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  • Blogging Your Way To Business Success

    One of the cheapest and most effective ways to get the word out there about your business’ goods and services is with a blog. Blogs are excellent because they can be updated at your leisure, are specifically calibrated for ease of use, and, best of all, they can be entirely free.

    How can a blog help you reach into a niche? The answer is simple: you blog about what your particular niche is. A good blog can help your page be seen as a well of knowledge, and people gravitate toward where the knowledge is. If you’re a chef, what about starting a blog where you speak about your recent innovations in the kitchen, or perhaps do reviews on various kitchen products? A blog is like a constantly updated stream of information from you directly to the consumer.

    Blogging has become something akin to the face-to-face interaction that is often absent from online marketing. While with a traditional store the customer could engage in dialogue directly with you, the Internet makes such interactions nearly impossible. However, with a blog you can appeal to the reader with your knowledge of the niche and interest them with your current news or opinions – to which the reader can respond to with comments. In this way, your blog becomes a living, breathing thing with which you can communicate with potential customers.

    Another great thing about a blog is that it showcases your site as “alive.” While sites are mostly comprised of static pages, simply having that information up on the Internet does nothing to tell your readers that your business actually still exists. Having a blog makes your page seem fresh, and even people who are not sticking around to read your blog will be more likely to surf around on your other pages if you have a blog that stays recently updated. This means that you’re still around and will likely answer queries if the potential customer has them.

    Additionally, a blog is a great place to advertise things that are going on with you or your business. For example, if you’re offering a promotion or are planning on being away from your business for a while, having a blog is the best way to get the word out. You can even upgrade to video blogging if you’d like to surf the height of the technological waves.

    In short, having a blog is an excellent way to reach out to any niche market of your choice. A well written, thoughtful blog can add credibility to any website and encourage greater traffic and eventually greater conversions. For people looking for the best of Internet marketing through niche advertising, give a blog a try.

  • The Transformation of Marketing

    Let’s take a quick stroll through the world of marketing to see what it was, what it became and what it now is…

    Era 1 – newspaper, magazines, radio broadcasts, direct mail, telemarketing, cold calling, television, infomercials…

    Era 2 – websites, banner ads, reciprocal links, ezine publishing, search engine optimization, pay-per-click, opt-in email, blogs…

    Enter

    Era 3 – marketing via podcasts?

    Similar to the concept of opt-in email, podcasting takes full advantage of technology in reaching a pre-qualified, self-selected audience that craves the information and expertise a podcaster provides. Podcasting gives the strategy of establishing yourself as an expert a whole new playground.

    Podcasting is the ultimate tool for reaching a fully-qualified target audience. A podcast is an audio broadcast published to the internet.

    The broadcast is delivered to subscribers via a feed, usually in an MP3 file format.

    For years consulting and service companies have realized that the way to a client’s heart is through information sharing. Be it through trade shows, conferences, seminars, newsletters, or free articles, providing useful information on a topic that potential clients are interested in grabs them – hook, line and sinker.

    When a prospect first subscribes to a podcast, they likely aren’t ready to buy products or services from the podcaster’s company. Chances are they are just getting their feet wet, searching for information. With useful information delivered via a podcast day after day, weekly or monthly, the receiver will realize the value of the expertise demonstrated. Thus, when they are ready to become buyers rather than browsers, the podcaster has the lead.

    As an advertising medium podcasts can be used just like a newsletter or press release. For instance, a tax consulting firm may publish a monthly newsletter giving updates on tax laws, information about tax shelters, tips for tax deductions and notification of available services. The newsletters will likely contain contact information and will encourage readers to contract the services of the tax consulting firm.

    A podcast can be used in the same way. The only difference is, the news and information is delivered via an audio broadcast rather than through an electronic or print newsletter.

    There are many advantages to podcasting. In comparison to other types of advertising, it is relatively inexpensive. Podcasts are delivered to a targeted audience, leave a lasting impression on subscribers and establish the provider as an expert in the field. Regularly published podcasts keep the provider’s name and contact information fresh in the minds of the recipients and vast amounts of business can be obtained as a result.

  • Mobile Codes For Marketing – How It Works

    More traditional forms of mobile marketing might involve strapping an advertisement to the back of a van and driving around. Thankfully due to the relentless drive of technology startups and others companies can now work with more advanced methods of getting the message out to their customers in a mobile manner. Text message advertising is one of the more basic forms of using this type of technology to get the point across to consumers, but now there’s even more advanced ways of doing so.

    One of the increasingly popular methods of mobile marketing can be found in QR mobile codes. You might have seen strange little white stamp-like stickers around that possess black squares and flecks printed on them. These aren’t strange little works of graffiti art – they’re actually methods of advertising!

    With a QR mobile code, a certain message is inscribed within that pattern of white and black. The way that a consumer accesses the advertisement is to take a picture of the box with a mobile phone. The mobile phone accesses the data in the code, and then the customer is taken to a certain point of advertising. This could be anything from a phone number that the ad signals the phone to call, a website, or an embedded video.

    The great thing about this kind of marketing is that it’s relatively inconspicuous and has an aura of mystery about it. The consumer, confronted with this strange little sticker, is often compelled to take a picture of it and see what, exactly, the sticker is advertising. It’s a non-invasive way of advertising that definitely gets the attention of potential consumers and often whets their appetite for adventure.

    QR mobile codes can be used in a number of ways. There’s the ubiquitous sticker, often found on telephone poles or message boards, sometimes with no other advertising medium around it. If you’d like to take a more proactive approach with it so that the customer knows what the mobile code is advertising, you can put a mobile code in print advertising or even on a television screen. All the customer has to do is take a picture, and you can continue your advertising scheme though this unique and innovative method of mobile advertising.

    QR mobile codes are becoming increasingly popular among startups due to their somewhat secretive nature and the way that they can pique curiosity among the consumer. It’s a less in-your-face method of advertising that consumers enjoy – it’s almost like going on an Easter egg hunt and seeing what might be inside of the egg. If you’re a startup looking for an innovative way to get your message out on the waves, consider QR mobile codes!

  • Steps in SEO Article Writing

    Many online marketers really miss out on a great opportunity, they don’t know how to write a good seo article or blog post. They spend a lot of time churning out great articles but don’t get as much from them as they could.

    There is a lot of debate about what is better: writing for the search engines (making your articles search engine optimized) or for humans. I say, why not do both?

    You can use your articles to not only inform your readership and provide them with valuable information, you can also get the added benefit of using your articles to drive free search engine traffic. increase the amount of free organic traffic you drive to your website.

    Of course you need to make sure that you don’t skew too far into the seo realm so that your articles are stuffed with keywords and are virtually unreadable for your readers.

    In order to get the best of both worlds your first step will be to identify those keywords that drive a lot of visitors and don’t have exceptionally high competition.

    Make sure you consider keywords that are related to your niche but may not be the most popular searched for keyword. Try to get creative and don’t hesitate to use the free keyword tools online to expand your list even further.

    Now that you’ve got your keyword list, it’s time to start writing your seo article. You don’t have to stuff the article with keywords to get a great benefit. As a matter of fact, if you put in too many keywords it can actually hurt you. Your article must read naturally.

    The first place to put your keyword is in the title of your article. That is the first thing the search engines will see.

    After the title you will want to include your keywords a few times in the article body. How many times is enough? Well that depends on the length of your article but a good rule of thumb is to include it in the first paragraph, the last paragraph and once or twice more. Try to strive for a keyword density of no more than 3%.

    While there is some debate on the best article length, you must have at least 250 words. I personally wouldn’t go much higher than 500. That is a good range because it provides a lot of information without becoming too long and boring to read.

    If you are writing articles to drive traffic to your website as well as provide your readers with good information, than remember it is a numbers game. The more quality, keyword focused articles you get in circulation the more traffic you will get.

    Many of these keyword optimized articles can continue to drive traffic for months or even years to come. That’s a big bang for your time and well worth it.

    You don’t have to choose between writing an article for your readers and writing for the search engines, you can do both with one article. Use your keywords properly and you can get both benefits from just one seo article.

  • Simple Steps for adding a lead capture form from your autoresponder to your WordPress blog

    Video: Adding a lead capture form from your autoresponder to your WordPress blog.

  • Easy Way To Get Into Mobile Marketing

    Keeping track of the many different ways that companies can market their products and brands in the modern age is getting more and more difficult. It’s getting to the point where there is no conceivable shortage of ways to market your products, but the bigger problem is that there’s so many ways that figuring out the best ones for your business and how they all work can be quite a chore. We’re here to help.

    Mobile marketing is the cutting edge of advertising right now. The term “mobile marketing” tends to refer to one of two ideas: the first one being marketing through mobile devices such as cell phones, and the second one marketing through physically moving objects, such as moving billboards or road shows.

    For the intents and purposes of these articles, we’re going to spend most of our time discussing the first variety of mobile marketing. Getting on board with the second variety is simple enough – at its very base, you could just nail a sign on the side of a truck and that would fall under the second variety of mobile marketing.

    The first kind of mobile marketing, on the other hand, is becoming increasingly popular and breaking into it as a startup company is one of the best ways to hit the marketplace with a bang. Mobile marketing has entered the stage where it’s still considered somewhat revolutionary and a definite novelty, but is also mainstream enough that most of the younger crowd will be receptive to the marketing.

    Most forms of mobile marketing are centered around mobile phones. Part of the reasoning why mobile marketing has taken off so much in the past few years has been the advent and popularity of smartphones. With the technology of phones and computers merging as rapidly as they have over the past few years, it should come as no surprise that the marketing wave generated by the spread of personal computers and the increasingly ubiquitous nation of the Internet is starting to spread out into the mobile phone.

    If you are a startup company, particularly one who is trying to market to the thirty five and younger set, taking a foray out into mobile marketing via cell phones and smartphones is an excellent choice if you’re looking to make your products and brand stand on the cutting edge. It’s important to keep up with the times when it comes to marketing, particularly when you’re working as a startup. It’s more important than ever to make a serious impression on the market when you’re first launching yourself into it as a business – and mobile marketing is one way to make that happen.

  • Corner The Local Market And You Can Start Thinking Globally

    The very definition of niche is that it is relevant to a specific area of interest. “Car repair” could be considered a niche, but it’s not a very specific one. “BMW car repair” is more of a niche. You probably get the idea – you can get extremely specific with your niche, but as mentioned in an earlier article, it’s important to balance the scales between mastery and a broad range of knowledge. Not specific enough means that people won’t know if you can answer their questions directly, yet too specific means that you’re pigeonholing yourself and you’ll lose out on a great deal of potential business.

    Outside of the specific area of interest that your business is involved in is the actual location of the business. Of course, with the advent of the Internet it’s entirely possible to market yourself worldwide, and common sense seems to say that appealing to as wide of an audience as you can is the best way to hook in more customers.

    There is some truth to this, and it’s very true that the most profitable companies are international. But the flip side to this is that most of these companies did start out as local enterprises that simply grew and grew. Very few companies make their start hitting the international scene directly. Working worldwide requires an incredible attention to detail and generally a large staff of people who can pay attention to what regions are interested in what products and services.

    In short, if you’re a smaller business, you’ll undoubtedly find it’s much more cost effective to market to your local area first. Of course, the nature of the Internet and international shipping being what they are, if you’re running a car parts dealership in Detroit and you get a query from Seattle, you’ll be able to help. Yet for marketing to be most effective, if you’re based out of Detroit, it will help if most of your marketing is targeted toward Detroit. This means that even if you don’t have a brick and mortar outlet, the costs of shipping and communication are much lower as compared to trying to do business with people in Moscow.

    Once your business takes off, you can start marketing yourself to a wider arc of audiences. If you start in Detroit, move from there to the greater Michigan area, to the Midwest, to the country, to Canada and across the world. There’s a definite procession to the art, and you’ll likely find it much less expensive and a lot more effective to start small and then think big, rather than trying to take the entire world on at once. Start with your niche, start local – and grow.

  • Essentials of Creating Facebook Fan pages

    Video: Creating Facebook Fanpages

  • Great Advice For Would Be Offline Consultants

    If you’re working with clients in the offline world, you need to cultivate the same values you have while working online. If you’re looking to be a consultant of any kind, there are certain tenants you need to hold dear. We’ve compiled some of the most important for you to take a look at, internalize, and understand. Once you do, get out there and show everybody what you’re made of when it comes to consulting!

    Listen to your clients. There is a fine balance between offering valid advice and being pushy. At the end of the day the client is paying you for the advice you can give – and also for getting the job done in a way that they deem satisfactory. It may be frustrating when you have a brilliant idea and yet the client seems stubborn, but you’ll have to give in to the one paying your bill at the end of the day. Remember, always offer advice, but understand that the last decision is up to the client. You don’t want to be in the position of going against the client’s preferences and then finding that your suggestion didn’t turn out as planned!

    Quickly establish rapport. Out of all the businesses that you could be going into, consulting is very much based on the relationship that you have with the client. A great relationship with one client can lead to them coming back to you the next time that they need a job done, as well as possible job referrals. Make sure to treat each and every client as if they’re extremely important – because they are!

    Honesty is the best policy. Cliché, yes. True? Very much so. You are a consultant in order to offer the clients the advice they need, when they need it. The desire to please the client may be strong – and is very important – but don’t sugar coat unpleasant truths. If something is going wrong, the client needs to know as soon as it is convenient. Don’t be afraid to let the client know when something may be a bad idea. Of course, if the client is very particular about having things done a certain way that’s a choice that’s entirely up to them, but never tell a client that everything will be fine if it won’t.

    Flexibility is key. One of the reasons why people hire consultants in the first place is due to the degree of flexibility that they can offer. Be prompt with your response times to emails. Give your clients your personal number. Stay on alert for them, and if they have time to do business with you at nine in the evening, it’s probably best for you to take them up on it. This doesn’t mean that you need to let the client dominate your entire life, but being able to respond to queries and work requests within a short period of time is what makes good consultants great.

    Don’t overprice your services. It can be very tempting to charge clients an arm and a leg for your help, particularly if you’re a consultant with years and years of experience in the industry. Successful consultants though, are just worth their weight in gold – they’re aware of how much they’re worth and charge the client accordingly. This is not to say that you shouldn’t charge what you’re worth, but if you’re charging a rate that’s significantly higher than that of your competition, you’d better have a convincing reason why this is so.

    Don’t undercharge for your services. On the flip side of the charge equation, be sure not to undersell yourself, either. First of all, it can be difficult to make a living at consulting if you’re not charging the proper prices. Second, no client likes the prices to be raised in the future, and no client is ever going to tell you that you don’t charge enough!

    Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. The true nature of consulting work is that it’s a little bit unsteady – some weeks it might seem like you’ve got clients falling out of your ears, while others nobody ever seems to be calling. To this end, it’s important to spread out your business among many clients, and not just to rely on the services of one major company. After all, as a consultant you’re not a permanent member of the company, and it’s entirely possible that one week they’ll find somebody that they think can do the job better or they decide that they just don’t need a consultant anymore. Spreading out your work options means that you’ve got backup incase somebody bails!

    Take as much work as you can, but never compromise quality. If you’re really reelin’ ‘em in, that’s great news. However, even if you have a thousand people knocking at your door, you’ll need to have the discipline to tell some of them no. Never take on more work than you can handle. Being a consultant means that your reputation is extremely important – and anything that goes toward tarnishing that reputation is anathema. If you have a thousand potential clients but can only take on two, commit to your 2 clients and help the other prospects find a solution by recommending other consultants (great networking opportunity for you) or at least having a checklist that they can use to find a good consultant. This might bring you their business in the future.

    Current clients are more important than gold. This is true for obvious reasons – namely, your current clients are the ones providing you with revenue. Whatever you need to do to keep these clients happy and on your side is priority number one. Most literature out on the Internet is dedicated toward helping consultants find new clients, but there’s very little stressing the importance of the clients that you may already have. Keep them coming back for more – and keep them wanting to advertise your services out to others, as well!

    Never stop looking for new clients. It’s important to keep your current clients happy and pleased with your work, but you also need to constantly monitor the market for new leads. At least one third of the time you spend at work during the week should be dedicated toward canvassing the wires for potential new clients. Remember that most leads don’t pan out, so even if you’ve got a lot on your plate, you should still be looking for more work. Who knows, you might end up landing your next major project or an opportunity that will lead to your magnum opus project as a consultant tomorrow on CraigsList! Be sure to take the time to look.

    Credibility is the most important thing. Clients will first contact you because of your skills that you bring to the table. If they need an consultant to help them with their online marketing, they may turn to you because you have a distinguished record of clients assisted, or maybe your own online business is extremely successful. Whatever the case, once they contact you due to your skills, they’ll stay around because of your credibility. Do you keep your promises? Do you get projects in on time? Are your opinions honest, even when they aren’t the ones that the client would like to hear? If you market goods and services to your clients, are they ones that the clients might honestly be interested in or is it shameless promotion? Building a reputation of credibility will take you far as a consultant – and if you end up with a record for poor credibility your business will go belly up faster than you can say, “you lied.” Keep your clients and your business – be honest.

  • Reaping The Benefits Of A Controversial Blog

    When you are constantly creating content for your blog it can become a tiresome and mundane task. You have to think of topics everyday and it can get a bit overwhelming at times. Even when you are talking about your passions, the constant need for content can get a bit boring. What about having some fun? Have you ever thought of injecting some controversy into your blog?

    The power of controversy can lead to spikes in your traffic. People feel a need to respond to things that aggravate them. Even better than that, these people who respond will want to share your blog post to people who will be equally outraged or also feel the need to respond.

    How do you inject controversy into your blog though? First I would suggest not going overboard, outright racist, sexist or homophobic blog posts are indeed controversial, but they can also hurt your personal brand. There are other polarizing issues that can inject curiosity at less of a cost. Politics, religion and sports all fall into this category. You can’t play the fence though you have to take one side of the above issues and go for it.

    Basically anything people feel strongly about you can exploit. On my blog my most successful post in terms of views and comments was an album review I did. I took the opposite stance of most other online reviews and it paid off. People were expressing their outrage in droves. My website views went up big time. In fact I noticed a 234% increase in my 30 day totals.

    Another bonus of using controversy is that you will find people that agree with you. Regularly, these people might read your blog post and just keep it moving. Now that they see all these comments attacking you – they may feel the need to stick up for their viewpoint, which happens to be yours.

    Controversy isn’t a guaranteed traffic spike, but if you are able to promote your controversial blog posts to the right audience, you are sure to get some interaction. This interaction won’t always be positive, but it could lead to viral opportunities. I suggest starting out by sharing some of your own controversial beliefs. Just be yourself, you surely have some opinions that go against the norm. That way you can passionately defend them. If you notice your traffic is at a plateau, break out some controversy and see what it can do for you.