Archive for Other Posts
Internet Marketing Mastery: 3 Tips For Building A Blog That Drives Leads
Posted by: | CommentsNote From Steve: This post is written by a guest blogger
Blogging can establish your authority online with rapid speed if you use the tool effectively. A blog can serve as one stop shopping for all of your web visitors. You can post videos, recorded webinars, reviews, articles and podcasts on your blog and publish these pieces of delectable content within moments of uploading. It is key to churn out fresh, usable content on a persistent basis in order to reach your target market with ease. Blogging helps you to stand out from the crowd of entrepreneurs who refuse to post to wordpress or blogger daily, and standing out and making a serious impact with blogging can help build your internet marketing campaign on a strong foundation.
Take the Time to Decide Why You Want to Run a Blog
Finding out the purpose or mission statement for your blog helps you establish clarity around your blogging campaign and find laser targeted leads with greater ease. If you are serious about blogging for business you need to know exactly who you want to connect with while you write each blog post. Unless you are blogging for a hobby you cannot begin your campaign with an iffy idea of why you are blogging. Who do you want to reach with your posts and why are you devoting time and energy to running your blog?
If you want to grow an online business make this reason crystal clear in your mind so that you have a guide when you set about designing and creating content for your blog. Your reason why also drives you when times get tough, as they will when you are new to blogging. Go within to find this inspiring force and you will never quit as you begin and persist in growing your blog.
Include White Space Around Your Content to Sell More Effectively
Many desperate bloggers go about monetizing their blog all wrong: they plaster ad after ad all over their blog, trying so hard to make money online with their home business ventures. Of course this desperation manifests as overloading your blog, making the appearance to sales-ey, which of course scares off people quickly. Post plenty of white space around your blog posts and videos to move reader’s attention to the most important selling tool on your blog: your content. The know how and wisdom which you share is what makes or breaks your blog, and if you can help individuals on a persistent basis through posting your content you will definitely be able to grow your list and increase your sales online.
Post Your Opt In Form in Prominent Places to Grow Your List
Growing your online list is an absolute must if you plan to use blogging to bolster your internet marketing campaign. To do this you need to capture your blog reader’s information via a capture form or squeeze page. Make your opt in form easy to see on your blog. Maybe you can use a pop up form, or perhaps you can include a form in your sidebar to grow your list.
Being subtle is the opt in form kiss of death so make sure to be eye-catching and blatant when it comes to posting your form on your blog. If you post a text or picture banner which leads to your squeeze page, or capture page, make the form as attention-grabbing as possible to boost click throughs and grow your list. By being “in your face” about posting your opt in form or banner ad you can more easily grow your list and prosper with your opportunity.
Easy Ways To Spice Up Blog Post Pitches
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It isn’t enough to write a good pitch for a guest posting position anymore. There are so many writers looking to add their name to a new blog that you are forever facing a ton of competition. Standing out in that situation isn’t always easy. Sometimes it can even feel impossible, as blog owners skim emails and only read through the ones that catch their attention.
But that is the trick, right there: catching their attention. You have to capture their interest from the beginning and keep them hooked long enough to read your samples. Here are a few simple ways that you can spice up your pitch, and keep them interested.
- Include a post pitch. This seems like it would be a given, but a lot of people wait until getting an initial response before giving a potential topic for a guest post, or sample of an initial draft. Doing it right up front will get the process going, while giving them something interesting to consider.
- Only go for blogs you read. Spend some time reading up on a blog and seeing if you enjoy their posts. How will this help? You are much more likely to write a passionate and convincing pitch if you genuinely want to write for a site you already enjoy.
- Inject in a bit of personality. A great way to show you are a good fit for the blog is by showing who you are in your pitch. This is more than just reciting facts, it is about expressing yourself. Whether it is making a joke or two, or adding an emoticon, give it a bit of flare.
- Use keywords. You are more likely to catch their eye if you provide some keywords that they will relate to. For example, if they are a marketing blog you can use words like ‘branding’ or ‘SEO’.
That is all there is to it! Get started and right a great guest post pitch.
Easy Tips For Basic Web Design
Posted by: | CommentsThere are a multitude of new websites published daily, so why not have one of your own out there on the World Wide Web? If you are running a small business, have something to sell, or simply have a wealth of information to share your own website could be the way to do it. People publish a website for all kinds of reasons, some just for the experience of putting together and publishing a page. But the best reason you can have for running a site is to raise awareness, whether it be of a medical condition that gets little or no attention, a charitable cause to increase funding or to make the wider population aware of your product to increase sales and revenue. A well designed and well planned site can bring all kinds of rewards as a response to your hard work in creating it.
Simplicity is the Key
If you spend a little time browsing the biggest sites on the web you will notice that they all have something in common, their designs are all consistent, the colour schemes are all easy on the eye, and you will probably find that they are not stuffed full of flashing images, animations and music that plays annoyingly in the background. Their design is simple and clean, and that is what you need to have for your own site, simple doesn’t have to mean boring, but it does mean effective. Keep your information easy to read, and keep it fresh, Make sure that you publish regular updates so that your viewers will keep coming back for more. Try and be unique with your content, try not to just regurgitate the stuff that you have seen everywhere else. While it is good to have articles and information posts about topics or debates that are trending, it is important to bring the information to the public with your own unique twist.
Keep Your Audience In Mind
While it would be nice to be able to build a site that fills every one of your aesthetic requirements, your taste is not necessarily going to be the same as that of the rest of the population. Your favorite color may not be the easiest on the eye when applied to a web page template. Your favorite font may be difficult to read for those people with low vision. Think about the style features that you are going to use and ask yourself will they work for everyone? You may love your little animated gifs that you have running around the screen, but think of those users who do not have the super fast broadband connection that you have, or those that are trying to view the web using an older model of PC – complicated graphics take a lot longer to load over slower connections and with slower processors. If your page takes too long to fully load you may find that people click away from it and go somewhere else that works better for them. Try not to do things that will lose you visitors, go for the most audience friendly design than you can.
image: Mads Bødker – CC BY 2.0
Podcasts Remind Us Of The Power Of The Spoken Word
Posted by: | CommentsNote From Steve: This post is written by a guest blogger
According to standard advertising wisdom, marketing is a visual medium. Customers are supposed to respond well to logos, videos and infographics. In a world of social media, 140 character tweets and interactive websites, using the spoken word to advertise seems positively archaic.
The Power of the Podcast
The success of the podcast, an episodic audio recording, suggests otherwise. Users either stream podcasts online or download episodes for later listening. At least 29 percent of the population reports listening to podcasts.
The numbers are growing, as well. While 17.4 million Americans listened to at least one podcast in 2008, the number has more than doubled. Its expected 37.6 million people will download podcasts in 2013.
Podcast listeners tend to have disposable cash, with an average household income of at least $75,000. Mix all those numbers together and you can practically hear marketers’ ears pricking up.
Mobile Considerations
Why have podcasts become so popular? The answer may lie in our love affair with mobile devices. Phones are, after all, intended to be used as listening devices (although a case could be made that most smartphones have evolved past this definition).
Consumers can download podcasts to their phones or mp3 players for easy access. Want to learn how to install kitchen cabinet hardware? You can download a carpentry podcast and listen to it on the morning commute, while you’re grocery shopping or taking a walk.
Perhaps this explains the rise in podcast popularity. While a how-to video arguably does a better job of showing you how to do things, you have to give visual media all your attention. With audio-based information, you can do something else while you listen.
Podcasts and Businesses
Podcasts give company’s opportunity to develop a voice. Not just a consistent attitude or tone, but a real, identifiable voice. Think of the Geico gecko. You don’t need to see a visual to identify a Geico commercial: all you need is that distinctive voice.
A voice talking directly to consumers has great influence, as long as the speaker has something worthwhile to say. Consider what you want to share with listeners. Can you provide them with important and actionable information? Are you an expert in a particular field? Can you simply make your audience smile? All these provide options for audio content marketing.
Be Consistent
Successful podcasting requires consistency, as does any content marketing. The tone of your podcast should match that of your website, blog and social media. Integrate all mediums: link new podcasts through social media, ask Facebook fans for podcast ideas and release podcasts on a regular schedule.
Podcasts alone won’t make for a successful marketing campaign. Adding audio presentations to an existing campaign, however, is a sound strategy.
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Featured images:
- License: Creative Commons image source
6 Ways To Get Twitter Followers For Your Business
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Social media is being used everywhere, with the majority of Internet users accessing Facebook or Twitter on a daily basis. Use this to your advantage by improving business through Twitter, one of the most popular social media networks around. It is great for free advertising and for connecting with your customers.
1. Follow Others
If you only get one piece of advice from this post, it should be to follow others. A big mistake business owners make on Twitter is expecting followers without giving anything in return. However many people on Twitter only follow those that follow them. So by following others, you’re increasing how many people follow you.
2. Be Careful What You Tweet
Since this is your business Twitter account, be kind and respectful when tweeting. Don’t type or re-tweet anything that could be controversial or be against proper etiquette on social media networks. You don’t want to lose your followers for a pointless and disrespectful tweet.
3. Recommend Others
Don’t just make your posts about yourself and your business; help others by recommending their Twitter accounts or businesses. It helps to choose businesses related to yours, as there is a good chance they will return the favor.
4. Offer Discounts and Promotions
Offer exclusive deals, discount codes and promotions to your Twitter followers. This will get you immediate business and if they tell their friends about the promotion, you are bound to get dozens more followers with each promotion. Say you offer mobile notary services – try a Twitter coupon for just 10% off – you could get enough business to make it well worth your time. However, always notify your followers how many discounts you are willing to provide.
5. Make Your Words Count
Twitter only allows you 140 characters for each post which means you need to keep it brief. Over time, you will learn the best ways to get your point across and include links with a very short amount of space. Having trouble? Hire a writer or an SEO professional to help you with your microblogs.
6. Customize Your Profile
The best way to gather attention and work on your brand on Twitter is to customize your portfolio. This means not only changing your icon picture to a logo but also customizing the layout of your profile with colors matching your website page or another eye-catching layout. Every time someone visits your Twitter profile, they will notice and remember your logo as with other forms of branding.
Whether you are a gardener, an accountant or a retailer, using Twitter can help to expose you and your business to more customers. That means better sales and more profits for you.
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Featured images:
- License: Creative Commons image source
How To Write Better Marketing Emails
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Marketing emails continue to be one of the most important Internet marketing tools. Building your list is one thing, but you also need to create compelling emails that catch the attention of your readers. Even if they have all the right content, if they aren’t interesting people will either ignore your emails altogether or end up unsubscribing.
Here are some valuable tips to help you write better marketing emails.
The Subject Line
The subject line of your marketing emails is more important than you might think. You should make it interesting and lure in the reader to click on it. Email copy is all about the subject line. When writing your subject line, you want to briefly summarize what the email is about, including short keyword-enhanced phrases explaining the benefits of opening the email. Put yourself in the reader’s place and ask yourself what you would click on.
Speak to the Reader
When you get to the body of the email copy, write to the reader, speaking conversationally and in second person. Avoid first person as it’s like you’re talking about yourself and 3rd person is too formal. Second person has a good balance and makes the reader feel like they are part of the conversation. Use words like “you” and “your” as opposed to “I”. The exception would be to use a balance of “we” that implies you’re having a conversation together.
List the Benefits
Instead of listing the features of your new product or whatever the email is about, list the benefits instead. You want to explain to the reader what they will get by ordering this product or service, not simply showing the specs. If they want to know more about what it is, they will click your email link and go to the website. In the mail copy, you should be explaining how they benefit and what they will lose out on if they don’t choose to learn more about it.
Keep it Short
Nobody is going to sit there for an hour reading a 10-page long email copy and you shouldn’t be spending that much time writing it. Be as brief as you can while explaining the benefits or announcing new ideas for them to explore. It shouldn’t be more than what a single page would be on a document. Don’t forget to follow it up with a call-to-action.
Whether you are selling healthy vitamins or are a marketing firm specializing in offline media, you want your emails to grab attention and convert readers to buyers. These tips can help you to make all of your emails more compelling, engaging and successful.
By: Ian Lamont – CC BY 2.0
Can My Business Benefit From PPC?
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The question of whether or not the PPC (commonly referred to as pay-per-click) can benefit a business has been a widely discussed topic throughout the information technology, network marketing, affiliate advertising and general sociological spheres of society. A lot of people have been asking if search engine optimization actually works, as a lot of disenchanted website owners have recently stated that SEO has not lived up to their expectations. 
The key point to note about search engine optimization is that it is not the same for every particular market niche on the internet. When SEO first started, the industry was still fairly new and SEO was relatively undiscovered. As more and more people – particularly internet marketers – came across search engine optimization and how they could tweak SEO to boost their website rankings, a lot of companies started to expect instant results and see page one rankings from the off. However, when approved, white hat SEO methods are used to boost rankings, business should expect this process to be gradual.
The rather alarming statistic to note that a staggering 35% of business owners do not fully understand just how much search engine optimization can benefit their business. Whether it be SEO in Sydney, SEO in Birmingham or SEO in China, every business can see benefits from an effective search engine optimization campaign.
Whilst PPC (or pay-per-click) is the only sure fire way to guarantee page one results overnight by identifying specific keywords that a business wishes to target, a company can put a pay-per-click campaign in place, ensuring they appear on the first page when a search is made on Google for a specific term. However, the fundamental component of PPC is proper, white hat search engine optimisation, both on-site and off-site. For a high quality score on Adwords for each individual advert, it is imperative that your on-site content is valued, relevant, and has the correct proportion of keywords included. Google will take into account the structure of your site (layout, robots.txt file, xml sitemap), headings, title, meta and image alt tags, and all other content throughout the entire site.
Furthermore, Google will take into account how your site organically ranks for the chosen key terms when deciding on placement of paid ads. This makes sense because if your site has no quality material but you have plenty of finance to inject, you could in theory attempt to ‘buy’ that top spot by bidding a very high amount for that particular market, regardless of content. Google will however, recognize this when matching your ad and penalize as necessary.
Images: Nando Arruda – CC BY 2.0
Ten Things SEO’s Can Learn From Music Writers
Posted by: | CommentsNote From Steve: This post is written by a guest blogger
As an SEO, I’ve worked with various clients to optimize their websites and have mostly developed content for them. The challenges I’ve faced used to seem unique to SEO’s until I stumbled on an interesting similarity between SEO writers and music writers. Here are some tips I borrowed from music writers that helped me become more productive and creative as an SEO.
Look for inspiration
Music is all about inspiration. If you are writing music and you aren’t inspired, it’s probably going to suck at the very least. Musicians go to great lengths to find inspiration. They read books, watch movies, listen to music, travel, discover new things, etc. As an SEO, you need to do as much as you can to find inspiration in the same way too.
Define your goals
Music writers define their goals and work towards them, at least the successful ones do. They don’t just wake up one day and start writing a song and compiling an album with no idea where they are headed. Set your writing goals as an SEO then work towards them.
Seek more information
Ah, yes, you probably think you have this one down because you do a ton of research every day for your clients. Well, the information music writers seek has more to do with refining their song writing skills than researching a bunch of lyrics. For instance, find out how best to create a certain train of thoughts and write them down. Then see if you can repeat the process for different topics.
Do something different
Musicians are known for having very eccentric lifestyles and habits. Well, it comes with the territory. What many of them have found is that in order to keep the creative juices flowing, they have to keep their lives interesting. Try the same; it will work wonders for your creativity.
Follow your passions
Not everyone can be a rock musician or a jazz musician, they all have what they are passionate about and that is what they pursue. Same with you as an SEO; not everyone can service clients from the insurance industry or from the engineering fields. Find a niche you are passionate about and work in that direction; it will be easier to work and get better at what you do.
Take a walk
We SEO’s have the notorious habit of staying hunched over our computers for days on end. Writing this, optimizing that, analyzing the other; at some point, you forget you need some fresh air every so often. Down your tools and head out. The mind works better in open spaces and a fifteen minute walk will do more for clarity than another cup of coffee.
Be emotional
Yes, music is all about transmitting some emotion through your work and so is SEO. Well, you may be saying your work is not considered super creative and is mostly technical stuff. But you can still add a personal touch to it; make your readers aware that a real person is behind the piece, not some dumb robot.
Collaborate
When musicians want to stretch the limits of their artistic expression they collaborate. You will find most musicians work with either song writers or composers or rappers, etc. The main thrust for this is to on board as much diversity as possible. As an SEO you need to learn to work with other writers and SEO types. Whether in guest blogging or coauthored eBooks or white papers, the benefits of collaboration are manifold.
Carry a notebook
Inspiration and ideas come from the oddest places. Whether on your daily commute or over the weekend, getting ideas for your work is something music folk have mastered. They get lyric ideas from the darnest places and guess what, those songs end up becoming smash hits. So leave not that notebook behind and see the ideas piling up.
Have Fun
Lastly, have fun. Show me a musician who does not love and enjoy what they do and I’ll show you a musician who is washed up and headed to failure. Love what you do and have fun.
By: Sean MacEntee – CC BY 2.0
Get An Interesting And Interactive Website Made By Professionals
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The current trend in website designing is to make use of live actors to promote the contents of the website. There are several professional online video production companies that offer their services to customers. This is one innovative idea for you to look into if you intend to make money out off your website.
How to choose the right production company
A lot of information is available online, the reviews can help you shortlist a few of them and you can then decide on the best one that suits you based on your personal interaction. A good production team must be open to discussion with you, to get to know what you expect for your website and give in their latest updates, and to work in tandem to get the best results. Now a days, these service providers have start to finish solutions for all your website needs, but they can also get videos ready to be uploaded on your existing website too. Cost is a major factor while deciding the right production company, but if you want quality videos with experienced actors, you may just have to pay. However, it is money well spent, the video presenters will make quite an impact on your customers that you stand to gain from direct increase in business.
How to get the best video made
Online video production starts with the storyboard; this is where care must be taken to get a good script written. The script must never be too long to lose the attention of the viewer, precise and to the point information in clear language must be the main criteria. Too many messages can be confusing and so make different videos for different messages. Once the script is ready, select the right presenter, an experienced one is any day a plus point simply because, they create a rather natural feel to the whole video. They have the capacity to transform an outright marketing tool to something interesting and at the same time serve the purpose. Keep the videos short and sweet; in order to enjoy complete attention from the viewer, keep the duration from 5 to 8 seconds, lengthy videos that sound outright sales talk will drive away probable customers. Let the actor present the information and allow the visitor to take the final call, this has proven to be much more successful. Once these factors are taken care off, the producers then work on the video and deliver it to you for upload or they can give you the final website ready for your approval.
James is a writer and blogger with 5 years experience.
Images: Margaret Ornsby – CC BY 2.0
Beat The Competition With Email Marketing
Posted by: | CommentsNote From Steve: This post is written by a guest blogger
With the rising heat and the rising competition in the battlefield of business, you can get ahead of others and beat the heat through the use of email marketing. With the phenomenon of email marketing fast becoming one of the “hottest” topics within the marketing field, why not join the buzz and hire a company offering email marketing to get your business ahead of the pact.
Email services have surely eased the communication process, not as much as texting, but to a business, the use of emails email marketing has brought a whole new era for online marketing. What were limited to just advertisements have now become snazzy emails, designed to grab your attention and get you excited about the products of services a business is promoting. With an email marketing agency on board, you can “beat the heat” and “beat the competition”, making your marketing easier than ever as well as helping maintain a good relationship with a company’s clients.
If you want to get ahead of your competitors, you should enlist the help of a digital marketing agency to help you create a great email marketing campaign that can be sent to your entire contact list informing them of all the amazing services, products and promotions you have to offer. Whilst email marketing can be simply used to reach your target audience, this doesn’t mean you should go it alone! Think about how many emails you receive on a daily basis and delete without reading or even opening. Email marketing has become an increasingly important element of the marketing field and has also urged people to gain skills and expertise in it. These people call themselves email marketing experts and as suggested by their name, they are experts in email marketing and can do anything related to it. So, why not make the most of these expertise and hire an expert offering email marketing in Leicester, Birmingham or London to help with your campaign. The field of email marketing is too “hot” to handle at the minute so you should get as much help as you can in order to fully maximise the potential of your campaign
You can use email marketing in any way you wish because, not only is it direct, targeted and instant, but, best of all, sending emails is free! With these perks of email marketing, you can use this method of advertising to your advantage!
By: Sean MacEntee – CC BY 2.0
