Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2009 Titus Hoskins
When it comes to starting any endeavor, whether it be learning a new hobby or starting an online business, we all have to start at ground zero. We all have to start at the very beginning from the very same place. Granted, we each bring different skills and backgrounds into the mix, but for the most part we are all on equal footing at the starting line.
If this is the case, then we really have to ponder why is it only a choice few go on to succeed, while most people don't. Just what are the reasons why most online marketers fail? This is the core question that has to be answered if you want to fully understand Internet marketing and how it works.
What are these basic reasons?
What are the causes or stumbling blocks that hold many marketers and webmasters from reaching their full online potential? If we know these factors, we can learn how to avoid them and even overcome them in our own online marketing. These reasons can be a solid reference point or even a source of inspiration for any online marketer just starting out.
Speaking from the viewpoint of someone who has started from the very beginning with little to no knowledge of computers or even marketing for that matter, I can honestly relate to the beginning marketer. I even had to learn HTML from scratch in order to construct my own webpages. Probably my only advantage, I did have a background in art but designing webpages was completely different from anything I had done previously to starting in online marketing.
Nor did I have any formal training in business or marketing, just an art teaching background which really doesn't help with the day to day running of an online business. I had to learn as I went; struggling with hundreds of marketing decisions before my sites became profitable. Don't get the wrong impression, I have probably made hundreds of mistakes along the way and I am still making them!
But from my own experiences I have drawn some general conclusions about Internet marketing and why some people succeed while most people fail. So here in my honest opinion, are some of the main reasons why many online marketers fail:
1. Overwhelmed With Information
Perhaps, one of the biggest obstacles I faced when I first started my website - I was bombarded with so much information on how to proceed I didn't have a clue which direction to take or who to believe. Thousands of different info products telling you to do this, not to do that... so much marketing information to absorb that you end up scratching your head and looking like someone auditioning for a zombie movie.
Completely overwhelmed with so much information, many marketers or webmasters enter a state of paralysis where nothing gets done. You go from one course to another or from one method to another, without any real understanding of how to proceed or how to get a detailed blueprint to follow.
Been there, done that!
Information overflow can effectively crush all that novice enthusiasm and literally kill even the most eager of entrepreneurs. Anyone starting out must be aware of this obvious but insidious pitfall you have to avoid at all costs. One of the best remedies, simply try concentrating on just one or two marketing plans/marketers for all your information. Try to eliminate the clutter by just working on one marketing system. Just have a few key marketing resources you go to for information, not a hundred! And do your homework, only pick marketers who can back up their claims with observable results on the web. One obvious checkmark - just see if those marketers have top rankings for their sites for popular profitable keywords associated with their sites or products.
2. Lack Of Key Marketing Basics
There are some key marketing basics or fundamentals you must learn about marketing online. Internet marketing has some key elements you must get right or you will have a difficult task in succeeding on the web. Just simple factors you must get right or it's game over before you even get started.
Most marketers fail to realize the web is "information driven" and you must supply quality information or content in order to truly succeed. You must provide a valuable service or function to your visitors. You must help solve their problem. You must give them a solid reason to use your site or product. Quality content is and always will be King on the web.
You must also understand much of the web is "keyword driven" and you must construct your webpages to take full advantage of these keywords. You must have at least a rudimentary understanding of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and how you can use it to get top rankings for your keyword phrases.
3. Lack Of Time And Resources
Another major reason why many marketers fail is because they simply can't afford the time to learn and build their online business. Most people just can't stop everything and work full time online because they have bills to pay and families to support. It may take months, probably years, before you can build up a successful online business that gives you a comfortable living. The average person just doesn't have the time or the resources to spend months learning how all this works.
Keep in mind, getting a business or website going is probably the most inexpensive way to start your own business. Domains are cheap. Web hosting is cheap. Web design is cheap if you can do it yourself... compared to starting a business in the "real" world, creating an online business will only cost a faction of the normal expenses connected with starting a business. But the main problem is having the resources to pay your living expenses until your online business is profitable. Many beginning online marketers don't have these resources and the main complaint from these marketers: "I Simply can't afford the time to work at this online stuff."
One solution is to work at your online marketing in your spare time and gradually build up your business until you can afford to do it full time. It will obviously take longer but you can still get to the same end goal.
4. Lack Of Necessary Skills
Actually, you don't need many skills to succeed online. However, one of the major skills you must have or you must learn is communication. You must learn how to communicate. The web is all about communicating your points to your visitors or viewers so you must acquire good communication skills.
It really helps your marketing if you are a good writer because you can easily get your points across with written text or copy on your site. Writing skills can be learned but many beginning marketers don't fully understand how important their writing skills will be to their success. You must be able to communicate on your site, in your newsletters, with your customers... might sound a bit obvious but you would be surprised at how many marketers lack this simple, yet necessary skill.
But don't fret, because once upon a time, the written word was king online - but not any more. Videos are rapidly taking the place of the printed word so anyone with a camera can now be a success online. Of course, you still need good communication skills even using videos, but many marketers have found this is a much easier way to communicate information about their site or product.
5. Lack Of Persistence
For me, one the most significant reasons most online marketers/webmasters fail, is because of a lack of persistence. They simply give up too soon. They try something for a few weeks, even for a few months and then they conclude this is not working and they give up.
Building a solid online business or viable website takes time, a lot of time. Just because your business is online, doesn't mean everything will fall into place overnight, it takes time to establish a customer base. It takes time to build your business relationships and partnerships with others in your field.
Sometimes, it may take years before you see some solid returns. It was three years before I saw any significant revenue coming from my online ventures, and another year before I could summon enough courage to do this online marketing full time. If I had given up and not persisted at this web stuff, I would not be writing this article right now.
Building top rankings for your keywords in the search engines (especially Google) can take months, even years before you see any results. The real key is to be persistent and keep at it, day after day, until you get those top rankings. You simply must be persistent or you will fail.
In conclusion, having said all that, you must also realize there are plenty of exceptions to all of the above. There have been countless success stories on the web where someone has come up with a novel idea or product and become successful overnight. The web can offer immediate success for some but for most of us, it will take some time and hard effort on our part to build a successful online business. Just try to avoid many of the pitfalls or reasons listed above and you will have a better chance of placing yourself in the success column.
About the Author:
The author is a full-time online marketer who has numerous websites. For the latest web marketing tools try: Marketing Tools If you liked the article above, why not try this Free 7 Day Marketing Course here: Internet Marketing Tools
Copyright (c) 2009 Titus Hoskins. http://www.bizwaremagic.com This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.
Read more Articles written by Titus Hoskins.
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I will seek to answer those questions here, as well as to provide a Day Planner to enable the new online entrepreneur to navigate the maze of building a successful online business. When I find great advice by other writers, I will include that information as well. --- Clinton Douglas IV, Founder of Vasrue.com |
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Article Marketing Advice: Increasing the Readability of Your Articles
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2008-2009 Hunter Waterhouse
When it comes to writing articles to promote your online business, it's important to consider more than just your marketing goals: it's essential that you also focus on writing articles that people will want to read. In other words, you don't just want to use words; and you don't want to market and sell your business directly. Instead, you want to make an effort to be engaging and influential.
The first tip that will help you to increase the readability of your articles is to write with the reader's concerns in mind. If you are unsure of exactly how to do that, you may want to look into article ghostwriters who understand article marketing and who only focus on writing articles for Internet audiences. When you work with article ghostwriters, you can focus more on your business and know that someone else is working hard on your behalf to write articles that will be read.
Getting The Best Results From Your Article Marketing Campaigns
Still, if you want to keep article writing within your company, rather than outsourcing it, here are some tips for getting more out of your article marketing campaigns:
1. Hook your readers from the start. Article writing is a lot more effective for marketing your business when people will actually read the articles. The best thing that you can do is to catch their interest right away. Your article title will determine if people will open your article, and the first paragraph will ensure that people keep reading the article.
2. Avoid the temptation to overwhelm your readers with a lot of information. Article writing is not about telling the reader everything that there is to know; it's about sticking with a central focus and giving your reader an introduction or overview of the information they want and need to solve their problems. In an article that probably won't be much more than one thousand words, you will never be able to tell the reader everything they need to know to solve a problem, but you can help put your reader on solid footing for moving forward towards a workable solution.
3. Break up information into digestible chunks. Writing articles is about expressing some key points. When it comes to writing articles for the internet, what you are going to find is that many readers skim rather than read your articles. Using numbered lists (like this one) will help you to present your information clearly, and let readers find what they are looking for quickly. Similarly, if you use bullet lists or break up your text with subheadings that are in a larger font and bolded, you can be sure that after reading your article, the article's key points will be easily recalled.
4. When it comes to article writing, particularly when you are working to establish yourself as an expert, it's important to show that you know what you're talking about. A great way of doing that - and to break up the text of your article - is to include quotes from more established experts. If you are writing articles and are more established, you too should quote other sources, possible letting the readers know why you disagree with another writer.
5. Focus on spelling and grammar. Just as someone who is hiring article ghostwriters should take the time to find ghost writing services that are well versed in your point of view, it's also important to be sure that you're writing in the native language of your target audience. American English is different from that spoken and written in England and India. Paying attention to your spelling and grammar shows that you care about what you are saying and that you are a professional.
A good example of the difference between the usage rules in British English and American English is the story of Paul Marshall from Dallas, Texas. When Paul was running his mortgage business, he had hired some Indian writers to develop content for his website. When he received the copy from his ghostwriters, the copy used the word "mortgage scheme" in the text eleven times. Paul was pissed, as you might well imagine. In British English, "scheme" does not carry any negative connotation. Yet, as you may well realize, "scheme" in American English is one of the most negative words that can be applied to any business model. It denotes "dishonesty" and "fraud" in American English. His Indian writers could not understand his anger with their choice of words, but you can understand his anger.
Professionalism In The Article Writing Process
Professionalism, unfortunately, is frequently overlooked when it comes to article writing. Great writing flows, not just for the writer whose aim is to get the words and message out, but also for the readers who are consuming the information.
Because of this, one key element of an effective article is not the writing itself: it is the readability of that article. Take the time to look at the articles that grab your attention and jot a few notes about each of them. Specifically, focus on the following:
How did the writer grab your attention (or, if you weren't interested in the first paragraph, what turned you off?
What sort of spacing did the writer use in the article?
What did you come away with after reading the article? In other words, what were the key points of the article?
Writing articles is neither purely science nor purely art – at its best; it is a good combination of the two. A great article focuses on a key issue, isn't stuffed with keywords (you do want search engines to find the article, but too many keywords in an article takes away from readability), and is as easy to skim, as it is to read.
When all is said and done, an article that gets read in its entirety will carry the reader to the Author's Bio at the end of the article. Ideally, the reader will read the entire article and feel a desire to visit the author's website to learn more about the writer of the article. It is article marketing at its best, when the reader likes the article enough to click on the link in the Author's Bio and visit the author's website to learn more about what the author is offering.
About the Author:
Hunter Waterhouse has been involved in article ghostwriting and building websites for a number of years. Over the last several years, Hunter has been employed by http://www.thephantomwriters.com/ To learn about the new WordPress plugin, which will enable you to receive targeted articles directly from The Phantom Writers Article Distribution Service, as they become available, please visit: http://www.backlinksmagnet.com/blog/
Read more of Hunter Waterhouse's articles.
Copyright © 2008-2009 Hunter Waterhouse
When it comes to writing articles to promote your online business, it's important to consider more than just your marketing goals: it's essential that you also focus on writing articles that people will want to read. In other words, you don't just want to use words; and you don't want to market and sell your business directly. Instead, you want to make an effort to be engaging and influential.
The first tip that will help you to increase the readability of your articles is to write with the reader's concerns in mind. If you are unsure of exactly how to do that, you may want to look into article ghostwriters who understand article marketing and who only focus on writing articles for Internet audiences. When you work with article ghostwriters, you can focus more on your business and know that someone else is working hard on your behalf to write articles that will be read.
Getting The Best Results From Your Article Marketing Campaigns
Still, if you want to keep article writing within your company, rather than outsourcing it, here are some tips for getting more out of your article marketing campaigns:
1. Hook your readers from the start. Article writing is a lot more effective for marketing your business when people will actually read the articles. The best thing that you can do is to catch their interest right away. Your article title will determine if people will open your article, and the first paragraph will ensure that people keep reading the article.
2. Avoid the temptation to overwhelm your readers with a lot of information. Article writing is not about telling the reader everything that there is to know; it's about sticking with a central focus and giving your reader an introduction or overview of the information they want and need to solve their problems. In an article that probably won't be much more than one thousand words, you will never be able to tell the reader everything they need to know to solve a problem, but you can help put your reader on solid footing for moving forward towards a workable solution.
3. Break up information into digestible chunks. Writing articles is about expressing some key points. When it comes to writing articles for the internet, what you are going to find is that many readers skim rather than read your articles. Using numbered lists (like this one) will help you to present your information clearly, and let readers find what they are looking for quickly. Similarly, if you use bullet lists or break up your text with subheadings that are in a larger font and bolded, you can be sure that after reading your article, the article's key points will be easily recalled.
4. When it comes to article writing, particularly when you are working to establish yourself as an expert, it's important to show that you know what you're talking about. A great way of doing that - and to break up the text of your article - is to include quotes from more established experts. If you are writing articles and are more established, you too should quote other sources, possible letting the readers know why you disagree with another writer.
5. Focus on spelling and grammar. Just as someone who is hiring article ghostwriters should take the time to find ghost writing services that are well versed in your point of view, it's also important to be sure that you're writing in the native language of your target audience. American English is different from that spoken and written in England and India. Paying attention to your spelling and grammar shows that you care about what you are saying and that you are a professional.
A good example of the difference between the usage rules in British English and American English is the story of Paul Marshall from Dallas, Texas. When Paul was running his mortgage business, he had hired some Indian writers to develop content for his website. When he received the copy from his ghostwriters, the copy used the word "mortgage scheme" in the text eleven times. Paul was pissed, as you might well imagine. In British English, "scheme" does not carry any negative connotation. Yet, as you may well realize, "scheme" in American English is one of the most negative words that can be applied to any business model. It denotes "dishonesty" and "fraud" in American English. His Indian writers could not understand his anger with their choice of words, but you can understand his anger.
Professionalism In The Article Writing Process
Professionalism, unfortunately, is frequently overlooked when it comes to article writing. Great writing flows, not just for the writer whose aim is to get the words and message out, but also for the readers who are consuming the information.
Because of this, one key element of an effective article is not the writing itself: it is the readability of that article. Take the time to look at the articles that grab your attention and jot a few notes about each of them. Specifically, focus on the following:
Writing articles is neither purely science nor purely art – at its best; it is a good combination of the two. A great article focuses on a key issue, isn't stuffed with keywords (you do want search engines to find the article, but too many keywords in an article takes away from readability), and is as easy to skim, as it is to read.
When all is said and done, an article that gets read in its entirety will carry the reader to the Author's Bio at the end of the article. Ideally, the reader will read the entire article and feel a desire to visit the author's website to learn more about the writer of the article. It is article marketing at its best, when the reader likes the article enough to click on the link in the Author's Bio and visit the author's website to learn more about what the author is offering.
About the Author:
Hunter Waterhouse has been involved in article ghostwriting and building websites for a number of years. Over the last several years, Hunter has been employed by http://www.thephantomwriters.com/ To learn about the new WordPress plugin, which will enable you to receive targeted articles directly from The Phantom Writers Article Distribution Service, as they become available, please visit: http://www.backlinksmagnet.com/blog/
Read more of Hunter Waterhouse's articles.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
How To Reverse Engineer My #1 Google Rankings
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2009 Willie Crawford
To many online marketers, getting a #1 listing on Google for your target keyword phrases is "heaven." It does lead to many times more traffic than being even #2 or #3. If you're not on the first page of Google, you may as well forget getting any significant traffic in many niches. At least you should plan on generating your traffic via other channels since few searchers look past the first page of search engine results.
Google the terms "joint venture expert" or "land for $100" and you'll see that I rank #1 for both terms and have for a VERY long time.
Yes, people do search on those terms, regardless of what you might think, and they both generate substantial incomes for me, but they are not my most profitable keywords. They are just keywords that I will use to prove to you that I have a clue about how to get top Google listings. You really shouldn't listen to "experts" who can't back up with they teach with proof.
Next, I invite you to try to reverse engineer what I did. Actually, I'll share much of my secret process with you. Not all of what I do is very obvious.
Here are the things that I do:
1) I target specific, long-tail, buying keywords. It's easier to rank for 3-5 word phrases, and people entering those phrases into the search engines are looking for something very specific. This is the traffic that you want to attract.
2) I use article marketing extensively to generate massive backlinks. All things being equal, the one with the most backlinks from relevant quality sites WINS.
3) I use video marketing, submitting to top video sharing sites using titles and descriptions optimized for my keywords.
4) I use pod casting, submitting my audios to numerous podcast directories, as well as offering them from numerous websites. People who hear your audio message, and click through to your site, arrive pre-sold on your and ready to follow your recommendations.
My pod cast submissions are also keyword optimized!
5) I use my keywords in anchor text on my blogs, and in article directories where allowed.
6) I generate a LOT of content, and repurpose that content regularly. I publicize that content on social networking sites, on other resource sites that allow me to publicize my content, and even in press releases.
For example, I post announcements of my updated content often to http://www.IMNewsWatch.com, http://www.TeleseminarNation.com and leading industry forums.
7) I use automation. If I had to hand submit all of my content I would only be able to distribute 1/10th as much. All things being equal, he who submits the most quality content wins.
8) I adhere to the rules and terms of service at the article, video, podcasts, and press release sharing sites. It does no good to get great rankings, only to be banned a few weeks or months later (having all of your content removed, and your work go to waste). I use 100% whitehat tactics.
9) I generate quality content. I does no good to throw garbage at the search engines. You'll only attract non-responsive traffic (wasting bandwidth and giving you useless website traffic conversion statistics), and you'll also eventually experience backlash. Write primarily for humans, but keeping good SEO in mind. The simplest way to do that is to use your primary keywords in your titles and descriptions, when creating and uploading content. Also be sure to use your primary keywords throughout your content.
10) I create external links to some of my content posted on sites OTHER THAN my primary sites. Linking to content that then links to your primary sites increases the relevance of external links from that content pointing to your primary sites. That helps the content on your primary sites rank higher longer. SEO experts call that "adding link juice!" If you don't do this, you'll often rank high for given keywords only for a few days, and then quickly drop in ranking. Adding "link juice" helps the ranking "stick."
There you have it - how I get and maintain #1 Google rankings for tons of keywords that my buying customers search on regularly at Google. Model what I do, and you'll get similar results.
About the Author:
Willie Crawford has been teaching people to build a legitimate online business since 1996. He is one of the world's leading website traffic generation experts. His favorite tool is an automated article, video, podcast and press release submission service that you can use too at: http://EasyPushButtonTraffic.com/ Visit them now.
Read more Articles written by Willie Crawford.
Copyright © 2009 Willie Crawford
To many online marketers, getting a #1 listing on Google for your target keyword phrases is "heaven." It does lead to many times more traffic than being even #2 or #3. If you're not on the first page of Google, you may as well forget getting any significant traffic in many niches. At least you should plan on generating your traffic via other channels since few searchers look past the first page of search engine results.
Google the terms "joint venture expert" or "land for $100" and you'll see that I rank #1 for both terms and have for a VERY long time.
Yes, people do search on those terms, regardless of what you might think, and they both generate substantial incomes for me, but they are not my most profitable keywords. They are just keywords that I will use to prove to you that I have a clue about how to get top Google listings. You really shouldn't listen to "experts" who can't back up with they teach with proof.
Next, I invite you to try to reverse engineer what I did. Actually, I'll share much of my secret process with you. Not all of what I do is very obvious.
Here are the things that I do:
1) I target specific, long-tail, buying keywords. It's easier to rank for 3-5 word phrases, and people entering those phrases into the search engines are looking for something very specific. This is the traffic that you want to attract.
2) I use article marketing extensively to generate massive backlinks. All things being equal, the one with the most backlinks from relevant quality sites WINS.
3) I use video marketing, submitting to top video sharing sites using titles and descriptions optimized for my keywords.
4) I use pod casting, submitting my audios to numerous podcast directories, as well as offering them from numerous websites. People who hear your audio message, and click through to your site, arrive pre-sold on your and ready to follow your recommendations.
My pod cast submissions are also keyword optimized!
5) I use my keywords in anchor text on my blogs, and in article directories where allowed.
6) I generate a LOT of content, and repurpose that content regularly. I publicize that content on social networking sites, on other resource sites that allow me to publicize my content, and even in press releases.
For example, I post announcements of my updated content often to http://www.IMNewsWatch.com, http://www.TeleseminarNation.com and leading industry forums.
7) I use automation. If I had to hand submit all of my content I would only be able to distribute 1/10th as much. All things being equal, he who submits the most quality content wins.
8) I adhere to the rules and terms of service at the article, video, podcasts, and press release sharing sites. It does no good to get great rankings, only to be banned a few weeks or months later (having all of your content removed, and your work go to waste). I use 100% whitehat tactics.
9) I generate quality content. I does no good to throw garbage at the search engines. You'll only attract non-responsive traffic (wasting bandwidth and giving you useless website traffic conversion statistics), and you'll also eventually experience backlash. Write primarily for humans, but keeping good SEO in mind. The simplest way to do that is to use your primary keywords in your titles and descriptions, when creating and uploading content. Also be sure to use your primary keywords throughout your content.
10) I create external links to some of my content posted on sites OTHER THAN my primary sites. Linking to content that then links to your primary sites increases the relevance of external links from that content pointing to your primary sites. That helps the content on your primary sites rank higher longer. SEO experts call that "adding link juice!" If you don't do this, you'll often rank high for given keywords only for a few days, and then quickly drop in ranking. Adding "link juice" helps the ranking "stick."
There you have it - how I get and maintain #1 Google rankings for tons of keywords that my buying customers search on regularly at Google. Model what I do, and you'll get similar results.
About the Author:
Willie Crawford has been teaching people to build a legitimate online business since 1996. He is one of the world's leading website traffic generation experts. His favorite tool is an automated article, video, podcast and press release submission service that you can use too at: http://EasyPushButtonTraffic.com/ Visit them now.
Read more Articles written by Willie Crawford.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
How Any Internet Marketer Can Make 10,000 NEXT Weekend
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2009 Willie Crawford
Lately, I hear from a LOT of struggling internet marketers. Many of them are worried about paying next month's rent, or having their electricity turned off. In other words, I hear from a lot of internet marketers "with their backs against the wall."
The sad part is that if they've studied internet marketing for a year or so, this is completely unnecessary. They already possess the knowledge to generate as much as $10,000 (or more) in a single weekend. They just haven't learned to properly value and market their know-how.
How does a struggling internet marketer go from zero to $10,000 in a single weekend? You CHANGE who you are marketing to.
Instead of trying to convince other internet marketers that they need some $20 ebook, you market to people with money already budgeted for expertise similar to yours.
The customers that I propose you market your internet expertise to are local offline businesses. Many of the local businesses in your area are struggling, and need your expertise, and are willing to pay for it.
What am I proposing?
I'm suggesting that you put on a 1-day workshop where you TEACH local businesses to use the internet to drive more paying customers through their doors.
You charge a token fee of $100 - $200 (or more) to these local businesses, so that they value what you are teaching, but that's not where you cash in.
In your 1-day workshop, you teach these local businesses about things such as search engine optimization, long-tail keywords, and capturing the email addresses of their customers (and website visitors) so that they have an easy way to follow-up with them.
You teach the local beauty parlor that, if they noticed Thursdays are always slow, an easy way to fix that problem is to send out an email on Wednesday to all of their customers, telling them that if they come in on Thursday, they get a 10% discount. Then you teach them how to capture their customers' contact data so that they can easily contact ALL of their customers for free.
You explain the power of email to them as compared to say newspaper or radio advertising where there is considerably more preparation and lead time required. You teach them that email is practically instant AND free.
You spend the day teaching these local businesses how to really harness the power of the internet. You don't need to hold anything back - you can teach them everything that you know.
At the end of the 1-day seminar (you can make it 2 days if you prefer), you offer to do the things for them that you just taught them how to do. You'll be pleasantly surprised when 90% of them want you to do it for them (even though you just taught them how to do it).
These local business people are too busy running the day to day operations of their businesses to learn a whole new set of skill, so they will pay YOU handsomely to do it for them.
Here's the secret, you "outsource" that work. You charge the local businesses enough where you can pay someone else to do the work and still end up with thousands of dollars from the weekend.
You funnel the work to talented people that you've met online or find through sites such as Elance.com
It really is that simple and easy.
But what if you don't feel up to putting together a presentation? You can get a complete seminar in a box, with slides, script, handouts, everything you need, from several places online.
In fact, I didn't write the presentation that I use when I put on local workshops. I got the entire presentation at: http://TeachingEcommerceToLocalBusinesses.com
That "seminar in a box" package is so complete that it even has the ads you use to let local businesses know about the seminar. It is so complete that you "could" just hand the slides and script to an assistant and they could run the seminar for you.
I was so impresses with the completeness of that package, and how easy it was to just take it and host a seminar for local businesses, that I interviewed the two marketers who created that package on my radio show. You are welcome to grab the transcript of that show free. I entitled it "How to Make A Fortune Offering Freelance Consulting To Local Offline Businesses" and you can download it here: http://WillieCrawford.com/FreeTranscripts/
When hosting local seminars, you want to keep your costs low, so you want to use a meeting room in a local hotel, high school, or you can rent a meeting room very inexpensively from the local Knights of Columbus or Shriners. Lots of local civic and fraternal organizations have their own meeting place, and happily rent them out. You can even get some of these organizations to publicize your seminar for you :-)
Everything that you need to know about organizing a seminar for local offline businesses is included in the package mentioned above, and the free transcript shares a lot of great information too.
With just a little preparation, and the decision to share your expertise with the "right market" - business people who have already set aside funds for growing their businesses, you literally can earn $10,000 (or more) in a single weekend.
If you get into action now, you could literally do this next weekend, although I'd allow a little more lead time.
This IS something that you can do!
Take a look at the resources mentioned above, flow out the event, and then do it! You'll find yourself looking not only at your city, but at other nearby cities. It's that lucrative, and that much fun. You'll become a local celebrity, and a hero to local businesses too.
About the Author:
Willie Crawford has been teaching internet marketing and ecommerce since 1996. As founder of The Internet Marketing Inner Circle he now teaches his tactics in the membership site at http://TheInternetMarketingInnerCircle.com You are invited to join this community of serious marketers today!
Read more of Willie Crawford's articles.
Copyright © 2009 Willie Crawford
Lately, I hear from a LOT of struggling internet marketers. Many of them are worried about paying next month's rent, or having their electricity turned off. In other words, I hear from a lot of internet marketers "with their backs against the wall."
The sad part is that if they've studied internet marketing for a year or so, this is completely unnecessary. They already possess the knowledge to generate as much as $10,000 (or more) in a single weekend. They just haven't learned to properly value and market their know-how.
How does a struggling internet marketer go from zero to $10,000 in a single weekend? You CHANGE who you are marketing to.
Instead of trying to convince other internet marketers that they need some $20 ebook, you market to people with money already budgeted for expertise similar to yours.
The customers that I propose you market your internet expertise to are local offline businesses. Many of the local businesses in your area are struggling, and need your expertise, and are willing to pay for it.
What am I proposing?
I'm suggesting that you put on a 1-day workshop where you TEACH local businesses to use the internet to drive more paying customers through their doors.
You charge a token fee of $100 - $200 (or more) to these local businesses, so that they value what you are teaching, but that's not where you cash in.
In your 1-day workshop, you teach these local businesses about things such as search engine optimization, long-tail keywords, and capturing the email addresses of their customers (and website visitors) so that they have an easy way to follow-up with them.
You teach the local beauty parlor that, if they noticed Thursdays are always slow, an easy way to fix that problem is to send out an email on Wednesday to all of their customers, telling them that if they come in on Thursday, they get a 10% discount. Then you teach them how to capture their customers' contact data so that they can easily contact ALL of their customers for free.
You explain the power of email to them as compared to say newspaper or radio advertising where there is considerably more preparation and lead time required. You teach them that email is practically instant AND free.
You spend the day teaching these local businesses how to really harness the power of the internet. You don't need to hold anything back - you can teach them everything that you know.
At the end of the 1-day seminar (you can make it 2 days if you prefer), you offer to do the things for them that you just taught them how to do. You'll be pleasantly surprised when 90% of them want you to do it for them (even though you just taught them how to do it).
These local business people are too busy running the day to day operations of their businesses to learn a whole new set of skill, so they will pay YOU handsomely to do it for them.
Here's the secret, you "outsource" that work. You charge the local businesses enough where you can pay someone else to do the work and still end up with thousands of dollars from the weekend.
You funnel the work to talented people that you've met online or find through sites such as Elance.com
It really is that simple and easy.
But what if you don't feel up to putting together a presentation? You can get a complete seminar in a box, with slides, script, handouts, everything you need, from several places online.
In fact, I didn't write the presentation that I use when I put on local workshops. I got the entire presentation at: http://TeachingEcommerceToLocalBusinesses.com
That "seminar in a box" package is so complete that it even has the ads you use to let local businesses know about the seminar. It is so complete that you "could" just hand the slides and script to an assistant and they could run the seminar for you.
I was so impresses with the completeness of that package, and how easy it was to just take it and host a seminar for local businesses, that I interviewed the two marketers who created that package on my radio show. You are welcome to grab the transcript of that show free. I entitled it "How to Make A Fortune Offering Freelance Consulting To Local Offline Businesses" and you can download it here: http://WillieCrawford.com/FreeTranscripts/
When hosting local seminars, you want to keep your costs low, so you want to use a meeting room in a local hotel, high school, or you can rent a meeting room very inexpensively from the local Knights of Columbus or Shriners. Lots of local civic and fraternal organizations have their own meeting place, and happily rent them out. You can even get some of these organizations to publicize your seminar for you :-)
Everything that you need to know about organizing a seminar for local offline businesses is included in the package mentioned above, and the free transcript shares a lot of great information too.
With just a little preparation, and the decision to share your expertise with the "right market" - business people who have already set aside funds for growing their businesses, you literally can earn $10,000 (or more) in a single weekend.
If you get into action now, you could literally do this next weekend, although I'd allow a little more lead time.
This IS something that you can do!
Take a look at the resources mentioned above, flow out the event, and then do it! You'll find yourself looking not only at your city, but at other nearby cities. It's that lucrative, and that much fun. You'll become a local celebrity, and a hero to local businesses too.
About the Author:
Willie Crawford has been teaching internet marketing and ecommerce since 1996. As founder of The Internet Marketing Inner Circle he now teaches his tactics in the membership site at http://TheInternetMarketingInnerCircle.com You are invited to join this community of serious marketers today!
Read more of Willie Crawford's articles.
Developing Original Articles: The Human Touch vs. Computer Software
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2007-2009 Hunter Waterhouse
With the increasing demand of high quality content on the web, finding original articles and carefully stylized content is a priority for companies to retain credibility. With today's fierce search engine ranking competition, a steady supply of original articles has become a necessity. Websites need to be designed to increase traffic, and sites updated regularly with fresh information are more likely to receive higher search engine placement than those updated less frequently. As a result, companies need to find sources of new and original content as often as possible. The challenge is finding human writers who can provide original articles with the right tone, voice, and quality that the company needs, and also at the right price.
Before the emergence of computer programs that could 'create' articles and pieces of web content, human writers were responsible for developing all the original content for websites. However, with the rise of blogs and websites for independent publishers, several applications are now available that simply churn out content made from a computer program. While these have the potential to create several articles on a given topic, they do have limitations. Semantics, sentence structure, meaning, and even punctuation are often overlooked with these content spinners and programs, and if they are caught by a search engine, the risk of website blacklisting runs high.
Human writers provide reliable, authentic, and original content on a regular basis. By making use of natural creative processes to develop and present an idea, they can develop a series of original articles for any website or company.
The Value of Authentic Content and Original Articles
All website and business owners know how valuable original content is for search engine placement, website validity, and credibility in their industry. Without a steady supply of original articles, it is difficult to keep visitors returning to the site and maintaining interest in the company. The increasing popularity of blogs is just one example of why 'content is king' still rings true on the web today. Human writers can develop articles and unique ideas far better than any computer software and application. Unfortunately, many companies choose applications that lead to poor quality content and a decrease in their credibility.
What Content Creating Software Does
Content creation software is designed to string words and sentences based on a topic and basic article. These programs run several variations of an article by substituting synonyms and words throughout the page, and reconstructing sentences to generate a 'new' or original article. Today's leading content duplication and content creation software programs include: Article Content Spinner, Jetspinner, SiteEqualizer, ArticlePro, and Article Output.
While these article and content spinner programs offer many promises of 'well-written' article and original content, they are not always accurate enough to catch duplicate sentences, and they often have trouble even putting together sentences that make sense. In many cases, their processes are considered to be forms of copyright theft, especially if the original article used as the input was not generated by the owner. Search engines that can find even one sentence duplicated from an article can bar the website from being listed on the rankings, and a single sentence 'stolen' in this way is at risk for copyright infringement.
Why Companies Need to Pursue Quality Human Writers
Google is the leading search engine on the internet, and specifically outlines its duplicate content policy in the user terms. Article spinners that help generate 'original articles' can create significant damage to a company's page ranking and credibility online, putting them at risk for copyright infringement and other penalties. Submitting just a single article to an article directory can be shared across multiple web pages and websites, but using a content spinner to create 'fresh' content from this very same article puts all of the content at risk.
Article marketing has become an industry in itself, but finding high quality human writers is the most efficient, and safe, method of generating valid clicks and increasing visitors to the site. Human writers can provide benefits beyond the limitations of article content creation services. These include completely original article batches, clear and consistent messages, an author's voice, powerful words and phrases that are easy to read by all visitors, and simply and efficiently provide unique and creative ideas in an original format. Human writers can often provide a fresh perspective on a topic or idea, something that cannot be achieved with automated article writing software packages.
About the Author:
Hunter Waterhouse has been involved in article ghost writing and building websites for a number of years. Over the last several years, Hunter has been employed by http://www.thephantomwriters.com/ To learn about the new WordPress plugin, which will enable you to receive targeted articles directly from The Phantom Writers Article Distribution Service, as they become available, please visit: http://www.backlinksmagnet.com/blog/
Read more Articles written by Hunter Waterhouse.
Copyright © 2007-2009 Hunter Waterhouse
With the increasing demand of high quality content on the web, finding original articles and carefully stylized content is a priority for companies to retain credibility. With today's fierce search engine ranking competition, a steady supply of original articles has become a necessity. Websites need to be designed to increase traffic, and sites updated regularly with fresh information are more likely to receive higher search engine placement than those updated less frequently. As a result, companies need to find sources of new and original content as often as possible. The challenge is finding human writers who can provide original articles with the right tone, voice, and quality that the company needs, and also at the right price.
Before the emergence of computer programs that could 'create' articles and pieces of web content, human writers were responsible for developing all the original content for websites. However, with the rise of blogs and websites for independent publishers, several applications are now available that simply churn out content made from a computer program. While these have the potential to create several articles on a given topic, they do have limitations. Semantics, sentence structure, meaning, and even punctuation are often overlooked with these content spinners and programs, and if they are caught by a search engine, the risk of website blacklisting runs high.
Human writers provide reliable, authentic, and original content on a regular basis. By making use of natural creative processes to develop and present an idea, they can develop a series of original articles for any website or company.
The Value of Authentic Content and Original Articles
All website and business owners know how valuable original content is for search engine placement, website validity, and credibility in their industry. Without a steady supply of original articles, it is difficult to keep visitors returning to the site and maintaining interest in the company. The increasing popularity of blogs is just one example of why 'content is king' still rings true on the web today. Human writers can develop articles and unique ideas far better than any computer software and application. Unfortunately, many companies choose applications that lead to poor quality content and a decrease in their credibility.
What Content Creating Software Does
Content creation software is designed to string words and sentences based on a topic and basic article. These programs run several variations of an article by substituting synonyms and words throughout the page, and reconstructing sentences to generate a 'new' or original article. Today's leading content duplication and content creation software programs include: Article Content Spinner, Jetspinner, SiteEqualizer, ArticlePro, and Article Output.
While these article and content spinner programs offer many promises of 'well-written' article and original content, they are not always accurate enough to catch duplicate sentences, and they often have trouble even putting together sentences that make sense. In many cases, their processes are considered to be forms of copyright theft, especially if the original article used as the input was not generated by the owner. Search engines that can find even one sentence duplicated from an article can bar the website from being listed on the rankings, and a single sentence 'stolen' in this way is at risk for copyright infringement.
Why Companies Need to Pursue Quality Human Writers
Google is the leading search engine on the internet, and specifically outlines its duplicate content policy in the user terms. Article spinners that help generate 'original articles' can create significant damage to a company's page ranking and credibility online, putting them at risk for copyright infringement and other penalties. Submitting just a single article to an article directory can be shared across multiple web pages and websites, but using a content spinner to create 'fresh' content from this very same article puts all of the content at risk.
Article marketing has become an industry in itself, but finding high quality human writers is the most efficient, and safe, method of generating valid clicks and increasing visitors to the site. Human writers can provide benefits beyond the limitations of article content creation services. These include completely original article batches, clear and consistent messages, an author's voice, powerful words and phrases that are easy to read by all visitors, and simply and efficiently provide unique and creative ideas in an original format. Human writers can often provide a fresh perspective on a topic or idea, something that cannot be achieved with automated article writing software packages.
About the Author:
Hunter Waterhouse has been involved in article ghost writing and building websites for a number of years. Over the last several years, Hunter has been employed by http://www.thephantomwriters.com/ To learn about the new WordPress plugin, which will enable you to receive targeted articles directly from The Phantom Writers Article Distribution Service, as they become available, please visit: http://www.backlinksmagnet.com/blog/
Read more Articles written by Hunter Waterhouse.
Online Branding - the Basics
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2009 Enzo F. Cesario
The term "brand" has been around for many years and can be used to refer to a company name, a product name, an advertising campaign or a logo. Branding is used to create an emotional attachment to a product or company. It can also create a sense of perceived higher quality or value.
In internet marketing, branding is more than logos and theme songs. Branding lets customers know who you are, what you do and how you do it. It's your promise of value. Effective branding will increase your potential customer base and more potential customers will always equal more sales opportunities.
In recent years, consumers have been spending more time and money on the internet. In addition to communicating with friends, they're comparison shopping and making more and more purchases online. It's imperative for a business to use the internet to make an impact.
Here are a few ways to define your online identity:
Describe Your Brand First - Start With What You Do
When they land on your website, your visitors should know immediately what your company does and how it can help them. Don't be ambiguous and don't try to be too cute. Build a unique shopping experience that a visitor will remember. With regard to graphics on your website, remember that images can convey more than words, and good ones can play a major part in online branding.
Find Your Target Market
The focus of a marketing campaign is people. Your goal is to reach a subset of the population who might be interested in your particular product - your target market.
The more you know about your target market, the more precisely you can develop a marketing strategy. Your branding efforts should focus on that target market. Your message should be clear and should appeal to your visitor and make them realize the benefits of visiting your website, your store and ultimately buying your products or services.
Humanize Your Website
What is your company's personality? The online world can be a cold and daunting place. Your branding efforts can be much more effective when you add a human element to your website. Brands are like people in that a strong one has personality, expresses opinions and elicits feelings. Your website and brand could and should do the same thing.
If you are the sole owner, put your name and photo on your site to take away the mystery and distrust of a cold, impersonal website. Take a good look at your site. Does your design scheme complement your identity? You should be working toward your site having its own identity, unique language and clear personality.
Take a look at some of the sites you enjoy visiting and see what makes them special and satisfying to you. Branding is not about making your site more corporate - it's about making it personal so that visitors want to come back.
Be Consistent
For effective branding on the web, you should be consistent in terms of your approach, your message and your language throughout your visitors' experience. Any gateway to your customers - website, blog, newsletter, emails - should have your consistent, unique personality.
Content, Content, Content
Just as location, location, location is crucial in real estate, having great content on your site is a major factor in getting customers to return. Useful, brand-related information coupled with your unique voice will help you gain fans and ultimately loyal customers.
With good content, your website becomes "sticky", that is, it's able to keep visitors on the site browsing and reading longer. When the content is what people are looking for, they are not only more likely to stay longer, they'll bookmark your site and maybe recommend it to others. They will learn that you are a reputable source of information and eventually go to your site for purchases.
Your branding goal should be to provide rich information on your site to build an expert reputation that will be recognized by both customers and search engines.
Have an Online Presence Outside of Your Site
Post regularly to online forums where people who might be interested in your brand are gathering. Use your expertise in your field to offer intelligent and useful information and include a link to your website in your signature.
With good online content, you can satisfy people's craving for suitable information and increase your linking strategy at the same time. For example, if you have a site that sells art and painting supplies, you could write a history article on Rembrandt to be published online. This page for history or art buffs will now link potential customers from your target market to your site, and will become part of your linking strategy.
On your website, offer a free newsletter or rss feed. This will allow you to build a database of potential customers who have gone out of their way to express interest in your brand. Your newsletter will then allow you to deliver your message to an interested audience with a controlled frequency that will further build your brand.
Customers are becoming savvy and more discriminating when it comes to online interactions, and retailers need to provide a consistent, positive marketing experience. Great websites put substance before flash and that's what branding is all about - your promise of value.
About the Author:
Enzo F. Cesario is a Copywriter and co-founder of Brandsplat, the only online marketing and advertising company employing Brandcasting, the most effective way to brand your company on the web. Brandcasting uses informative content and state-of-the-art internet distribution and optimization to build links and drive the right kind of traffic to your website. The approach is simple, highly effective and affordable. Learn more at: http://www.Brandsplat.com/
Read more Articles written by Enzo F. Cesario.
Copyright © 2009 Enzo F. Cesario
The term "brand" has been around for many years and can be used to refer to a company name, a product name, an advertising campaign or a logo. Branding is used to create an emotional attachment to a product or company. It can also create a sense of perceived higher quality or value.
In internet marketing, branding is more than logos and theme songs. Branding lets customers know who you are, what you do and how you do it. It's your promise of value. Effective branding will increase your potential customer base and more potential customers will always equal more sales opportunities.
In recent years, consumers have been spending more time and money on the internet. In addition to communicating with friends, they're comparison shopping and making more and more purchases online. It's imperative for a business to use the internet to make an impact.
Here are a few ways to define your online identity:
Describe Your Brand First - Start With What You Do
When they land on your website, your visitors should know immediately what your company does and how it can help them. Don't be ambiguous and don't try to be too cute. Build a unique shopping experience that a visitor will remember. With regard to graphics on your website, remember that images can convey more than words, and good ones can play a major part in online branding.
Find Your Target Market
The focus of a marketing campaign is people. Your goal is to reach a subset of the population who might be interested in your particular product - your target market.
The more you know about your target market, the more precisely you can develop a marketing strategy. Your branding efforts should focus on that target market. Your message should be clear and should appeal to your visitor and make them realize the benefits of visiting your website, your store and ultimately buying your products or services.
Humanize Your Website
What is your company's personality? The online world can be a cold and daunting place. Your branding efforts can be much more effective when you add a human element to your website. Brands are like people in that a strong one has personality, expresses opinions and elicits feelings. Your website and brand could and should do the same thing.
If you are the sole owner, put your name and photo on your site to take away the mystery and distrust of a cold, impersonal website. Take a good look at your site. Does your design scheme complement your identity? You should be working toward your site having its own identity, unique language and clear personality.
Take a look at some of the sites you enjoy visiting and see what makes them special and satisfying to you. Branding is not about making your site more corporate - it's about making it personal so that visitors want to come back.
Be Consistent
For effective branding on the web, you should be consistent in terms of your approach, your message and your language throughout your visitors' experience. Any gateway to your customers - website, blog, newsletter, emails - should have your consistent, unique personality.
Content, Content, Content
Just as location, location, location is crucial in real estate, having great content on your site is a major factor in getting customers to return. Useful, brand-related information coupled with your unique voice will help you gain fans and ultimately loyal customers.
With good content, your website becomes "sticky", that is, it's able to keep visitors on the site browsing and reading longer. When the content is what people are looking for, they are not only more likely to stay longer, they'll bookmark your site and maybe recommend it to others. They will learn that you are a reputable source of information and eventually go to your site for purchases.
Your branding goal should be to provide rich information on your site to build an expert reputation that will be recognized by both customers and search engines.
Have an Online Presence Outside of Your Site
Post regularly to online forums where people who might be interested in your brand are gathering. Use your expertise in your field to offer intelligent and useful information and include a link to your website in your signature.
With good online content, you can satisfy people's craving for suitable information and increase your linking strategy at the same time. For example, if you have a site that sells art and painting supplies, you could write a history article on Rembrandt to be published online. This page for history or art buffs will now link potential customers from your target market to your site, and will become part of your linking strategy.
On your website, offer a free newsletter or rss feed. This will allow you to build a database of potential customers who have gone out of their way to express interest in your brand. Your newsletter will then allow you to deliver your message to an interested audience with a controlled frequency that will further build your brand.
Customers are becoming savvy and more discriminating when it comes to online interactions, and retailers need to provide a consistent, positive marketing experience. Great websites put substance before flash and that's what branding is all about - your promise of value.
About the Author:
Enzo F. Cesario is a Copywriter and co-founder of Brandsplat, the only online marketing and advertising company employing Brandcasting, the most effective way to brand your company on the web. Brandcasting uses informative content and state-of-the-art internet distribution and optimization to build links and drive the right kind of traffic to your website. The approach is simple, highly effective and affordable. Learn more at: http://www.Brandsplat.com/
Read more Articles written by Enzo F. Cesario.
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