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So many women entrepreneurs come to me and ask still “I don’t know how to start up a fan page for my business or how else to promote myself on social media.” It is for this reason I am writing this article today…there are just too many of you out there still not familiar with what social media and social networking can do to jumpstart your business.

So, let me put it like this. If you go to in person networking events and strike up a conversation with someone there who most likely could be your target market, at some point you’re going to get to the point where you might ask them if you can follow up with them, meet for coffee, would they’d like to receive more information about your services, or, possibly on occasion, you could have them commit to becoming a client right then and there if they really connect with you and need what you have to offer right?

Picture the same scenario happening not in person but in a chat room, forum, fan page or between private messaging on one of your social sites. The same situation can happen if you structure your social networking in a way that invites that type of conversation and interaction. The key is though to have a system on what to say to whom and when.

Then how to follow up and continue those interactive conversations privately so the prospect gets to know you, sees what kind of advice you can bring to the table, you start establishing that trust until then they feel comfortable taking some kind of action with you.

This can take one or two messages back and forth or it can take multiple, the point is that you become consistent about your online communication efforts and you do it in a way that doesn’t take too much time, which means you’re organized and you have a system. My business as a Big Picture Business and Marketing Coach actually does quite well from my social networking and marketing online. I get an average of 2-3 prospects per week and I really don’t do that much at the moment to be honest. The people that I do end up communicating with personally on sites like Facebook are either all hot or warm prospects and by the time we get to the messaging stage (which is where I step into the system) they have already identified themselves as needing my expertise and assistance. This low level of time investment for me to gain this small number of prospects however also results in anywhere from $4,000-10,000 per month in revenue for me now. How would THAT help YOUR bottom line?

So, in the system you develop you need to make sure you’ve built in the right information to attract the right prospects, not just everyone; this takes some creative copywriting, you don’t just want to say ‘hello, let’s be friends’. I teach this in depth in my group coaching programs and private mentoring and keep in mind this is just ONE marketing strategy out of hundreds that you may want to consider; don’t discount everything else just because this happens to be free and easy to do from home.

So there is much more to this that I can share in one article but here is my 5 simple steps to social media start up success:

1. Outline Your Goals – what do you want to accomplish by communicating online? Do you want more customers? Do you want more exposure for your website? Do you want to sell products? Do you want to just be social?

2. Choose Your Sites – you don’t just want to get a profile on every social site out there, you should be somewhat strategic where you put your information and how you spend your time based on your overall goals.

3.Determine Your Strategy – this is more than just ok I’m going on to my sites 3 times a week for 30 min each, you need more than a strategy than that. You need to know what to say and how to reach MORE target prospects or people and how to build a following, get people to interact with you, etc.

4. Schedule Your Time – this is huge, so many people waste countless hours every week because they don’t have a strategy on what to do on social media, they aren’t focused and yet they don’t see the value in investing in learning more how to do this effectively but I think I’ve shown you above what could be possible for you if you paid more attention to this aspect of your marketing right?

5. Provide Consistent Interaction - you’ve got to be consistently out there, talking, typing, texting, blogging, commenting, messaging, posting, liking, following and more!

This marketing strategy doesn’t have to take a lot of time when you have a system.

A small team or at least one person to help you manage some of the front end communicating could provide you many leads for your business and pretty quickly at that. But trying to do this on your own I can tell you will be extremely time consuming and more difficult than you think to reach thousands each month which is what you want to build a bigger business.

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(c) Copyright 2011 K. Sawa Marketing International. Katrina Sawa is an Award-Winning Author & Speaker who’s helped hundreds of small business owners take dramatic steps in their businesses to get them to the next level in business, revenues & their personal life. Get her Free Entrepreneur’s Success Kit at www.JumpStartYourMarketing.com!

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5 Simple Steps to Social Media Start Up Success

Posted in: Webmaster by Scotty /
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It is essential that you take time to understand the effectiveness of correctly undertaken search engine optimization for your online marketing strategy as this will be the foundation on which you can attract a flood of targeted traffic to your website. As with everything, there are right and wrongs ways of doing this but if you are willing to take on the challenge, the results will be worth it.

Link building should form the basis for making your website popular in the eyes of the search engines. When other websites link to your website, the search engines take that as a vote for the relevancy, and more importantly, the quality of the content that it contains. But don’t be tempted to take shortcuts, using unethical means to increase the number of links back to your website too quickly. You could run the risk of being blacklisted by the search engines, thus wasting the time and effort that you put in to developing your online business.

Never forget that relevancy is very important when placing links. The value of a link is greatly enhanced if it is on a page containing content that is relevant to your website. When adding a link, always ensure you are placing it within the content of a page. A great example of this is a high ranking relevant forum within your niche. Make a comment on a thread or start a new one and ensure there is a link back to a specific page within your website where perhaps the reader can source further information. Note that the link should take the reader to more content and should not just be a link to a product.

Another simple SEO tip is to ensure that the link back to your website is from a site that is trusted, high ranking and complements your offering. So how do you do this? The wrong way is to ask “will you share a link with me?”. The answer will most likely be “no” but, if you offer original, exclusive and relevant content, then the other website owner may at least consider your request. Just remember, there is always a high demand for quality content from other website and blog owners and their sites can be a great source of targeted traffic for you.

Now here is a little comment about page rank. Why go to all the bother of undertaking this online business strategy if you are just wanting to get links from any website? The key point that you must focus on is to target websites that have a high page rank for particular keywords or keyword phrases. If you can get just one link pointing back from a high ranking website, then this will be far more valuable than having one hundred links back from a variety of websites that are of dubious value and quality. So the next time you see an offer to get thousands of links back to your website, ask yourself the question of where these links will be placed and what relevancy and value will
they bring to your website.

A fourth SEO tip for your online business strategy is the use of anchor text. This is where you pick a keyword from the content that you have written related to the content subject and create a hyperlink back to your website or blog that includes that keyword. This link should be identified by the color blue and, when clicked on, take the reader to the page on your website that contains more relevant content. From there you can inform and educate further and perhaps provide a solution to the visitor in the form of a product or service.

The anchor text that you use should always appear natural in that it should flow when being read. There is nothing worse than well written content being interrupted by wrongly placed anchor text that has been squeezed in and which detracts from the natural reading flow. One point to note is that you should avoid using the same anchor text again and again because the search engines could well penalize you. An article you have written can be very well optimized if it has, say, no more than two anchor texts that read naturally with two similar but not exact keywords or phrases being used.

The four SEO backlink tips noted above should give you a competitive edge over the vast majority of other website owners in your niche. It may take some time and effort to implement them, but the rewards will be recognizable in terms of increased targeted traffic and a higher page ranking for your website or blog. The search engines will recognize the relevancy of your site for the keywords and phrases that you choose and this will be backed up by the valuable links, or votes, that are pointing back to yor site from other high ranking and relevant websites.

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Who else wants to work from home online and have a successful internet business? Then start where Michael T started. Don’t miss out on the key knowledge to grow your niche online business to make profits. You will be shown exactly what and how to do it. Start now and claim your free Internet Marketing Insider’s Report today at www.infomarketingforyou.com/insidersreport.html

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Top Back Link Tips for Your Online Marketing Strategy – A SPN Exclusive Article

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Almost everybody, myself included, who steps into the world of making money online, does so with the wrong attitude. Because of this, most beginners are doomed from the outset.

The hype, mostly due to crafty copywriters, that exists out there makes it so that people view an online business as a quick and easy path to wealth.

Make $4500 a Week Starting Right Now Working Half an Hour a Week! Easy Guide To $250,000 a Year Guaranteed!

And so on.

It’s no wonder that after not seeing floods of money coming his or her way a few days into it, the beginner concludes that this doesn’t work, and goes on to do one of two things: quit, or look for the next internet marketing product that will get them there by next Thursday.

I fell prey to this myself. For months, I dabbled in PPC, PPV, SEO, media buying, article marketing, offline marketing, email marketing, Craigslist, blackhat marketing, you name it. I bought more internet marketing products than I care to admit. I was the quintessential jack of all trades and master of none.

I looked for magic, the one secret that was going to take me from zero to financial independence overnight. And it wasn’t until I refrained from jumping and stumbling from one online opportunity to another that I finally came to see results on a consistent basis.

I’m still working on growing my business (that never stops), but having altered the way I viewed making money online has not only led me to get my online business off the ground, but it also set it on a path to success.

In reality, an online business takes not only work and lots of it, it also takes persistence and most of all the right mindset. The good news is – applying this to your online venture will undoubtedly lead to success.

Forget the hype. Making an online business succeed takes a lot of work. Just come to peace with it now and you’ll be thankful you did later.

It boggled my mind. I would get up every day in the wee hours of the morning to go to work five days a week despite the fact that I hated doing so, yet when it came to working on something that in time would change my life as well as that of my loved ones, I found it hard to put in the effort – I should’ve had my head examined!

It turned out the work wasn’t hard; I just had to do it. All it took is setting aside a couple of hours every day to take a step towards achieving a goal.

The work involved isn’t hard for me and it’s not hard for anybody. Just pick a business model that you’d like to pursue, write down an action plan, a series of tasks to reach each of your goals, and execute that plan come heck or high water. That’s what it takes folks. That’s the magic.

A task doesn’t necessarily have to be completed in one day. Some tasks will need to be broken down into smaller steps and scheduled accordingly. Whatever you do, make sure that every day you’ve done some work, however big or small, to move your business forward.

Don’t Quit.

Unlike what most have been led to believe, most things you try to get your online business going will not work, but that doesn’t mean you failed. You learn from what doesn’t work and adjust your next step, and you keep adjusting until you find what does work. Thomas Edison said: “I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.”

You only fail when you quit, because then you’ve cemented the fact that you’ll never reach your goal.

Keep at it. It may take you two months to see results, it may take you two years. That’s irrelevant; time is going by anyway.

Why not make it so that one day you wake up as the owner of a successful online business? A business that will give you the freedom and lifestyle that the overwhelming majority of people only experience in their dreams.

Easier said than done? Thousands upon thousands of people have achieved financial independence making money online. You’re not shooting for the impossible here. This is certainly possible and if others have done it why can’t you?

Go into it with the correct mindset. Understand that what you’re about to embark into is not a ‘get rich quick’ scheme. You will be required to learn new skills. You will be required to apply these skills. You will have to take action, otherwise nothing happens. As with anything worth doing, you will run into obstacles, and you will find a way to remove them. Embedding this in your mind from the get-go will help you keep plowing ahead – especially when things look insurmountable.

Learn to tune out doubt. This is not a sprint; it takes time before you see results. It also takes trial and error. This will cause you to start doubting what you’re doing. You start to think: this doesn’t work, I’m wasting my time, I don’t have the capability for this, and so on. It’s only natural for this to happen; it’s just how our brain works. What you need to do is just not listen, because if you do listen, then it will
eventually get to you and cause you to quit, and that’s when you fail. Hit the ‘doubt be gone’ button and keep going, finish what you set out to do in today’s two hour slot.

Everybody gets plagued by doubt every now and then, yes even the most successful among us. What separates those who make it from those who don’t is the way they react to it.

Anybody can make money online. I honestly believe this. Just don’t buy into the hype. Put in the necessary amount of work, show some persistence, and get your mind right.

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For your FREE step by step BEGINNERS guide to making $250/day online – visit
Online Income Achievement now.

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Online Business – What Separates Success and Failure – A SPN Exclusive Article

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One of the most difficult aspects of article writing and marketing, once you have been doing it for a longer period of time, is how to come up with fresh topics to write about. It is even more difficult to put your finger on ideas that are hot and related to your topic.

Here are some suggestions to help you get those creative juices flowing again.

* Visit forums related to your niche. Spend 30 minutes a day in forums related to your niche. Write down common questions or inquiries and use those to craft articles.

* Visit the Q&A sites like Yahoo Answers. If one person has asked the question, chances are there are many more who have it but are afraid to ask. Answer the most common questions you see with a new article.

* Check the news. Being on top of the industry news will help you be able to write related articles as the news events take place. This can also be a great way to grab expanded exposure. By piggy backing off the hot topic you can grab way more readers then you would with a normal topic. And not just the big news stations either. Some of the smaller more local stations may have topics not covered by the larger ones and can be a potential goldmine for ideas.

* Set up a Google alert for your topic. This way you’ll be emailed how ever frequently you choose, with up to date blogs and posts and new stories related to your topic that you can get and gain ideas from.

* Spend 30 minutes brainstorming. Do not allow yourself to focus on anything but your topic. This will get easier the more times you do it. It can be difficult the first few times to get your mind to actually produce something, but once you’ve done it a few times your mind will know you mean business and will help you populate ideas quite quickly.

* Use Google’s wonder wheel for ideas. Instead of using it to get keywords, use it to help you get some ideas as to what to write about.

* Create a mind map about your topic. And then each and every sub-topic that you come up with, until you have multiple mini mind maps and plenty of ideas to source article topics from.

* If you’re really stuck, check out the competition. Seeing what they are writing about may give you ideas of what to write about.

* Re-purpose old articles. But, not by rewriting them. Instead approach the same topic from another angle. If your topic was say 5 tips to succeed in article writing, a new approach would be 5 things to avoid in article writing, or 5 tips to improve, or a better way to do it. Just using the same general idea, and giving it life in a new way can be the perfect method to get unstuck.

* Check out the bookstore or the library. The ones that have real books. Look at some of the ones related to your niche and see if you can’t gain some writing ideas from them.

* Go to e-book sites as well. Do the same thing as you did with Amazon and the library. Look for titles in your niche, and use those to help you get new creative ideas to write about.

* Use seasonal events to your advantage. Instead of just writing about autism, write about how to help autistic children cope with Christmas, or other such seasonal event related topics.

* Carry a notebook with you. Ever feel like you’ve got the perfect idea but are not at home and able to write the article right away. Carry around a notebook so that when the idea strikes you can jot it down before you forget it again.

* Get away from the computer for a bit. Real life and real life situations may give you ideas you never would have come up with by simply sitting in front of your monitor. Use real life experiences and events to create ideas and creativity for your articles.

* Talk to industry leaders. Just a quick Q and A with someone in the industry may prompt ideas you would have never thought of otherwise.

* Read. By reading what others have wrote on the topic you may be able to come up with ideas of your own, or a new twist on an old idea. The best writers and the most avid of readers.

* Along the same lines as reading, read articles in some of your favorite authority blogs and websites. One of my favorite blogs is Mashable.com. They may bring to mind a thought or idea you may not have thought of otherwise.

* Join a mastermind group. Being able to float ideas around with others and discuss your topic can help breathe new life into a topic you found going stale. And, it is a great way to set up potential cross promotions with others in your niche for the future.

* Use your imagination. Put yourself into the mind of your target audience, and figure out questions and topics that may be important to them and write about them. Just a little bit of imagination and role playing can lead to many new ideas.

* Watch movies or television shows related to your niche. They may cover topics or ideas you may not have previously covered or thought about.

* Think about your own personal experiences. There may be things within them that you can revisit and create topics about, with a good solid base of reality to make for a more interesting and informative article.

Hopefully these ideas will help you come up with and create your own ideas and topics to write about. Ideas are limitless, you just need to develop the skills to mine the topics and ideas out of the things around you. The more you write and the more you strive to generate ideas, the more ideas you’ll eventually come up with.

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To make your article marketing more profitable, get your copy of, “Article Marketing Secrets: Turning Words Into Dollars”: thephantomwriters.com/ebooks/article-marketing-seo.html. If you are looking to increase your writing speed consider, “How To Write Articles Fast In 20 Minutes or Less Without Sacrificing Quality”: thephantomwriters.com/article-writing-guide/. Subscribe to our twice-weekly general marketing tips here: thephantomwriters.com/karmaonline

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21 Tips for Defeating Writer’s Block

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Companies like Google, Yelp, UrbanSpoon, CitySearch and many others have made it easy and convenient for customers to share their thoughts with the world. And they’re not just talking about what they had for breakfast.

They’re telling the world what they think of Your Business.

Smart companies are using these online reviews to attract and keep more customers. Here are ten ways you can use Web 2.0 tactics to turn online reviews into more customers who keep coming back.

1. Respond to Every Review

Like emails and voice mails, online reviews are easy to ignore. Especially the icky ones. But don’t. Instead, think of your online reviews as conversation starters. Someone has reached out to you. And when a person speaks to you, it’s bad form to ignore them.

So, the polite thing to do is to respond.

Your response might be just to thank them. Or you might ask them further questions about their experience. Or maybe you share some details about the product or service they mention.

By engaging them you are affirming their choice to do business with you and developing a better relationship with them.

2. Always Thank People for Their Reviews

When a customer takes time to give you a review, they are going out of their way. So thank them for their time and effort (even if the review is negative). Remember, their review can be valuable information for you to improve your business. And it might help you attract more customers. Isn’t this worthy of thanks?

3. Wait Before You Respond to a Negative Review

You open your web browser. You check on the latest reviews of your business. What you see enrages you. Someone has done more than just taken you to task. They have flamed you (or so it feels).

So the urge is to fire back, let them have it. But don’t do it.

Step back from your computer or move on to something else. Do anything but do NOT respond right away. Let the message of the review simmer in your brain. When you come back later you’ll have a much more reasoned response. And it will serve you better in the long run.

4. Never Post (or have someone post) a Fake Review

Because the Internet appears to offer us such anonymity, some folks believe they can manufacture reviews to make their businesses look better.

Don’t do it. You’ll get caught.

Fake reviews take your eye off the ball. Your goal should be to give your customers such a great experience that they generously offer you wonderful reviews that encourage others to do business with you. That should take all your time and effort.

Fake reviews are simply a distraction that will not help your business.

5. Leverage the Power of an Apology

When someone has a bad experience at your business (no matter what the cause) the fastest road to a resolution is an apology.

Your apology does two things. It shows them you care. And it tells them you’re willing to take responsibility for a solution. And, because most employees and businesses don’t apologize (or don’t do it well) then your apology will stand out.

6. Never Threaten a Reviewer Online

No matter how angry you are at a review, don’t strike back by posting threatening or even hostile comments. Remember, the whole world can see what you post.

If you feel an online review is so awful it warrants legal action then take your concerns to the website where the review is posted. They have guidelines and terms of service that the reviewer might be violating.

Also, try to contact the reviewer privately through the website’s private messaging service if they have one. Or simply ask (in your online response) that they contact you privately so you might discuss a resolution.

7. Be Consistent

Your business should have a policy and procedures for handling complaints. If not, think about how you might respond to negative reviews in various situations. Do you offer a refund? Do you invite them back for a do over? Based on the type of complaint, what do you feel would be reasonable and effective in getting customers to come back?

Whatever you decide, be consistent about it. Because many of your responses will be online, other people will see them. Inconsistency might cause other customers to feel slighted.

8. Use Online Reviews to Improve Your Business

The best thing about reviews is they are feedback direct from the people who matter most: your customers. And as customers they know best what it’s like doing business with you. So take their feedback seriously and use it to improve how you do and what you do.

9. Keep Your Attitude and Message Positive at All Times

When you respond to an online review, your purpose is to improve your customer’s experience. If their review is positive, your response affirms that. It shows them they made the right choice doing business with you. If their review was negative, your response might help mitigate the damage to your reputation.

Either way you help improve their experience of being your customer. And you do that by always focusing on the positive.

10. Tell Them What to Expect

The ultimate way to get a steady flow of online reviews from your customers is to give them an experience they want to talk about. The best way to do this is by going beyond what they want and expect from you.

When you tell your customers what to expect (and this message is based on what they want and what you do well) then they have a ruler to measure you with. You’ve made it easy for them to define their customer experience. And you’ve made it easy for them to talk about it.

Because your message is based on what they want, it’s important and relevant to them.

Because it’s based on what you do well, it’s something you can deliver on.

This positions you to deliver an experience worth sharing. And with online review websites your customers now have an easy and
convenient way to share their experience with the world.

And that will drive even more customers to your business.

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Kevin Stirtz is a local search marketing consultant. He is a Certified Inbound Marketing Professional and he specializes in local search optimization and online reviews to help local businesses attract and retain more customers. Kevin lives in the Twin Cities metro area of Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN. Visit http://amazingserviceguy.com/ and http://websherpa.org/.

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10 Ways to Turn Online Reviews into More Loyal Customers

Posted in: Webmaster by Scotty /
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Internet marketers are constantly looking for new ways to promote themselves and their products or services on the Internet. A common question on Internet marketing forums is “how can I promote my website?” Usually the answers run the gamut of the most common methods, such as website SEO, article marketing, Pay Per Click and so on.

Occasionally, video marketing via YouTube is mentioned, but it is not often that someone suggests that you start your own podcast. The perception seems to be that it is difficult to do, yet today it has never been easier to set up your own podcast and create a series of 5-15 minute audio recordings that you can post on iTunes and also on your website.

Once you have a podcast on iTunes people will be able to find your programs, listen to them and if they like them, they will subscribe to your podcast. They will be able to download your podcasts from iTunes each time you produce a new recording. Simply put, making a podcast and posting it on iTunes is a good way to get the word out about your business while providing a free service to people in your target market – people who use iTunes every day.

The beauty of it is that it is easy to do! Here’s how to set up your own podcast in a few easy steps:

1. Create Your Podcast – Use the sound recording software on your computer to create your podcast content. If you use Windows you can record on Sound Recorder; if you have a Mac you can use Garageband.

Simply choose a topic relating to your business, such as one of your products or services, and talk about the need that it fills or the problem that it solves for your prospective customers, focusing on a specific point in each podcast. If you already write articles to promote your website, then you could simply adapt your articles and create each podcast around an article – just hit the record button and read the article out loud. Add an few introductory and closing comments and mention your website address each time. That’s it!

2. Hosting Services For Podcasters – Open an account with a podcast host and you will be able to store your podcasts on it. This makes more sense than hosting your podcasts on your website as audio files require quite a lot of storage space and as your audience grows you will need a lot of bandwidth; podcast hosting sites are specifically designed to handle those issues for you.

Start off with a free or low-cost account and think about upgrading when you start to get a good following for your podcast. Popular podcast hosting services include Libsyn, Podbean, HipCast, GoDaddy, OurMedia, Odeo Studio. Personally, I use Podbean.com and started off with a free account which is easy to set up and use.

3. Upload To iTunes – After you have recorded a couple of shows and have opened an account with a podcasting host your next step will be to post your show on iTunes. This is also easy to do.

Open iTunes and click on iTunes Store. When the store opens you will see a bar at the top of the browser with “Podcasts” in the middle of the bar. Click on “Podcasts” and on the new page you will see a “Podcasts – PODCAST QUICK LINKS” menu column on the right hand side. Click on “Submit a Podcast” and you’ll be taken to a new page with a field called “Podcast Feed URL”. The podcast feed will be in the admin area of your podcasting host site. If you use Podbean you will find it under “My Profile”. Simply copy the feed and paste it into the iTunes “Podcast Feed URL” field and click “Continue” to go through the submission process.

Provided there are no unforeseen hitches iTunes will soon start showing your podcast and you can now consider yourself to be “in business”!

It is that easy.

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David Hurley lives in Hiroshima, Japan and hosts a free podcast about Internet marketing at: http://webbusinesspodcast.com

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How To Start A Free Podcast In Three Easy-To-Do Steps

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It has become a fundamental principle of Internet marketing. When sending a prospect from some form of trigger (banner ad, pay-per-click ad, tweet, etc.) to the landing page, there must be continuity: the message must flow.

For example, when constructing pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns, there has to be continuity between the ad and the landing page. The use of the same keyphrases, copy that flows seamlessly from ad to landing page and other factors, can make or break your campaign. If these elements aren’t in place the disconnect your visitors will suffer will confuse them and send them packing.

Why then do we rarely see any consistency in these areas when writing search engine optimized (SEO) copy?

Create Links in a Chain

On most web pages the tag sets are scattered. Take note the next time you’re surfing. You’ll see title tags that are unrelated to the description tag, both of which are distant from the headline of the copy on the actual page, etc., etc., etc. There is no flow. Nothing exists to usher the prospect from one step to the next.

It should work just like links in a chain. One is directly connected to the next and so forth. The basis of writing organic SEO copy is developing and following the same topic from your visitor’s first exposure to your site (the organic Google/Bing/Yahoo! listing title) to the call-to-action on the web page itself. It should – in essence – work exactly like the process when writing a paid ad/landing page combo.

Take it One Step at a Time

Create a plan before you write pages with optimized copy. Don’t view it with tunnel vision; strictly from the standpoint of what’s happening on the page. Take it one step at a time and walk the path your prospects will walk.

. Where will the site visitor come from? An organic search engine listing.
. What’s the first exposure to your site? The title tag of the organic listing.
. If the title tag captures their attention, where will they look for more information? The description tag underneath the title tag.
. When they click to your web page, how will they know they are in the right place? The message (copy) and keyphrases will be carried through from the search engine results page (SERP) to the web page.

See how it works? With each glance, with each click, the visitor takes a new step toward conversion. That’s because, just like with paid marketing campaigns, you’ve laid out a clear path for your prospects to follow rather than forcing them to navigate a rocky and confusing road.

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When you’re ready to write expert-level copy that boosts rankings & converts more visitors get Karon’s Step-by-Step Copywriting Course (5th edition) and learn to do it right. http://www.CopywritingCourse.com

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Continuity in SEO Copywriting Improves Rankings & Conversions

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SEO resellers have traditionally earned their revenues by acting as middle-men. They manage the sales and marketing for search engine optimization services while outsourcing the delivery work to a third party. Many white label SEO reseller organizations have sprung up to meet this demand, making it considerably easier for a small web design, PR firm or ad agency to start reselling SEO services. But as the competitive landscape has become significantly more difficult, the traditional SEO reseller approach has been been less effective. Furthermore, there have been huge advances in the SEO industry in the last few years. This begs the question: What are the new trends for those wishing to gain competitive advantage reselling SEO?

Emphasize transparency With the recent Farmer Update, the issue of ethics in online marketing are once again front-and-center. Similar to the many highly public updates Google completed in 2007 and 2008, 2011 is proving to be an active year for the search engine optimization industry. This, once again, shines a light on those firms that prefer to do their work under the cover of darkness. While we don’t really know if there are ethical problems with how these firms operate, the bottom line is that you don’t want to find out. Don’t partner with these types of organizations.

J.C. Penney That almost says enough. If you have been following the SEO reseller industry then you know that J.C. Penney outsourced their search engine optimization services poorly. And the firm they selected most likely used a broker for link acquisition (outsourcing the outsourced SEO). It all ended quite badly. Know your SEO reseller organization and what they are doing. They should be very reachable, communicative and professional. These are easy things to determine through phone calls.

Selling SEO alone is no longer enough With social media gaining momentum, and email marketing a must for any business, it is clear that modern search engine marketing packages need to be a hybrid of these components. The idea that you can cobble together such an offering from 5 different Internet Marketing vendors is not viable. Many claim that they can pull the best SEO from Firm A, email marketing from Firm B and then social media management from Firm C. But this does not work in practice at any reasonable scale. In reality, you end up with a fragmented delivery team and higher costs. Modern SEO resellers are looking to one place to outsource their delivery needs. This keeps the partnership clean and the work delivery efficient.

SEO technology is essential The search engine optimization industry has come a long way from title tags and directory submissions. While that was a great gig in 2007, in 2011 the bar has been raised significantly higher. Today people expect solid analytics. They need backlink profiling as well as SEOMoz stats like Domain Authority and MozRank. They want to know how many backlinks to their website are being credited by the search engines, and how fast? Your SEO reseller should offer you an easy view into these important search engine optimization statistics.

Customer retention Finally, your ability to retain a customer will grow with the number of services you offer to them. Moreover, those services need to actually provide value. This thought should be pervasive in everything you sell and also in your decision criteria for selecting your vendors.

Conclusions The search engine optimization industry has been evolving quickly over the last 4 years. We’ve seen many significant changes with the addition of social media marketing, explosive growth in link-building activity and the introduction of innovative SEO statistics. People using an outdated SEO reseller strategy will have a competitive disadvantage to those who have partnered with more innovative delivery organizations that have embraced these industry trends and incorporated them into their product offerings.

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Dr. Adam Stetzer is President and Co-Founder of HubShout, LLC, an online marketing and SEO reseller organization based in the US. With over 15 years experience in IT, working with Fortune 100 companies such as Coca Cola, General Electric, Chevron Texaco and AT&T, Dr Stetzer brings considerable experience to the SEO reseller community.

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

Reselling SEO in 2011 – A SPN Exclusive Article

Posted in: Webmaster by Scotty /
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Content curation, a term that gained popularity in 2010, is the art of culling relevant, valuable and useful information from the vast ocean of data, and presenting it in a cohesive, interesting and comprehensive style that gives a ‘big picture’ view of a specific niche topic.

No longer can anyone claim that they can peruse and make sense of all the content that exists (and is being constantly added) on even a very narrow range of subjects. 47 million websites were added in 2009 and an estimated 550 billion documents exist online today.

The role of a content curator was first proposed around 2004, when the catchy term ‘Newsmastering’ was introduced by Robin Good of MasterNewMedia.com to describe a dedicated content analyst who would gather, collate and categorize content from various sources and compile it for consumption by those who are interested.

What makes content curation necessary?

Three factors drive the demand for content curation.

Too much information – Its volume is growing day by day, minute by minute, and in every possible direction.

Too little time – The things you need to get done seem to keep growing in inverse proportion to the time you have available for them.

Too uncertain – However diligent and dedicated you are in researching information, it’s still possible you missed something important.

Because many people need to remain up to date with developments and information in specific areas related to work, career or education, there is a growing need for professionals who are expert at finding and presenting this on a continuing basis.

What does a content curation process involve?

The first step is gathering news and information, preferably in real time as events unfold. This can be critical in certain areas. Aggregation of content from various resources has been possible for many years. But with the accelerating rate of information growth, mere aggregation alone is no longer enough.

That’s why a second level of analysis needs to be layered over it. Human curators, with specialized skills and an intense interest or passion for the subject, study the multiple news items and stories that have been aggregated, remove duplicates or shallow commentary pieces, and weave together the most relevant tid-bits that present an overall picture of the events that are unfolding.

An even higher level of content curation is when the curator, aided by vast experience in the field, includes expert opinion, feedback and insights that add even higher value than from just patching together a collection of informative news feeds.

Why would content curation work today?

Everything boils down to trust. Or rather, a lack of trust in conventional media channels to present all the latest news in the form of unbiased information, complete stories, different perspectives, or multiple facets of the same event. Also, every consumer is aware that there is an underlying agenda, political or otherwise, that governs and influences the kind of coverage traditional media provides.

Content curation done by a trusted expert has the potential to bypass this lack of trust by presenting information along with direct links to the original sources, and commentary that can easily be validated and confirmed by facts and data presented in those sources.

By respecting a consumer’s intelligence and presenting concise summaries along with pointers to the source data for further study and verification, content curation can easily engender trust, overcome doubt and speed up the knowledge acquisition process.

So is content curation only about collecting news stories?

Absolutely not. Content curation is a quantum jump from content aggregation. Good content curation adds value to the individual news stories, helping a reader or viewer make sense of the broader picture that’s unfolding, staying abreast of recent developments, and digging into diverse sources for the latest data.

Content curators pore over RSS feeds and blog posts, breaking news stories and archived articles, books and journals, interviews and conferences, even social networks that break news fast – and then figure out the best way to present only relevant information from this deluge of data in a way that makes sense, and will cover all future developments as well.

Viewed in that sense, content curation is “story-telling in real time”, with a focus on specific niche interests.

Is content curation profitable?

Considering the rush in the recent past to project content curation as the next wave in information marketing, it is natural that profit models exist – or soon will.

One area that is already making money for early adopters is the provision of curation services and tools. Priced to suit a range of budgets, these services offer a variety of aids to content curation for different purposes. Some allow management of a complete modern news room, while others help niche marketers find extra content snippets to share with their core audience.

As yet untapped, but with great future potential, is the concept of sponsoring channels created through content curation. Specialized niche information and news which is presented in a way that helps target audiences stay ahead of the curve in their chosen areas of interest will easily attract advertisers and sponsors. Some curated channels may even become paid subscription products themselves.

Even more exciting is the potential of building communities where people willingly pay to get more and better in-depth information on a well-defined set of topics they are deeply interested in keeping up with. And surely there will be many more ways innovative pioneers of content curation will monetize their rare, in-demand skills.

In summary, those seeking to explore content curation as an infopreneur success model for the future must view their role as being similar to curators in museums who pick and select the choicest masterpieces to showcase in their gallery, and create exhibitions that delight discerning audiences enough to keep them coming back for more.

Content curation is a specialty whose time has come. Will you master it quickly enough to add value to your audience as an infopreneur?

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Dr.Mani Sivasubramanian is an experienced Internet infopreneur and the author of “Think, Write & Retire!” On his blog “Information Marketing Made Easy” at http://www.EzineMarketingCenter.com/blog/ he teaches thousands of entrepreneurs how to build a profitable online information business.

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Content Curation – How To Quickly Add Value As Information Marketers

Posted in: Webmaster by Scotty /
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As the song by The Byrds goes “To everything – turn, turn, turn/There is a season – turn, turn, turn/And a time for every purpose under heaven.” The same principle applies to Internet marketing – different aspects of Internet marketing campaigns run on different cycles. These business cycles have to be understood and accounted for when developing any SEO strategy, because they can directly affect the success of the campaign. While one company’s business cycles may greatly differ from another, especially when comparing B2B companies with B2C businesses, the bottom line is that you have to be aware of your own company’s business cycles to more effectively measure SEO success.

There are three main types of business cycles a company should keep track of: the sales cycle, the conversion cycle, and the SEO cycle.

The sales cycle begins the moment a company gets a lead. It could be a phone call from a prospective customer or client, someone submitting an online form and so forth. Each business has to decide when they are dealing with a real lead that is worth pursuing. The sales cycle doesn’t stop until that lead has either gone cold or been successfully closed. Some leads may remain active for months as potential clients hem and haw over making the final purchasing decision. Depending on the complexity of the products and services your company sells (medical testing equipment versus office supplies, for example), your business sales cycle could take a few days or even up to a year to complete. E-commerce sites typically have a much shorter sales cycle since visitors arrived at that site with the driven intent to make a purchase. Typically, the more expensive and complex the product/service being sold, the longer the sales process takes.

So how does the sales cycle relate to a company’s SEO? Let’s say your company sells scientific equipment used in chemistry labs. Your average sales cycle from getting the lead to closing the sale takes about nine months. If it takes you six months to really ramp up your SEO activities (from on-site optimization to really working through a strong link building plan), you can’t judge if the SEO efforts are having any effect on your business until nine months after they are in full swing. You have to allow for your average sales cycle to occur, since that’s how long it takes to see ROI anyway. Deciding a few months in that your SEO campaign isn’t delivering any new leads is preemptive, and you can cut the legs out from under what could have been a very successful plan.

The conversion cycle is all about prompting website visitors to action. This is a common point of failure for a lot of websites, but B2B sites in particular seem to have the hardest time. What is the goal of your site? What actions do you want visitors to take once they find your site? A site has to lead visitors down a predetermined path and encourage them with the appropriate call-to-action. If the goal of a site is to get visitors to pick up the phone, there better be a phone number listed everywhere. Don’t make it hard for visitors to act or find the information they need to turn into a lead for your business. Offering demos is a great way for B2B websites to start a relationship with visitors and engage them to start the sales cycle.

Many argue that SEO shouldn’t worry about the conversion cycle, that SEO is just about delivering the traffic. They argue that it’s the website owner’s job to see that traffic gets converted into leads. But SEO professionals and marketers in general have to be accountable for every dollar of the marketing budget. They have to prove that SEO is worth the investment of time, money, and manpower. A good conversion rate is essential to proving ROI. Sites need to be built so as to not sacrifice the brand in favor of SEO, or SEO in favor of the brand. SEO and user-experience go hand-in-hand when it comes to conversion.

The SEO cycle is how long it takes for a site to start seeing their SEO efforts be rewarded with better ranking for targeted keywords in the search engines. A company’s SEO cycle ties into several factors: the level of competition, the past and current SEO efforts of competitors, and the room for growth available. Websites often find themselves facing two common scenarios when they are trying to determine their SEO cycle.

Scenario one: the competition is dominating the search engines. Even if you work in a small, niche industry, one competitor who incorporated SEO into their Internet marketing a few years ago has carved out a pretty sturdy place for themselves in the rankings. They have the trust of the search engines and own top ranking spots for industry keywords. If you find yourself facing this kind of scenario, be prepared to buckle down for the long haul. Your site is the new kid on the block trying to usurp the king of the playground.

Scenario two: what every site should hope for when they begin their SEO – no one is doing a good job! Regardless of industry size or level of competition, if no other company is dominating the online space, this is the perfect opportunity for your company to seize ownership. If your site has been online for a long time (5+ years or so), it already has a good level of trust with the search engines. Even basic SEO tactics can help propel the site to the top spots of the SERP. This scenario also gives you more room to go after competitive industry keywords and win.

Business cycles vary from industry to industry, company to company. They depend on the type of product being sold, whether a site is B2B or B2C and the amount of competition in the field. But sales cycles, conversion cycles and SEO cycles are all critical components of any Internet marketing plan. They can directly affect the success of your SEO efforts and should always be considered when evaluating the overall outcome of your online marketing campaigns. Failing to take them into consideration could mean you end up stopping a campaign just as it was starting to gain momentum.

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Nick Stamoulis is the President and Founder of Brick Marketing, a Internet marketing and SEO consulting firm in Boston, MA. With over 12 years of industry experience, Nick Stamoulis shares his knowledge by posting daily updates to his blog, the Search Engine Optimization Journal (or SEO Journal) and publishing the Brick Marketing SEO Newsletter. Contact Nick at 781-350 or nick@brickmarketing.com

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Understanding Business Cycles and How They Relate to SEO – A SPN Exclusive Article

Posted in: Webmaster by Scotty /
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