: If one is good - 1,000 is better. Well-meaning copywriters began to shove keyphrases into existing text willy-nilly. It didn’t take long before site owners and their customers began to baulk at the way SEO copywriting sounded.

But, with theories about keyword density and fears of keyword stuffing floating through Cyberspace, copywriters did their best to find balance.

Coming Full Circle

Due to unceasing demand by site owners for copy that sounded natural while still being optimized, SEO copywriters began to flush out ways to write content that didn’t sound “like that.” And so, we came full circle - from virgin copy that was written exclusively for the site visitor to copy that was butchered horribly in the name of higher rankings to natural-sounding SEO copy that pleased everyone.

Seems as though all is well and SEO copywriting has settled into an acceptable balance, right? Yes. But other changes were taking place behind the scenes that should influence the future of SEO copy.

Search Engines Get New Skills

Along the way, Google and other engines have been picking up new skills for indexing and evaluating copy. Many years ago, Yahoo! and other engines gained the ability to read PDF files. As time went on, SEO taboos - including frames and the dreaded Flash - became less fearsome as engines adapted, acquiring the technology to read these formats as well.

Prediction #1 about SEO copywriting is this: Search engines will begin to index the copy that is superimposed on the screen of videos, in video voiceovers and in audio clips. The technology actually already exists for the most part. Closed captioning for the hearing impaired could easily be adapted for this purpose. Search engine copywriters take note: You’ll soon be asked to write optimized voiceover and audio scripts.

Rather than simply optimizing the web page that hosts these files, the scripts themselves will require a search engine touch. This will make it all the more imperative that copy be written naturally. It is annoying enough to read something like this:

Texas Web Design Firm in Dallas, Texas

Welcome to our Texas web design site. Our Texas web design staff is highly skilled in creating beautiful and functional sites. When you need a Texas web design firm to help build your Internet presence, one of our Texas web design specialists will be glad to speak with you.

Ugh! Can you just imagine having those words spoken as part of a voiceover? The old tip of reading your copy out loud to see how natural it sounds will absolutely become standard practice once scripts are indexed.

Prediction #2: Latent semantic indexing will continue to evolve, making the use of synonyms in SEO copy vital. Early in 2008, Google announced it was indexing synonyms (although not heavily from what I’ve seen). I think this practice will be put into full force in the next year or two. For example, we’ll begin to see results from a search for “handbags” that contain that term as well as “purse,” “pocketbook” and “bag.”

I also believe that Google and other search engines will consider the overall context of a page more, in addition to the keywords and phrases that are used. Hopefully this will alleviate much of the elementary SEO copywriting that goes on now. (See Texas example above.)

As with everything online, change is inevitable. While certain core practices and techniques will remain foundational to SEO copywriting, advancements in search technology and site visitor preferences will continue to alter the face of this copywriting niche. Adjust, adapt, advance!

How to create great headlines and titles to turn your prospects into buying customers using hypnotic words that will empower them to purchase your product or service, join your ezine.

First of all, you must learn how to get your prospects to trust you. This is true on every field. We trust those that are more like ourselves or one that we have been conditioned to believe.

“How many of you do not trust car salesman? This is because you have been repeatedly told over and over again, how they can not be trusted. Not every car salesman is going to give you a bad deal, just as every young man with long hair and holes in their jeans are not criminals.”

All of us resist people we do not trust, even though it starts in our subconscious mind. So, you must learn how to get your prospects to trust you with an unconscious connection.

This can be done by perceiving others behavior and mimicking or mirroring it so to speak. To rich this we must use “embedded commands”.

What are embedded commands? This is a term from NLP that stands for Neuro-Linguistic Programming. NLP is founded on then idea that the language and behavior of a person is extremely ordered. These behaviors and language can be either functional or dysfunctional. This order or structure can be organized into a mimicking form.

This means that others can copy the language or behavior of another to produce the same results in order to improve there late comings. This in essence means that the way in which we act or feel is based on how we perceive the world instead of the real world.

An embedded command is a technique used in NLP, which will plant a thought in the mind of another person just beneath that person’s conscious awareness. Embedded commands utilize the use of commanding tone to be effective. The command generally formulates words into a question, with the tone however being in the form of a command.

The reason people use embed commands is to get their listener to do you wish them to do in a non-intrusive or demanding manner.

Example

Look at this sentence:

“You should buy this software.”

Now look at the same sentence only written a little differently. “You know, that some people find they really want to purchase this software.”

What happened in the second sentence is that you let the person know that other people want to purchase this software and like most people they believe in their own minds they are better than most people or at least want to know as much as everyone else put there.

You can also use the same sentence and use other hypnotic phrases such as:

I don’t know if you knew it, but some people find they really want to purchase this software.

And I’d like to have you discover… that some people find they really want to purchase this software.

Headlines that Control the Mind

You will need to learn how to write headlines that will control the mind of your prospects. Yes, this is possible.

Three elements you must have in your headline to control the mind include:

Engagement: The easiest way to engage thought is by asking an open-ended question.

Curiosity: Mother nature has endowed each of us to be curious creatures, appeal to a person’s curiosity and you can hypnotize almost everyone.

Short and Sweet: In general, most people want to know at glance what the letter is all about. Use a headline that is short. You can always use a longer headline as a secondary headline or sub headline. The first short headline should lead into the longer headline, which can be more hypnotic than the first one. You need to create cravings if you want prospects.

In reality, people do not purchase products; they purchase altered states of emotion. You must convince your prospects that the products will give them something they desire or crave.

You must have a product that is in area of human desire. Remember everyone wants to look and feel younger, thinner, have more energy, and of course have more stamina.

Let us see some examples of good headlines.

For Health fitness products:

Eat Right, Stay Fit, Feel Young, Gain Energy, Enjoy Less Pain

Headlines for relationships:

Attract the opposite sex, Find True Love, Improve Communication with your kids, Be noticed by your Boss, Be admired by coworkers

Headlines for finance and employment:
Be successful, Gain more knowledge, Scale the ladder of success, Get the promotion you deserve, Fire your boss

These examples are here to show you how to create your own effective headlines. Your headlines must convince your prospects that they really need you product or service. People usually buy what they want, not what they need.

Website Traffic

2009-03-17T00:47:00.000-07:00

Targeted traffic is the lifeblood of any successful business. In this article, I’m going to show you how to get laser targeted traffic in just a few simple steps.

1. Article Marketing - One of the best ways to drive targeted traffic to your website is through the use of article marketing. This is one of the oldest techniques for generating traffic, but it’s still one of the best.

Once you have written your article, you can then submit it to some of the top article directories like EzineArticles, GoArticles, Buzzle, the American Chronicle, ArticlesBase, and SearchWarp. For a list of the top article directories online, go to… Article Directory List | Article Directory Rank | MasonWorld Internet Marketing Strategy | Internet Based Marketing Blog You can also publish your website to Web 2.0 sites like Squidoo, HubPages, Zimbio, and Gather.com.

For a complete list of Web 2.0 sites, go to… Web 2.0 Directory : eConsultant Article marketing is even more powerful when you submit exclusive articles to bloggers and owners of newsletters. This technique has sent me thousands of visitors with a single article. The key is to find the right distribution outlets.

Just imagine if you spend just one hour each day writing and distributing one article. In three months you would have 100 articles all sending you traffic on a daily basis.

So get out there and start syndicating your articles, submitting guests posts, and writing for online newsletters.

2. Viral Ebooks - Why not bundle your articles together and create a viral ebook? Giving away free ebooks is one of the best ways to generate traffic online. It’s also one of the best ways to build your mailing list.

You can submit your PDF ebooks to Scribd, eSnips, DocStoc, Calameo, Issuu, Yudu, FreeIQ, and ButterflyReports.

For a complete list of ebook directories you can submit to, go to Free Ebook Directories

Quick Tip: You can also convert your ebooks to exe files and submit them to all the different software directories online. You can convert your ebooks using afree piece of software called WebsiteZip Packer.

3. Blogging - Blogging is one of the best things you can do for your business. Blogging is a great way to get to know your readers. Plus, blogging can play a major role in getting valuable search engine traffic from Google, Yahoo, and MSN.

4. Submit your articles to Blog Carnivals.
A blog carnival is a collection of blog posts on a particular subject. They are then posted together on on blog - called a host. The host (who is also a blogger), publishes the carnival on their blog, with links to each blog post that has been submitted.

This creates an excellent opportunity to get your blog posts shared on other blogs.

There are a number of benefits to participating in blog carnivals. Not only will you generate extra traffic, but it also provides you with quality backlinks and an excellent opportunity to connect with other bloggers.

To submit your article to a blog carnival, go to Blog Carnival - Blog Communities Publishing Magazines. For extra exposure, submit to multiple blog carnivals. Just make sure they’re all relevant to your topic.

This is one of the easiest ways to create one-way backlinks coming into your site, which is one of the biggest factors when it comes to ranking high in Google.

5. Submit your blog posts to social bookmarking sites. Social Bookmarking is one of the easiest ways to get extra traffic and links coming into your blog. Social bookmarking allows Internet users to save and organize bookmarks to a public website, tag them with keywords, share them with others, and browse what others have bookmarked.

Digg, Delicious, Mixx, and Digg are just a few of the social bookmarking sites you can use to maximize your exposure.

You can do a semi-automated submission to over 50 social bookmarking sites at AutoPoster.com.

You can also encourage your blog readers to bookmark your posts as well with a Wordpress plugin called ShareThis.

6. Ustream.tv - Ustream allows you to create your very own tv station on the Web. However, it’s better than TV because it’s a live, interactive experience. While you’re broadcasting the video, you’re also getting feedback from the live chatroom.

Ustream gives your business a human face and a real personality. This is extremely valuable, because people like to buy and interact with people, not impersonal companies.

Live video allows you to reach entirely new audiences and develop a much greater level of engagement. A deeper level of engagement almost allows equates to a higher conversion rate when done correctly.

It’s also an excellent way to get feedback from your audience.

7. Forum Marketing - Forums are another way to drive targeted visitors to your website. The key to getting quality traffic from forums is to find a forum that is highly targeted to your website, become involved in the community, and create a benefit-laden signature.

You can put a link back to your website in your signature. It’s critical that you use your signature to offer something of extreme value along with a good call-to-action. Otherwise, why would anybody click?

The biggest benefit of marketing in forums is that they are centered around a very tight group of people who are all interested in the same subject. This is essentially a community of raving fans for a particular topic, making them extremely targeted prospects.

Forums are also an excellent way to connect with other bloggers, meet other marketers, and gain insights into your market.

8. Interviews are another great way to generate traffic. When you interview a fellow blogger, they will almost always publish a link to the interview on their blog. At the same time, you are also sending traffic to their website by posting the interview on your own blog. This can be a very effective technique for generating traffic and meeting new bloggers. Unfortunately, most people are just afraid to ask.

9. Build a List - If you’re not building a list, you’re missing out on a major source of ongoing traffic. Your list is the most valuable asset in your business. Best of all, it can be leveraged at anytime to drive a funnel of visitors to your website.

10. Video Marketing - Video sites have quickly become some of the most highly trafficked sites on the Internet, making them one of the best places to generate lots of extra traffic.

Don’t worry, your video doesn’t have to be a Spielberg classic. In fact, it can just be a PowerPoint presentation with audio. Even simple videos can drive thousands of visitors to your site.

Once you’ve created your video, you can then submit it to the top video submission sites with a tool called TubeMogul. And finally, My Favorite… Search Engine Optimization is one of the best ways to generate extremely targeted traffic online. By following just a few basic principles, you can get lots of traffic from the search engines every month.

Website Promotion

2009-03-17T00:46:00.000-07:00

To make money on the internet you need an effective marketing plan. So here are the best marketing tips that you must follow to make your website a powerful magnet for traffic and sales.

Banner Advertising

Although many marketers already know about pay-per-click advertising, very few are purchasing guaranteed banner click-thru’s that are available on hundred’s of sites. Look for sites that cater to your target market and look for, or ask for, their advertising rates. Slowly but surely most of the sites that sold banner impressions are starting to offer performance advertising in the form of pay-per-click.

Write articles

Writing Articles is an excellent way to promote your website and best of all you can get recognize as an internet business expert. You can submit your article to ezine or article directory.

Exchange links

Exchanging links is one of the best method for getting web site traffic and ranking higher. When you start a site you should exchange many as possable links with sites that are RELATED to YOUR site. Robots are eager to find new links and fresh information.

Mailing List

Having a mailing list can bring wonders to a web site, not only will it help bring old visitors back , but they will send the newsletter to their friends (If they like it).This is like gold for you. The only real purpose for a consumer website is to capture leads and to sell products. Send out a monthly e-zine that offers FREE valuable information and mentions similar products they may be interested in. Search Engine Optimization It is no secret that search engines are the number one traffic generating method for driving visitors to web sites. Search engines are very useful in helping people find the relevant information they seek on the Internet. The major search engines develop and maintain their own gigantic database of web sites that can be searched by a user typing in a keyword or keyword phrase in the search box.

Search engine optimization

(SEO) is the process of studying the search engines in an effort to determine how to get your web site to rank high on user searches. Depending on the statistical information reviewed, search engines account for over 80% of the visitor traffic to web sites.

Free online forum

One forum can be about “Online Business”. Another forum can be about ” Joint Ventures”. When people join those forums, make sure that they need to come to your site first and log in from there, if they want to log on and post on the forum.

Market Statistic

You can use features on your website such as visitor polls, online surveys and your website statistics to find out what your customers like more and how they feel about certain aspects of your business to determine how you can improve your product and the way you do business.

FREE Advertising

There is alot of FREE Advertising on the Internet. There is Classified Ads. FREE For All Pages (FFA), Ezine, Article Submission and Newsgroup of course and many more.

Blogging

Blogs are a relatively new and popular way to publish content on the Internet. They allow the blogger to publish content; very quickly AND get feedback from the people that read it. Because they are new and content is created regularly, search engines love indexing them - and if search engines love them, you should too.

Real Syndicated Content

RSS marketing is a tool used by many on the Internet to deliver articles, advertisements, emails, customer support responses, ezines to clients and potential clients.

Web - Blog Masters

2009-03-17T00:45:00.000-07:00

When you manage a website there are some things that you need to know. For example, might it be a good idea to ask yourself questions such as; is the site effective and does it accomplish what it should? Getting answers to such questions is not always the easiest thing in the world. That is - at least not if you haven’t looked at any website statistics. Thankfully there are several great tools on the market that can help you understand how your website is performing. If you know this, you’ll be able to optimize and make the site more sticky and converting. To help you get started we’ll list what we believe to be the top 5 tools to analyze your website.

1. SEO Analyzer:

The SEO Design Analyzer from Raven is free to use and it will give you tons of useful information. Simply type in your URL and you’ll get the data you need to get a good understanding of what you’re doing right and what needs to be better optimized. It’s all very easy and it only takes seconds to get the results.

Some of the information that you’ll get to know are the download time, obsolete HTML, inline styles and at the end you’ll get an overall score for the design. One big plus with this tool is that it covers as good as every area of an average SEO process. If you really want the best of the best you might want to take a look at the SEO Pro version. It will cost you $100 a month but the features that are included could very well be worth it - depending on your requirements. Take advantage of this tool and create a user friendly site with top conversion.

This is perhaps not a web analytics tool in its full meaning as it’s probably better explained as a log analyzer. Nevertheless it is very useful and as it’s an open source program, it’s free to download and use. Due to, or thanks to, its popularity, it comes in several different languages, making it easlily accessible for people all over the world.

What it actually does is “generating advanced web, streaming, ftp or mail server statistics graphically” in a HTML report. AWStats surely will give you everything you might be looking for in a statistics tool. Most log file formats are supported by AWStats – such as Apache, IIS (W3C) and WebStar. Take advantage of this tool and get an easy overview of who your visitors are, what search engines they’re using and what time of day they’re visiting your site.

2. Website Grader:

The Website Grader is somewhat similar to SEO Analyzer and it will also provide you with all the necessary data you need to optimize your site. It’s free to use and we must say that we are impressed with the detailed data that appears after only a couple of seconds. Even though your site might be strong, it will always have some weak links that could be worth improving.

Some of the results that you get are heading summary, image summary, number of del.ici.ous bookmarks, on page SEO and off page SEO. Are you for example using too many images and not enough metadata? Website Grader can help you understand all these things for free and when done you can show your visitors the site’s score, with a badge from Website Grader. Try it out - we think that you might really like this tool.

3. AWStats:
This is perhaps not a web analytics tool in its full meaning as it’s probably better explained as a log analyzer. Nevertheless it is very useful and as it’s an open source program, it’s free to download and use. Due to, or thanks to, its popularity, it comes in several different languages, making it easlily accessible for people all over the world.

What it actually does is “generating advanced web, streaming, ftp or mail server statistics graphically” in a HTML report. AWStats surely will give you everything you might be looking for in a statistics tool. Most log file formats are supported by AWStats – such as Apache, IIS (W3C) and WebStar. Take advantage of this tool and get an easy overview of who your visitors are, what search engines they’re using and what time of day they’re visiting your site.

4. Crazy Egg:

The Crazy Egg tool comes in three different versions; standard, plus and pro. The standard version is free and the others cost a bit, but they are in no way pricey. With the help of this tool you’ll be able to see what your visitors are doing on your site – right down to their precise mouse movements. In fact, what we loved the most about this tool is the heatmap.

With the heatmap you’ll be able to see what’s hot and what’s not on your site via an image showing you where your visitors are the most active – every click by your users is recorded. Its simple design makes it very user-friendly as well. The standard version will give you plenty of useful info but if you really want to dig into the core of your site, we would recommend you to pay for the plus or pro version.

5. Mint:

The Mint analytics tool will cost you $30 per site but it will be money well spent. With Mint you’ll get data such as number of visits, unique referrers, most popular pages and much, much more. As this is a tool that you’ll have to pay for, you can expect a little extra – and we can promise you that it will deliver. Mint uses a plugin system, called Pepper, which allows adding extra extensibility to your base script.

We understand that it might seem unnecessary to pay for something that you can get for free elsewhere but remember that $30 is still a cheap way of getting that much data and your site is worth all the attention it can get. All-in-all, mint is a very good analyzing tool.

Web - Blog design

2009-03-17T00:44:00.000-07:00

Wondering what pages to include on your website and why? Here is a list of important information that should be included on your site.

Before you start thinking about what to write, it is important that you create a plan, which outlines what each page will contain. That way you won’t repeat yourself or forget vital information. The most common pages on successful websites include:

1. Home Page (First Page)

This is your “sales” page and should provide information about what you can do for your customers. It should also give your visitors a brief overview of what they can find on your site.

2. Products / Services

It is useful to have a separate page for each product/service and write as much detail about each as possible. Start each page with a brief summary of the product/service, then provide whatever information you can. When people are searching for information on the internet, they want to know it NOW. They don’t want to wait until tomorrow when they can speak to you on the phone.

3. Contact Us

Place contact details in as many places as possible. Make it easy for your customers to contact you. Create a special “Contact Us” page, include your details in “About Us” page and also at the bottom of each page. Information to include: business name, physical address, mailing address, telephone, fax, email, emergency number, website address.

4. Pricing

Whenever possible include the price of your products/services. Even if you can’t be specific. It is helpful to put at least a range of prices, eg. Carpet cleaning ranges between $40 - $60 per room.

5. Testimonials / Product Reviews / Before & After

Include testimonials from your current customer to show your potential clients that you are trustworthy, reliable and that you offer great service and/or products. Make sure the testimonials are real and if possible provide contact details of the person who supplied you with the testimonial. If you don’t have any right now, get them! Simply email your customers and ask for their feedback on your business and service.

You could also include before and after photos. Show the problem picture and beside it show the picture of resolution, with an explanation of your product’s benefits.

6. Frequently Asked Questions

This has proven to be a great time saver for many companies. Instead of having to answer the same questions over and over again, place them on your website and keep adding to them. The more information you have on your website, the less time you will need to spend answering questions by email or phone.

Frequently Asked Questions should address your customer’s concerns that may otherwise be an obstacle to making a sale.

7. Response form such as “Subscribe” or “Enquiry” form

An absolute must if you want to build a mailing list. Most people don’t like giving out too much information, so ask only the basics, such as Name and Email Address. Then keep in touch with your customers on a regular basis by sending out information that may be of interest to them. You may even wish to develop your own on-line magazine (ezine). There are many fantastic free or inexpensive programs that can handle this for you.

8. On-line Magazine or Newsletter

This is a great marketing tool. Not only does it help you keep in touch with your customers, but provides your website with fresh content. You can set up your Ezine in 2 different ways:

(a) Email subscribers on a regular basis or (b) Publish it on your website.

Or both. Include information about your business, industry or anything that may be of interest to your customers.

9. Resources/Articles

Add value to your business. Provide information that is complementary to what you do. For example, if you sell wedding dresses include information about reception venues, wedding planners, wedding cakes, flowers. By adding extra information you encourage more hits.

10. About Us

This is a very important page as it tells your customer about who you are and why they should buy your products, services and/or trust your organization. It can also feature your business hours (if you have a bricks and mortar store) or when they can speak to someone on the phone. Many companies also include their mission, details of their staff (photos, biographies, qualifications), recently completed projects, ACN or ABN, logo, directions to your store/office. It is also useful to include details of trade associations you belong to, trade and insurance certificates and any awards you may have won.

11. Guarantee

Offer a money back guarantee. The longer the guarantee, the more effective it will be. It could be 30 days, 60 days, 1 year or lifetime.

12. Survey

Find out what customers think about your website, business or product.

13. Events Calendar

This can relate to your business or industry. If you are an artist, you can feature dates where and when your art will be displayed or if you are a singer, where you will be performing.

14. Search My Website Feature

Some visitors to your side may not know exactly what they want but if you include a search function on your site, they can look for it very easily. Like search engines, this feature will allow your visitors to type in a word or phrase and then search for it on your site. It’s like having your own mini search engines, only instead of it searching the world wide web, it just searches your website.

15. Return/Refund Policy

To make your customers feel more comfortable when making a transaction at your website, you should provide then with your return/refund policy. Ensure it is easy to understand and spelt out step by step.

16. Privacy Policy

Privacy continues to be a major issue for customers shopping online. Concerns about how their information is going to be used is a major barrier when making a sale. Internet shopping experience is built on trust and privacy is the number one ingredient in trust.

17. Site Map

A site map is similar to a contents. It shows visitors how the site is laid out and which sections are where.

18. Copyright Information

Your website should carry a copyright notice to protect its intellectual property. It is generally in the form of “Copyright © 2004, Your Company Name”.

19. Links

Here you can place links to the manufacturers of your products, trade associations or complementary services. When you place links to other businesses, you can request they do the same for you. This will not only bring you more visitors, but may improve your search engine ranking.

20. Media Information

Include any information, articles, photos of your products, staff etc that have appeared in the media - print, TV, radio or internet.

21. News

This can include news about your products/services or about your industry.

22. On-line store

An on-line store allows you sell products directly on the internet 24 hours a day/7 days a week. When building an online store it is important to take in a number of key concepts.

* Make sure that when visitors arrive at your store the navigational mechanisms are simple and effective
* The actual process of placing the order must be simple
* Make sure you accept common and convenient methods of payment
* Continually test your store so you understand your customer’s shopping experience

23. Blog

A blog is a journal that is available on the web. The activity of updating a blog is “blogging” and someone who keeps a blog is a “blogger.” Blogs are typically updated daily or weekly using software that allows people with little or no technical background to update and maintain the blog. Blogs are a great tool as they help with:

1. Communicating with your customers. Blogs provide a way for you to communicate with your customers directly. And it is a two-way communication. You can post a message on your blog and your visitors can easily respond.
2. Search Engine Marketing Blogs give you an increased presence on search engines, like Yahoo! and Google. If you use Blogger (Google’s Blogging Tool), every message you post creates a new page on Google so in a very short time you could have lots of pages pointing to your website
3. Stay Ahead of Your Competition Blogs are relatively new and chances are your competition does not yet use them. So you will be seen as an expert in your industry when you post your knowledge and expertise.
4. Media & Public Relations Blogs are excellent PR tools. You can post your Media Releases and articles and have them picked up by the media.
5. Free or Low Cost

24. Photo Gallery

Even if you do not wish to sell your products on-line, you may wish to showcase your goods or services in a special photo gallery - show how your products or services are being used by your customers. They say “pictures speak a thousand words” and on your website it is particularly important.

Don’t give your customers a reason to visit your competitor’s website and provide them with all the information they may possibly need or want.

Web 2.0

2009-03-17T00:43:00.000-07:00

Most small businesses appreciate marketing strategies that are low-cost or no-cost, especially in today’s unpredictable economy. Online marketing channels such as web sites, e-newsletters, email campaigns, and internet advertising are already being used by small businesses to save money on marketing, since these tend to be much less expensive than some older, more traditional methods. But with the popularity of sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn, small businesses are finding yet another marketing strategy that not only saves them money, but is also very effective in getting the attention of customers and the search engines alike - and that strategy is social networking.

1. Keep Customer Mindshare
It used to be that small businesses purchased newspaper or magazine ads, and used billboards, radio ads, or direct mail campaigns to keep their name in front of customers and potential customers. But today, these methods have not only become very expensive, they also lack the flexibility necessary to target audiences with a message meant exclusively for them.

Today, customers are using the web everyday. They use Google to find information, Facebook to share information with their friends, Twitter to stay in touch with others during the day, and they listen to downloaded podcasts on their iPods. By having a solid social networking presence, a small business can easily meet the needs of its customers; whether it’s announcing relevant news in a Facebook profile, broadcasting special offers to followers on Twitter, or showing up at the top of the search engine listings so customers click on their web site link first (before visiting any competitors’ sites!).

2. Develop Customer Relationships (and Loyalty!)
Today’s customers really do expect some level of online interaction with your company; whether they are using your company’s blog (or other related blogs), following your Tweets (on Twitter), writing product reviews on sites like Amazon.com, or posting questions and information on sites like LinkedIn. The more you can provide customers with a way to interact with your business, the more supported they feel, and the more positive their experience and attitude becomes. Be sure to also follow the “conversation” by using tools like Google Alerts to monitor how your business is being presented and talked about on the web.

3. Build Inbound Links
Building organic inbound links to your web site is the most effective way to improve your rankings in the search engines, especially in Google. Most social networking profiles allow you to include links to your web site, which then become new inbound links that point to your site. Depending on the social networking site, you can sometimes use your keywords as anchor text in your profile, and direct these links to specific (optimized) landing pages on your web site. Not only will these organic links help you gain points with the search engines, they can also help drive sales and boost conversion rates by bringing users directly to the landing pages on your web site.

4. Increase Visits to Your Web Site
It’s pretty logical - the more exposure your business has on social networking sites, the more customers and potential customers have an opportunity to click on links to your web site. If you can also provide good quality content, useful information, and other helpful resources in your profiles, you can often create enough interest (or maybe curiosity) to get users to visit your web site - users who would not have otherwise had any exposure to your business. Just make sure that you create specific landing pages on your web site that are relevant to your social networking visitors, rather than just sending them to your home page.

5. Rank Higher in the Search Engines

By providing multiple sources of quality, indexable content on various social networking sites on the web, your online visibility is expanded, giving the search engines more content to discover. Search engines routinely index not just web pages, but also blogs, images and photos, video, wiki entries, podcasts, and social networking profiles. When you provide great content in a variety of forms and in a variety of places, you improve your chances of getting noticed (and ranked higher) by the search engines.

As social networking continues to gain in popularity, small businesses are finding ways to take advantage of it to connect and communicate with customers. In the past, reaching customers was often an interruption - a commercial on TV, an ad in the middle of a magazine story, or a billboard on the side of the highway. But social networking provides a way to interact with customers and engage in a two-way conversation with them. Of all the marketing strategies available to small businesses today, social networking seems to provide some impressive benefits for little or no cost, which may be the greatest benefit of all.

If you haven’t yet realized that social networking is now the focal point of internet marketing, then you haven’t been paying attention. Utilizing social networking is more than creating a group on Facebook or opening a MySpace account. A business owner who truly understands social networking has a gift for taking a broad view of the internet. Where do people gather on the internet? What do they talk about?

How do they talk to each other? The difficulty with using social networking as a marketing strategy is that social networking requires marketers to step outside of their comfort zones and find new ways to deliver their messages. It doesn’t require a total rejection of traditional marketing techniques, but if you’re unwilling to follow your gut and build authentic relationships, then it might not be right for you.

Potential customers are constantly bombarded with marketing messages in some form or another. What they really want is to make authentic connections with other people, which is why social networking is such an overwhelmingly popular phenomenon. To be successful, you have to make those connections instead of simply throwing your message out there to see where it sticks. In fact, if you’re using social networking the right way, you might not even feel like you’re “marketing” anymore.

Here are 7 keys to building authentic communities on the internet:

1. Create of map of your customers. Keeping your niche market in mind, find the places on the internet that have the most influence on your potential customers. What are your potential customers and your competitors talking about? Does your company have anything to add to the conversation?
2. Recruit. Now that you’ve figured out where your potential customers are and what they’re talking about, invite them to talk with you. 3. Determine the appropriate platform(s). Which of the following will work best for your goals: social networking sites, e-communities, blogs, or reputation aggregators?
3. Engage your community. This is where the rubber meets the road. This is the place where you have to put your most authentic self out there and engage the people you’ve recruited to be part of your conversation. Be real and be genuine. Make this about a conversation, not about selling something. Mostly importantly, find a balance between content generated by your users and content generated by your enterprise.
4. Measure involvement. Watch your community carefully over time and pay attention to what resonates most with them.
5. Promote, promote, promote. Your site may not need much promotion. If that’s the case, then consider yourself lucky. But if you find that you need to promote yourself, go seek out places where that can happen. Invite yourself to someone else’s place and then invite them back to yours.
6. Give incentives. Once you have a quality community, focus on giving people a reason to stay. Be aware of what works and what doesn’t, what people enjoy and what they don’t. Always look out for ways to make your community more friendly, useful, convenient, and rewarding.

The most important part of marketing through social networking is to make sure that your community adds values to its users. If your users feel like they’re getting good advice, good information, and making good connections, then they’re more likely to stick around. And it’s your job to facilitate a quality community. It may not feel like marketing, but it may be some of the most important marketing you ever do.

If you’re not sure whether now is the time to make social networking part of your overall marketing strategy, go ahead and take the plunge. Climb the learning curve now, ahead of your competitors, and build your communities. You’ll be glad you did.

Video Marketing

2009-03-17T00:42:00.000-07:00

Video marketing is a great way to get your business professionally promoted and to attract more people to your offer.

Nowadays there are many video libraries online gathering thousands or even millions of videos uploaded daily by users.

One of the biggest and the most popular video library is YouTube that attracted millions of members sharing their video content.The uploaded material is usually arranged in particular categories making it easier to find.

Among thousands of videos on various categories ranging from comedies, videoclips to movies previews and adverts there is a loads of videos on business subject promoting particular products or giving a free education on business topics.

The question is why the marketers find YouTube so effective to promote their businesses?

The answer is simple. It’s completely free advertisement space. Apart from the eventual costs of creating the video , uploading and storing them on YouTube is completely free.

Yet another fact is that YouTube gathered millions of members from all over the world which can give a huge exposure to the videos promoted.

How to promote your business on YouTube.

1. Create a channel

Opening new Youtube account is free and gives immediate access to all necessary tools making uploading videos easy.

Now it’s time to design the channel which is user’s space that other visitors can visit by clicking user name. The more professional it looks the more attractive it will be off course. Everything is adjustable. Editing channel is quite easy. Adjustments such changing the background color and particular boxes are just a matter of few clicks.

Setting up the channel is important as the better it fits with your business image the better results in general you will get.

For instance uploading your company logo as a background or profile picture and setting up color theme accordingly to your business is a good way to increase your credibility and awareness of what you have to offer.

2. Upload the videos.

The types of business videos that can be found on YouTube are different. While ones are uploading the videos pitching their business directly, the others provide viewers with educational videos giving away free information, lessons and mini courses.

Well why not considering having both of them on YouTube? While videos promoting your business can increase awareness and give straight message about your products, the free education will increase your credibility and authority which can lead you to receive more subscribers to you channel and prospects who will believe in value of the information provided by you and may become customers in the near future.

3. Use the tools

The features provided at the user’s channel are powerful networking tools that can help spread the message about the videos and the business in result.

Among the features such us: sending messages to another users, commenting and ranking the videos there is one really interesting that can give a viral twist to the video distribution.

It’s “Share channel” function that is a kind of friend requester. This one allows to connect the channel with other user’s channels. In result it’s possible to send them the videos to view. This way is good to increase the number of video views which can result in getting new subscribers to the user’s videos.

Another great feature is bulletin post.

This one enables user to post video message that will be visible for all his friends (the other users who the channel is shared with)

Video marketing on you Tube is a great way to get additional source of traffic and increase awareness about promoted business. Uploading videos presenting value frequently and using the networking features available in the channel will spread the word about anykind of product.

If you have been using videos to market your business or even considering doing it, this article will show you free resources available online that will allow you to quickly create more videos for your business and market them as well. An estimated 90% of people would rather watch a video, than read. So how about giving people what they are longing for?

Here are 3 resources for you to take advantage of video marketing today:

Free Resource #1: AuthorStream (dot)com

It’s a new service which converts your PowerPoint slide shows to flash media files. Author Stream can be used to host and share your slide shows publicly or privately directly on their website.

But what is more exciting is, the service automatically converts your slideshows to videos that are compatible to Youtube and other popular video sharing sites!

So now you can simply create powerful slideshows in PowerPoint sharing ‘tips’, ‘strategies’ etc. related to your topic, upload them to Authorstream and get them converted to videos. Next upload the videos to Youtube and other video sharing sites (read Free Resource #3 below) enabling you to get more exposure for your topic, website or product you are promoting. Then of course you can use them as any other videos, embedding them to your blog ,web page, your landing page and so on. Using this service you can easily create 3-5 short interesting videos everyday if you wish to.

Free Resource #2: TubeMogul

It’s another free service that you cannot live without if you are into video marketing.

TubeMogul provides a single point interface for deploying uploads to the top video sharing sites like youtube, myspace, revver, veoh etc. What is even greater about this free service is you will be able to measure impact upon your audience since they employ powerful analytics on the who, what, and how videos are being viewed. Not only this allows you to track the performance of your own video across multiple sites, but also those of your competitors.

Last but not least…

Free Resource #3: 101 Youtube Alternative Video Sites

I have saved this excellent resource for you that most people don’t know about. This is a great resource list for marketing your videos through ‘niched’ and less crowded video sharing sites .

When you have spent time and effort to create the videos, why limit yourself to a few video sharing sites only. The more exposure your videos get more effective it becomes in boosting the traffic to your product/website promoted through it. So don’t limit yourself to few video sites only. You can get more targeted audience when you upload the videos to ‘niched’ video sites and the ‘101 Youtube Alternative sites’ is a great resource list to locate them.

So there you have it. Three Free resources to create upload and market your videos!

Now there shouldn’t be any more excuses to get on with your video marketing efforts. Bookmark this article for future reference and get started with video marketing for more business profit

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Technology

2009-03-17T00:41:00.002-07:00

If you’re like me, then you’ve probably heard all about article marketing, SEO, video marketing, social bookmarking, press releases, blogging, etc…

They are the cornerstones of Internet Marketing. And they work. But sometimes don’t you just want to read about something new. I know I do. In fact, every time I discover a new traffic technique, it’s like opening a shiny new present on Christmas morning.

And I’m hoping I can give you that feeling with this article, because I’m about to reveal 3 traffic methods that you may not have heard of yet.

1. Download Sites - You can get thousands of visitors with download sites, even if you’ve never programmed a day in your life.

Here’s what I do. I take my articles and turn them into EXE files. This allows me to submit my article to hundreds of software directories, sending me hundreds of one-way links and visitors.

Now, here’s a quick tip on how you can use this technique to build your subscriber list quickly. Require people to register for your software (in this case your ebook is considered software) before they are able to read your ebook. This allows you to grow your list quickly simply by recycling your articles and turning them into EXE files.

You can turn your articles into EXE files using some free software called WebSiteZip Packer. This software will allow you to turn an HTML page into a solid executable file (.exe) with an integreated HTML browser.

Quick Tip: This is an excellent way to get hundreds of one-way backlinks by using those PLR articles you have laying around.

Since you’re converting the articles into software, you don’t have to worry about duplicate content. Just one of your plr articles can now generate you 100’s of one-way backlinks by converting it into software and submitting it to all the different software directories.

Here’s a list of some of the top download sites you can submit to…

Download.com
Tucows.com
Versiontracker.com
Jumbo.com
freedownloadcenter.com
regnow.com
regsoft.com
5star-shareware.com
shareit.com
topshareware.com
passtheshareware.com
sharewarejunkies.com
softpedia.com
shareware.com

Plus, Google loves these authority sites, especially Download.com. I’ve found many of my software titles ranking on the front page of Google with these high-authority download sites.

2. Get your articles into Google News. Google News has become very popular in the past couple years and can send you a ton of traffic. To get your article into Google news, all you have to do is get published on one of the many sites that is syndicated by Google News.

I personally use the American Chronicle.

You can sign up for an author’s account and start submitting articles. Once your article is published, it will be listed on 20 sites owned by the American Chronicle as well as Google News.

This strategy can send you a lot of traffic, especially if you use the right keywords.

3. Webwire.com. I have saved the best for last…

Webwire.com is a hidden gem that I have been using to rank on the front page of Google within 24 hours.

Here’s a quick overview of how I am able to capture front page rankings…

First, I title my press release with the keyword phrase that I want to rank for. I have found that keyword phrases with a competition of less than 30,000 (in quotes) in Google rank really well.

I then make sure to include the phrase and variations in the first and last paragraph. Sprinkle it in but don’t go hog wild.

This simple formula has landed me multiple front page rankings and thousands of visitors.

Security

2009-03-17T00:41:00.001-07:00

Everbody hates spam! I am sure spammers hate getting spam too, but they still continue to dish it out. Why? Because it is still effective. Believe it or not, many of us still click on the links or follow-up with the spam message. As long as we continue to do this, spam will exist. If everybody understood this and paid no attention to spam, the spammers will eventually give up because it costs them realy money to send out emails. It is hard to quantify what the cost of sending out one, two or fifty emails is, but 1 million or 5 million emails certainly has a cost that is not negligible. When the payback starts to get so small that the spammers cannot make a decent living, they will find something else to do. This day will come and I cannot wait for it to arrive.

In the meantime, what can we do about it. Well, I am not going to tell you that there is a perfect solution that will stop all spam, but what I will tell you is that there is a way to reduce the problem and manage it effectively using the 7 steps outlined below.

Step #1: Get Your Own Domain Name
Fighting spam effectively starts with getting your own domain name. For example if your name is Andy Williams, you would purchase a domain name called andywilliams.com, which is of course already owned by the famous singer. This has some unique advantages over using an ISP given domain name or a webmail service such as Hotmail or Gmail. It also has some minor disadvantages. Let’s examine these.

One major advantage is that you control the entire email address. You could create emails addresses like andy@andywilliams.com, info@andywilliams.com, sales@andywilliams.com and so on. This is in stark contract to an ISP assigned name like andywilliams@comcast.net. If you wanted another one, you’d have to open up another account or pay extra for each additional ISP assigned address. If you ever decided to switch ISP’s, you would lose that email address and have to start over using a new one, and inform everyone you communicated with about it - a very messy proposition.

Many get around this problem by getting a Hotmail, Yahoo Mail or Gmail account which you can access from anywhere as long as you have internet access. These types of email accounts definitely have a place in your email toolchest, but do not suffice as your primary personal email address. One reason is that you do not have access to your email messages and address books when you are not online, like during a long flight. Anotehr drawback is that they do not allow you to export the online address books making portability very tedious.

I prefer owning my own domain name which I call my permanent email address. I will always have this email address as long as I renew this domain name every year. The cost of registering a domain name varies from $4 to $8 per year for most common ones. This is a small price to pay for the advantages it brings you.

The one minor disadvantage of owning your own domain name is that you need to manage it yourself, or have someone do it for you. This in my opinion is far outweighed by the advantages mentioned above.

Step #2: Create Private Email Adresses
A private email address is one that nobody but your inner circle knows about. Every person that you give your personal email address to is someone that you trust and want to receive email from.

Setup one private email address for every person who is going to need to receive messages. This could be you and 5 other members of your family or 12 employees that work for you. This part is quite straightforward, you simply login to your email control panel and create new accounts for each email address that is going to be used to receive email.

Step #3: Create Public Email Addresses As Aliases
A public email address is generally known to the public. It can be specific like andyw@andywilliams.com or generic like receptionist@andywilliams.com.

A public email address is created as an email alias. An email alias is not a real email address, but an address that gets redirected to a real email address. For example, you setup receptionist@andywilliams.com as an alias that redirects to mary@andywilliams.com. Whenever some sends an email to receptionist@andywilliams.com, it will end up in Mary’s inbox. If you change receptionists, you simple modify the redirect for a very elegant solution. You can then publish this public email address on a website, in a brochure, on print advertising, business cards etc. without giving away your personal email address and without having to make much changes if Mary leaves and a new receptionist is hired. This is a huge benefit and maintains your privacy as well as those of others you have created email adresses for.

How does this help with spam, you ask? By using email aliases in a smart fashion, you could very easily shut down any spam that starts coming in. Let’s examine how this can be done.

Step #4: Setup the Default or Catch-all Email Address
Your email control panel will have something called a “default address” or it is also sometimes called a “catch-all address”. This is a valid email address that all unresolved emails go to. If you set this up to be your personal email address for example, then you will receive all emails that are addressed to “anything”@andywilliams.com, this includes sales@andywilliams.com, joe@andywilliams.com, andrew@andywilliams.com etc. Herein lies the secret to combat spam.

Step #5: Create Specific Named Public Email Addresses As And When Required
When you are forced to register on a website where you want to get some information from, you are usually asked for a valid email address. Well guess what, you now have an unlimited supply of valid email adresses. I usually use a specific format when registering at websites - it is “websitename”@andywilliams.com. So if I am registering at a website called www.get-rich-quick.com, I would use the address get-rich-quick@andywilliams.com as my valid email address. When the site sends me an email, it gets redirected to my personal email or whatever the default or catch-all address is.

Step #6: Send Spam Back To Where It Came From, If Possible
Here comes the real bonus, if you subsequently start receiving spam addressed to none other than get-rich-quick@andywilliams.com, you simple create an email alias for get-rich-quick@andywilliams.com and redirect the email back to exactly where it came from, for example georg-bush@get-rick-quick.com. You will then never get another email from anyone using that email address ever again. This is cool and is my favourite part. Bear in mind that spammers usually send email from an address that is not their own, so if you see an address like noreply@get-rick-quick.com, then you would redirect it somewhere else, for example a Hotmail address that you setup just for redirection purposes. Please exercise some discretion here because spammers often use the email addresses of real people and we don’t want these innocent people getting redirected email.

Step #7: Be Diligent In The Ongoing Management Of Your Domain
If you do this diligently for each website where you register by identifying the website name, you will very quickly know which websites are selling email addresses and which ones honor their promise not to share your information. ALl this while, nobody by your personal inner circle knows your private email address.

A real-life example in my case: I use a specific email alias for my Paypal account which nobody but Paypal knows. I have never ever received spam on this address, but I have received hundreds of spam messages on other email aliases that I have created. All of these emails supposedly come from Paypal and address me as “Dear Valued Paypal Member” or something similar, warning me that my account is going to be closed or suspended unless I click on their link and update my credit card information.

I hope that I have given you some food for thought on how to manage the ever growing spam problem by protecting yourself by taking some initiative and getting your own domain name. The added benefit is that you now have a permanent email address no matter where you choose to live or which ISP you use to connect to the internet.

SE Tactics

2009-03-17T00:40:00.001-07:00

Over the weekend, under the gaze of a painting of the Dalai Lama at Tibetan Kitchen, I savored my dessert of bhaktsa marku while thinking of all the search engines that helped get me to that place. And by “that place” I don’t mean the Tibetan restaurant, but rather my new Manhattan neighborhood where my wife and I dined out for the first time as residents. Below are ten search engines that helped with the moving process.

1) LinkedIn: This is the first search engine we used; it’s how my wife found our real estate broker. What’s funny is that my wife, a lawyer working for New York City Department of Health, thought to use LinkedIn when it hadn’t occurred to me.

2) StreetEasy: There are a lot of real estate sites out there, but for New York City, StreetEasy seemed to have the most comprehensive information about apartment listings presented in the most navigable format. The blog Curbed also came in handy when digging up dirt on buildings, especially a few new construction units we considered.

3) Google Maps: It’s even better now for New Yorkers with subway directions. Before it launched, I’d often turn to HopStop to figure out how to get to the various listings.

4) Delicious: What was the name of that moving company I used a couple years ago? Where did I buy boxes? I often think of Delicious as my second brain, the more organized one with fewer memory leaks. I posted some real estate-related sites in my public bookmarks, while I hid other links, such as for specific apartment listings.

5) Citimove: I’ve used this reverse auction site for several consecutive moves. You list what you have to move and get bids for your job, only disclosing your contact information when you’re ready. There are some checks for verified reviews to add to its trustworthiness.

6) Amazon: I’ve been doing a lot of product research for the move, from home office supplies to electronics upgrades. All searches included Amazon, as did a number of the purchases. Their reliability remains strong for delivering what they’re supposed to in a reasonable amount of time. They didn’t win all my business, though; I completed a couple of the larger transactions elsewhere.

7) CNET Reviews: Every time I searched for an electronics product, I wound up on CNET. It wasn’t always intentional; sometimes I’d use a search engine to find product reviews and CNET would rank prominently in the natural results. CNET helped me rethink which flat-screen TV to buy, and it recommended other products like speakers that I had no plans on buying.

8) Google Product Search: Google managed to be Amazon’s biggest competitor for my new-home shopping. The thousands of reviews of merchants added enough of a degree of trustworthiness so that it was more feasible to explore alternatives to the Amazon default. I also gravitated toward merchants that accepted Google Checkout, which I used more in the past two months than I ever have just so I didn’t have to register with a seller for a one-time small-ticket purchase.

9) Crate and Barrel: The on-site search engine here got enough use that it helped turn our apartment into a satellite showroom.

10) MenuPages: The most important question a New Yorker faces when moving is figuring out where to eat (what’s the point of living here if you’re more than a few blocks from a good bagel, pizza, or sushi source?). Where I moved, an area affectionately dubbed Curry Hill for its abundance of Indian restaurants, is one of those neighborhoods that suffers from too many options rather than too few, so MenuPages helps narrow the field.

All of these engines competed with one other major source: word of mouth. It was word of mouth that led us to our real estate lawyer and mortgage broker. Word of mouth also won out for specialized purchases such as a folding bicycle. Search engines still won the day overall, though, beating out word-of-mouth recommendations for a real estate broker, moving company, and television.

But everything was interconnected. We found the real estate broker on LinkedIn who introduced us to the lawyer, and the lawyer referred us to the mortgage broker. None of it happened in a vacuum. Right, vacuum… one more thing I need to buy, which I’ll have to search for — unless you have any good recommendations.

SE Submission

2009-03-17T00:38:00.000-07:00

According to Wikipedia - A phase is one part or portion in recurring or serial activities or occurrences logically connected within a greater process, often resulting in an output or a change. Hence, in this instance we refer to the Phases of SEO.

With so many posts online vague touting the practice of SEO, what better time to lay the foundation from a tactical point of view about the subject. What follows are the Phases of SEO and how to apply them strategically for optimal search engine visibility.

Phase I - Pick a topic: this is the most crucial phase, the more relevant the content on your site is based on semantic topics the higher your pages will rank collectively.

Just think of the buddy system, as soon as one page cracks the top 10 results for Google for a specific keyword, based on how you link to yourself you can pull other keywords into the spotlight.

Phase II - Strategically Develop Content: Creating a wealth of information on a topic is a bonafide long-term SEO Strategy. Granted this method is not applicable for every site, however, once your site hits a specific benchmark as far as size is concerned and the content is grammatically correct and well written, then the reputation of quality and website authority is developed over time which is all you need to outrank 90% of the competition.

Most seasoned authority sites that rank across several thousand keyword combinations are websites that have two prominent things, age and thousands of pages (both provide link equity to the main domain).

The first noticeable stage is when a site has 200-300 pages, the first signs are typically increased spidering activity and discovery time for fresh content. What this means is, the less time you have to wait for your changes to impact the search engines result pages.

Less time waiting in line to get in the index translates to content and link building velocity, which leads to the next step. The next benchmark happens around 600 pages, 1000 and so on.

Phase III - Internal Link Building: Just think Wikipedia for one moment to grasp the depth of this SEO model. The site reeks of authority on virtually every topic ever known to man, yet the simplicity of the site architecture and linking makes topical relevance seem like second nature. This is a pure content development strategy.

There is something to learn about not trying to cover too many topics in one area or on one page, however there are no quandaries about creating more pages to accommodate additional topics.

The missing ingredient is trust and time, which when developed, provide the expression for those solid internal links (if have a page about green widgets, then link to it from any other page that mentions widgets in the site) this will create a virtual theme on the subject.

By reinforcing topical relevance through methods such as these, you can cut your reliance on other sites to a minimum as your own site gains the ability to promote itself to search engines.

Just think of it like a good friend who may not need the third party referral as trust is developed when search engines become more familiar with your topic and allow your pages to cut to the front of the line.

The higher you rank above the fold (on the page without having to scroll) the more traffic clicks your results in search engines, so the real value of adding copious amounts of content through new pages with relevant titles (like a shopping cart, blog posts or articles) strategically over time, the higher your site will rank for the terms in the title tag as well as the content on those pages, so get cracking.

Stay Tuned for The Phases of SEO Part II series when we cover (1) time and chronology and how it impacts Page Rank and Trust Rank (2) which keywords are worth it and why (3) how to externally link to your posts for optimal results and (4) what indicators to look for as your site starts to sprout rankings from keyword stemming as well as other fundamental SEO principals…

SE Positioning

2009-03-17T00:37:00.000-07:00

Sometimes another form of language and imagery is required in order to communicate vast ideas for common consumption. This is one of such instances where an array of algorithmic functions will be given a conceptual vehicle to map their role in the creation of a top 10 ranking.

Since the concept of the universe is a great model, we will borrow concepts originating from planetary forces ranging to universal phenomenon like gravity, orbits, the concept of the internet being a giant nebula of computers sharing virtual space and employing data retrieval, etc. Bear in mind, this is only an interpretation.

If you can visualize your website as a dot and each keyword as its own orbiting sphere of concentric influence, you have to create a series of eventful transactions (like creating content over time, building links, having a supportive format for internal linking) that classify and elevate your website as a candidate for relevance within the center of the sphere of influence for that keyword.

By viewing each keyword as a cumulative objective (like peeling away the layers of an onion) once you reach the center, your site radiates a beacon in all directions whenever a broad match or more general search is conducted with those keywords as search queries.

When you first start a website, since the site is empty your relevance is also at zero. As you continue to add content to your site (like filling up a glass with liquid) the site begins to take on a particular persona based upon what content is contained within the site.

As a result, your site creates its own orbit and gravitational pull where the content and subjects traversed within the context of your pages become beacons that attract similar orbiting keywords, concepts and semantic variations.

The analogies presented are to elaborate on the function of search engine algorithms which essentially consolidate each site into a type of conical tube that best describes the subject matter it contains. Then based on the vacuum created when someone actually invokes those qualities (through a linear search) the search bridges the gap and projects through all of the other spheres of influence (from the web) to extract the most relevant pieces of data and reformats them for communication via retrieval.

In order to appear as the most relevant result, your site must have enough supporting relevance from external clusters (others sites) that also contain the same type of data cloud (a collective summary of the sites content) which can change forms (like a liquid to a gas, a gas to a solid) and act as a homing signal to create continuity between its own orbit (on the micro level) and serve as a piece of the puzzle for the main theme in the index (as a part of the whole like a planet in the solar system, which belongs to a galaxy, etc.).

The Job of search engines is to be able to index, retrieve and create order from all of the orbits created from each websites signature as it occupies the cloud of online space (data shared across multiple servers), gauge a metric and then determine the usefulness of the metric and how it applies to a query (which like a vacuum) is seeking the most relevant result.

Just think of a search as pure potential that does not exist until executed, then on assembly its purpose is to seek out the most likely orbit (website) using the nebulous data cloud (the web) to bridge the gap using a vacuum that through traversing aggregate links and other sites (through assessing their relevance score) until it finds the most suitable supporting environment.

If you can use this visual map as a blueprint, then you understand that rankings are all a result of how strong the broadcast signal is, signal strength in this capacity is based on relevance, continuity and popularity. In order to produce a ranking of such magnitude (such as a competitive keyword) you must move from the outermost bounds of the keywords sphere of influence, into its center to attain the top ranking result.

The stages involved are research, planning, execution, testing, refinement, collaboration and strategy.

If any of the steps are excluded in does not mean you still cannot create top 10 placement for your website, it is just that if reproducing the phenomenon is important to you, then understanding the proper chronology and strategy behind the tactics should concern you. For example, topical relevance, site synergy / persona, authority and orderliness all impact placement for your website.

1) Research - You need to research the appropriate keywords to develop the appropriate gravity in your own site to attract the search engines crawlers (who index the content and include the site approximation of relevance score).

2) Planning - After finding your semantic base, create topical fields of information (multiple keyword-rich pages) within the site (using a content management system) or supporting site architecture.If search engines cannot retrieve the data (based on crawling errors from bots, poor site architecture or otherwise) then you is automatically excluded from participating with other forms of life contained in digital space (the web).

3) Execution - Build links, either through internal linking (if you have an authority site that is enough) or through external links from other sites (data clusters with relevance) that have similar signatures containing the topical relevance shared by your own site.

The closer the relevance between things like (a) is the site from the same industry or niche (b) is there related content between the sites (c) what keywords are used to link to and from the two sites (the vacuum) and (d) where each site resides in the overall relevance model for each of the overlapping keywords they both share, gives the target site the opportunity to receive a jolt of authority through osmosis and synergistic infusion. The bottom line is the quality of the links, but topical relevance also add even more weight to the orbit of the site receiving the link from an external site.

4) Testing - Test the results, ping the site from using a beacon in the nebula, use a search engine to determine how close to the center of the keywords your site has become. If you targeted 10 keywords for example and dedicated an ample amount of time, effort and energy to build a coherent series of pages on the site, created strong internal linking and then found at least 5 sources for links to each page (with a wide array of IP diversity) in other words not from the same series of sites, then you should have created enough orbital relevance as well as made a strong impression on the ethers in the data cloud (your sites algorithmic counterpart) to appear as a relevant result.

5) Refinement - If your website did not make the grade (is not ranking yet) then you can always (1) wait for all of the factors to settle a bit more and then re-evaluate the keyword saturation (2) build more content and shore up your main subject or subjects or (3) look for other sites with authority that can augment your sites reputation online (in the nebulous data cloud known as the web).

6) Collaboration - Moving a website closer to the center of a series of keywords requires understanding. You need to know that each time you add a page or a link it changes (1) the sites internal topical relevance and orbit / signature and (2) how other sites and keywords within the web react to it based on the search engines algorithm. The translation here is, by viewing each keyword as a cumulative apex, you can set in motion a series of events to create a chain reaction to close the gap for those keywords.

More competitive phrases may take many months to a year or more, other phrases in the nebula (the web) may only take a few hours or a few days at best to acquire. The point being, your websites orbit is entirely up to you, how others link to it and the collective blueprint it leaves on its environment in the nebula however is another part of the equation that you have to sculpt over time through releasing consistent information on a topic to reinforce the basis of its existence.

7) Strategy - the strategy is simple, rank for as many keywords that either funnel relevant traffic to your site or overlap with a series of other keywords that have latent potential down the road. The web is all about multiple layers overlapping and linking through internalization and expression. These two dynamic attributes are responsible for moving from site to site or from page to page within a website. Depending on your ability to see beyond the immediate goal (which is to create relevance) the real goal is to create a hub where your site literally overlaps with thousands of keywords and then refines each branch to delve deep into the long-tail as well as hit the high notes with the most sought after two word phrases as well.

By using the concepts such as topical relevance, gravity, orbit, continuity, the query-based vacuum, the nebulous data cloud and information retrieval in a way that anyone can understand, creating a systemic method for creating relevance is a by product which means multiple top 10 rankings to claim as trophies that increase website traffic.

SE Optimization

2009-03-17T00:36:00.000-07:00

Every business owner is on a look out for cost effective way to market their business. Especially with the recent recession where survival depends on tightening the belt and getting lean, online marketing is an option nobody can afford to ignore. The benefit from search engine marketing (SEM) has taken the marketing world by storm as the results are more accountable and also more cost effective compared to traditional marketing strategies.

But the conflict begins when as a business owner there is confusion regarding what you expected out of a search engine optimization campaign and what is actually being delivered by the SEO pro. When expectations get unreasonable, it is difficult to manage the SEO campaign and it’s doomed to fail.

On the other side of the fence, SEO pro might be desperate to close more number of deals and thus misses to explain their clients the “results” that should be expected out of the campaign. This could lead disillusionment and a false notion that SEO is not working for their business. Do remember that “SEO is effective and beneficial for any business searching to promote their presence online” but there is no way to guarantee sales lead. SEO targets to drive highly targeted web traffic that are on a look out for your services or products, but again a lot of things need to be taken care of, before a visitor gets converted into a final lead, namely, the site itself which should not be a turn-off for visitors, display of proper information, easy navigation to contact information or inquiry form, service/product pricing, your company credibility in market, industry competition, etc.

What can you expect from your SEO pro?

Well to answer this in simple terms, you need to closely look into your SEO contract. Study, analyze and understand what the dotted lines tell you. Does the contract merely list down the services that will be provided by the SEO pro during fixed time frame or does it also includes what results will be delivered by the SEO campaign.

SEO provides the following 4 deliverables which can be numerically measured:

1. Search Engine Rankings
2. Web Traffic
3. Conversions
4. Return on Investment (ROI)

You can expect any one or combination of any of the above results, depending on your ultimate business requirements and what you are trying to promote online.

Let’s take each of the above deliverables in more detail to clear doubts:

Search Engine Rankings:

This tops the list of results expected by clients undertaking SEO campaign. Please understand that rankings on search engine crawlers like Google, Yahoo, Ask, AOL etc can never be guaranteed or controlled. This is dependent on the particular search engines own search algorithm and calculations for crawling. But generally clients still demand top rankings. But do they know what particular rankings in particular?

What’s the use if you do get top rankings in certain keywords, but they do not generate traffic? At the same time you should not expect instant top rankings for highly competitive phrases and keywords. The truth is even moderate competitive keywords can be a real challenge, if your site is brand new. Always remember rankings take time and constant efforts to build up. The only way to measure results is to constantly check the progress. A gradual positive pattern on chosen keywords shows that the SEO campaign is working.

As a client you can NEVER expect a specific keyword to always rank well. Rankings fluctuate unexpectedly and even dip to extreme extent. An experienced SEO pro will keep a constant eye over those movements and try to find the cause and immediately undertake damage control to rectify the situation. It is important to place your trust and give the SEO pro time to do their job.

Web Traffic:

Web Traffic is the number of visitors that are driven either to your website, an e-commerce portal, blog or a reference site.

Once the SEO campaign kicks off, one of the desirable results clients expects is an increase in traffic which is reasonable, but should not be heavily relied upon since it is possible to manipulate traffic to a site with unethical short cuts. The question is not whether the traffic is increasing but whether SEO manages to bring the right kind of traffic to your site. Planned SEO can only begin only after you define who the target audience is to your SEO vendor, so that the SEO pro does not wastes time shooting in the dark aiming anyone and everyone.

The role of traffic should be downplayed, if you belong to a niche industry where the keyword search volume is naturally low. You should expect some improvement but make sure your expectation of traffic coincides with search volume of your main keywords.

Also if you already enjoy significantly heavy traffic, then the focus should shift from traffic to conversion rates and that means driving the right traffic that are ready to buy what you are selling.

Conversions:

People have a tendency to get mesmerized with number crunching and web analytic statistics regarding what exactly is conversion rate. A generally accepted formula to calculate your conversion rate is as follows:

Conversion Rate = [(Total Web Sales / Unique Web Traffic) / Average Sales Price] x 100

It simply means you need to understand the trick is not where you appear on a search engine or even how many unique visitors you attract to your site, but rather how many of these visitors you convert into customers. Visitors turning into customers are conversion rate. But an SEO pro can only do so much; the actual closing of deal depends entirely on you.

An SEO pro can help by making recommendations, suggesting specific improvements to the site’s architectural structure, etc, but when it comes right down to it, they are not the ones running the business. They can help put everything into alignment, but the client is still responsible for their side of things. This is the reason why no legitimate SEO company can guarantee conversion rate and will not include conversion rate in their SEO contract, since the control to convert traffic to customer depends on you.

ROI:

Last but not the least, every SEO campaign begins with the objective to improve your bottom line. It not just about getting the top 5 or 10 ranks or if you can get ‘X’ amount of visitors to your site. What ultimately matters is whether the amount you invest in SEO campaign is giving you more than you spend. It needs to be profitable. Just like when you make financial investments with hope of earning better returns, the same is the case with SEO. The key here is to remember that instant return on investment is not possible. As a client you need to wait for the fruits to ripe. If you get too impatient and pull out; you might drain all the benefits that might have been in the pipeline. This is the reason that SEO is not a one day job or one week or even one month activity. At the very minimum it is advisable to wait for at least 90 days before expecting improvements. Sometimes it can take 6 months or even a year depending on keywords, competition and industry etc.

The above 4 are the main deliverables expected from search engine optimization program. Focus on which deliverables are important for your marketing goals based on your budget and time availability. Ensure to always keep your feet firmly rooted to ground and your expectations realistic. Hire a SEO pro and actively participate in drafting a formal SEO contract which clearly outlines and defines expectations and services to avoid misunderstandings later on. Build a positive rapport with your SEO pro and ensure you do not ignore the recommendations provided by vendor to improve your site. Remember it’s your site and SEO pro is dependent on your complete support to succeed with the SEO campaign.

This does not mean SEO pro can shirk their responsibilities. If the work that goes into the campaign isn’t performing as per your expectations then move on and find another SEO pro who can produce reasonable results you expect (contract permitting and right amount of time frame being given to produce results).

RSS

2009-03-17T00:35:00.001-07:00

Creating a feed is not enough - not if you want people to read it. You need to let people know that your feed exists and try to get them to subscribe to it. Promoting a feed is similar to promoting a Web site or an e-mail newsletter. You have to work at it a bit. Luckily, some easy-to-use tools are available to help you, and im going to show you each, and how to use them effectively.

Registering Your Feed with Directories

The number one way to let people - those outside your usual range of contacts - know that you have a feed is to register it with as many directories as possible. This concept is similar to registering your Web site with Web-site directories such as Yahoo!

Of course, you should also promote your Web site content itself. When you get people to your Web site, if they like the content, they may look for your feed so that they can keep up to date on any changes that appear on your site. Check out this article for more tips on promoting your website/feed. Online Marketing Techniques.

RSS is a relatively new technology that’s causing a lot of excitement, and many people want to get in on the act - so they start directory sites.

Some sites hope that you’ll come for the free feeds and stay to buy customized, specialized feeds or other RSS-related services.

So, you need to do the legwork and register with as many directories as you can. To get you going, checkout Kevins article, a post where he has listed the best and most valuable sites and directories to submit your blog/rss feed too.

If your feed is based on a blog, you can still register at all the RSS directories, but you should also register at blog directories. Blogging is a whole world onto itself. In fact, more blog directories exist than RSS directories. Do a Web search using the keywords blog and directory, and you’ll find what seems like millions of listings.

To reach those who aren’t as RSS savvy or as motivated to find feeds, read on, as we look at other ways to promote your feed.

Linking to Your Feed

Of course, when people do find your site, you want your website visitors to subscribe to your feed, so you need to put an RSS or XML button on your site. I recommend you stick with the universally known orange rss button.

Add a hyperlink to the button, linking to your RSS feed’s file. To add a hyperlink to a button, select the button, and use your web creation software’s hyperlink command. In the HTML code, the result looks something like the following:

Now visitors can easily subscribe to your feed.

You need to make clear what the RSS feed is about. If you have a page that includes many different types of content, label the RSS button with the name of your feed. If you have a place on your site for visitors to sign up for an e-mail newsletter, that’s a good place to put your RSS link. Then people can choose which way they want to receive information from you.

Getting Auto-Discovered

Some RSS readers can automatically find RSS feeds on a Web page. This feature is called auto-discovery.

You can ensure that this auto-discovery works by using the link HTML tag and the code on any web page that contains an RSS feed. You place this code in the head section of your page, which means between the and tags. Here’s the code:

You can put anything you want for the title attribute, but it should relate to your feed, because some browsers display this text. If you have more than one feed on a page, create a separate link tag for each feed, giving each one a different title.

For an Atom feed, the type should be “application/atom+xml”.

Explaining Just What RSS Is

Let’s face it - not everyone knows what RSS is yet. Unless your clientele is very geeky, you need to explain it to them. Most sites don’t, but some do.

When explaining RSS, keep your explanation simple and appropriate for your audience. You don’t really need to explain the technology, just what it means for them and how they can subscribe. If you want, recommend some RSS readers to make the process painless or refer them to a browser-based reader.

Helpful text next to the RSS button can say something like “Subscribe to My RSS Feed on Widget Technology.” Here are just a few phrases that you could use:

* Get regular updates about widget technology
* Keep informed about widget technology
* Don’t miss the latest news about widget technology!

More people are finding out about RSS every day, so even if they don’t sign up right away, they may the next time they visit. Having an RSS feed shows that you’re “with it.” The implication is that if you are up to date enough to have a feed, you’re similarly up to date in your field - and that’s what your visitors want.

So evangelize a little, strut your stuff, and brag about being on the RSS bandwagon.

Telling Others All about Your Feed

To market your Web site, you do more than just register it and hope that people come. You probably proactively tell people about your site in many ways. Web-site marketing is a huge field.

Some common ways to market a Web site also apply to marketing your RSS feed. These methods are:

* Cross-link with other sites: Ask sites that link to you to add a phrase about your RSS feed. Using the phrase “RSS news feed available” may be enough.
* Send out press releases: Because RSS is new, you can send out press releases about your news feed. That’s right; the feed is news in itself.

Tip: When marketing your website or RSS feed, be sure to avoid the most common Internet Marketing Mistakes

RSS feed links in your e-mail signature

A signature is text that automatically appears at the bottom of every e-mail you send. Almost all e-mail programs let you create a signature. You can often add links to this text. Your Web-site URL should be there. Why not a link to your RSS feed as well? Think of it as an RSS button in every e-mail!

Writing articles for other sites

A great way to get links to your site is to write articles for newsletters and sites that cover your field. The way others pay you is to link to your site. You probably don’t want to substitute a link to your RSS feed for the link to your site (but then again, you may). However, other sites can also give you a byline. You can mention your RSS feed in the byline or perhaps even in your article.

Telling everyone you know

“Hey! Guess what? I have an RSS feed! Pass it on.” Wherever you go - conferences, business meetings, and so on - or whomever you talk to - friends, colleagues, and customers; let them know about your new RSS feed. They’ll probably say, “What’s an RSS feed?” and you can tell them all about it. It’s a great way to break the ice at a party.

Tip: Why not put the URL for your feed on your business card, stationery, or brochure?

Keeping Your E-mail Newsletter

If you have a successful e-mail newsletter, I don’t recommend giving it up. E-mail is still the way that most people get their news. But you should definitely mention your RSS feed in your newsletter as an alternative way to get the same information, with a link to your site’s explanation about RSS.

You can - and should - update your RSS feed when you update your Web site. If your newsletter is monthly, for example, and covers updates on your site throughout the previous month, people who subscribe to your RSS feed receive the news before your newsletter subscribers. You can plug this advantage to your readers. One of the major advantages of RSS is to notify your readers of changes as soon as they happen. By comparison, an e-mail newsletter is old news by the time you get it published.

Branding Your Feed

You probably hired a Web designer to make your Web site look beautiful, if you’re not a designer yourself. You carefully use your logo on your site, your letterhead, your PowerPoint presentations, and all your publicity materials. Why not brand your RSS feed as well?

You can probably think of more ways to publicize your feed. Remember that publicizing your feed also publicizes your website and your business. If you know of any more please feel free to comment or leave your feedback.

Marketing

2009-03-17T00:34:00.000-07:00

Looking to jump start your web marketing efforts this year? If so, you’re in good company. Many small businesses are looking to improve their marketing activities to help boost sales in a time of economic uncertainty. If your small business could use some marketing inspiration, here are eight things you can do to be more effective with your marketing and promoting your business in 2009.

1. DO SOMETHING each month, or at least each quarter
Now is not the time to cut back on your marketing efforts; instead, ramp up as much as possible to make sure customers don’t forget about you, and that competitors don’t gain any ground. Do at least one thing each month, whether it’s updating your web site, sending out a press release, or monitoring your positions in the search engines. If you just don’t have the time or resources to do something each month, make sure you do something at least quarterly.

2. Start an e-newsletter
By sending out a weekly or monthly e-newsletter, you can keep your company name and message in front of your customers and prospects, which helps build your brand, trigger additional purchases, and drive new sales. It’s also a great way to stay in touch with your customers and keep them updated about special offers, company news, or new products and services. E-newsletters are inexpensive to create and send, and they make it possible to reach ALL of your customers and prospects regularly, not just the ones who happen to walk through your door or give you a call.

3. Update your web site
It is critical that you don’t allow your small business web site to just sit there untouched, getting more stale and outdated by the minute. Users today expect fresh content, current technology features, and interactivity that comes from staying on top of current trends and staying a step ahead of your competition. Be sure to add your latest press releases, e-newsletter content, and upcoming events to your site, and consider adding user-friendly features like widgets or product reviews. Keeping your site up to date can help your business attract more new leads, improve your search engine rankings, and increase your sales and bottom line.

4. Get social
Social networking is truly changing the way we use the web, and you are going to need to know at least the basics about this new trend. Sites like LinkedIn and Facebook; Technorati and de.licio.us; and blogs and micro blogs (like Twitter) are all designed to make it easy to connect with others through social interaction on the web, and they can be useful in marketing your business, too! With a little effort, social networking can lead to increased organic, natural traffic and better search engine rankings for your web site.

5. Get a blog/ participate in a blog
If you don’t already have a blog on your web site, you really need to consider adding one. Blogs are great for attracting search engine spiders, since they are updated often and contain lots of great content for the spiders to index. Blogs are also one of the most basic interactive features you can add to your web site, and are extremely popular with users. Even if you do have a blog (and especially if you don’t), it’s important to visit other blogs in your industry and start participating in the conversation. Leave comments and feedback, and always include a link back to your blog (or web site) in your signature. The most important thing to remember when commenting on other blogs, however, is to add something useful, and don’t self-promote or advertise your business on someone else’s blog.

6. Use landing pages with your email marketing campaigns
Email marketing is one of the most cost-effective strategies that small businesses have today, but you need to use specific landing pages for each campaign that you send. It’s tempting to use a call to action that says “visit our site at www-dot-whatever-dot-com”, but sending recipients to your home page is not the most effective way to convert sales. Instead, create specific landing pages that contain the following:

* A re-statement of the offer and/or subject line of the email campaign - let them know they have landed in the right place
* Specific marketing copy and a “pitch”
* Product information and/or testimonials
* Simple, uncluttered content with no unnecessary elements - use only what’s needed to convert the customer
* A simple, clear call to action - make it as easy as possible for your prospects to respond to your offer; you can always collect more details later

7. Offer something for free
Nothing motivates users more than getting something for free! Don’t be afraid to offer them a product sample, a free trial, or something of value like a whitepaper or e-book. Offering a free gift with every purchase or using limited-time offers are also effective ways to motivate customers to make purchases and do business with you.

8. Become more visible
One of the most effective ways to promote your business is to become more visible. Increase your visibility online, at community and networking events, and in the press. Don’t give in to the temptation of hiding your head in the sand until the economy turns around; instead, get out there in every way you can think of. Use email marketing and your web site to your advantage, offer to speak at industry or Chamber events, send out regular press releases, volunteer at community events, write articles in your area of expertise, and attend every networking event that you can. The more your business can be seen and heard, the more exposure you gain, and the more your customers and future customers will remember you!

Linking Strategies

2009-03-17T00:33:00.000-07:00

Despite there being over 200 parameters taken into account by search engines when ranking sites, one of the most popular facets of search engine optimisation (or SEO) continues to be linking.

However, this article isn’t about non-spammy content, it is about non-spammy linking strategies. Yes, although linking has fast become an industry whereby directories have popped up everywhere and links are put in footers, headers, background color, or a myriad of other disguised ways, there is still a non-spammy way to do links. Whats more, my history shows that this way works better for your ranking over the long term as well.

Before we get started, a very brief introduction for those newly initiated into the world of SEO. The bottom line is this - Google will recommend your site, if others recommend it first. This means, to get high rankings in Google, Google needs to know that others find your site useful. How does a search spider know what people think about your site? Links. If people are linking through to your site, the Google spider will think your site is well liked. If relevant sites are linking through to you, this is even better, because Google will consider you to be an authority on this topic.

So, how do you go about getting the nice mix of links that Google might consider appropriate? Well, you can just dive in and submit your site everywhere you can think of. Or you can take the longer, more well thought-out way around…

1. Before you even start - look at who your client is. What is and isn’t going to be effective for them? Where and where wouldn’t they want to be seen? You need to know exactly what the limitations of your link building strategy are going to be. For example, if you have a government body as a client, you are going to have to think VERY conservatively. Similarly for national brands or straightlace industries like insurance. On the other hand, start ups, media and online retail might be more willing to take risks. You need to note all this down, and make a memo of what kind of strategy you will be following. This is particularly important if you are sharing this client work with others.
2. Similar to point 1, point 2 is about relevancy. you don’t want to damage your brand image for some basically worthless links, so make sure all your links are on topic in some way. Its best for your SEO and it is best for your brand. The effect of directory links seems to be negligible these days, so you might want to consider if this is worth your time. In content links however are much more valuable.
3. Assigning the work. Link building is often assigned to junior staff, or as a starting task. Now, sure, it might seem like brainless work - but if your junior gets an irrelevant or inappropriate link for your client, and your client or a competitor sees it, you will have a lot of explaining to do. Make sure that the person doing your links has some experience or good training, and most importantly, that they have read your client memo.
4. Now, in the interests of corporate knowledge and continuity, it is also recommended that you keep good records of every link you do for your client. No, not so you can copy this strategy for the next client (see point 1.- client suitability!), but so that you can go back and see what has worked and what hasn’t. Going hand in hand with this is the obvious monitoring of rankings to see how your efforts are affecting them.
5. Step 4 will help you with step 5. Evolution. You can’t just get links and then stop. You need to constantly increase, improve and diversify your sources of links. This takes creativity and experience, and is yet ANOTHER reason why the most junior people in your organisation shouldn’t always be given linking to do. As part of evolution you need to monitor your progress, learn more about your client and keep up with their latest developments (look for linking opportunities), and also keep on top of general SEO industry developments.

This is the general overview of how a linking strategy should be undertaken. Sure it is a lot more complicated than just submitting your site to link farms, or sending out a mass email, but SEO is about having the edge over your competitor, and these steps will help you get there. Website Marketing is an increasingly popular and competitive form of marketing, you need to make sure you are keeping up with the Jones’s not just looking for the fast or easy route.

If this advice is too vague for you, here are some more specific do’s and don’ts:

Do use relevent anchor text, which helps Google to know what exactly it is you are an expert about.Don’t use ‘click here’ as your link - ever! * Don’t forget to check if a site you are trying to link from is nofollow’ed * Do try to diversify your links - 100 links from one site isn’t the same as 100 different links * Don’t use irrelevant links - Google can spot this a mile off, and may penalise you. Also, it just doesn’t look good if you want to retain some dignity for your brand * Do try and generate buzz with good content so that links will come to you naturally * Don’t undertake any paid links without thinking very very carefully about the implications * Do contribute valuable content/comments/reviews to other sites, with relevant links embedded * Don’t try and contribute spammy content with embedded links that aren’t relevant. Your content will either get blocked, or Google will devalue the links. * Do think laterally - always be on the look out for good, relevant, linking opportunities. There are opportunities out there if you remember to keep thinking, developing and diversifying.

Google

2009-03-17T00:32:00.001-07:00

The underlying premise of SEO suggests that you understand the task at hand when it comes to outranking the other 999 entrants for any given keyword.

Google stops indexing a particular keyword after 1000 results when assessing the aggregate relevance score to determine which results are spawned. By truly understanding this, you can discover a great deal from using a few basic Google search operators to determine what type of foothold a competitor has for a given keyword or niche.

Basic Competitive Analysis Metrics

1. Start with the keyword you are interested in researching. Place the keyword “in quotes” in a Google search box.

For example “SEO” returns 262,000,000 competing pages with the chronological order of the strongest sites first.

Then look to the right and determine the number of competing pages you are up against “for that keyword”. It will say results 1 of 10 of (the number of competing pages).

This allows you to assess the competitive landscape with one brief metric. The extent of what you consider a competitive keywords depends on the website. For example, most websites can acquire a keyword under 50,000 competing pages with ease and competitive keywords start above 100,000 results and ascend into the millions (pages in index / divided by the top 1000 results).

The next few metrics will allow you to understand where your SEO ceiling is (what threshold your website has for keyword benchmarks). Our blog for example can devour a keyword with up to 1,000,000 competing pages just from one post of mentioning those keywords (without backlinks).

So, all the talk about building website authority does have a place when you understand the implications to rank with less effort. Authority sites have the ability to zero in on a keyword and skip over hundreds of other websites and reach the top 10 results by the merit of trust and internal link weight and dynamism they possess. In keeping with the topic at hand, let’s move to the next metric.

2. Evaluate your competitors domain and determine the amount of pages they have by using this search command in Google. You can use the #1 site and the #10 site to gauge an average of pages required to capture the keyword or, if you want you can use the #1st, 2nd and 3rd site that rank for the selected keyword to see which formulas they are entrenched in.

site:competitorsite.com (this shows you how many pages they have indexed in Google)

3. Next, determine how saturated their website is with the keyword in question.

site:competitorsite.com keyword

This shows you how many pages are indexed that include the keyword within their website. If the site in the top 10 is an authority domain, it can rank from one keyword alone in the title tag, description tag or having the keyword in the body text (or any combination of these three metrics).

While most websites do not have that luxury, often dozens or hundreds of pages are required to cross the tipping point of co-occurrence for that keyword within the website and acquire a top ranking. However each keyword has a threshold which is going to vary depending on the unique metrics of each website (which is why you need to look at more than one site for evaluation).

4. Now that you know that your competitors site contains Y amount of pages and X amount of those pages are dedicated to a specific keyword.

You can go the the most relevant listing returned from their site and look at the off page factors (which means finding out how many backlinks are linking to that page). To do so, use Yahoo Site Explorer and type the specific URL in and look at the inlinks tab to see how many pages are linking to that page.

For example, if the homepage is returned as the top ranking result for the keyword using the competitorsite.com keyword search command, ignore it and look for an actual page that has a title, or relevant shingle with the keyword (in the title, URL or description).

If they targeted a keyword using a broad match method (which means it was not necessarily the objective, but their site acquired the ranking based on ambient factors, then you will only see a sparse mention of the keyword). The point being, the homepage is a catch all and will not provide you with the same amount of depth when attempting to data mine deep links from your competitors.

The idea is, you want to know (a) how many pages they have indexed (b) how many pages contain the keyword (c) how many deep links (how many links just to that page) the top ranking page has (from outside the site) as well as (d) how well the site in internally linked (for that keyword).

We can determine criteria a-c with simple search commands, and you can also determine if the site is treated as an authority based on the keywords that appear in bold when using the site: command, websites start transforming into authority sites through topical relevance after 200-300 pages are developed around a topic (if they are linked and optimized properly).

5. Crunch the numbers and assess the competitive landscape of the keyword in question.

For example, if you know that the top 3 sites all have an average of 1000 pages and out of those 1000 pages 50% or more of them contain the keyword in question and your site has 20 pages, then you are not being realistic with your ranking objectives.

I am not suggesting to go add 1000 pages overnight (as that would not be natural) but rather, start chipping away at the keyword using a variety of SEO tactics.

6. Check the allintitle, allintext and allinanchor thesholds for the selected competitors sites. This means finding where they rank in Google (in the top 1000 results before the results get obscured / redundant) using the following search operators.

allintitle:keyword (who has the highest occurrence of keyword in title)
allintext:keyword (who has the highest occurrence of keyword in their body text)
allinanchor:keyword (who has the highest occurrence of anchor text / links with this keyword)

Using Google again, you can look at the competitors on page and off page metrics, instead of breaking them out individually, you can just use NicheWatch instead, or our Ultimate SEO Toolkit, to perform this function.

The Conclusion

SEO is only limited by your imagination when it comes to determining the extent of how you use tactics for discovery and analysis. We covered a few simple metrics using Google search operators above that allow you to isolate co-occurrence and determine the global keyword density for a site.

This does provide a preliminary analysis to at least let you know what your up against (qualifying a competitor or your own domain to a keyword). If you reverse engineer the averages, you can find the tipping point for essentially any keyword and craft a plan of action to acquire it.

For example 1000 pages indexed, 900 have the keyword in exact match and the main landing page has 50 inbound links from Page Rank 4 pages. Now you have a threshold to exceed. Although this is a preliminary method, sometimes looking at basic metrics such as these can provide an immense amount of insight and determine the next competitive threshold you target for analysis.

Ecommerce

2009-03-17T00:31:00.000-07:00

Choosing shopping cart software can turn into a tough job due to the large number of e-commerce solutions available on the market. Overall, it’s almost impossible to say which product is the best one since their feature richness, pricing, flexibility and the range of extra services vary to a great extent.

Therefore, buying the right product which fits into your goals can save a lot of time and effort, while a mistake may turn into extra costs, additional months of work or even cause starting the whole project from scratch.

There are several key factors which should be considered while picking the right solution. In this article, I’ll try to outline the most important steps that definitely should not be missed. The tactics described below may be varied according to your goals, however, following this advice will be useful in the decision-making process as a whole.
Key groups of factors
Who you are

In my opinion, the first thing you should ask is the role he’s going to play in the online store functioning process. The key factor of this role (at least for small and medium businesses) is the level of a person’s technical knowledge.

In most cases, technology is an issue for store owners, managers and administrators. Since each store needs its own unique design, functionality and storefront design along with the initial setup and server administration, you should clearly understand how these services could be purchased and what the manufacturer has to offer. Another important issue for this target group is the ease of administration and usage of basic functions.

Another group of users are web developers and designers who are technically skilled and usually maintain the store by themselves or develop e-commerce solutions for their clients (which usually involves complex code changes and development of extra functionality). For these people, the most important factors are: the quality of code, the ease of customization and add-ons implementation and flexibility of storefront design.
Types of shopping carts

All shopping cart solutions can be divided into two large groups: hosted and distributed.

Hosted carts are usually provided in the same manner as hosting services, which means that a customer has several predefined plans/packages (varying in number of products, monthly bandwidth, number of features, etc) to choose from. The pricing structure is also based on regular (monthly or yearly) fees. A hosting platform is provided directly from the manufacturer and the cart is usually activated without any actions needed from a client.

Hosted shopping carts are managed through the administration area which provides the interface to manage product catalog (add, remove items and edit their properties), define and change prices and so on. The storefront design can usually be altered by modifying templates, however, the access to the source code for hosted solutions is usually limited and it’s not always possible to modify the functionality.

Distributed solutions are sold at a fixed price (one-time fee for a lifetime license) as a software package which should installed on any compatible server chosen by a customer. After the initial setup, the store can also be managed using the administration area.

Usually such products come with source code and thus can be modified or extended to suit your needs. However, such modifications require good technical and programming knowledge (or working with those that have those skills).

Overall, hosted carts are often preferable for store owners as more easy to use and administer while web programmers, designers and developers mostly choose distributed solutions due to their flexibility.
Additional services

While most shopping cart features can often be used right out of the box, it’s important to note that in most cases online stores require some additional professional services.

For example, e-commerce software may come with a number of pre-installed design templates, but a serious store owner would usually have its own unique store look or integrating it’s existing design into the storefront. Also, since it’s impossible for an ecommerce product containing each and every possible feature or working the way which is totally suitable for everyone, a shopping cart manufacturer providing custom programming service is a good option in case you’re planning to implement some extended functionality.

Another option worth checking is whether it’s possible to get a fully-compatible hosting solution (since shopping carts usually have significant server-side requirements due to their complexity) and technical support (in case you need consultations or assistance in problem resolution).
Integration with external systems

Ecommerce software should not be treated as a standalone product, but rather as a solid ground for interaction between various components.

Not all operations are performed within the shopping cart engine. Most often, external services are used for payment processing, real-time shipping rates calculation, order processing systems, affiliate and statistics software, product directories and so on.

Thus, the richness of integration allows store owners to have a wider choice of services for their online business.
Technical support, forum & third-party solutions

Responsive technical support is another key factor which ensures that you’re not left alone with your problems and, in case the assistance is needed, you can be sure to receive a thoughtful response or a solution in a reasonable amount of time.

Support schemes from different companies may vary in type and costs. For shopping cart vendors, technical support is often on a pay-per-incident basis, or yearly/monthly flat-fee contract. Free technical support for ecommerce solutions is quite rare and may not always be effective or timely.

Forum activity is also a good indicator since it can be a good, free source of knowledge and assistance from experience software users.

In addition, it is advisable to check if third-party vendors offer modules or services related to a chosen e-commerce product to ensure that you will have a decent choice of extra solutions.
Tips and advice for research
Requirements

First of all, before proceeding with the actual product research, I’d advise that you collect the list of key features which are necessary for your upcoming online store. Such a checklist will allow you to ensure that all (or most) of them are present while examining features lists for chosen candidates.
Looking in search engines using relevant queries

Next, you may proceed with picking products for comparison. To find the most popular solutions, start searching in Google/Yahoo/MSN using relevant search phrases characterizing the product, like “shopping cart software”, “ecommerce solution”, “online store builder” etc.

For each query, pick products from top ten or top twenty search results. Visit their websites, compare product features and services presented there, pricing and any other information that you may consider relevant.
Looking for reviews and comments on forums and directories

For each product in your list, you would surely be interested to know what others have to say. In this case, independent sources provide valuable additions to official information from software vendors.

Most likely, product profiles along with customer reviews can be found on large script and software libraries like HotScripts, Freshmeat and Download.com. Also, check out some comparison sites, for example, Epinions and Shopping Cart Reviews. Also, you may search through archives or start a new thread with your questions at popular IT forums, like SitePoint or WebmasterWorld.
Contacting sales department with your questions

Finally, I’m sure that for your short list of solutions, some questions may still remain. This is a good reason to contact a vendor’s sales team to find out their responses. Do not hesitate to do it, since the quality of feedback and attention to you as a potential client is worth checking before you actually proceed with the purchase.
Conclusion

Choosing shopping cart software may not seem easy since it involves significant effort from a serious customer. However, the rewards for the effort is obvious: you get a product which fits into your goals and allows you to concentrate on sales and marketing without worrying about the technical side. Moreover, as a client, you get to know the software vendor before buying a product and ensure that the technical side can be handled without a problem. Good luck in your research!

Business

2009-03-17T00:30:00.001-07:00

The Internet is like a pie, and anyone who has put any content on the Internet owns a piece of it. Some companies own the majority of the Internet because their services are in such high demand. Most people own such a small fraction of the pie that their share is not even worth a penny. Where do you stand?

Whether you own a big chunk, or just a sliver, the truth does not change. The more high quality content you put out into the Internet equates to more ownership of the Internet. If you want more exposure and more people to know what you or your company is all about then you need to create a ton of fresh quality content. If you are pumping out content like a factory pumps out products you will start collecting visitors, and ultimately the more income you will make.

What are some ways you can create content and visitors to that content? Let’s dive right in.

1) Start your own website. Again, the more web pages you have on the Internet translates into owning more of the Internet. So the more web pages the better. Instead of trying to get your search engine optimization perfect with keywords and tags, try creating multiple pages with different variations. The websites that dominate the Internet have a mind boggling amount of pages. For example Social Networks like MySpace the users create the pages, all Myspace does is provides the service. If you can find a way for users to add content to your site for you then more power to you, otherwise always try to keep adding more content packed pages onto the Internet.

2)Start a blog. This is one of the easiest ways to start adding content to the Internet. One free blogging service is Blogger. Write on a regular basis to keep your content and site fresh. If your blog does not already do this automatically for you, make sure to use a service like Ping-o-matic to ping the search engines so that they know you have updated your site.

3)Dive into Social Media. Social Media sites are huge and can help you create and distribute content easily. Start using social bookmarking sites like Digg, StumbleUpon, and many others to bookmark and share your content with others. Use Twitter and Social Networking sites like Facebook and MySpace to create pages and connect with other marketers. Use Squidoo, HubPages, and others that help you create pages that get indexed into the search engines really well already.

4)Write Articles, E-books, etc. Like I’ve said many times, no matter who you are you are capable of writing content that other people will find valuable. Manually submit articles to article directories or get a service to do it for you. If you write an e-book or free report you can have people download it and that will attract more people to you.

An important note I’d like to make is this. Just creating a bunch of useless content will do you no good. It doesn’t matter how much content you have if people don’t care for it, want it, or need it. However, if you focus on helping spread knowledge and quality content onto the Internet then you will be a contributor, and contributors are rewarded.

Still, a simple fact is that if you are not creating any content then your ownership is not growing. One major critical factor that everyone who is successful has is the ability to adjust. If you don’t know how to do something then there is no better time to learn than now. Adjust to the market and to what people need. If you do you will find that success is actually attracted to you.

Develop a Clear Mission Statement

One of the most important steps is one most business owners consider obvious – but few truly do thoroughly. Make sure that your business plan is simple, clear, and workable before you invest your capital. Have you planned out the next five years intensively? In how much detail? The more narrowly, specifically, and intelligently you articulate your business mission, the easier it will be for you to construct a cost effective budget and to keep your company in the black.

Search for Used/Free/Discounted Equipment

When you’re establishing a new company, you need not indulge in purchases of state-of-the-art furniture, Aeron chairs, and a slate of the latest company iPhones. Indeed, you can save yourself tremendous upfront capital by finding great deals on used/give-away office furniture and equipment. Businesses selling used or cheap equipment are becoming more widespread, and there are many resources online. For instance, Craigslist, a national internet site, posts hundreds of ads for used/cheap furniture every day.

You can also remodel used furniture yourself to save money. An old beat-up wooden table, for instance, can be transformed into a semi luxury furnishing with just a little sanding and painting. You can also call offices in your area to find out whether or not they might let you have or lease furniture at a discounted rate.

To keep costs low, figure out exactly what you need, and only get those items. Psychological studies show that shoppers who make lists and stick to them spend less.

Reduce Your Use of Mail: Increase Your Use of Email

While the US Postal System, FedEx, and other major carriers do a grand job delivering for small businesses, these services can get quite expensive, particularly if you use them regularly or ship bulk materials. Cutting out paperwork can make filing easier, save on staff resources, and cut your postage costs.

If you do convert your business records and transactions to “virtual transactions,” however, be sure to keep duplicate records. You can get accounts through sites likes Yahoo! and Google to store business emails online for free. You should also create a ghost copy of your hard drive to back up critical data.

Negotiate Costs with Vendors and Clients Whenever Possible — Don’t Be Shy

Just because your small business doesn’t qualify for bulk discounts doesn’t mean you can’t use your status as a “lean and mean” organization to your benefit. You may be able to get better deals on supplies by paying early, agreeing to a long-term contract with a supplier, or simply by hard-nosed negotiating. Frankly, one of the best ways to get a good deal is simply to ask. Know your market’s prices before you make offers – you obviously want to neither insult vendors nor overpay. To bone up on how to negotiate better, read books on the psychology of negotiation. Dr. Robert Cialdini’s book “Influence” is a classic in the field.

Shop for Insurance

A good insurance plan can not only protect your business from potentially catastrophic contingencies but can also give you leverage to grow your company. Research what you minimally need before you shop policies. Business owners can choose from literally dozens of types of policies, and every business owner’s needs will be different. Talk to several neutral sources before pricing plans.

Limit Your Energy Use

With oil prices spiking and the energy markets uncertain, you can’t afford not to consider the costs of fuel and power. There are many ways to reduce your consumption of energy without compromising your business model. Use fans instead of central air to keep your building cool during the summer. Replace traditional light bulbs with energy efficient bulbs (those odd, corkscrew-shaped bulbs you see at the hardware store). Energy saving bulbs can slash your energy costs, and they last much longer, too. If possible, do business out of your home to reduce the amount of gas you burn driving to and from the office.

Budget Conservatively

As a small business, you likely don’t have a huge margin of error. Budget brutally and honestly. Figure out your company’s assets and its anticipated liabilities. It’s natural to be optimistic about the future of your business. However, if you set your expectations at a modified level, you’ll have a far greater chance of staying within budget and thus succeeding. Be mindful of the fact that you may have to survive several months without making a profit in order to get your company up and running. Budget both your personal and business expenses carefully in preparation. You can use a number of support systems to improve/refine your budget as you go, including professional accounting consultants and top end software.

Learn From Other Successful Small Business Owners

By forging relationships with other like-minded entrepreneurs, you will simultaneously network and get feedback on key tactical issues which may arise as you move forward with your business plan. You may be entitled to a multitude of excellent tax write-offs. You may also qualify for discounts at bulk big box retailers like Costco and Sam’s Club. Subscribe to trade journals to find discounts and tips to get around fees and other business hassles.

Barter For Services

By trading for discounts you not only save money, you also build brand loyalty with potential vendors. If, for instance, you are starting up a web graphic service, you can likely trade your expertise for discounts on shipping, equipment, and other future favors. You may also be able to offer additional services to your clients to lower costs and build relationships.

Nothing excites the mind more than receiving automatic online income, day-in, day-out for all 365 days of the year. A true marvel to behold and the perfect solution to all your money worries.

It is totally liberating.

It gives you the freedom to pursue your life’s goals, no matter what they may be. It gives you the freedom of mobility; you can live anywhere in the world. Moreover, it gives you the time to do the THINGS you want to do, whether it’s sailing solo around the world or staying home to raise your kids.

Simply put, it gives you choices, plenty of choices. You are no longer tied down by a 9 to 5 job. You are your own boss. You decide when you work or even how much work you do.

But is automatic income from the web a myth or fact?

Are there really people making money 24/7 while they’re sleeping, enjoying a delicious restaurant meal or even while on vacation?

The answer is YES!

Computers and the Internet are relatively new inventions. Like anything new, many people don’t fully understand how they work or what excellent opportunities they offer. Most people just can’t comprehend how someone can earn automatic income from the web.

To understand how this income is possible, you must first understand how the Internet works. Basically, at its very core, the Internet is simply information. We use the web to find information. We use it to find what we’re looking for - whether that “something” is in the virtual world or in the so-called real world. Whether it’s a pizza with the works or the theory of relativity explained in full… you can find it all on the net.

We use the Internet to solve problems, find a friend, buy a condo, book a vacation, write a book report… and the list is endless. But how do you earn income from the web, automatic or otherwise?

Again, the answer is quite simple, you just have to give web users what they’re looking for and in most cases that “something” is information. They want information, neatly packaged and accessible at all times. They want things explained and pointed out to them in a direct manner. They want easy solutions to solve their questions or problems.

Information Is The Key

If you want to earn income from the web, you must place your website or sites squarely into this “information mix.” You must offer something of value to your site’s visitors, whether it’s how to make the perfect angel cake or tips on buying a new laptop. You must offer valuable content, special deals, bargains… you must give people a good reason to use your site. They must benefit from using your site.

Just look at Google; they have built a billion dollar company by simply telling people where they can find information on the web. Their homepage is one of the simplest pages on the web and hasn’t changed much since they started in 1998. But they offer the visitor valuable content/information which is needed and appreciated.

Granted you’re not Google, but even the smallest webmaster can offer valuable information to their visitors. Everyone is an “expert” on something - just take your favorite hobby or pastime and run with it. Build a site, offer tips, give advice, gather information… create an online presence for your chosen topic or hobby and you’re in business.

Once you have built a reputation for useful content, the search engines and your visitors will spread the word about your site’s content. Then it is simply a matter of monetizing that content with affiliate links or thru advertising, such as Google Adsense.

There are countless ways or models of making automatic income on the web. The above example is just one of the simplest ways of earning income from your website. If you have your own product and an army of affiliates, then the above scenario is multiplied a hundredfold.

Automation Is Your Friend

You must keep in mind: computers and the Internet are tailor-made for automation. Once you create your sites and content, they run 24/7 without any help from you. Once you set up your follow-up autoresponders, they run 24/7 without any help from you. Once you set up your affiliate links and/or Adsense Code, they run 24/7 without any help from you. Once you have set up your viral marketing systems, such as free videos, free buying guides, free downloads, free articles and ebooks, they run themselves 24/7 automatically.

Of course, it is a good idea to monitor your site and your whole online operation. Plus, it would be wise to keep adding valuable content to your site or sites on a regular basis. But once you have set up your automatic income streams, they pretty much run themselves without much help from their creator.

Then you will see for yourself that regular automatic income from the web is indeed possible and not a myth. You will earn revenue, like clockwork, day-in, day-out; it is a true beauty to behold. Besides, there is no greater joy than coming back from a computer-free vacation only to find you have earned enough money to pay for your vacation and then some… all the while you were away enjoying the sun and the company of friends.

That’s just one of the many joys having an automatic online income will give you. Many more await you…

Blogs and Podcasts

2009-03-17T00:27:00.000-07:00

5 Content Creation Tips For Your Blog

One of the biggest problems with blogging is to be able to create content consistently that is both useful and helpful. So I am going to share with you some tips for creating content on hot topics your market will find both useful and helpful.

Market Related Forums

Busy forums related to your target market are an absolute gem of a place to find information to write articles on for 2 reasons.

Before I tell you why I must point out the word BUSY, you should be gathering a list of popular forums within your niche anyway because they are useful for so many reasons. Don’t waste your time with forums that aren’t regularly posted to, I would say a free public forum should be updated hourly at the most any longer than that don’t bother.

Back to the 2 reasons, first a popular forum will be full of posts asking How do I …..? or Does anyone know how to….? type questions this tells you what your market wants to know about. Second knowledgable people in your market will make helpful posts and from the feedback/ replies of the other users in the forum you will be able to see what are the hot topics.

If you can’t get article/ post ideas from the popular forums in your market then there is seriously something wrong.

Other Blogs

As I mentioned in the forums section above you should be gathering a list of the top blogs targeting your market. Not just for competitive reasons but also for ideas on what works in your niche.

Other blogs can give you an indication of what is hot in your market. This is especially useful if the niche you’re in, is something you’re not personally interested in, which by the way is something I would advise against for your first blog.

Article Directories

Article directories are another golden source of information for ideas. The thing you should be looking for here is what articles are being read the most. The top directories like ezinearticles.com will tell you the most read and downloaded articles in your category.

This will tell you what topics are hot in your market and they can help you learn how to write a good and informative article.

Google Alerts

Google being the smartest search engine in the world from a marketing/ webmaster point of view has a utility called Google Alerts.

If you’re not taking advantage of this great little tool or worse haven’t even heard of it I suggest you get yourself over to (URL) after reading this article and find out more.

Google alerts will send you an email with links to stories for keywords you specify on a hourly or daily basis, this is so useful because the quicker you react to big news in your market by publishing a post on your blog the more likely your traffic will increase and your visitors will come to you because you’re “in the know” giving you expert status (priceless).

PLR Content

Last we have PLR content or Private Label Rights content. I love PLR because I am not a natural writer, actually I hate writing which can be a big disadvantage on the internet.

PLR is great because you can have pre written articles or ebooks that you can put in your own voice. Granted a lot of PLR is questionable quality BUT I would rather have something to start with rather than a blank notepad file.

You can then put in your own voice and do your research to better the quality which to me is fantastic.

I hope these tips have helped you see how you can get an endless supply of ideas for updating your blog consistenly with quality content your visitors will find both useful and helpful.

Advertising

2009-03-17T00:26:00.000-07:00

Is Online Advertising - A Good Way for small companies to beat the credit crunch?

The credit crunch is hitting just about every business, small or large, however, it is the smaller companies that are usually at most risk.

It is common practice for businesses to re-evaluate their expenses when times are tough, and this often includes marketing budgets. Indeed, recently many people have reported decreases in offline (print) marketing budgets, due, mainly to the credit crunch and financial turmoil that both the US and UK are experiencing.

It is interesting to note however that conversely, Online advertising spend is on the increase.

Why is this? What is the difference between online and offline expenditure, and why should one be on the decline due to a credit crunch, while the other is increasing?
Advertising ROI

The most rational and likely explanation for this is the huge difference between instant Return On Investment. Whilst print advertising can be a great way of developing brand name and awareness, the financial returns for every £ or $ spent are known slow to arrive. This means that, during times of prosperity funds are freely available for Print based advertising.

Online advertising tends to see a much quicker and higher ROI, with either instant or swift results.
Advertising Budget, or Cost of Sale?

Some companies have even been quoted as saying that, although they are reviewing their Offline advertising, with a view to cutting costs, they now consider Online promotion to be more of a ‘cost of sale’ than an actual advertising cost.

It is easy to see why…

In a survey by iProspect, 68% of internet searches don’t look further than the first page of Google for products or services they are looking for. This means that if you don’t appear on the first page, you are missing out on a seriously high percentage of your would be revenue.

This means that funds spent increasing a websites online search rankings are more or less guaranteed to increase the levels of sales that the website realises. This does imply that Online web promotion should be seen as more of a Cost of Sale than a straight advertising cost.

During financial hardships, it makes sense for businesses to cut advertising costs, so long as they can still achieve a level of income to keep them afloat. Thus, cutting funds from Offline advertising, which may well be seen as a brand awareness raiser that can presently be ill afforded, and allocating those funds to Online web promotion, which tends to give a much quicker return, is, perhaps good business sense.

One person we spoke to stated that they feel someone that is actually searching for a product on the internet is much more likely to convert to a sale, than someone that merely sees a company’s advert in a related magazine.
Forms of Online Marketing

Just like the offline advertising world, Online marketing has many sub divisions. The most popular are:

* Pay Per Click campaigns (such as Google Adwords),
* Banner adverts,
* Search Engine Optimisation,

Which is the most effective?

To a large extent, this depends on what you are trying to marker online, and how long term your goals are.

Let’s look at each Online marketing sub group in turn;

Pay Per Click.

The most popular pay per click advertising network in the world is Google Adwords. The effectiveness of this online advertising medium is definitely a proven fact. However, if you do not take care, you can easily waste thousands of pounds running an ill planned campaign, and be left wondering where it all went wrong!

Pay Per Click advertising is often said to be best served to websites that sell ‘impluse buy’ type products. PPC tends to give a very quick Return, but in the long term is more costly and gives less of an ROI than a traditionally, organic SEO campaign.

Banner Adverts

Most marketing professionals have at least heard of the term ‘advert blindness’. This phrase has been traditionally used to describe the mental process of the ‘filtering out’ of adverts by magazine readers. It is more and more frequently used in the Online advertising world in regards to banner adverts.

Basically, most people ignore banner adverts these days without even thinking about it. This means even if you get a good deal on your banner advert campaign, the results can be poor.

Search Engine Optimisation

Search Engine Optimisation (A.K.A. SEO) is a huge area, viewed by many traditional businesses as murky waters. Many are confused by the terms used by SEO professionals, and unsure whether funds set aside for this will be recouped.

If the right Ethical SEO specialist is chosen, however, the results can be astounding, and the Return On Investment excellent. It is important to stress the word Ethical here, as some SEO consultants are far from ethical. Go with a company that is willing to take the time to understand your needs as a company (or individual) and won’t simply apply a ‘one size fits all’ type of affair to your SEO.

The returns for an SEO campaign are usually realised after 2 to 3 months, at which point your website should be experiencing not just an increased number of visits, but an increased number of ‘targeted’ visits. It is this targeting that is important. There is little to no point having your website ranked for terms that are not related to your website, or do not have a medium to high number of searches per month.

Used correctly, search engine optimization techniques will give you a good ROI compared to PPC advertising, as your website will be placed in front of the eyes of those actually searching for your products or service