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How To Use Twitter For Marketing

07 2008 Wednesday

By Darren Olander in Featured

Twitter is a relatively new web 2.0 site that is starting to gain a lot of popularity. That means that a lot of people have heard of it but it is also quite common to run into people who haven’t heard of it.. yet. Twitter.com is this social site that encourages users to post often about what they are currently doing.

A lot of people are using it to improve their marketing reach, by being an active twitterer they gain followers who are interested in what they got going on. This means people being exposed to their updates on a regular basis. For example, if you have hundreds of followers in Twitter and you decide to post an affiliate link, that means that hundreds of people have instantly been exposed to your offer. In this article I will discuss ways to maximize Twitter for your marketing, and also a big mistake to be aware of.

In order to have a fan base per say of followers in Twitter you must be able to keep their interest in you and what you are doing now. “What are you doing?” is the whole foundation of what Twitter is about in the first place. Make sure to post daily if not several times throughout the day updates about what you are doing. The magical thing behind this is that many of your contacts will be able to feel like they know you so much better, will trust you more, and feel much more comfortable about working with you. On the other hand, when you follow others you can learn about them and their possible needs.

The big mistake to watch out for is only posting affiliate links or offers on your Twitter page. This looks like Spam and many people will see you as just abusing Twitter for your own personal gain. Think of it this way, if you would not want to invite your friends or family to keep up with you via Twitter then you are going about it all wrong. As with anything you send out or provide, ninety percent should be content and ten percent (at most) advertising. So this concept is quite simple… constantly post throughout the day what you are doing.. it is usually very simple and only takes a few seconds to post! Secondly, if you write articles or provide content online, provide a link for those in your Twitter posts. You may post many things within one day, but the last thing you post for the day is usually the most important because it will be there the longest. This means that your last post for the day should very well contain a link that you want your followers to see before your start Twittering again the next day!

Another part of Twitter is contributing. As with any social site it should be a give and take relationship. Notice that give comes first… the more you give the more people will want to work with you and the more attention you will receive. Make sure to read and follow other users in Twitter. If you read something interesting or helpful then make sure to reply and say so, or even put a link for it on your Twitter so that you are directing others to more quality content. This can also be as simple as connecting with other users, if they know you are reading their Twitter page they will be much more likely to check out what you have going on too.

To get started in Twitter you should first invite contacts who aren’t using Twitter and also find contacts who are already using Twitter so that you can start following them and also start getting people to follow you. Twitter has a nice invite and find feature that makes this incredibly easy. To grow your reach even more you can start following people who follow or are followed by the people who follow you.. or that you follow. You might need to read that sentence again.. but basically you can find other users to connect with that are already connected to other users.

Now for a big tip. If you really want to maximize the potential with Twitter, you should make sure to take advantage of any plug-ins or sites that support Twitter. Here are three, but I’m sure there will be many more in the future if not already. Squidoo allows you to input your Twitter account info into your Squidoo account and then it can automatically post updates to your Twitter account when you create or update Squidoo lenses. Facebook has an application called Twitter, it automatically updates your Facebook status when you make a Twitter post. The other tool is a free WordPress plug-in called TweetMyBlog that allows you to create a two-way connection from your blogs to Twitter. TweetMyBlog allows you to use a widget on your Wordpress blogs that will display your current Twitter feed.. that way all visitors to your blog can look at the widget and see a running feed of your latest Twitter posts. If they click on that they will be brought to your Twitter page. In addition, when you make a new post to your blog, TweetMyBlog will automatically make a post to your Twitter page with a link to your latest blog post. Imagine the extra exposure you can receive by using these tools that help people see more of what you are doing.

Lastly, have fun! Twitter is a social site… so interact and enjoy!

Darren Olander is dedicated to teaching others how to create a success online through internet network marketing strategies. He is a site owner, article writer, coach & marketing consultant enjoying the benefits of working full time from home. Learn more about him at http://www.darrenolander.com

Is Finding A Profitable Blogging Topic Enough?

07 2008 Wednesday

By Edward Lomax in Featured

If you want to make money blogging, it all starts with a great, profitable topic. If you don’t get the niche of your blog right from the beginning, everything else you do is just a waste of time. Sounds, dramatic, but it’s true.

But really, finding a profitable blogging topic is not all that hard. You only need a niche that has two characteristics:

There must be lots of people interested in the blog topic and there must be people ALREADY spending money in the niche. That’s it. If there is a lot of interest and a lot of money being spent, all you need to do to have a profitable blog is tap into the existing income.

But that is where the problem starts.

There are so many blogs and so many bloggers that there really are no untapped niches that live up to the two necessary requirements of a profitable blog topic. While discovering a profitable niche is still the first step, you have to take your blogging plan further and figure out how you are going to distinguish yourself from your competition.

Every profitable blog starts with a great idea in a profitable niche. But success of the blog is determined by how well you differentiate yourself from the other bloggers in your niche. And if you are a newcomer to the niche, you have to do what the established blogger is already doing, but in a more impressive and valuable way.

The days of becoming a successful blogger making a full time income for a few minutes of work are long gone. Now you must have a plan if you want your blog to raise in the ranks and be recognized as an authority. And you must be willing to do more than your competition.

Here are some ideas to make your blog successful and profitable after you’ve identified a profitable niche to blog about.

1 Have A Plan

Just having a plan sets you apart from the majority of your competition. A lot of bloggers still don’t even blog about one specific topic. Their blogs are all over the place talking about whatever comes to mind. So, forget about them having any kind of plan or goals.

2 Create A Publishing Schedule

Coming up with great content is a challenge. And frankly, it is impossible to come up with fantastic posts every day. So, you need to have a publishing schedule that keeps you on track, but is relaxed enough to be accomplished.

I suggest making a publishing schedule that consists of a combination of short utility posts, longer featured posts and posts designed to recommend or sell products. This mix keeps regular posts being made to your blog without the pressure to come up with all the content yourselves.

3 Use All The Tools At Your Disposal

There are a lot of software programs designed to make blogging easier and more effective. And here is the good news… most bloggers don’t use them! If you are one of the bloggers in your niche using software to help you create a fantastic blog, you can set yourself apart from the competition.

4 Promote Your Blog

A lot of bloggers just post to their blog and that’s it. They sit back and wait for their post to be indexed by the search engines and the traffic to flow in. And a lot of time, they just keep waiting with little or no traffic to show for it.

So, if you are promoting your blog, going to where your potential readers are and drawing them into your blog, you can quickly take over the top spot in your niche.

Finding a profitable blog topic is easy. Just look for niches of high interest with a lot of money being spent. But remember, the competition is growing every day. Be prepared to do more, faster and more effective than other bloggers in you niche and you will take how a lion’s share of the profits.

Edward Lomax invites you to learn the Ready-Load-Aim-Fire Formula Of Profit Blogging by downloading his free report and accessing the valuable information on his blog. If you want to beat your blogging competition and profit from your blog, visit: http://www.bloggingbattleplan.com

Increasing Conversions with AdWords Demographics

07 2008 Wednesday

By Tim Rule in Featured

Users running a PPC Campaign in the Google AdWords platform are given the choice of displaying ads on the Google Search Network and/or on the Content Network. I have never been a big fan of advertising on Content Networks, as I find the automated matching process to be less than ideal. I can generally browse the net and quickly find ads that are irrelevant to the sites they are displayed on. This can give one a healthy dose of skepticism.

While advertising on Content doesn’t generally cost a great deal, we have never seen much in the way of results. By and large we do Search Network only, however recently I have had to re-assess that view.

The Web Emperor Has No Clothes

07 2008 Wednesday

By Jerry Bader in Featured

If you’re in business, you’re in sales; that’s just the way it is. We are all salesmen; we all have something to sell, a product, a service, an idea, a cause, or maybe just an opinion. And if you’re in business you have a website intended to communicate the value of that which you sell.

So if you’re in the business of selling something, and your website is the vehicle you choose to communicate your sales pitch, then shouldn’t your main concern be how effectively you are communicating that message?

Communication or Analytics

Instead of concentrating on effective communication, many businesses put the emphasis on search engine statistics: how high they rank on Google, MSN, and Yahoo, with the assumption that the higher they rank, the more traffic they’ll generate, and the more traffic they generate, the more sales they’ll get. At least, that’s what we are led to believe.

Here’s the problem: almost all the rank-generating strategies are aimed at search engine spiders, not people, so you have to ask yourself, who exactly is my website communicating to, robots or human beings?

The Secret Formula Doesn’t Exist

Why are today’s business owners and executives so mesmerized by this whole search engine thing? It reminds me of the story of an infamous Hollywood movie mogul and studio head who was caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Instead of firing the guy immediately, he was retained for some time for the simple reason his movies made money; and the dirty little secret in Hollywood is that nobody really knows why some movies are hits and others are bombs. So you keep paying the guy you think is making you money, no matter what he does, because maybe he knows something you don’t.

What we have today is a new generation of business leaders who came of age with the Internet. These Internet technology geeks and boffins are the new Web-wizards and wunderkinds: the guys with the secret formula. But like the movie industry, nobody really has a foolproof search engine recipe for success, but since most of the technical stuff is ever-changing, and over most entrepreneurs and business executives heads, they buy into it; that is until somebody tells them the emperor has no clothes.

What’s A Web Entrepreneur To do?

You heard the old expression, “a little knowledge is a dangerous thing,” well it has never been so true as it applies to website marketing. The simple truth about websites is that success is based on a site’s ability to communicate a marketing message that makes sense, and is understood in an easy to digest format.

Jerry Bader is Senior Partner at MRPwebmedia, a website design firm that specializes in Web-audio and Web-video. Visit http://www.mrpwebmedia.com/ads, http://www.136words.com, and http://www.sonicpersonality.com. Contact at info@mrpwebmedia.com or telephone (905) 764-1246.

Sale of Yahoo to Microsoft Imminent?

07 2008 Wednesday

By Kalena Jordan in Featured

After months of stop-start negotiations, Microsoft are now closer than ever to their goal of acquiring Yahoo.

The latest breakthrough came following Yahoo’s settlement this week with ex AOL chief and billionaire investor Carl Icahn.

Mr Icahn, who controls approximately 5 percent of the company with his ownership of 70 million Yahoo shares, has been a big supporter of the merger with Microsoft, going so far as sending Yahoo stockholders an open letter urging them a deal with Microsoft would be in the company’s best interests:

“Yahoo’s search business is in a precarious position and it needs to join forces with Microsoft to compete with industry leader Google Inc.”

Icahn’s letter stated.

“Google is going to put in billions and billions of dollars, and where’s Yahoo going to get that money?”

Mr Icahn’s letter also pushed for Yahoo’s Board of Directors to step down, including Yahoo’s CEO Jerry Yang. A joint restructuring proposal from Icahn and Microsoft was sent to Yahoo board members on July 11, with the company given only 24 hours to accept or reject it.

At first Yahoo board members resisted the proposal, but Monday saw a settlement between Yahoo and Mr Icahn that ended the proxy contest. The settlement included an agreement for one board member to step down, Mr Icahn to be appointed to the board and for eight other board members to stand for re-election.

With Yahoo pushing out their 2nd Quarter financial results late yesterday and a more pliable Yahoo board set to be elected at the company’s annual meeting on August 2, it appears that the announcement of a deal with Microsoft is imminent.