These Online Publicity methods are all non traditional forms of generating publicity and interest in both you and your business. All are free and highly effective, so why not give them a try….

1. ARTICLE MARKETING
Article marketing refers to writing articles on your area of expertise or industry and then publishing those articles wherever possible as a way of promoting you and your business. Online this means submitting your articles at sites such as www.ezinearticles.com and relevant websites that accept articles for publication.

Don’t forget this can also be used offline, in fact the same articles can often be used with perhaps some minor editing to submit to magazines, papers and other offline media. For example I recently slightly tweaked one of my popular Email Marketing articles for a Real Estate publication.

2. BLOGGING
Blogging is a way to gain ongoing exposure online for you and your business. Ideally this is in the form of you publishing articles (which can also be used in Publicity option 1 above), news, events, press releases and industry updates on your blog which allows your readers (both prospects and clients) to learn more about you, as well as provide another way for media to find you. It is becoming more and more common for media channels such as TV, magazines and radios to source information and opinions from Bloggers and to contact Blog authors for interviews and further comments on their area of expertise.

3. SOCIAL NETWORKING
You may have read my article recently about Facebook (if not you can read it here), where I mentioned how popular this online social networking community has become. Facebook is a great way to get free publicity, although how far your message reaches may depend on how many friends you have! Simply by updating your status on Facebook you can let your network know about new projects that you are working on and generate interest.

You can also do this with Twitter which is a service that allows you to keep others up to date on what you are doing at any time. To learn more about using Twitter for marketing and exposure I suggest reading this great article at http://www.toprankblog.com/2007/11/twitter-guide/

by Belinda Jackson

© 2008. Web Chameleon Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Want to use this article on your website or include it in your email newsletter? No problem! But you also MUST include the following:

Belinda Jackson, Online Marketing Mentor, is founder of Web Chameleon, Chameleon Mail and The Business Blogging Program.  To learn how to attract and retain your perfect clients using Online Marketing, and increase sales & income then sign up for your free Online Marketing Report and Marketing Newsletter by visiting www.WebChameleon.com.au/.

If you are a small business owner and you are struggling to attract and retain clients then you must read on. If you are spending a small fortune on advertising in newspapers, magazines, radio or even TV, then it’s time to consider some new ways of marketing your business.I believe that the internet offers huge opportunity to small business, service professionals and large corporates alike.

The online world in many ways is no different to the offline marketing world. On and offline, it’s all about people. In fact, if you think about it, every dollar that is spent online must come from an individual choosing to spend their money with a particular website.

Creating an effective website that brings you new customers and makes you money will be more likely to happen if you successfully build relationships. This means building a geniune relationship with visitors to your website so that they come to like and trust you enough to give you their money!

This is relationship marketing. Next step is leveraging yourself as an expert so that clients come chasing you. Online Marketing provides the opportunity to simplify both of these strategies.

Selling as was used in the past is gone. Every day we are overwhelmed with marketing and sales messages and it’s impossible to take it all in - even if we wanted to - and I’m sure you, like me, don’t particularly want to be sold to.

What you want is to have clients choose to want to buy your products and/or services, because they have come to see you as an expert AND they have formed a relationship with you built on trust, knowledge and authenticity!

Having an Effective Website and/or Blog and using your web presence to attract and build a database allows you to form the beginnings of a relationship with prospects. Allowing your prospects to get to know, like and trust you through an Email Newsletter over time gives you the opportunity to leverage yourself as an expert and convert prospects into clients.

No hard selling allowed or required.

These are simple Online Marketing strategies you can implement almost immediately to begin leveraging yourself as an expert in your industry and begin fostering an ongoing relationship with prospects.

By now, you are most likely familiar with the popular social networking website called Facebook, even if perhaps you have not ventured into its network yet. I say yet, because chances are…..you will!Facebook launched in 2004, and according to Wikipedia, has more than 80 million active users worldwide. There is nothing else like it online. And it is not the domain of teenagers only. Whilst teenagers are most certainly on there and loving it, the average user age on Facebook is estimated at 39.

I Was Very Skeptical At First

Actually it has taken me a long time to get on board with Facebook. Admittedly the same was true for me and Blogging and I am quickly becoming as keen on Facebook as I am on Blogging.

I feel like I was pushed into discovering Facebook. Many of my friends, colleagues and clients kept asking for my opinion on it, and asking if I was on there yet? I had registered several months ago on the urging of a good friend of mine in New Zealand, but I never really could figure out what all the fuss was about.

I wanted to discover why Facebook is so popular. I wanted to know how they managed to gain millions of members so quickly? And why so many people are talking about it? I had to know!

So, finally 2 weeks ago I logged back in and spent my Saturday exploring and discovering the potential that exists in Facebook. Today I have reached 100 “friends” and look forward to growing my Facebook network more (why not join me - see below).

How Did Facebook Become So Popular, So Fast? Read the rest of this entry »

3 Comments »

Google AdWords are one of the fastest way I know to get traffic to your web site. They are also one of the fastest ways to lose money if you don’t do it right.

What are Google AdWords?

If you go into Google and do a search on a topic, just say something dear to my heart, CHOCOLATE, you will see a list of all the web sites that are relevant to that topic. On the left hand side are “organic” search results. These are websites that Google thinks are the best sites on that topic (the Holy Grail of search engine marketing).

On the right are “sponsored links”. These are listings that people pay Google to display when people search on that keyword. This is what we’ll be talking about today. You can set up your own ads in Google by setting up a Google account (you may already have one through gmail or you can just search for Google AdWords in Google to find where to start).

Factors that determine if your ads show at the top of the page or the bottom (and how much you pay to get there)

There are really 4 factors that determine where your ad will show. Surprisingly, it’s not a matter of who pays the most!

1. How much you are willing to pay

Price is determined by auction. You say how much you are willing to pay and hope that it is more than your competitors. Google isn’t too greedy. If you bid a really high price and the next person bids low, you only pay slightly more than the next highest bid.

2. Relevance

Google will reward you (ie, lower price and higher up the page) if you use the same keywords in:
• your list of keywords you say you want to advertise for
• your ad
• your website

3. Click through rate (CTR)

The click through rate is the percentage of people who see your add who choose to click on it. If more people click on it Google assumes it must be relevant and will reward you.

4. Web site quality

Google looks at how long people stay on your site after they click on your ad. If your web site is not what they are looking for they’ll go back to Google and click on a competing web site.

The really powerful thing about Google AdWords is you can test and measure everything. There are some very simple strategies you can use that can easily double your income by testing and tweaking.

This article is by Janet Beckers, a friend of mine, who is also the host and founder of Wonderful Web Women, an award winning on-line community recognized for generous and honest marketing advice for women on the internet.

To learn from the most successful women on the internet through live webinars, masterminds and forums absolutely free - visit the website today.

Web Chameleon is also a distributor for Janet’s Google Adwords Home Study Course - go here for the info..

Aghh, the all powerful Search Engines… If you think they are not powerful then think again. If one of your potential clients is looking online for a company such as yours that supplies the product or the service that your business supplies - can they find you easily if they don’t already know your name? Does your business appear for searches on your keywords on Google or Yahoo?

If not, then you need to be concerned. Here’s why…

Joe Bloggs is searching on Google for “Graphic Designer Newcastle” - if you are a graphic designer in Newcastle then Joe Bloggs is a potential client for you. The results that appear when he runs this search may determine which companies he approaches and ultimately which company gets his business. If you don’t appear on the search, then what are your chances of getting Joe’s work? Zero!!

Ideally your website would appear naturally in search results for your business/service/product keywords, however that is not always possible. And sometimes it can take time to work your way up to the top of the results. That’s where Search Marketing or Pay Per Click Advertising becomes a possibility. Yahoo Search Marketing and Google Adwords allow you the opportunity to bring a whole new audience of targetted prospects to your website.

Advertising using Pay Per Click on Google or Yahoo provides you with the ability to get targetted prospects immediately. You can set up a campaign, and have ads start appearing straight away for the keywords that you select. You can even choose how much you are willing to spend per day or month, and which geographic areas you wish to target.

With Google Adwords you only pay when someone clicks on your ads. And the actual price that you pay is determined by the amount you specify as your highest bid compared with what other bidders are willing to pay, basically it’s an auction for your chosen keywords.

If you’re thinking about branching out into Search Marketing here are a few considerations:

Search Marketing Tips 

• Who is your target market and what words would they use to find you? These are your keywords.
• To keep the cost down and allow for more effective search marketing campaigns it’s best to use phrases rather than single words. For example “Marketing Central Coast” or Email Marketing” rather than simply “Marketing”. Generally the more defined your search phrase the lower the cost per click.
• If you already get some good “organic” results on Yahoo and Google don’t double up. There is no point in having your listing in both the organic and the paid results, so for those terms for which you return an organic listing don’t include them in your PPC campaign.
• Start with a low budget - even as low as $1 per day until you feel comfortable with the entire process then gradually increase your budget.
• Monitor your results to ensure effectiveness and tweak, tweak, tweak. Play around and try different Titles and descriptions and see what brings the best results. Or consult an expert.

I have set up numerous campaigns on Google and although it can be simple there are also many tips and shortcuts which can often save you time and frustration. And most importantly these shortcuts and tips can possibly return better results for your dollars. If you would like to learn more about Google Adwords and the shortcuts to success I recommend and distribute the following Home Study Course, which will help you to create your own effective campaigns on Google Adwords.

Google Adwords Home Study Course: From Zero to Hero with Google Adwords! Learn More…

The online world in many ways is no different to the offline business world. On and offline, it’s all about people. In fact, if you think about it, every dollar that is spent online must come from an individual making a decision to trust the business or person behind the website.

Creating an effective website that brings you new customers and makes you money will be easier and more successful if you remember the human element. Unless your business and brand is already very well known then this often means allowing your visitors time to get to know, like and trust you.

It’s essential to build relationships with your prospects to earn their trust. Your website is important to begin the process of persuading visitors to like and trust you. They will also be getting to know you by what they read, see and experience on your website.

To convert many more visitors into customers follow up is also necessary.

And that’s where an Email Newsletter comes into play. One of the most beneficial jobs your website can do is to encourage visitors to join your email list. You can have a sign up form on your website that will work 24/7 to capture leads for you.

To encourage a higher sign up rate you could offer an incentive such as a free report, special offer or discount. And try not to have too many distractions on your website if your main purpose is to build a list. Keep the focus on what you want your visitors to do, make it easy for them and give them good reason to sign up.

Once they are on your list you’ll be able to keep in touch and communicate further with them over time. And you’ll be leveraging your time by marketing to a group of prospects all at once - “one to many” marketing. Do this well and your prospects will come to know, like and trust you enough to take up your offers and become customers.

If you don’t already have an Email Marketing Plan in place, then consider adopting this time proven communication and conversion method. Once a customer is on your mailing list, they’re a prospect (and hopefully a new customer) for life!

If you already have a website or you are in the process of launching or updating a website then it’s essential you take a few moments to think about the following. You may not agree with all of my Website Killers but I hope you will at least take them into consideration and avoid creating a website disaster.

Website Killer Number 1: Your website has no personality

Visitors get bored easily so it’s essential you capture their attention quickly when they arrive at your website. Remember that you only have around 10 seconds to attract their interest and keep them on your website.

Some new ways of attracting & keeping attention on your website include adding video or audio as well as text. This adds a human element to your presence.

Perhaps include an About Us page where visitors can learn more about you and/or your team. We all like dealing with real people, not computers, so make sure your website has some heart and soul.

Website Killer Number 2: How do I contact you?

Visitors to your website should not be made to work hard and they should be able to get in contact with you easily. I would encourage either having your contact details included on every page of your website as part of the template, or just a single click from any page (ie a Contact Us link on the main navigation bar)

Website Killer Number 3: Flash Intro Pages

This is a pet hate of most internet marketers. Flash intro pages can look great and are often the proud work of “qualified web designers”. But from the perspective of human visitors and search engines they are not always that effective.

Search engines find it hard to know what your website is about because there is no text and this means that you may find your website is not being found in search engines. And from a human perspective we all live such busy lives that no one seems to have time to wait even 30 seconds for a website to load and don’t have the patience to wait for a flash intro to play. If you must include one also provide a link so visitors can ‘skip the intro’ - mind you, if they can skip the intro is it really that important to have the flash intro at all!

Website Killer Number 4: Not optimised for Search Engines

This is a whole topic on its own. One key factor is that you need on your website is the correct keywords in your page content and title tags.

Make sure the keywords that your prospects may search for on Google when looking for your type of business, are included on your website. These keywords should be included on multiple pages across your website and as often as possible.

The title tags tell the web browser what wording to display in the page title section - when you visit a website take a look at what is written across the top of the browser window - this is the title. Ensure your page titles accurately reflect both your business name and keywords that are relevant to that page - but it should also be a useful phrase to the human reader.

Website Killer Number 5: No Call to Action

A ‘call to action’ is having a specified action that you want visitors to take when they visit your website. You might want them to sign up for a newsletter, contact you through your contact page, phone you or place an order. Everything on your page must move them towards taking that action.

For example when a visitor arrives at my website www.webchameleon.com.au my number one goal is to get them to sign up for my newsletter and free report. I don’t provide any distractions and the text, audio and testimonials all encourage this action.

Visitors to your website are valuable so try not to let too many of them get away; because once they leave your website the chances that they will return are very slim.

This article is © Copyright Belinda Jackson, Web Chameleon

If you are a small business owner and you are struggling to attract and retain clients then you must read on. If you are spending a small fortune on advertising in newspapers, magazines, radio or even TV, then it’s time to consider some new ways of marketing your business.

What I would like you to consider is relationship marketing; and leveraging yourself as an expert so that clients come chasing you. Online Marketing provides the opportunity to simplify these strategies.

I believe that in business today, it is all about building relationships with your clients. Selling as was used in the past is gone. Every day we are overwhelmed with marketing and sales messages and it’s impossible to take it all in - even if we wanted to - and I’m sure you, like me, don’t particularly want to be sold to.

Marketing has changed. In this era of the Internet we have seen some massive changes in the way both small and large businesses operate. The Internet has opened up a whole new world of opportunity for self employed and small business owners. We are now in the position where us small fish can compete with the big corporates and online we have every opportunity to, in fact, beat them! With the correct knowledge, you can have far greater success online than large organisations ever will.

Having an Effective Website, building relationships with prospects and clients over time through Email Newsletters and building your profile through Blogging - these are just a few of the Online Marketing strategies you can implement almost immediately to leverage yourself as an expert in your industry and begin fostering an ongoing relationship with prospects.

Perhaps you’ve heard of people making money in their sleep through online businesses? It’s true that there are many people who do this successfully and via different means, however it’s important to note that every single one of them put in some hard work and most likely long hours, at least initially.One popular way that online marketers may find success in creating “passive income” is through Affiliate Marketing.

Affiliate Marketing means you promote products and services for others, providing a link to the suppliers website from your own website, blog or email newsletter and in return you are rewarded with a commission for each sale generated from your referrals.

Here’s an example in which you could promote an e-book on your topic that has been written by someone else;

Step 1 - The e-book sells for $47 on the supplier’s website and they offer a 50% affiliate commission. You join the affiliate program and get your ’special affiliate link’.

Step 2 - You mention the e-book in your newsletter, website or blog, perhaps even doing a product review and have a link through to the vendor, using your ’special affiliate link’.

Step 3 - When someone clicks through on your affiliate link and they purchase the e-book, you are rewarded with a commission of $23.50.

It’s really as simple as that!

You don’t have to do anything except promote the product, and provide a link to the seller. You don’t have to worry about invoicing, delivery or customer service. And you still get paid. Sounds good, doesn’t it?

The trick is that you should only ever promote products that are relevant to your business/topic and that you have either tested or have confidence in. Don’t ruin your reputation by promoting inferior products and never promote just for the commission as you will soon lose the trust of your visitors and/or email database.

Having affiliate links on your website and blog means that you could very well get clicks through both now and in the future so you could be earning commissions while you sleep soon!

To learn more about Affiliate Marketing I can recommend The Super Affiliate Handbook from Rosalind Gardner..

There are two ways of generating traffic (visitors to your website) from Google; Organic Listings & Paid Advertising.

This article is about Organic Listings - these are the main listings on the left side of results in Google. It’s impossible to buy or bribe your way to a position here. So how do you get there?

The answer is Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).

Optimising your website for optimal results on the search engines is a great way to bring targetted prospective clients directly to your website! Google continues to have the biggest slice in the search engine market, so I mainly focus on Google when I writing or talking on Search Engine Optimisation.

Google’s intention is sound - they wish to provide searchers with the very best results - it’s as simple as that! So you need to make your website a worthy result for the keywords that your prospective visitors are searching for.

To increase your chances of “Organic Listings” on the Search engines here are my Top 3 Tips, kept short and simple:

Tip 1) Make sure the keywords that your prospects may search for are included on your website, on as many pages across your website and often as possible.

Tip 2) Incoming Links are extremely important. Google give every website a page rank which in effect is their rank of how important your web page is. They base this on a number of factors the main one being how many websites actually link to yours. If you have lots of incoming links then you must be popular and therefore important. The quality of the incoming links does also factor in, if the links are from high ranking and relevant sites they are more important.

Tip 3) Content - the more content you have on your website the more pages, the more keywords there is likely to be and therefore there is more for Google to find, rank and return in their results. This is why blogs are proving to be so effective, as they generally contain lots of content that is always being updated. Search engines love blogs.