Your Virtual Business Professional

Let Your Voice be Heard - Viral Marketing Can be Your Company's Best Friend

2010-01-04T10:38:00.000-05:00

Everyone is trying to jump on the band wagon of Video Marketing. Each thinking wouldn’t it be great if their company became the next sensation. Or, the one topic everyone couldn’t stop talking about around the water cooler. It actually could happen if the marketing strategy and the message is right.

Video has begun to change the world in countless different ways, and web video has only made the revolution stronger. Sites like YouTube, Vimeo and Metacafe can transform an individual, or a company, from an unknown entity to the next sensation in the world. The power of viral video is well known, and many marketing professionals are busy trying to help their companies become the next big star. The trouble with most strategies that are being used by most of the marketing professionals is that they are missing the bigger picture. Your videos do not need to become the newest overnight sensation in order to reap the important benefits they provide.

Video Lets Your Voice be Heard

Words on a page are a dime a dozen, but video speaks volumes. We have all heard that a picture is worth a thousand words – the good news is that a video can be worth far more. With a well made video you can take the time to tell your potential customers your story and have them share your vision.

Videos Can Provide Long Lasting Results

A 30 second spot on television or radio is gone in a flash, but web videos can be kept virtually forever. Whether it is next week, next month, next year or years down the road your company’s voice will still be out there.

Videos Show Your Company in a Positive Light

Consumers want to build a relationship with the companies they buy from, and companies like Apple have made a fortune trading on their corporate culture as well as their products. Web videos are a great way to introduce your potential customers to your own corporate culture.

Video Provides an Important New Outlet for Your Marketing Talents

Marketing is as much an art as it is a science, and it is important to show off your artistry in a number of different ways. Modern technology provides companies with a myriad of ways to get the word out, from articles in trade journals and webinars at trade shows to blogs and articles on the internet. Web video provides another powerful outlet for company marketing.

Producing Quality Video is Not as Challenging as You Might Think

These days chances are good your five year old niece has a cell phone with a video camera – and chances are also good that she knows how to use it. If a five year old has the talent and know how to create a video so do you. Many people are intimidated by video production jargon, but in the end if you have a camera and something compelling to say viewers will take notice.

Web video can provide many great benefits for your company, even if the videos you produce do not become the next internet sensation. Being the must see clip on one of the many video hosting sites would certainly be a bonus, but you do not have to go viral to go big.

Sarah Lloyd & James Long: Ten Things We Know About Digital Marketing

2009-10-27T08:42:00.000-04:00

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Sarah Lloyd & James Long: Ten Things We Know About Digital Marketing

View more presentations from StartWithXMLLondon.

How to Make WordPress Social

2009-08-05T19:39:00.002-04:00

For those just diving into the realm of social media, social networks are sites that allow you to create an online presence for yourself. If managed properly, this presence can be a very powerful tool and enables clients and prospective clients to find you and get to know you and your business. Typically, these networks allow you to share information within the community of the site. In the beginning we had MySpace and Facebook, social networking sites have now expanded to the worlds of Linkedin, Twitter, Digg and Stumble Upon just to name a few.

So, what about WordPress? Isn’t it a social network too? No…at least not yet!

WordPress MU (multi-user), is releasing a new platform, Buddypress, that will have built in features similar to existing social networks, giving WordPress the "appearance" of being your latest social networking site. If you don’t use WordPress MU, which requires dedicated hosting, don’t worry because WordPress offers many social networking plugins to their users.

There is one other main difference between WordPress and all the social networking sites. On WordPress and other blogging platforms, individuals come online to their own specific location. With the popular social networks, while users have their own "page" or presence online, it is not really their own as it is just an extension of the social network that is hosting the user’s presence.

How do you implement the features of social networking while using a blogging platform?

The key is plugins, and WordPress has many free and user-friendly plugins available. Many of the networking plugins provide one-click access for your readers to other popular social networks where you have a presence. Most blog owners utilize either an icon or a form of drop-down menu appearing at the bottom of single posts or on their blog’s sidebar. Popular plugins include About Me, Social Links, Social Bookmarks, Social Dropdown, SocioFluid, and Tweet My Blog, just to name a few.

Some examples of WP plugins that help spread your online social presence.

Socialite – This one publishes your WordPress posts to sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace.
Twitter Updater – Just what it appears to be, Twitter Updater is a plug that notifies Twitter of your new blog posts. WordPress even offers a widget form of this plugin that will display your Twitter feed in your blog sidebar.
Lifestream – Possibly the most complex, this plugin logs all your online social activity on other networks and provides a live stream for your blog readers to follow you socially online.

The key to successful social networking with WordPress is not just enabling your readers to follow you through your other connections, but engaging them to stay invested with your blog.

WordPress also offers several plugins to facilitate engaging your readers.

WP-Polls allow you to build online polls you can then add to your blog post or your sidebar. Readers are able to interact with you and leave comments.
FV Community News allows readers to publish news items to your sidebar.
How about providing a space on your sidebar for top or recent comments? Top Commenters plugin facilitates this function.

As the Internet and the growing number of online communities continue to grow, you need to be ready to help plant your social networking seed and offer your readers their own presence on your site too and WordPress can help you do just that with the simple addition of a multitude of readily available plugins.

Why You and YOUR Business Should Join the Social Media Craze!

2009-07-31T12:13:00.008-04:00

This video ROCKS and helps you understand the phenomenon surrounding Social Media!

Should You Outsource Your Online Presence? - Social Media Marketing - Entrepreneur.com

2009-07-29T15:26:00.003-04:00

Are you wondering whether to hire a Virtual Assistant to help you with your Social Media Marketing? Entrepreneur.com has published a great article on the benefits of outsourcing to a VA. Enjoy! Should You Outsource Your Online Presence? - Social Media Marketing - Entrepreneur.com

Posted using ShareThis

Who Is Your Audience?

2009-06-25T18:08:00.001-04:00

Understanding the type of people who visit your site is a very important task because you can use that information to enhance your site to suit them. As a result, you will gain more loyal returning visitors that come back again and again for more.

What is the age level and what kind of knowledge does your audience have? A layman might linger around a general site on gardening, but a professional botanist might turn his nose at the very same site. Similarly, a regular person will leave a site filled with astronomy abstracts but a well educated university graduate will find that site interesting.

Take your audience's emotional state into consideration when building your site. If a very irritated visitor searches for a solution and comes across your site, you will want to make sure you offer the solution right up front and sell or promote your product to him second. In this way, the visitor will put his trust in you for offering the solution to his problems and is more likely to buy your product when you offer it to him after that.

When you design the layout for your site, you have to take into account the characteristics of your audience. Are they old or young people? Are they looking for trends or are they just looking for information served without any icing on the cake? For example, introducing a new, exciting game with a simple, straightforward black text against white background page will definitely turn prospects away. Make sure your design suits your site's general theme.

Try to sprinkle colloquial language in your sites sparingly where you see fit and you will create a sense that your audience is on common ground with you. This in turn builds a trusting relationship between you and your audience, which will come in useful should you want to market a product to your audience.

Setting Your Goals - Easier Said, Easily Done

2009-06-23T18:32:00.001-04:00

The basics of setting a goal is an open secret known by top-caliber athletes, successful businessmen and businesswomen and all types of achievers in many different fields. The basics of setting goals give you short-term and long-term motivation and focus. They help you set focus on the acquisition of required knowledge and help you to plan and organize your resources and your time so that you can get the best out of your life.

Setting clearly defined short term and long term goals will enable you to measure your progress and achieve personal satisfaction once you have successfully met your goals. Charting your progress will also enable you to actually see the stages of completion leading to the actual realization of your goals. This eliminates the feeling of a long and pointless grind towards achieving your goal. Your self-confidence and level of competence will also improve as you will be more aware of your capabilities as you complete or achieve your goals.

The basics of goal settings will involve deciding what you really want to do with your personal life and what short term and long term goals you need to achieve it. Then you have to break down goals into the smaller and manageable targets that you must complete in your way to achieving your lifetime targets. Once you have your list waste no time in tackling your goals.

A good way to have a manageable list is to have a daily and weekly set of goals. By doing this you will be always in the position of going towards you life plan goals. Everyday will give you the opportunity to fulfill a certain goal giving you the feeling of accomplishment.

Here are some pointers that should be taken into consideration in setting goals and achieving them.

Attitude plays a very big role in setting and achieving your goals. You must ask yourself if any part of you or your mind holding you back towards completing your simplest goals? If there are any part of your behavior that is being a hindrance or puts your plans into disarray? If you do have problems in these areas then the immediate thing to do is to address this problem. Solutions may include a visit to a doctor or psychiatrist to control your emotions.

Careers are made by good time management practice. Failing in a career is often attributed to bad time management. Careers require a lot from an individual which often makes the career the life of the individual. Plan how far do you want to go into your career.

Education is key in achieving your goals. If your goals require you to have a certain kind of degree or require a certain specialization or demand a certain skill to be developed, make plans in getting the appropriate education.

Your family should never be left out of your plans. If you are just starting out then you have to decide if you want to be a parent or when you want to be a parent. You also have to know if you really would be a good parent and how well would you relate to extended family members

Personal financial situations also play a major role in achieving your goals. Have a realistic goal on how much you really want to earn. You also must be able to create plans or stages by which you will be able to reach your earning potential.

Physically gifted individuals may be able to achieve sports related goals like being in the National Basketball association or National Football League. Determining your physical capabilities should be one of your priorities. Physical limitations could however be conquered with proper planning.

As the saying goes -'All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy', or something to that effect, is by all means true down to the last letter. Giving yourself a little pleasure: should always be included into your plans.

To start achieving your lifetime goals, set a quarter of a century plan, then break it down to 5 year plans then break it down again to 1 year plans, then 6 month plans then monthly plans, then weekly, then daily.

Then create a things-to-do list for the day.

Always review your plans and prepare for contingencies.

The basics of goal settings should not be so difficult once you get to be familiar with them.

The Importance of a Sitemap

2009-06-20T14:22:00.000-04:00

A sitemap is often considered redundant in the process of building a website, and that is indeed the fact if you made a sitemap for the sake of having one. By highlighting the importance of having a well constructed sitemap, you will be able to tailor your own sitemap to suit your own needs.

1) Navigation purposes

A sitemap literally acts as a map of your site. If your visitors browses your site and gets lost between the thousands of pages on your site, they can always refer to your sitemap to see where they are, and navigate through your pages with the utmost ease.

2) Conveying your site's theme

When your visitors load up your sitemap, they will get the gist of your site within a very short amount of time. There is no need to get the "big picture" of your site by reading through each page, and by doing that you will be saving your visitors' time.

3) Site optimization purposes

When you create a sitemap, you are actually creating a single page which contains links to every single page on your site. Imagine what happens when search engine robots hit this page -- they will follow the links on the sitemap and naturally every single page of your site gets indexed by search engines! It is also for this purpose that a link to the sitemap has to be placed prominently on the front page of your website.

4) Organization and relevance

A sitemap enables you to have a complete bird's eye view of your site structure, and whenever you need to add new content or new sections, you will be able to take the existing hierarchy into consideration just by glancing at the sitemap. As a result, you will have a perfectly organized site with everything sorted according to their relevance.

From the above reasons, it is most important to implement a sitemap for website projects with a considerable size. Through this way, you will be able to keep your website easily accessible and neatly organized for everyone.

5 Important Rules in Website Design

2009-06-10T13:00:00.001-04:00

When it comes to your website, extra attention should be paid to every minuet detail to make sure it performs optimally to serve its purpose. Here are seven important rules of thumb to observe to make sure your website performs well.

1) Do not use splash pages

Splash pages are the first pages you see when you arrive at a website. They normally have a very beautiful image with words like "welcome" or "click here to enter". In fact, they are just that -- pretty vases with no real purpose. Do not let your visitors have a reason to click on the "back" button! Give them the value of your site up front without the splash page.

2) Do not use excessive banner advertisements

Even the least net savvy people have trained themselves to ignore banner advertisements so you will be wasting valuable website real estate. Instead, provide more valuable content and weave relevant affiliate links into your content, and let your visitors feel that they want to buy instead of being pushed to buy.

3) Have a simple and clear navigation

You have to provide a simple and very straightforward navigation menu so that even a young child will know how to use it. Stay away from complicated Flash based menus or multi-tiered dropdown menus. If your visitors don't know how to navigate, they will leave your site.

4) Have a clear indication of where the user is

When visitors are deeply engrossed in browsing your site, you will want to make sure they know which part of the site they are in at that moment. That way, they will be able to browse relevant information or navigate to any section of the site easily. Don't confuse your visitors because confusion means "abandon ship"!

5) Avoid using audio on your site

If your visitor is going to stay a long time at your site, reading your content, you will want to make sure they're not annoyed by some audio looping on and on on your website. If you insist on adding audio, make sure they have some control over it -- volume or muting controls would work fine.

Google Adsense: Tips for Using Google Adsense

2009-02-19T09:15:00.002-05:00

Like anything else, you’ll get out of Google Adsense what you put into it. The following optimization tips can help you grow your Google Adsense dollars:

Write interesting content and write every day.

Have more than one site. The more sites you have, the more ads have the potential
to get clicked.

Set up channels and monitor your statistics across all sites. If one site is performing poorly, consider changing the content or the ad layout. Experiment!

Change the ad layout and notice which layout works the best for you. There are
many different layout options and there’s no way you can know going in which
one will perform the best.

If you’re blogging, writingup.com has a list of profitable topics. They state that
you don’t have to write on those topics but you might give it a try or at least plug
some of them in to the search engines.

Google different key words and phrases and notice how much and what kinds of content and ads you see.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions.

Getting Quality Inbound Links and SEO

2009-02-10T15:30:00.000-05:00

It’s the dream of every online blogger to be the acknowledged king of the hill. When it comes to search engine optimization (SEO), to be king of the search engine hill is to have as many people link your site to theirs. One-way.

Search engine optimization is a method of preparing a site for high ranking in search engine queries. Methods on optimization vary between legitimate ways like continually improving content relecvancy and ease of navigation to tricks like keyword stuffing, link farming, etc.

The term used for people to have your site linked to theirs one-way is to have an inbound link. With search engine giants like Google and its PageRank system, it places significant value on the number of links pointed to your site because it is considered a vote of confidence and relevance by that site.

As stated by Google: “In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B.” And a large vote of confidence online not only means fame but most likely even fortune. This is because the relevancy of a site causes it to rank higher in the search engine search strings, attracting more attention from consumers and attracting revenue from companies willing to pay to appear on the same site.

In effect, one-way inbound links are now as good as gold.

So far, there are five effective ways to acquire inbound links:

1. Wait for Offers. The normal way of getting inbound links. This method is the most ethical of the strategies. This methods banks on the fact that if the site has great content that is constantly fresh and interesting, with a navigation system that does not require rocket science, people will eat it up. Offers will come of their own volition. Then you get your links.

2. Play Musical Chairs. A devious way of getting inbound links using reciprocation with a twist. Reciprocation is the most common form of getting links which doesn’t hold much water with page ranking systems of search engines.

Normally search engines can detect reciprocal links, but if reciprocation is layered, i.e. indirect, it takes the engine much more work to detect it, requiring more complex algorithms. The price for doing this trick is steep, though. You have to have more than one website. Some people make a pretty penny putting up links one-way.

3. Apply for Inbound Links. Yes, it’s not a crime to promote your site. You can submit your site for review at people-run directories whose interests run into the subject matter of your site.

If the world wide web is the analogy of the earth, a directory can be best described as a town, where almost everybody knows each other. Any new arrival gets a thorough once-over and the whole town votes to see if you can get to stay.

4. Links for Sale. Some high-ranking sites are willing to sell their outbound links to the highest bidder. Sites that are popular with PageRank or other search engine ranking systems use this extra capacity for extra income sometimes.

However, the drawback to this is that the sites are only mercenary, selling their sites for rent. You have no link-equity other than the amount of cash you shell out to keep on existing on their site. Search engines such as Google are actively trying to dampen these efforts as it degrades the relevance of their search engine results.

5. Be Generous, Distribute Content. Of all the strategies stated, this is a highly effective method of getting better quality, legitimate one-way links. You give other websites a reason to put a link on their sites to point in your direction.

All sites are always looking for fresh content for their sites. A site cannot expect to stay number one in relevancy if they just keep on refreshing the content of their sites once every month. Most of the time these sites will even pay for fresh online content to a slew of writers. For a discounted offer, you can have a “about the author” link posted on the site with your own content. Be creative. The key is to make it mutually beneficial.

Ultimately, with a little patience, elbow grease, and luck. It pays to just be honest and stick with the stuff you like to talk about. You don’t regret eating up the time and you enjoy the process.

Building Your List with Articles

2009-01-30T17:24:00.001-05:00

You can build your list simply by writing articles, whether you have thought of it or not.

Quite simply, you write and submit your articles on your topic of expertise or business nature to popular article directories where eZine publishers and readers are looking for the information you provide.

Leveraging your viral marketing efforts on article writing can be rewarding, if done right. In the real sense, you are actually proving your worth and demonstrating your expertise about your business through the articles you write.

So, how can this method in effect build your mailing list? The answer: the resource box you attach to your articles. In your resource box (also known as bio box), you include a brief detail about yourself and your business site together with its URL.

It is strongly suggested that your resource box URL links to your mailing list’s landing page where you can get your visitor’s name and email address, which will in turn help you build your mailing list at no cost.

If your articles are found worth sharing, eZine publishers will republish your articles together with your resource box for their readers and subscribers. The wonderful result: viral marketing without effort on your part!

You can start by writing and submitting your articles to trusted article submitter sites such as http://www.articlemarketer.com and begin your article marketing journey today.

6 Ideas for Viral Marketing

2009-01-25T15:38:00.000-05:00

Here are six ideas to help you start your viral marketing campaign:

1. Purchase the branding rights to a viral E-book. Allow people to give away your free E-book to their visitors. Then, their visitors will also give it away. This will just continue to spread your ad all over the Internet.

2. If you have the ability to set up a forum or other bulletin board, you really have a great tool. Allow people to use your online discussion board for their own website. Some people don't have one. Just include your banner ad at the top of the board.

3. Do you have a knack for web design? Create some templates, graphics, etc. and upload them to your site. Then, allow people to give away your free web design graphics, fonts, templates, etc. Just include your ad on them or require people to link directly to your web site. Make sure that you include a link back to your site in the copyright notice and require them to keep your copyright notice in tact.

4. Write an E-book. Allow people to place an advertisement in your free E-book if, in exchange, they give away the E-book to their web visitors or E-zine subscribers.

5. Write articles that pertain to your product or service. Allow people to reprint your articles on their website, in their E-zine, newsletter, magazine or E-books. Include your resource box and the option for article reprints at the bottom of each article.

6. You can easily find products on the Internet that will sell you a license allowing you to distribute the product free of charge to other people. Look for those products that provide "branding rights". That is where you can include your own name, website, and contact information.

What is Viral Marketing?

2009-01-16T17:44:00.000-05:00

When you purchased an item or availed of a service of a certain establishment and are satisfied with what you got, don’t you recommend that to a friend? And when you give your recommendation, doesn’t your friend buy or avail of it as well?

More often than not, we express our satisfaction with some product or service by telling our friends and relatives about our experience. Some of them will actually try the same product or service that we recommended. Essentially, we have just successfully advertised the product through word-of-mouth without the establishment having to spend a penny on it.

That is the idea behind viral marketing. Viral marketing is an advertising strategy that entices people to pass on a marketing message to their relatives and friends. It is called as such because of its similarity to an epidemic that easily spreads out, with an exponential growth, once an individual gets “infected.”

How did this marketing phenomenon start?

The concept of viral marketing, which is passing along a message, has been around for a long time now, even for centuries. There was just no specific name for it until 1997 when Steve Jurvetson, a venture capitalist, came up with the term “viral marketing” to describe Hotmail’s marketing practice then.

Hotmail’s practice was to append an advertisement of itself on each message that is sent using their service. When a recipient gets interested and clicks on the ad, it will lead to Hotmail’s website for him to signup. This will go on and on, and the growth is similar to an exponential curve.

Types of Viral Marketing

There are different ways to apply viral marketing strategy.

- Pass-along. This is the most common type of viral marketing. Web sites that ask their users to tell-a-friend about their products and services is an example of pass-along messaging. However, there is a risk of the message being labeled as “spam” by email providers. Thus, it is important that the “from” and “subject” lines do not contain any word that may be tagged as spam.

- Incentivised viral. This is a marketing technique used by companies in which users are offered rewards when they refer somebody to the company. This becomes more effective when the referred person needs to take action for the reward to be given.

- Undercover. The most difficult viral to spot, undercover marketing sends a viral message that is disguised as just an unusual page or piece of news without obvious link citations.

- Edgy gossip or buzz marketing. This type is most common in the entertainment world. A good example is the spread of different controversies, like getting married or divorced, involving the stars of a movie that is yet to be released. This is like a word-of-mouth advertising for the movie.

Methods of Transmission

Spreading the viral message can be done in different ways.

- Email. This is the most common type, when people forwards messages such as inspirational messages, jokes, funny clips and pictures that advertises a certain product or service.

- Instant Messaging. People who receive links from friends through instant messaging servers, like Yahoo or MSN, are more likely to check it out because of the notion of urgency of the sender.

- Web sites. Most of the articles now published online have a link that says “Send to a friend.” This is one way to make the article reach a good number of people by just posting it in one site.

- Word of mouth. Of course, this is the traditional way of passing on a message to another person; and most of the time, the most reliable method too.

Though there are several ways on how to do this kind of advertising, there are also barriers to it. One was already mentioned, which is the risk of the message being labeled as “spam.” Since a lot of companies now are using this method and promoting their products through email, email providers proactively created some sort of filter in their system to separate potential spam emails from the more trusted ones.

Other barriers can be the size and format of the viral message. If the content is a video clip, its reach may be limited because of size limitations of most of the email providers. Media format is also one thing to consider because not all recipients of the message may have the right application to open the file.

But despite of these constraints, businesses are already getting into this style of marketing. Indeed, this technique helps in dramatically increasing revenues by reaching a huge number of the target market without having to spend a big chunk of money for advertisements. Viral marketing will definitely go a long way, especially in the World Wide Web.

Basics of SEO

2009-01-12T20:00:00.000-05:00

Nowadays, even the smallest company uses the Internet as a main tool in building a customer base, keeping in contact with their clients and this is also their most basic means of advertising.

Designing a company web site is cheap and effective, not to mention essential because the world wide web is the only medium that offers instantaneous information access to millions of users around the globe.

Any web developer worth his salt should know about search engine optimization or SEO.

This is the key towards building an effective web site that would get a lot of hits and visitors. A web site that nobody visits is useless so the challenge lies in leading Internet users to visit your web site.

Thus, your web site need to be "found" when users type in keywords in search engines such as Google, Yahoo, MSN, Altavista, AOL and others.

Once a keyword relating to the products or services that you offer is keyed into a search engine, a direct link to your web site should emerge on top of the list.

You should employ search engine optimization techniques to lead traffic your way, and get more hits that would later on lead to more profit for your company, which is your goal in the first place.

Here are some tips on how you can make it to the top of the list of search engines, and use your SEO techniques to benefit your web site and your company:

1. If you have an existing web site and domain, just optimize the one that you currently have instead of purchasing a new domain.

It will take some time before your web site will show up in a particular search engine, like Google, so it better to use the one that you currently have instead of switching to a new one.

2. Know who your target audience is and aim for them.

If you are in the manufacturing industry and a user types in your product in a search engine, then you would immediately have your target right in front of you.

As soon as the user hits the Enter button or clicks on 'Search', then the person will be lead to your web site.

Make sure that your target market will get 'hooked' on your web site. Once the search engines show the link to your web site, their job is done.

What you should do next is to make sure that your visitor will not leave your web site without them trying out your products or services, or at least leaving some pertinent information so that you can contact them in the future for marketing and advertising purposes.

When hitting a particular target market, learn about their interests, location and age to have an idea of what you can offer them in return.

Also, you can somehow link their interests to your products and services.

3. Search for the right keyword.

You should be creative, persistent and flexible when looking for the keyword or keyword phrases to use in optimizing your web site.

Google and Yahoo offer some tools and tips on how you can come up with keywords that will yield results.

Do not settle for just one keyword. You can also vary the words and phrases that you use for each page on your web site so that you can have more hits.

4. Consider your target market when designing your web site.

The design itself would include the general theme of the web site. You should also pay attention to smaller details such as color and font style and size.

Make sure that the web site is user-friendly and do not forget to insert helpful articles, tips, hints and related links that can be shared to other users.

It is a good thing to have an option to send a link or an article to a friend, which will add more users and increase your client base.

There should also be various ways to browse through your web site, to fit each user.

A person might find it to difficult use the scroll down option so you should also provide hyperlinks which are accessible to them.

5. Concentrate on the web site content.

Regularly update the content of your web site so that old and new users can find something new when browsing through your site.

Make the content brief and precise. Writing a content which has more than 600 words will make the users lose interest, since most of them do not actually read but just skim through the text.

Strive to be the best and most comprehensive web site and you will make your mark when it comes to information about the products and services that you offer.

It helps a lot to pay attention to detail, too.

Finally, keeping your web site's content updated is a must.

Spread the word about your web site and use the basic search engine optimization techniques and you will surely gain positive results once users visit your web site.

The 4 Biggest Reasons Every Author Should Count on an Author's Assistant

2008-12-06T18:35:00.001-05:00

Author’s assistants are well-known inside the publishing world, but not recognized by many outside of it. We predict that will change very soon because of the increasing numbers of authors who are getting published, either as independent publishers themselves or the more traditional route with established publishers.

Every big-time author has an author’s assistant – someone the author can call on to do the amazing number of tasks that surround the successful completion, publishing and marketing of a book. But first-time authors are lucky – they can have author’s assistants, too – virtually.

A new author can pay for just the time and expertise needed, without having to create a staff, making a virtual author’s assistant an important part of an author’s success. Here are the four biggest reasons this is an essential member of the author’s success team:

1. There is just too much work for one person. So many new or aspiring authors have day jobs and this is what they must do until their writing pays the rent. Until an author can clone him or herself, he or she must rely on others to help carry the load.

2. An author’s assistant has special expertise. Look for someone with training and experience in doing what you need done – from preparing a manuscript, to doing a competitive analysis, to coordinating a self publishing process to running a virtual book tour or an Amazon best seller campaign. Author’s assistants can do all this and much more. They understand the industry, the technology and have already established resources and connections.

3. The cost is greater when you do it yourself. There is a high learning curve for anyone who has never made the publishing journey. Whether the author is paid $70 an hour or $270 an hour as a coach, therapist, attorney or entrepreneur, the author’s assistant is a tremendous value at a much lower per-hour cost. With an author’s assistant the author has the freedom to concentrate on those things only the author can do, especially writing the best book he or she can. Expect to pay from $30 to $60 an hour (and it goes higher with greater expertise) for a qualified virtual assistant.

4. The synergy of the collaborative effort. There is nothing that inspires work like someone waiting for it. An author’s assistant is there to help you take each step so precious little time goes by between your writing and preparation for publishing and marketing. If you set the date, the author’s assistant will be there with support and encouragement to help you make it happen.

If you haven’t worked virtually before, talk to someone who has. Most people who start are hooked. One of the keys to success to have clarity about the tasks you want to have done and the payment arrangements – and then to memorialize these in a contract. Another key is to find someone with demonstrated training and experience since the first-time author may be in the dark about what the tasks actually are.

Take it from the established successful authors, don’t go it alone. Get the support you need and you will be well on your way to publishing success.

Free Webinar: Top 21 Low and No Cost Ways to...

2008-07-25T20:14:00.003-04:00

August 6th at 9:00 PM EDT

Learn the secrets of how to implement our amazing new eReport and get new ideas to market your business in a soft economy.

At the end of the webinar you will be able to:

Identify which techniques will work best for your business

Start with low and no-cost marketing immediately

Make better marketing decisions that will boost your bottom line.

For more information visit DeMystify Your Business.

Book Review: Eat That Frog! By Brian Tracy

2008-07-23T20:10:00.001-04:00

I just finished listening to the audible version of Brian Tracy's book "Eat That Frog!" and came away with a refreshing outlook on how to stop procrastinating and getting myself motivated to accomplish the set of tasks before me. Most of Tracy's advise in the book basically reinforces some common practices we should take into consideration when setting out to accomplish our tasks. The basic principles of the book are focused around the Pareto principle more commonly known as the 80-20 rule and the ABCDE Method of Prioritization a time management technique. What made the book refreshing was the clarity of the message he was trying to get across.In Tracy's book, he states that we should not only take the biggest task, but the task that would have the most impact on us and tackle it immediately and don't stop until it is completed or as he says Eat That Frog!

It is common that we look at our to-do-lists and try to do as many of the smaller items on the list as possible so that when we look at our list we feel some sort of accomplishment because the list is getting smaller. However,while your list is getting smaller the items which may have the most impact on you, whether work related or personal are still sitting there waiting to get done. What Tracy encourages us to do is sit down with our to-do-lists, prioritize them by using the ABCDE Method of Prioritization and then tackle them one at time.

With the ABCDE method you make your list of everything that you need to accomplish. This list should be an ongoing list and have tasks you want or need to accomplish whether it is today or next year. You then go through the list carefully and categorize each item with one of the 5 letters.

A – Very important. This is something that you must do, something that has SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES for either doing it or not doing it.
B – Something that you should do but that is not as important as an A item. There are consequences associated with doing it or not doing it but they are only MILD CONSEQUENCES that don’t last for very long.
C – Something that would be nice to do but for which there are NO CONSEQUENCES at all for your career or your success.
D – An item that you DELEGATE or outsource to someone else who can do it pretty much as well as you. Delegate everything possible to free up enough time for you to concentrate on your A activities.
E – ELIMINATE. These are items that are such low priority that you could eliminate them completely and it would make no difference at all. Sometimes the disciplined act of eliminating low value tasks can simplify your life and free up enough time for you to accomplish those tasks that have the greatest possible consequences for you.

Now that you have categorized the list go back over the list and organize your A tasks by priority, put an A1 next to your most important task, an A2 next to your second most important task and so on. Then begin immediately on your A1 task and discipline yourself to stay at it until it is completed. The important factor here is that you can't start on any of the B items until ALL the A are done. It is important to remain diligent about this.

Using the ABDCE method may at first feel like you aren't getting much accomplished because your list isn't getting shorter at the same rate as doing the non consequential items but over time you will not only see a big improvement in your productivity you will start to feel a real sense of accomplishment.

"Eat That Frog!" was an easy listen with lots of useful tips that can be implemented in to your daily life for both your personal and business needs. If you are struggling with procrastination or need to get yourself organized, I highly recommend you pick up the book or purchase the audio.

Attraction in Action: Free Seminar

2008-07-20T19:34:00.001-04:00

Are you worrying too much? Do you find yourself frustrated and focusing on things or situations that you don’t want in your life? In this month’s teleclass, we’ll discuss “Pivoting” one of my favorite tools to alleviate this type of negative cycle.

To Register: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/140427021 or send a quick email to shawn@joyouslifeworks.com; that's all you have to do!

Cornerstones of an Effective Website

2008-07-17T03:48:00.001-04:00

Just about everyone has a website today. Certainly, if you're in business one way or another, you have a website. And people have different objectives behind their sites. Some are content-driven. Others provide an online service and have sophisticated user interfaces. Others still are designed to entertain and amuse their visitors. But regardless what your website is designed to do, there are a few primary objectives you should keep in mind before you start building.

This first website objective is FOCUS. Your site needs to have a narrow and specific focus. Why is this? Because there are literally millions of websites out there and the visitors you're lucky enough to attract will only take a few seconds to decide whether they'll stick around or whether they'll simply click the back button and continue browsing elsewhere. Within those few seconds, your site needs to communicate exactly what it's designed to do so the visitor can decide if it meets his or her needs or not.

One of the best exercises to enhance the focus of your site is to establish a 15 to 25-word positioning statement that guides all your development activity going forward. Think about it like a mission statement. It should articulate exactly what your website does in just 15 to 25 words.

Another way to look at it is to do a Google search for a keyword in your field and see what comes up in the results page. Under each listing, there's a short description of what that site is all about. As it turns out, the search engines get that description from the meta tags on those websites but it's exactly the same thing. What do you want YOUR description to say?

Once you've established a positioning statement, you should display it prominently on your homepage. It should be one of the first things visitors see when they land on your website. And as I mentioned above, the same statement should be included in your meta tags as your site description. That way, the search engines know exactly what your site is about at the same time. And if your site shows up in a search results page, that description will show up as part of your listing.

The second objective is DEPTH. Again, this objective serves your visitors as well as the search engines. Build a massive amount of content all about your narrow business focus. That way, if a visitor lands on your website and decides in the first few seconds that they need what you're providing, they'll go on to find a ton of resources all about that topic, satisfying their need and establishing trust along the way.

Depth of content helps your website with the search engines as well. Google uses complicated algorithms to assess value to different websites and one of the biggest things they look for is content. If your website has a narrow focus and lots of content about that focus, it will get ranked higher within your area of expertise. Google will consider your site a good resource for people searching for your narrow focus.

The third objective is to make your site STICKY. This is a relatively new term that describes a website's ability to keep a visitor on the site. A lot of sites do a fairly good job of attracting visitors but many of those visitors take one look at the site and leave within a second or two. As I mentioned earlier, the positioning statement can do a lot to help someone understand what your site is designed to do. But you need more than that to keep them browsing.

The visitor needs to see immediate value when they visit your site. They need to see something that will benefit them right away. They need to see something they can use to make their own lives better. This is the foundation behind today's value-first marketing moniker. People have been over-marketed and have become skeptical in clever marketing slogans. They want to see the value. They want proof that you can deliver. They want to sample your product or service before they buy anything.

You should spend some time and think about what you can offer your website visitors as soon as they land on your site. It could be information. It could be a tool or calculator of some kind. It could be a free subscription. It could be an entertaining video or an interactive game they can play. Whatever it is, you need to capture your visitor within seconds and guide them to something that will benefit them.

Once they've received one piece of value, give them a second and then a third. Guide them through a maze of value, encouraging them to continue browsing and discovering even more. This is the key to a sticky website and you can get a good idea of your progress by measuring your average time on the site through your analytics platform.

There are a million different websites out there and they're all designed to achieve different objectives. But each one of those websites can be a bit better by incorporating more focus, depth and stickiness. All three improve your website' effectiveness and all three offer benefits with the search engines as well.

About the Author

Tactical Execution with Patrick Schwerdtfeger is a strategic company focused on growth marketing and program implementation across business markets. Visit the website for actionable guidance for revenue generation.

Email Marketing - Crafting a Profitable Email Message

2008-07-15T04:37:00.001-04:00

How many newsletters do you subscribe to? I'll bet my inbox is flooded with fifty or more each week.

Now some of those newsletters I just love. I file them away to read them later, week after week. I'd go ahead and open them, except that they're long and it would take a good five or ten minutes to wade through each one.

So they get filed away. I guess just in case I ever have so much spare time that I feel the need to open three thousand or so back issues of newsletters.

How many friends email you? A few each week? How many of those emails do you read? Every single one of them.

People love hearing from folks they know! I open these friendly emails right away, and I'll bet you do, too!

When creating a niche list (capturing names and email addresses from your niche website), you want to make sure you do one thing well. And that's become a friend to your subscribers.

Why is that so important? First off, as illustrated above, folks open emails from people they like and feel a relationship with. If no one opens your emails, they sure can't buy your product or look at your affiliate product recommendations.

Establishing yourself as a friend creates feelings of trust. Women (who spend money on the internet like it's going out of style) tend to buy more from people they truly feel a connection with.

So it's in your best interest to BE a friend to these folks and guard their trust well.

Imagine the money you could make with one mailing if the majority of folks on your list couldn't wait to hear from you each week. If they just loved seeing what you had to say next.

And what if you had ten niche lists that loved hearing from you and trusted your recommendations???

Relationship marketing works. Create trust and connection and don't be shy about sharing your heart from time to time. Your business will not only stand out from your competition, but grow by leaps and bounds.

Lisa Rae Preston is the creator of Instant Niche Emails, software that helps you create a year’s worth of relationship building, follow-up marketing messages in any niche! For her free report Insider Secrets to Follow-Up Fortunes, check out http://ping.fm/6ve0j

Contact the Author

Lisa Rae Preston

More Details about email marketing here.

10 Tips to Improve Your Listening Skills

2008-04-26T15:38:00.000-04:00

Listening makes our loved ones feel worthy, appreciated, interesting, and respected. Ordinary conversations emerge on a deeper level, as do our relationships. When we listen, we foster the skill in others by acting as a model for positive and effective communication.

In our love relationships, greater communication brings greater intimacy. Listening to our kids helps build their self-esteem and the parent-child bond. In the business world, listening saves time and money by preventing misunderstandings. And we always learn more when we listen than when we talk.

Effective listening skills fuel our social, emotional and professional success, and studies prove that listening is a skill we can learn.

The Technique

Active listening is really an extension of the Golden Rule. To know how to listen to someone else, think about how you would want to be listened to. While the ideas are largely intuitive, it might take some practice to develop (or re-develop) the skills. Here’s what good listeners know – and you should, too:

Face the speaker. Sit up straight or lean forward slightly to show your attentiveness through body language.
Maintain eye contact, to the degree that you all remain comfortable.
Minimize external distractions. Turn off the TV. Put down your book or magazine, and ask the speaker and other listeners to do the same.
Respond appropriately to show that you understand. Murmur (“uh-huh” and “um-hmm”) and nod. Raise your eyebrows. Say words such as “Really,” “Interesting,” as well as more direct prompts: “What did you do then?” and “What did she say?”
Focus solely on what the speaker is saying. Try not to think about what you are going to say next. The conversation will follow a logical flow after the speaker makes their point.
Minimize internal distractions. If your own thoughts keep horning in, simply let them go and continuously re-focus your attention on the speaker, much as you would during meditation.
Keep an open mind. Wait until the speaker is finished before deciding that you disagree. Try not to make assumptions about what the speaker is thinking.
Avoid letting the speaker know how you handled a similar situation. Unless she specifically asks for advice, assume she just needs to talk it out.
Even if the speaker is launching a complaint against you, wait until she finishes to defend yourself. The speaker will feel as though her point had been made. She won’t feel the need to repeat it, and you’ll know the whole argument before you respond. Research shows that, on average, we can hear four times faster than we can talk, so we have the ability to sort ideas as they come in…and be ready for more.
Engage yourself. Ask questions for clarification, but, once again, wait until the speaker has finished. That way, you won’t interrupt her train of thought. After you ask questions, paraphrase her point to make sure you didn’t misunderstand. Start with: “So you’re saying…”

As you work on developing your listening skills, you may feel a bit panicky when there is a natural pause in the conversation. What should you say next? Learn to settle into the silence and use it to better understand all points of view.

Ironically, as your listening skills improve, so will your aptitude for conversation. A friend of my husband’s once complimented me on my conversational skills. I hadn’t said more than four words, but I had listened to him for 25 minutes.

About the Author

Susie Michelle Cortright is the founder and publisher of Momscape, an online magazine devoted to nurturing the nurturers. Read inspiring articles and essays, and register to win free pampering packages. Used with permission.