Friday, November 11, 2011

5 Things You Must Do Every Day to Build Your Business

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Keyword Research: The Basis of All SEO

Monday, February 21, 2011

Need Your Computer Repaired Fast By An Expert? Call 203 928-0337 New Haven - Classified Ad

Saturday, February 12, 2011

How To Add Twitter Icon to your Blog - Video

How To Add Twitter Icon to your Blog

Thursday, February 10, 2011

The #1 Fan Page Admin Mistake On Face Book - Video

Saturday, January 29, 2011

How To Set Up Your New FaceBook Page For Your Business -Video

How To Set Up Your New FaceBook Page For Your Business -Video

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Social Media Marketing In 3 Minutes~ Video

Social Media Marketing In 3 Minutes ~ Video

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Why Entrepreneurs Benefit From the Weak Dollar By Gene Marks

Why Entrepreneurs Benefit From the Weak Dollar By Gene Marks

I just read that more than 5 million people watch iCarly every week. And that more than 22 million Kid Rock albums have been sold in this country alone. But I'm not going to take that as evidence that we're a country on the way down. I understand that Allen Iverson made $29 million last year, which is $28,923,000 more than the highest-paid school teacher in Philadelphia. But that's no reason to panic. And I'm not going to let the weakening dollar get me down. Yes, I read the papers. Yes, I see our greenback reaching new historic lows against other currencies on a daily basis. But I'm not upset about it.

Most small businesses buy products and services from local suppliers and sell products and services to locally based customers. Sure, we've been hearing about the evils of a weak dollar: how our purchasing power and prestige is diminished. How it's become much more expensive to travel and buy stuff overseas. But if you're a pizza shop owner, an architect, or a local electrician, none of these things really make a difference to your profits.

In fact, there's some good news in the decline for smart entrepreneurs.

Like the fact that our goods are cheaper. Companies and consumers in other countries are buying more of them. There's the firm in Lexington, Ky., that's selling its high-end audio technology, now competitively priced, to a growing base of overseas buyers.There's the company in Minnesota that sells trucks to the Middle East and finds that more than half of its forecasted sales now come from overseas.

Cheaper Goods Boost Foreign Sales
Then there are the international giants like DuPont (DD), and Boeing (BA) that are seeing large jumps in foreign sales, and the small firms that sell products and services to them that are reaping the benefit. There's the Seattle company that sells wastewater treatment products overseas that's exploding with growth because of the weak dollar.Even industries in hard-hit states like Michigan are finding relief from this recession as foreign buyers are snapping up cheaper autos and parts. And then there are the countless small companies that sell online to customers in far-flung places that can now afford their products. American farmers are selling more wheat and soy to countries in need of food than ever before. This is all because of our declining dollar.

Cheaper goods allow some smart business owners to open new markets and make new relationships. One client of mine has been getting unsolicited quote requests from all corners of the world. He's now wishing his new friends in India a Happy Diwali and future drinking buddies in Russia a joyous Victory Day. Because of the falling dollar coupled with the ease of communicating over the Internet, a growing number of smart business owners are building relationships with smaller companies outside the U.S.

A weak dollar has given some small businesses the opportunity to revisit their domestic customers, too. These were the people who used to buy their products overseas until the low exchange rate made things so frigging expensive. Now we see retail groups and chambers of commerce in Seattle; Portsmouth, N.H.; Hernando, Miss.; Denver; and dozens of places around the country urging their neighbors to buy locally. Americans are buying more American-made products because they're cheaper to buy than the foreign-made goods. Remember outsourcing? One company in New Jersey closed its call center in Israel last year because it was too expensive to operate in a weak dollar environment. Similar companies running call centers or offering programming and other information technology services in the U.S. may well find a growing number of customers coming back from India.

Influx of Travelers and Investors
A weak dollar brings more visitors to the U.S. The travel industry had a lousy year in 2009. As a result, there are now much lower online fees, air fares, and hotel rates around the country. And small businesses are benefiting. Hotel occupancy and related tourism services are up in Massachusetts. Officials in New York are bracing for an influx of foreign tourists. Already tourism officials in Las Vegas are reporting increases in visitors and gaming revenue. With a cheap dollar and a recovering worldwide economy, I expect to hear many other languages spoken at Disney World and other American tourist destinations this year. Smart business owners who cater to the travel industry are making this bet, too.

A weak dollar brings in foreign investors. International companies operating in Gainesville, Ga., are ramping up production, employing more people, and providing opportunities for suppliers. In Chattanooga, a French company is hiring 300-plus employees and doing business with dozens of smaller local companies as it finds it's cheaper to set up shop in the U.S. Foreign firms and individuals are hungrily eyeing real estate deals in America that haven't been this cheap in decades. That will lead to sales commissions, development work, and construction projects for local small businesses. The U.S. stock market has risen more than 30% since the beginning of the year, fueled by the low dollar and the attractive pricing of American stocks. Business owners and consumers like myself see our financial worth rise, breathe a sigh of relief, and start spending a little more.

So tell me, is the U.S. in decline? It's possible. There are millions of Americans killing brain cells watching Glee and The Biggest Loser each week. But the falling dollar? This isn't a decline. For many small business owners, it's an opportunity.

Gene Marks, CPA, is the owner of the Marks Group, which sells customer relationship, service, and financial management tools to small and midsize businesses. Marks is the author of four best-selling small business books and writes the popular "Penny Pincher's Almanac" syndicated column. He frequently speaks to business groups on penny-pinching topics. More penny-pinching advice from Marks can be found at http://www.quickerbetterwiser.com/. Follow Gene on Twitter at @genemarks on and Facebook at http://facebook.com/quickerbetterwiser

Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Gene_Marks

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Highly Effective Non-Technical SEO Strategies By Sammy Kirkland

Web users find information, product(s) or service(s) on line in three ways. These are:

a) Through Direct Traffic - This method involves a user entering a web address directly into the address bar of a web browser or by clicking a bookmark or a link in email. People who fall into this category are usually those familiar with the company or a web resource and they could be repeat visitors.

b) Search engines - these are programs that crawl the internet and index sites based on keywords and other relevant factors. "Search engines are simply information retrieval applications" and users can find any web resource indexed by any particular search engine by supplying a keyword that corresponds to the any word in the search engine database of billions of indexed sites.

c) Referral - this refers to traffic that originates from a referral site, this happens by people clicking on links in a referral site and getting directed to the target site. I.e. Facebook users clicking on a link from their FB account that eventually takes them to a corporate site somewhere. Referrals are usually qualified traffic because someone has to be interested in a site ad to click on it.

Of all the methods outlined above, companies only have control over a) and C). Since search engines rely on a number of other factors. method a) and c) also rely on a company's offline marketing efforts. SEO strives to provide methods for improving website ranking that lead to increased traffic.

There are two types of search engine traffic, these are:

Pay Per Click - PPC
Such results in Google are usually displayed as "Sponsored Links" in Google through the use of their Adwords program. Other major search engines such as Yahoo Search and Bing also have their own. PPC is the quickest method to drive qualified traffic to a site.

Organic Search Results
Also referred to as natural search results, these are results obtained on basis or merit of a website and not through purchase. Due to the sheer number of sites that compete for this position, only sites that highly placed in organic results receive customers attention.

How are sites ranked?
Ranking criteria used by major search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing is constantly evolving, the real formula for ranking sites is closely guarded secret by search engine proprietors. But generally, it is believed that search engines rank sites based on relevancy, authority, popularity and trustworthiness.

Below are some non-technical strategies that can be used for SEO

a) Writing Interesting content that is also relevant for your website.

b) Link building though acquisition of highly relevant links.

c) Being ethical and avoiding questionable tactics frowned upon by the SEO community and loathed by search engines.

d) Build authority though networking

e) Increase popularity through encouraging repeat visitors.

Use sound marketing principles together with the above non-technical strategies to increase your site ranking.

Sammy Kirkland in website development, programming and design. If you'd like to know more about our services, please visit our site at http://www.seoboutiques.com/ecommerce-X-Cart-Website-Design.html

Local Search Listings For Your Local Small Business

Local Search Listings For Your Local Small Business

Looking to get more exposure for your Local Small Business online? If you sell to local customers, they are looking for your products and services in the city or state they live in. For getting your Local Small Business listed on Google and easy for your local customers to find you, list your business in Google Places. Google wants local customers to find your business!

Go to www.google.com/places
Select : Add New Business"
Enter Your Business Address, Details, Photos, and Category

Google will confirm you added your local business to Google Places and you will have to either answer their phone call or by the Post Card they send to you in the mail. Once you confirm your address, you will begin appearing in your area's local search. This will improve your site's rankings dramatically.

Using Keywords, Inbound Links, and Local Search Listings are a greta way to get your site in Organic Searches for FREE!

Google's Matt Cutts | How to Get Better Visibility on Google

7 Steps to Building the Right Social Media Connections

7 Steps to Building the Right Social Media Connections
By Angelique L. Rewers (c) 2011

Once upon a time, it seemed as though the number of "followers" or "connections" a person had on social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn was akin to the number of votes they had for homecoming king or queen. It was the grown-up version of a high school popularity contest.
However, as these websites have now matured - and as entrepreneurs and business owners have figured out how and how not to use them - most everyóne has come to realize that it's not about the number of connections you have, but the number of right connections.

Just like in the real world, you want to make sure you're making the most of your networking time by connecting with those people that have similar or complementary interests or expertise and, therefore, create a mutually beneficial relationship - particularly when sites like Facebook limit your number of friends to only 5,000. In fact, many people who have large followings of the wrong people are taking the drastic step of deleting their connections and starting over from scratch.

Whether you're just getting started building your social media network or you're a seasoned pro, who's thinking about doing a major overhaul, here are seven steps you can take to help you build the right connections.

1.) Start With the People You Know. If you're still not using social media and are hesitant to get started, the best way to get your feet wet is by connecting with those you know personally: your friends & family, your neighbors, and your co-workers. But don't stop there; your network is likely a lot bigger than you might think. Don't forget about your former co-workers, your connections through professional organizations to which you belong, your clients or customers, members of your mastermind communities and even vendors with whom you've done business.

2.) Add the New People You Meet. Not so long ago (unless you were in sales), the majority of the business cards you collected at networking events, conferences, trade shows and other professional development opportunities probably went in the garbage can the next day. Today, however, there's no excuse for not taking a few minutes to extend the life of those connections by sending social media invites the very next day. Be sure to remind the person who you are by referencing something from your conversation or by providing a piece of follow-up information that you promised.

3.) Follow Your Followers' Followers. Check out the connections and followers of your colleagues, peers, friends, etc. On Twitter you can easily see who your friends are following, as well as who is following them. Facebook automatically provides suggestions of people you might want to add because you have a lot of shared connections. In LinkedIn you may need to ask your connection to make an introduction. In any case, if you have things in common with your networkers, it stands to reason that a good portion of their followers is also worth following. Just be sure not to "spam" your connections' lists.

4.) Broaden Your Reach. Extend invitations to people in groups to which you belong in both the real and online worlds, such as professional organizations. On LinkedIn you can connect with the folks you "meet" through LinkedIn Groups. And on Facebook you can make connections when you're invited to attend an event or when you join someone's fan page.

5.) Follow the Experts. We're constantly learning from experts in our respective industries. Why not reach out to these folks in the social media world? Maybe you've just read a great book. See what the author has to say on Twitter. Or maybe you've gotten a brochure for an upcoming conference that you'd love to attend but can't. Before you throw the brochure in the trash, search for the speakers' names on social networking sites and send them an invitation to connect. Let them know that you saw their session description for the conference and you're disappoínted you're going to miss it, but would love to keep track of where else they might be speaking.

6.) Do Some Digging. Don't forget to take the time to search for people who share similar interests as you or who would be an ideal customer for your business. Granted, this is the most time consuming of all the methods. But it will give you the chance to unearth new sources, experts and connections that will add value to your business and who you might not otherwise have ever "met." Be on the lookout for bloggers, reporters, and analysts who cover your company or industry.

7.) Invite Others to Follow You. To truly create an online "relationship" it needs to be a two-way street. One of the best ways to encourage others to follow you is by showing that you will provide value to them. In other words, be worthy of their time. Start by ensuring your online profiles are professional (i.e. no avatar photos) and accurately describe who you are, what you do, and what topics you're interested in. Provide content and commentary that matches that profile, is timely and doesn't spam. Promoting is fine so long as it's balanced with valuable content. Link to blog posts, videos and articles your followers would find interesting. Ask questions and provide insightful comments on other people's posts. Make it easy for others to follow you by providing "follow me" widgets on your website, blog posts, article archives, and podcasts.

Remember: It's not about the number of connections you have on these sites - it's about the quality of those connections. Today, people are looking for authenticity. They want to meet real people with real things to say who will add value to their personal and professional lives.
Are you doing something interesting to find valuable contacts on social media sites? Leave us a comment and tell us know what strategies are working for you!

By Angelique Rewers, ABC, APR
- Richer. Smarter. Happier. -

About The AuthorThe Queen of Clarity - Angelique Rewers, ABC, APR, harnesses her extensive experience working with Fortune 500 companies to help solopreneurs clarify their marketing focus so they can build a business that makes them happy and makes them money.

If you're looking for simple, low-cost ways to boost your sales, get Free marketing *Brilliance!* now at: http://www.richersmarterhappier.com/brilliance_ezine.htm

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Internal Link Building Practices By Bercle George

Internal Link Building Practices By Bercle George

Internal link building is a fundamental aspect of the total link building process, and one that doesn't get as much attention as bringing links in from other sites. While webmasters often scramble around to get the ever-coveted inbound link from high-quality sites, they neglect something that can also be effective (albeit not quite as much) in terms of search engine ranking--internal link building.

Everything starts with providing value and quality to your visitors, and internal linking helps with this as well as it makes your site more user-friendly. By following your internal links, your visitors can quickly get suggestions and find other content related to the topic they want to read more about. This also contributes to your site obtaining an expert-like status.

In the present day, it's known that inbound links are a major factor in determining how high your website will rank with the search engines. While it's true that internal link building doesn't play quite as much an important role, it does have significant impact on how well you will do with the search engines, simply because they are a very convenient means of redirecting some of the "juice" of incoming links from one page to another within your site. In order to maximize their effectiveness, you need to make sure that the anchor text is that of the keywords or keyword phrases that you want to target (this is the same principle for backlinks as well).

This ensures that the search engines will see these terms as more important, and you will squeeze the link juice out of every link. Internal links are also a way to boost some of the poorer performing pages within your website. You can strengthen the lower-ranking pages with internal links from your pages that rank better. Naturally, this isn't quite the same thing as getting incoming links to that page or those pages, but it will make a difference.

Remember that when you are establishing your internal link building, you must follow a sound navigation structure. If you don't have this in place, you will not get the full benefits of internal links. The navigation should be simple for both the visitors to your site and the search engines. Once again, you can get people to your site through following only the guidelines of high-ranking with search engines. But the visitors will not stay there unless you provide them a reason to. The reasons are valuable content, ease in navigation, and the right visual appeal. It has been shown that Internet users like links within the text body of a page more than those on the naviagtion bar so keep that in mind as well.

For more on internet marketing and selling on ebay - visit : http://www.discountauctions101.com/

Track Your Web Site's Traffic With Google Analytics

Track Your Web Site's Traffic With Google Analytics

Tracking Your Web Site's Visitors is imperative to figure out where you're getting online traffic from and to help you with organizing and planning a great Marketing Strategy that works. Setting up the free Google Analytics is the way to go and easy to set up. You must have a Google account or Gmail account to set up Google Analytics.

To sign up for the free Analytics go to http://www.google.com/analytics , click the “Sign Up Now” button, which is on the top right corner of the page.

It will tell you that you will have the option to sign up for a Google account (if you don't have one) or proceed towards the setup. You’ll be asked to give your website address then will be given a snippet of code to insert into your web site.

After setting up Analytics you can track all visitors from unique or one time, to how much time on site, to PPC ads. In the beginning you will want to pay more attention to how much traffic you're getting. You also want to know where it's coming from.

You will tell if traffic is coming from referring sites such as blogs, affiliates, social media posts, etc. or from organic traffic. Organic traffic would be from searches for your name or your keywords. This data is crucial and will help you with specific marketing campaigns and tactics.

Traffic analysis is your foundation to the successful management of your marketing efforts. You will know what is working and what's not. Install Google Analytics right away!

What Is Brand Management By Jayden Briggs

What Is Brand Management By Jayden Briggs

In the past, the management of an organization's brand has usually been the sole domain of the organization's marketing team. However, with the evolution of the Internet and people's need for instant information, there is a greater call for public relations professionals to become more directly involved with an organization's brand management.

The Dictionary of Business and Management defines brand as: a name, sign or symbol used to identify items or services of the seller(s) and to differentiate them from goods of competitors.

Essentially, brand is more than simply a corporate logo; it is anything people can associate an organization with, whether it is a paid advertisement or an article found in a newspaper. This is where brand management becomes important and PR professionals must be vigilant.

It is not enough for public relations professionals to simply communicate news to the media; they must somehow communicate the persona of their organization.

For example, Google, the company that runs the best-known and most-used search engine on the Web, has a very distinctive brand. Most Internet users could visually identify its logo. However, Google's branding efforts do not stop there.

The company has worked hard to combat Internet users' doubts about the quality of Web search results. Most of the main stream search engines sell advertising in order to make money and many people have accused these companies of skewing search results for money - giving certain web sites a higher ranking in exchange for purchasing paid advertising.

However, Google is well-known for the clear division it places between its search results and its advertising business. The visual separation on Google's Web site is an example: search results are prevalent on the left and occupy at the very least 90 per cent of the page, while advertising occupies very little space and is not intrusive to the user. Most importantly, the search results are generated from the intelligence of Google's product and are not influenced by purchasing advertising.

Google makes this very clear each and every time it speaks to the media. When a spokesperson does an interview or the company issues a press release regarding its search engine, it is quick to point out the division. In fact, it says it is part of its corporate philosophy - hence, it has become part of its brand.

Google is known for its technical innovation and the quality of its search results, and not as a company that is just interested in money.

Furthermore, to ensure the organization's branding is being effectively communicated to the media, it also must be properly managed.

If the brand or persona of the organization is not being properly communicated, problems can be identified through analysis of the media coverage and the necessary adjustments can be made by the PR team to get the proper message out.

By tracking key messages, taglines, or buzzwords in the media coverage, the public relations team can measure how well its organization is communicating. It could be there are stop words the PR team wants to avoid using to prevent confusion and miscommunication. These too can be measured.

Media coverage can also be measured against other performance indicators such as sales and stock prices. This could be a good indicator to measure how well a brand is being perceived in the media and with an organization's key publics.

To most companies, brand is just as important as the products they create and services they provide, and it must be properly managed. Public relations professionals have a key role to play in shaping and maintaining an organization's brand - this responsibility cannot be left solely to the organization's marketing team. Not only is the PR team responsible for communicating the brand, but it also must be vigilant through media analysis.

Jayden Briggs writes for http://workforcemanagementsoftwares.com/ and http://www.bankdynamic.com/ http://www.bankdynamic.com and other Internet related sites.

Outsourcing Is How To Grow Your Small Business Fast

Outsourcing Is How To Grow Your Small Business Fast

Use Outsourcing to beat your Competition and grow your Small Business. Outsourcing is an important part of running a successful small business. You can't possibly do all the workload yourself and expect your business to thrive and grow beyond a certain level.

Hiring outside professionals is needed when you need an expert, may not have the space required to do the work, have busy periods, or need more productivity. Some areas you can get Outsource help with are:

Web/Graphic Design
Article Writing/Submission
Social Media Marketing
Custom Twitter BackGrounds
FaceBook Opt In Landing Page Design/Set Up
Accounting
Sales and Marketing

Save Time and Money by hiring Oursource help. Some Outsourcing can be less expensive if you know where to get good help for not a lot of money. By Outsourcing you also give yourself valuable time time to spend on business growth.

Some Ways to Save Time by Outsourcing are:

Not having to train new employees
Not have to add new equipment
Not have to spend time interviewing new employees
Not have to learn new software
Not have to fill out complicated paperwork for tax forms, scheduling, retirement programs

Some ways to Save Money on Oursourcing:

Won't have to buy extra office equipment
Won't have to buy extra office or work space
Won't have to spend money on employee costs such as; taxes, medical, vacations, holidays, workers comp, unemployment, etc.

More ways to use Outsource to Beat your Competition are:

Extra help can help you deliver and complete orders faster
Expand your market share by becoming the middleman and offer your subcontractors products or services
You can get orders from your subcontactors and take on bigger orders

New Haven Small Business Marketing Can Help You With Branding/Web & Graphic Design/Social Media Marketing and Direct Mail Campaigns.

Please Call 203 606-1736
For More Information On Building A Marketing Plan For Your Small Business Today!

Saturday, January 15, 2011

9 Great Small Business WordPress PlugIns

9 Great WordPress Plugins For Small Business Sites

Take a look at these great 9 plugins that you need for your business blog:

Akimet - This Plugin filters out Spam Comments
DoFollow - Plugin removes the "NoFollow" tag that is automatically applied to all external links that are in comments. "Follow" tags allow backlinks to other sites found by search engines. "NoFollow" tags don't allow them to be found. These provide a link benefit to your commenters.
Thank Me Later - Automatically sends a customized email or email campaign to your commenters
CommentLuv - Plugin that visits site of your commenter and retrieves their latest comment, tweet, or digg they choose from at bottom of their comment box.
Zemanta - Plugin tool that automatically finds royalty free related photos, links, videos also others search engine optimized tags for you.
FD Feedburner - Allows you to moderate every feed and distribute them easily into the control panel.
ReTweetMeme Button - Plugin allows your readers to retweet your posts to their Twitter account
WP Super Cache - Makes most pages load faster through self-generated static content. Dynamic sites such as WordPress loads slower than static web sites.
All In One SEO Pack - Plugin tool that optimizes your posts.

Friday, January 14, 2011

How to Write a Business Plan - The Market Analysis Section By Sandra S. Sea

Your business plan will include a Market Analysis section. This is the portion of the plan that will require the most research; rightfully so, since it will be a true indicator of whether you have a viable business or not.

The business plan Market Analysis will include:

Clearly define your industry or market. Provide statistics of the size of the market. You should also document any trends or cycles and a forecast for future growth or decline.
Pinpoint your target market. You should get as detailed as possible in defining your customer demographics. Narrow it down to age group, gender, income, lifestyle and locale. The more you understand your consumers, the better. Be sure to include any supporting statistics available in the appendices section of the business plan. Your market analysis should also indicate any motivating factors that will trigger your customers to purchase your products.
Market test results. Whether it be customer surveys or pols, you should have concrete statistics to support your industry research. In this market analysis section you should highlight the end results but the full details of the test should be available in the appendices section for further investigation by the reader.
Turnaround Time or Lead Time should be clearly defined. Indicate how long will it take to fulfill your orders or deliver the product to the customer. Are you capable of handling volume orders?
Discuss the barriers or road blocks you anticipate when creating a place for your product in the market and how you will overcome them. You need to briefly discuss what your competition's strengths and weaknesses and how you compare.

The Market Analysis is a very important section of your business plan. It may be well worth your while to solicit the aid of a market research company who is experienced in surveying and poling consumers to help you more clearly define your target market. Since this factor is the foundation of your sales and marketing plans, it is of utmost importance that you get this right.

The Millionaire-Minded Single Entrepreneur, How to Start, Market and Grow your business on a single income. http://www.entrepreneurmillionairesecret.com/ download your free copy of How To Resolve Conflict Without Ruining Your Reputation

How to get more Fans on your Facebook Fan Page! Secret Tool - Video

How to get more Fans on your Facebook Fan Page! Secret Tool - Video

Why List Building Is Still Your Most Important Marketing Tool

In this age of Facebook and Twitter, many people sometimes forget your most important marketing tool is still list building. Actually, in these days of instant messages, viral videos, fan pages and Twitter tweets; the importance of building a list has increased, rather than decreased. Having a list of contacts which you can communicate with at a moment’s notice is still a very effective marketing tool.

One which online marketers have used to their advantage for years to further their interests, especially in the online arena. In the not so distant past, it was simply a matter of throwing up a subscription form on your site and contacting these subscribers with a weekly or daily newsletter. Not any more, list building has become much more complex, especially with regards to social bookmarking and networking sites.

The simple subscribe box is still a vital element, but you have to take a much more multifaceted approach to your contact building. You must make it easy for visitors not only to opt-in to your list or newsletter, but you must also make it easy for them to bookmark and recommend your content to all their friends and colleagues. This social list building has to be a prominent feature of your online marketing.

No doubt you’re probably sick and tired of hearing the expression – The Money Is In The List – but this is also just as true today as it was in the past. Building a list of interested prospects and clients is still an effective way to make more sales. And using an autoresponder to do follow-up marketing will definitely increase your sales because studies have shown that many buyers will only purchase after being contacted 6 or 7 times.

These follow-ups can be more information on the major benefits of the products you’re selling or promoting. It doesn’t really have to be all hard-sell, many marketing experts say the list should be really used for pre-selling a product or service, and then letting the site or company do the actual selling. Regardless, building your list of prospective customers is a vital part of your marketing funnel and should not be ignored.

For the online marketer and/or webmaster this means making your site and webpages more ’social media friendly’ and providing a simple way for your visitors to bookmark your site. Including a bookmark tool like the Addthis button is a given, so too is adding a Twitter Addme button. Plus, visitors should be able to easily become a member of your blog and subscribe to your RSS feed.

In addition, visitors should be encouraged to add you as a Facebook friend simply because Facebook is quickly becoming the most dominant site on the web. You should also start building your list of contacts in such places as LinkedIn, MySpace, YouTube, Yahoo Groups, Google Groups… and similar sites.

Marketers should go one step further and seek out specific sites related to their product or theme. You must seek out related communities and join them. For example, if you’re into web marketing and SEO, then you would seek out and/or become a part of sites like SiteProNews, WebProNews, Site-Reference… and become involved in online marketing forums to help build your list of contacts. In many cases, these sites will also let you contribute unique content which can be used to build your list.

Don’t forget the viral element which can be extremely effective in building your list on today’s web. A popular video which goes viral can be a great way to attract visitors and subscribers to your list and all the social bookmarking sites mentioned above. Getting a first page link to a popular post or article on sites such as Digg can be a great way to get visitors and subscribers. Using viral ebooks and PDF Reports is another effective way to draw visitors and subscribers back to your site and onto your list.

Perhaps, what is truly called for, is a change in attitude when it comes to building your list on this new more socially empowered web. The simple old subscriber box just won’t cut it anymore. You must take your list building to a much more involved level, one that is closely connected to all the social communities and sites on the web. In other words, you have to become more pro-active and actually seek out your future subscribers and friends. Go get ‘em!

To Get a Step-by-Step Guide that will show you How to Start, Build & Manage your OWN HUGE Opt-In List! Click Here: www.bizwaremagic.com/opt-in.htm. To check out the latest marketing tools Click Here Titus Hoskins. This article may be freely distributed.

Three Things to Do Before You Open For Business

A large percentage of new local businesses end up not fully succeeding because it is so hard for business owners to overcome the initial hump...that time where you are spending more money than what you make. The important thing to remember is that anyone who starts their own business likely feels at some point that the challenges are simply too great.

Although you may not be able to completely control whether your business succeeds, you can take steps to start your business out right so that it has a better chance of succeeding. Three things in particular can be done before opening day if you want your business to make a great first impression.

Have Enough Capacity to Meet Projected Needs

Going into a new business establishment that is not prepared to be open for business is very frustrating for some customers and you do not want to lose customers right from the start. If you are selling product be sure you have enough to go beyond your expected first days' demand and the same goes for ensuring that you have enough staff to provide adequate service in your beginning days. Happy customers often mean returning customers which is what going into business is all about.

There's an old saying which is that happy customers tell three other people; dissatisfied customers tell seven other people. Being in the former category is a much better recipe for success!

Conduct a Final Walk Through Prior to Open

Whether you have sales people or you are managing a small business yourself you want to go through and make sure that whatever aspects of your establishment that will come face-to-face with your customers are presentable. Do a final walk through to be sure everything and everyone are in place and your customers will have the sense of an organized establishment as a result.

Hold a Teleconference With Associates and Managers

Finally, if you want to be prepared to make a good first impression on the opening day, you might consider holding a conference call with all of your staff. Teleconferencing, which you may have also heard referred to as free conference calling, is a great way to communicate efficiently and quickly without having to make arrangements to go anywhere. You will have a better chance of getting more people together all at once when meeting at a specific place is not an issue.

You only get to have an opening day for your business once which is why it is so important to do it right. Having everything prepared will be simple. Get the coordination done right by utilizing a free conference calling program in order to get your team on the same page and then go out and make it happen!

Thousands of other savvy business owners have managed to open their businesses right and so can you.

Author Andy Court was born and raised in Southern California. He is passionate about technology and has written about ways in which new organizations can leverage group communication - including free conference calling - to improve coordination. Visit http://www.rondee.com/ for more information.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Article Writing For Backlinks And Creating Interest

Article Writing is a great way to get Backlinks to your site, create a list, or gain readers for your blog or site. This is a powerful technique for building your online business and reputation. It is also free exposure for your service or products business.

Writing a well -written article is key to getting listed on several ezines and on numerous websites. You quickly become known as an expert in your field which in turn gains you subscribers and possible customers.

Your readers will reach out to you when they need information, products, or services. This is one major way of establishing yourself online. You don't have to be a professional writer to start writing effective articles.

Here are some tips on writing articles that produce results:

1. Use plain easy to understand language.
People like reading light or skimming while browsing their favorite blogs and learning from them. If you make too difficult for them or too long of an article they will get bored or frustrated and leave.

2. Make it easy for your readers to find you.
If your readers have a question about your services or product, or if they are just curious or have a comment, have an easy to get in touch with you area that's accessible on your page.

3. Always advertise in the resource box at the end of the article and not in the article itself.
People don't want to read a sales letter pretending to be an informative article. They are reading for information or for learning. Place your info in the resource box and have them sign up for your free report, ecourse or newsletter there. You can always sell yourself later.

4. Write with your personality. If you are funny, interesting or a creative personality, let it show in your writing. People love a unique style and will trust you more if you are authentic.

5. Write about something they can use.
Providing useful information goes a long way for your readers. If you have resources add that to your articles. People will want to stay in touch and keep reading more from you in the future.

RSS Directories - What Are They And Why Use Them?

What is exactly is RSS? How does one use RSS?

RSS is an acronym which stands for Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary. RSS is used for content distribution and is an XML-based format. A Webmaster will create an RSS file for you that contains your headline or descriptions of any specific info. Most RSS feeds contain news headlines or info, but there are many other uses of RSS.

RSS feeds deliver updates to web-based content and are a defined standard that is based on XML format. This standard lets webmasters provide fresh content and headlines in a very succinct manner. Consumers who use RSS readers or news aggregators can collect and also monitor favorite feeds into a single or centralized location or program. The content that is viewed in the RSS reader or aggregator is called an RSS feed.

RSS is extremely popular and becoming more so. It is free and also very easy to promote your site and content without advertising costs.

Yellow Pages Are Dead To Local Business

The Yellow Pages Print Directories have been the Bible of Advertising for such a long time. Now that we have the Internet and Search Engines, especially Local Search Engines, the original print Yellow Pages are experiencing a serious decline in users.

These print directories are being found left on the doorsteps, stepped over, and abandoned to rot away or eventually be tossed out in the trash. This isn't exactly a Green thing to do!

Local Small Business is lost, not knowing what to do or how to advertise that will bring in more customers. Some just keep investing money back into the Yellow Pages thinking there is still a market left that uses them. Perhaps that is true of older folks or people who live way out in the country.

For most people though we're using Search Engines or Google to find Products or Services. This has created a whole new industry of SEO experts and Local Internet Marketing Consultants. While the Yellow Pages is now offering online listings, how often do people take the time to go to the online Yellow Pages instead of just Googling up whatever they're looking for?

You will still get good backlinks by having a listing in the online Yellow Pages, but there are many other online classified sites, directories, review sites that can also get you seen by your customers.

How To Set Up A Custom Face Book Fan Page and URL - Video

How To Set Up A Custom Face Book Fan Page and URL

Mari Smith Video - How To Set Up A Face Book Fan Page

Mari Smith Video - How To Set Up A Face Book Fan Page

Total Pageviews