Introduction to Article Marketing

Admittedly, article marketing may sound like something complicated, but on
a very basic level, it really isn’t. The one and only aim of article marketing is
to get visitors to visit your website through the backlink of a submitted
article.
Of course, in order to successfully do that, it isn’t enough to just submit tons
and tons of articles and then hope that people click the backlink. True, if you
went by the quantity over quality approach then you’d probably end up
getting a couple of visitors here and there, but it would be more time
consuming, and less effective, than going about it the smart way.
Really, the only reason that people tend to flop at article marketing is simply
because they don’t think it through from the get go.
So, in order to avoid going through the same tedious rigmarole, we’re going
to look at article marketing from the ground up; from the theory right down
to the practice. By doing so, you should end this eBook with a firm grasp of
what you need to go out there and do, and how you can do it.

Continue Reading

Popularity: unranked [?]

What type of reaction do you have when somebody says something negative about your business or your website? If you manage a blog or a forum, what do you do when somebody complains about your website in one way or another? Delete the comment? Return the favor?

Negative publicity may help you in the long run

It’s a simple case of mathematics. The larger you get, the more publicity you will receive. I hope I’m not surprising you when I tell you that all publicity is not positive. You should be prepared for the negative comments, because they will surely present themselves at one time or another.

You know the old saying: There’s no such thing as bad publicity. To an extent, that statement can be true. I’ll take the first recent example that comes to mind. Chris Brown. I could care less about the pop star world, but this guy who I had never really heard of before he was accused of assaulting singer Rihanna has been all over the news since. Is it bad publicity? In one aspect it is, but in another aspect, a lot of people now know who he is and are keeping track of any news that arises which he is a part of. In the long run, these accusations may actually help his popularity.

When bad publicity or comments come your way, give it a 24 hour cooling down period before you take any action. The worst publicity for you comes from yourself, not what other people say. If you’re heated up, you may say something that you will later come to regret. After 24 hours, decide how to handle the matter.

If all comments about you are positive, what would prompt the next person who comes across them to add their thoughts? On the other hand, if you’ve got a blog with many loyal readers and somebody comes along out of the blue and posts a bad comment about it Continue Reading

Popularity: 2% [?]

It’s no secret that the economy is bad. Not just in the United States, but many countries are experiencing unprecedented slumps in their economy such as not been seen in many years.

Millions of people are losing their jobs and the number of individuals on unemployment and government assistance is at an all-time high. Obviously, people are learning to pinch their pennies in ways they never have before.

Amidst all of this, I am curious to see how those who make their living online have been fairing. I work full-time online and have for many years now, and to be honest, my income is at its highest level since 2005 and is growing on a weekly basis. I wouldn’t choose any other job other than the one I have now.

So, let’s do a visitor interview. Everyone who reads this post can participate- just answer the following questions:

1. How much of your total income do you rely for online?
2. How has your online income changed over the past 6 or 12 months?
3. Given the economy, are you leaning more toward or away from working online?

Obviously, you don’t need to reveal any specific income amounts, but you can still leave a general answer to these questions.

Let’s see what everyone thinks! Continue Reading

Popularity: unranked [?]

When it comes to search engines, there are basically two avenues of gaining traffic: Organic and PPC (pay-per-click) results. There is a world of difference between the two, so let me break the facts down for you. I have a lot of statistics to show you and I am going to use Google as a reference in this article.

Organic Search Engine Results

An “organic” listing is where your website appears naturally in Google’s search engine results. In other words, this is where Google ranks your page on its own without paying to put yourself there.

In order to achieve high organic search engine placements, you have to implement both onsite and offsite SEO techniques to keep your site one step ahead of your competition. Organic search engine results are by far the goal for any website owner who is looking to establish a long-term online presence.

PPC Search Engine Results

PPC (pay-per-click) search engine results is where you pay a certain price per click in order to boost your website to the top of Google’s results for the keyword(s) that you choose through their Adwords program. The more you’re willing to pay per click, the higher your website will appear on the search results.

PPC listings appear in Google’s search results as “Sponsored Links”. Adwords is a great tool if you’re looking to push a short term marketing campaign with the goal of receiving a lot of traffic in a short amount of time. With PPC campaigns, however, the second you stop paying per click (when your advertising budget runs out) your listing will drop off the face of the planet. This is why PPC campaigns such as Adwords is a better tool for a short-term advertising campaign.

Comparison

Your first step is to understand the trends of those who use Google to find what they’re looking for. The results may surprise you.

Studies show that an astonishing 95% of searchers will click on an organic listing while only 5% will choose a sponsored ad.

When it comes to sales, the organic click-through generates a 25% higher Continue Reading

Popularity: 19% [?]

If you offer a service such as website design, search engine optimization, graphic design, etc. I’m about to tell you how to blast your sales through the roof at little or no cost to you.

We all know that it’s ten times easier to close a deal with someone who has been referred over a cold lead. So with this trick, we’re going to cleverly increase our referrals which will, in turn, bring us more income.

I like to call it the 5 percent rule. The rule is to tack on an extra 5 percent to your quotes so you can rebate it back to your client once the job is complete. We all want to pay less and are especially thrilled to receive a rebate in the form of cash money when we weren’t expecting to receive one.

When your job is complete, contact your client and give them back 5 percent of what they paid you. This is best done in the form of a cash or check, but if you’re working online you can send them the money by PayPal or some other method. For whatever reason, $20 in cash means a lot more to us than a $20 gift card at a local restaurant.

Don’t tell your client that you overestimated the cost to begin with because this could make your business practices look a little shady. Instead, just tell them that the job came in a little under budget and you wanted to refund them the difference. Of course, you could always give them some money back in the same manner without purposely tacking the extra 5 percent on if you can afford it. They will be so impressed, your name is sure to come up whenever they have the opportunity to refer your services to a friend.

Statistics show that cold leads can cost as much as 50 percent of the selling price of goods and services. Therefore, giving 5 percent back can be a real bargain! Continue Reading

Popularity: 5% [?]

This article will outline 10 of the most common marketing mistakes people make. This article has been written to cater to websites, but the same principles apply for all types of media.

1. Don’t enlarge your logo so that it’s the main focus of the page. People are more interested in what you offer, not who you are. For example, look at some of the logos from very popular companies such as Nike and HP.

2. Don’t place your logo in the headline of body of your content. Using the name of your company or website is fine, but there is no need to continuously place your logo all over the page.

3. Don’t use every font you have. Choose just one or two fonts for all of your materials. This will not only look more professional, but it will help you to build your branding as people will associate a particular font or layout with your company or website.

4. Don’t use every color of a box of Crayola crayons. Tons of different colors will make your page too loud to be enjoyable. Find a small group of 3-4 colors that blend nicely with each other and use them instead.

5. Don’t be redundant. Don’t repeat the name of your website, product or tagline over and over again. Your visitors already know what type of site you have- you don’t need to keep reminding them.
Continue Reading

Popularity: 5% [?]