Maximize Your Time: 10 Tips for Extreme Productivity

1) Know your work style and use the tools and systems that match. If you work well with technology, use your computer, phone, and apps for your scheduling and organization. If you are a visual person, consider using a paper calendar and a written to-do list. If you are a people person, develop a team around you to complement your strengths. If you work alone, find time to focus and remain distraction-free. If you are a morning person, attack the most important tasks early in the day.

2) Use ONE calendar. Sometimes people will have several calendars: one for family, one for work, one for personal appointments. Keep ONE calendar for everything. Use different colors or type styles to differentiate categories. Personally, I am very visual and remember things better when I write them down, therefore I have a paper calendar for my appointments, but due to the need for dynamic communication I have a Google calendar to support my scheduling, which might appear like two calendars, however, this calendar is a mirror of the paper one and has everything on it. While it is extra work to have both, it is one calendar (paper or digital) with all the information.

3) Make a to-do list at the end of each day. Your mind naturally begins to work on the list as you sleep. When you awake, you are ready to work, are very productive and organized. Estimate how much time each task will take you and only put on your next day to-do list what is reasonable to get done.

4) “Eat your frog first.” A Brian Tracy concept*: Do the hardest thing you have to do all day first before you do anything else. Doing this will provide you with the feeling of success in having a “burden” off your back and the momentum to accomplish the remaining tasks.

5) Have a clear goal; write it down and read it daily. When you have a goal you know what to focus on and work toward. If you do not have this at the front of your mind, it is easy to get caught up with the urgent things of the day or trapped in reacting to e-mail, phone calls, interruptions, and other people’s emergencies.

6) Have a “power hour.” Designate one hour each day to close the door, shut down e-mail, turn off the ringer on the phone and guard yourself from interruptions. Have a pre-picked project that you will work on during this time only. Make sure to go to the bathroom, get a drink, and do whatever else you need to in order to ensure you do not leave once this hour starts. Give yourself 30 minutes after this hour to return calls, e-mails, and care for people with whom you need to follow up that you missed during the POWER HOUR.

7) Touch it once. This means e-mail, mail, papers, etc. Touch it and make a decision. File it, toss it, or put it in a place for action. Sorting bins are helpful for this. Sorting bins often have labels like: read, file, do this week, urgent, bills, etc. Also, if your subject lines in e-mails are accurate, it is easy for both you and the recipient to find the e-mail. Paper, soft copy (computer), and e-mail folders should have matching labels.

8) Have daily habits. After you develop a routine of things that are simple but important, your body will naturally do them. This is important because we can get distracted by our regular routines and use them as vices to interrupt, procrastinate, and prolong important things that really need to get done. If you start your day right, you will be ready to do those urgent and important tasks, increasing your everyday productivity.

9) Pre-prep. Have you ever been amazed on cooking shows how they make a complicated dish in 10 minutes? OK, part is edited TV time, but they also have everything pre-prepped for quick assembly. Why not do the same? Prepare your information packets and new client folders, turn common documents into a template, set up e-mail group/ distribution lists for teams, etc.

10) Maximize car systems. Listen to a book on audio to maximize your windshield time and learn. Have a bin to put important things in, rather than having them all over the car. Have a trash bag to catch the liter. Always have a bottle of water in the car with you; dehydration causes fatigue, memory loss, and low concentration. Make sure your contacts are portable (e.g, phone, planner, business card file book) so you can keep people and numbers at your fingertips (so that you can call if you’re running late, caught in traffic, etc.). Enjoy relaxing, breathing, and taking in the day while driving (rather than cleaning, talking on the phone, etc.)

When you implement a few simple productivity strategies and develop them as time-saving habits, you will quickly enjoy the benefit of more time and energy and overall increased productivity.

*Tracy, Brian. Eat that Frog! 21 Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 2001

Top 3 Free and Easy Affiliate Programs to Join for Beginners

Let’s assume you have your website up and running. You have built a website or blog, and now it is time to monetize it. There are so many choices out there online, so where is the best place to start? First of all, from my own experience as a beginning affiliate a few years back, I didn’t have a plan of action. I began my affiliate programs blindly because it was simply too much to process in the beginning, with all of the choices. I didn’t do much research at first, and that made it tough to know exactly where to go for some order in the information overload.

Through my failures and successes, I have learned a lesson of strategy that has finally grown with me. If I had begun my affiliate start up with first a solid plan of action, followed by research on all of the affiliate networks in order to minimize my choices to only the top plan of action and best three affiliate networks to promote while I learned the ropes, I would have succeeded much sooner.

Top 3 Affiliate Networks for beginners

1. Google AdSense

· This is actually an Ad Site, but because it is an extremely popular and easy way to monetize your website, I use it in the same or similar way as I would use to promote products from the actual affiliate network sites.

· Google AdSense offers high rewards along with several options for displaying monetized content.

· You can run various tests and or campaigns for the right types of ads to use on your website. They can be automatic or responsive ad units that change according to those who are viewing the pages on your site, or the content of your site.

· Payouts are monthly. Minimum payout amount available is $100.00. Don’t worry; it adds up quickly when you begin active affiliate marketing.

2. ClickBank

· My number 1 go to market place where there are tens of thousands of vendors offering hundreds of thousands of affiliates commissions of anywhere between 50 to 75% for every sale.

· ClickBank is also a lot like a payment processor.

· Fast, weekly payouts and great customer support.

· ClickBank is awesome for beginners with how easy it is to use.

3. Amazon Associates

· This affiliate program is hands down the easiest to use with about 1.5 million sellers, it is among the largest affiliate marketing programs online.

· Amazon unfortunately offers smaller commissions and longer payout periods at first, which means you have to promote products at a higher volume, but the success and volume of sellers as well as how easy it is to incorporate into any niche makes it worthy of this top 3 list.

Now you have the best 3 affiliate markets for beginners in the affiliate marketing arena. It’s time to know your products and get a step by step plan of action built. It is difficult to form a detailed plan of action when you are new to marketing, but along with knowing the affiliate networks you will utilize first, a detailed plan is a must for any affiliates success.

Innovative Internet Marketing Solutions: 5 SEO Tricks to Rank Highly On Google

Within the last few decade the web and the incredible amount of online money making chances took the globe as we know it by surprise. You will discover individuals making 6 and even 7 figure earnings because of running their own online businesses.

The world wide web shows a serious possibility to profit if you are ready to work hard and wise. In addition, a lot of buyers now use Google as their number one resource for pre-purchase study and as a result ranking high on the search engines like Google is becoming a bigger factor than ever.

On this edition of my impressive online marketing remedies series I have to discuss along with you 5 tips that have helped me to rank my websites high on the search engines like google.

Content is king: In 1996 Bill Gates posted an article called “Content is King”. In this article Mr. Gates points out precisely how in the future decade the companies who have the best and the most content could be the ones to reign over the online markets.

I’ve come across sites which have amazing design, structure, or owners and they fail to capture the readers attention simply because they lack related good quality articles. While is true which online visitors browse the web to find products and services for their problems, they also love to find out more on how a selected services or products may help them.

Larger low quality traffic normally means much less sales: I know cases of web sites that have over 10,000 visitors per month and still rarely make any money. Why does this happen? As the traffic these types of internet sites are getting is what is called junk traffic or untargeted traffic.

What’s the point of owning a store in the heart of Time’s Square if your target audience never goes there? You’ll definitely get a lot of individuals walking by but your revenue can be really poor.

Review your competitors’ SEO campaigns: You need to remember to always maintain it ethical but business is business and to get an edge you need to understand your competitors’ marketing plans. The fact is that if your competitors are much better and convincing customers that their products and services are wonderful, you won’t get any business even if your merchandise is more preferable.

That is why I would recommend to always evaluate your competitors’ keywords and research their marketing plan. Every marketing plan has flaws and if you can locate those weaknesses in your competitors’ promotional efforts you may be able to have an edge.

Have desired goals and a plan to get to those targets: Goal setting is supremely essential for marketing success. Promoting your business without a clear list of goals is like soaring a plane without a destination. You must know exactly where you would like to go and how you will get there.

Each and every successful online marketer has defined his/her goals and then implemented a well thought marketing plan to allow them to achieve those goals. SEO is not a “one size fits all” solution and what works for other websites may not work for you.

Figure out how to find keywords that can be monetized: There are several keywords that generate higher conversion rates. Many of these keywords are long tail keywords, keywords which are specific to product types (or even names), and keywords that show that the consumer is comparing product.

Bear in mind, search engine optimization doesn’t occur overnight and to reach the first page of Google you need to be consistent, work hard, and above all work smart. I hope you liked my innovative internet marketing solutions series.

To your achievement,

Marcello Ducille

Professional Online Entrepreneur/Senior Forex Trader

Jugular Marketing

When I sit down with a business owner for the first time, I will always ask them what marketing activities they have tried to-date. Whether they explain them or show me samples, they will often feel that their marketing activities haven’t worked.

“We did trade shows, but that didn’t generate us one customer.”

“We tried direct mail and that didn’t work.”

“I’m on Twitter, but that’s not getting me any business, it’s a waste of my time.”

All of the above are what I like to call Marketing Vehicles – tradeshows, direct mail and Twitter, to be exact. Do these vehicles work? Of course they do. Google them and you will find success stories tied to any marketing vehicle. So how come they don’t seem to work for you? It might be because you are going for the jugular. In other words, you are trying to go directly for the sale instead of simply engaging a prospect to take the next step.

If you have a low risk, low price product or service, you will probably find some success in jugular marketing, but if you are marketing something that requires the prospect to trust you or the product you need to re-look at WHAT you are saying or doing in a marketing vehicle, instead of changing the marketing vehicle itself.

An example of Jugular Marketing is the one for SobeSportsClub(dot)net

Imagine you are single and a member of the opposite sex approaches you on a night out. The conversation goes something like this. “Hi, my name is (LOGO). Let me say that it again (because it takes up 1/3rd of the ad, so it must be important). I have a lot of amazing qualities you would love about me (they’re all listed here in bullet points). So, do you want to get married (there’s that infamous phone number at the bottom that screams, buy from us)?”

There is no reason for me to act today and quite frankly I’m not looking for many of these attributes in a gym. But what if you focused the ad more on the buyer than yourself? What if you made it easy and less risky for me to take the next step? The ad might then look more like the one Gold’sGymCanada(dot)com has.

If we were back in that social situation this one might equate to: “You look like you might want some company and obviously enjoy places like this (after all the headline shows you understand me and highlights a major motivator for me”. I am having a get together in another place like this (some key features and a complimentary VIP pass). It’s next Wednesday (there’s time limit on it). If you would like to come and get to know each other better, check out the details (drives them to more information and a place where they can act easily and with minimal risk).”

Which one would cause you to act more easily? The latter allows Gold’s Gym to capture more prospects. It allows them to better measure the effectiveness of the message and tool (VIP pass) they are using. But most importantly, it allows the prospect to try them out at no cost.

Next time you are looking to execute on that marketing tactic, avoid jugular marketing. Try capturing leads instead of going directly for that sale.

A Guide to Building Websites That Work

Caution:

If you are looking for “Get-Rich-Quick,” close this page. You are at the wrong place. Common sense dictates that is impossible. If you intend to build a major online corporation, you need a Webmaster and programmers.

But if you are willing to work to build a genuine small business with long-term value and profits, read on. You have come to the right place, the only place, where the average small business person can indeed build a profitable online business.

We all have different reasons for building businesses online.

It depends on who you are, from raw “newbie” to marketing expert.

It depends on what you want out of business and life…

* Freedom and self-reliance?

* Increased revenues from an existing business.

* Growth and independence?

* Living life with passion.

* Recognition and support?

* Community and belonging.

* The right skills and control?

* Additional family income & time.

No matter your reason, you surely want to succeed. But the bitter truth is that only a few people have or know what it takes. Your Web site either makes the sale, or it doesn’t. Ninety-nine out of a hundred sites still don’t get the order.

We blame that on suspicious, scared Web-consumers.

Wrong.

No matter what you offer on the Web, your site must SELL! Are you selling digital goods like software, video games, or info-products? Do you sell freezers to Eskimos (to store the ice you sold them), or other hard-good widgets?

Got a store with dozens, hundreds, even thousands of items to sell?

Think there’s no way you could sell hamburgers on the Web? Why not use your site to sell visitors on registering for digital discount coupons for your special of the month?! Just print and present one to the restaurant nearest you!

Maybe you’re looking to expand regional sales into global distribution? Or do you want to generate leads for your OEM business? Are you considering adding an online profit-center to take advantage of your existing offline store’s infrastructure (1-800 number, warehouse, inventory, database, etc.)? A no-brainer… if you do it right!

Or… has your own profitable Web site just been a dream until now? Well, everyone’s an expert on something!

So…

Think! Brainstorm a little. Can you offer…

* world-class consulting services on your special area of expertise?

* special travel services, like bike tours through the Andes?

* unique info-products, based on knowledge from your job or hobby?

* Multi-national corporation? Entrepreneur with an idea?

It doesn’t matter. Here’s the bottom line.. you can make our site sell.

Just last week my family(extended) had a get together, something small. Like most of such occasions everyone wants to know what everyone is up to and we all make jokes about the little things. I am a natural, I usually get everyone’s attention for being outspoken, sort of a Bilbo in the Baggins family.

During dinner we had hardly eaten a chunk or two when my little niece turned to me and said,” Can you help me make my site sell?

I was taken aback because before now I had no idea she had a website or was trying any making ventures online. The truth is that she had secretly spent all her pocket cash for six months on paying for hosting, and a domain. She had installed a shopping cart, tweaked it in every possible way. But after 8 months she had received just 18 unique visitors and made no sales of her art works even though they cost just 20 dollars.

I decided to help, of course I had no choice.

I took her through a 3 week class. I am going to try to summarize the process in this article, cos I found out that there a lot of out there struggling with building a website and fail miserably talk less of making money from it.

So many people out there even go a step further buying resale rights products, books etc.

These are not wrong in themselves as I have personally written some myself. But if you do not understand the fundamental principles about businesses on online you will fail and loose your hard earned cash too.

But first lets out line the problems my niece was having. She mentioned so many things but here is a summary

1. No traffic

2. No sales

3. Domain Name irrelevance

Everything we build in life should be anchored a good foundation, this also goes for building websites for profit. In our case here’s the foundation. . .

C-T-P-M

Content Traffic Presell Monetize

Step 1 – Understand the difference between “PREselling” and “Selling.”

Content -Traffic – PREsell – Monetize.

What’s it all about? Where’s the magic?

No magic. And it’s all about your “pre-customer,” about the hundreds of millions of people who surf the Net every day…

People use the Web as a searching tool. They search for credible high-value information or solutions, anything that can fulfill a wish that they hold dearly or solve a troublesome problem that they are experiencing.

Success on the Net all begins with a critical mindset shift. This means replacing that well-known offline strategy of “location, location, location” with…

“Information, information, information.”

In the online world, no one just happens to walk past, see your business and enter your Web site. Surfers on the Net are not looking for you or your business. People search for information, for solutions. After all, if they knew you existed, they would not be searching. They would already be customers.

Online, you must generate your own traffic to thrive and be profitable. Therefore, your primary task, well before you make your first sale or recommendation to a customer (often well before that person is even aware that s/he is shopping!), is to provide the information (i.e., content) that people are searching for, in a way that Search Engines like. In other words…

Give them what they want.

A Theme-Based Content Site contains information based upon a main subject. Each page focuses upon a single topic that is related to that theme. The net sum of all the information on all your pages forms the Content of your site.

These specific “topical pages” are called “Keyword-Focused Content Pages.” They rank well with the Search Engines (SEs), attracting lots of targeted Traffic.

The high-value content “warms up” (i.e., PREsells) visitors by OVERdelivering what they came for… information.

Visitors start to like and trust you (based on what you write about on your site). Your content-rich site builds trust and credibility… “PREselling!” The visitor begins to like and respect you… you are a knowledgeable expert.

This credibility creates an open-to-buy or open-to-hire mindset. You are now a mere click away from Monetizing (converting PREsold traffic into dollars)… affiliate links, order pages, contact forms, Google ads, your own store, eBay auctions, or any other way to monetize — they are now just one friendly click away!

This proven, results-generating process…

CONTENT -TRAFFIC -PRESELL – MONETIZE

… works. No matter how you plan to monetize…

* merchant-partner sites that you represent as an affiliate

* an order page on your site where a prospect can buy your own products (hard or digital goods)

* a contact form which visitors can use to follow-up with you for more details about your professional services or Network marketing business opportunity

* your own online store

* a site that sells a related, non-competitive service or product, in return for a referral fee

* your established sales site (become your own best affiliate!)

* an ad from Google’s AdSense program

* any combination of the above or others!

PREsold visitors convert more easily and more frequently into paying customers… which is exactly the result that your online business wants and needs in order to grow. That is the winning advantage of a “Theme-Based Content Site.”

Contrast that to a visitor who arrives at a sales site… no inspiring, relevant, editorial content. Selling merely tries to get the sale. If you do not have a brand (and most of us do not), if you have not built a relationship with your visitor, your chances of selling are near-zero.

Why? Well, which person would YOU respond to? A stranger with a sales pitch or a knowledgeable friend/expert making a recommendation? Become that knowledgeable friend/expert.

Great content encourages your visitor to think about you as a “friend/expert” rather than a stranger. And if you create a truly info-rich site, you’ll actually become a trusted expert, sharing your wealth of information. You basically create your own brand… your “brand of one.”

People “buy” from those they know and like. They resist sales efforts from everyone else.

And that is why 99% of small businesses fail online.

Selling is not your site’s first priority. (In fact, you may decide not to sell anything and become an “infopreneur” instead!) Your #1 priority is to PREsell through the delivery of the information that visitors seek.

You “monetize” (i.e., convert visitors into money) later.

Step 2 — Act upon the “PREselling Reality.”

As just mentioned, the reality of PREselling is that it works… if YOU work it! Thousands of ordinary, everyday business people have done exactly that.

The reality is that it is all under your control, far more so than in the risky, offline business world.

What about building traffic, ranking highly at the Search Engines? Do you think that only professionals (called Search Engine Optimizers or “SEOers”) can do that? No, in fact you have the huge advantage.

Search Engines are in the business of delivering relevant and high-quality results.

No need for luck. No need for SEO expertise. Simply follow and trust the C – T – P – M process.

It’s through the Search Engines (SEs) that you will reach your visitors. Most surfers won’t scroll past the first 10-20 listings on a Search Engine’s search results pages. That is where you will be.

And second, the description about your site will have to be interesting and credible. So you will “get the click.”

When a visitor finds you through a Search Engine like Google (or Yahoo! Search or Windows Live), think of how smart s/he feels. After all, s/he found you. You didn’t advertise (actually, once you build traffic, you can sell advertising!). All that remains is for you to OVERdeliver — PREsell!

Once you realize the logic and power of C – T – P – M, then you know that success really is DO-able. It is indeed “yours to be had.” And if you don’t succeed immediately, keep trying until you find the right approach.

You only fail when you quit. Patience and persistence ultimately rule the day. Or, to quote Calvin Coolidge…

Persistence wins. Keep pushing it… the business you build will take on its own momentum. It will fulfill all your objectives, if you put in the BAM (“Brain and Motivation”), the time and persistence that are required to grow anything that is worth achieving.

Bottom line…

You understand C – T – P – M. More importantly, you are ready to invest (and “invest” is the perfect word!) time to build C – T – P before you Monetize. Once you do, converting PREsold visitors into money is the easiest (and most fun!) part of your online business

Step 3 — Monetize! Maximize Conversion Rate and profits.

Monetizing PREsold visitors is easier than falling off the proverbial log. DAY 4 discusses the wide variety of ways you can monetize. We’ll cover this topic at that time.

The key point for now is… You are not your monetization model. Do not think about “being an affiliate” or “selling an e-good.” As a matter of fact, do not decide upon any one monetization method.

First and foremost, you are in the “Content Delivery Business.” Then you monetize.

And… Diversify. Have several strong streams of income. For example…

One of your pages may feature Google AdSense ads and affiliate links. You might choose to add an e-commerce store to sell hard goods. And you sell some e-books via ClickBank, too.

However you monetize, do not push your visitors. Let the content pull them through to your revenue-generating locations rather than stopping them in their track.

This could be a link to a sales page for your product or service, to your merchant-partner’s site or to a click on a Google AdSense ad, for example.

Instead of pushing them, make them want to click. It makes all the difference if your visitors feel that it’s their idea to deliver your “Most Wanted Response” (“MWR”).

Once you have PREsold traffic, monetizing is limited only by your imagination!

So let’s not worry about that now. Instead, let’s talk about the broader concept of profits…

There is an easy business equation to follow in order to maximize profit. It’s the same equation, whether you are working online or off…

INCOME minus EXPENSES equals PROFIT.

It’s not a complicated equation, true! But people tend to forget about it.

If you can increase the amount of money that is coming into your business, and lower the amount of money that is going out of your business, you will have more money staying with your business.

So let’s start shifting that profit equation in your favor (and your bank account’s!) by improving the first part of the equation…

Income

There are two major ways to increase income (i.e., the amount of money you make through your products, services, and/or other monetization efforts). You need to…

1) Expose more visitors to your monetization models…

This means that you need to attract more targeted traffic, people who are specifically interested in your theme and your topics (related to that theme) on your Web site. High-value content is the key factor behind traffic volume and your ability to increase and sustain it. And here’s the good news…

If you get the keywords “right” on your page and if you have great content, you will have substantial, evergrowing traffic! And here’s the best news…

Lets move on

* Offline, it’s all about “location, location, location.” You put your business where crowds go. Passerby traffic!

-AND-

* Online, millions search for “information, information, information.” But they do it solo. There is NO such thing as “passerby traffic.”

You are really ready if you understand that the M is the easiest part of C – T – P – M . And speaking of C…

To succeed online, you must start where your “pre-customers” start…

People search for information, look for solutions. They are not looking for you. Give them what they want by converting your knowledge into high-quality, in-demand CONTENT.

Before you can do that, you must figure out…

* what they seek

* how often they search for it

* how badly they want it

* what competitors already provide, and how they do it

* what Content you will deliver, and how

Your next goal is to find your best Site Concept.

The rest of your business rides on your choice of Site Concept.

Let’s talk a bit about site concept.

Here is how you will get to your Best Site Concept…

1) Create a list of potential Site Concepts and choose your top 3.

* Everyone Knows Something About Something

* Three Site Concepts? Why Three?

* Do Some Quick Research.

2) Use tools like wordtracker dotcom and Google AdWords reserach tool to research Site Concept(s). Research keywords for each of your top 3 Site Concepts.To arrange and research your keywords even further,I recommend you use keywordresearchlab dot com/

3) Evaluate the following factors for each Site Concept…

* Number of Keywords

* Profitability

* Knowledge

* Passion

* Theme “Sexiness”

* Monetization Potential

What Is a Site Concept?

It is the central theme, the niche, upon which you will base all of your site’s Content (hence the term “Theme-Based Content Site”). Every page that you write will be about a topic that is related to your Site Concept. Each one of those topical pages focuses on a Specific Keyword, which is why I also call these pages “Keyword-Focused Content Pages (“KFCPs”).

Now to finding your Site Concept… your theme… your niche that you CAN master.

There is plenty of room for more than one Web site in any niche. Don’t worry when you find competitors. You have a huge advantage, — remember that 99% of small business sites fail, even the most gorgeous ones that cost $20,000 to build! So…

How to Recognize Your Best Site Concept

Bottom line on choosing your Site Concept?…

It takes just as much time to build a low-potential business as a high-potential one. So invest the time now, get the Site Concept right, and you will maximize your returns later, earning far more income per hour invested down the road.

The Plan… How to Develop Your Best Site Concept

Most people fail in any business because they don’t plan adequately. If you pick the wrong concept for your site, if you develop the wrong topics for your Web pages… you’ll get the wrong results…

No traffic = No income.

This will not be your fate. So get to work on your Best Site Concept Plan… Step 1 – Create a list of potential Site Concepts and choose your top 3.

Write down ideas for good “Site Concepts” as they hit you — make your list as long as you can. What do you know and love? What have you learned “on the job?” As you read the daily newspaper, or watch a talk show on TV, or chat with friends/colleagues, or browse a book store, keep your antennae up for new ideas.

Think… you may know so much about something that you overlook it

Everyone Knows Something About Something

What’s under your nose?

Use Common Sense

What is “too broad?” It’s any idea where the market is too big. For example, “travel” was an extreme example. “Italy” is too broad. Choose “Sicily” instead (if you know it.) And “New York” is too broad. Instead, try “Tribeca”… or go with “New York Pizzas” instead (if you love them!).

“Too n-” is the opposite. There just aren’t enough people interested in Caltanissetta, a city in Sicily. Sicily is “just right.”

“But how do I know whether it’s too n- or too broad if I’m just starting out?”

Good question! Use your common sense and knowledge of each niche, of course. And there is one good technique that helps, too!

So what are the key factors and their guidelines?

#1) Number of Keywords

A Site Concept that delivers more keywords is better. It offers the ability to create more Content. So, everything else being equal, choose the Site Concept with 300 pruned keywords over the one for which only 100 “made your cut.”

#2) Overall Profitability

The more keywords that have higher Demand, lower Supply and higher Profitability (Value Demand/Real Supply ratio), the better. Again, this is not an absolute, just an indication. Use your judgment.

Compare the overall Profitability of one Site Concept to another. How many solidly profitable keywords does each have? (Remember… the Profitability numbers are useful, but use your judgment to make the final decisions.)

#3) Knowledge

Think about each keyword as the topic for a future Web page (that is what it will become). Do you already know what you could write for those words? Obviously, lean towards the Site Concept that you know the best.

#4) Passion

Just as important… which Site Concept excites you the most? Choose a less profitable Site Concept if the thought of building a site about it excites you much more! It will be fun to create interesting Web pages about the subject area and to do the necessary research to stay current. It’s not work if it’s fun.

#5) Theme “Sexiness”

It’s not just your excitement that counts. Some Site Concepts are more apt to excite visitors. Trust your gut feel about which would excite visitors the most . It’s easy to PREsell your way to a strong “Brand Of One” with a fun, exciting theme.

#6) Monetization Potential

Look for a Site Concept that offers the potential for you to build multiple streams of income. C T P is useless if there is no M potential!

You must be able to Monetize your PREsold traffic. And the more ways to do that, the merrier. How many of the following could you (eventually) implement on each Site Concept, and with what kind of financial potential?…

* Represent the products/services of related, non-competing online businesses (i.e., affiliate income).

* Partner with an offline business, sending them customers, on a pay-per-click, per-lead, per-sale, or per-month basis

* Sell your hard good or e-book.

o Earn income by placing advertising on your site, such as Google AdSense, or by selling advertising directly. (Guess what? As your site grows, advertisers will approach you!)

o Sell your services (ex., develop clients for your copywriting or java-programming business).

o Supplement/build your local offline business.

o Attract more bidders for your eBay auctions.

o Build warm leads for your Network Marketing (“MLM”) venture.

o Rent — anything from heavy equipment to extras for movies to your own Cayman Island villa.

o Traffic — send traffic to your own e-commerce business (ex., your Yahoo! store or e-commerce site).

Finalize your Site Concept and get a good Domain name.

Visitors know great content when they read it. Winning, PREselling content “works” at several levels…

1. It has a “been there… done that” voice and flair.

2. It has specific, “zing knowledge” that comes from real experience.

3. It is supported by a depth of useful information. This is where good reference material plays an important part.

4. It is consistent, from page to page, from e-zine issue to issue, from week to month to year.

5. It is for the customer, absolutely.

Step 4 – Ready? Name that domain!

A good domain…

* is short and sharp

* is meaningful — conveys a clear message

* is easy to spell

* is easy to remember

* is unique, descriptive, and “you”

* is solid, classic, not hokey

* contains your VPP for human visitors

* contains your Site Concept keyword for spider visitors

* is attractive to humans (ex., “cayman-island-beaches dot com” “cayman island” is there for the engines and “beaches” is there for humans)

* ends in the classy ” dot com,” ” dot net” or ” dot org” (by far, the best regarded by surfers).

When do you use dashes in your domain name?

If both versions of a 3-or-more-word domain are available, use dashes because they make the word breaks more obvious to the eye. Also, the engines usually treat a dash as a space. So it may be more likely to “see” the entire string as separate words.

Dashes are less important if your domain name has only two words in it. See how netpricing dot com and cyberpricing dot com don’t really need the help of a dash?

Use dashes (even if the domain only has two words) if the non-dash version is already being used by someone else. But be sure that you are not violating anyone’s trademark (details on this below).

Note: If your business is 99%+ online, the offline issues of dealing with dashes are not so important (i.e., telling people how to spell it, people forgetting to put the dash after reading your print ad, etc.).

Here’s the bottom line…

Domain names are so cheap that it’s a good idea to take both versions (with and without the dash), just to make sure that a competitor does not take names that could be confused with yours. You can always make one domain point to the main one.

Offline vs. Online, and Branding

If you already have an offline business, it may be important to use your business name as your domain name rather than create a new domain name for it. On the other hand, you could give the site a name that uses your VPP, then use a domain redirector in your hosting to park and redirect your business name to your site. This works particularly well with business cards and other forms of offline, local marketing.

If you want to brand your site, you’ll want to get really creative and come up with a one word domain name. For example, if you wanted to brand a site about credit cards, you might use the name “creditopia dot com” or “crediteria dot com” (sorry, they’re both taken!). Easy to remember, and have a VPP (“credit utopia” or “credit cafeteria”).

Or you may find a domain name by simply adding a letter or two as a prefix or suffix to your site concept keyword (ex., icallcard dot com).

You’ll have to be more creative to come up with a short domain name that’s still available, but a little extra time spent now could pay big dividends later.

Why most people fail

Why did most people fail? I think the reason was that the whole process of running an online business is just too complicated for most people. There are lots of ways to screw it up. It pained me to visit some of those sites and notice a dozen glaring mistakes within the first few seconds – blogs that didn’t enable permalinks, cutesy headlines with no keywords in them, bad choice of topics, page titles that still used the WordPress default format, hideously suboptimal ad layouts, hidden or missing contact info, etc. Any one of those mistakes could cripple a site’s results. More than one is a practically a death sentence. Such mistakes cause problems both for human visitors and search engines.

But at the same time, there were teenagers humming along just fine, generating four figures in monthly income after working on their sites for 6-12 months. They didn’t necessarily get everything right, but they were Internet savvy enough to fix the big problems early.

What bothered me most about this was that people were too often failing because of the technology. Many of them had great ideas and very good content. It was a shame to read some of their articles and think to myself, This is great stuff… too bad no one will ever see it.

The cruel and unfair part of online business is that if you aren’t very Internet savvy, you’ll make mistakes on the technical side that you’re totally oblivious to. You may get the content side right, but the technology will bite you and cripple your results.

But it’s still a pretty unfair situation. There are people who can write great content who really deserve to be getting a lot of readers, but because they don’t understand permalinks, RSS feeds, pinging, or other technologies, they’re doomed before they start.

Once I saw this happening, I basically decided I’d better shut up about encouraging people to run an online business. People kept asking me for new articles on the subject, but I didn’t think it was a good idea. I was concerned I’d be doing more harm than good.

A new solution

Recently I came across a vastly superior solution to this problem – a way for people to build a successful online business that doesn’t require them to become technology gurus.

What I recommend is a service called Site Build It! – it’s an all-in-one solution for creating and building an online business. You pay an annual fee for the service, and they provide you with all the tools you need to build an income-generating web site. They host the site for you, they help you register your domain name, and they provide integrated tools like point-and-click page generators, built-in blogging, form builders, RSS feeds, and lots more. Many of these details will be handled for you, so you don’t have to worry about them.

You still create your own content, and you use their tools (or your own familiar tools) to create a site based on your unique ideas. You focus on the content side. They help you with the technical implementation side.

I don’t recommend this solution for everyone. If you’ve already built a successful website that generates thousands of dollars a month for you, you won’t need this. I don’t need it myself. But if you’re one of those people that have been held back by the technical complexity, then this is definitely something you should look at. This is the kind of solution I’d recommend in a heartbeat for my non-programmer friends who want to get something going online but quickly become lost in a sea of jargon.

There’s a lot to explain about this service and why I think it’s a great idea for most people interested in building a successful online business. So I wrote a whole separate article about that here

Site Build It is a suite of tools for building a website. Site Build It! (Site Build It!) the only all-in-one site-building, site-hosting, and site-marketing product that makes it easy to build a professional, popular, and profitable business.

they follow all the techniques I have listed here and even add more to ensure success.

I’m probably turning into a bit of a salesperson for Site Build It! because I really believe this is a great deal for a lot of people. Not only will building your own online business give you a quantum leap in your own personal development, but it can also provide income to fuel your ongoing growth.

I wish you all the very best.

Don’t Be Conned By A Resume Writer

A Professional Resume Writer or Resume Service can indeed help you land a new job or receive a job promotion. However, there are a lot of scams on the internet. My goal in this article is to help you know how to identify a resume scam. While nothing is foolproof, learning what to look for in a resume writer can help you avoid the resume scams!

The Cost of a Professionally Written Resume

A professionally written resume is an investment in your career. And… professionally written resumes are tax-deductible!

Just because it is an investment does not mean that it will cost you $1,000. However, It also does not mean that a resume writer selling ‘professionally written resumes’ for $25 will do a good job. Your job as a job seeker is to hire the best you can afford. A strong, well written resume for a mid level career should not be more than $150 TOPS. A high-end executive, however, should expect to pay more. The majority of resumes that I write are for those mid level job seekers. I am not afraid, or ashamed, to admit that I do NOT feel comfortable working with a high-end – big whig- CEO of a multinational conglomeration! I know my limitations. Which leads us to my next point…

Your Resume Writer Knows Their Limitations!

As I said, I do VERY FEW Senior executive resumes. I have done them, but that is on a case by case basis. I often turn down work because it is not in my realm of knowledge. No resume writer can know everything about every career! A resume scammer will tell you they DO. For the record, I also do not do resumes for attorneys, actors, federal resumes or resumes for physicians. You can be in sales, IT, construction, education, management, or any number of other fields and I am more than happy to assist you. I know my limitations. Every resume writer SHOULD.

Guarantees (Money Back or Job Placement)

If a resume writer guarantees that their resume will get you a job within a particular period of time, FIND ANOTHER WRITER! I am a resume WRITER, not a HIRING MANAGER (been there, done that!). I cannot guarantee you get a job any more than you can guarantee me work for the next 6 months. Your interviewing skills, personality, networking skills, career background and sometimes – sheer luck- are what will GET you a job. MY JOB is to create and write a resume that markets your skills and accomplishments and makes you more attractive and valuable to companies!

Resume writers that offer a money back guarantee typically make it so incredibly difficult to get it, that they RARELY give refunds. And, any resume writer can tell you how easy it is for clients to scam THEM. I have a friend who is a resume writer (I used to work for her, coincidentally) and she had several instances of clients simply saying they did not like it, in order to get a refund. The problem with this is that we live in a VERY small community. The client ALSO lived in the SAME community. She received a phone call one day from a local business who had just hired this client. The gentleman who hired him, recognized her style of writing and called with a ‘hey- you’ll never guess who I just hired’ message. She never did recoup her money. She could have cost him the job. She chose NOT to tell her friend the scam his new employee had pulled on her. I’m just not sure I’d be able to keep my mouth shut. So no… unless there is some type of critical error or incomplete order, most resume writers will NOT offer refunds.

No Revisions

While a good resume writer will not offer refunds, they SHOULD offer revisions! My clients get as many revisions as they need. Any company or resume writer who is not willing to work with you and ensure your satisfaction is definitely a scam!

Questionnaires

In and of themselves, questionnaires are not a bad thing. I use one myself. HOWEVER – I will also call or email with questions, and offer my phone number for you to call me if you need to! If there is a major issue with your resume, I will ALWAYS call to speak with you.

Upselling

Many resume scams will hook you with a low or reasonable price, then upsell you on other features or services and/or tell you your resume will be longer and make you pay for a ‘2 or 3 page’ resume. I can’t STAND this practice! I charge a flat rate because (mainly) it’s easier for me! Sure, I may lose money on the occasional resume that takes longer or is more difficult than I estimated, and yes, some are easier and take less time. It all balances out. I believe in keeping my pricing fair – for my clients and myself. And the last thing I want to do is spend my time trying to talk you into buying something you don’t want. I can’t stand pushy salespeople! And if I wanted to be in sales- I would be! There’s a reason I’m not!

Top 10 Resume Writer/ Top 10 Resume Service Lists

To the best of my knowledge, there is no such (legitimate) site! In most cases, these sites are owned (directly or indirectly) by these resume service sites themselves! They give ‘reviews’ with 5 star ratings to their companies, or to companies which have paid (usually several hundred dollars per month!) to be included on this list!

There are professional resume writing certifications and organizations, and you can find a legitimate resume service there. Keep in mind though; there are also many good writers who are NOT in these organizations for one reason or another. The cost of them is often a primary factor. So, just because your resume writer is not part of these groups, does not mean that they are not very good at what they do.

One thing you should do is check to see if the resume writer or service is listed on RipOffReport.com, which is a popular site where disgruntled customers can log their complaints.

Guaranteed Quick Turnaround Time

At the most, I only write 1-2 resumes per day. It takes several hours for each resume. A good resume takes hours to write and the best resume writers produce only 1-2 resumes per day. Be wary of resume writers that will not provide at least a few different samples of resumes they have created. Any resume writer promising 24-48 hour turnaround and charging $99 or less, generally produces 6-8 resumes a day. They all look the same. The information is put into a template and they shoot it off to you. Generally speaking, my turnaround time is a week to 10 days. Sometimes more. I am always honest about how long it will take me to send your resume. I do offer same day and next day service, but on a very limited availability and it comes with a price. Your time is valuable and so is mine. If I am doing a rush order for you, it means I am taking time away from my family and personal life. This is true of any competent resume writer!

Their Website

This is a double-edged sword here. The website should be attractive and easy to find information on. However, just because it is ‘pretty’ doesn’t mean that they produce high quality resumes. Look at their samples. If you don’t like their samples, you probably won’t like their work. Make sure their samples are of different styles and industries. A resume for a teacher will not look the same as it does for a sales executive or engineer! Look to see if they are focusing on skills and accomplishments as opposed to producing pretty resumes that just list job duties. Also look to see if they are using advanced techniques like color, testimonials and highlights to make your resume stand out from the crowd.

By using your common sense, you can reduce the odds of falling into a resume scam. Some resume scammers are very good, and even with these tips you may fall victim. But by being educated and diligent, you significantly reduce that chance and increase the odds of you finding the best resume writer for you! Google the resume service name and the resume writer’s name, look them up on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Just as employers will check you out before offering you a job, check out your resume writer before you hire them!

Search Engine Optimization and Affiliate Marketing

Some people think that SEO is not a part of affiliate marketing. That’s rather unusual.

It struck me. The main reason many advertising and internet affiliate marketing agencies don’t like to pay attention to search engine optimization is that they don’t fully comprehend search engine optimization and don’t understand how to execute a highly effective SEO campaign. Instead of admit their lack of knowledge, they like to pay attention to internet marketing methods they’re saying to understand well.

Search engine optimization benefits

A current MarketingSherpa study shows top organic positions are clicked 20 % of time and top paid-up advertising positions are clicked 10 % of time. However, if your site includes a top organic position along with a top paid-advertising position, the backlinks leading to the site are clicked 60 % of times. It’s a unique situation: 10 + 20 = 60.

Affiliate marketers’ insufficient search engine optimization understanding is a big mistake. Having a well-built, user-friendly affiliate website, advertising costs can be reduced.

Affiliate Entrepreneurs: Internet Search Engine Friend or Foe?

More often affiliate entrepreneurs or marketers really are a bane to search engines like Google. After I think about internet affiliate marketing junk e-mail, I think about all of the Amazon affiliates’ entrance pages. Individuals could be some pretty ugly Internet sites.

However, the best Internet sites I’ve seen happen to be affiliate Internet sites. For instance, one client doesn’t sell straight to customers. The organization’s Site offers info on the organization and offers an introduction to its items, but customers can’t buy something on the website. They have to go to a joint venture partner to buy. In cases like this, likely to join a venture partner is really better for that consumer. The affiliate is generally situated close to the consumer, which makes it simpler for the consumer to obtain the product personalized and shipped rapidly.

The task within the client’s affiliate Search engine optimization plan’s to supply completely unique content towards the search engines without taking advantage of them. Furthermore, almost all clients don’t want an overzealous affiliate to obtain the corporate site and also the entire affiliate network into trouble. Everybody should benefit: customers, the organization’s site, affiliate marketers.

Affiliate SEO and search engine marketing plans

Affiliate management is really a key component of the effective SEO/search engine marketing plan. A lot of companies make affiliate management being an afterthought, frequently towards the corporation’s hindrance.

I’m helping a nonprofit become unfrozen in the search engines. Regrettably, helping sites get unfrozen is really a normal, everyday a part of the job of SEO specialists. The company itself hasn’t spammed Google. The site is very easy to use, and also the organization is really a well-established brand. You will find no technical causes of the website not to come in Google’s index. Yet after digging around for causes of a Google punishment, we discovered the issue: affiliate marketers gone wild.

As part of the internet affiliate marketing search engine optimization plan, companies should explain the significance of offering completely unique content additionally towards the corporation’s’ content. For instance, effective information architecture is definitely a very important element of engine optimization. There are ways affiliate marketers can group and classify info that are superior to the way the corporate site organizes it? Some items sell better in regional marketplaces than the others. Most likely the affiliate site could concentrate on the best retailers because of its region.

I have seen regional affiliate sites’ cross-linking (internal, page-to-page connecting) vary by region. By showing a distinctive cross-linking structure, affiliate marketers provide unique information towards the commercial search engines with a 100 % user-friendly scent of knowledge for clients.

Furthermore, a FAQ, customer support, or help section might be unique for every affiliate site. Many affiliate marketers work directly with clients. What questions do individuals clients frequently pose? Getting these questions as well as their solutions obtainable in a FAQ, customer support, or help section provides completely unique content for clients and search engines like Google.

Finally, among the greatest mistakes I see with affiliate Internet sites and companies is forcing affiliate marketers to utilize a print catalog’s exact wording. Print copywriting works fine inside a print medium; it doesn’t always work with an internet site. Since affiliate marketers frequently know their clients very well, they ought to have the ability to modify product explanations without deviating in the corporate branding message.

The finish result? Affiliate sites don’t get strained from search engine results because of duplicate content, and clients find what they’re trying to find rapidly and simply.

In conclusion I can say that despite the fact that internet affiliate marketing junk e-mail is a big problem for that commercial Web search engines, internet search engine reps wish to include affiliate content searching results (both paid and organic), particularly if the content and content organization are unique. Customers appreciate content that’s customized for their individual needs.

To know more about SEO and affiliate marketing read us.

The iGoogle Homepage Is Shutting Down – Which Google Program Will Be Next?

Next month, Google is shutting down the popular iGoogle Homepage on Nov. 1st, and many Google users are not happy. Like the Google Reader users before them, they can cry tough kitty all they want. Google does as Google does as Google does.

The iGoogle program has been around since 2005 and lets one bookmark all their favorite gadgets, read news headlines and play games right on their own personalized homepage. Many users simply loved this program and will hate to see it go.

As a user of many Google free products it also scares the bejesus out of me sometimes. Google has closed down some of their popular programs, and it leaves one wondering what is going next? My one main concern – will Google+ go the way of Google Buzz? Will Google drop Google+ and Google Hangouts?

As someone who is using and building up their contact list of subscribers… losing Google+ would be a major blow for me. Besides, while I like and use Facebook for family connections, Google+ has become my online marketing or business hangout – I simply don’t want to lose it. No matter how much I have criticized Google Search in the last little while, they do do something right, and in my opinion, Google+ is one of them.

While it has been described mainly as a ghost town by many and user numbers haven’t exactly been earth shattering – Google+ still plays an important role in Google SERPs and markup. After all the programs Google has closed, it is within reasonable thinking that if Google+ costs too much to run or usage drops significantly – Google may shut it down. Judging purely from past closures, it would not be a great leap of faith to believe it is indeed possible.

For me, another major worry is Google Analytics, will Google shut it down? While it is not totally accurate, the data is a bit off, I can’t imagine my marketing day without real-time analytics running in the background. It gives me so much information on how my actual visitors behave on my web pages and sites. Although it is probably giving Google invaluable search and site data, Analytics must be a very costly program to run, even for Google and their vast resources. Just hope it’s the last free Google program which closes its doors.

Another one is Webmaster Tools, losing this program would also be a major loss, especially if you use it to keep your site or sites in line with Google’s countless rules and guidelines. While it hasn’t been very helpful for me, I still check it to see if anything is totally out of sync with Google’s rules. Webmaster Tools is such an integral part of Google’s whole setup; one can’t imagine it going the way of other lesser programs, such as the Google Affiliate Network.

Perhaps, besides AdSense and AdWords, the only other Google programs, which I would be somewhat disappointed to see disappear, are gMail, Google Earth and Google Chrome. I occasionally use all of these and would hate to see them gone – especially Chrome, which I have installed on several of my computers. However, for privacy reasons, I have been using those less and less, so I could survive their closures without too many withdrawal pains.

Actually, if you’re concerned about your own online privacy, you’re probably better off staying away from Google and any free Google programs. Needless to say, for advertising purposes, Google is collecting every bit of data, every keystroke and every subject you have shown even the slightest interest in pursuing. While all this information is supposedly “collectively gathered and processed” according to Google’s prospective, please use your own discretion if online privacy is top on your list of priorities. Truth be told Google has become the largest list builder and consumer data collector on the web and in the world. This collected user data has become Google’s most valuable asset – one which can be milked for years into the future.

It’s simply the price we have to pay for using these programs, after all you didn’t really think these products were truly free, did you? Then again, is anything in life really free?

Google’s products and programs are no exceptions, while I don’t want to be too cynical, but one has to be realistic about Google’s ultimate goals and objectives here. It’s a publicly traded company, and generating revenue is its lifeblood – the more it makes the merrier everyone will be. Nothing wrong with that, nor is there anything wrong with Google giving us all these countless free products and programs, as long as we realize the price we’re paying for those products.

I for one, am more than willing to pay that price, and I truly hope iGoogle is the last one of Google’s products on the chopping block. At least for the immediate future, but I am not holding my breath.

How to Do Digital Marketing for Local Business

Local marketing can work for any online business whether you really are only local to the place you want to market to or whether you’re a global business.

Start a Local Niche Group on Facebook

The remarkable thing about Facebook is that you can create as many groups as you want to. You can create them for different locations so that you can learn more about your audience in those local areas. Doing this will give you an inside into their thoughts and problems that you can use everywhere.

Add Your Business to Local Directories

One thing you must be careful about is that many directories don’t let you have more than one listing per phone number. You can get more numbers via some of the online services like Google Voice and others.

Contribute Content to Local News Outlets

Locally there are magazines, newspapers, TV shows, radio shows and more that you can be interviewed on, submit content to, and more. Give them a reason to want to feature your story, and you’ll soon become a local celebrity.

Host a Local Contest

You can kick things off by hosting an online contest for your audience who live in specific locations only. Choose a contest that causes buzz. For example, get participants to make a video that can be easily shared.

Optimize Your Site for Local Search

This won’t cost you much at all. Set up your site, or at least a page on your site with local search terms. Don’t keyword stuff, think about the words and the content you put on that page before doing it. You want visitors to feel special when they visit.

Be Easily Accessible

If you want to be trusted by local people, you need to communicate with them. You need to allow them to email you and contact you easily. Don’t hide any of your contact information and make sure they can do it easily.

Get More Reviews

Set up a system that enables you to get more reviews. Set up your autoresponder to automatically ask for reviews after your customer has had enough time to experience results.

Create More Locally Focused Content

When you are focusing on a location consider creating more locally focused content. You may have to get creative doing it, but adding local events, and other related information to your content will help.

Create an Influencer Marketing Campaign

One fast way to break into any local market is to find local influencers to mention your name or product. You can often work with multiple influencers at the same time too.

Digital Marketing Planning Process For Beginners

This article centres around formulating a digital marketing strategy and implementing a digital marketing plan for a business.

In this digital age, businesses cannot afford not to have a digital marketing plan has technology is increasingly influencing our business and social lives. As a matter of fact, a business without a digital marketing plan is a business planning to fail.

Quite frankly, some business owners are still struggling to understand the need to have a digital marketing plan for their business. Though, the case is quite different for other business owners who already have a digital marketing strategy, but are unhappy and frustrated with the results, of which fall far short of their expectations.

Digital Marketing Planning Process

Whether you have developed a digital marketing plan that is currently active or you have developed a digital marketing plan that is not yet active or you are in the process of developing a digital marketing plan for your business, Follow the process outlined below to help your business grow and succeed online. This process has proven very successful for so many businesses. Having said that, it is very important that the process is followed judiciously in other to get positive results.

You are just a sentence away from growing your business successfully online.

Establish A Web presence

Having a website, a blog or social media page, or listing your business on local business directory websites are some of the ways you can establish a web presence. These days businesses take advantage of these channels to boost their web presence. Without a doubt, it is highly recommended having these digital marketing assets in your arsenal to increase your search visibility. You want to make sure that you utilise every channel possible to boost your online presence. The more your business is established online, the better.

Domain name registration

When choosing a domain name for your business, you want to make sure that your domain name contains keywords relevant to your niche and city, not just your business name. For example, you offer plumbing services in Toronto, the ideal domain name should be abcplumbingservicestoronto.com.

Content Creation

After choosing your domain name, the next step is to develop great contents for your website, contents that would attract qualified leads (prospects that would end up converting), the ideal thing to do in other to develop great contents is to first conduct a research on niche keywords and include these keywords throughout your text, especially in the headings/subheadings, title and meta description on your web pages. Also, it’s a good practice to add the location of your business in the areas mentioned above. Bear in mind, it takes quite some time to rank for your niche keywords – It not as simple as ABC. It’s a clever idea to hire a content developer if you don’t have the technical expertise to create engaging contents –

Content is king!

Optimising your Website

As soon as you have your content ready, the next thing you want to do is hire a professional website developer who is also skilled in (on-page and off-page search engine optimisation SEO), to develop a user and mobile friendly high converting website for your business. Notice how I laid emphasis on “user” and mobile friendly” – You want to make sure that your website has a good user experience, it is said that humans have a short attention span of about seven seconds, in other words you have seven seconds to grab the attention of your website visitors. That being said, It is cheaper to hire a professional website developer with SEO skills than separately hiring a website developer and SEO specialist. If you want to rank on search engine result pages (SERPs), then ensure that your website is fully optimised (on-page and off-page) for search engines A fully optimised website has a 90% possibility of showing up on SERPs.

What is on page and off page SEO? In a lay man’s terminology, on-page SEO is when a website understands and speaks the language of search algorithm and off page SEO Is when other websites send signals (by a way of votes) to search engines that your website has credibility. As soon as your other websites starts sending positive signals to search engines about your website, Chances are your website will show up on SERPs.

Check the performance of your website online and your website SEO when your website is ready to go live, there are free tools online you can use to check the performance of your website as well as SEO. Ensure that you follow up and resolve any issues with your website, especially issues like: loading time of your landing pages, browser caching issues, heading, alt-tags etc. I cannot emphasise enough the importance of having your website fully optimised for search engines.

Link Building

You have chosen a proper domain, created a highly converting website with great contents and your website is fully optimised, at this point, you should start building links. Link building is a technique used in (off page SEO). It is a process whereby you get external web pages with authority, link to your webpages. The following are some of the ways you can build links: submit your website to business directory websites (citations), create social media accounts and distributing content across social media platforms and other across other websites with high authority, optimise press releases, social bookmarking etc. These efforts are geared towards acquiring “link juice”, which increases your website authority (assuming the links are quality backlinks). Outreach (link building) is quite a daunting task. You are better off assigning the task to your website developer, except you are comfortable doing it yourself. Furthermore, list your business on Google my business and Bing places for business and ensure it is optimised.

Search Engine and Social Media Marketing

At this stage, creating a Pay Per Click (PPC) campaign on Google AdWords and Facebook is certainly a clever way to strengthen your online marketing campaigns. It is essential to explore means to drive quality traffic to your website, this would help to improve your ranking on search engines (if done properly). You can start with as little as $50 advertising budget per month if you are on a tight budget. Trust me, it worth your every penny, because as you drive quality traffic to your website for your “focus keywords”, your keywords quality score improves, and if done consistently, chances are your webpages will rank high on search engines. Anyway, creating an ad is one aspect of it, optimising the ad copy is another aspect which is very crucial. You want to make sure that your focus keywords are relevant to their target webpages. If your focus keywords are not relevant to the target webpages, search engines i.e. Google would dock your website as a result. Simply put, avoid attracting visitors that would end up bouncing from your website, hence why it is necessary to create relevant ads. I can’t stress enough the importance of creating relevant ads. Furthermore, utilise social media platforms to promote your business. Create an ad on Facebook to promote your business webpages. The amount of time people spend on social media platforms these days is overwhelming, hence why you need to utilise this medium as an opportunity to grow your business.

Google Search Console

Sign in to Google search console and get familiar with the basics. Follow the instruction on how to improve your search presence. If this is too technical for you, ask your website developer or digital marketing specialist to assist you in setting it up. This tool will not only give you insights in regards to your site’s performance, but will also guide you through on how to resolve any issue that would affect the performance of your website.

Google Analytics

Sign in to Google analytics and follow the set-up process. This tool would help you track important metrics such as conversion, customer engagement, page views etc. You can monitor the effectiveness of your online marketing campaigns, contents on your websites and user experience with this tool. Basically, you want to know which areas you need to improve on, once you identify the areas, you can apply a solution.

Closing Thoughts

Don’t be overwhelmed by the process outlined above, remember Rome was not built in a day. Begin now, apply this result-driven digital marketing plan to your business, be consistent and follow the process judiciously – I guarantee your business will grow and succeed online.

All the best!

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