Blogging More Tips and Tricks

By now you know how I feel about blogs - why not give your business credibility and show them you are an expert. What better way to market your business?

I posted this article in 2010 but I think it bares repeating especially for those of you who are just starting out.

Below I give  more in-depth details on how to have an awesome blog!

A blog also helps your website get better positioning on search engines. Search Engines love blogs – the fresh content that is placed in the pages will cause the search engines to pay attention, and it will allow you to gain more exposure for you website. Every business knows the best kind of traffic is targeted visitors – that is exactly what you will get from people who visit your blog.

A blog can be as easy or difficult as you want it to be, you can host your own blog or access a free one from Wordpress or Blogger. For a monthly fee you can also use services like Typepad.com The biggest fear I find business owners have is, first they are intimidated by writing articles, second, and they don’t feel they have the time. So how do you overcome these fears?

Find resources that make it easy for you to post appropriate articles to your blog. One of the most obvious ways is to hire someone to write original articles – a good writer can always do research, as well as get information from you about what you want to convey. If you prefer to have you name on the article posted, hire a ghost writer (someone who doesn’t take credit for the article) you will own the exclusive rights to the writing, it will  cost you more to do this.

If you just don’t have the budget to hire someone, no problem that is why free article sites are so popular. You would be amazed at the quality of some of these articles – the only catch is you must publish the resource box at the end of the article. These resource boxes usually have the name of the writer and a link back to a website or an affiliate page. Because of this you want to find writers that are not in direct competition with you but complement your business, this make it a win-win situation and will not effect your business in any negative way.

Please remember to check out the links in the resource box of the articles you choose – this is just double insurance that it leads to a page you feel good about.

The “cream de la cream” of article marketing resources’ (in my opinion) is called Ezine Articles – You can also Google your niche market (article resources), and it will come up with article sites that are directed towards your business.
Another great way to get content driven articles is by having guest blogger's. A lot of businesses love the free marketing that the resource box will provide them when you use one of their articles.


Top 9 Article Resource Sites
1. Ezine Articles
2. Article Alley
3. Go Articles
4. Article Dash board
5. Search Warp
6. Buzzle
7. Article Base
8. Article City
9. Idea Marketers


The best way to manage your time is by accessing some of these article websites – finding articles you want to use, copying and pasting the article in a word doc – to save time and stay organized you may want to set out a block of time to collect eight articles or more.

Then twice a week put an article up. Make sure and comment on the article you are posting. In addition, people love to read short blogs with links to information they care about, simply add your comment, and a link to the site or article you are referencing. Another great way to create a blog article is commenting on things that are in the news that pertain to you business – then linking back to the resource.

If you are worried about setting up a blog – and having an attractive interface, contact your web designer, they should be able to set it up with all the bells and whistles you need.

Please feel free to contact me if you need help, f I will set up your blog and make sure you have the elements needed to market your blog and reference your website. I will also teach you how to simply and efficiently add articles and pictures. I know the internet can be overwhelming, but remember step by step you will gain the knowledge and the systems you need to be in command of your online success!

To Exciting Opportunities & Endless Possibilities!

Pamela Jacob – Artista Design

Providing Creative Solutions & Amazing Results

Excerpt from 63 Lead Generation Strategies

I have not posted a lot of articles this last month - I have to apologize, I have had a lot of clients and work so that took precedents – a great problem to have!!

If you have not signed up with Twitter I would suggest you do that I have gotten so many wonderful links to articles and websites that are of value – as well as some really magnificent quality connections.

If you have been in business any length of time you know that networking is really important.

Generating leads is the life blood of any business Today I read an article that was sent out from one of my twitter friends and it really hit the nail on the head.

This is part of the article it came from a blog called http://www.marketingwizom.com and I know you will enjoy it. You can read the rest of the article by clicking on the link at the end…

Enjoy!

63 Lead Generation Strategies Lead Generation and Customer Acquisition Strategies

Here is a quick overview of some of the highly effective strategies you can use to generate many more qualified leads and clients for your business.

They are all simple and cost effective to implement once you know what to do and how to do it. By bridging the gaps in your knowledge we can show you how to get the most out of any of these approaches, no matter how large or small your business.

1. Direct Mail

An extremely flexible medium that gives you access to any number of otherwise inaccessible prospects for many different purposes; to sell your products; generate sales leads; follow up enquiries; get more business from current customers; keep in touch with former customers; close the sale in advance ... and so much more. It allows you to present every benefit of your product or service over those of your competition in a manner that’s 100% consistent. This is not just in their offices and during the business day, but in their homes, in the evenings and at weekends. Reaching the right audience with the right offer and the right message is the key to success, because the only thing that counts is how many sales or inquiries your mailing generates.

2. Effective Advertising Advertising should be nothing less than ''salesmanship in print,'' i.e. it should do the same job that a top sales person would do face to face. If you approach advertising in a scientific manner, following proven principles and facts, it no longer has to be a gamble. There are many extremely effective ways of using advertising in a highly targeted manner, that can’t help but grow your business. This includes 1) advertising only in media that reaches a sufficiently large number of the kind of people you're trying to reach 2) focusing the entire thrust of your communication on your prospect’s interests, not your own 3) giving your prospects enough information and education and 4) offering them something appealing that'll get them to respond now.

3. Referral Systems

One third-party endorsement is more powerful than a hundred presentations. Getting your customers to recommend and encourage other people they associate with to seek out your products or services is the most coveted prize in selling, besides a sale. There are hundreds of referral systems you can use; to create an unlimited supply of hot prospects; to get prospects returning your calls; to contact hard-to-reach buyers; to create a reputation that opens closed doors; to enhance customer loyalty; and to increase sales and multiply profits. Referral systems make your life easier and more professional, and bring higher profits with increased customer loyalty.

4. Host Beneficiary Relationships

There are bound to be other non-competing businesses who have already spent years attracting and establishing relationships with the very people who are prime prospects for your own products or services. By establishing the right relationships with those ''hosts'', those customers can be yours for the asking, with the full co-operation and permission of the businesses that acquired them in the first place ... and it will bring you more customers and more cash right away.

5. Word-of-Mouth Marketing

This is the most powerful, persuasive marketing weapon available to any business. It drives customers to try products or services more than any other marketing technique ... more than advertising, salespeople, direct response, and public relations combined! And contrary to what you might expect word-of-mouth is not out of your control. There are dozens of techniques for launching your own highly successful word of mouth campaigns, based on an all-important Decision Matrix and a proven seven-step process. More… Until Next Time... Pamela Jacob - Artista Design<