Showing posts with label Writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Writing. Show all posts

Monday, January 17, 2011

Top Internet Marketing Techniques

Anyone who works in business on the Internet knows the landscape is always shifting and changing so you need to keep on top of new developments to make sure you’re current. At least that’s the way it goes with a lot of the latest techniques that are coming along like social media, but there are some more traditional values in the Internet marketing world that hold true and can still be considered old standbys.

Like everything else you need to learn to walk before you can run on the Internet and that means you need to start by having a professional web design put together so you can put your best foot forward when you venture out into the global economy.

It’s still the case the best websites are the simplest and the old adage about content being king is still true because you need to have a good blend of the visual and the written to sell your customers on your goods and services. You want your landing page to be concise and easy to use as well because many studies have shown you only have up to nine seconds to hook your customer and if they need to go looking for the right tab or button to take them where they want to go for too long, the chances are they might just click away.

Of course there are things you need to look at outside your website to get it noticed and one of the great techniques that has been working for years and is showing no signs of abating is article marketing. You need to find a good content writer that understands the nuances behind the requirements most of these article syndication places have. Once you do, you can start positioning yourself as an expert in the field and pointing several links back to your website to get both reputation and traffic in a one-two punch.

E-mail marketing is another of those traditional techniques that still seems to be in widespread use today. It’s important to keep in mind here that you want to have a responsive opt in e-mail list of clients and prospects you can send a newsletter to.

Once again, it’s in your best interest to use a professional content writer so your newsletter has a professional edge that will draw prospects and clients to it.

You should also be aware research has shown that men and women use the Internet differently and this can affect your content choices once you narrow down your niche market. For example, men are more apt to stay updated on political news while women are more interested in health-related issues. Women are more spiritual in the type of content they search for on the Internet while men are more likely to buy travel reservations online.

While this information may have nothing specifically to do with the kind of newsletter or Internet marketing techniques you use, it’s still a good idea to understand the background of the people you will be targeting so you can adjust the kind of language you use accordingly.

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Monday, November 1, 2010

Review: Successful Blogging in 12 Simple Steps

For the beginning blogger who has limited experience, but lots of enthusiasm, Successful Blogging in 12 Simple Steps makes an ideal primer.

Written by Annabel Candy, from Get In the Hot Spot, this twelve-chapter ebook (lucky thirteen, if you count the bonus chapter) touches on all the basics, from choosing a blog topic to using social media to support your blog.

I found the structure of the chapters very clear: each chapter starts with a goal — this explains in a single sentence what you’ll learn from the chapter. It’s followed by a discussion of the relevant information, and a series of action points — practical tasks for readers to complete. The checklist that ends each chapter ties together the goal, learnings and actions so you can easily identify what you’ve learned, and anything you need to research further.

Annabel’s skills in web design and copywriting give this ebook a richness that others lack. She discusses issues like branding, website design and layout, and the basics of WordPresss. She also offers three chapters on writing: writing your blog’s static content, writing blog posts (which pays special attention to the all-important headline), and writing for the web.

The author covers all the key blog-promotion techniques in chapters on social media, online networking, search engine optimization and guest posting. Importantly, she stresses the value of understanding your blog’s statistics, and using these to help direct your blogging and promotion efforts.

This isn’t a detailed how-to guide for those with some blogging experience under their belts: Annabel keeps things fairly general and approachable. Her writing is, of course, great, and the ebook has a friendly tone that makes her advice seem eminently doable. If you’re squaring up to the challenge of running your own blog — for fun or financial gain — this ebook is a sound place to start. For more information, visit Successful Blogging in 12 Simple Steps.

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Sunday, August 22, 2010

37 Ways to Find Inspiration for Blog Posts

It seems to me that when we talk about blogs we almost always want to talk about lists. People Like lists, they are fun and easy to make up and they are digestible in little reading chunks. So, having a hard time thinking about what would be a good topic for today’s post I figured I’d riff off the cuff and give you a list of “37 Ways to Find Inspiration for Blog Posts”.

37. Pick out an object on your desk and think of 4 creative ways to use it besides its intended use.
36. Write a profile post on someone you admire.
35. Find a post you agree with and expand the idea, make sure you link to original article.
34. Find a post you disagree with and deconstruct the idea, remember link to original too.
33. Explore Flickr and find a photo that inspires you, (check through Creative Commons options.)
32. Write about a single feature of a major social media platform in detail.
31. Look for a lesser known social media platform and review it.
30. Find a podcast that about one of your hobbies, listen to an episode and write a review. Also write a review on iTunes as a way of thinking those creators for entertaining, educating or annoying you.
29. Do a keyword search on Google on one of your hobbies click on the first link and write about the site.
28. Ask a question on Yahoo Answers and document the answers in a blog post.
27. Think of a how to question and see if it is answered in a YouTube video. Write about the question and and embed the YouTube video.
26. What is your favorite movie write a blog posts as if you were your favorite character from the movie.
25. Re-imagine an 80’s Saturday morning cartoon with you as the main character, who would be your co-stars and what characters would they be?
24. Put your iPod on shuffle and pick the first song and write a post based on a lyric in that song.
23. What is your favorite piece of tech? Why?
22. What is product did you regret buying? Why?
21. Go on a tourist trip to your own town, learn something new and write about it.
20. Pick a color, spin around your room and find something of that color, learn something interesting about it and write about that.
19. Buy 30 fortune cookies open one each day and use the fortune as your post title and then write something to relate to that fortune.
18. People watch, catch snippets of conversations and write them down. Attempt to put a beginning or an end to their conversations.
17. Think of the most inspirational blogger you know, write a piece about your top 5 favorite posts of theirs and why they are your favorites.
16. Create an interview, send to people you know and ask them to fill it out. When you get the answers back rewrite them as if it was a real conversation.
14. Write a List – Make it a random odd number.
13. As an open ended question on twitter document the answers.
12. Rewrite an old post, look for one from many years ago.
11. Try this experiment.
10. Ask your readers to complete the list and pick the best answer as the #1 choice.

Can you provide the last nine answers? The best one will officially become #1 in this list.

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Saturday, August 21, 2010

Are you Plugged In?

Are you plugged in? I don’t mean social media here, I mean plugged into some kind of training or motivational speakers to get and keep you hyped up?

Building a web presence can be a lonely undertaking. You can and will lose steam if you don’t stay pumped up about your business and keep plugging in to some great motivational speakers and business training.

You can be plugged into social media and communicating with other like minded people through these services, but if you aren’t staying on top of your game you can quickly become discouraged.

Zig Ziglar once said, “People often say motivation doesn’t last, well that may be true, but neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it every day.”
If you aren’t “plugging in” daily or at least weekly, you should be.

There are many motivational speakers out there. Finding one that suits you may take awhile. But you don’t have to stop with just one either; you can listen to as many as you like.

Great reasons to stay plugged into motivation:

*You achieve more when you have a positive attitude and healthy self-esteem.

*You set and work on your goals more easily when you stay motivated.

*You’re more likely to hold yourself accountable.

*You challenge yourself more often to reach higher goals.

*It helps you establish a clear vision of what you want.

No one is up-up-up all the time. It takes practice, daily motivation and inspiration to keep your eye on the prize and to keep reaching for your desires.

They are many great speakers out there and many of them have free audios that you can listen to while you work.

If you’re looking for business training, personal training or daily motivation, check out this list of experts.

Zig Ziglar

Tony Robbins

Dani Johnson

Sharon Michaels

Brian Tracy

Jack Canfield

Wayne Dyer

This is just a short list of the numerous people who have dedicated their lives to helping you have a better life, a more positive outlook and the motivation to build your personal and professional life.

Are you plugged in? Why or why not?

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