Archive for internet marketing
Common Sense Social Media Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses
Posted by: | CommentsWith the death of the local newspaper and the explosion of social media websites, people are changing how they seek information, share opinions, and research products/goods/services before they buy.
On the internet are tools that allow consumers to share content and information as well as to exchange views and recommendations of those products and services they are buying. They can give starts, digs, and thumbs ups or downs on vendors and service providers that can be read by millions of people instantly. Social media sites like StumbleUpon, Digg, Yelp, Jane’s Book, and Angie’s list are the new “word of mouth” that promote or disparage products and services online.
Social media marketing strategies have the potential to make a company’s products and services go viral if businesses are able to grasp the effectiveness of establishing a brand and a brand reputation online. Social media marketing strategies are a great method of branding who and what a business is and helping that business build relationships and build a sense of community with their target audience of consumers.
So how do you build that sense of community and brand familiarity? How do you build a credible online presence that goes beyond your website? How do you use social media in a way that is inviting for consumers that sells your brand and your product without selling? By employing a few simple basic business strategies online you can create a credible and effective user-friendly web presence for your brand and your business.
How Social Networking Sites Benefit Your Business
LinkedIn, Twitter, Biznik, and Facebook are communities of people who have gathered together online to discuss similar topics or to share similar interests. Solidifying your social media community is a no brainer! The best part about social networking sites is that you don’t have to be online 24/7 to market and deliver your business to your audience anytime on time. Social networking sites let you build a business centered around a particular purpose: building brand credibility and creating zealots who will talk about your company and its products.
The first step in building a credible social networking presence is to build a credible profile that is associated with your brand. By creating a profile that represents your brand you are creating a credible presence in that social networking community. They will love the fact that you are reaching out to your audience where they “hang out” rather than waiting for them to come to you. Developing warm ‘fuzzies’ for your crowd is how you develop the ideal client.
If your avatar (photo or brand symbol) is not clear or is of you in 1974 when you were a lot younger, thinner, and had more hair, then you suggest that you are hiding something or not very authentic and perhaps a person/company not worth knowing. If you are using social marketing as a component of your marketing strategy you want to give some thoughts to the photo or “avatar” that you use. Think about them as branding images that reside right beside your name, your latest entry, or your comments.
Besides using Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, there are a myriad of other searchable social media sites. Flickr, Digg, YouTube, Viddler, etc are great for depositing search engine geo-targeted images, video, and rich content that can drive your business to the top of the search results. Social bookmarks (Magnolia, Delicious, Diigo,StumbleUpon), niche social networks (CrowdVine, Naymz, ClaimID,Gooruze), location networks (Upcoming, Eventful, BarCamp,Meetup, Evite), and customer service networks (Yelp, JanesBook,Angie’s List, Google Local) all build search engine go juice for your business presence on the web.
Community Building is the Corner Stone of Business Success
The web’s social applications are growing rapidly and with a little effort you can pick two or three strategies to carve out your niche presence on it. By anchoring social media links on your business website you can engage your customers and create an atmosphere of “community” and begin to develop contacts with new and potential customers that encourage them to come back to your site and your business again and again.
Post your profile on the social media sites that are appropriate for your business and where your potential audience is hanging out. Go in and foster community building through the exchange of information and knowledge while building business contacts and connections without selling. Remember, it is about developing a niche audience that is interested in your company and your goods and services. If you just start the conversation, the community will build the enthusiasm and drive the need for acquiring your products or services. Establishing your company and your brand as the leading “go to” authority in your industry will promote your website, set you apart from your competition, and ultimately increase your sales.
Social Media “Experts” on the Rise – What is Your Social Media Moniker?
Posted by: | CommentsSo you are a social media expert? Maybe in a room full of business owners or professionals I am the ‘expert’ on social media, but I would not call myself one. I prefer the assignment of proficiency or specialist to my name.
General Definition of an expert: http://www.merriam-webster.com/netdict/expert Doing something for 10 years or 10,000 hours http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expert Since Twitter has not been around for 10 years yet…I guess I can’t use the expert moniker but I can call myself a specialist! I can say that I am an expert in measurements and evaluations and statistical design models. I have done that for more than 10 years.
I was talking to Kevin Urie of Social Media Club of Seattle the other day and he asked me, “What do you think of the social media ’scene’ in Seattle?” Wow…that was a loaded question. I think it is great! I think it is exciting! I think it is an enthusiastic bunch of enthusiasts who are clamoring to learn more and more about all the latest gadgets and tools. But what I don’t see in many of the enthusiasts is a meaty need and driving desire to understand the potential of each new piece and how to measure the data points in meaningful ways. There are lots of enthusiasts and great fans roaming the west coast proclaiming the power of social media but there are more zealots and practitioners than in the trenches analysts and tinkerers. That is why he and SMC Seattle continue to bring thought leaders together for their more formal presentations to help the enthusiasts and the thought leaders exchange ideas and build a knowledge base that promotes expertise and informs the casual user as well. Kevin’s leadership and the great group he surrounds himself with is bringing great value to the Seattle social media community. They offer something for the beginner to the most experienced practitioner in the field of social media and it is always innovative and exciting.
Next I had coffee with my friend who works with a government entity that won’t embrace social media because the bureaucratic chain of permissions is so great that it would take months for a single tweet to be approved for broadcast. The burden of understanding the immediacy of social media and the potential it possesses for their organization is so beyond them that they are skeptical about anyone in the business regardless of their skill sets or experience.
I moved on down the Seattle waterfront and had coffee with Warren Sukernek of Social Media Breakfast Seattle for an interview for my upcoming book on Twitter techniques and strategies. The conversation moved from the hows and whys to the vetting of not only Twitter followers for brand engagement but also regarding the person representing the brand itself. We both knew of companies that had hired someone’s niece or nephew still in high school or college to ‘Tweet’ for the company. We also knew of cases where a social media expert’s complete work history involved a stint as a bagger at Safeway and barista at the corner cafe. And the company wonders why their social media efforts are not working so well for them? SMBC’s last presentation by Sean O’Driscoll of Ant’s Eye View briefly addressed just that question as he went on to address pithier matters about measurement of conversations, etc.
This led to a lengthy discussion with my buddy David Grigsby a tech geek like myself who lives in the heartland of America. He and I chat almost weekly about the latest tools and techniques that impact small business on the web. Gist, Flowtown, Mailchimp, CRM, Odesk, you name it and we have turned it upside down and ripped it apart to analyze its effectiveness for small business owners. Not surprising we have also analyzed the ways and means of social media. We came to the same conclusion…measurable output is critical to success on any of these platforms
The most interesting thing that came out of all the conversations with these professionals is that there were some common benchmarks or standards we are looking for in the ‘experts’ we will work with, support or engage on behalf of our clients:
1. Must be a doer not a talker. Actively participating in the social environments they propose to represent for a brand. An abandoned or inactive Twitter account does not make one an expert. Tweets must bring value and encourage engagement at a minimum. Consistency is important as is output.
2. A true dynamic web presence that is optimized for find-ability. If you are in the business of building the web presence of a brand then you need to eat your own dog food. If someone ‘Googles’ you and you can’t ‘be found’ don’t call yourself an expert. You can’t because you aren’t. As Nike says, “Just Do It!”
3. Social media projects are an integral part of a maven’s portfolio. Let your work speak for you. If you can’t point to anything you have done that is professional and represents your knowledge base you won’t impress anyone.
4. A polished, highly optimized, and professional LinkedIn profile is important to the vetting process. You will be assessed based on your strengths and weaknesses found on available online information. If you can’t be validated as a professional with appropriate education or experiences that align with what you claim, then you probably won’t make the cut.
This is not to say that there are not gems among the inexperienced. They get how it works. They stumble onto the one thing that not one of their peers has discovered as of yet. The technologies are in their infancy as are all the ‘experts’ that abound. We are all trying to differentiate who we are and what we do. None of us can claim to truly be experts at the moment. We are all practitioners building tools, strategies, and techniques built on our individual and collective experiences in the field. The reason that I won’t call myself an expert is that I am not that confident anyone is including the inventor of the technology, methods, or tools.
Your thoughts?
SEO Poseur or Pro- Is Your Web Professional Competent Pt1
Posted by: | CommentsSEO and Web Design are critical to the success of your business’ website. If you can’t be found (SEO) you might as well not have a web site. If your website is not user friendly once you get traffic you will not have any sticky readers who come back again and again to find your great content. A new website can cost thousands of dollars and can be a major investment for a small business owner. How do you know if your designer is a poseur or a pro? What can you do if you have already been burned and now are left with the mess to fix or clean up? Shannon Evans and Rich Geasey authors of Get Found Now Local Search Secrets Exposed are thrilled to announce that their second book in the series Get Found Now Search Engine Optimization Secrets Exposed is expected to release Feb 15. The following excerpt is designed to help you filter out the poseurs and uncover the real professional who can help you and your business get found on the internet!
Your personal or business website is likely your primary medium for providing information to potential and current customers or clients. Today, an Internet search is typically the primary way someone begins their search for goods and services. Therefore, your website needs to be on the first page of a search engines’ results (for most of us that’s Google). Not on page one? Well, less than 10% of searchers ever venture any further.
Despite this fact, most business and professional websites are essentially useless in delivering first page search results, even in the case of very specific keyword searches. Why is that? For the most part nearly every small business website is not search engine optimized (SEO) in the least. Is this the fault of the site owner? No, it’s the fault of the designer or developer of the site. A competent web designer or developer takes the time to research the keywords a site owner needs to use to have success on the search engines. Next, the designer or developer needs to use those keywords and the process of SEO to give the site the opportunity to appear on the first page of the search engine.
How do you know if your site is optimized, or more importantly if your designer or developer has the skill to achieve this? Well, a great tool is available to assist in this process and it’s called Website Grader (www.websitegrader.com). While Website Grader is not the definitive answer to how good a website is, it is a great tool to compare sites and see how you, and your designer or developer stack up.
Website Grader analyses your website for completeness of SEO efforts. After the analysis it compares the site with their database of nearly two million sites and provides it with final score of 1 to 100. A score of 90 or better and you are doing all the right things as far as SEO is concerned. A score in the 80s shows you are working it hard and with a bit more time and effort you will be doing great. In the 70s you have some work to do but you are getting there. 50 to 70 is OK if there are no serious issues the report highlights, it may simply be you have a new site and it needs time to be searched. Less than 50 and the site is poorly done and simply is not visible to search engines (or very, very new).
Link Building Tactics – 33 Link Building Tactics to Boost Your Online Traffic
Posted by: | Comments“No man is an island,” said English poet John Donne centuries ago. And neither is your website. With no inbound or outbound links, what’s the point, really? It is worthless. Merely decorative. It won’t work for you. So you have made good use of competitive keywords and included them throughout your website. Big deal! If you can´t go the distance, your business will never thrive, and while good keyword usage is recommended, it just isn´t enough. Link building is perhaps one of the key aspects to search engine optimization, along with keyword usage. And here are 33 of the best link building tactics, guaranteed to increase traffic to your website and boost your profits.
1. Just ask nicely. Simply ask visitors to your site to link to you. And they will, as long as you have an engaging website, with relevant information, a unique view, in other words, if you offer something that not many others do.
2. Provide a “link to us” page. Make sure it includes stuff like URL(s), logo and an anchor text they can use.
3. Create interesting lists (ahem!). Write a “101” list or a “Top Ten Tips to…” list. This kind of document becomes an “authority” opinion and will naturally get links.
4. Offer to be a guest writer. Send an email to a magazine, ezine, blog, or online journal, and let them know you’d be interested in contributing an article to share your valuable expertise.
5. Offer testimonials. If there is a tool you’ve tested or bought recently, go to their website and see if there is a testimonials section. Write in with your review/opinion and kindly ask them to link back to you.
6. Get your website listed. Submit it to several directories, but remember that quality matters, so submit it to the good ones.
7. Submit Your Blog and RSS Feed. Submit to Blog directories and RSS submission sites.
8. Make use of Web 2.0 resources. Use MySpace, Facebook, MSN Spaces, whatever you feel most comfortable with, to promote your site.
9. Write articles for Hubpages. Submit quality articles, comment on other hubs, post in the forums, and you’ll get a hubscore plus quality links.
10. Post free ads. Websites like Free Ad Blog and Free Blog Post allow you to post two to three links to your site.
11. Participate on Blogs. Leave your comments, network with them, email them, link to them, and they’ll surely link back to you.
12. Make many different Blogs. On sites like Blogger or Wordpress.
13. Post on forums and groups. Find the largest and the best in your field.
14. Post in Ebay Blogs. Post your link within your blog, and you can actually say you have a link from Ebay!
15. Acknowledge the contribution of experts. Write about them, review one of their books or articles, or even compile a list of experts like, “The Five Definitive Experts on…”. There’s a good chance they’ll notice you and link back to you. Interview a guru or get permission from him to post his work, articles, e-book.
16. Make use of local resources. Get a link from your local chamber of commerce.
17. Sponsor an event. These all link to their sponsors.
18. Offer useful tools. Calculators, conversion, translation tools; they’re naturals for getting lots of links, as people are often in need of good, quality tools.
19. Find out which websites link to your competitors. And get them to link to you, as well.
20. Join an affiliate program. But make sure you choose a good one.
21. Win awards for your website. There are plenty of reputable award sites like webbyawards.com or webaward.org.
22. Article submission. Submit articles to websites like Ezine Articles or Goarticles. Just contribute quality, relevant content and send it in.
23. Write reviews. On sites like Amazon or ePinions.
24. Become an authority. It is most likely you already are an authority in your business, so answer questions on Yahoo Answers and post your content everywhere.
25. Post in classifieds sites, like Craigslist and USFreeAds.
26. Create a Squidoo lens. Advertise one or all of your websites on Squidoo.com.
27. Submit guides to Work.com. The nifty thing about this one is that if your guides are approved, you can include as many followed links as you want.
28. Write an article for Wikipedia. Although you may not be able to directly link to your website, include links to other pages that link to yours.
29. Exchange links. Link to other blogs/websites from yours, but which provide relevant content, and ask them to kindly reciprocate.
30. Use your forum signature. Please leave your name, message and link! There are lists of directories that allow signature links.
31. Oops! You forgot my link! Find websites that mention your company or products but don’t provide the direct HTML link. Simply send them a friendly email and request the link.
32. Submit your design to CSS directories.
33. Give exclusive scoops. Provide newsworthy stories to bloggers who’ll be dying for the exclusive and will be more than willing to post it.
There is one thing that must be stressed and it cannot be emphasized enough. As long as you provide quality, relevant, useful information and treat other website owners/users or bloggers with respect, you’ll never go wrong. There’s nothing wrong with asking for links (ask and ye shall receive, right?) as long as you don’t badger people into it. Sometimes a little flattery goes a long way.
Links are essential because they connect us all so we may form one global community. It’s not about competing to get more links or taking links from others. It’s not a link popularity contest. It’s all about sharing the link love.
Learn more about the author, Zeke Camusio.
Eight Simple Steps To Finding A Lucrative Niche Market With Keyword Research
Posted by: | CommentsWhile this site is primarily focused on using the Internet as means to promote your existing business some of you may be interested in creating businesses just for the Internet. Internet marketing is a huge opportunity and finding open and effective niches is a great way to go about it. This article is a good resource on how to do that.
The Internet Marketing Center Team
Today we’re going to shed some light on what seems to be the LEAST understood part of starting a successful Internet business: doing keyword research to find a lucrative niche market.
Here’s the thing… it seems like word about niche markets has finally gotten out, and most people now know that finding one is the KEY to a successful business on the Internet!
And most people also know that doing good keyword research is the way to find these niche markets.
But put the average person in a room with a computer — and ask them to actually do the research — and they have NO IDEA how to even get started!
So we’d like to break down the barrier that stands between you and your success on the Internet, by giving you the 8 simple steps you MUST follow to do successful keyword research that will lead to a lucrative niche market for your website.
Once you’ve mastered these 8 simple steps, you’ll be able to start uncovering potential niche markets in literally MINUTES!
Then you can repeat the process, again and again, to find MANY niche markets, and set up a business with MULTIPLE streams of income.
Ready? Let’s get started…
Step #1: Use one word to describe a passion or interest
Getting started is easy! You just need to pick a single word that describes an interest or passion, like “dog” or “garden.”
And that’s the end of step one! 
Okay, it’s not quite that simple. You do need to think carefully about your interests and passions first. It’s important that you choose something that you already know lots about, and that you’re interested in learning even MORE about.
That’ll keep your new business fun and interesting for you over the long haul, and reduce the chances that you’ll get discouraged and give up.
And if you’re not sure what your interests or hobbies are, we can help you with that, too! Just check out this article, which contains a handy quiz you can answer to uncover your passions and interests.
Step #2: Generate “problem statements” by combining your interest word with “how”
Once you’ve identified your area of interest, you’ll want to see if there’s a problem related to that area of interest that people are trying to solve (and will hopefully be willing to pay for the solution).
Ultimately, you’ll be selling the solution on your website.
So using a FREE research tool like the Google AdWords Keyword Tool, simply type in the word that represents your interest, along with the word “how” (for example: “how dog” or “how garden“).
Why? Well, people who have problems they’re trying to solve typically type questions into the search engines to find answers, and “how” is the way they usually ask them.
The AdWords tool searches Google’s index to find what searches have been done using both of those words, so the results will contain search terms like “how teach dog fetch.”
These results are called “problem statements.”
Step #3: Record the “action words” in your problem statements
Once you’ve started generating some problem statements in your area of interest, you’ll likely notice a lot of “action words” are popping up in the results.
For example, if you searched on “how dog,” you’d likely get results like “how wash dog,” “how house train dog“, “how groom dog,” “how draw dog,” and so on.
The “action words” would be wash, house train, groom, and draw.
Take note of these words. They’re the ones people are using as they search the ‘Net to try to solve their problems.
Step #4: Choose problem statements that you have the interest, knowledge, or skill to solve
From your list of problem statements, select the problems you’d be most interested in helping people solve.
So, if you’d like to help people housebreak their dogs, you’d choose problem statements like: “how to paper train a dog,” how to house train a dog,” how to house break a dog,” and so on.
Make a list of the relevant problem statements related to your interest.
Step #5: Find as many ways as possible to search for help with this problem
Okay, so now you know that you’re interested in helping people who are trying to learn how to train their dogs.
But remember: “how train dog” is NOT the only way people are going to search for this kind of help!
There are LOTS of different words for “train” (“educate,” ” teach,” “show,” “obedience,” etc.) and quite a few words for “dog” too (“puppy,” “canine,” “mutt,” etc.), and you want to make sure you identify as many of them as possible.
The more different ways you can identify for people to ask their question, the larger your potential market will be!
So, using a FREE tool like Thesaurus.com or Google Sets, make a list of as many different words for BOTH your interest word and your action words as possible.
Step #6: Find the keywords people are actually typing into the search engines
Now you’re ready to get down to the nitty gritty!
It’s time to take a paid keyword research tool, like Wordtracker, Keyword Discovery, or BeBiz, and find the actual keywords that people are typing into the search engines to find the solution to their problem.
Just enter your “interest” + “action” phrases into your keyword tool, making sure you use ALL of the different words you found in Step #5.
You’ll get a long list of actual searches that people are doing in the area you’re focusing on (for example, “stop dog messing inside,” “teach dog go outside,” “paper train puppy“).
Step #7: Organize the top keywords into groups
Once you’ve got a long list of the actual keywords that people are entering into the search engines to find the solution to their problem, you want to organize them in groups — or “clusters” — according to intention of the search term.
For instance, if you did a lot of keyword research for “dog house training,” you could organize all of your keywords under groups, like this: house training, puppy training, dog door training, dog incontinence, etc.
By creating these clusters, you’ll be able to find out what SPECIFIC problems people are searching for.
Step #8. Look for the clusters with the largest groups of keywords
Once you’ve got all of your keywords clustered, you’ll want to add up the number of different keywords each cluster has.
A large cluster with LOTS of keywords, all expressing the same problem, is one that’s worth exploring further. That’s a sign that there are plenty of people trying to solve the SAME problem, and that means LOTS of visitors to your website.
And there you have it… keyword research, in a nutshell!
You might not find a serious moneymaking niche the first few times you go through this process, but stick with it. You’ll find one soon!
Then, once you’ve found your potential niche market, we can show you exactly how to create a profitable website around that market.
We’ve developed a foolproof, step-by-step system that you can use to find the perfect product to sell to your niche market… set up a professional- looking website to promote your product… write winning copy that will turn the MAXIMUM number of visitors into eager buyers…
… and even show you DOZENS of ways to send eager shoppers straight to your website, for FREE!
And for the next few days, we’re letting our “Marketing Tips Report” subscribers try out this entire Internet business-building system WITHOUT RISK for one full MONTH!
That’s 30 days to read through ALL of the techniques, tips, and strategies you need to make money online, and use as MANY of them to start your website as you want!
To activate your RISK-FREE 30-Day Trial to this entire step-by-step system for making SERIOUS profits with your own profitable website based on your interests and passions, click here now.
To your success,
The Internet Marketing Center Team
