Chris Marlow publishes a free newsletter for consultants who want to land the high quality, high value clients.
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How Important Is It For Copywriters To Have An Agency Quality Website?
November 22, 2009 by IBI · Leave a Comment
Over the years, I’ve had several copywriters ask me how important it is to have an “agency quality” website. My answer is always the same: it’s very important if you are prospecting other than locally.
When you prospect locally, the client can meet you personally. But when you prospect nationally, your website, “telephone” personality, and marketing materials form the basis of your prospective client’s impression of you.
Fortunately, it’s not difficult to find a designer/webmaster who can help you build a high quality site at a reasonable cost. And some of my students do a very nice job of creating a quality site themselves.
Because I’ve found national prospecting to be far more profitable than working with local business, I encourage my coaching students to prospect nationally (and sometimes internationally), and create a website that supports a sophisticated positioning.
What, exactly, constitutes an “agency quality” website?
Here are five pointers for creating a website that convinces quality clients that you are the right copywriter for them (plus two common mistakes to avoid):
1. Make sure your website has a “you” orientation. The Home page should not talk about “you” except in the context of what you can offer a client.
2. Have a “unique selling proposition” (USP), or positioning statement. Why are you “the best” choice? Do you serve a particular niche? Are you an expert at some important element of copywriting (e.g., offer development, headlines, concepting, etc.)? Make sure your USP “shines through” on your Home page.
3. View your entire site as a lead-generating tool. If you write a direct response package, you first try to get your prospect into the envelope. Once inside, you attempt to lead your prospect through the package, with the end destination the reply card or order device.
Use the same principle in designing your website and its navigation. Always send your prospect to the “contact me” page, or the page where you offer more information. As with any lead-generation effort, your only goal is to get your website visitor to respond.
4. Create an offer, and offer it on your website. Unlike general advertising, direct marketing is defined by the offer. If you don’t have an offer, you’re not employing the most fundamental rule of marketing, and it will cost you responses.
5. Pay attention to look and feel. Copywriters have the right and responsibility to make sure the end product produces leads or sales.
This means that the copywriter should offer the art director some level of direction on look and feel (without overstepping bounds, of course).
A clean, well-organized website that exhibits a “professional finish” will offer a sophisticated client some level of assurance that contacting you will not be a waste of their time.
What NOT to do on your website:
First and foremost, don’t “preach to the choir.” Because the world of copywriting is new to new copywriters, they have a tendency to “tell what they know” on their website.
But a quality client (usually mid-size to large companies and organizations), doesn’t want to know why copywriting will help him. He already knows that, even if he doesn’t know how to write copy himself.
What he’s looking for is validation that you could be the right copywriter for him.
Websites that attempt to “teach” generally attract clients who need teaching (oftentimes small business with a low appreciation of what good copywriting can do for them, and an even lower threshold for paying reasonable fees).
The second mistake I see is mentioning price on the Home page (or anywhere in the site, for that matter).
Quality clients do not put price first, and any discussion of price usually comes after the copywriter has a complete picture of the marketing problem that needs to be solved.
Not long ago, one of my coaching students complained that his prospects seemed fixated on price. After going to his website I noticed that his Home page positioned him as more attractively priced than other copywriters.
This positioning inadvertently created a USP based on “low price” — something we copywriters should always avoid.
Bringing up the subject of price on your website will actually cause your prospect to put it front and center. Best to let pricing discussions occur “naturally” in the process of landing a job.
Social Media Marketing for Small Business Entrepreneurs
November 20, 2009 by IBI · Leave a Comment
I was thinking the other day why I have enjoyed consulting with small business owners for so many years. Talk about reality shows. What is more real than talking to the person who created, owns and operates a business? They have made their dream a reality. It’s a whole different conversation and level of engagement from talking to a marketing or business development manager working for a small or mid-size company. I don’t mean to imply that the marketing or business development manager knows less about the company’s business than the owner. It’s about the level of passion for the business. Passion or entrepreneurial zeal, as we know, doesn’t always translate into being able to run a company successfully but I love to hear their story.
I enjoy the initial phase of a search engine optimization or pay per click management campaign for any new client. We call this the discovery phase where we gather quantitative and qualitative information about a business to lay the groundwork for the project. The more we know about what they do, how they do it, who they are trying to reach and what their goals are the better we can develop and implement a successful online marketing strategy for them.
One big difference I notice almost immediately when talking to an entrepreneur is the desire to talk about their business. You never have to worry about keeping the conversation going that’s for sure. Entrepreneurs love to talk about their business. It’s their passion. That’s why they are doing it. Many businesses, if not most, are built based on the personality of the owner and more often than naught these owners have an outgoing, engaging personality. That is why social media marketing can be so powerful for small business owners.
Social media marketing is not just about creating profiles on facebook, myspace, linkedin and other social media networks to try to create buzz and links to your web site. It’s about being actively engaged in the networks. Let people get to know you. Be real. Tell them about your business, why you do it and how you do it. Not from a sales and marketing stand point so it sounds like every other Tom, Dick and Harry selling the same thing but from your personal stand point – your personality – let it shine through. Just a warning here, if you are a real drone with a negative view point on the world this might not work. :>) Find people with the same interests as yours and participate in their discussions. It has to be a two way network for it to work best.
Are you thinking how in the heck am I supposed to find enough time to do this plus run my business? This is a valid point but if done correctly this can reap big benefits for your business. Millions and millions of people are participating in social media networks every day. Instead of actively participating in 4 or 5 determine which one best fits your desired demographic and focus predominantly on that one. Also, you might really enjoy it. Just talk about your favorite topic – your business.
Lynn Jebbia is a Senior Project Manager at ArteWorks SEO, a search engine marketing company. Her focus is SEO Strategy, Keyword Analysis, Competitive Analysis, Web Site Audits, Pay Per Click Management and Client Account Management.
Writing and Publishing Your First Blog Entry
November 19, 2009 by IBI · Leave a Comment
The content of your blog is an important factor in gaining traffic and acquiring a target audience. Publishing your first Article or item is a great milestone in your blogging career. Fortunately, there are several basic guidelines, which can make your content more effective to your audience, adored by the search engines and respected by the world of blogging.
Publishing an Effective Content
First of all, keep in mind that communication is the key. More so, your communication must be authentic. The time when you publish your content is also the time when you let your true self surface. Blogs are personal in nature and communication is the key to being personal. The fact that each blog is unique because each writer is unique is enough for you to not to worry about future similarities with other blog entries. Keep in mind that whatever topic you are
blogging about you must incorporate your personality with your writing.
In order to create a loyal target audience, it is important for the visitors to trust you and relate to you. It does not necessarily entail that they know about your personal details but you must connect with your audience in an authentic manner.
After establishing your communication with your audience, the content must also be credible. The blog must have authenticity even though credibility takes a lot of time to build.
The moment you begin publishing your content, which is of high value and useful to the readers, you also start establishing your authority. There will come a time when your readers ask you for advice or seek for your opinion; this is the time when you have achieved some kind of credibility and you must use this to build your reputation as a blogger.
The Blogger’s Block
Blogging is writing but uses a different medium. There are several methods to fight blogger’s block. Always remember that your blog software exists to serve you and not to frighten you. You do not have to try blogging carrying the idea that you have prolific writing skills, or a journalism degree. The fact is that you have something to say and you want others to hear it. However, if you are feeling stuck on an idea, there are several suggestions that you can apply when creating the content for your blog.
Firstly, you can try visiting other blogs. Visit those blogs that interest you and pick ideas and topics from those blogs that might be worth blogging about but keep in mind the relevance of the topic and your readership. You can also syndicate your news updates. You can do this by subscribing to news services online because they allow you to save time on searching using keywords. This is most useful for bloggers.
There’s no reason you should be embarrassed about Writing and Publishing Your First Blog Entry. Click here to get the information you need to effectively Write and Publish Your First Blog Entry. If you’re ready to read more about how http://www.DownloadResaleRights.com can help you with Writing and Publishing Your First Blog Entry, visit our Private Label Rights page and download our free ebook. Join the thousands we have already helped and visit us now.
How Free Blog Templates Improve Your Website
November 19, 2009 by IBI · Leave a Comment
Whether you’re using blogging to write your musings online or to promote the products or services you offer, making the right impression is still vital. There are ways to retain your readers and one of the most effective is incorporating a great free blog templates. You don’t have to worry, though, because these are certainly aplenty. You don’t even have to hire a professional to do them for you since there are several user-created templates out there.What are templates? Templates are the total outline of your website; from the header design to the number of columns, the pattern you need will be in the template. There are several kinds of templates online but free blog templates are probably the most widely-used because they’re tremendously accessible and easy to use. What can it do to your website? Templates can put character in your website. It’s typical for blog hosts to provide a generic template – the basic design you would use for the website. Although most of them also offer other variants, it’s easy to run the risk of typicality. So to separate yourself from the other blogs out there, templates are your answer. Several free blog templates are easily customizable, giving you plenty of room to improve it. This is also tremendously beneficial in helping you inject your own personality to your website. You can easily attract the attention of your intended readers, for instance, by using a great header design. The color scheme of most these patterns are also easily changeable. This characteristic makes it easy for you to truly incorporate your theme in the blog. Moreover, you can effortlessly add widgets or gadgets to your website through a good pattern. Adding photo slideshows, video section, calendar and other plug-ins you can think of will be easy through these types of templates. Where to find free templates? Fortunately, these patterns are everywhere. By using a search engine, you can easily gain access to a treasure trove of user-created templates, ready to be integrated in your own website. Many websites even offer easy download interface and how-to’s for beginners. You can even find templates at user-owned blogs. Designers who create free styles sometimes put up their own websites to offer others a chance to use unique and playful website patterns. So the next time you want to change the look of your website, use free blog templates for quick and easy improvements. Mark Michael Ferrer Free Blog Templates
Blogging Tools â A Must Have
November 19, 2009 by IBI · Leave a Comment
Blogging has been a staple in the internet community. From personal use, it has evolved to become an essential tool in delivering up-to-date news and building communications in a business. Amateurs and professionals alike use blogging as a tool to become better in their craft or as a money making business endeavour. That is why choosing the right blogging tools is essential in making oneâs life as a blogger easier.What are blogging tools? Blogging tools are software that allows its user to create and publish blogs. Different blogging tools have different features. From adding photos, video, and sound to changing and personalizing the look of oneâs blog, these features allow one to customize their blogs to fit its content or the bloggerâs personality and preferences. Choosing the right software that fills the needs of the user is key to becoming a successful online publisher.Different blogging tools employ different features. The kinds of features they have depend on what kind of users will most likely use them. Some software only includes some basic features and are designed for beginners who donât have much experience or knowledge about building sites and blogging. Other blogging software caters to more experienced bloggers. They have advanced features that are a little more complicated to understand and use.There are two types of blogging software. These are hosted blog software and independent blog software. Hosted blog software are software where all the data and features are accessible online. Independent blog software can be downloaded and installed in a web server of the userâs choosing. Independent blogs can be done even if the user is not online. It can be configured to the bloggerâs specifications. Posts can be published on the time indicated by the user.Here are some features blogging tools may have:â¢Â   Creating and publishing posts – The most essential feature a blogging software can have. Since the main purpose of blogging is the posting of written content, being able to write fast and accurately is what every blogger needs.â¢Â   Uploading photoâs, video, and sound â Some more advanced blogging software allows its users to add photoâs or video or even sound to their post. This makes it easier for the readers. They donât have to download files just to view or hear something that the blogger wants to share. â¢Â   Displaying of content and user interface â To make a blog readable, users must be able to navigate around the site easily and read blog entries with ease.â¢Â   Customizing layout and design of the blog â A blogs design and appearance must reflect its content and its maker. Blogs must allow users to personalize their blogâs appearace and overall theme.â¢Â   Blog statistics â To keep track of the blogs performance, the blogger must be able to see how much traffic it generates. With this information one can make adjustments on how to improve traffic and sustain the interest of its visitors.There are a lot more features a blogging tool can posses. From the most basic to the most advanced, it is up to the user which features he or she will need in his or her blog.
Allen Jesson offers (according to Google) one of the top seo services in the world. He is also a great fan of Article Marketing as an effective Internet Marketing strategy. He explains a lot more in his free e-book, 7 Sexy SEO Secrets, which can be downloaded for free by following the link.
The What, Why and How of Business Blogsâ¦
November 19, 2009 by IBI · Leave a Comment
Blog is short for Web Log or Weblog and the Blogosphere is the online blog world, some parts of which are hyperlinked extensively to each other.
This is the Wikipedia definition: Blog is short for weblog. A weblog is a journal (or newsletter) that is frequently updated and intended for general public consumption. Blogs generally represent the personality of the author or the Web site.
I recommend that you read lots of people’s blogs to learn what blogs are. Go to your favorite search engine and type in the word ‘blog’ and the subject you’re interested in. For example, ‘web design blog’, or ‘blog music’, or ’sports blog’. You’ll find lots of blogs that way.
Blogs have become a way in which regular, non-technical people can post information to the Web as easily as they can access it.
Why Are Blogs So Important?
Well, they’re not that important, yet. But they could be soon, and most likely will be. In fact, some would argue that they are already vital in today’s Web business world. I am not ready to agree to that yet, but it is becoming more obvious to me over time that blogs can no longer be ignored in business.
Online businesses can benefit from blogging by taking advantage of a vehicle for easily posting new, original, and business-related content on a regular basis.
Here Are Some More Business Benefits Of Blogging:
* Blogs help to position you and/or your company as experts and leaders in your industry.
* They’re interactive in nature. At the end of each blog entry is usually a link that allows anyone to add their own comments to your blog entries. This allows your customers and potential customers to make comments about your products or services or ask you questions to help them in their buying process.
* Blogs are marketed easily and quickly by their RSS feeds.
* Blogs allow you to stress your choice of products, services, relevant news stories, quotes, pictures and more with your audience, customers and potential customers.
* People are generous with adding links to your blog if the content is good, especially within their own blogs. More links means more traffic and better search engine rankings.
Here Are Some Ways In Which You Can Make Revenue From Your Blog:
1. Selling advertisements. Whether you use banners or text links, if your site draws a regular audience interested in your blog topics or theme, try to offer ad space to organizations that are looking to market to your audience. In fact, if your blogs becomes really popular then advertisers will call you.
2. Offering Google’s AdSense. Google’s website explains, “Google AdSense is a fast and easy way for website publishers of all sizes to display relevant Google ads on their website’s content pages and earn money.” Learn more about AdSense.
3. Affiliate Programs. Affiliate programs allow Web sites that provide links to your site to receive payments or reciprocal advertising in exchange for promoting your Web site. In the case of blogging, this is reversed, where you post links within your blog, and collect money from the owners of those links when they result in a click-through and sale.
Here Are Some Websites Where You Can Get Your Blog Listed:
* BlogWise – http://www.blogwise.com
Â
First you need to get blogging software. You can choose to create a blog that is housed on another site (which is a blog service) or you can host it on your own Web server. I recommend the latter since the links that are developed by others pointing to your blog won’t be counted in the search engines. This is because the links are attributed to domains, so a link to gives a link credit to blogger.com and not your domain.
If your blog is a business blog, you really ought to host your own blog as opposed to using a blog service. You’ll need the extra functionality and control.
If you plan on hosting your own blog and if you plan to use a UNIX Web server platform, then you need to go with blogging software such as Movable Type, for example. If you have a Microsoft Web server platform for your site, then you’ll need software such as BetaParticle blog. Here is a great list of various blog software: Next you’ll need a database to hook your blog up to. The database is what stores the blog entries, among other things. If you don’t know if you have a database on or connected to your website server, or if you don’t know how to hook up your blog to your database, contact your host company or Web server administrator for help.
Once you have the blog set up on your domain (for example and you’ve hooked it up to a live database, you can start blogging. Generally, each entry is also a day. So you can write a new entry every day, or whenever you want, and that entry will show up on the blog at the top, moving older entries below.
You ought to think of a theme for your blog. In other words, your blog could be about your personal experiences in the industry you’re in. It could be about your company’s product reviews, or new services. It could be about your thoughts and opinions about issues related to your industry. It could be a place where you regularly find and list new resources to help others in your industry. The list is endless. But be sure to stick to a theme and be original. You want to offer something of value to your website visitors.
Sticking to a theme helps you position yourself for future advertisers and also makes for better reading for your visitors. Furthermore, you want to give a good impression with your blog with each and every entry if you want it to augment your online business. Finally, sticking to a theme helps with the search engines since it’s believed that engines determine website themes and use this information for ranking.
Of course your blog could be about personal things too. Many blogs are just that, an online journal. But since we’re interested in Web business here, I am discussing business blogs only.
What’s great is that blogs get indexed easily and quickly by search engines. Each entry is another “page” that can be potentially listed in Google for example, which will drive more traffic to your site.
Another neat thing about running a blog once it’s set up is that you do not need to be technical at all to make regular entries. This is helpful if you want to delegate the writing to someone else, since technical skills won’t be a prerequisite. This allows you to have the most qualified person regarding the blog’s theme and, hopefully the best writer, actually making the entries.
Be creative. Add images to your blog entries to spice things up a bit. Although blogging can be lonely, keep at it. Sometimes it seems like you’re just writing new entries each day for yourself only. It may be a while before someone chooses to add a comment to one of your entries. You may not hear from anyone for a long time. But that doesn’t mean people aren’t reading it. In fact, check your website statistics to see just how many people are visiting your new blog. As you add more entries, get your blog listed on other sites and market your blog. It will build, and eventually you’ll have a nice following of engaged readers.
Most importantly, be sure to pepper your entries with calls to action. For example, if your business blog is attached to your travel website and the blog’s theme is traveling and finding great travel deals all over the world, make sure you add a link to an entry that points people to a travel special you’re running on your website. What would be even better is a blog entry about the fantastic vacation you took to Hawaii and included at the end was a link to cheap Hawaii vacation deals on your website.
Did you find this article useful? For more useful tips and hints, points to ponder and keep in mind, techniques, and insights pertaining to credit card, do please browse for more information at our websites.
http://www.bastblogs.com
Why and How of Business Blogsâ¦
November 19, 2009 by IBI · Leave a Comment
Blog is short for Web Log or Weblog and the Blogosphere is the online blog world, some parts of which are hyperlinked extensively to each other.This is the Wikipedia definition: Blog is short for weblog. A weblog is a journal (or newsletter) that is frequently updated and intended for general public consumption. Blogs generally represent the personality of the author or the Web site.I recommend that you read lots of people’s blogs to learn what blogs are. Go to your favorite search engine and type in the word ‘blog’ and the subject you’re interested in. For example, ‘web design blog’, or ‘blog music’, or ’sports blog’. You’ll find lots of blogs that way.Blogs have become a way in which regular, non-technical people can post information to the Web as easily as they can access it.Why Are Blogs So Important?Well, they’re not that important, yet. But they could be soon, and most likely will be. In fact, some would argue that they are already vital in today’s Web business world. I am not ready to agree to that yet, but it is becoming more obvious to me over time that blogs can no longer be ignored in business.Online businesses can benefit from blogging by taking advantage of a vehicle for easily posting new, original, and business-related content on a regular basis.Here Are Some More Business Benefits Of Blogging:* Blogs help to position you and/or your company as experts and leaders in your industry.* They’re interactive in nature. At the end of each blog entry is usually a link that allows anyone to add their own comments to your blog entries. This allows your customers and potential customers to make comments about your products or services or ask you questions to help them in their buying process.* Blogs are marketed easily and quickly by their RSS feeds.* Blogs allow you to stress your choice of products, services, relevant news stories, quotes, pictures and more with your audience, customers and potential customers.* People are generous with adding links to your blog if the content is good, especially within their own blogs. More links means more traffic and better search engine rankings.Here Are Some Ways In Which You Can Make Revenue From Your Blog:1. Selling advertisements. Whether you use banners or text links, if your site draws a regular audience interested in your blog topics or theme, try to offer ad space to organizations that are looking to market to your audience. In fact, if your blogs becomes really popular then advertisers will call you.2. Offering Google’s AdSense. Google’s website explains, “Google AdSense is a fast and easy way for website publishers of all sizes to display relevant Google ads on their website’s content pages and earn money.” Learn more about AdSense.3. Affiliate Programs. Affiliate programs allow Web sites that provide links to your site to receive payments or reciprocal advertising in exchange for promoting your Web site. In the case of blogging, this is reversed, where you post links within your blog, and collect money from the owners of those links when they result in a click-through and sale.Here Are Some Websites Where You Can Get Your Blog Listed:* BlogWise – http://www.blogwise.com* Blog Search Engine – http://www.blogsearchengine.com* Blog Hub – http://www.bloghub.com* Blog Daisey – http://www.blogdaisey.com* Get Blogs – http://www.getblogs.com* Is Blogs – http://www.lsblogs.comHow To Blog For Business:First you need to get blogging software. You can choose to create a blog that is housed on another site such as http://www.blogger.com (which is a blog service) or you can host it on your own Web server. I recommend the latter since the links that are developed by others pointing to your blog won’t be counted in the search engines. This is because the links are attributed to domains, so a link to http://MyNewBlog.blogger.com gives a link credit to blogger.com and not your domain.If your blog is a business blog, you really ought to host your own blog as opposed to using a blog service. You’ll need the extra functionality and control.If you plan on hosting your own blog and if you plan to use a UNIX Web server platform, then you need to go with blogging software such as Movable Type, for example. If you have a Microsoft Web server platform for your site, then you’ll need software such as BetaParticle blog. Here is a great list of various blog software: http://www.lights.com/weblogs/tools.htmlNext you’ll need a database to hook your blog up to. The database is what stores the blog entries, among other things. If you don’t know if you have a database on or connected to your website server, or if you don’t know how to hook up your blog to your database, contact your host company or Web server administrator for help.Once you have the blog set up on your domain (for example http://www.MyWebsite.com/blog) and you’ve hooked it up to a live database, you can start blogging. Generally, each entry is also a day. So you can write a new entry every day, or whenever you want, and that entry will show up on the blog at the top, moving older entries below.You ought to think of a theme for your blog. In other words, your blog could be about your personal experiences in the industry you’re in. It could be about your company’s product reviews, or new services. It could be about your thoughts and opinions about issues related to your industry. It could be a place where you regularly find and list new resources to help others in your industry. The list is endless. But be sure to stick to a theme and be original. You want to offer something of value to your website visitors.Sticking to a theme helps you position yourself for future advertisers and also makes for better reading for your visitors. Furthermore, you want to give a good impression with your blog with each and every entry if you want it to augment your online business. Finally, sticking to a theme helps with the search engines since it’s believed that engines determine website themes and use this information for ranking.Of course your blog could be about personal things too. Many blogs are just that, an online journal. But since we’re interested in Web business here, I am discussing business blogs only.What’s great is that blogs get indexed easily and quickly by search engines. Each entry is another “page” that can be potentially listed in Google for example, which will drive more traffic to your site.Another neat thing about running a blog once it’s set up is that you do not need to be technical at all to make regular entries. This is helpful if you want to delegate the writing to someone else, since technical skills won’t be a prerequisite. This allows you to have the most qualified person regarding the blog’s theme and, hopefully the best writer, actually making the entries.Be creative. Add images to your blog entries to spice things up a bit. Although blogging can be lonely, keep at it. Sometimes it seems like you’re just writing new entries each day for yourself only. It may be a while before someone chooses to add a comment to one of your entries. You may not hear from anyone for a long time. But that doesn’t mean people aren’t reading it. In fact, check your website statistics to see just how many people are visiting your new blog. As you add more entries, get your blog listed on other sites and market your blog. It will build, and eventually you’ll have a nice following of engaged readers.Most importantly, be sure to pepper your entries with calls to action. For example, if your business blog is attached to your travel website and the blog’s theme is traveling and finding great travel deals all over the world, make sure you add a link to an entry that points people to a travel special you’re running on your website. What would be even better is a blog entry about the fantastic vacation you took to Hawaii and included at the end was a link to cheap Hawaii vacation deals on your website.
Did you find this article useful? For more useful tips and hints, points to ponder and keep in mind, techniques, and insights pertaining to credit card, do please browse for more information at our websites.
http://www.bastblogs.com
Social Media Mistakes
November 19, 2009 by IBI · Leave a Comment
With so much talk about social media these days, so many are jumping on board and trying it out. We are seeing some common mistakes out there and I thought it was important to address these mistakes to help eradicate them in the future.
Don’t get me wrong, there will be a learning curve – we all went through it (and I met some great people that helped me, and that I helped along the way) but the key is to learn up front to minimize errors!
So, here we go…
Mistake One: Completely Ignoring Social Media Believe it or not there are still some people out there that are ignoring social media. They may be unsure of how to participate or maybe they just don’t have time to get involved. No matter what the reason, this is a big mistake. Social media continues to grow in popularity and in importance to internet users – the exact users you are trying to reach.
Mistake Two: Bare Profiles If you don’t bother completing your profile people won’t be able to get to know you. It is also a sign to other users that you aren’t serious about participating on that site. Many spammers don’t bother to complete their profile and a blank profile has become a red flag.
Your profile should include a custom background when possible, a photo, contact information, and a list of interests to help people get to know you better.
Don’t be afraid to show some personality and let people really get to know you and your company and what you stand for.
Mistake Three: Faking It We’ve all seen companies being ripped apart for trying to fake it in the social media world. They either hire someone to pretend to be them (it’s OK if staff, colleagues or team members participate, but to hire an unknown to play you, not cool!), or they make up personas or even fake customers posting positive feedback.
The truth is if you can’t invest the time to create an authentic social media profile, you shouldn’t bother creating one at all.
Mistake Four: Trying to Sell Users Instead of Listening Social media isn’t about you selling, selling, selling. You are here to network, build trust, listen to what customers and prospects have to say. You want to hear customer concerns, to learn about them, to find out what gets them excited, what they like about your product, what they still want, etc.
Remember to be a good social media participant, which means listen before you speak. If you don’t, you risk being written off as yet another company that doesn’t know how to use social media and who is only interested in promoting themselves. Remember, you always have to add value to the communities you’re participating in – just remember its value for your customers, not yourself.
Mistake Five: Recycling Don’t recycle old content and marketing materials on social media sites. Start new conversations, create new information to share. Granted, you’ll have some content that falls in the “oldie but goodie” category and that’s OK to share. Just try to keep things fresh.
Mistake Six: Launching, then Ignoring Social media is similar to search engine optimization in that you can’t just set it and forget it. You need to participate and remain active, otherwise you have wasted your time initially setting things up.
If you want your customers to stay engaged, you have to keep producing great content yourself. Keep writing Blog posts, creating widgets and being active in the community. Social media is real work but when done properly it’s worth the effort.
So review your social media practices and make sure you aren’t making any of these mistakes. If you are, change course quickly and get yourself back on track.
Charlie Berger is a leading Home Business Expert and Expert Author. Has been personally responsible for teaching many how to leave the 9 to 5 grind to enjoy the financial and time freedom you always hear about but few can show you how to achieve. See what Charlie is up to now at: http://charlesberger.getmoreinfo.net/
Designing A Blog For Maximum Effect And Potential
November 19, 2009 by IBI · Leave a Comment
Blog is short for the word weblog. A weblog is a journal (or newsletter) that is frequently updated and intended for the consumpution of the general public. Blogs generally represent the personality of the author or the Web site. Blogs can be used in the business world as well. Blogs started in the late 90s and have increased in popularity over the past months. Many people have started to create their personal blogs to express their thoughts and feelings. Internet companies have also started their blogs to inform consumers on the latest product news and reviews.
Blogs are now being used in internet marketing media field. Previously, Internet marketing was done by placing banners and links on popular websites, such as news and information sites. Links were also included on newsletters and marketing letters sent to the members of their mailing lists. Lots of people spend time reading blogs. People read their friend’s blogs, their favorite author’s blogs, blogs on topics that they are interested in, and blogs on product reviews. With the increasing popularity of blogging, it is even feared that people rely on blogs to get the latest news.
Although news reports from blogs may not be reliable, some people look for product reviews through blogs which in some cases is more dependable. While it is true that some media persons are being paid to write good reviews about a certain product, blog writers write about their actual experiences with products and services from a company. Since there are many people who read and start their own blogs, blogs are a good medium to market a product. Increasing blog traffic means an increase in product sales.
Joining affiliate programs and sites which will list your blog under a certain search category or name can increase your blog traffic. You can also have your blog advertised in popular websites. This, however, will cost some money and is not advisable if you have just started blogging. A writer who has just launched his/her blog will want as much traffic as possible to increase advertisements on the site. Also, some advertisers pay every time their link is clicked or the page that has their link is viewed.
When you have increased traffic on your blog, you should try to keep your visitors coming back and recommending your blog to friends and colleagues. This can be done by having informative or amusing content and good blog layout and design. You may develop your blog’s content or you can also acquire the services of a web content writer to provide you with the blog articles.
A blog’s layout and design also plays a big role. While most of the companies offering free blog hosting offer pre-selected templates, there are also some that allows customization that if you utilize this feature correctly can increase your blog’s traffic.
Make your blog stand out from the millions of blogs out by following the guidelines below:
Customize the banner.The banner usually has the most generic designs that are common to the blogs from a blogging company or service. You can personalize this banner by having a graphic with the dimensions of the banner. You can also edit the graphic so that it will also include the title of your blog. In this case, you can create your own graphic or you can purchase professional looking graphics online for less than $10.
Personalize photos. Of course, most of the photos that you will be posting will be your own. However, if you don’t customize the photos before posting them, you may miss maximizing the enhancing benefits graphics can add to the page. Adding photo borders can help the photo stand out from the page. It can also add to the design of your blog. You can choose a standard border or you can also create your own border which can be associated with your blog’s templates.
Add a favicon. Don’t you think sites with icons on the address bar before the website’s URL are cool? Many people do. These favicons add a professional look to the URL. These easy to do using photo or graphic editing softwares.
Include RSS feeds.This is a cool way to inform people with newsreaders about your blog headlines. Tutorials on RSS feeds are available on the internet.
Advertisements. If you have signed-up with Google Ad-Sense, which I am sure you would like to do, make sure that the ads are conveniently placed that these will not hinder your readers’ ease in accessing the information on your blog.
Check out blog templates, layouts, backgrounds, textures and skins from sites.There are sites that offer free blog templates, layouts, backgrounds, textures and skins. You can make use of these so your blog will not look generic like most of the blogs hosted by the service provider.
Audio makes your blog more personal.Not only does audio personalizes the blog; it can also keep your visitors coming back. You can try having streaming radio stations, mp3 file or playlists loading with your blog.
A well designed and run blog is a great internet marketing tool that can increase your product and service exposure and ultimately your sales. Following the ideas above will provide you with a great blog design.
For more articles by this author on this subject and the most effective methods of using blogs for profit, visit his site at http://www.Blog-Cash.com
Introduction to Business Blogging
November 18, 2009 by IBI · Leave a Comment
Business blogs are primarily used to improve a company’s communication both internally and externally. Business blogs are a type of communication channel that could be used effectively in product launches, team interaction internally within the company or interaction between clients and company. With the level of interactivity blogs provide, clients feel more confident in the company. Not to mention the amount of traffic it brings to the main site.
Personal and business blogs: What is difference between two?
There is not much of difference between personal and business blogs visually but there is a fine difference between them in terms of reputation and brand attached.
Business blogs should be well planned before hand. Companies can’t afford to just walk away after launching their blog. Business blog has to be successful. Constant and consistent posts are the rule of the game. Blogsphere is full of best writers and faster one learns their rule, better for them. Companies can’t just rely on the fact that they are market leaders in their business so they will be successful with their blogs too.
The postings on business blog should be open and should portray personality of the writer and the company. The postings on business blogs should be very informal, and should be written in first person voice. Posts should be informative and relevant with an expert touch to it.
Business Blogs and it content:
According to search engine optimizers, “Content is King”. Indeed this is true for websites but not for a blog. Blog is all about writing with a particular voice and personality. A lot of people would like the style and would stick to the blog with regular visits. A lot of them will hate it and would never return.
Content for a business blog should be written in a strong voice with high consistency in quality. It becomes somewhat difficult to maintain quality with regular postings, but no choice. A few bad or substandard posts and regular visitors to the blog will fly off.
Important
Don’t hammer your visitors every time with posts like how great is your product and so on. Add some funny incidences or bit of humor to your postings. Talk something about how employees enjoyed drinks in a party organized at particular department. Add some lighter moments in between posts.
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