How To Article Marketing Guide - Why is Article Marketing So Important
Simply put, article marketing is the strategy of creating articles about the solutions your business offers and using those article to gain customers and sales.
Article marketing works like this. First you need to research what you want to write about. And what you want to write about is what your customers are looking for. How do you know what your customers are looking for? If you're new to article marketing, I would recommend using a free keyword tool offered by Google Adwords or Good Keywords. Both of these tools show you exactly what words people are typing in that are related to your business. For a short demo, go ahead and click on my Google Adwords Tool Demo.
Next, you write a 450-750 word article around a keyword that you've chosen. You should use the keyword once in the title of the article, somewhere in the first paragraph, somewhere in the last paragraph and a few times in between. A ratio of about 3% is what is acceptable for the number of times you use the keyword. If you use it too often, it will be frowned upon by the search engines which pretty much defeats the whole purpose. At the end of the article, you will offer your website or blog link that your readers can click on for more information.
After you've written your article, submit it to as many article directories and submission websites as you possibly can. If you don't like writing or if you don't have the time to do so, you can outsource the writing. After a few days to a week, your article will be accepted and published into the article directories, allowing your content to be accessed by thousands of readers and websites in the process.
After your articles are submitted, search engines will begin to pick up on them, and you will begin to see new links to your website. This boosts your search engine ranking. Over time, other websites will pick up your articles and display them elsewhere on the internet. When you see other websites picking up your articles, you can contact them and offer to write unique content specifically for their website. This way, you will gain even more links to your site.
Using this method to build quality links for your website is one of the best ways to build traffic to your website. Keep in mind that in order to get the best results, your articles must provide top quality content! You don't have to be a fantastic writer. . .but what you write about needs to be something that your audience is looking for so the research phase of this is extremely important.
This serves as the How To Article Marketing Guide Introduction. My next articles will focus on the specific steps that were covered here briefly.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
Your E Marketing Strategy - Have You Done Your Research?
Your E Marketing Strategy is what will determine how well you fair in your online business. One of the biggest challenges to overcome when you do business online is to make yourself stand out from the competition. Believe it or not, the product or service that you are selling is probably being sold by tens, hundreds or even thousands of other businesses.
So in order to to maximize your potential, you need to define an e marketing strategy that will provide the best service to your customers. You'll need to incorporate something that distinguishes you from the competition, that continuously brings in new customers and also retains existing ones.
This might go without saying but it is so important that I'll say it again. You need to
offer the highest quality in whatever it is that you are selling. The quality isn't what will drive people to you in the beginning - your e marketing strategy will do that - but in order to maintain a good image and build relationships with your customers, quality is the key.
So how do you develop an effective e marketing strategy? First off, you need to look at exactly what you are offering and determine first what audience it appeals to and second how you can reach that audience. Again, they won't come to you by themselves. This step requires a lot of research and in the beginning and even quite a bit of trail and error. A great place to find information about what people are looking for is on forums but if you keep your eyes and ears open, you can see and hear it everywhere. . .in magazines, at the grocery store, on blogs, twitter and FaceBook. . . just to name a few. Once you get the hang of it, you will come into contact constantly with information that is related to whatever it is you're selling and your target market.
So, how do you reach these people. The internet is a wonderland of free sites that you can "promote" your products and services. But when I say promote, I mean offer information that will solve your potential customer's problems. . .not straight out promotion. You can do this on FaceBook, Twitter, Squidoo, Blogger, US FreeAds and many, many more sites. Or you can pay for online advertising which is also very effective.
After you have determined what you have to offer and how you will be getting it to your target market, you next need to look at how you are going to set yourself apart from your competition. What can you offer that will make people come to you? Whether it’s free shipping, top-notch support, hundreds of testimonial, you need to identify these explicitly.
Finally, you need to continuously attract new customers as well as retaining your current clients in
order to remain viable in your business objectives. You should constantly be looking for new ways to reach additional shares of the marketplace. You may also need to continuously update your products and services in order to continue to appeal to your past clients.
Don't ever forget to go back to your existing clients and offer them new things while making them feel important. With diligent work and increasing skills, your e marketing strategy will take you to your business objectives.
So in order to to maximize your potential, you need to define an e marketing strategy that will provide the best service to your customers. You'll need to incorporate something that distinguishes you from the competition, that continuously brings in new customers and also retains existing ones.
This might go without saying but it is so important that I'll say it again. You need to
offer the highest quality in whatever it is that you are selling. The quality isn't what will drive people to you in the beginning - your e marketing strategy will do that - but in order to maintain a good image and build relationships with your customers, quality is the key.
So how do you develop an effective e marketing strategy? First off, you need to look at exactly what you are offering and determine first what audience it appeals to and second how you can reach that audience. Again, they won't come to you by themselves. This step requires a lot of research and in the beginning and even quite a bit of trail and error. A great place to find information about what people are looking for is on forums but if you keep your eyes and ears open, you can see and hear it everywhere. . .in magazines, at the grocery store, on blogs, twitter and FaceBook. . . just to name a few. Once you get the hang of it, you will come into contact constantly with information that is related to whatever it is you're selling and your target market.
So, how do you reach these people. The internet is a wonderland of free sites that you can "promote" your products and services. But when I say promote, I mean offer information that will solve your potential customer's problems. . .not straight out promotion. You can do this on FaceBook, Twitter, Squidoo, Blogger, US FreeAds and many, many more sites. Or you can pay for online advertising which is also very effective.
After you have determined what you have to offer and how you will be getting it to your target market, you next need to look at how you are going to set yourself apart from your competition. What can you offer that will make people come to you? Whether it’s free shipping, top-notch support, hundreds of testimonial, you need to identify these explicitly.
Finally, you need to continuously attract new customers as well as retaining your current clients in
order to remain viable in your business objectives. You should constantly be looking for new ways to reach additional shares of the marketplace. You may also need to continuously update your products and services in order to continue to appeal to your past clients.
Don't ever forget to go back to your existing clients and offer them new things while making them feel important. With diligent work and increasing skills, your e marketing strategy will take you to your business objectives.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Are You Making Money With Blogs? 6 Ways To Do It
Making money with blogs is one of the hottest topics around, especially with the struggling economy that's causing more and more people to search for extra sources of income or even replacements for lost revenue. Blogging is appealing because it is so easy to get started and it doesn't have to cost a dime. Even if you choose one of the blogging platforms that do require payment, the fee is comparitively minimal to other money making investments.
So how how can you earn money with blogs?
1. Offer your skills and expertise in the form of services. The general image of blogs is a place where you can offer your opinions, suggestions and other subjective informaiton. This is one way that blogs can be used, but blogs are also great at building relationships and creating happy visitors into customers or business partners as well.
If you make sure that your posts are original and informative and offer value to whoever will be reading them, you'll make your readers happy.
What kind of services can you offer? The list is endless. . .choose something that you like and do well like writing, graphic design, PPC, SEO, email campaigns, babysitting, coaching, anything goes. Write about it. Offer tips, suggestions, how-to and do-not lists, etc. This will establish you as an expert in whatever your service is and the blog is then referred to as an authority blog.
2. Sell advertising space on your blog. This is most likely the most common way to leverage your blog to generate income. If you create a well-known, value-packed blog, it's pretty easy to sell ad space. In fact, you won't even have to offer it. . .advertisers will seek you out!
For new or less-known blogs, services such as BlogAds or Google's AdSense enable you to earn income from advertisers.
BlogAds puts bloggers into contact with advertisers and takes a commission in return for any ad placements that result. AdSense is free and lets you select several ads that are consistent with the content of your blog. You get paid when readers click on the ads. These types of programs are the among the main reasons that making money with blogs is so easy nowadays!
3. Ask for contributions. The thought of this may bother you but if your small-business blog supports some kind of cause or issue, it doesn't hurt to ask for suport from your visitors. And readers who become loyal to your blog are especially willing to make little contributions. You can use an easy program such as PayPal to establish a simple on-site contribution collection button.
4. Help sell other people's products and/or services. Let your blog be the connection between readers and other sites that offer products and services. Just go to ClickBank or Commission Junction and pick out an affiliate product or service to sell - it should be something that goes along with the content of your blog. Or you can create a new blog specifically for the products you decide to promote. If you write articles about certain products that you would recommend, you can get paid a commission when someone takes you up on the offer. This is one of the most popular ways of making money with blogs because you don't need your own product or service.
5. Use your blog to keep your customers coming back for more.
Using a blog to regularly communicate with existing clients as well as other new readers is a way to fully inform them about everything your business does.
Your posts can enlighten your readers about the full scope of your products or services and even inspire them to refer you to others.
6. Remember that effective blogs are updated regularly and often with original and high-quality content. Make sure that you're giving your readers a reason to come back to your blog again and again.
More and more people are making money with blogs. Are you one of them?
Laura Shapiro is a Home-Based Business Owner and Consultant in addition to being a full time Mom. Is a Home Business your Dream? It doesn't have to be - let me help you make it a reality. . .
So how how can you earn money with blogs?
1. Offer your skills and expertise in the form of services. The general image of blogs is a place where you can offer your opinions, suggestions and other subjective informaiton. This is one way that blogs can be used, but blogs are also great at building relationships and creating happy visitors into customers or business partners as well.
If you make sure that your posts are original and informative and offer value to whoever will be reading them, you'll make your readers happy.
What kind of services can you offer? The list is endless. . .choose something that you like and do well like writing, graphic design, PPC, SEO, email campaigns, babysitting, coaching, anything goes. Write about it. Offer tips, suggestions, how-to and do-not lists, etc. This will establish you as an expert in whatever your service is and the blog is then referred to as an authority blog.
2. Sell advertising space on your blog. This is most likely the most common way to leverage your blog to generate income. If you create a well-known, value-packed blog, it's pretty easy to sell ad space. In fact, you won't even have to offer it. . .advertisers will seek you out!
For new or less-known blogs, services such as BlogAds or Google's AdSense enable you to earn income from advertisers.
BlogAds puts bloggers into contact with advertisers and takes a commission in return for any ad placements that result. AdSense is free and lets you select several ads that are consistent with the content of your blog. You get paid when readers click on the ads. These types of programs are the among the main reasons that making money with blogs is so easy nowadays!
3. Ask for contributions. The thought of this may bother you but if your small-business blog supports some kind of cause or issue, it doesn't hurt to ask for suport from your visitors. And readers who become loyal to your blog are especially willing to make little contributions. You can use an easy program such as PayPal to establish a simple on-site contribution collection button.
4. Help sell other people's products and/or services. Let your blog be the connection between readers and other sites that offer products and services. Just go to ClickBank or Commission Junction and pick out an affiliate product or service to sell - it should be something that goes along with the content of your blog. Or you can create a new blog specifically for the products you decide to promote. If you write articles about certain products that you would recommend, you can get paid a commission when someone takes you up on the offer. This is one of the most popular ways of making money with blogs because you don't need your own product or service.
5. Use your blog to keep your customers coming back for more.
Using a blog to regularly communicate with existing clients as well as other new readers is a way to fully inform them about everything your business does.
Your posts can enlighten your readers about the full scope of your products or services and even inspire them to refer you to others.
6. Remember that effective blogs are updated regularly and often with original and high-quality content. Make sure that you're giving your readers a reason to come back to your blog again and again.
More and more people are making money with blogs. Are you one of them?
Laura Shapiro is a Home-Based Business Owner and Consultant in addition to being a full time Mom. Is a Home Business your Dream? It doesn't have to be - let me help you make it a reality. . .
Monday, October 19, 2009
What Does SEO Stand For and Other Search Engine Optimization Basics
You've probably heard the term SEO if you've done even the slightest bit of marketing online. What does SEO stand for? Search Engine Optimization. And what that basically means is the process of presenting your web content in a way that agrees with the search engines. And that helps in getting your content towards the front so that when someone types in a term that is relevant to your business, you will be seen!
So, SEO in a nutshell is a marketing technique to make your website more visible to search engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN or others. Did you know that when people do a search on one of these search engines, they will only look at the results that come up in the first page? So if you want to be seen online, that's where you need to be!
Don't let the term SEO and Search Engine Optimization intimidate you… all it really translates to is more visitors, more traffic, and if you’ve got a product, more sales. SEO is integral to a good marketing campaign – there’s no two ways around it. But you don't need to be an expert in SEO to get it working for you right away. Start with the basics and move forward as you feel more comfortable.
So, your goal is to get your web content to appear on the very first page of any search engine’s results when someone types in the words that are relevant to your business. These words or phrases are known as keywords – they’re your best friends when it comes to search engine optimization.
There are a number of free resources you can find on the web that will teach you how to use keywords. For instance, some tools will tell you how often a certain keyword phrase is searched for, and show you other, similar keywords. These other keywords might allow you to expand the focus of your web page to attract more visitors. You can also use this information to target keywords that are less common on the Internet – this this is a way to avoid a huge amount of competition and to corner the market in all the terms that are particular to your business.
Keywords aren’t the only search engine optimization tool you can use. Probably the important aspect of SEO is linking. Search engines basically use links to a website as references, like when an employer calls up past employers to find out how good an applicant is. The more legitimate references or links that you have coming into your website from other sources (so, people who link from their site to your site in order to provide their visitors with more information), the higher that the site will be ranked in the search engines. Creating links within your pages is a great way to enhance SEO.
Keywords and linking are just the tip of the Search Engine Optimization iceberg. There are many more advanced techniques that can be used to bring a site to the top of the search page ranks and keep it there. This serves as just an introductory guide, but now you know the answer to the question; what does SEO stand for?
So, SEO in a nutshell is a marketing technique to make your website more visible to search engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN or others. Did you know that when people do a search on one of these search engines, they will only look at the results that come up in the first page? So if you want to be seen online, that's where you need to be!
Don't let the term SEO and Search Engine Optimization intimidate you… all it really translates to is more visitors, more traffic, and if you’ve got a product, more sales. SEO is integral to a good marketing campaign – there’s no two ways around it. But you don't need to be an expert in SEO to get it working for you right away. Start with the basics and move forward as you feel more comfortable.
So, your goal is to get your web content to appear on the very first page of any search engine’s results when someone types in the words that are relevant to your business. These words or phrases are known as keywords – they’re your best friends when it comes to search engine optimization.
There are a number of free resources you can find on the web that will teach you how to use keywords. For instance, some tools will tell you how often a certain keyword phrase is searched for, and show you other, similar keywords. These other keywords might allow you to expand the focus of your web page to attract more visitors. You can also use this information to target keywords that are less common on the Internet – this this is a way to avoid a huge amount of competition and to corner the market in all the terms that are particular to your business.
Keywords aren’t the only search engine optimization tool you can use. Probably the important aspect of SEO is linking. Search engines basically use links to a website as references, like when an employer calls up past employers to find out how good an applicant is. The more legitimate references or links that you have coming into your website from other sources (so, people who link from their site to your site in order to provide their visitors with more information), the higher that the site will be ranked in the search engines. Creating links within your pages is a great way to enhance SEO.
Keywords and linking are just the tip of the Search Engine Optimization iceberg. There are many more advanced techniques that can be used to bring a site to the top of the search page ranks and keep it there. This serves as just an introductory guide, but now you know the answer to the question; what does SEO stand for?
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Internet Marketing for Dummies - 3 Simple Rules
Copyright © Laura Shapiro, Your Home Business Guide
Are you looking into starting an online business or have you decided to bring a primarily offline business to the web? This Internet Marketing for Dummies intro can get you started in the right direction. . .
With our ever-increasing dependence on the internet, you've definitely made the right choice to start promoting your business on the worldwide web. Anyone that has a computer nowadays turns to the Internet to get product reviews and information, commentary, tips and and testimonials from previous customers or other marketers.
If someone is interested in your type of business and they cannot find you online, they will turn to one of your competitors who is online.
This is not an immediate concern for established businesses as they rely more solidly on word of mouth reviews to help them. But it will be in the future. Even local businesses are going online to do local online promotions. And if you're just starting out with a new business, you'll definitely need the internet right from the get-go.
I know that many of you small business owners, even the more experienced ones, are intimidated by the idea of building and maintaining a website on your own.
So here is Internet Marketing for Dummies Rule number 1
Don't let your fear stop you from taking action!
Building a site is now extremely easy with the advent of networking sites and even online templates that will help you build your webpage step by step:
Here are some good ones:
Homestead Quick Sites is a powerful website building tool with Hosting included. Over 20 Million People use Homestead to host their website.
BlueHost is a popular web hosting company with a flexible and user-friendly Website builder. It's great for those new to developing websites
And I very highly recommend SBI SiteBuildIt. It is more time consuming to get your site up and running with SBI but you do it step by step with incredibly thorough step-by-step tutorials.
Internet Marketing for Dummies Rule number 2: After you build your website, all you need to do is post it on the various social networking sites like FaceBook or Twitter (or one of the many others). All of these social sites represent free ways for you to advertisge. See the post below for some other social networking sites. Be active in these sites and people will come to see who you are and what you and your business is all about.
The key to promoting your business in social sites is to be social!!
It seems like a simple concept to remember but so many people are on these sites to hype it up and blast their website links to everyone they know. Don't make this mistake! First of all, people do not respond to this and second of all, it can get you banned from these sites. Be friendly, meet people, comment on their pages, blogs, etc., and include your link if appropriate. Offer advice and suggestions. By doing this, you are establishing yourself as trustworthy, reliable and friendly and people will be more interested in what you have to offer.
Most Social Networking sites offer tutorials or step by step instructions of how to get set up.
Another great way to reach people on the internet is to find a site that is offering something similar to what your business does. A lot of these sites ave message boards or forums where people discuss things and ask questions about different topics. Get on these message boards and talk to people, answer their questions, and leave behind your business contact information. This is a great way to bring more visitors to your own business!
And Internet Marketing for Dummies Rule number 3, as you are going about your web marketing, remember not to be too pushy or flashy with your promotions or ads. Avoid big promises and loud graphics. Most people read "scam" into these types of techniques or they're just turned off by all the hype. Be simple, informative and truthful as you bring your business to the web!
Laura Shapiro is a Home-Based Business Owner and Consultant in addition to being a full time Mom. Is a Home Business your Dream? It doesn't have to be - let me help you make it a reality. . .
Are you looking into starting an online business or have you decided to bring a primarily offline business to the web? This Internet Marketing for Dummies intro can get you started in the right direction. . .
With our ever-increasing dependence on the internet, you've definitely made the right choice to start promoting your business on the worldwide web. Anyone that has a computer nowadays turns to the Internet to get product reviews and information, commentary, tips and and testimonials from previous customers or other marketers.
If someone is interested in your type of business and they cannot find you online, they will turn to one of your competitors who is online.
This is not an immediate concern for established businesses as they rely more solidly on word of mouth reviews to help them. But it will be in the future. Even local businesses are going online to do local online promotions. And if you're just starting out with a new business, you'll definitely need the internet right from the get-go.
I know that many of you small business owners, even the more experienced ones, are intimidated by the idea of building and maintaining a website on your own.
So here is Internet Marketing for Dummies Rule number 1
Don't let your fear stop you from taking action!
Building a site is now extremely easy with the advent of networking sites and even online templates that will help you build your webpage step by step:
Here are some good ones:
Homestead Quick Sites is a powerful website building tool with Hosting included. Over 20 Million People use Homestead to host their website.
BlueHost is a popular web hosting company with a flexible and user-friendly Website builder. It's great for those new to developing websites
And I very highly recommend SBI SiteBuildIt. It is more time consuming to get your site up and running with SBI but you do it step by step with incredibly thorough step-by-step tutorials.
Internet Marketing for Dummies Rule number 2: After you build your website, all you need to do is post it on the various social networking sites like FaceBook or Twitter (or one of the many others). All of these social sites represent free ways for you to advertisge. See the post below for some other social networking sites. Be active in these sites and people will come to see who you are and what you and your business is all about.
The key to promoting your business in social sites is to be social!!
It seems like a simple concept to remember but so many people are on these sites to hype it up and blast their website links to everyone they know. Don't make this mistake! First of all, people do not respond to this and second of all, it can get you banned from these sites. Be friendly, meet people, comment on their pages, blogs, etc., and include your link if appropriate. Offer advice and suggestions. By doing this, you are establishing yourself as trustworthy, reliable and friendly and people will be more interested in what you have to offer.
Most Social Networking sites offer tutorials or step by step instructions of how to get set up.
Another great way to reach people on the internet is to find a site that is offering something similar to what your business does. A lot of these sites ave message boards or forums where people discuss things and ask questions about different topics. Get on these message boards and talk to people, answer their questions, and leave behind your business contact information. This is a great way to bring more visitors to your own business!
And Internet Marketing for Dummies Rule number 3, as you are going about your web marketing, remember not to be too pushy or flashy with your promotions or ads. Avoid big promises and loud graphics. Most people read "scam" into these types of techniques or they're just turned off by all the hype. Be simple, informative and truthful as you bring your business to the web!
Laura Shapiro is a Home-Based Business Owner and Consultant in addition to being a full time Mom. Is a Home Business your Dream? It doesn't have to be - let me help you make it a reality. . .
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