Power Of Keywords In Affiliate Marketing

In order to increase my online income, I thought of getting into affiliate marketing. I signed up for a relationship related product, the one that helps people get back their ex. It seems to be a good product because many are promoting it as well and the reviews say that the customers asking for refund ie. unsatisfied customers are very less. So I signed up for their affiliate training program, ie. they send emails every now and then about how to promote their product.

Today I received an interesting email about choice of keywords for selling. It said that people who search phrase contains MY are more likely to buy that product. People who want to get back their ex would be searching the web with search phrases like how to get your ex back and how to get your ex boyfriend/girlfriend back. But few people search using the word my instead of yours in the search phrases like how to get my ex back. These people are more likely to buy that product.

Why? I can only conclude this it natural that most people search for such products in second person as these products are overwhelmingly advertised in such a away. Like how to reduce your weight to how to increase your height. People have a tendency to search like this because they have been bombarded with ads and messages like that. But someone truly in pain will use the word my to get their ex back due to their state of mind and so are more likely to buy that product.

Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com

About the Author:
View my blog where I have originally written this article- Techyoyo.

2. Free List Building Tool from Veremail
Free List Building Tool from Veremail

Veremail is perfect for your email lists, verification processing and mass-email needs. It offers the very latest in easy-to-use features, while maintaining delivery and price standards that are unsurpassed. This intuitive web-based list management solution is ideal for lists ranging in size from one thousand subscribers to ten million and beyond, and assures that list owners enjoy verifiable verification security, maximum control over delivery, name management and messaging.

Why it works: Permission emailing works because it embraces today's marketing paradigm. It's based upon trust and personal preferences. Because permission emailing is customer-centric, it puts the customer in control.

Permission email marketing safeguards the recipients rights by requiring that they confirm their interest in receiving email before they are sent any messages. They must agree to receive communication by signing up from an incoming verification email requesting they verify by clicking on a specific link, thereby capturing the IP address, routing information and guaranteeing that the procedure was done by the owner of that email without question. Referred to as verification opt-in, the recipients verification data is stored indefinitely in a searchable database and this database keeps track of the recipients actions. They may unsubscribe at any time and all email messages are clearly identified as coming from the approved sender.

It is effective because the medium of the Internet is really about persuasion - and persuasion is based on permission. It's easier to sell products and services to people who have given permission. And equally important, it is cost effective. Profits increase when you increase sales and spend fewer marketing dollars. That is where permission email marketing comes in. It provides a better return on investment (ROI).

Advantages of permission based email over traditional forms of direct marketing: Delivers your offer to receptive audiences that have already expressed an interest in the topic of your message. Low cost: Compared to other forms of direct marketing, email marketing is significantly less expensive. Fast and efficient: Traditional direct marketing programs can take months to create and implement. Then, you wait another few months to analyze the results in order to determine success. By contrast, permission email marketing campaigns can be executed in days. Easy to test, track and evaluate: Email is an ideal testing medium, offering a range of measurable events. Email enables you to test different list sources, combinations of interest categories and creative approaches. High response typically, permission email campaigns result in significantly better response rates than traditional direct marketing or other types of online advertising.

3. Get Paid with Leadsomatic Leads Generation System
Get Paid with Leadsomatic

Have you checked out Leadsomatic yet?

This is an incredible tool that you can use to submit your advertisement out to over 2 Billion websites!!!

But that's not all... in addition to being a powerful marketing tool, Leadsomatic includes a very profitable affiliate program Now be honest... how many online marketers do you think would be interested in a tool like this? All of them! The reality is that there just isn't anything else out there that can touch the value of the Leadsomatic service. It's just $10/month for full access to The Hammer submission tool - which you can use to blast ads out to over 2 billion websites... as often as you want!

If you haven't signed up for free, just click Submit Your URLs

In addition to using the tool yourself, you'll get paid a commission each month for every single person you refer to the system. In addition to getting paid direct commissions, you'll receive "1 share" of the powerful Profit Pool each month for every single person you refer. The Profit Pool is then divided each month by the total number of shares and added to your direct commissions! But it doesn't stop there... by simply starting to promote this incredible marketing tool, you can quickly attract enough signups to qualify for the Infinity Bonus - which gives you an additional "1 share" of the Profit Pool for every single person in your entire downline - all the way to infinity! (For complete details, see the Leadsomatic website.)

BUT... how are you going to generate traffic and get all of these signups? Simple, by becoming a Leadsomatic affiliate you'll get the world's most advanced online marketing system for FREE to help you promote your own Leadsomatic website. Live, hands-on training is available all day long, every day from REAL PEOPLE who will teach you the incredibly simple steps required to turn your own lead generation system into high gear!

Don't wait another minute! There is a community of people just like you using this awesome system right now. Come join us and see what all the excitement is about!

Sincerely,

Don Jeffre
http://revenue4u.veretekk.com


4. Updated Bing Webmaster Tools
Updated Bing Webmaster Tools

Today, Bing launched the redesigned Bing Webmaster Tools. The updated tools are a result of feedback from webmasters and SEO communities, where Bing learned that transparency, more control and more information are what webmasters want the most.

The redesigned Bing Webmaster Tools provide you a simplified, more intuitive experience focused on three key areas: crawl, index and traffic. New features include:

Silverlight 4 Capabilities: To offer a richer customer experience, the new tools take advantage of Microsoft Silverlight 4 to deliver rich charting functionality that will help you quickly analyze up to six months of crawling, indexing, and traffic data.

Index Explorer and Submit/Block URL: Both features provide a more comprehensive view as well as better control over how Bing crawls and indexes sites. Index Explorer: Index Explorer gives Webmasters unprecedented access to browse through the Bing Index in order to verify which of their directories and pages have been indexed.

Submit/Block URLS: Submit URLs gives Webmasters the ability to signal which URLs Bing should add to its Index and Block URLs allows you to block specific URLs from appearing in Bing Search Engine Results Pages.

For more information about the redesigned tools, check out the Bing blog post. Additionally, this morning, Satya Nadella, SVP of Bing Engineering, provided an informal update on the Yahoo! transition on the Bing Community Blog.

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources Updated Bing Webmaster Tools

5. Add URL to Google



Spam free verification...
Inetekk built the standard to prevent abuse and comply with the anti spam advocates! We agree! Spam infuriates, offends, and intrudes. The core issue is the violation of privacy. Veremail is a legitimate, bulk mailing system. Veremail is a verification, double opt in system. Veremail has 3rd party verifiability. Veremail is the core system that makes everything work in Veretekk. So what exactly is Veremail? We built it back in 1998. It took two years to perfect it. Veremail is two primary systems. The Veremail that works within the entire Veretekk system makes sure all subscriptions are verified and all submissions get a clearly defined and legitimate verification email. This background Veremail runs the suppression list. When Veretekk sends out an email and it returns undelivered, Veremail purges that email address from the Veretekk system. When a recipient receives a legitimate email from Veretekk and that recipient claims Spam, Veremail proves they verified and accepted the agreement to receive such email! When a recipient wants to opt out, the Veremail system automatically purges their email address and adds them to the Veremail suppression list so they never receive another email from the entire Inetekk system, even further Verification requests. I have tried other autoresponder systems.  

is a part of Veremail...
EStrange uses the Veremail servers to verify your secondary address when you set this service up. We do this to prevent the inadvertent mistake of putting the wrong email address in. Imagine how upset the wrong person would be if all of a sudden they started receiving your massive incoming email being sent via the secondary address!

is a part of Veremail...
All autoresponders run through the Veremail system. All outgoing, verified email, carries the Veremail proof of verification information, automatically, in the autoresponders footers, along with unsubscribe Veremail scripts.

is a part of Veremail...
All email sent to your Stealth mail addresses are DNS checked (the return email address root domain is checked with the DNS record of the out going mail server). If it checks out to be valid, the incoming email address is captured to receive autoresponders via the Bully Pulpit system. The incoming email is then forwarded to your secondary email address in your Estrange Control panel. All autoresponder messages carry the DNS trail and the Subject and Title of the incoming email it is being sent to. This is a primary Veremail function.

is a part of Veremail...
All email sent to your Vanity mail address are DNS checked (the return email address root domain is checked with the DNS record of the out going mail server). If it checks out to be valid, the incoming email address is captured to receive autoresponders via the Bully Pulpit system. The incoming email is then forwarded to your secondary email Address in your Estrange Control panel. All autoresponder messages carry the DNS trail and the Subject and Title of the incoming email it is being sent to. This is a primary Veremail function.

is a part of Veremail...
All Sequential email that is being sent out, only sends to your verified database and carries all tracking and verification information in the footer of the outgoing sequential email including unsubscribe instructions.

Veremail Gold...
All Veretekk Gold systems have Veremail Gold. Veremail Gold dove tails into your Veretekk Gold Bully Pulpit. With Veretekk.com the Affiliate program the two Gold services are included when you upgrade to Veretekk Gold.

Veremail Standalone service....
Veremail, the retail service, is a Traffic Profit portal that Veretekk Gold subscribers can promote. It is a stand alone, Bulk mailing service, that incorporates the Bully Pulpit together within the Veremail service. Not only does Veremail.com retail service deliver Premium leads, it also pays monthly commissions to you when a new subscriber joins it.  There is nothing else like Veremail to keep in contact with people, share relevant newsletters, and any other ways that you decide to promote your business on Google.  Automatic responders free up your valuable time and magnify your efforts significantly.

Try Veretekk absolutely free! See it in action first, then decide if you want to upgrade.

 That's it! It is free to join and you can even build a great income with the free system. Fill out the simple form below. By the way, the free system really is free for life! What do you have to lose?

It’s the latest domain name extension to be opened to the public worldwide. Domain name registrars have been hyping the “.CO Landrush” and have even extended this “pre-registration” period an additional three days, to July 16.

In the days of the 1849 California Gold Rush, more miners went bust than boom when seeking that elusive gem stone. Will .CO turn out to be another case of Fool’s Gold?

The fee to reserve a .co name during the Landrush ranges from about $230 to $300 for the first year. I wonder what all the fuss is about. Do business owners who already have their .COM name really need to add a .CO version? And if you really do, can you wait for the general availability period and grab it at a less excessive price ($30 after July 20)?

Or better yet, should you ignore the hype and wait a year or two for the price to settle down to a more reasonable rate like $15 a year?

Let’s look at the hype and the history behind .CO. The .CO domain name extension is the country code of Columbia and this year for the first time, registration has opened to anyone in the world. A partnership between a Columbian and an American company called .CO Internet SAS administers the name. The company is not under the jurisdiction of ICANN (the organization that manages the assignment of domain names) but they have agreed to follow ICANN guidelines.

Domain name registrars are calling .CO a “secure, sought-after domain.” They say it’s “poised to become the world’s next premier web address.” Hmmm. Didn’t I hear that about the .BIZ domain name a few years ago?

.CO’s offering to the world was phased in starting with existing registrants and Colombian trademark owners. We’re now in the soon-to-end Landrush phase, where anyone who doesn’t mind paying the aforementioned high price can reserve a .CO name. But if more than one person applies for the same name, ownership will be decided through an auction. In this case, the loser’s money (minus an application charge) will be refunded.

Ay-yi-yi, is it worth all the fuss? Reminds me of a similar hype when .BIZ was created in 2001 as the first of a group of new ICANN- approved domain names. It was touted as the ultimate name for business websites and predicted to become widely adopted as a recognizable domain name extension. It was also expensive.

Now we see the price of a .BIZ name has decreased to the same level as .COMs — but its popularity and recognition is nowhere near the universally accepted.COM.

So rush if you must. But if you can wait until July 20, you’ll face a lot less buyer’s remorse should .CO turn out to be a gold miner’s curse — just another flash in the pan.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reesa Marchetti is the Founder and President of Sheer Domain Names, a division of Sheer Web LLC providing web design and hosting solutions since 1998.

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

.CO Domain Names Landrush: Boom or Bust?

7. How to Use Magnetic Marketing to Massively Multiply the Results of Your Advertising
How to Use Magnetic Marketing to Massively Multiply the Results of Your Advertising
By: Carina MacInnes

It works without fail, every time. It can work with everything you are selling or promoting. It works on the principle of giving before receiving, and of offering more in value than you are getting in cash. Your prospect must perceive an increase for themselves in order to want to interact with you. Magnetic marketing is the technique that does this. Then this same technique is used to convert a prospect to a sale or business partner.

What is magnetic marketing? It is a process of attracting leads to you by offering them something of value first. Using ezine classified advertising and solo ads for an example, don't try to close the deal all at once by attempting to drive your prospect to your website. Instead, start by giving the targeted prospect an offer they can't refuse.

Using my own business ad copy as an example, here is an ad I ran before I had put the magnetic marketing technique together for this business that is an example of NON magnetic marketing:

Catch the Buzz - Discover Revolutionary Health and Wealth! As seen on TV Superfood is now yours to use and make $$ with Low cost! No personal sponsoring to make money! No minimum! Weekly Pay, 100% Matching Bonus, 2x7 matrix, Incredible Team Visit and learn more right now: acai-4life.com

Admittedly, the ad copy is not my best, written off the cuff right when I had started with this new company. However this kind of advertising can and does work, don't get me wrong! The thing is, it is only a trickle of results compared to the massive results you can get by incorporating magnetic marketing into your business model.

The main problem with this and so many other ads is: they all really want the prospect to get excited and 'click here' without offering anything in return to really motivate them.

For about $50 my ad ran and is right now still running to about 6 million ezine subscribers - with an audience that is mostly small business and internet related. I got and am still getting that trickle of results.

Now how about transforming it into a magnetic marketing campaign?

Take that same $50 and micro-target your audience. Since my company pays quite well with retail sales I could find health-related ezines. Then you can either purchase classified ads or solos. Even with a small subscriber base of two or three thousand, you will get a lot of leads and sales. Your new magnetic marketing will now have ad copy reading something more like this:

Did you know Free Radicals Accelerate Aging and Cause Cancer? Discover everything you NEED to know about the massive damage they cause, & the most essential antioxidants needed to fight them. Learn little known secrets of health, anti-aging and disease prevention in this free e-course: vitalhealth@robotreply.com

(If you like, you can subscribe, the email address and series are real).

What makes this ad now magnetic is that instead of trying to 'make the sale' of even driving your prospect to your website right away, your prospect now has the drive to contact you. In doing this, they become your lead.

They want to receive valuable information on a topic that interests them. They are plugged into your autoresponder and at the bottom of each valuable article in the series you send them, you drive them to your website. They now see you as a valuable provider of information and are more inclined to visit your website and do business with you.

Magnetic marketing works in any type of business or niche category. Give it a try. Put together some relevant content and make a valuable series for your prospects to subscribe to. Your business provides the solution to someone's problem. Create a series of informative articles, reports, or ebooks that provides in depth information on the problem and solution.

Create an ad that addresses that problem, and propels the prospect to obtain the vital information you will give them for free that is the solution to their problem. Apply this to your marketing campaigns - by offering something of value to your prospects your magnetic marketing will massively multiply your advertising responses, leads and sales.

Author Bio
Carina MacInnes is a writer and small business owner. She offers a customized model of magnetic marketing for her partners to copy. Her unique product has the most powerful natural Brazilian antioxidants and nutrients for anti-aging and revitalized health. For info on how to make money using and distributing this product, click here: imagineacai.com

Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com - Free Website Content

8. Save Money With Open Source Software
Save Money With Open Source Software
 
Most business owners spend a lot of money on proprietary software, but is it a valid expense? While some cases require proprietary software, there are other cases in which businesses can utilize alternatives. As explained in the video report on the left, there are alternatives that are both free and open source.

Is proprietary software a valid expense?

Since many businesses use Microsoft Office, first on the list of options is Open Office. This software includes programs for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, databases, and more. The interface is very similar to Microsoft Office and other similar office suites.

GnuCash is another alternative that is a free accounting software. With this software, users can track income, expenses, bank accounts, and stocks. Other features include the monitoring of accounts payable, accounts receivable, and detailed reporting. Users can also import data from programs such as Microsoft Money and Quicken and can export data to spreadsheets such as Microsoft Excel.

Thirdly, GIMP serves as an open source substitute for Photoshop. Although not as comprehensive as the Adobe product, GIMP does allow users to produce simple Web graphics, modify product photos, and create flyers and other marketing materials. GIMP's interface is very similar to Photoshop's interface and all the images created can be saved in a variety of formats.

Last but not least is Zimbra. This software is a free collaboration suite that serves as a high-level email program. It provides email, calendar, document storing and editing, instant messaging, and easy-to-use administrative controls. The open source edition of Zimbra also integrates with other email clients such as Outlook and Apple Mail. As mentioned earlier, all these programs are free and are compatible with most common operating systems. By using them, businesses could see significant savings in investments and maintenance costs.

On the flip side, savings should not be the only motivation for utilizing this software. A business should be able to function just as it would with proprietary software. Fortunately, since it is free, businesses have adequate time to test the software before they make a complete transfer.

How does your business view these open source alternatives?


About the Author:
Abby Johnson is a Video Reporter/Anchor for SmallBusinessNewz.


9. Why Should I Give You My Email Address?
Why Should I Give You My Email Address?

Every day I get more spam in in inbox than I do legitimate email, and unfortunatly much of that comes from email lists that I have subscribed to, offering me everything from growing my bank account, to growing various parts of my anatomy. So I find myself asking, “if I subscribe to another list, will I get more of the same?”

Not a day goes by when I do not open my email and learn about a guy from central America who was $5,297 in debt who goes on to amass a fortune of $297,613 within 30 days by simply following this or that formula.

So much of the email I receive is spam, however a large percentage of it is from “reputable” marketers who are simply trying to get a couple more dollars of affiliate commission out of my wallet.

Let’s be honest. Most of these claims and sales letters are bogus… as proof, you are shown screen shots of their ClickBank accounts (which can easily be doctored using a graphics program) saying this is how much they earnt in the last month.

To be honest, I am sick to death of people trying to sell me the latest “magic pill” every second day. I subscribed to their list because they promised me a solution to my problem at the time. But many marketers seem to think that that gives them a license to email me links to just about every product that is available on ClickBank.

Now I know this is a common newbie mistake, and a certain amount of patience must be exercised. (Or at least unsubscribe from their list). However, more and more I am being bombarded with the latest offer from reputable marketers.

Now I know the money is in the list, and as a marketer I know it is easier to sell a product to an existing customer then to a complete stranger, however. Giving more than we receive is always the first rule of sales, regardless of whether you are online or offline.

Email Marketing should be all about giving! It should not be about building a list and selling to them all of the time.

I often get the impression that when a new subscriber signs up, the mentality is Sell, Sell, Sell….

Your list is there because they took the gamble in trusting in you. They signed up, because for some strange reason, they thought you had more to give than you had to sell.

Personally, I have subscribed to more lists than I care to remember, and after a couple of emails, I have just as quickly unsubscribed.

Being sold to all of the time is the quickest way to get me to unsubscribe from your email list. I subscribe to a list because I am after some information, not to become a open target for ever second offer that comes along.

I believe good email marketing is about building a trust between you and your recipients. You need to share more information than you try to sell them.

Now don’t get me wrong. I know in Internet Marketing it is often said that the money is in the list. And I couldn’t agree more. However, I would like to add that they money is in the list that trusts and respects you.

It is not good practive to build your list, and then just bombard your subscribers with the latest Clickbank offers… Yes you will sell a couple of products, but the majority of you list will either delete your email of unsubscribe from your list.

As I have learnt in the real world, “Sales is all about relationships.” You need to build a relationship with your customer. You need to understand what your customers wants and needs. You need to be looking at solutions, not just sales.

Do this and you will add far more to your bottom line than you will if you simply try to sell your client with every second email.

So what is a good balance???

I have heard that for every “Sales” email you send, you should send 3 content email. I would like to go further than that and say for every “Sales” email you send, send at least 5 content emails.

You will get far better results from your list if you give more than you take

So why should I give you my email address?? It is because I trust that you have more to give than take….

To Your Success,

Rob Willis

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For more information about building a more responsive email list feel free to visit Secrets to Building a Profitable Optin List, Where you can get simple step buy step information on creating a responsive list. http://affiliatesitelauncher.com/listsecrets/

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

Why Should I Give You My Email Address?

10. How To Start Your Home Based Business

How To Start Your Home Based Business

The benefits to having your own home based business are very exciting. You can be your own boss! You decide when you want to work. You go to work straight from the bedroom. Not having to deal with traffic, rude clients or demanding bosses can be quite a relief.

But wait a minute, have you seriously thought about what kind of small home based business opportunity you should bank your future on?

Before you start your own small home based business, do the following and you'll get your home based business off to a good start.

What marketable skills do you have that you can use to work from home? Some examples of people who have made a good transition to home based businesses are accountants, sewers, teachers as tutors or educators of toddlers, musicians who teach musical instruments, etc... If you have a skill, you can market it and have a home based business.

What's your capital and operating budget? Even businesses from homes need capital investment. Find out what your home based business needs. It can be as simple as having space for office files and to meet clients. Your home based business still needs the veneer of professionalism.

How do you get clients for your own based business? You can start with your present company. Some companies are happy to pay for outsourcing services. The specialist they've hired is knowledgeable about them and can be trusted. From there you can add on more clients.

Advertising and promoting your home-based business is crucial. That's right...even if it's a small home based business, you'll need to advertise and promote. Print your business cards on the home printer, and distribute them. Or put your company details on a promotional calendar and give it away for the holidays. These are small things to do for your home based business, but they do make a big difference.

Lastly, add up your monthly expenses and check your savings and insurance. When your home based business starts, you may not gross enough. Make a projected budget and see what the bare minimum you can live on while the home based business is just starting out.

By doing your research on home based business opportunities and educating yourself on the various scenarios, you'll set yourself up for success. For you'll be better equipped on solving future problems such as competition taking business from you, low cash flow and any other problem that may crop up as your home based business grows.

Reference: http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/resources/article.php?mcid=1&scid=12&aid=1258

Author Bio
Find out how you can make $1000 per sale in one of the hottest home based businesses! Check out RunAdsForCash.com

Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com - Free Website Content

Business Podcast Marketing Case Study Shows How Podcasting Delivers Dramatic Results for Client. Podcasting has significant business marketing potential. If the business podcast strategy and online visibility plan is properly executed; podcasting has the potential to be a marketing tool that delivers great marketing results.

The professional business marketers over at marketingsherpa.com have just released a new case study titled "How to Use a Podcast to Promote a White Paper That Generates New Business Sales Leads". This case study is about how Bearing Point used podcasting to promote a white paper and saw sign up rates of over 30% versus a traditional 10%. This is a 200% increase over traditional marketing techniques.

Here is a short excerpt: "Dunay wasn't sure if the podcasts would be a hit or not, especially as his key prospects tend to be fairly conservative. So he didn't roll out trumpets and strobe lights for the launch.

Instead, the team posted the podcasts and announcements at several related sites including Podblaze.com, FreshPodcasts.com, and iTunes (all of which currently promote podcasts for free.) They also rolled out a press release and an email announcement to the house list. Their first podcast launched quietly July 29, 2005.

RESULTS
Joy and exultation! Hundreds of executives downloaded the podcasts. Dunay had hoped that 10% of podcast listeners would respond to the white paper download offer. Instead, 30% did..."

This is a great example of how marketing professionals should and could be using podcasting to help their business. This is the future of podcasting, Podcasting is going to become a marketing tool that communicates, educates and drives listeners to action. In this case the action was to download a white paper and effectively generate leads.

I have been trying to inform the business markets of this trend for the past 9 months. I discussed this very scenario in a Podcasting White Paper that was released a few months back. Read the full case study at MarketingSherpa.com

Experienced online marketing professionals that have expertise in the areas of podcast production, strategy, and visibility such as www.LeveragedPromotion.com can help your business achieve these same levels of results. Just creating a podcast in a vacuum of space is the wrong strategy. Make sure that you achieve maximum exposure for your podcasts so that they can deliver measurable marketing results.

Author Bio
Rodney Rumford has over 18 years of experience in the technology field. He has held management positions in Marketing, Business Dev, Enterprise Consulting, Sales and Engineering. He does corporate consulting in the areas of RSS & Podcasting strategy, execution and marketing. He has developed software solutions in the areas of RSS Feeds, Podcasting and PPC Advertising. He is the CEO of The Info Guru LLC., which operates several web properties that include: http://www.podblaze.com

Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com

12. Relationship Marketing 101: Blogging and Inbound Marketing
Relationship Marketing 101: Blogging and Inbound Marketing

Posted: 24 May 2010 09:08 AM PDT

One of the most effective inbound marketing strategies available for businesses, online and offline, both in terms of cost of implementation and in overall return on investment (ROI), is blogging. Why has business blogging become so important as an inbound marketing strategy? There are a variety of reasons. Blogging is conversation, it’s personable, and it’s informative. Blogging is attractive for both online and offline (i.e., brick and mortar) businesses because consumers (i.e., customers, clients, and patients) feel they are being told a story rather than sold a product or service; and, no one wants to be “sold!”

Significantly, clients and prospective clients become part of the conversation by reading the blog posts and leaving their thoughts and feelings in the form of comments.

Who doesn’t like being asked their opinion?

And, what business owner wouldn’t pay big money to know what his target audience is thinking, as well as what they react to and why?

A blog is a great way to show the world your expertise, thus establishing authority and demonstrating your competence in the marketplace and to your target market. People like to do business with business people they know, like, and trust. Prospective clients are drawn to businesses and business people who are experts in their field. Demonstrating competence enhances your image and makes the prospective client feel confident about their decision to purchase from you…you, as the expert in your field.

When properly constructed and implemented, an effective business blogging strategy is an incredibly valuable asset. Blogging for business is crucial, whether the business is entirely online or a combination of both, as is the case with most brick and mortar businesses today.

When organized and well written, a blog conveys the ultimate Internet image, an image that announces:

“This business is well run, this is a business I can do business with!”

A well thought out, well constructed blog, combined with an effective overall inbound marketing strategy, conveys a message, an image if you will, that this business owner is knowledgeable and cares enough to seek feedback about products and/or services offered from his or her clients and prospective clients.

A wise business owner values feedback, realizing there is always room for improvement, both in sales and service. Why not ask for feedback from the very people who use the product or service day in and day out? A blog can accomplish this for a business, creating a link both valuable and, ultimately, profitable. The feedback a blog offers is an often over-looked advantage; and yet, it is an incredibly powerful resource.

Significantly, the proper blogging strategy will provide a window into the thinking of your client-base and create a vehicle you may then use to improve your products and/or service.

The feedback from your business blog will also provide ideas and strategies for new products and services. Interestingly, you may even be able to gain a competitive advantage by learning what your clients and prospective clients like and dislike about your competitors, their products and services. Perhaps it’s a product or service you don’t provide but should? Perhaps it’s something to do with price? The blog provides the vehicle, the opportunities are there; and, it is up to the individual business owner to take advantage of them. A well constructed inbound marketing strategy, one that has at its center a well-thought-out and appropriately implemented blogging strategy, will put your business on track to accomplish all of the above and more.

One last word about inbound marketing, blogs, and blogging for business: photographs, audio recordings, and short videos are worth their weight in gold. If you aren’t the greatest writer, and don’t have the money in the budget to hire a good copywriter, also worth their weight in gold, a photograph or short video can help you tell your business’ story. With today’s technology, a photograph, audio, and/or video is easy to create and it’s often the first item to catch the attention of a visitor to your blog.

It’s worth taking some time each day to blog. Think of it as going out to talk to the man on the street. Think of it as time well spent. You will find it to be a great investment in time and effort, the ultimate in ROI.

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What is The Ultimate Internet Image? The ultimate online presence entails merging Internet “inbound” marketing with traditional “outbound” marketing. In doing so UII has created a revolutionary approach to marketing. UII is the next-step, establishing your business as a force in your competitive niche, as well as in your community, online or offline. John Zajaros The Ultimate Internet Image

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

Relationship Marketing 101: Blogging and Inbound Marketing

13. Facebook Location Features Will Unlock More Potential for Businesses
Facebook Location Features Will Unlock More Potential for Businesses

By Chris Crum - Mon, 05/10/2010 - 4:12pm.

Facebook Location Features Coming Soon

We've talked about multiple ways Facebook can help your business online, and that is not limited to online businesses, although selling through Facebook is becoming easier and easier thanks to application developers like Payvment.

Facebook is getting ready to start offering location-sharing features. It's not certain exactly when this will happen, but reports have suggested that it will be before the month is over. Code within Facebook's touchscreen interface has been discovered that will place a "Places" tab on Facebook user profiles.

"This will be the biggest thing to happen to local businesses since paid search," says Ian Schafer at AdAge. "The ability to leverage frequent visits to their locations to passively and actively influence others to do the same, deliver special offers, or redirect local foot traffic at a moment's notice can lead to a direct, measurable impact on in-store sales and word-of-mouth."

If you thought Foursquare had some good opportunities for local businesses, consider that at last count (months ago at this point) Facebook had over 400 million users.

Location sharing is an increasingly growing trend, and is influencing how people access information. It's also playing more of a role in search. With or without search, Facebook participating is a game changer.

Foursquare alone just surpassed 40 million check-ins. I could see Facebook surpassing that in a week.

Let's not forget that Facebook is also sending brick and mortar businesses decals to promote their Facebook pages.

Facebook has been a good way for businesses to engage with their customers in the past, and now there are an increasing number of ways to do this. One app will let you add an actual Support tab to your Page.

14. Dummies Guide To Facebook Marketing
Dummies Guide To Facebook Marketing

Posted: 03 May 2010 10:34 PM PDT

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past 4 years, you would know how popular and widely used Facebook is today.

Just a few short years ago, you had to encourage all your family and friends to join this social networking website (just after others convinced you to join). Nowadays, it’s rare to find someone who hasn’t got a Facebook account.

At last count, there were over 350 million users on Facebook and this number is continuing to grow. It overtook MySpace as the number 1 social networking website on the planet last year and is just behind Google when it comes to online traffic. You are then able to understand how important Facebook marketing has become for all websites.

It’s Not A Pitch Zone

The most important thing to remember about social media is that it is not a place to blatantly and endlessly pitch your product or service. If you do this, then you will not get any favours from social media users and will get largely ignored and even bad reviews.

What social media is used for is for building relationships with potential clients. There are a number of ways you can do this:

you can post helpful information (links) where you help them solve a problem you can personally chat with them and assist them you can create content addressing the needs of users and posting it The bottom line is that you want to be seen as genuine and helpful. This way, word can get out that you’re the real deal and before you know it, people will become interested in what you have to offer in terms of products and services.

Of course, the things you share on social networking sites such as Facebook shouldn’t be the nitty gritty stuff that you have to offer. You should share helpful information in the form of teasers that will interest people enough to ask and wonder if there’s more. Offering free stuff is great for getting attention too.

How To Market On Facebook

The great thing about Facebook is that from the outset, it has encouraged all users to use the website as a means of sharing information and marketing whatever they please. As a consequences, it has created various ways for users to do this. You are not obliged to use every single one of them but a combination of them can only improve your Facebook marketing.

Pages

This is probably the marketing tool out there on Facebook. On its website Facebook describes Pages as “a public Profile that enables you to share your business and products with Facebook users.” It is specifically designed for promoting a business and everything it has to offer. People can then become a Fan of your page and when they do this, they let their friends know that they’ve become a Fan of your page via their News Feed. The potential for your Page to gain a lot of popularity in a small period of time is great.

Of course, it all depends on the content you put out there for people to use. You need to give them a reason to become a Fan of your Page and a reason for them to keep being one.

Events

This allows to create events to be held at a certain date and time. Depending on what type of business you are, you can create one to be held locally or internationally. It can be any one of the following:

seminar – it should be introductory and free but you could promote a paid one too
webinar – an online seminar and where anyone worldwide can join
product/service launch – you may be about to launch a product or service and this is a way to gain attention The best part about creating an event on Facebook is that it can go viral and before you know it people will be attending your event in droves.

Advertising

Finally, about a year ago, Facebook introduced an advertising service where people can put ads promoting their website or their Facebook Page and they pay per click (PPC) or impression (CPM). It works in a similar way to Google Adwords.

The best thing is that you can target your bads based on both geographical locations and social actions. For example, if you were a wedding photographer and wanted to promote your services, your ads can be set up to appear only to females between the ages of 24 and 30 and whose relationship statuses indicate they are engaged.

It must be noted, however, that Facebook Advertising is still in beta mode which only means that it will only improve in the near future.

Embrace Facebook

If you wanted to market your website online, you would be absolutely nuts not to use Facebook marketing as one of your key strategies. Just be careful not to get caught up in it too much because it can become a very time consuming activity.

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Martin Sejas is a leading online marketing consultant based in Sydney who specialises in helping local business use their websites to get more clients. Register for a free consultation today.

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

Dummies Guide To Facebook Marketing

15. Don't Waste Your Customers' Time with Your Site
Don't Waste Your Customers' Time with Your Site
Chris Crum | Staff Writer April 11, 2010

If you've ever analyzed your website's bounce rate, you may have found problems with people leaving before they get through the buying process. Have you noticed that a lot of people left your site at the point where they have to fill out a form? This may be because you're asking for too much information.

By this, I don't necessarily mean that you're asking for information that people don't want to share for personal reasons. Perhaps you're just asking for too much in general. You're taking up too much of the customer's time.

Time is an incredibly valuable thing these days, when consumers have much more information coming into their lives than ever before, particularly online. People have news feeds, Facebook, email, online video, search, and plenty of other things to take up their online time. Sure, shopping is one of these things, and you may fit into that, but it doesn't change the fact that time is a factor.

Essentially, it should be as quick and painless as possible from the point where a customer reaches your site, finds what they're looking for, and buys it.

"For instance, if you have an email form and you're collecting email addresses to put them on your email newsletter, you may ask their name, their interests, their email address, have some checkboxes - where did you hear about us...thinking that that's just a normal field, but when someone looks at it, they say, 'I don't really want to spend the time to fill that out,'" says Brandon Eley, author of the book Online Marketing Inside Out.

"Reducing the number of form fields that you put on a form dramatically increases the number of people who will actually fill it out," he adds. "So only ask for the information that you really need. The same goes for a check-out process or a registration process. Make it as simple and concise as you can, and you'll really increase those conversions."

In addition, it is a good idea, if you run an e-commerce site, that you have a consistent navigation system in place throughout the site, so customers can always get to what they are looking for without having to look for how to look for it. Have a search box on every page. Don't make it hard on the customer, because they'll just leave and find a more usable site.

Time is increasingly scarce, and that means people have less patience. Why do you think Google is talking about making site speed a ranking factor in search results?

16. Free Online Classified Ads
The way to keep up with the latest about free classified advertising is to constantly stay on the lookout for new information. When you search the Internet for Free Classified Ads, you will not have any difficulty finding 1-Family Classifieds. First Family Classifieds system is the world’s leading provider of online classified ads. In this fast growing market, First Family is the only serious choice for online classifieds, and the only classified ad system that runs on hundreds of servers, allows remote submissions and has over 30,000 individual classified sites and continues to grow exponentially.

First Family classifieds offers free advertisement for business opportunities, personal ads, automobiles, real estate, and much more. Place your ads in more than 30,000 sites. There is no limit to the number of free ads you can post. Renew them as many times as you want. What is one of “the most popular” traditional marketing tools used by small business to reach HUGE audiences with minimal investment? Classified Advertising!

Why are Newspaper Classifieds joining the migration to the Internet? Knowing that classifieds draw targeted consumers, 1st Family offered free classifieds long before newspapers thought of putting their content and their classifieds online. They were the first to figure out what grabs eyeballs -classifieds. The online portals also had another advantage - traffic. Classified advertising is not only a valuable marketing tool offline, it is also a powerful way to reach thousands of potential customers and generate incredible profits ONLINE… all with very little or no investment! There are all kinds of predictions about what the on-line medium will mean for the future, but one thing is certain: It’s a medium made for classified listings—i.e., for helping people effectively buy and sell things. Web search engines will enable a user to quickly search for the job listings, homes for sale and available automobiles.

Because classifieds represent a significant percentage of most dailies’ advertising revenue, the era of Web classifieds is being met with major concern from mainstream newspapers. When people ask, “How will individuals without access to a computer get these classifieds?” The audience will follow the database. If the best classified database is on the Web, somebody will find a way to make money providing that information to people, maybe even by printing out classified listings at Kinko’s. That is why, in the near future, the Web will effectively eliminate classified advertising as the most significant revenue source the newspaper dailies have. And....1-Family Classifieds is one of the oldest and most established classifieds on the Internet. But the best thing is it is absolutely free to place as many ads as you want. Got something to sell or say?  Give this a try. You might be surprised at what you find there!

When word gets around about your knowledge of  free ad sources, others who need to know about Free Classified Ads will start to actively seek you out.

Post a free ad

Don Jeffre
Marketing Consultant
Skype: revenue4u
501-796-2525