Promote Your Brand With Social Media

By Phyllis Zimbler Miller

 If you think Twitter, Facebook, and other online social media communities are only for teens, you're missing out on valuable and free marketing platforms for your brand (book, business or product).

Further, if you're not on social media, you're risking losing your potential clients/customers to those smart business people who are utilizing social media.

Which social media platforms you focus on depends a great deal on what your brand is. Here are seven excellent reasons why you must use social media no matter what you are promoting:

1. It's the Most Cost-Effective Online Advertising
   The current most popular social media platforms being used for business are free: Twitter.com, Facebook.com and LinkedIn.com. (LinkedIn does have an upgrade that costs, but it's not necessary to get this upgrade.) And this is "relationship" marketing to targeted markets. "Free" is definitely more cost-effective than spending money on online advertising techniques such as Pay Per Click or banner ads.
2. You Can Have Global Reach With Social Media
   The world is now a global marketplace. Why not reach this global market? Many of the most popular social media platforms have this global reach, and you can see this clearly illustrated on Twitter. At any time of day or night you can see real-time "tweets" from people in Japan, England, the U.S., India and many other countries. For example, if you have a book that might appeal to anyone in the world who reads in English, why limit yourself to just promoting in the U.S.? Thanks to Amazon people outside the U.S. can buy your book even if it is only available in U.S. stores.
3. You Can Attract Targeted Groups of People as Potential Clients/Customers for Your Brand
   Social media enables you to join groups of people with the same interests and goals. On LinkedIn and Facebook you can join groups as varied as Children's Book Writers to eMarketing. If you choose groups to join based on your brand, you'll be putting yourself in front of the exact groups of people you want to reach as potential clients/customers. This can pay off in increased sales for you.
4. You Can Form A Community by Using the Community Aspect of Social Media
   Once you are active on social media platforms and have people who are your followers (Twitter), your friends (Facebook) and/or your connections (LinkedIn), you can start groups of highly targeted interests. You can create a niche market in your brand, book or business and share your knowledge with others who join your community. These people can become your loyal followers, friends and connections - and they can help spread your marketing message to their followers, friends and connections.
5. You Can Use Social Media to Establish Your Expertise
   People like to do business with people they know, like and trust. By sharing your knowledge for free online with the people in the social media groups you belong to, you can establish yourself as an expert. This can pay off in increasing potential clients/customers' trust in you.
   And you can also receive invitations for blog "interviews" or BlogTalkRadio show interviews or podcasts. And these interviews lead to more free exposure for your brand and more free exposure for your expertise.
6. You Can Use Social Media to Find Cross-Promotional Partners
   Amazingly in the world of social media, people who would be considered competitors in the off-line world are teaming up to provide products and services to their combined clients/customers. And these clients/customers are very responsive to these cross-promotions (often called joint ventures) - especially when introduced to a second expert by a first expert they already know, like and trust.
   You and your cross-promotíon partner can each get access to the other person's "list" (the names of interested clients/customers collected at a website) and thus you've greatly expanded your potential client/customer pool.
7. With a Few Keystrokes You Can Announce New Updates of Your Activities
   Your updates on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn take seconds - and you've announced to your followers, friends and connections what you're doing or what you're offering or what you're speaking on. And there are even online applications that allow you to update your status across several of your social media accounts simultaneously. So it is as easy as 1-2-3 to keep in front of your potential clients/customers.
   In conclusion, once you become active yourself on social media platforms, you'll find many more reasons to promote your brand, book or business on social media in order to attract targeted potential clients/customers. And you'll look back at your pre-social media days and wonder how you ever did marketing without using online social media. 

About The Author
Phyllis Zimbler Miller has an M.B.A. from The Wharton School.

12 Ways to Use Twitter for Social Media Marketing

Twitter is a wildly popular microblogging service. It involves writing Tweets, which are short updates of a maximum of 140 characters that tell your followers what you are up to. Although your Tweets are technically supposed to answer the question, "What are you doing?" Twitter has moved far beyond that. Tweets are used to share stories, link to photos, promote content, break news, and a whole lot more. Twitter has also become an incredibly important tool for social media marketing professionals. Here are 12 ways in which Twitter can be used in your social media marketing campaign.

1. Sharing Links to Items of Interest

As soon as you read something online that you think is interesting, it is easy to share it on Twitter with all of your followers. Twitter is highly effective in this manner because it is such a quick way to be able to reach a large group of people. You can also get a lot of great ideas for blog posts from Twitter since many new ideas and stories are floating around that haven’t even made it to the blogosphere and definitely not to mainstream media.

2. Building Your Network

Using Twitter is a great way to build your network because it allows you to find and follow people with similar interests. You can use Steeple to find people who live in your geographical area. You can also use other tools that help you find new people to follow based upon who your Twitter friends follow.

3. Build Relationships within Your Current Network

People in different networks often use Twitter to connect with their contacts instantly rather than using instant messaging for that purpose. Furthermore, many people use Twitter to connect with their network during events like conferences.

4. Re-Distributing Content from Your Blog or Website

Twitter can be used to redistribute content from your blog or website. However, you should take care to do this thoughtfully since many of your Twitter followers may already read your blog. For that reason, you may want to avoid using a blog plug-in that automatically Tweets your posts. Your best bet is to Tweet your content manually and customize each Tweet so it doesn't get old.

5. Get Involved in Live Tweeting Events

Twitter launched at SXSW last year, catapulting microblogging conferences to fame. Live Tweeting events are great because they are a form of citizen journalism that allow you to connect with several new people in your niche while making active and valuable contributions to current discussions in your community.

6. Pitching Stories to Journalists on Twitter

You can send a direct message to a journalist who is following you on Twitter to pitch a story idea.

7. Communicating with Your Team

You can use Twitter as a company intranet that connects all of your employees. Twitter can be particularly useful in this regard if you have a virtual business with employees in different geographical locations. You can set your updates to private for security reasons. Anytime you are working on group projects, you can stay in touch with your team members using Twitter.

8. Brand Monitoring

Stay up to date with any mentions of your business on Twitter. If there is anything negative, you will be able to counter it quickly. You can also use Twitter as a way to receive feedback from your customers and improve your business. Just ask your followers to give their opinion on something. For example, if you designed a new website, ask your followers what they think about it and get their constructive criticisms so you can make your site design even better.

9. Acquire More Votes on Social Media Websites

If you have submitted a story to Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon, or any other social voting website, tweet a link to that submission to try to score more votes from your followers. If your followers like what they see, they are sure to vote for your content.

10. Hiring People

Looking for a programmer, designer, or writer? Whatever type of professional you seek, try finding them on Twitter. Simply send your followers a tweet telling them you are looking for someone for a job. They can either recommend someone to you or offer themselves for the job. Using Twitter in this way is ideal for finding qualified freelancers. It is much more convenient than putting out a classified ad.

11. Build Your Personal Brand

When you use Twitter to talk about things as mundane as what you ate for breakfast or how you are going to sleep early tonight, you make your followers feel like you are casual and approachable. Even those running a company that has a cold, corporate brand image could create more appeal and build a unique personal brand using Twitter.

12. Streamline Electronic Communications

When you use Twitter, you’re likely to find yourself using IM, email, and other electronic communication methods less. Twitter not only provides public chatting through Tweets, it also allows you to send direct messages. Twitter will help you streamline your electronic communications, allowing you to scale back online.

10 Tips For Creating a Brilliant Landing Page

By Joanna Colek

Building a great landing page should be on top of your priority list if you want your website visitors transformed into customers.

While a great looking website can grab the attention of your visitors, a strong landing page will keep them involved and get them to buy your products/services.

Wikipedia defines a landing page as:

The page that appears when a potential customer clicks on an advertisement or a search-engine result link. The page will usually display content that is a logical extension of the advertisement or link, and that is optimized to feature specific keywords or phrases for indexing by search engines. 

Wikipedia's definition sums it up nicely but there is certainly more to a great landing page then relevant and keyword rich content. Here are 10 things that you should be looking at when optimizing a landing page:

- Relevant Content

A landing page's content should be directly related to organic search results, PPC campaign, anchor text in inbound links and any other targeted inbound advertising, online and offline. If people don't get what they expect, they will be more likely to leave.

- Multiple Landing Pages

A landing page shouldn't necessarily be your homepage. In many instances a homepage is a good landing page. However, for more targeted traffíc and better results, you want a landing page to be focused on a specific offering and specific call for action. To accomplish this, a given website should have multiple landing pages. Create some deep link landing pages that will focus on a specific proposition and your conversion rate will be higher.

- Focus on Functionality

More and more visitors seem to judge the professionalism and credibility of a site by its design. To satisfy this, many website owners concentrate on the design aspect instead of focusing on its functionality. A well-designed landing page is essentially worthless if the prospect can't accomplish anything. While I wouldn't suggest skimping on the design, it shouldn't be your priority. Focus on the exact steps you want your visitor to take and design a page with that in mind.

- Call To Action

You got visitors to your landing page, now direct them to take action. Make it clear and highly noticeable without overwhelming your audience. Whether it's a sign-up form or a "buy now" button, make it the focus of your page.

- Send a Clear Message

Keep your landing page clean and clutter free so your visitors stay focused on your message. Emphasize the biggest reasons that they should carry out the applicable call to action with larger text, contrasting colors, images. Make it easier for them to scan the content by using lists and getting right to the point.

- Provide Incentive

Bribing your visitors with freebies and samples is a proven method of enticing them to sign up. Provide more than your competition but don't sell yourself short either. Provide a list of reasons why your offering is better and what exactly the visitor can expect. Provide references and testimonials.

- Make Visitors Stay

Avoid sending your visitors to another page unless it is absolutely necessary. That includes any internal navigation as well as external banners. If you eliminate all distractions and limit navigation options, you stand a better chance of keeping your visitors around.

- Simple is Better

Make it easy for your visitors to complete the action you want them to. Less confusion and decision making for your visitor means better conversions rate for your landing page. Don't provide multiple choices and throw in optional extras. Focus on the pitch the page was created for.

- Power of Freebies

Everyone likes free offers. They are hard to resist and can be a powerful conversion tool. Whether a call to action is free or something free is receíved as a result of carrying out a call to action, it certainly doesn't hurt. If your competition charges for something and you provide it for free, you'll win the customer. Remember, just because you make a free offer doesn't mean that it shouldn't be quality. 

- Testing

In a recent post "How to Turn Website Visitors into Buyers", I've stressed how important testing is in finding out what your visitors like. Testing various text, call to action forms, layouts will give you a true idea what produces the best results as far as conversion.

Using a tool like Google's Website Optimizer you can easily monitor the conversion rate, bounce rate, and tons of other useful metrics found in most modern day web analytics apps. Using these metrics you can easily figure out which version will be your optimal page, one that maximizes the results.

Creating a successful and effective landing page takes a lot of work but should be the focus for anyone involved with a website. Whether you are a website owner, web designer, web developer or a web marketing specialist you must be aware of the components that comprise a solid landing page. After all this can mean a website's success or failure.

 
About The Author
Joanna Colek is the owner of Joanna Ciolek Web Design Studio, based in North Denver, Colorado.

Build a Profitable Twitter Profile

By Harold Hemmings

Twitter is one of the fastest growing marketplaces on the Internet. The reason why so many people like Twitter is because it is actually the perfect communication tool for people who don't understand and don't want to learn about Internet technology and the technological geek-speak that goes along with it.

A few years back, I asked someone for his dad's email address. The son replied telling me that you just email his name. The son was clueless that there was an actual email address behind the shortcut for his dad's name. He did not understand email, and he did not care that he did not understand it. He was able to use it in a manner that was easy for him, and that is all that really mattered.

What makes Twitter so popular to the masses is that one does not have to be tech-savvy to use the service. The new user simply needs to locate the profile of the person he or she wants to follow, and then the user simply clicks "Follow". From that day forward, anytime the person "Followed" posts (tweets) new information to his or her micro-blog, Followers will be notified about the message in the Twitter Timeline.

The only thing that is really difficult about Twitter is that new people seldom understand that they must "Follow" someone, before they start to receive messages from others. But once someone has chosen to follow a few people, they get the idea behind Twitter very quickly.

With its' system of 140 character micro-posts (referred to as "tweets"), users are able to communicate information to other users. Sometimes the tweeted info is a random comment, but often the tweets mean something to somebody.

For the average consumer, they can log into Twitter to update grandma about the lives of the grandchildren and to provide links to family pictures.

Although the service has been available since 2006, the Internet marketing community was really slow to catch on to the value of the Twitter community. Most Internet marketers hadn't heard of Twitter until 2008. Even then, online marketers were slow to see any real value in the platform. But in 2009, Twitter finally hit its stride in getting the word out about its service, in large part due to the Ashton Kutcher vs. CNN Twitter Follower Challenge.

Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk) challenged CNN (@cnnbrk) to a race to one million Twitter Followers. On April 17th, 2009, Ashton became the first Twitter user to reach one million followers. CNN passed the mark a few hours later, but Ashton won the race fair and square.

Understanding The Value Of The Twitter Community

In March of 2008, Twitter was estimated to have one million active users, according to Michael Arrington of TechCrunch. But amazingly, over the course of the following year, Twitter was able to expand its user base by 32-37 times, according to which news source you trust for your data.

On July 30th 2009, the Philadelphia Enquirer reported that Twitter had "increased its user base by 37-fold to more than 32 million users worldwide, 18-20 million of whom reside in the United States".

Now, the naysayers are fond of pointing out that Twitter's attrition rate is quite large, with 60% of new users disappearing after signing up for the service. But if the Philadelphia Enquirer's estimation is correct that "only 40 percent of first-timers become habitual visitors", then the remaining 12.8 million users still make a viable and vibrant Twitter community.

Each individual user inside the Twitter community is capable of building his or her own community of Followers.

As Ashton Kutcher has taught us, building a Follower list is fairly straight forward - when people are interested in you and what you have to say, they will follow you on Twitter to see what you have to say.

To date, nearly 3 million Twitter users have decided that they care enough about Kutcher's life to follow his personal tweets. Of course, I am sure it helps that he occasionally posts pictures of his wife, Demi Moore, in his tweets. Not only did Kutcher share a shot of his Demi's derriere, he also proved that rich people have ugly furniture too.

How Can One Benefit From A Large Twitter Following?

Some of Twitter's 12.8 million active users will benefit handsomely for building a larger Follower's list, while other people will not.

It is pointed out by @web2marketer, "It's not about how many Twitter followers you have...the only thing that matters is - are they listening?"

This is the key, of course.

Some people build huge lists of Followers, but don't say anything worthwhile or interesting. Some are only interested in building their Followers list for the sake of building Followers.

If no one wants to listen to what you have to say, it does not matter whether you have 1 Follower or 2.9 million Followers. If no one is "listening" to what you have to say, you will not make any money from your participation in Twitter.

On the other hand, if people are "listening" to what you have to say and "clicking" the links you tell them to click, then you have a good chance of earning real money as a result of your Twitter activities.

It has been said that the consumer needs to see or hear your name or your marketing message 7 times, before they will trust you enough to buy from you. Professionals in the direct marketíng industry suggest that 82% of all consumers (business people or otherwise) will buy your products or services on the second to the ninth exposure to your marketing message.

Twitter allows you to carry a continuous dialog with those most likely to buy what you are selling - through the Public Timeline of the people following you in Twitter. Once people have started to pay attention to what you tell them, and once they start absorbing your marketing message, then gaining your Followers trust is made easier. Once people are listening to you, you can earn their trust fairly quickly.

An idea presented by @contentmanager is that television has had 80+ years to perfect its advertising model. Television seems committed to the concept of 42 minutes of content to anchor 18 minutes of advertising. These numbers translate into 70% content to provide an anchor for its 30% advertising. In context, he says that the 70% content is designed to attract attention and win trust, and then the 30% advertising is designed to earn profíts and cover the costs of building content.

Understand That It Is A Numbers Game

As a successful Twitter marketer, your first goal is always to attract Followers (an audience). Your second goal is to win the trust of your Followers (your viewing audience). Only after you have earned the trust of your Followers should you endeavor to advertise to your Twitter Followers list (to earn revenue). If you have earned the trust of your Twitter Followers, revenue is certain to follow.

But, as with anything in business, it is a numbers game. A certain percentage of the number of people exposed to your Twitter profile will become Followers. A certain percentage of those people following you, will actually read what you have to say. A certain percentage of those people will click your links. And if that link leads to a page where you can earn revenue, only a certain percentage of people will buy your pitch.

For most people, the only certainty is that they need to grow their audience, and in the case of the Twitter community, they need to grow their list of Twitter Followers. In the numbers game, if you can build up your audience, you can boost your revenue. It is as simple as that.

If you drop by our website shown below, we will show you how we can help you build your Followers' list. But after that, it is up to you. It is up to you to gain the interest and trust of your Followers. Once you have done that, then the only thing that will matter is - are they listening?  

About The Author
Harold Hemmings is the owner of a website dedicated to helping people grow their Twitter Followers List at an accelerated pace.

Educate Businesses in Tactical SEM

It's about providing advice to clients on writing press releases and articles, on-site blogging, and how to get involved in social media marketing, together with tweeting.

But how many website owners either have the necessary skills or the resources to relate information about their "products" in a meaningful way in online articles and press releases? In my experience, not many. Most companies appear reluctant to become involved in this, and worse, cannot perceive any real value in a subject they barely understand.

At the height of the dot.com crash at the start of the millennium, I was working with a web design agency in London. To my mind then, and it remains so now, the importance of using the internet as a medium to expand reach and to bring in more business could not be clearer, but the bottom line is that when times get tough, the tough cut internet spend. That will sound a little strange to our industry, but it is inexplicably true.

From my company's perspective, quality SEO's are a rare breed and their real value should not only be to provide an excellent service but to educate management (those who will listen, that is) on what we have to offer, which is to help drive traffic to their website and boost revenue. In reality though, this is a far harder job than one would expect. It seems that most companies are resistant to dedicating resources to this effort. As such, SEM lacks both the financial and human resources that need its support.

Our industry has a long way to go yet in assembling and disseminating this concept. With directories moribund and other short-cuts removed from link building processes, providing quality SEO services today belongs in the hands of the wordsmith, the blogger and the social media engineer. And yet, how do we get this message across convincingly?

In one of my posts on this issue, I got the following comment: "Show them the results. Don't even talk about SEO...then tell them how much in time and resources it's going to take." That's all very good and valuable but how many company executives understand what they are paying for prior to "showing them the results"? Case studies and/or a results-based campaign? That is one strategy we are using for our clients.

In a related article I read recently, an SEO company was explaining why they didn't end up closing more of their proposals. It was because they advised the company from the outset about how much in-house involvement was required in successfully delivering a comprehensive SEM campaign. It sort of summed up why we need to do more in providing information that will educate companies about the effectiveness of what we are looking to achieve for them.

There is also a case for educating SEO/SEM firms themselves, as almost every week I receive emails from SEO outsourcing companies, generally from India. The majority of these emails pitch the same tired old submission services, including the outmoded reciprocals. On one occasion I decided to try them out - it was a very cheap experiment - and found that not one single link out of the dozen they had submitted appeared in Google's indexes.

Also, there are many SEO companies that falsely claim they can get a client's website to the top of the search engines for a given keyword or phrase. This has always been a contentious claim, as we could easily get any site to the top of the first page of Google/Bing if the search term is easy to compete on, although the chances are it won't be searched on. Too much of the time these blanket assurances are an across-the-board, indiscriminate boast. Try "music", go up against Yahoo, and see what happens. So, let's now look at some possibilities:

• It is extremely rare for management to understand the benefits and economics of SEM in organic search and how it can lead to extended market reach and more customers. Too much of the time they take the view that to boost revenue, or in a recession to maintain it, they need to fall back on the reliance of traditional media. The result of this is that migration languishes and profitability targets stagnate. We need to convince them otherwise with case studies and, where appropriate, with results-driven campaigns.

• One of the major problems in SEM today is that human resources do not normally extend to writers who are conversant with the web in general, and blogging and social media in particular. As such, the SEM is often asked to write about subjects they are unfamiliar with. If no in-house assistance is provided, the chances are the project won't ever get off the ground. Ideally, companies need to start to look at hiring staff that can implement SEM strategies effectively. But they won't change until management starts to understand how marketing online actually works. When they do, it could result in a shift of marketing spend towards SEM.

• The other difficulty is in the actual measuring of SEM, as the search engines have blocked page ranking tools, which in turn leads to sketchy reports on how the campaign is proceeding. Placement is the only real arbiter on this and that takes time. Companies need to be made aware of this.

• It really is no excuse for companies who are looking to the search engines to broaden their exposure to say that they don't have the time. They have the time for glossy brochures and hoardings, so why not divert some of that effort to the internet? We may all be experiencing difficult times at the moment and the idea of expanded SEM campaigns now, with companies downsizing and all that entails, should not translate into "campaign postponed". SEM is the cheapest way of getting a company's message across to new markets.

As one of the clients we have just taken on board mentioned above, let's look at the guts of the proposal we submitted in developing their online presence:

• Creation of RSS feeds for the dissemination and syndication of news;

• Submission of articles to high-value article sites;

• Updates to the meta information, including adjusting copy where appropriate to target specific key phrases;

• Creation of a presence in the Facebook community;

• Setting up a Twitter account to post weekly news as well as breaking news;

• Development of an on-site blog with regular updates, linking the headline from the home page so the search engines see movement;

• Writing and submitting to blogs related to their industry;

• Where circumstances permit, post regular podcasts, including YouTube and Google videos.

To sum up, we need to create a method, typically via case studies, by which companies not only see the value in SEM but, more importantly, how they ought to be participating in it.

Your Website As Persuasion Machine.

The combination of the Internet, Web, and the democratization of business technology has almost unrecognizable. Today a small, nimble, smart adapter has a competitive advantage over their larger, slower moving, 'we've-always-do-this-this-way' competitors, but the meeting web environment and digital technology is one thing, how use them effectively is another thing. Not every trendy gimmick social networking, user generated irrelevant and useless tactics voyeurism virus productive business communications.

The Day Dinosaurs Died

Like the dinosaurs that once ruled the world, huge companies that once dominated the giant business landscape has become fat and lazy, relying on muscle rather than brain, the statistics rather than understanding, and technologies rather than insight.

As these companies become larger, they become top-heavy, corrupt, and stagnant, throwing their weight around rather than innovate and adapt. Oh yes, boys are still there, still doing what they always do, jump on every trend 'du jour' promoted by the 'blogosphere' with no real understanding of what can be achieved, but hell, they think if they throw enough you-know-what on the wall in part tied to a stick, or so they hope.

But the handwriting on the wall, the internet giant meteorite had hit these companies right in their balance sheet and they fall into irrelevance. List of companies that have become extinct giant grow, and a trip to Chapter 11 continues.

So how does a smart, fearless, innovative thinking, business decision-makers to take advantage of Web capabilities and even the field? The answer lies in their ability to use the Web as a persuasive communication media.

Persuasive communication

Web is really a very simple concept: it is a place that allows you to communicate your message to your audience. What could be more simple, but what kind of democratic, it was a mess: a mixture of very good and very bad, and many are mediocre in between. And in today's crowded Web-centric business environment there is little room for mediocrity.

In the final analysis of all marketing, branding, positioning, advertising, and public relations is about communicating a persuasive message that attract attention, arouse interest, stimulate desire, triggering experiences, produce memories, and ask for action. And what that allows Web-communications tools give you the best opportunity to deliver such a persuasive message? Web Video.

Persuasive Web Video Communication

Web has some of the most effective creative video presentation you'll never want to see, and also has some of the worst.

Easy to use and relatively inexpensive technology has created a large number of do-it-yourself effort. Some DIYers do it because the cost, others do so because of ego, and some of the characters they're smarter than the people who do this for a living, and in some cases they may be right. Not all professionally produced Web-video is created equal. If you are the Web-video team does not encourage you to be daring with a focused, decisive, to distinguish the message, then you've hired the wrong person.

Communication intended to persuade the complex, which requires a better understanding of how the message is communicated rather than the technical production problems. When people watch a video, what they see is much more susceptible to both intended and unintended nuances of a simple face-to-face conversation.

Every Move You Make, I'll Be Watching You

"Every step you make, every vow you break, every smile you fake, every claim you stake; I'll be watching you."

- From the song 'I'll Be Watching You' by The Police

Everything a person does or says is a sign, not only communication but also a clear intent underlying subconscious subtext. Personally, people have a built-in filter monitoring system-irrelevant verbal and non-verbal harassment, interference and eccentric, but on your Web site, in a video, they have enlarged and performance problems can destroy the entire presentation.

In his book 'The message, the verses, and Meaning' Marcel Danesi said, "Man deliver more than two-thirds of their messages throughout the body, producing 700,000 physical signs, the different posture 1000, 5000 is a hand gesture , and 250,000 is the facial expressions. "

If your website does not have a video presentation, and not just rely on text communication, you are handicapping your business the ability to persuade, convince, and convert website visitors into clients. And, if you have videos on the site, but did not produce the intended results, may conflict with the verbal communication non-verbal messages, creating confusion and mistrust rather than trust and understanding.

Forget all the things you think your website should do; the most important and most important goal is to provide effective communication to your audience.

A Recipe for Web-Video Communications

Web-video persuasive communication is a complex process that involves a lot of creative and technical talent, and psychological insight to performance problems: scripting, casting, producing, directing, editing, music, and sound design, all equipped with the psychology of communication, emotional resonance, and intelligent business is required to make effective presentations.

Ingredient One: Get Their Attention

Job one is to get people to take the hand from the mouse and paying attention; is equivalent to someone shouting, "hey you" in a crowded room, everyone stopped and turned around to find out what happened.

Mark Hughes the author of "Buzzmarketing" suggested six criteria that provide a hey-you-pay affecting attention: the taboo, the unusual, the funny, the outrageous, incredible, secret, and titillating. Which of these criteria you choose to use depends on your brand image, your audience and your message.

All of these elements separately or in combination may result in stop-look-and-listen effect you want as long as they are appropriate for your target audience.

Ingredient Two: Making Flowers

Sarah Wood from naughty Media, a company that specializes in viral seeding points are paid higher value relevance as an additional key ingredient, but what makes the viruses to be objective interests, persuasive, viral marketing communication.

The relevance of high value is based on connections made through your video presentation. If your video is not echoed in some way, you will lose your audience. Resonance can be formed through the players' personality, dialogue delivery, the scenarios presented, issues discussed, point-of-view perspective, and / or emotional content.

Right Marketing Mix Using Social Media.

For months we've read articles about how the business should develop a presence on Twitter and Facebook Page built as part of the SEM purposes. Now, with social media established in equipment from our online marketing efforts, how can we take best advantage of the two giants of social media?

As if to demonstrate their power in the market these days, both Twitter and Facebook (to a lesser degree) have been targeted and treated painful Denial of Service (DoS) attacks and, as a result, many hours of downtime.

With Twitter hackers determined to bring down to earth, he admitted that the defensive measures have been taken even in the company to drive out further attacks, a third-party application developers who have been using their application programming interface, was found vulnerable.

In a similar vein, the social networking site Facebook is also affected by DoS attacks, but apparently not quite so threatening as one who knocked singing from its perch on the same day.

Social media, as a phenomenon, has taken the online marketing through the back of his neck and placed it in the control of the general public. Basically, the traditional search engines, where the sound is often bought and traded by the magic-of-hand SEM tactics, have now delivered on the platform where we decide our choice of content. Not ideal, but popular.

But how do we achieve success in this and what to mix it? Let's see how some "big guns" treat social media?

One of the best marketing campaigns I've seen on Facebook page is that Coca-Cola. They use methods very sophisticated marketing, such as heading, "Coke Random Fact: Coca-Cola translated into Chinese means" Delicious Happiness ".

And not to be outdone by the world's addiction to everything green, another post from a company that said: "Recycling in the United Kingdom Sunday, and to celebrate, Coca-Cola launched a giant statue is made from recycled aluminum cans! So, when you Coke is empty, please Give Back. "

Posting them is multi-language, too. But I do not see the trends used in the "open market": no sooner they try to have the Chinese and the environment in their pockets, they go after the dog lovers, "Puppies love Coca-Cola, and the feeling is mutual!"

This is not a line that can be easily removed by the SEM: "Puppies love Google Sitemaps, and the feeling is mutual!" not enough work, right? Instead, they have tweets set to become much more interactive with the public and in many consider the company has the marketing mix of place-on.

Because of Google's business model and customer base, that, of course, different. It should. Many of the posts on Facebook explaining new products and services with more exciting mix of posts like, "Check out this cool video that shows the Google Chrome logo is built from Lego!" and "Are you explored the Moon in Google Earth yet?" Not to be left out of growing environmental bandwagon posts, they write: "If you're spring cleaning solar panels?" where they have been "collecting 1.6 MW solar installation at our headquarters in Mountain View in the year 2007 ..."

The BBC has listed them on the Facebook Page under Entertainment & Arts - Television simple parts and provide a link to their website and have provided a discussion board used bad - in my modest opinion. As news outlets, they seem far more concentrated on the use of Twitter, because Breaking News alert, with 172,756 followers.

Useful Keyword Marketing Tools

After years of running websites and earning a full-time online income, I am constantly reminded that it all comes down to keywords. Actually, it all comes down to obtaining top rankings for your profitable keywords in the search engines, mainly Google.

And that statement has to be refined even further, it's all about obtaining top keyword rankings and keeping them at the top. You must consistently keep your keywords in the top spots on that all important first page of SERPs since your keyword rankings can make or break your online marketing.

If you're targeting extremely competitive and profitable keywords you will have your work cut out for you; unless you have tons of money to buy your way (links) into the top spots, expect to spend months if not years, getting to those top listings. Google has frowned upon link buying and has taken steps to fight it, but this practice is still widespread throughout the web.
Most beginning and honest webmasters want to take the proper route and earn those top rankings by providing good quality content that web users will actually find helpful and useful. They build those links the natural way by offering viral link bait in the form of videos, ebooks, articles, reports... all branded with backlinks to their sites.

Gradually over time, these links will build up and your keyword rankings will go up in the search engines. People will find your content and bookmark it in all the social bookmark sites like Digg, Facebook, MySpace... and your rankings will climb even faster.

However, since keyword marketing has become extremely competitive, you do need a little help with achieving those top rankings. Over the years I have tested and used many keyword tools and I have listed some of the best ones below. (Just Google to find links to these tools and programs.)

Internet Success Spider

One of the first keyword tools I ever used was The Internet Success Spider by Neil Shearing which is now free. The Spider is a very simple, yet powerful keyword tool because it shows you the major players in your keyword niche. It slowly works in the background to give you valuable information on your keywords. I realized very quickly, with marketing (like most things in life) that information is what separates the losers from the winners.

Keyword Elite

Later, I tried and am still using Keyword Elite by Brad Callen, it remains one of the best keyword research tools on the market. I can directly link many of my keyword successes to my early use of this tool.

Brad Callen simply creates some of the best marketing tools for online webmasters and marketers. KE is no exception. It will do some very comprehensive keyword research for you and let you easily arrange that information. Keyword Elite has earned a well deserved reputation as a very useful marketing tool.

Brainstorm It - Site Build It

Another, perhaps even more powerful keyword tool is Brainstorm It! which is offered through the Site Build It marketing/hosting system run by Ken Evoy. This is a powerful keyword analyzer and finder, which is now in its third version.

SBI run by Ken Evoy creates many tools for webmasters and Brainstorm It, Version 3 is simply one of the best. This keyword tool will do both Vertical and Lateral keyword research to give the most comprehensive array of information for your marketing online. Only negative, you only get so many Wordtracker credits and you have to pay extra when those run out. Actually, Wordtracker should be at the top of any keyword tool list, but I have mainly used it in conjunction with other programs like Brainstorm It.

Google Keyword Tool

Then again, there is Google's own keyword system run through its Adwords program. Like everything Google does, this keyword tool can be very helpful especially for the novice online marketer.

https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

MSN Commercial Intention Of Keywords

Not to be outdone, another helpful tool is Microsoft's Online Commercial Intention tool, which tells the probability your chosen keyword has a commercial value to it:

http://adlab.msn.com/Online-Commercial-Intention/Default.aspx

SEOBook Online Keyword Tool

For very quick keyword references, I like using Aaron Wall's keyword tool on his SEOBook site. It's quick and gives very good stats for your chosen keywords.

SEOQuake

Still yet another SEO (sort of related to keywords) is the SeoQuake Toolbar which you can run on Firefox. It will slow down your browser but it will cough up valuable information about your site and more importantly, it will give you valuable information on your competitors' sites. One feature that I find very helpful is the SEM Rank and SEM Price, which tells you how much your Search Engine keyword traffic is worth.

Plus, you must not ignore your website stats and traffic logs for they can supply you with your most valuable keyword information regarding your site. Closely examine which keyword phrases are bringing in the traffic and/or sales. Develop these keywords with your marketing, especially any "long tail" keyword phrases visitors are using to find your site or products. These longer keyword phrases have proven to be the most profitable because many times consumers using these phrases already have their minds made up on what they're going to buy.

Why Am I Using All These Keyword Tools?

Simply because obtaining and keeping top rankings for my chosen keywords is my livelihood. Unless I can keep that focused traffic coming from these keywords via the search engines; it's game over. Therefore, I use all the tools and information I can gather in order to keep those keywords at the top.

Google is always changing, you really have to stay on your game if you want to keep your keywords at the top. It all boils down to producing quality content web surfers need and want. The SEO pretty much takes care of itself as long as you keep promoting your keywords with good viral branded content like videos, articles, ebooks, PDF reports... and you must mix up your online link building to include links from such places as Facebook, Digg, Google Bookmarks, MySpace... I have always used the free "AddThis" button to all my important content and this has resulted in 100's of free links that your visitors will build for you!

I also believe you have to be careful when using viral articles to vary your anchor text (clickable part of a link) so that you don't have the same keyword phrase repeated 100's of times across the web. Just use different versions of your keyword phrase and if you can, get those keyword links in the body of the article, as near to the top of the page as you can. This will make your link building look much more natural in the eyes of the search engines, especially Google.

Overall, you must have hundreds, if not thousands of keywords that you're targeting with your marketing. You must constantly keep building links for those keywords from related sites on the web. Sometimes it is helpful to truly view your keywords as organic, something that keeps growing naturally on its own. But you must first build a solid foundation with good quality content and then keep nurturing those keywords with good quality link bait so that others will bookmark, recommend and link to your keyword content.

Over the years, if there is anything I have learned about keywords which always holds true, it is this: you must be persistent. You must keep at it: building links, building content... it will usually take months, if not years, to get those top rankings for very competitive keywords and it will take some further work to consistently keep those keywords in the top positions. But you will quickly learn keywords are well worth it since they can easily make or break your marketing. 

Get Your Link With These 5 Simple Tips

By Oliver Feakins (c) 2009

 As the online market place continues to warm up to the idea of SEO, link building has become center stage as it tends to be the most time consuming and crucial part of any internet marketing strategy. Link building services are the most commonly outsourced aspect of SEO. This process involves finding qualified and thematically relevant one-way linking partners who will link back to your website.

At first glance this sounds easy and there are hundreds of automated products out there that claim to add thousands of back links overnight. The truth is there are no short cuts in cultivating authoritative back links for a site. Link building companies spend many hours link building by hand in order to get the best results. Spammy automated products often don't cultivate valuable links and tend to do more harm than good. Here are a couple quick suggestions to help you get started.
 

• Know What Keywords You're Targeting 

Link building strategies are an extension of your current SEO practice. You'll want to reference the list of keywords you have selected to optimize your site. Make sure that the anchor text of the link has the keyword you are targeting. For example, if you're targeting the keyword "baby names" you'll want to place that keyword in the anchor text of the link. I've seen many companies go after links by using their company name. Although this does boost link popularity it fails to pass popularity for a specific keyword and can be seen as a failed attempt.

• Develop a Link Building Strategy

There are many strategies link building companies use to source qualified back links to their clients. The most tedious but often most rewarding method is manual linking requests also known as "cherry picking". This method allows you to obtain exceptionally qualified links which can really help boost your position in the search engine results page (SERPS). A good place to start with manual link building is to look at your suppliers, vendors, clients, related organizations associations and more.

Besides manual link requests other well known tactics include:

     1. directory submission (Dmoz, Yahoo Directory, Joe Ant)
     2. article submission (ezinearticles.com, goarticles.com)
     3. optimized press releases (PRWeb.com)
     4. social media outlets (FaceBook, Linked In)
     5. bookmarking sites (Digg, Reddit, Furl)
     6. Blogs (niche blogs)
     7. Forums (niche forums)
     8. Classifieds (niche classifieds)
 

• Identify Thematically Relevant and Authoritative Linking Sources

Search engines see links as votes of confidence for your site. The more relevant and authoritative the site, the more consideration is given to the link and the subsequent keyword in the anchor text. It really pays off to focus on the quality of your links rather than the quantity. It is also important for your link building to look natural and not an attempt to deceive search engine spiders in search of links. Try looking for sites within your industry rather than general, unrelated sites to get links from.
[First Page Ranking on Google for Your Choice of Keywords!]

A good example of this would be content creation and distribution. Try creating content on a relevant subject of which you can speak authoritatively. An example of this would be a SEO company writing a short article on 5 simple ways companies can start link building and placing it on an authoritative, industry relevant site like this one. Remember, before placing a link on a site (or making a request), ask yourself three questions:

     1. Does a link to my website belong here (does it look natural)?
     2. Is this site relevant and authoritative?
     3. Is there any benefit to my potential customers?
     4. Look for the onsite attributes of the linking site

• Determine Where Your Link Will Reside

Once you've nailed down a potential linking partner that represents the overall quality and thematic authority that your site deserves you'll need to see where your link will reside.
Here are a couple guidelines that I look for when placing links on a site. I try to get my links no more than a few clicks away from the homepage. The page must be thematically relevant and recently cached by Google's search engine (this lets me know that the page has been indexed by Google). I also take a look at the number of external (outbound) links leaving that page. I try to keep the number of external links below 50 as it will dilute the effect of the page. Lastly, I look at the page the link will be placed on. For some sites this is harder to control, but if you have the option you should know where the most valuable locations are. I always try to get my links in line with thematically relevant content, like an article or blog post. I've found this produces some of the best results. Try to avoid placing your links on a "sponsored" or advertisers section that runs throughout the entire site. Also avoid footer links as rumor has it Google has devalued links buried in the footer of the site. Links placed at the top of the page or inserted into the site's navigation also tend to do quite well. Bottom line is that your links need to look like they belong and provide value to the user and the site it is published on.

• Be Aware of "No-Follow" Links

Within the last 5 years Google developed the concept of the "no-follow" link. The "no-follow" code is inserted into your link and instructs the Google spider to ignore it. The "no-follow" link can be seen used most commonly in blog comments and forum posts. This initiative was set forth to combat spam and automated linking mechanisms that would throw links automatically on blog comments and forum posts.

There are a lot of SEO professionals that will only place a link if it is a "do-follow" link, meaning it doesn't have the "no-follow" attribute. I tend to disagree with this notion especially when the link in question is on a highly trafficked authority site. If it makes sense for the link to be there, then add your link. Even though Google won't give you any credít for it, it will be seen by thousands of people who may visit your site and link to you themselves because your site is highly relevant. I call this concept indirect link building. You are influencing and promoting your site to potential linking partners.

Link Building is a very time consuming process and link building companies spend a lot of time researching, testing and improving their techniques. Link building services are available for companies that don't have the time to invest in manual link building. The bottom line is that with a little help anyone can link build and move their site up the SERPS.

About The Author
Oliver Feakins is the owner of WebTalent, a full service SEO company offering internet marketing services nationwide. Oliver is a frequent speaker at industry conferences as well as regional colleges and universities.

Search Engine Optimization Toolkit

Trellian SEO Toolkit v3.0 The SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Toolkit includes everything you need to optimize and promote your web pages, to increase your web site traffic and search engine visibility. Screen Shots SEO Toolkit Awards SEO Toolkit v3.0 Includes: SubmitWolf v8.0 - Automated Submission Tool Rank Checker Meta Tag Editor PPC Bid Comparison Bid Manager (*) Keyword Manager (*) Keyword Suggestion Tool Keyword Density Analyzer Keyword Explorer Reciprocal Link Checker Ranking Advisor Link Popularity & Saturation Monitor Google Site Map Generator Server Header Check Paid Inclusion Manager Competitive Intelligence (*) ROI Calculator and more... * These features rely on other online services and may require separate subscriptions Download | Overview | Order Live Support Upgrade from version 1.0. FREE Toolbar!! Download the FREE Trellian Toolbar

Useful Keyword Marketing Tools

After years of running websites and earning a full-time online income, I am constantly reminded that it all comes down to keywords. Actually, it all comes down to obtaining top rankings for your profitable keywords in the search engines, mainly Google.

And that statement has to be refined even further, it's all about obtaining top keyword rankings and keeping them at the top. You must consistently keep your keywords in the top spots on that all important first page of SERPs since your keyword rankings can make or break your online marketing.

If you're targeting extremely competitive and profitable keywords you will have your work cut out for you; unless you have tons of money to buy your way (links) into the top spots, expect to spend months if not years, getting to those top listings. Google has frowned upon link buying and has taken steps to fight it, but this practice is still widespread throughout the web.

Most beginning and honest webmasters want to take the proper route and earn those top rankings by providing good quality content that web users will actually find helpful and useful. They build those links the natural way by offering viral link bait in the form of videos, ebooks, articles, reports... all branded with backlinks to their sites.

Gradually over time, these links will build up and your keyword rankings will go up in the search engines. People will find your content and bookmark it in all the social bookmark sites like Digg, Facebook, MySpace... and your rankings will climb even faster.

However, since keyword marketing has become extremely competitive, you do need a little help with achieving those top rankings. Over the years I have tested and used many keyword tools and I have listed some of the best ones below. (Just Google to find links to these tools and programs.)

Internet Success Spider

One of the first keyword tools I ever used was The Internet Success Spider by Neil Shearing which is now free. The Spider is a very simple, yet powerful keyword tool because it shows you the major players in your keyword niche. It slowly works in the background to give you valuable information on your keywords. I realized very quickly, with marketing (like most things in life) that information is what separates the losers from the winners.

Brainstorm It - Site Build It

Another, perhaps even more powerful keyword tool is Brainstorm It! which is offered through the Site Build It marketing/hosting system run by Ken Evoy. This is a powerful keyword analyzer and finder, which is now in its third version.

SBI run by Ken Evoy creates many tools for webmasters and Brainstorm It, Version 3 is simply one of the best. This keyword tool will do both Vertical and Lateral keyword research to give the most comprehensive array of information for your marketing online. Only negative, you only get so many Wordtracker credits and you have to pay extra when those run out. Actually, Wordtracker should be at the top of any keyword tool list, but I have mainly used it in conjunction with other programs like Brainstorm It.

Google Keyword Tool

Then again, there is Google's own keyword system run through its Adwords program. Like everything Google does, this keyword tool can be very helpful especially for the novice online marketer.

https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

MSN Commercial Intention Of Keywords

Not to be outdone, another helpful tool is Microsoft's Online Commercial Intention tool, which tells the probability your chosen keyword has a commercial value to it:

http://adlab.msn.com/Online-Commercial-Intention/Default.aspx

SEOBook Online Keyword Tool

For very quick keyword references, I like using Aaron Wall's keyword tool on his SEOBook site. It's quick and gives very good stats for your chosen keywords.

SEOQuake

Still yet another SEO (sort of related to keywords) is the SeoQuake Toolbar which you can run on Firefox. It will slow down your browser but it will cough up valuable information about your site and more importantly, it will give you valuable information on your competitors' sites. One feature that I find very helpful is the SEM Rank and SEM Price, which tells you how much your Search Engine keyword traffic is worth.

Plus, you must not ignore your website stats and traffic logs for they can supply you with your most valuable keyword information regarding your site. Closely examine which keyword phrases are bringing in the traffic and/or sales. Develop these keywords with your marketing, especially any "long tail" keyword phrases visitors are using to find your site or products. These longer keyword phrases have proven to be the most profitable because many times consumers using these phrases already have their minds made up on what they're going to buy.

Why Am I Using All These Keyword Tools?

Simply because obtaining and keeping top rankings for my chosen keywords is my livelihood. Unless I can keep that focused traffic coming from these keywords via the search engines; it's game over. Therefore, I use all the tools and information I can gather in order to keep those keywords at the top.

Google is always changing, you really have to stay on your game if you want to keep your keywords at the top. It all boils down to producing quality content web surfers need and want. The SEO pretty much takes care of itself as long as you keep promoting your keywords with good viral branded content like videos, articles, ebooks, PDF reports... and you must mix up your online link building to include links from such places as Facebook, Digg, Google Bookmarks, MySpace... I have always used the free "AddThis" button to all my important content and this has resulted in 100's of free links that your visitors will build for you!

I also believe you have to be careful when using viral articles to vary your anchor text (clickable part of a link) so that you don't have the same keyword phrase repeated 100's of times across the web. Just use different versions of your keyword phrase and if you can, get those keyword links in the body of the article, as near to the top of the page as you can. This will make your link building look much more natural in the eyes of the search engines, especially Google.

Overall, you must have hundreds, if not thousands of keywords that you're targeting with your marketing. You must constantly keep building links for those keywords from related sites on the web. Sometimes it is helpful to truly view your keywords as organic, something that keeps growing naturally on its own. But you must first build a solid foundation with good quality content and then keep nurturing those keywords with good quality link bait so that others will bookmark, recommend and link to your keyword content.

Over the years, if there is anything I have learned about keywords which always holds true, it is this: you must be persistent. You must keep at it: building links, building content... it will usually take months, if not years, to get those top rankings for very competitive keywords and it will take some further work to consistently keep those keywords in the top positions. But you will quickly learn keywords are well worth it since they can easily make or break your marketing.

Do you have a great idea to start a website or online business?

Do you have a great idea to start a website or online business, but lack the knowledge, experience or confidence in your technical skills? Or perhaps you've already created a simple blog or website, but you know it just doesn't look professional enough. There are effective solutions to these problems through outsourcing. The internet has opened up the global pool for technical talent that you can tap in to through the online work marketplace, Elance.com.

Elance has a huge database of skilled professionals to match up with your requirements for the work you need to get done. You can post a description of the project and allow for open bidding from talented professionals, or you can invite selected professionals to submit a proposal.

Elance is your one-stop complete solution for hiring experts, managing the work and paying for the results upon completion. Once a talented professional is found and business terms are agreed upon, milestones can be set within Elance to measure progress. Through Elance you're able to communicate and collaborate with the contractor and review status reports to track the project through completion.

Milestones or whole projects can be pre-funded using the escrow service built into the system. This gives piece of mind to both the provider and the employer that payment is available and will be made once the milestone or job is completed to satisfaction. Once the job is completed, you have the ability to leave a feedback rating on six areas of the service providers’ performance.

If you need to get work done, for example building or improving a website, shopping cart integration, marketing copy written, search engine optimization, database programming, or a host of other tasks, then there really is no easier, safer and more complete solution than posting the job on Elance and letting an experienced professional take the stress and work out of your hands.

Can You Put Elance to Work For You?

Elance is the world's largest marketplace for finding high quality professionals, creative experts and technology specialists. If you need specialized talent to complete a project for your business, Elance is the premier spot to hire, manage and pay for work online.

Consider all of the scenarios and types of businesses that are utilizing Elance right now. There are retail store owners who need new advertising created, content and articles written for a new catalog or brochure, or graphics created for a new product line. Impress your customers with high quality presentations and create the best possible retail experience for your customers, while sticking to your core competency.

Consultants who have long term engagements with existing clients are often asked to handle additional work that falls outside of their expertise. Why send this work elsewhere? Jump on Elance and find a talented professional that you can utilize to sub-contract the portion of work that fits within someone else&rsquos wheelhouse, and impress your client further with your ability to jump in and help their business.

Companies that are trying to stay lean and trim during the current challenging economic situation are still faced with large projects or looming deadlines. Talented administrative professionals are available on Elance to fill in and complete time consuming but temporary tasks like data entry, accounting, document preparation, presentation preparation, travel planning and more.

How does your company website look? Do you have a web designer and programmer on staff or a design firm on retainer? Many small and medium sized businesses are not able to afford such an expense, even though a professional web presence is as necessary as having someone responding to customers. Browse through Elance to find a professional to spruce up your site, or add functionality and enhancements to the catalog or checkout process.

Are you working at home or building your own online drop shipping or affiliate business? Focus on your core business while hiring an Elance professional to build your website, or help with your SEO efforts. A professional can deliver high quality results which will help you quickly build your business and profit in half the time. The end result being more money into your account faster!

Set-up an account today and see the wide range of jobs that other businesses are getting done on Elance. Read the great reviews and testimonials to see for yourself the overall positive experience businesses are receiving from the Elance talent pool.

Techniques for Making a Successful Job Post

To initiate a successful engagement with an Elance service provider relies heavily on the initial job posting. Writing a clear job description, categorizing the posting correctly and maintaining reasonable expectations will profoundly impact your satisfaction and experience as a job poster or employer.

You need to have reasonable expectations. Asking for a clone of a complex site like eBay or Amazon for a few hundred dollars is definitely not a reasonable expectation. If your budget range is too low for the amount of work being requested, professional and experienced providers will not take your posting seriously, and you will receive a number of lower quality proposals. Choosing from those proposals may result in a project that will not meet your expectations.

If you have in mind a clear idea of what you want, and describe that idea in as much detail as possible, your results will stand a much better chance of satisfaction with no frustration. Having a project defined as, “I need a website to sell XYZ product” does not give the service provider enough information to really help building a proposal to deliver what you want. You have a better chance at winning in roulette than leaving so many details up to chance in a providers mind. Do the groundwork and put in some effort before making your post. Repeating an idea or requirement in a design specification or request will not hurt the effort, especially if the requirement is something critical or important to the project. Repetition is re-enforcement.

Next you will need to choose the correct categories and skill set when making your post. Choosing the right category is important since this determines what kind of providers will respond to your job posting. Listing the top skills your provider should have to complete the project will help a provider in determining whether or not they should respond to your post.

Expect a multitude of responses fairly quickly, often times within hours and certainly within a day. You will see a variety of prices, and of course it's not always the best route to go with the lowest cost provider. Review the ratings on each provider and take a look at their portfolio. One technique that many experienced job posters utilize is to re-word the job description and send it back out to your top choices as providers. This accomplishes two things, first it will verify that the provider clearly understands the project and secondly you can gauge their responsiveness to your query.

Once you select a provider and begin the engagement, be sure to keep the flow of communication active and frequent. Lack of communication is one of the top reasons of dissatisfaction and frustration with job engagements from both the providers and employers. Get status updates and provide feedback quickly, keeping the communication flowing and in the end you will get a great result!

Content That Search Engines Love

Ever wondered how to get the content that the visitors and search engines would love?

In fact, Revenue of your website, Traffic on your website, Popularity of your website, Return ratio of your visitors, and credibility of your website - all these largely depend upon the content of your website. Content is the King. It’s the heart and soul of any online business. Google loves good content. According to Google AdSense engineers - "Content that promotes industry of AdWords advertisers is the ideal content (so that Smart pricing doesn't hits you)."

Here is how to get quality content for your websites.

Article Websites

This is the fastest, cheapest, and easiest way to get the articles you need for your upcoming website. You can get a number of articles from these websites on almost any topic. Many professional writers post the articles on the "Article Websites." You can host these articles on your website by giving proper credit to these writers. Industry experts post the articles on "Article websites" and wait for great links to come in. As these articles are posted directly by the experts, they make interesting reading and have credibility. These articles are technically accurate and keep your visitors glued to your website. This increases the page views.

These articles are set on broadcast mode, and the duplicate content can be found at many other places on the net. Search engines like good and motivating content, but your visitors may get bored by reading the same information again and again. Though, it doesn't mean that you should not use Article Websites. According to me, Article Websites are a cool source of high quality content.

Write Your Own Content

If you are an expert of the industry for which you are searching the content, who else can write better than you? Articles in your own words are called unique articles. Search engines as well as your visitors love unique articles. If you have unique content, it will be easy for you to ask links from some high profile websites. This will increase the inflow of traffic to your website. Unique content also gets maximum bookmarks, and visitors return to your website again and again for more interesting information.

Here are a few tips on how to write your own unique content.

• Surf the Forums
Almost every topic on the web now has forums for the same. People discuss problems, solutions, tips, and tricks related to your industry. This provides enough material for you to write your own version of the story. Locate the problem that most people face, search for its solution, and write something useful. This is the best way to do it.

• Get the Inspiration
Surf the web, dig out your competitors, and know what content they are providing, and ponder over what makes their websites so good. Use the same data as inspiration, add your own comments, add negatives or positives (pros and cons), and add comments from forums. Ideal strategy is to jot down 5-6 articles around one topic only. While writing, keep in mind that the content of the articles should be easy to understand. Avoid lengthy sentences, difficult words, and unnecessary repetition. Remember, you are not displaying your mastery over the language, instead you are communicating with your potential customer. The effort should be on trying to make him understand what you want to say.

• Get Content from Your Visitors
Let the visitors post articles on your website. They can email the articles to you, or else you can put up a "Post Article Form" for their convenience. Let them post comments on your articles - like a small forum thread for each article. This will keep the search engines hooked to your page. Moreover, you are generating content without moving a finger.

Get the Content Written - Paid

Hire a content writer if you feel that you can't write the content. You can get many of them on freelancing websites. Ask the content writer to write unique content related to your industry. Specify some topics, if you can. If you can't, just specify the number of pages you want him to write for your website. You will get customized content.

Here is a list of a few websites where you can find the people to write content for you.

- www.elance.com
- www.rentacoder.com

Keep posting the content on your website. New content on your website keeps your website fresh and tasty - both for visitors and search engines.

Benefits of Unique Content

There are numerous benefits of writing eye opening, unique content.

1. It builds web presence. People bookmark your website, and you get more returning visitors.
2. It gets you links easily.
   
3. If the content is posted on Article Websites, you get good links. If you have compiled good article website, your potential link partners look at you with respect. I have never seen an email shouting at me while I run my link partnering campaign, even if I drop them 15 continuous emails with the same content, accidentally making it a spam. I get links from the websites that are the masters of their industry.
   
4. Source of free advertising.
5. Search Engines look at you with more respect.

If you are beginner in this game, Article Websites are the best way to start with. Unique content may have more respect, but there is no point in writin content if you don't know the ins and outs of the industry you are targeting. And for God's sake, don't create confusion over internet! It's better to have duplicate content on your website than give wrong information to your visitors.

Content With Higher AdSense Payout

Content development can be tough and time consuming. For whopping fast returns, it's better to create websites either on the industries that are high paying or on the niche keywords.

Twitter Marketing Explored

By Trey Pennewell (c) 2009

Twitter is growing by leaps and bounds as people begin to appreciate its clean and easy-to-use interface. Twitter, at this point, does not look like one of the many flash-in-the-pan Internet applications that we have seen in times' past.

Twitter's 140 character micro-blogging platform has gained a lot of traction, as individuals and business people have learned to bring together their friends, family and customers under a communications platform that all users find useful.

Mom and dad find it easier to keep up with the lives of their grown children through Twitter. The fact that Twitter allows people to link to other web pages makes Twitter a simple platform to share thoughts, ideas, and links to stories and pictures. Grandma and granddad find it easy to check in on the kids' Twitter account and to maintain daily contact with those across town and elsewhere in the world.

Friends can make plans and share common interests through the Twitter world. One can reply to a message publicly, or if the message is a bit more private, one can send a Direct Message (known as a DM) to anyone who has agreed to follow you also. Through the DM system, lovers can share flirts that no one else can see, but the persons intended to receive the message.

If you let your kids use Twitter, it may be best to set up their Twitter Account Settings to "Protect The Tweets". In the description of this feature, Twitter says, "Only let people whom I approve follow my tweets. If this is checked, you WILL NOT be on the public timeline."

The Public Timeline is the messages/tweets that everyone can see. Anything not on the Public Timeline is private, with restricted access.

Business People Are Working To Tap Into Twitter Marketplace

Twitter was born in March of 2006. But most of us never really heard of it or even understood it, until this last year (2008-2009). A few of the Internet gurus started talking about Twitter in 2008, and as 2009 got underway, more online marketers started talking about the Twitter community on a nearly daily basis.

We have accounts in Twitter that are a couple of years old, but we didn't get involved with Twitter really until about April of 2009. In April of 2009, we had 12 Twitter Followers.

In May 2009, there was not a single online business in the Top 100 of Twitter, but those numbers are starting to change. Through May of 2009, the Top 100 accounts on Twitter were dominated by TV and Movie celebrities, a few media companies such as @cnnbrk, politicians and sports figures.

Most online marketers hadn't given Twitter much thought until "The Great Ashton Kutcher vs CNN Twitter Race" that ended on April 17, 2009 with Ashton (@aplusk) getting the privilege to declare victory. Even now, three months after the end of the race, Ashton is still the champion - Number 1 in the Twitter Follower counts with 2,975,032 Followers. Ashton is followed by @TheEllenShow - 2,610,357; @britneyspears - 2,553,668; @cnnbrk - 2,431,783; and @twitter - 1,930,821.

When the Great Twitter Race was concluded, I did a backlink check on Ashton's @aplusk account. Literally, Ashton had bought a ton of advertising on websites, blogs, forums, etc. Ashton was also getting tons of free press in print and online in the Great Twitter Race.

Of course, we marketers should not feel bad if we are getting on this bandwagon a little late in the game, because @google has only had their account since Jan 09. Google is currently the 23rd biggest Twitter account with 1,244,976 Followers.

A surprise for me was seeing @WholeFoods, an Austin Texas based grocery store, sitting at #38 with 1,094,093 Followers. According to TwitterCounter, Whole Foods had only 322,820 Followers on April 4, 2009. A quick look at the Whole Foods profile indicates that they are using the account to share with their customers: company news, customer support, and available specials.

An honorable mention goes to @kevinrose, celebrity and founder of Digg.com. Kevin Rose is the 40th most popular person on Twitter, with 1,092,920 Followers.

Once you get into the Top 100 List below #40, you finally start to see a few online businesses in the mix. @zappos CEO is #45. @woot is #46. @TechCrunch is a web media site at #55. @dooce is at #60. To see the full Top 100 List, go here: http://twittercounter.com/pages/100

Who Is In Your Target Market and What Do They Want To Know?

As you look around at those people who are successful building their own little communities on Twitter, you will notice that each one gives people what their Followers want.

For example, @cussy is an online marketer, and he has nearly 10,000 Followers. His secret to growth: quotes. He gives his followers some of the best quotes about business and reaching goals of anyone on Twitter. I follow him and Retweet him often.

@dave_carpenter advertises himself as a Success Partner For High Achievers. Dave shares quotes and tips, and he retweets others who give good advice also. More importantly, Dave encourages the people he follows. He has nearly 9,000 Followers at this time.

@MattLevenhagen is a professional marketer. His 13,000 Followers follow because he runs a mix of marketing tips, links to great articles, and retweets for great advice. He even uses his Twitter account to give his customer's support.

@SocialMedia411 is a Social Media expert who offers social media tips, links to social media articles and news. With more than 56,000 Followers, you can bet that the advice given here is worthwhile to its audience.

When you learn to talk to the people most likely to buy from you, you have completed the first and most important step to enable you to develop strong Twitter Marketing habits.

Learn How Others Are Successful With Twitter

As always, when you want to learn to be successful, you should look to those who are already successful and try to reverse-engineer the steps that they used to become successful. Once you have taken the time to study many who have been successful in the way that you want to be successful, you may note that success comes from giving people what they want and doing it in such a way that you provide good value to your customers.

Those who have been successful with Twitter have done so, because they put the needs of their Followers ahead of a personal desire to be boring or silly.

The good news is that other business people have started to find success on Twitter and you can too. When you learn to provide the people in your target market with the information that they need and want, you will have started down the path to building a Twitter Follower list to envy.