tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-101114042024-03-24T03:10:26.656-04:00Resource Boxguerrilla internet marketing tips and ideas for the small business on a budgetUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10111404.post-1280499206988537932007-11-18T22:09:00.000-05:002007-11-18T22:15:03.023-05:00Branding on the Web with Social MediaBlogs, social bookmarking and social networking sites are allowing entrepreneurs to build powerful small business brands online. <a href="http://www.shoestringbranding.com">Web branding</a> levels the playing field and lets you connect with prospects and customers in a way traditional marketing can't.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10111404.post-51022028952636943212007-02-02T22:56:00.000-05:002007-02-02T23:37:32.085-05:00Finding what your small business should be about<p>I've been thinking a lot lately about how so many large company employees are unsatisfied, frustrated and just fed up by their corporate job and the drudgery of their daily grind. Way too many people are sick and tired of going to the office every day, listening to an incompetent boss, and having to deal with petty office politics and senseless company policy.</p><p>
Reading through blogs and forums I noticed that one of the biggest frustrations of employees who want to leave the corporate world is not being able to discover what their true "calling" is, that activity that will let them earn a good living while making them feel a deep sense of purpose.</p><p>
If this situation applies to you, I found <a href="http://www.escapefromcubiclenation.com/get_a_life_blog/2006/03/10_easy_ways_to.html">this post</a> in Pamela Slim's enlightening blog: <a href="http://www.escapefromcubiclenation.com/">Escape From Cubicle Nation</a> that offers some good starting points.</p><p>
I came up with another idea today, as I was cleaning and organizing <a href="http://www2.blogger.com/del.icio.us/resourcebox/">my del.icio.us bookmarks</a>: Going through your del.icio.us bookmarks is a great way to re-discover your interests and passions. If you don't have a <a href="http://del.icio.us/">del.icio.us bookmark file</a>, I deeply encourage you to start building one. I assure you that you will learn something about yourself and that after a few weeks you will have a more clear picture of what the topics or activities are that may turn into a genuinely enjoyable and emotionally rewarding line of work for you.</p>
<div class="techtags">Tech Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/branding" rel="tag" class="techtag">branding</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/entrepreneurship" rel="tag" class="techtag">entrepreneurship</a> </div><br>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10111404.post-3942029742126351792007-01-09T23:00:00.000-05:002007-01-09T23:40:40.143-05:00How to Make Money From Google Adsense<p class="MsoNormal">It not uncommon to hear <a href="http://www.longtail.com/the_long_tail/2007/01/dont_quit_your_.html">less than stellar reviews</a> of Google’s Adsense program. Truth be told, making money with Google Adsense is not as easy or straightforward as most people think.<span style=""> </span>There is a misconception that all we have to do to laugh all the way to the bank is to publish a bunch of articles, slap some Adsense code here and there and sit down to wait for our visitors to click away.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">There is much more to Adsense than that.<span style=""> </span>Adsense success depends on a multitude of factors which must come together to create a “perfect storm”, among them:</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <ol><li>Blog topic:<span style=""> </span>A product blog about car accessories or electronic gadgets will produce ads with better revenue per click than a blog about Greek mythology or medieval hunting habits.
</li><br><li>Kind of traffic:<span style=""> </span>If your visitors come from highly relevant search engine queries, your Adsense click through rates will likely be higher than if your traffic is mostly repeat visitors who are already trained to avoid your ads.
</li><br><li>Position of the ads: <span style=""> </span>Ads placed within the content area work better than ads buried at the bottom of a navigation column.<span style=""> </span>Google even goes as far as sharing with everybody this <a href="https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/answer.py?answer=17954">heat map</a> that shows the areas of the page that are likely to produce the best results.
</li><br><li>Color of the ads: Some people advocate blending the colors of the Adsense ads with the colors of the site, under the pretense that by making it hard to determine if something is an ad or just a regular link you will generate more clicks.<span style=""> </span>Others believe that using contrast is better, since it makes the ad stand out.<span style=""> </span>You can determine what works best for you after some good old fashioned trial and error.
</li><br><li>Size of your blog: Obviously, the more posts you write, the more Adsense impressions you will generate.<span style=""> </span>If you post once a month and your blog has only twenty entries don’t expect great results.<span style=""> </span>Hard work and consistency is key to build up content to the point that it generates enough traffic.</li></ol> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Before you rush to start blogging and filling up your pages with Adsense ads, I recommend that <span style=""> </span>you first do some reading. <span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Probably the best place to start is these <a href="https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/static.py?page=tips.html">Google Adsense Optimization Tips</a> from Google itself.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">You should also read this extremely helpful and well thought <a href="http://www.problogger.net/archives/2004/09/23/adsense-tips-for-bloggers-1/">eight step tutorial by Problogger</a>.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I also recommend these <a href="http://www.wolf-howl.com/22/google-adsense-tips-tricks-and-secrets/">Adsense tips, tricks and secrets</a> by Graywolf, and this forum entry by a guy in Australia who writes about how he <a href="http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=207259">increased his Adsense revenue from $10 to $800 per week</a> (and even shares with us the <a href="http://forums.digitalpoint.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=5742&d=1167372198">highly optimized template</a> he uses to generate Adsense revenue from articles).</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">When you’re ready to read some eBooks, you can start with Joel Comm’s <a href="http://hop.clickbank.net/?mariobox/jcomm">What Google Never Told You About Making Money with Adsense</a> or <strong style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://hop.clickbank.net/?mariobox/1insider">The Definitive Guide to Google AdSense</a></span></strong><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" >,</span> by William Charlwood.<span style=""> </span>Both are excellent and offer detailed, how-to advice.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">As a footnote, in a significant new development, <a href="http://www.blogger.com/">Blogger.com</a>, the free blogging platform from Google, now lets you place Adsense ads without having to apply for a separate Adsense account.</p><p class="MsoNormal">
</p> <div class="techtags">Tech Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/adsense" rel="tag" class="techtag">adsense</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/adsensetips" rel="tag" class="techtag">adsensetips</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/PPC" rel="tag" class="techtag">PPC</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/payperclick" rel="tag" class="techtag">payperclick</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/contextualadvertising" rel="tag" class="techtag">contextualadvertising</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/contextual+advertising" rel="tag" class="techtag">contextual+advertising</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/google" rel="tag" class="techtag">google</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/googleadsense" rel="tag" class="techtag">googleadsense</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/google+adsense" rel="tag" class="techtag">google+adsense</a> </div><br>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10111404.post-67909057406913643122007-01-07T23:39:00.000-05:002007-01-07T23:53:40.690-05:00Using forums to generate traffic to your blog<p class="MsoNormal">Actively participating in <span style="font-weight: bold;">forums and discussion groups</span> is a great way to get relevant traffic to your blog.<span style=""> </span>This excellent technique has somehow been underutilized since the days when the search engines decided to combat forum spam by implementing the “<a href="http://www.theinternetdigest.net/archive/nofollow.html">no follow</a>” tag.<span style=""> </span>Some people mistakenly assume that because a link doesn’t have search engine value it’s not valuable at all.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">That is a big misconception.<span style=""> </span>Links in forums attract precisely the kind of high quality, relevant traffic you’re looking for.<span style=""> </span>In fact, one of my blogs receives <span style="font-weight: bold;">almost 60%</span> of its traffic from forum inbound links that I’ve patiently seeded in a few forums related to my theme.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">One way to seed inbound links to your blog is by creating a <span style="font-weight: bold;">signature file</span> with a link to your blog, and always including it with your posts. Another one is to read through the different post threads and find common problems or questions.<span style=""> </span>You can then research the solution or answer, write a post in your blog, and then direct forum readers to your blog.<span style=""> </span>When you use this technique, I suggest that you turn off your signature file, so that your post doesn’t come across as self-serving.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Other forum strategy that generates a lot of traffic is to create a <span style="font-weight: bold;">poll</span> (most forums are run by the same software, most of which support polls).<span style=""> </span>If the poll is interesting, it will draw a large number of readers, who will see the link to your blog in your signature file going when they access the poll.<span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">After you’ve been doing this for a while, you’ll see that other forum members will have become habitual readers of your blog and will start to spontaneously link to it from their own posts.<span style=""> </span>Other members will start bookmarking your best blog posts in social bookmarking sites like del.icio.us or digg.com.<span style=""> </span>I’m sure that by now you see the potential.<span style=""> </span>It’s a little bit of work, but it will pay off <span style="font-weight: bold;">exponentially</span> and will bring you plenty of relevant traffic for a long, long time.</p><p class="MsoNormal">
</p> <div class="techtags">Tech Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/blog" rel="tag" class="techtag">blog</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/blogging" rel="tag" class="techtag">blogging</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/linkbuilding" rel="tag" class="techtag">linkbuilding</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/forums" rel="tag" class="techtag">forums</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/social+bookmarking" rel="tag" class="techtag">social+bookmarking</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/del.icio.us" rel="tag" class="techtag">del.icio.us</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/digg" rel="tag" class="techtag">digg</a> </div>
<br>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10111404.post-15072145644615461612007-01-05T14:12:00.000-05:002007-01-06T23:14:44.564-05:00Making your blog posts easier to readReading online is harder, slower and more uncomfortable than reading on print. By following these easy tips your blog posts will be better laid out and more concise, and your readers’ experience more pleasant. Here they go:
<ul><li>Write less: Use <span style="font-weight: bold;">50% less words</span> than you would use in print. Once you finish writing, go back and try to further reduce your word count.</li><br><li>Use plenty of <span style="font-weight: bold;">contrast</span>: black type on white background always works best.</li><br><li>Use <span style="font-weight: bold;">headlines</span> to break the discussion into several paragraphs. Breaking the discussion into small, manageable chunks makes things much easier for readers.</li><br><li>Web users don’t read: they scan. Use elements that <span style="font-weight: bold;">facilitate scannability</span>: bolding key words and phrases, and using bullet points are two examples of this technique.</li><br><li>Don't make your lines of text too long. With today’s high resolution screens, text that runs from one side of the screen to the other is very hard to read. Using a page layout with columns is a good way to keep the content area down to a width that makes reading comfortable.</li><br><li>Try to convey <span style="font-weight: bold;">one idea per paragraph</span>, three to four lines each.</li><br><li>Use <span style="font-weight: bold;">hyperlinks</span> to present complementary information instead of trying to include everything in the body of your post. Good bloggers use this technique a lot, not just to make their posts easier to read, but also to point readers to valuable resources and to give other bloggers credit for relevant content.</li><br><li>Don’t use a font that is too small. I recommend using 10pt. or higher, and using <a href="http://www.theinternetdigest.net/archive/websafefonts.html">font types</a> that have been specifically designed for reading on the web, like Verdana or Georgia.</li></ul>
<div class="techtags">Tech Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/blogging" rel="tag" class="techtag">blogging</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/copy+writing" rel="tag" class="techtag">copy+writing</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/usability" rel="tag" class="techtag">usability</a> </div><br>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10111404.post-3438722026144687412007-01-04T18:08:00.000-05:002007-01-04T18:20:57.082-05:00Create a Branded Signature File for Outlook<p class="MsoNormal">One of my pet peeves is to see how many people (even employees of Fortune 500 companies) use those cheesy Outlook stationary templates in their outbound email.<span style=""> </span>Nothing screams “unprofessional” more than a fuchsia background with clouds and ribbons, or a fake ring bound effect on a yellow background to go with those important email messages.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p>The damage doesn’t stop there.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>Considering the hundreds of emails that even a small company sends out every day, this terrible habit is also a waste of a great <a href="http://resourcebox.blogspot.com/search/label/Branding">branding</a> opportunity.<span style=""> </span>Both from the esthetic and branding points of view, it is best to go easy on colors and textures.<span style=""> </span><st1:city><st1:place>Reading</st1:place></st1:city> from a computer screen is difficult, so what works best is a plain white background with black typeface.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">For typeface, I recommend a <a href="http://www2.blogger.com/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sans-serif">sans-serif</a> font like Arial.<span style=""> </span>If you insist on using a <a href="http://www2.blogger.com/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serif">serif font</a>, I recommend <st1:country-region><st1:place>Georgia</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span style=""> </span>Choose a font type and stick with it.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> Now, as far as branding is concerned, I recommend creating a simple <span style="font-weight: bold;">signature file</span> (open Outlook, click on Tools-Options-Mail Format-Signatures-New and type down your information).<p class="MsoNormal"><br>
Your signature file should include your name and job title in the first two rows.<span style=""> </span>Then, leave a blank row and insert a small version of your company logo (right click on the place where you want to put it, click Browse and pick a logo).<span style=""> </span>Once you’ve placed your logo, go to the next row and include your contact information: address, phone, cell phone, fax, email address, skype or IM username (if you have one) and your website’s URL.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Set your signature file to pop up in new messages as well as in replies and forwards and you’re done.<span style=""> </span>You’ve just turned your outgoing email into a powerful branding tool. </p> <div class="techtags">Tech Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/branding" rel="tag" class="techtag">branding</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/internet+marketing" rel="tag" class="techtag">internet+marketing</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/small+business" rel="tag" class="techtag">small+business</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/email" rel="tag" class="techtag">email</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Outlook" rel="tag" class="techtag">Outlook</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Outlook+Express" rel="tag" class="techtag">Outlook+Express</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/email+tips" rel="tag" class="techtag">email+tips</a> </div><br>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10111404.post-91308116606777900902007-01-02T23:00:00.000-05:002007-01-02T23:05:52.754-05:00Create a “Top Posts” List for Your BlogPeople love lists. That's why articles called “10 Fastest Ways to Do This” or “Top 5 Ways to Save on That” are so popular, and are sometimes even called “<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Link_bait">linkbait</a>”. It is also the reason why books in the Best Sellers lists stay there so long: by being in the Best Sellers list, more people buy them, which only fuels more sales, reinforcing the position of the books on the list, making even more people buy them. Wash, rinse, repeat…<br><br>
Here’s a tip to easily increase your blog’s page views, maximize your conversion rates and grow your subscription ranks: create a “Top 5 Posts” list, “Favorite Posts” list or “Most Viewed Posts” list and place it at a visible location in your blog’s side column. To build the list you can pick a mix of the most visited posts, posts that generate the majority of search engine queries leading to your site, posts that have some kind of multi-media feature (like a cool video) or, if you are using <a href="http://www.google.com/adwords">Adwords</a>, posts that are more likely to convert well.<br><br>
<div class="techtags">Tech Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/blogging" rel="tag" class="techtag">blogging</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/internet+marketing" rel="tag" class="techtag">internet+marketing</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/smm" rel="tag" class="techtag">smm</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/smo" rel="tag" class="techtag">smo</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/seo" rel="tag" class="techtag">seo</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/rss" rel="tag" class="techtag">rss</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/blogging+tips" rel="tag" class="techtag">blogging+tips</a> </div><br>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10111404.post-80511194670300507212007-01-02T18:14:00.000-05:002007-01-02T18:36:36.723-05:00Link to your Del.icio.us bookmarks from your blogThe most successful bloggers are those who nurture and encourage the interaction between them and their readers. If your readers enjoy your blog, they will most likely want to know more about you. You can give them feedback about yourself in your Profile or your About Us pages. However, you can go beyond that by sharing your <a href="http://del.icio.us/resourcebox/">del.icio.us bookmarks</a> with them.<br><br>
By linking to your del.icio.us bookmarks you will give your readers a glimpse of your personal interests. By sharing with them the websites and blogs that you consider important, and giving them access to valuable tools and resources beyond your blog, you will strengthen the relashionship between you and your readers and get an edge over bloggers that are not doing it.<br>
<div class="techtags">Tech Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/blogging" rel="tag" class="techtag">blogging</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/smm" rel="tag" class="techtag">smm</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/bookmarking" rel="tag" class="techtag">bookmarking</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/del.icio.us" rel="tag" class="techtag">del.icio.us</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/marketing" rel="tag" class="techtag">marketing</a> </div><br>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10111404.post-78182196365377944952006-12-31T00:24:00.000-05:002007-09-23T00:18:53.074-04:00Leverage your old site's content in your new blog<p class="MsoNormal">If you’ve embraced <a href="http://www.oreillynet.com/lpt/a/6228">web 2.0</a> you’ve probably replaced link exchange requests with social bookmarking, requests to subscribe to your email newsletter with RSS feed subscription buttons, and your old, static site with a lively, <a href="http://www.shoestringbranding.com/2007/09/22/testing-the-more-feature/">interactive blog</a>.<span style=""> </span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">There are still, however, ways in which you can leverage your old site’s content to generate traffic and support for your new blog.<span style=""> </span>For example, place an <a href="http://www.addthis.com/">RSS feed button</a> and social bookmarking links in the most popular pages of your old site, and set the RSS feed button to point to your blog.
<span style="">
</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""></span>You can also write blog posts that link to relevant content on your old site for support.<span style=""> </span>You can also use the copy in the <a href="http://www.theinternetdigest.net/articles/resourcebox-tips.html">resource box</a> or by-lines of articles you may have written to create your profile in sites like Amazon, Yahoo! Answers, and forums or discussion groups where you usually participate.
<span style="">
</span></p><p class="MsoNormal">If your old site has a good ranking and is well regarded with the search engines, pass along some of that authority to your new blog by linking to it from your old site.</p><p class="MsoNormal">
</p><p class="MsoNormal">
<span style=""></span></p> <div class="techtags">Tech Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/blogging" rel="tag" class="techtag">blogging</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/seo" rel="tag" class="techtag">seo</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/smm" rel="tag" class="techtag">smm</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/internet+marketing" rel="tag" class="techtag">internet+marketing</a> <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/link+building" rel="tag" class="techtag">link+building</a> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10111404.post-14447497160146861682006-12-27T18:55:00.000-05:002006-12-30T14:02:22.682-05:00How to Choose and Register a Domain NameChoosing your domain name is one of the most important decisions you will face when building your business. For years, the debate has centered around choosing either a <strong>Company Name Domain</strong> or a <strong>Keyword Domain</strong>. <p>
<strong>Company Name Domain:
</strong></p><p>
If we assume that, for example, you own a web design company located in Boston called Praxis Inc., you may want to register your company name as your domain name: <strong>praxis.com</strong>. One advantage is that your customers already know your company name and it will be easy for them to remember. Also, a company name domain looks professional when printed in collateral material.</p><p>
The main disadvantage, especially if you are a small business, is that people won't be able to tell what you do based on your domain name, and it won’t help you very much with the search engines (since some of them use the domain name for cues on what the business does, and to determine its relevance to certain search terms).</p><p>
<strong>Keyword Domain: </strong></p><p>
Keywords are generic terms related to your field that you believe search engine users will type in the search box to find a company like yours. Since a domain name is usually the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchor_text">anchor text</a> used to link to a site, and anchor text was a very important factor in search engine placement until not so long ago, keyword domains were very popular for a while.</p><p>
Search engines are evolving and now recognize that people have been abusing the use of keyword-only domains, so they have downgraded their importance in their search algorithms. Keyword domains, though, still have some advantages associated with the growing trend of web users typing a bunch of keywords in the address bar followed by “.com” in their efforts to find relevant websites.</p><p>
The disadvantages of keyword domains from a branding perspective is that they tend to be long and hard to remember, and look awkward when printed in company collateral material. For example: <strong>boston-web-design-company.com</strong> may give you a slight edge over <strong>praxis.com</strong> when it comes to search engine placement or getting direct traffic, however, its branding disadvantages are obvious.</p><p>
A good compromise, and the solution that I recommend, is to combine your company name with a keyword. For example: <strong>praxiswebdesign.com</strong>. That will give you the best of both worlds: brand recognition and keyword strength.</p><p>
<strong>Final Tips: </strong></p><ul><li>If you are just opening a small business, choose your domain name before you choose your company name. Many times, people have registered their company and then found out that their company name is not available as a domain name.<br><br>
</li><li>By all means, secure a .com domain. It is the default extension and the first one that will come to mind to people trying to remember your domain name. You must try to register at least the three most common variations of your domain name: .com, .net and .org, to prevent unscrupulous competitors from benefiting from your brand equity.<br><br>
</li><li>Registering a domain doesn’t cost a lot of money. In fact, nowadays it is common to find domain names for less than $10 / year. I use <a href="http://www.dpbolvw.net/l965ft1zt0GIKHMKJMGIHKOPLHN">Godaddy</a> to register all my domains. (disclaimer: I am also a Godaddy affiliate). They have great prices and a very user-friendly interface.<br><br>
</li><li>Don’t register your domain name with your hosting company. Though it may be tempting to accept their “free” domain registration offer with your hosting package, if one day you want to change hosting companies they will make you jump through hoops to release your domain. Don’t play with your brand: register your domain in an accredited domain registrar and point it to your hosting company’s servers.
</li></ul><p><div class="techtags">Tech Tags: <a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/seo" rel="tag">seo</a> <a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/domains" rel="tag">domains</a> <a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/seo+tips" rel="tag">seo+tips</a> <a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/small+business" rel="tag">small+business</a> <a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/internet+marketing" rel="tag">internet+marketing</a> </div><br><br>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10111404.post-49740923088356150212006-12-25T11:13:00.000-05:002006-12-30T14:03:10.235-05:00Is giving away articles still a relevant link building technique?<p><a href="http://www.theinternetdigest.net/archive/articles-and-ezine-directories.html">Writing articles</a> and publishing them in <a href="http://www.seobook.com/archives/000099.shtml">article clearinghouses</a> for others to use as free content was once the easiest way to get links and build up your reputation as an expert in your field . However, with the runaway popularity of blogs, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_bookmarking">social bookmarking</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS_(file_format)">RSS</a>, giving away articles to get links is not as important or as necessary as it once was. People are now finding it easier to get links by writing a remarkable piece, publishing it in their own blogs, bookmarking it in <a href="http://del.icio.us">del.icio.us</a>, <a href="http://www.digg.com">digg</a> or other social bookmarking service, and doing some promotion through comments in forums and other blogs.</p>
<p>If your blog is new and not very well known, I still recommend writing some articles and giving them away for others to publish in their own sites. Your articles will have your resource box or by-lines with a link to your blog’s main page, which will help you get some visibility both with search engines and people interested in your topic. As your blog gets more established, however, I recommend to give away articles only occasionally, and to keep your best content for exclusive publication in your blog. If your most remarkable articles are only available in your blog, other bloggers will have to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_linking">deep link</a> to them directly and not to other sites that may have published it. These spontaneous, deep links to your content have much greater search engine value than the links to your main page coming from free article sites or low value websites.</p>
<div class="techtags">Tech Tags: <a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/link+building" rel="tag">link+building</a> <a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/blogging" rel="tag">blogging</a> <a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/internet+marketing" rel="tag">internet+marketing</a> <a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/entrepreneurship" rel="tag">entrepreneurship</a> <a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/small+business" rel="tag">small+business</a> <a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/seo" rel="tag">seo</a> </div><br>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10111404.post-18066560005715737502006-12-23T23:34:00.000-05:002006-12-30T14:03:41.733-05:00Top 20 Tips for Beginner Bloggers<ol><li>Choose a topic that you know, like, and are passionate about. This way you will never get bored and will keep your audience always interested and asking for more.<br><br>
</li><li>Pick a topic where there is not a lot of competition. If your topic is too common, try addressing it from a particular angle or focus on a specific niche. For example, there are many sites that talk about cars, but few that specialize in only one brand, and even fewer that focus on only one model. The key to be successful is to find a specific enough topic with a large enough audience.<br><br>
</li><li>Open a <a href="http://www.blogger.com">Blogger</a> account. It is free and easy to use. That way, you won’t have to invest in costlier platforms like <a href="http://www.movabletype.org">MovableType</a> or <a href="http://www.typepad.com">TypePad</a> before you have the chance of finding out if blogging is for you.<br><br>
</li><li>Use a minimalist template, preferably one with a white background. This format is easier to read and pleasant to the eye when you combine it with color pictures.<br><br>
</li><li>Use pictures to dress up your blog entries and give your blog a more professional appearance. You can find excellent pictures at a very low cost in <a href="http://www.istockphoto.com">istockphoto.com</a>, or even free in <a href="http://www.flickr.com">Flickr</a> (don’t forget to ask the owner of the picture for permission before you use it).<br><br>
</li><li>In one of your blog’s side columns, list six or seven links to authoritative sites related to your topic. When the search engine robots visit your blog, they will find these links and your blog will benefit by association.<br><br>
</li><li>Write in simple language, short paragraphs and using bullet points. These are essential guidelines for <a href="http://www.theinternetdigest.net/archive/write.htm">writing on the web</a>, and will make your posts easier to read and understand.<br><br>
</li><li>Always link out to the sources you use to document your posts. This is not only good etiquette but also a way to promote your blog and get links: when the people you link to find out that they’ve been linked to, they will most likely link to your post from their site or blog.<br><br>
</li><li>Check your posts for spelling and grammatical errors. This will make your blog look more professional and will increase the probability of other people linking to it.<br><br>
</li><li>Use labels to categorize your posts and keep your blog neatly organized. Blogger recently modified its software to allow the use of labels.<br><br>
</li><li>Participate actively in forums and discussion groups related to your topic. Find what are the most common questions and provide the answers in your blog. Then, direct forum readers to your blog. Try to also direct forum readers to other resources, or answer without necessarily linking to your blog, sometimes. If not, you may be perceived as self serving and only interested in promoting your blog.<br><br>
</li><li>Use <a href="http://www.hittail.com">HitTail</a> to research topics to write about. HitTail gives you a list of the search terms used by those who came to your blog through a search engine. This search term list will give you ideas for future blog posts.<br><br>
</li><li>Allow your blog readers to email your posts to other people. Also, give them the option to bookmark your posts using del.icio.us, furl, or any other social bookmarking service. You can go to <a href="http://www.addthis.com">AddThis</a> to download a smart button that makes it easy to bookmark your posts. You can find instructions on how to add the button to Blogger <a href="http://www.addthis.com/blog-item-button.php?stats=">here</a>. The easier you make it to share your blog posts, the more relevant traffic your blog will get.<br><br>
</li><li>Use <a href="http://www.technorati.com">Technorati</a> tags at the end of your blog posts. Technorati tags are a way of classifying your blog posts by topic and have them added to Technorati’s index (Technorati is the most important search engine for blogs). Use this automatic <a href="http://www.marketwest.co.uk/tools/index.php">Technorati tag generator</a> to avoid having to create the HTML code manually.<br><br>
</li><li>Syndicate your blog allowing your visitors to subscribe to your feeds through their favorite aggregator. This way, they will be automatically notified every time you update your blog. You can use <a href="http://www.toprankblog.com/tools/rss-buttons/">this tool to generate attractive syndication buttons</a>, which you can then place in a side column of your blog.<br><br>
</li><li>Post frequently. It is the only way to keep your audience interested and coming back. Two or three times a week is ideal. Once a week is the borderline minimum that I recommend to keep your audience engaged and maintain adequate visibility in the search engines.<br><br>
</li><li>Keep a large number of posts in the main page of your blog. Search engine robots usually won’t crawl and index all your blog pages, however they will visit your main page frequently. The more content you keep in your main page, the bigger the chance of it popping up in the search engine results pages.<br><br>
</li><li>Use <a href="http://www.google.com/adsense/">Google Adsense</a> to monetize your blog. Blogger lets you add Google Adsense easily and seamlessly in several locations within a page. The best locations are within the content, and on top of the page simulating a navigation bar.<br><br>
</li><li>Don’t use Google Adsense excessively, at least at the beginning. Your initial focus should be not to monetize your blog, but to build your audience and establishing your blog's reputation as an authority within your topical community. A blog that is deep on content and lean on ads is more likely to attract the kind of links needed to become relevant to users and search engines.<br><br>
</li><li>Once your blog is established and generates abundant, relevant traffic, you can monetize more aggressively, not only with Adsense but also with affiliate links and, why not, maybe even by selling your own products. </li></ol><p>You can see a real example of all these tips at work in this blog ;)</p><p><div class="techtags">Tech Tags: <a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/blogging" rel="tag">blogging</a> <a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/blogging+tips" rel="tag">blogging+tips</a> <a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/social+bookmarking" rel="tag">social+bookmarking</a> <a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/technorati" rel="tag">technorati</a> <a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/delicious" rel="tag">delicious</a> <a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/seo" rel="tag">seo</a> <a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/smallbusiness" rel="tag">smallbusiness</a> <a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/marketing" rel="tag">marketing</a> </div><p></p><p></p><br>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10111404.post-56992472177395291272006-12-21T13:08:00.000-05:002008-12-10T09:28:06.096-05:00Adding Videos to your BlogYou've probably seen blog posts that show a <a href="http://www.youtube.com">Youtube</a> screen that allows you to play a video clip hosted in Youtube without having to go to the Youtube site. It is really very easy to place Youtube videos in your blog posts. Just go to the Youtube page of the video you want to include in your blog, and you will find a small profile form to the right of the screen with information about that particular video clip. There, you will find two pieces of code: one called "<strong>URL"</strong>, which is the web address of the video clip, that you can use to link to it, and another one labeled <strong>"Embed"</strong>, which shows you the code you have to cut and paste to actually see the screen in your blog.<br><br>
<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5011046563587726706" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 331px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 238px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" height="261" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0KE01tp7COCrjeW4Z3jlUwFjoYj-cEQKe_32DcTNx6HmYqLyZGrnRyS5XJTCkHAC6iKIkkLXENzI7rSXbtlMj5jhT0lKcehi2_kc3llCrXs4ftN46aAAxclVBedyLUqhGc0Gz/s320/youtube.JPG" width="357" border="0" />
Just remember that just because a video is in Youtube doesn't mean that it is not copyrighted. Make sure you have the right to use the material before you put it on your blog. Other than Youtube, you can also find videos in <a href="http://video.google.com">Google</a> and <a href="http://video.yahoo.com">Yahoo!</a>.
<div class="techtags"></div><div class="techtags">Tech Tags: <a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/blogging" rel="tag">blogging</a> <a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/small+business" rel="tag">small+business</a> <a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/entrepreneurship" rel="tag">entrepreneurship</a> <a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/internet+marketing" rel="tag">internet+marketing</a> <a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/internetmarketing" rel="tag">internetmarketing</a> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10111404.post-86634108404501023842006-12-19T17:17:00.000-05:002006-12-30T14:04:16.487-05:00Online Marketing in 2007We're entering 2007 and, as search engines become more sophisticated, small sites with limited authority are finding it increasingly difficult to rank well. Gone are the days when link exchanges or anchor text was all you needed to worry about to increase your visibility and traffic. The web is becoming more social in nature, and sites need to be more interweaved in the community to be successful. There is a great article in <a href="http://www.avivadirectory.com">Aviva Directory</a> that is especially relavant to us, small internet business owners. Here it is:<br><br>
<a href="http://www.avivadirectory.com/branding/?p=1">Little Known Ways to Brand on the Cheap: 99 Tips for Poor Web Startups</a><br><br>
It is about 10 pages long, but there is some great, must-read advice there, so I suggest that you print it, grab a yellow marker and a cup of coffee, sit in your favorite chair and go through it. Then, put it to practice. Enjoy.
<div class="techtags">Tech Tags: <a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/small+business" rel="tag">small+business</a> <a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/entrepreneurship" rel="tag">entrepreneurship</a> <a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/marketing" rel="tag">marketing</a> <a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/branding" rel="tag">branding</a> <a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/internet+marketing" rel="tag">internet+marketing</a> <a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/online+marketing" rel="tag">online+marketing</a> </div><br>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10111404.post-37630641933434751382006-12-13T20:32:00.000-05:002006-12-30T14:04:35.891-05:00Using Testimonials to Increase SalesTestimonials are like referrals: they greatly increase the probability of converting prospects into customers. Bob Leduc, a sales consultant with over 30 years experience in marketing and sales, estimates that sales letters with testimonials perform <a href="http://www.bizland.com/articles/read_article.html?id=102">up to 65% better</a> than the same letters without the testimonials.<br><br>
To get testimonials, he suggests to give customers a postcard asking them to tell you what did they like about your product or service, and then mail the postcard back to you (postage paid). Most of them will be glad to do that for you. You can then sift through the postcards, select the ones you like the most, and ask those customers for permission to use their feedback as testimonials in your marketing pieces.<br><br>
<a href="http://drnunley.com">Kevin Nunley</a>, an experienced copywriter and web marketer suggests us to "get someone who is a recognized name in your field to say something good about what you sell. Let them mention their own interest in the testimonial. This is why blurbs on book covers go, "Best book I've ever read," Joe Blow, author of How to Get Rich. Joe lends his good opinion as a way to get a mention for HIS book".<br><br>
Another good way to get testimonials, especially if you're just starting out, is to pay somebody to review your product, service, book, website, or whatever it is that you offer. There is a new service called <a href="http://www.reviewme.com">ReviewMe</a> that does just that... there is a caveat, though: ReviewMe reviews must be unbiased (you cannot pay for a positive review). However, if you practice rule #1 of getting testimonials: "always provide a great service and deliver what you promise", you will do OK.<br><br>
Finally, here are some more testimonial basics:
<ul><li>Testimonials must describe a specific benefit, for example: "your product allowed me to accomplish three times as much in half the time", instead or "your product is great".<br><br>
</li><li>Always include the name, city and/or website address of the person giving the testimonial. You can omit the address, for privacy.<br><br>
</li><li>Send the person giving the testimonial a thank you note, or, even better, a small, symbolic gift like a gift certificate of a free sample. However, make sure you do this after you've received authorization to use the testimonial, or it will look like a bribe and may offend the customer, who most likely would have been glad to give you the testimonial with no expectations of receiving anything.</li></ul><p><span style="font-size:85%;">Tech Tags: </span><a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/small+business" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">small+business</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/copywriting" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">copywriting</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/marketing" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">marketing</span></a></p><br>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10111404.post-90046729017207572582006-12-10T15:35:00.000-05:002006-12-10T15:55:13.164-05:00How To Write Effective Sales LettersNo matter what business we are in, we need to be able to produce marketing material that sells. David Frey, president of <a href="http://www.marketingbestpractices.com">Marketing Best Practices</a> Inc. reminds us that we don't have to be award-winning copywriters to create effective sales letters, that writing great sales letters is more of a science than an art, and that anybody can produce compelling sales pieces by following a 12-step template:
<br><br>
1) Get attention<br>
2) Identify the problem<br>
3) Provide the solution<br>
4) Present your credentials<br>
5) Show the benefits<br>
6) Give social proof<br>
7) Make your offer<br>
8) Give a guarantee<br>
9) Inject scarcity<br>
10) Call to action<br>
11) Give a warning<br>
12) Close with a reminder<br><br>
<a href="http://www.theinternetdigest.net/articles/writing-sales-letters-tutorial.html">Read the full article here</a> and learn more about the 12 steps to writing effective sales letters.
<div class="techtags">Tech Tags: <a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/small+business" rel="tag">small+business</a> <a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/copywriting" rel="tag">copywriting</a> <a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/marketing" rel="tag">marketing</a> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10111404.post-19564916963162502372006-12-09T18:27:00.000-05:002006-12-09T23:34:27.591-05:00Useful Tool: Technorati Tag GeneratorI've written before about the importance of <a href="http://resourcebox.blogspot.com/2006/12/use-technorati-tags-in-your-blog-posts.html">including Technorati tags in blog posts</a>. Until recently, I was crafting the HTML code of the tags by hand, by copying and pasting code of previously used tags and modifying them accordingly. Fortunately, I've found this automatic <a href="http://www.marketwest.co.uk/tools/index.php">Technorati tag generator</a> that makes creating Technorati tags a snap. Just type the name of the tags you want to use, press a button, and the tag generator gives you the HTML code to cut and past in your blog posts. Thanks to <a href="http://www.marketwest.co.uk/">Fintan Darragh from Market West</a> for this smart and useful tool.
<br><br>
<span style="font-size:85%;"><strong>Technorati Tags</strong>: </span><a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/blogging" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">blogging</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/technorati" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">technorati</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">
</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10111404.post-35908205711033099652006-12-03T19:30:00.000-05:002006-12-03T19:31:47.400-05:00Top 10 Web Design TipsJim Kurkal, the author of Blog to Riches, has put together a handomely illustrated, 14 page PDF document with his <a href="http://www.blogstoriches.com/Top10/Jims10designtips.pdf">top 10 web design tips</a>. He covers timeless topics like how to use color effectively, how to create an attractive layout, why it is important not to forget the usability dimension, etc. Great information and a must read for small business owners who are planning to design a website or revamp an existing one. You can follow <a href="http://www.blogstoriches.com/Top10/Jims10designtips.pdf">this link</a> to pick up the document. Thanks to Jim Kurkal for sharing this valuable information with us.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com53tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10111404.post-3181648593465602682006-12-03T18:13:00.000-05:002006-12-03T18:26:55.278-05:00Leverage: A Key to Success and WealthHere's a quote from Ron Pate, successful real estate investor and author of "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0970579306?ie=UTF8&tag=theinternet0f-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0970579306">Leverage: A Key to Success and Wealth</a>":<br><br>
"If you carefully study the actions of people that have achieved significant wealth, you will find that one of the key differentiators between them and the average individual is their use of leverage, usually in a variety of ways, while the majority of people tend to conduct themselves in most or all areas of life in generally non-leveraged fashion. Interestingly, the more a person learns to employ leverage successfully, the faster his or her financial growth tends to accelerate. Since people who successfully employ leverage accomplish exponentially more in the same amount of time then people who do not take advantage of this powerful tool, they tend to have more free time and not only greater financial resources, but more balanced and fulfilling lives."<br><br>
<a href="http://www.goodneighborbuyshouses.com/leverage.htm">Read this article</a> to learn about the <strong>four critical types of leverage</strong> you must employ if you are to achieve maximum success in the shortest possible time.<br><br>
Contributed by <a href="http://www.ronpate.com">Ron Pate</a>.<br><br>
<span style="font-size:85%;">Technorati Tags: </span><a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/Small" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Small</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/Business," rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Business,</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/Leverage," rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Leverage,</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><a class="techtag" href="http://technorati.com/tag/Entrepreneurship" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Entrepreneurship</span></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10111404.post-33754900151161203302006-12-02T23:40:00.000-05:002006-12-03T22:55:05.269-05:00Use Technorati Tags in Your Blog Posts<a href="http://www.technorati.com">Technorati</a> is one of the largest search engines for blogs. They index content based on categories called tags. Blog posts labeled with a certain tag appear in a specific section of Technorati's site dedicated to that tag, usually hours after being posted. The fact that search engines regularly crawl Technorati's site, and many web surfers discover and subscribe to blogs they find in Technorati, should be reason enough for any blogger to <a href="http://www.technorati.com/help/tags.html">tag their posts</a>.<br><br>
You can use this <a href="http://www.marketwest.co.uk/tools/index.php">Technorati Tag Generator</a> to automatically create the HTML code for the different tags you want to apply to your post.<br><br>
After you've finished posting and have added tags to your post, you must notify Technorati that you've updated your blog. You do this by going to <a href="http://technorati.com/ping">Technorati's Ping Form</a> and typing the URL of your blog in the input box. Technorati will then crawl your blog and add your new post to its index. You can see my Technorati tags for this post here:</span><br><br>
<span style="font-size:85%;"><strong>Technorati Tags</strong>: </span><a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/marketing" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Marketing</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">, </span><a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/internet+marketing" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Internet Marketing</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">, </span><a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/blogging" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Blogging</span></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10111404.post-1118440401960669392005-06-10T17:38:00.000-04:002005-06-10T17:53:21.963-04:00Customer Service Excellence<p>In no other functional area is the old cliche "there are no problems, only opportunities" more true than in customer service. Research shows that when a company solves a problem that its customers are experiencing, customers tend to return the favor by becoming more loyal to the company than if the problem hadn't existed in the first place.</p>
<p>This and other interesting customer service insights is what Jonathan Byrnes, author of The Bottom Line column for the <a href="http://hbswk.hbs.edu/reg/newsletter_sub.jhtml">Harvard Business School Working Knowledge Newsletter</a> shares with us in this article called "<a href="http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item.jhtml?id=4569&t=dispatch">Nail Customer Service</a>". You can follow the links in the body of the article to access other interesting pieces by Jonathan showing us, as his bylines promise, more "innovative methods for increasing profit from an existing business without costly new initiatives".</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10111404.post-1118112610825613662005-06-06T22:45:00.000-04:002006-12-02T22:54:22.600-05:00Don't Be A Marketing Day Trader<p>Many businesses pursue marketing strategies in the same short sighted, reactionary manner as yesterday's day traders. They never develop a marketing strategy. They do not consider the long term. They lack patience. And, like day traders, they receive the same dismal results. Steven Van Yoder suggests us that rather than chasing the latest get-rich-quick scheme, we take a long term approach and build our reputation first. He explains us how in his article: <a href="http://www.getslightlyfamous.com/free-resources/articles/day-trader.html">Don't Be a Marketing Day Trader</a>.</p><p>Contributed by <a href="http://www.getslightlyfamous.com">Steven Van Yoder</a>.</p><p><span style="font-size:85%;"><strong>Technorati Tags</strong>: </span><a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/marketing" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Marketing</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">, </span><a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/internet+marketing" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Internet Marketing</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">, </span><a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/small+business" rel="tag"><span style="font-size:85%;">Small Business</span></a>
</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10111404.post-1117859267200795992005-06-04T00:27:00.000-04:002005-06-10T23:13:18.356-04:00Blog Writing Styles<p><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogs/">Blogs</a> have taken the web by storm. They have allowed all kinds of people, interested in the most varied subjects, to communicate and interact with each other. The posting styles that bloggers use can be very different, and I have identified two major styles.</p>
<p>Some bloggers seem to prefer short posts, usually a personal comment backed by one or more supporting outbound links. Others prefer long posts, usually more elaborate dissertations that may or may not include outbound links.</p><p>
The short posting format is easy to write and read. Everybody with a strong interest in a certain topic will probably know of many good articles, citations, resources and products related to that topic. It is not hard to launch a blog about that subject, and steer readers in the right direction via regular short comments sprinkled with useful outbound links.</p><p>
If done properly, this kind of format is conducive to turning a blog into a "hub" (a site that offers many useful outbound links). The drawbacks of this style are that the outbound links will send visitors away. Also, short posts don't usually get many inbound links and are harder to index by the search engines. This means that short posts will usually have trouble ranking very high. On the possitive site, if you post relevant comments regularly and send your visitors to useful resources, they are likely to come back often.</p><p>
The second format, the long post, is usually an article about a specific topic. Instead of pointing readers to other resources, the post itself is the resource. This type of post is more difficult, since not all bloggers have the ability to write long, articulate, compelling pieces. Long, well written articles, tend to attract inbound links and raise the link popularity of the blog where they are posted, therefore they are more likely to rank high in the search engines. Long posts made of original content will turn a blog into an "authority" (a site that other sites in the same topical community link to).</p><p>
It is not uncommon to find bloggers using both posting styles. In fact, I believe that the combination of short posts and long posts is the format that is best suited to make the blog more interesting and valuable for readers and search engines alike.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10111404.post-1117463093793868682005-05-30T10:04:00.000-04:002005-05-30T10:36:11.483-04:00Nick Usborne's Web Copywriting GuideNick Osbourne is one of my favorite web copywriters (you can find some of his great articles in my <a href="http://www.accordmarketing.com/tid/articles/">website's archives</a>). Nick understands what it takes to write effectively and persuasively for the web, and offers his readers a ton of value through his <a href="http://www.excessvoice.com">Excess Voice</a> website and his <a href="http://nickusborne.typepad.com/">Web Copywriting Blog</a>. I highly recommend subscribing to his <a href="http://www.excessvoice.com/newsletter.htm">newsletter</a>. In times like these, when dime-a-dozen newsletters are chocking our inboxes, Nick's is one of the few that are really worth reading. Fortunately for us, Nick is offering his new guide to <a href="http://www.excessvoice.com/newsletter.htm">Writing for the Web</a>, a 35 page PDF document detailing the 7 biggest challenges faced by web copywriters, free of charge to those who subscribe to his newsletter. These are some quick links to some of Nick's best web pages:
<p>Excess Voice Home:<br> <a href="http://www.excessvoice.com">http://www.excessvoice.com</a></p>
<p>Excess Voice Newsletter Archives:<br> <a href="http://www.excessvoice.com/archive.htm">http://www.excessvoice.com/archive.htm</a></p>
<p>Excess Voice Newsletter Subscription Page:<br> <a href="http://www.excessvoice.com/newsletter.htm">http://www.excessvoice.com/newsletter.htm</a></p>
<p>Web Copywriting Tips page:<br> <a href="http://excessvoice.com/web-copywriting-tips.htm">http://excessvoice.com/web-copywriting-tips.htm</a></p>
<p>I am sure you will find this information useful and that you will add Nick to your A-List of web marketing resouces.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10111404.post-1116819328309921502005-05-22T23:19:00.000-04:002005-05-22T23:39:45.086-04:00The Two Variables of Website Conversion<p>When you sell something through the web, to maximize results you must focus on two variables:</p>
<p>a) Traffic<br>
b) Website conversion</p>
<p>The first variable, traffic, is closely associated with Click Trough Rates (CTR). Whether your source of traffic is a search engine, a link in another website, or a pay per click ad, you must focus on achieving high click through rates of targeted traffic (the kind of visitors most likely to buy your product).</p>
<p>The second variable, website conversion, is measured by the conversion rate (CR), namely, what percentage of your visitors convert into customers.</p>
<p>If you have tons of traffic, but no sales, it may indicate that something is wrong with the quality of the traffic you are attracting, or with the ability of your webpage to convert (maybe due to bad sales copy, unfriendly page design, etc).</p>
<p>I have found a very interesting and well written white paper titled <a href="http://www.enhancedconcepts.com/pdfs/WebsiteConversionRatesEC.pdf">Understanding Website Conversion Rates</a>, that offers a thorough introduction to the subject of Website Conversion. It's author is Kevin Gold, co-founder of Enhanced Concepts, a traffic generation and conversion enhancement strategy company.</p>
<p>He has also written a series of two articles that talk about the issue of conversion in pay per click campaings, which are also worth reading: <a href="http://www.conversionchronicles.com/page.php?PageID=113&tracking=article_art_of_pay_per_click&CatID=">The Art of Pay Per Click - Part I</a>, and <a href="http://www.conversionchronicles.com/page.php?PageID=93&writer=kgold">Part II</a>.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1