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How to Use Squidoo

By Daniel Gebura in Featured

Squidoo is a free social network that allows people to share their interests, hobbies and passion through the lenses that are free websites every Squidoo member can easily create.

The attractive thing about Squidoo is that it’s completely free to be in and everyone can spread the word about anything he wants using free websites. That’s why thousands of people from all over the world gathered around Squidoo to make the most of it.

So if you’ve never tried Squidoo lenses before now it’s time to do so.

If you are new to this network you will notice that most of people use it to promote various products and to make money from it. This is the most common trend noticeable on Squidoo. Why?

Because Squidoo lenses are perfectly designed to pull in profit from them. They can be easily monetized so you can create a lens about your hobby and occasionally promote some products related to it, in order to generate some sales and make some extra money. Also Squidoo share a monthly revenue between all members, so this way you can easily make some extra cash by creating lenses frequently as well.

So how the perfect lens should look like?

Well there are good lenses and bad lenses. Some Squidoo members create lenses for nothing more than just for selling some products by building a lens on links, banners, pictures and price lists. This is understandable, however it might give completely opposite effect resulting in no sales at all. See, people don’t like to be sold straight away and firing at them with nothing more than sales offers will rather discourage them from purchase.

Good lens requires one more really important thing which is content.

By building your lens on valuable content you will be able to engage visitor who will be glad to find your lens informative and will be more likely to see what you offer in result.

The content for your lens can be easily created in the form of article. So if you have a product to promote you can first write a good quality review of this product, presenting to the visitor the value of it and what kind of problem it can solve. As you know people usually seek for information and they look for solution for particular problems they may have. By giving to the visitor a clear understanding of how your product can help him and placing the links and banners to it after review will move you one step closer to generate a sale from your lens.

Engaging reader with valuable article or review of the product will make him appreciate your knowledge and believe in the value of your offer in result.

So it’s simple as that.

When you apply this principle to your Squidoo lens marketing you will be half way through to success. Another half is spreading the word about your lens. And here is another advantage of Squidoo lenses. They are often indexed by search engines, which means that your lens if constructed properly will drive you free good quality traffic from search engines like Google or Yahoo.

For the purpose of indexing you should insert particular keywords into your lenses. Also you should backlink to your lens from other websites to increase it’s search engines rankings. Another method of spreading the word about your lenses is joining Squidoo groups related to the subject of your lens.

So Squidoo lenses are great and effective way to not only share your passion but also to make money out of it. Always remember that one good quality lens including some valuable content will do much more for you that another one aggressively pitching your business or product.

Daniel Gebura is an experienced network marketer who helps ordinary people build a successful home business. Visit Daniel’s Legitimate Work At Home Jobs website for the best home based business ideas and opportunities.

Article Distribution vs. Guest Blogging: Is There a Difference

By Karon Thackston in Featured

To many people, the idea of guest blogging is fresh and new and very “Web 2.0.” Personally, I find the discussion to be a rather déjà vu-like experience. In fact, one participant on my blog responded to a post about articles by asking how I would contrast guest blogging with article marketing. He wanted to know how I chose between placing my articles on directories and writing an exclusive blog post. The short answer is: I don’t.

Remembering the Good Old Days of Article Marketing

Using Email Marketing to Save Money

By Lauren Hobson in Featured

With today’s tough economic conditions, many small businesses are looking for ways to save money or at least make their money go a little further. When it’s time to trim costs, marketing budgets are often the first to get cut, especially if they contain expensive items like glossy printed pieces, a one-time radio ad, or pricey direct mail campaigns. To make your marketing dollars stretch further, you need to use high-impact, low-cost marketing strategies that get the word out about your business yet don’t break the bank. One low-cost strategy you can implement is an email marketing program to help you communicate with customers, target the right prospects, and market your business effectively without spending a lot of money.

In 2008, the Direct Marketing Association reported that the return on investment (ROI) for email marketing was more than $45 for every dollar spent on it. That’s amazing! Email marketing is also incredibly effective, since nearly 87% of adult internet users open the opt-in emails they receive from businesses (according to MarketingSherpa). With numbers like these, it’s easy to see how email marketing can help small businesses save money on marketing while reaching their target audience at the same time.

Email marketing, like other marketing strategies, is most effective when used consistently and with repetition. Research suggests that target audiences need to see a message anywhere from 3 to 7 times before they will take any action or respond. Many small businesses have found success with using a three-step approach to their email campaigns. For example, a typical example might be:

• Email #1: Educate recipients about your product or service, and highlight how it solves the problems they may be experiencing. Remember to focus on the benefits your customers will see by using your product or service, and try to avoid simply listing the features. Instead, specify what those features will do to improve life for your customers.
• Email #2: Educate recipients about how your company differs from the competition, and reinforce the message from Email #1 that highlights how your product or service benefits your customers.
• Email #3: Send recipients a great offer – now that you have educated them about how your company can help solve their problems and provide them with benefits, offer them an incentive to give you a call or place an order today.

Also, be sure to use a strong call to action in your email campaigns, and always provide recipients with multiple ways to contact you (via a web form on your landing page, a toll-free number, direct email links, etc.).

Targeting
One critical component to your email marketing efforts is to always use a professional listserv service to send out your campaigns. Don’t risk appearing amateurish – or violating CAN-SPAM laws – by sending email campaigns from Outlook or other email programs! Also, make sure you select a listserv service that can provide you with delivery reports on click-thru rates, unsubscribes, bounces, and the number of opens for each campaign. That way, you can measure the effectiveness of your campaigns and track what worked so you can repeat it for future campaigns.

Segment Your List
Another benefit of email marketing is that you can segment your email list according to any criteria that you’d like. This enables you to send targeted emails with customized messages that are tailored to each specific market segment. With print advertising, targeting typically involves choosing a publication based on key demographics. But, publications like this still go to a very broad audience who may or may not even notice your ad. With email marketing, you can target the message according to whatever criteria is important to you, then send targeted emails to each segment of your list. And as mentioned earlier, nearly everyone who receives an opt-in email from a business will open it.

Investing in Results
Since email marketing can deliver a $45 ROI for every dollar spent, what percentage of your marketing budget should be devoted to an email marketing program? The trick to smart marketing in an economic crunch is to invest in the marketing strategies that deliver the best results, and drop the things that don’t contribute to your bottom line. By investing in email marketing, you can effectively communicate with your target market, help your business generate more leads, and ultimately improve sales, all while saving money. So if you’re looking for ways to cut costs, consider implementing an email marketing program for your small business and make that marketing budget stretch just a little further this year.

Author Bio

Lauren Hobson, President of Five Sparrows, LLC, has more than 16 years of experience in small business technology writing, marketing, and web site design and development. Five Sparrows provides professional web site and marketing services to small businesses and non-profit organizations, giving them access to high-quality services at affordable prices. To read articles or subscribe to Biz Talk, please visit www.FiveSparrows.com/biztalk.htm.

The Link Building Constellation – Mapping The Ideal Profile Of A Link Building Campaign

By John McElborough in Featured

The link building constellation maps the ideal link profile of a website for a link building SEO campaign. Covering the main sources of links which make up a typical campaign, the graph shows where each fits in the ‘link constellation’ and the sort of proportional quantity each should be sourced in.

The diagram is based on the makeup of some of the most successful SEO link building campaigns I have run and although its far fom an exact science following this visualisation as a guide will, I believe, result in the most successful possible link campaign for improving PageRank and keyword ranking.

The diagram breaks the link profile of the website down into 6 main categories, 5 of which are built up in the link campaign, the 6th ‘Organic links’ are those links gained naturally through the increased preveliance of the website and the creation of quality content.

1. Internal satellites- 10% of total links

These are internal links and particularly links on sub domains. The suggested examples are subdommains of the main domain which stray from the main content of the site and therefore justify their own domain but are very much part of the main website such as blog.mainwebsite.com, affiliate.mainwebsite.com, jobs.mainwebsite.com- each of these has the same or similar top level navigation as the mainsite and links back to the mainwebsite.com homepage.

2. External satellites- 10% of total links

External ’satellite’ links are links which come from content created on external domains but operated with full editorial control by the mainwebsite (or the link builders). This mostly refers to external blogs, microsites and community portals setup by the optimisers usually for the sole purpose of creating new quality links to the main website.

3. Quality links- 25% of total links

These are the links built usually entirely by the link building campaign on quality, relevant websites. Gaining these links will involve approaching the relevant websites and getting a link put somewhere on their site either by asking, adding to their content (i.e. comments on blogs) or most commonly link baiting with article distribution.

4. Free links- 15% of total links

This is the old school of link building but is still a very important part of creating total link volume. The link profiles of some of the most successful SEO link building campaigns are based massively on free link building alone but this is increasingly becoming a difficult area of utilise to maximum effect. Free directory submission is the most common type of free link building but social media distribution of site content through RSS and tagging is a more modern spin on free link generation.

5. Paid links- 10% of total links

I debated wither this should be included but ultimately accepted that somewhere in any large scale link building campaign paid links would be used to increase total link volume, target some quality relevant sites and also build up link numbers from some high PR (PageRank) sites.

6. Organic links- 25% of total links

I strongly believe that no successful link building program is complete without a substaintial contibution from sites which are not sourced for links as part of the SEO campaign but whom choose to link of their own accord based on the quality of content on the main website or the internal satellites. Adding a blog to the top level domain/ a subdomain of it is a great example of a way to instigate this natural linking process as people are far more likely to link to a corporate blog than a corporate site.

This part of the link profile is the icing on the cake and the realisation that the quality content production as part of the SEO campaign has been successful and the brand has achieved the neccesary exposure to attract attention from the online community. often this goal will only be reached with big brands and the support of offline marketing campaigns.

About the Author: John McElborough – Vanilla Digital the digital marketing blog. View the link building constellation diagram this article discusses.

Marketing With Facebook: The First Product You Sell On Facebook Is Yourself

By George Dean in Featured

Any savvy marketer will tell you that if you meet someone new, you shake hands firmly and you make eye contact and try to establish some personal rapport, as soon as possible. When you find those friends or potential business associates online, you’re already a bit ahead of yourself because you should have some rapport from past associations. To seal the electronic deal, send them a message that you want to be their friend. In a way, you have to re-introduce yourself to them as if they were a semi-stranger because you are online and they can’t see you through their PC screen.

When you find someone you know, you can choose to “Add as Friend” and then a message box will pop up. Here, you can remind your old friend of who you are and what you shared together. Did you sing in the same choir at church? Why not say: “Hey, Buddy, great to see a fellow choir member here online! What have you been up to since we last saw each other?” It’s always great to ask a question to get a reply. The idea is to establish that virtual handshake, make it as firm as possible by identifying who you are and their connection to you, and then try to establish a rapport or connection with them so that they will agree to add you as a friend.

Networking online has advantages and disadvantages. For instance, one advantage to online networking is you can approach many different people to build your network, in much less time than if you tried to do this physically.

The disadvantage is that so many people are trying to get to know each other, you can quickly be lost in the crowd or simply ignored by people who no longer want to be anyone’s friend! Hopefully, by starting out with people with whom you have relationships in the physical world, you will have a firm footing in the Cyberworld to help you grow your network bigger when it comes time to do that.

Have A Story To Tell

This is where the marketing model diverges completely from the conventional model. In a conventional model, you might get up in front of a group of people (particularly if you are consultant) and explain the benefits of your products or services. Your sales presentation would be snazzy, eye-catching, and full of information that meets the customer’s needs.

In Facebook, this will only bore people to tears and send them scrambling to the exit door. Instead, after you establish rapport with someone, you will want to reel them into your sales funnel using storytelling as your main technique. Of course, this can take a little longer, but this is not really a business proposition, it is a seduction.

Some of the greatest examples of this marketing technique for online sales can be seen at eBay. Who can forget the story of the Virgin Mary grilled cheese sandwich? It wasn’t just the image of the Virgin Mary that made it sell for $28,000 and become an Internet story for weeks, but it was also the story behind the grilled cheese sandwich that helped increase its value in the eyes of the Internet bidders.

The person who posted the sandwich claimed it was 10 years old and responsible for helping her win $70,000 at a casino. As proof of its holiness, the person claimed the sandwich never exhibited signs of mold.

While we all find this story incredibly humorous, the fact is she walked away with $28,000 from the auction of a grilled cheese sandwich. That’s the power of storytelling when it comes to Internet marketing.

Now, that you have someone’s attention, you might think it’s time to make your sales pitch. Hold on! The first product you have to sell on a social networking site is yourself. These types of interactions take a little longer upfront than conventional methods of marketing where you are trying to contact as many people as possible and then issuing a sales pitch to get someone to buy. That’s a very quick way of alienating all your friends on Facebook, and they probably won’t come back.

Since your friends lend your online presence a degree of credibility and trust, once all your friends leave, you are basically bankrupt on a social network. You might as well leave and start a different profile (although Facebook only allows one profile per user) or use a different site.

Focus on getting to know your friends a little better and finding out what about their identities has attracted them to you. Then, promote that part of your image more to gain more people from their network to join your own network. You should try to remain in your targeted niche for the services or products you are selling. Do sell your traits, but gear them to your image and the identities of those people you are trying to attract. The more interesting you are to them, the more likely they will tell a friend about what you are doing on your Facebook account.

About the Author: George Dean is the author of the newly-released book/audio book, PROFITABLE FREELANCING WITH FACEBOOK, available at http://www.PaydayPublishing.com. Listen to free audio samples on how to freelance with Facebook. Or sign up to our Affiliate Program and earn 50% commissions on our products!

20 Best Blog Post Ideas for Small Business Blogging

By Donna Gunter in Featured

“So, what do I blog about each time?” is a question I often get from clients. To keep your blog active and healthy, I recommend blogging at least 3 times per week. However, that notion is overwhelming for many. Even though you may be an expert in a topic, your mind may go completely blank when it comes time to blog, and then at other times when you’re not blogging, your idea cup runneth over.

The primary thing to remember is that blog posts don’t have to be long and complicated. You’re not writing an article, a report or a thesis. Many times a blog post is only a paragraph consisting of a few sentences that contain your thoughts about something. Now, doesn’t that sound easier than composing a 600-word post each time you sit down to blog?

How To Promote Your Business On Youtube

By Daniel Gebura in Featured

Video marketing is a great way to get your business professionally promoted and to attract more people to your offer.

Nowadays there are many video libraries online gathering thousands or even millions of videos uploaded daily by users.

One of the biggest and the most popular video library is YouTube that attracted millions of members sharing their video content.The uploaded material is usually arranged in particular categories making it easier to find.

Among thousands of videos on various categories ranging from comedies, videoclips to movies previews and adverts there is a loads of videos on business subject promoting particular products or giving a free education on business topics.

The question is why the marketers find YouTube so effective to promote their businesses?

The answer is simple. It’s completely free advertisement space. Apart from the eventual costs of creating the video , uploading and storing them on YouTube is completely free.

Yet another fact is that YouTube gathered millions of members from all over the world which can give a huge exposure to the videos promoted.

How to promote your business on YouTube.

1. Create a channel

Opening new Youtube account is free and gives immediate access to all necessary tools making uploading videos easy.

Now it’s time to design the channel which is user’s space that other visitors can visit by clicking user name. The more professional it looks the more attractive it will be off course. Everything is adjustable. Editing channel is quite easy. Adjustments such changing the background color and particular boxes are just a matter of few clicks.

Setting up the channel is important as the better it fits with your business image the better results in general you will get.

For instance uploading your company logo as a background or profile picture and setting up color theme accordingly to your business is a good way to increase your credibility and awareness of what you have to offer.

2. Upload the videos.

The types of business videos that can be found on YouTube are different. While ones are uploading the videos pitching their business directly, the others provide viewers with educational videos giving away free information, lessons and mini courses.

Well why not considering having both of them on YouTube? While videos promoting your business can increase awareness and give straight message about your products, the free education will increase your credibility and authority which can lead you to receive more subscribers to you channel and prospects who will believe in value of the information provided by you and may become customers in the near future.

3. Use the tools

The features provided at the user’s channel are powerful networking tools that can help spread the message about the videos and the business in result.

Among the features such us: sending messages to another users, commenting and ranking the videos there is one really interesting that can give a viral twist to the video distribution.

It’s “Share channel” function that is a kind of friend requester. This one allows to connect the channel with other user’s channels. In result it’s possible to send them the videos to view. This way is good to increase the number of video views which can result in getting new subscribers to the user’s videos.

Another great feature is bulletin post.

This one enables user to post video message that will be visible for all his friends (the other users who the channel is shared with)

Video marketing on you Tube is a great way to get additional source of traffic and increase awareness about promoted business. Uploading videos presenting value frequently and using the networking features available in the channel will spread the word about anykind of product.

About the Author: Daniel Gebura is an experienced online marketer who helps ordinary people build a successful home business. Visit Daniel’s Internet Business Opportunities website for the best home based business ideas and opportunities.

Social Networking, Going Beyond the MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter

By Bill Rice in Featured

Have you noticed? Social networking and social media is taking the Internet by storm. Everyone is getting into the game from small businesses to big corporations. Does that mean all of the opportunity is gone? No. The real truth is 90 percent of people are getting it completely wrong.

Effective social networking goes beyond registering for MySpace, Facebook, and/or Twitter. Social networking requires participation and valuable contribution to the community. Here are the secrets of maximizing your social networking.

Listening

Getting into the conversation starts with listening to your community. Take some time to research your target audience–people you want in your community. Here are a couple of my favorite techniques:

• Use Google’s Blog Search to find blogs and commentary associated with your business
• Set-up Google alerts to email you tips on new content related to your marketplace
• Use Twitter Search to monitor community related conversation in real-time

Not only will listening tune you into your target audience–it will reveal opportunity.

Participating

Note, the first word is social networking is “social.” That means that people expect connections in their network to participate. They are looking for a conversation. Getting the most out of your social networking means giving your community what they want. Here are a few techniques I like to use:

• Ask questions. Nothing draws a crowd faster than asking for advice.
• Answer questions. This demonstrates expertise and adds value.
• Link to great resources. Linking gives to the community and builds goodwill.
• Share good content. I good proportion you should share your own content.

Participating shows a genuine interest in the community, building your credibility and reputation–important to powering a successful social network.

Audience Building

Once engaged in your social network, it is time to build your own audience. Your audience should be folks that follow you and are influenced by you.

You want to be a leader in your social network to get the biggest return. This of course requires trust and reputation. Each is built over time and based mainly on useful and valuable participation.

Join the conversation, help people, and be willing to learn and your audience will grow. However, one powerful suggestions–focus on conversations and interactions that have keyword clues. This will help attract an appropriate audience. Also, every social network has a search tool–this is how most audiences get built, like websites it takes a little smart SEO.

Mobilizing

As you build your audience don’t be shy to get them doing something. People love to be part of a cause or project. Most will happily get involved. So, start mobilizing your audience early. This will make them a powerhouse as you audience grows and you are really to charge them with a really big initiative.

Are you now convinced that social networking is more than a seizure inducing MySpace page, a college reunion FaceBook network, or a java fueled blasting of what your ate for dinner? Social networking is about–listening, participating, and mobilizing. Get yours started today.

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Bill Rice Social networking is much more than just signing up for a few social media accounts. A smart social media strategy takes real community, audience, and target market consideration. http://bizinneed.com

Choosing a Platform for Your Blog

By SEO Sapien in Featured

There are a number of things that should be taken into consideration when you are choosing a platform for your blog. Here we will cover some of the issues that must be considered when you are making this decision. Some of the questions that arise when starting a blog are whether or not to choose a free blogging service or to use one that is hosted on your own domain. Users want to know which direction will best suit their needs. Should you start on a free blogging platform and then change to a hosted domain later as your blog expands?

Activating A Brand On Twitter

By Max Kalehoff in Featured

Do you like speaking with humans or inanimate objects?  I think most people prefer to speak with humans, and that’s especially true when it comes to interacting with companies. In fact, customers get frustrated when companies limit or dehumanize interaction, especially when product or customer service is involved.

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