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Most bloggers recognize the incredible potential that exists with social media marketing. Many want to maximize the traffic they receive from social media, so they add a Digg button to their posts or sign up for an account at StumbleUpon. What too many bloggers overlook is that Digg and StumbleUpon are just two of the hundreds of available options, and they may not be the best fit for every blogger.

In order to get the most out of social media traffic you’ll need to put some thought into choosing the social media sites that are the most appropriate for your blog and your audience. Unfortunately, none of us have the time to be an active member on more than just a few social media sites, and trying to target too many of them by adding countless buttons and widgets to your blog will only make it cluttered and ineffective.

Among social media sites there is a huge variety of audiences, types of content that is popular, amount of traffic that is sent to popular links, etc. I think most of us would agree that quality traffic is more important than quantity of traffic. The quality of traffic that you receive from social media will be largely dependent upon finding the right fit for your blog. You’ve probably read that social media traffic is very low quality. From my experience, this is not always the case. Traffic from poorly-targeted social media sites will be low quality.

When you are evaluating social media sites pay attention to these factors. Find 2 or 3 that are a good fit for you and get the most you can out of them.

What type of audience? General or niche?

With so many different social media sites out there, the audience will vary greatly from one to another. Obviously, there are a number of general news sites, like Digg, but there are a growing number of excellent sites that focus on a specific niche. These sites typically will not send as much traffic as the major players, but the traffic will generally be of much higher quality and greater networking opportunities may be possible. If you’re looking for niche social media sites in your industry, check the categorized list of social media sites that I compiled.

What type of content does well?

One of the main things you’re going to want to study is the results of different types of content. Visit the front page every day for several days and look for patterns or habits that you can identify. Most social media sites will have an audience that generally prefers a few specific types of content. Learn whatever you can from the popular items, and try to create your own content that will have some of the same appeal to users. For example, if you see resource lists constantly on the front page, you may want to create your own resource list. Or, if you see controversial articles covering current news topics, try to go that route. Of course, whatever content you create should also appeal to your regular readers and subscribers.

What type of content does not do well?

At the same time you are looking for types of content that routinely draw results, also pay attention to what types of content you are not seeing on the front page, or what is drawing a negative response from readers. Just like each audience has its own likes, each will also have its own dislikes. Trying to promote the wrong type of content at a specific social media site is a waste of time.

Do users submit their own content?

If you are planning to target a specific social media site you will definitely want to know if there are any written or unwritten rules about submitting your own content. If so, you’ll need to rely on your readers to submit it, or ask friends to do so.

How many votes does it take to be popular?

Some sites, like Digg, can take over 100 votes (and more in recent months) to make it to the front page, whereas smaller social media sites may only require a few votes. Obviously, the larger sites also tend to have more users, so in some ways it can be easier to get votes. Still, this is something that you should consider. For my primary blog I target Design Float, a niche site for designers. One of the great things about promoting content at Design Float is that it only takes about 3 votes to get to the front page. Although it takes just 3 votes, popular submissions can easily receive a few hundred visitors in a day.

Are there tools/widgets that you can use on your site

I’m sure you’re familiar with voting buttons and widgets. The Digg button is very popular, and several others are also common. There are some widgets and plugins that allow users to vote at just about any site they want, and there are others that are specific to a particular site. If available, consider whether or not you should use voting buttons on your site. My opinion is that voting buttons can be very effective if you don’t use too many of them and if you choose social media sites that a decent number of your regular readers use themselves.

How much traffic do popular submissions typically receive?

Of course, you will want to have an idea of what type of traffic you can expect if your content becomes popular. There are so many social media sites out there that many of them send next to no traffic at all. Don’t necessarily write off a particular site because it doesn’t send thousands of visitors, but you also don’t want to waste your time chasing after 10 visitors.

Is the profile of the submitter important?

Some social media sites, especially Digg, will be impacted by who submits the link. Certain “power users” have hundreds or thousands of friends that follow their submissions and vote them up. On other sites the profile of the submitter has very little or no impact. This is important for a few reasons. First, if the profile of the submitter does play a large role in the success of the submission, you’ll need to either find influential users to submit your content or build a strong profile yourself to submit your own content (which can be frowned upon). Second, sites that don’t favor particular users will place more value on the quality of the content rather than the network of the user.

What are the demographics of the users?

Ideally, you’ll want to find a social media site that has similar demographics to your target audience. For obvious reasons this will improve the quality of traffic that you receive. Some social media sites tend to have users that are in a particular age bracket, a specific sex, or from a specific geographical location. To determine these items you may have to spend some time on the site and visit the profiles of a lot of users. See what you can find out about them.

What views prevail?

The audience of different social media sites tend to have varying views on different issues, and some audiences can be very passionate about certain things. This can either help or hurt you. Cater your content to fit in with popular opinions and you could see impressive results. Write a post that goes against the majority view and you could see some backlash, depending on the site. This really can apply to just about any topic. For example, Apple vs. Microsoft, or conservative vs. liberal views.

What formats are accepted?

Many of the major social media sites are accepting pictures and video in addition to just standard links. Some social media sites even have specific sections or categories for different types of content (Mixx does this very well). As video continues to become more and more common, more social media sites will add specific elements to accommodate video submissions. For now, you’ll want to take this into consideration to determine if your content would be a good fit for a specific site.

How can you network with other users?

One of the basic elements of social media is networking with other users. Regardless of what site you are targeting, having a strong network of other active users will be extremely valuable. Not only will it improve your chances of getting traffic, but you can also make some great connections and help others along the way. Some social media sites offer much better networking opportunities than others. StumbleUpon is one of my favorites for networking. Being able to send messages, share links, and review other users all right from the toolbar make the networking on StumbleUpon hard to beat. If one of your goals is to improve your network through social media, make sure that you spend your time on sites that will make networking easy.

Are there specific sub-groups?

Social media sites that allow you to start your own group can improve your ability to meet others that share your interests. Again, this is something that Mixx does very well. Users can start a group or join and existing one, and group members can invite other users to join. If you’re looking to do some networking with others that fit into a specific niche, this may be something to consider.

Are the users connected to other social media sites?

Almost all social media users are active at more than just one social media site. If you can identify the relationships between various social media sites you may be able to use this to your advantage. For example, many popular submissions at Digg wind up on the front page of Delicious after a bunch of Digg users have bookmarked the page. Maybe you would like to target Delicious, but only a small percentage of your readers use Delicious. If it’s easier for you to get to the Digg front page, you may be able to create something worth bookmarking and transfer that Digg traffic into a spot on the Delicious front page.

Another effective approach is to use smaller, niche sites to send a smaller rush of traffic and try to convert that traffic into Diggs, Stumbles or Delicious bookmarks. Making the front page of a niche site is typically easier than hitting the front page of the major sites. Maybe you can take a small step towards a popular submission at a niche site that will allow you to take a bigger step towards success at a major social media site. Several months ago I wrote a more detailed explanation of this approach, How to Set Up a Domino Effect of Traffic.

How long does the traffic last?

Social media sites are notorious for sending a quick rush of traffic, and then nothing at all. With most social media sites, popularity doesn’t last long. StumbleUpon is one of the few exceptions. With SU you can still be getting trickles of traffic for several months or longer. You should consider whether or not sustained traffic to your submissions is important to you. In order to get a consistently high level of traffic from most social media sites you’ll need to be hitting the front page every couple of days, which in most cases isn’t realistic.

How many links can be generated?

Link building is a priority for many social media marketers. If you fall into this category, take some time to research how many links popular items are getting from different social media sites. You can do this by going back through items that were popular a few days ago and do a Technorati search for the specific URL of the page. This will allow you to see all of the links that Technorati is tracking to that page. One thing to remember here is that not all of the links you see will have been a result of popularity on a specific social media site. If an item was popular in one place, chances are it was popular somewhere else too. Still, if you check several different items you can get a good idea of the link building power this way.

Is there a feature/option to share submissions with friends?

If you have an established network of friends, you may want to ocassionally share some of your links with them. Each social media site has its own way of allowing this. StumbleUpon’s can be done straight from the toolbar without ever leaving the page. Digg uses the shout system to send email notifications, and many other sites have their own versions. If you want to be able to share your links and ask your friends for votes, this is important to consider. If you don’t want to share your links and you don’t want to be bothered by other users sharing links with you, these features may be more of a negative (although you can turn them off on many networks).

Is having friends important?

Social networking obviously involves being social. Most social media sites have a system that allows you to add other users as your friends, and for other users to add you as a friend. At some social media sites this is more critical than at others. The number and quality of friends can sometimes have a significant effect on the traffic that you receive. This is important to know before targeting a specific site, because it may mean that you’ll need to spend a lot of time networking and gaining friends.

Conclusion:

My opinion is that the ideal strategy will involve targeting 2 or 3 different social media sites. That is enough to get some results, but not too many to spread yourself thin. If possible, be an active user of at least one major social media site and at least one niche site, although not every niche will have an effective social media site. If you have other things that you look for, please leave a comment.

My name is Darren Rowse and I’m the guy behind ProBlogger. You can read a little more about my journey of blogging on the About ProBlogger page - but let me take a moment to give you a bit of glimpse at who I am.

Tags: online marketing, social media, Web 2.0

Always use educational marketing. Never push your product or your opportunity. This applies to Network Marketing or Internet Marketing.

Give out information - not any old information but quality information. The sort of information that you believe customers should pay for. Give out real information that your customers can actually use without buying your product or joining your business.

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Tags: educational marketing, online marketing

Once you begin adding content, like your articles, to your website, an amazing thing starts to happen. Your traffic begins to increase, as visitors are finding your site based on keyword searches that they do that result in them landing on your content pages. As I’ve added more content pages to my site, I’ve discovered that about 60% of my traffic comes to my site via these kinds of searches.

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Tags: content writing, online marketing, secrets

As an article marketer, I say things that I believe will help other people accomplish their goals. As a widely published article writer, I am often criticized for the words I write.

In July of 2008, I wrote an article about meta-search engines called, “Look Beyond Google: Meta-Search Engines Can Help Online Marketers” (http://www.sitepronews.com/archives/2008/jul/23.html) In this article, the basic concept I was trying to share was that Internet Marketers should look beyond the presence of Google, to find more ways to drive traffic to their websites.

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Tags: Google, online marketing, seo

Many service business owners, once they become busy working with current clients, no longer make the time to market their businesses. It’s only when business has dropped off (and the well is starting to run dry) that they frantically begin marketing their businesses again, anxious to fill in the gaps. When they speak to prospective clients, the prospects can hear the desperation in their voice and are thus unlikely to hire them. Frustrated by rejection, the business owner is off again, desperately seeking more clients. Does this describe your marketing pattern? If so, you’re not alone.

More than 50% of service business owners experience this feast or famine scenario. What if you could create an environment so that the well never ran dry and would permit you to continuously market and promote your business? There is another way to keep yourself supplied with an eagerly waiting list of prospects with whom you can work when you have the time and space in your business. Often referred to as “drip marketing,” this strategy is defined by a deliberate, planned and sequenced system of deploying marketing messages over a period of time. In many cases, drip marketing is conducted through direct mail, but the Internet entrepreneur can create her own drip marketing campaign as well.

Here are 6 secrets you can use to create your online drip marketing campaign and keep prospects in your pipeline:

1. Client attraction device. The best way to get prospects into your marketing funnel is to give away something that would compel them to part with their name and email address and join your list. Often called an “ethical bribe”, your client attraction device must answer a pressing problem experienced by your target market. You can format this information into an ebook, special report, ecourse, audio recording, video, or some combination of all of these.
2. Newsletter: Whether you choose to publish a hard copy newsletter that’s directly mailed to your prospects or an email newsletter that is emailed on a regular schedule to your list, your newsletter is the best “stay in touch” device that you have. Regular publication of an email newsletter (weekly is most effective) will enable your prospects to get to know, like and trust you and have you be top of mind when they are ready to solve the pressing problems that fall within your line of expertise.
3. Blog. Business blogging has become more popular than ever. Blogs use RSS feed technology to immediate get new posts and updates out to your blog subscribers through a feed reader, Unlike ezines or traditional websites, search engines index blog posts almost immediately, which help you generate traffic to your website. You need to post 2-3 times per week to keep your readers interested and coming back.
4. Article marketing. One of the best ways to generate traffic to your site or to your blog is to regular write and publish high quality articles that demonstrate your expertise. In addition to placing these articles on your website and blog, you’ll want to get them distributed throughout the Internet on high traffic article directories. Ezine publishers, reporters, print media editors, and bloggers all frequent article directories in search of quality content to present to their readers.
5. Social networking. If you don’t yet have accounts on the two most popular social networking platforms, Facebook and Twitter, today is the day to hop on board. Business owners are getting prospects on their lists and making sales every day to people they met exclusively through social networking. Best of all, these strategies are free of charge!
6. Public speaking/teleclasses. What better way to wow prospects than for them to hear you speak at an organizational meeting or on a teleclass? Speaking locally to groups comprised of your target market or holding teleclasses are very effective ways to build your list and increase the number of prospective clients. Design a signature speech or teleseminar that demonstrates your knowledge and expertise without giving away the store (focus on the what and the why but not the how) that compels your listeners to visit your website or request your client attraction device and get on your list.

Don’t become overwhelmed and try all of these strategies at once. Pick one that you find appealing and work at it for 3 months. If you discover that you don’t enjoy it or that it’s not working for you, try another one. Continue to slowly add more drip marketing strategies until the process is firmly ingrained in your day-to-day business practices. Ultimately, you’ll create a list of prospects who are ready, waiting, and eager to hire you.

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Online Business Manager and Online Business Coach Donna Gunter helps independent service professionals learn how to automate their businesses, leverage their expertise on the Internet, and get more clients online. To claim your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, visit her site at OnlineBizU.com . Ask Donna an Internet Marketing question at AskDonnaGunter.com

Tags: online marketing, SE Tactics

With recession and (ROI) return on investment staring each other face to face, being brutally honest about the profit and return on your search engine optimization or online marketing campaign has never been so important.

For those who may not have noticed, various industries typically replete with activity in the market-place are coming to a screeching halt as result of inflation and the value of the dollar plummeting on a global scale. The trend for consumers to spend less on impulse items, auxiliary products or services and more on bare essentials continues to escalate as a result of a weakened economic state.Online sales are just one region taking the hit as the sales cycle and the consumers within this cycle are looking for greater value at the fair price. Needless to say, due diligence has taken on an entirely new definition as the business with the best offer, sale or SEO promotion gain the favor of the masses. To appease such value-conscious times, refining your content to represent the most compelling and tactful value proposition is necessary to supplement slouching sales and traffic (less money equates to less spending).

Despite this economic recession, observing the latest trends in competitive verticals while forecasting demand to convert new prospects into customers has become as much of an art as a science.

Incentives and promotions for cross-market exposure are just one example of businesses with larger budgets attempting to infuse and find the ideal hybrid shopper and capitalize on the vulnerability of other markets. Sign up for Product A (from one market) and receive a free 30 day trial period, or get 15% off your favorite movie, etc. from Industry B. In summary, the emotional triggers that incline consumers to purchase are evolving as well as those who are crafting the offer.

This is because tactics that may have worked 6 months or a year ago online or promotional methods based on years of success and stability from traditional offline channels no longer hold their sway over the masses as value is subjugated to the rules of survival of the fittest.

Is it the fact that A) the market is evolving, B) that money is tighter, C) the fact that online consumers are savvier than ever or D) a combination of all of the above? Typically, those with larger budgets (like publicly traded companies) wield the spoils of a collective advertising and marketing campaign piggybacking promotions on industries with less favorable returns (much like trickle-down economics).

This is not to suggest that smaller more nimble companies do not stand a chance, it is merely that the scalability of an advertising campaign designed to optimize 1000 keywords for example vs. a smaller company who may only have the budget to target 10 leaves a margin of opportunity and exposure that unfortunately provides advantages that the smaller firm may not be able to grasp due to budgetary constraints.

Now is the time to take advantage of narrow-casting instead of generalized broadcasting your message to reach the audience with the most likelihood for conversion.

Business is business and opportunity and expression determine the course of action for websites that need to produce a profit to survive. While being a highly trafficked site may be great for the ego, having a highly trafficked site that sells thousands of products, generates dozens of sales leads a day or has viral appeal to social networks is even more better.

In summary, make sure you identify your audience, growth is nice but stability amidst crisis is even better. Looking for greener grass instead of tending the yard you have can leave your marketing plan depleted and out of focus. It’s better to have 10% of something than 90% of nothing, so make sure before you extend your scope of the market to reach new prospects, you reap the equity of the authority and presence you have developed in your primary niche.

Healthy margins are the bottom line, so if you have them, then this message is not nearly as crucial as it is to those who are feeling the impact of a languishing economic crisis in their industry. SEO is a valid solution, but also being aware of the trends and circumstances that impact everyone in an economy can shed some light on why some periods are more fruitful than others. The key is not to get flustered and diversify your tactics to spread the risk and reward for your online campaign.

Jeffrey Smith is an active internet marketing optimization strategist, consultant and the founder of Seo Design Solutions Seo Company http://www.seodesignsolutions.com. He has actively been involved in internet marketing since 1995 and brings a wealth of collective experiences and fresh marketing strategies to individuals involved in online business.

Tags: online marketing, roi, SE Tactics, seo

Stop the excuses! I’ve heard all the excuses for why you can’t start and build your business. So, don’t even tell me:

1. You can’t come up with any good ideas.
2. You don’t have time.
3. Getting noticed is nearly impossible.
4. You have little or no money.

You’re in for a lucrative awakening. It’s easier than you think to start and build your home business – if you know the system and I’m about to prove it right now!

4 Reasons to Take ACTION & Start Building Your Home Business Online:

1. It’s easy to come up with an idea for your home business

As Your Article Marketing Expert, I’ve helped people start and grow profitable businesses in just about every category you can think of including Internet dating, remote controlled cars, health and fitness, martial arts, Pilates for pregnant women, care giving, quilting, parenting, family business succession and much more.

Your market is out there waiting for you.

Start with your passions and interests

Think about…

• What are you interested in?
• What are you passionate about?
• What subjects or topics are you knowledgeable about?
• What are people asking you for advice about?

If you can create content on a subject you’re passionate about and at the same time solve a problem or fill a need then you can start your home business online.

2. It’s easy to find time to launch and build your home business online

Are you going to tell me that you don’t have 30 minutes a day to work on your home business?

That’s all it takes to write a simple “how-to” or “top tips” article that solves a problem your chosen niche market is looking for. These articles can then be easily turned into special reports, e-Books, A to Z systems, homes-study courses and many other products sold online using a shopping cart like MyEasyOnlineStore.com

So, starting today, designate yourself some article writing time. Do not allow yourself to get distracted. Do not watch TV for 30 minutes. Just start writing for 30 minutes per day.

3. It’s easy to get noticed

When you submit articles to the top websites, ezines and article directories, you will get noticed. Here’s proof by people just like you…

• In just 2 months, marketing expert and President of Imperatives LLC. Scott Glatstein went from 6 listings on Google to more than 2000 listings.
• With just one article Derek Gehl, CEO of the Internet Marketing Center reached more than 500,000 prospects. And that’s with just 1 placement in SiteProNews.com’s newsletter. That doesn’t count the hundreds of other websites his articles are published on.
• Dating expert April Masini’s article “10 Lessons to Spice Up Your
  Social Life” can be found on Self Growth and was featured in their newsletter. The site is Ranked # 1 for self improvement on Google and Yahoo. It gets 167,000 unique visitors a month to the website and sends newsletters to over 450,000 opt-in subscribers a week.
• By writing and submitting articles, technology expert Dani Kaplan generated a surge of new business opportunities making ’07 the best year in 27 years in business.

4. It’s easy to start your home business online with little or no money

If you can write a “To-Do” list, then you can write a top tips article in little time once you learn the system. And, you won’t need to hire a copy writer. This way, you can start your business and start creating products without spending a penny.

Plus, other websites, ezines and article directories will publish your articles for free. This way you’re getting free publicity and free advertising.

If you want to start a home business and build it online, then do NOT let anything or anyone get in your way. You can launch your business online easily by just writing articles. So get started today!

About the Author:
Article Marketing Expert Eric Gruber uses the power of articles to create online opportunities for entrepreneurs who want more publicity, prospects and profits. Now, Eric is sharing the exact roadmap, broken into 5 easy-to-follow steps that thousands have used to launch and build their businesses online with articles. And, he’s giving this knowledge for FREE, with his new e-Book at: http://www.BroadcastYourArticles.com/freebook

Tags: article marketing, home based business, online marketing

There is a serious lack of marketing skills in the home business industry.The vast majority of people in online businesses do not know enough about marketing and they are intensely interested in finding out how to really make their online, or home based business work.

What Attraction Marketing allows you to do is stand out from the crowd and position yourself as a leader that has something of value to offer. The key to attraction marketing success is to learn what you target market is insatiably interested in learning, and then teaching them those things.

Sounds simple enough and it is if you’re resourceful and creative. And if you focus on learning what your target market is really interested in and you give them that information, you’ll be able to attract quality leads who will turn into responsive prospects and ultimately buy your product, system or become your affiliate or partner.

In the home business/internet marketing arena, specifically the home based business niche, thousands of other online marketers would love to know how to advertise effectively and drive traffic to their websites. They’re also intensely interested in learning what it really takes to turn traffic into closed sales.

You stand to benefit from offering this information to them and teaching them how to market and drive traffic. You’ll build a responsive list faster and for less money and time than if you do what most other amateur marketers do, which is to simply offer hyped sales pitches to join them in their program.

The SIX KEY PARTS In A Powerful Attraction Marketing System

1. Understand that people are looking for LEADERSHIP & Mentors that can actually show them how to make money online.

This is critical to your success. You must position yourself as a leader and offer your target market the training and marketing information they are seeking. Inexperienced people tend to wonder how they can teach marketing if they’re new themselves…

You can go to ezine article directories like EzineArticles and search for articles on topics you want to learn. Read and learn the topics, and then turn around and teach what you just learned. To a new, struggling marketer you’ll still be positioned as a person who can teach them something they don’t know.

2. Know Your Target Market

If you’re in the home based business industry promoting a direct sales or network marketing program, then you should know the hottest target market you can focus on attracting is the existing network marketer and online marketer. The time in your pipeline will be reduced with this target, they already believe in the industry so you won’t have to worry about going through that skeptical debate and most existing marketers are looking for marketing knowledge and information.

By focusing on the existing marketer, you’ll still attract plenty of new marketers as well so you’ll benefit by attracting both targets.

3. Place Simple, Targeted Ads That Compel Your Target Market To Click

This is where Attraction Marketing comes into play. Knowing your target market well will allow you to identify their main frustrations with their business and what benefits or solutions they are looking for. Phrase your ads in a way that you agitate a frustration and then offer a solution that solves their problem. To get to the solution they must click on your ad to get to your offer. Offering free “How To” information to marketers on learning traffic tactics and marketing skills in the form of a free email course, video series, recorded audios, etc… is a high conversion tactic.

4. Drive That Targeted Traffic To Your Own Lead Capture Page

This is where most online marketers fail. Your company’s replicated lead capture page is NOT the answer. Not if you want to attract more opt-ins for less money. Your own personalized lead capture page should contain a strong “Direct Response Marketing” headline, subheadline and some key benefits about your offer. A free newsletter, special report, video training series, audio recording or other compelling free information should be offered here that is designed to solve the frustration your ad agitated. This is key to building a responsive list.

5. Follow up with a systemized email autoresponder

A series of email follow up letters should be linked to your capture page so that you can follow up with your new leads using automation. This is where the majority of your sales will be made. Constant follow up is crucial in building trust, credibility and rapport with your list. By offering valuable content and teaching them exactly what your lead capture page and your initial ad offered to teach, you will warm up your list and prepare them to buy or join you in business.

6. Close Sales

A tremendously weak part of the average marketer’s system. Most automated online sales systems are great at opening up the sales process and attracting leads in. At that point most rely on the marketer to actually follow up and close sales. This is where most home business systems fall woefully short and cause the high failure rate in the industry.

Depending on the process your system uses, you should be able to close on 1-2 sales for every 100 -150 opt ins in most online based home businesses programs that are considered “top tier” ($1,000+ start up pricepoint). If your system is not getting this closing rate then you should carefully analyze the entire system and determine which part in the sales process is weak. Many programs use leverage, technology and systems effectively to open and attract people into the sales process, only to leave the critical part of closing sales to the weakest part of the system - the inexperienced marketer.

Fortunately in recent months there have been a few automated Attraction Marketing Systems that have hit the market that allow the online marketer to focus on the “front end”, which is advertising and driving traffic to their system. The system leverages professional call centers or specialized copywriting, audios and videos on the sales presentation site that actually closes sales without the business owner/marketer needing to get involved.

For more information on how to leverage the internet and automated Attraction Marketing Systems to generate significant cash flow online people can perform Google searches on “Attraction List Building” or “Attraction Marketing” and also search EzineArticles.com for the same keywords and further their understanding of what is available in the marketplace.

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Franco Gonzalez is a professional Internet Attraction Marketing coach who helps families build full time home businesses on the internet quickly and affordably. Visit his Attraction Marketing Training Site for more resources and free training videos on how to build lucrative online businesses.

Tags: Marketing, online marketing

In order to succeed on the web you need the proper tools.
It doesn’t matter if your goal is to operate a website just
for a hobby or whether you’re trying to earn a part-time
or full-time income.

You need the right marketing tools.

These tools can be very simple or very complicated; it will
mainly depend on the kind of online marketing you’re doing.
Someone running a simple website can get by with very few
tools; whereas someone operating a PPC enterprise or a SEO
consulting firm may need more sophisticated software programs
to effectively run their businesses.

Internet marketing tools is a subject I know something about
for I have been studying, testing and using countless marketing
tools for over 8 years now. I run two websites devoted to
online marketing tools. If you search Google for “internet
marketing tools” you will find my two sites on the first page.
Google Screenshot

Although I am always wary of pointing out my sites in Google,
mainly because they can move off the first page overnight…
and you end up with egg on your face. The only reason I point
out these Google listings is to prove that I at least know
how to get my pages and keywords on the front pages in Google.

Frankly, when you’re talking about Internet marketing, what
other benchmark or measurement do we really have to show
that any marketer or SEO expert knows what they’re talking
about? Not counting sales stats of course, which is really
the ultimate benchmark for online marketing.

In this blog post, I thought it would be fun to use my acquired
knowledge to discuss and list those important tools I have
found most effective and most useful in my marketing. Never
know, they may also prove helpful to you and your marketing.

Let’s start at the very beginning. I am assuming you have a
reliable PC or laptop with an Internet connection or service.
Obviously, you need these if you’re going to work on the
Internet.

Now here are some marketing tools you will need:

1. Domain

This is your online calling card and the name of your site
or business. This is your URL or your address on the web.
Most SEO experts suggest you place your main “keyword” or
“keyword phrase” in your domain name. If you are doing a
site on “engagement rings,” you should place this phrase
in your domain name. I have found using your site’s main
keywords in your domain will give you higher rankings faster
- especially in Google.

There are many domain sellers on the web; since I have
numerous domains I use GoDaddy mainly because I manage
most of my online purchases thru Paypal, which GoDaddy
accepts. I also use GoDaddy because it has a proxy service.
I have never had a problem with them and I even host 5 or
6 of my sites thru GoDaddy.

2. Website

Your need a website to go with your newly created domain.
If you can afford it, get a professionally designed site
from a professional website designer. I am purposely using
the word “professional” because that is exactly what you want
your site looking and feeling like from visitor one. In that
split second of arrival at your site there must be no doubt
in your visitor’s mind about the quality of your site.
Besides, if you’re new to online marketing, you will want
your site designed by a website designer because they will
optimize your site for all the search engines.

You can get away with using templates, but I would suggest
you at least invest some funds in a professionally designed
logo or header for your site. This will at least give your
visitor a good first impression. Even though I have an art
background, I personally use Ryan Jackson (aka designgururyan)
for my important graphics, mainly because he’s very good and
because he caters to the Internet marketing crowd.

3. Hosting

Once you have your website created, you will need somewhere
to host it. I have only used shared hosting for my sites
(shared hosting is as it sounds, you will share your site
IP address with around 200 - 300 other sites). The other
alternative is to get dedicated hosting, which is more
expensive, but you have your own IP address and faster
download times. My advice, go with shared hosting first;
if your site becomes extremely popular, you will have to
upgrade to a dedicated server just to handle all that
traffic.

There are countless hosting companies to choose from on the
web. Keep in mind, the cheapest may NOT be the best choice.
What you’re really looking for is good quality service with
support that you can contact at any time of the day or night.
Do some research of your own before you pick your web host.
A little homework done now will save you major headaches down
the road.

I have used many web hosts over the years and the ones I
find good, I have kept. Moving a site from one web host to
another is a major hassle if you have a large site. As for
web hosts, I would recommend Bluehost and even GoDaddy
- these have worked out nicely for me, but keep in mind
I only have simple sites which need very little maintenance.

4. Autoresponder

One key element you must have if you’re into online marketing
is an autoresponder service. The money is in the follow-up.
You must collect the contact information of your site’s
visitor and get them subscribed to your ezine or newsletter.
You need an autoresponder service so that you can automatically
follow-up or send emails/information to the people interested
in your site or product.

Again, I have used many AR services over the years, including
those that are usually included in your hosting packages.
However, I would recommend you invest in a more robust
unlimited autoresponder service like those offered by
GetResponse or Aweber. I have used both and found them to
be very professional and very effective.

5. Credibility

Might sound a bit strange but without a doubt your main
marketing tool on the web will be credibility. You and
your site must establish credibility with your visitor
or it’s game over.

The web is still a very untrustworthy place; you must
build and establish credibility with your visitors.
You must establish trust. You or your site must be seen
as the place to go for information on your site’s area
of interest.

Many webmasters and online marketers solve this problem
by becoming an expert on their site’s topic. Actually,
this is something that happens quite naturally. If you
keep and run a site on “engagement rings” for 7 or 8 years
- chances are you will become an expert on that subject.
Of course, nothing establishes your credibility more than
writing articles and books on your subject area. Spread
these well-informed and helpful articles/books around the
web and people will be calling you an expert faster than
Tom Cruise can jump on a couch.

Only added that last comment to remind you to be careful
of what you do on the web, credibility usually takes some
time to build, but it can be lost in one careless moment.

………………….

Internet Marketing - Tools of The Trade - Part Two

Now here are some Internet marketing tools that will make
your job and life much easier.

1. Keyword Research Software

Without a doubt, one of the most important online marketing
software I have used deals with keyword research. The core
foundation of any online site or business will be picking
and targeting the profitable keywords related to your industry
or subject matter. It is vital to choose the right keywords
if you target free organic traffic from the search engines,
and it is just as important if you’re going the much faster
PPC (Pay Per Click) route.

You must do your keyword research in order to place high
in the search engine rankings. You must know your competition.
You must know how to optimize your pages for your chosen
keywords. I find Brad Callen’s Keyword Elite to be very
helpful in finding the right keywords and getting those
keywords to the first page in Google. I mainly concentrate
my SEO efforts towards Google simply because it delivers
the most quality traffic. Good software makes a tedious
job simple and easy. Keyword Elite fills that bill.

2. HTML Editor

You need a good HTML editor or program to create your
web pages. I use the free version of Note Tab Light and
it suits my needs nicely. I have never upgraded my version
and have been using if for years. There are probably more
robust editors out there… but this one has made creating
my websites a breeze. If you want a WYSIWYG (What You See
Is What You Get) editor, try Adobe Dreamweaver.

3. FTP Software

Around a year ago, I heard of this FTP client or software
from Marlon Sanders, and it has saved me the most time/money
of any software I have ever used. You see, I have countless
sites on many different servers/webhosts and keeping track
of these different sites, multiple passwords, and uploading
files was a real pain. I had to go to the web hosts or open
up the control panel for each site… then find the page
in the directory on my computer and upload the file.
Real Hassle.

All this took up an enormous amount of my time. I didn’t
realize how much time until I bought 3D FTP and started
using it. From this one FTP software I can login to all
my sites and upload files quickly and easily. It keeps
track of all my sites and passwords. Updating 10 or 20
sites can be done within minutes!

The feature that I really like is that it will queue up
the last file I have been working on so it is at the top
of the list when I upload. I don’t have to search thru
files to find the last file I updated… it finds all
these files and puts them at the top of the list for me,
ready for uploading. Another cool feature, it tests in
3D the download speed of your site’s server.

4. WordPress/Blogging Software

For now, blogs and blogging is it. You must be taking
advantage of this keyword rich way of placing content
on the web. I find the free WordPress blogging software
to be very effective for keyword positioning. Keywords
are called tags in the blogging world. I have at least
one blog on all my sites, and I find Wordpress is very
easy to install even if setting up server side scripts
scares the BeJesus out of you!

Your online marketing will be much more effective if you
use the whole blogging networks. And don’t forget all
the social bookmark sites that will greatly increase your
web presence; I have found simply placing the Addthis.com
button on your pages will get your site book marked for
you by your visitors. Simple marketing tool that works.

5. Knowledge

You can have all the carpenter’s tools on the planet,
but if you don’t know how to use them you will never be
able to build a house. The same goes for marketing tools.
You must have some knowledge of how Internet marketing
works to really use any tools effectively.

But where to find this knowledge can prove more of a
minefield than it ought to be. There are plenty would-be
teachers and info-products to get you started, but usually
newly christened or beginning online marketers are bombarded
with so many learning options it all becomes a blur. Who do
you believe? Who do you trust?

In over eight years online, the best online marketing
training I have found would have to be the whole Sitesell
products created by Ken Evoy. Granted, he is trying to
sell you a hosting product by offering all these free
training manuals, but that doesn’t negate the fact that,
in my opinion, these “Sitesell Products” are the most
comprehensive Internet marketing knowledge you will
ever find.

Ken has just made “Make Your Words Sell” a free product,
a book he used to sell for $30 bucks. Still one of the
best sources of Internet marketing knowledge - regardless
of the price!

………………….

Internet Marketing - Tools of The Trade - Part Three

Now here are the free Internet marketing tools and/or
sites that give me the most joy. In my shallow world
joy and money are synonymous.

1. Google Analytics

Google Analytics gives you an overall picture of what
is happening with your site or sites. It tracks your
visitors and tells you where they are coming from and
what they do on your site. It simply shows how to improve
your site to get higher conversions.

Simply put: this free service from Google is a MUST HAVE
for any online marketer. The more information you have
about your site and how well it is performing is vital
to increasing your sign-ups and sales.

Google Analytics

2. Microsoft’s Online Commercial Intention Tool

If you’re into online marketing, you want visitors coming
to your site with their wallets/purses open and ready to buy.
You want to mostly attract buying customers to your sales
pages and online content.

Microsoft, as part of their adCenter system, has a great
little tool that lets you check the “Commercial Intention”
of a URL or search query. In other words, you can type in
a phrase or keyword and it will tell if the person making
that search is likely to buy or not.

For example, if you type in “Corporate Business Gifts”
the probability for commercial query is 0.96604 or around
96 per cent, which is very high and it’s likely that
person has intentions of buying something.

How cool is that?

If you’re designing a website or doing PPC advertising,
it is vital you pick the keywords where people have
commercial intention - likely to buy something.

Online-Commercial-Intention-Tool

3. SEO Book Keyword Suggestion Tool

As you’ve probably gathered by now, choosing the right
keywords is vital to your online success. If you go the
free organic traffic route, then the keywords you target
are essential to your site’s success. SEO Book has a
handy keyword suggestion tool that you can use to find
out how many searches are made each day for your keywords.

This site also has many other handy search engine
optimization tools you can use to improve your site.

Keyword Suggestion Tool

4. iWebtool Visual Pagerank

When I first discovered this little tool, I couldn’t
believe my luck. It gives you the “Visual Google Pagerank”
of every link on a URL or web page at one glance, both
internal and external links. Now the jury is still out
on the importance of Google Pagerank, but I believe it
is still important in the whole scheme of things as a
matter of perception if nothing else; what people perceive
about your site can have positive benefits.

Unfortunately, at the time of writing, this tool was
not functioning properly - maybe due to Google constant
Algorithm updates). However, this site also has many
helpful marketing tools you can use.

Visual Pagerank

5. Gurus

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, the big name online marketing gurus
are the most effective marketing tools on the web. These
marketing powerhouses have the large contact and customer
lists necessary to turn any product into an instant best
seller. They operate vast multi-million dollar marketing
networks that would make the average webmaster blush
with envy.

Creating a JV (joint venture) with these gurus can
instantly put any product or site on the Internet map.
However, be warned, all the marketing hype and promotion
surrounding many of these gurus have turned a lot of
people off - especially those who have payed an arm or
leg for the latest info-product that’s supposed to give
them the keys to online wealth. In many cases, these
products are too advanced or require additional skills
that the buyer simply doesn’t have… resulting in
negative feelings and bad press.

From my own experiences, when I was first starting out,
I did have a few bad experiences and wasted more than
a little cash on products that didn’t work out as planned.
However, I quickly discovered solid online marketers like
Ken Evoy, Marlon Sanders, Neil Shearing… which as that
old poem says, “And that has made all the difference.”

Hooking up with the right online marketing expert can
be the best marketing tool and move you will ever find
and make on the web - the ultimate fast forward!

Where to find these gurus?

Here’s a nice hunting ground: www.gurudaq.com

Tags: internet marketing, internet marketing tools, online marketing, webmaster tools