How to Succeed Online and SHINE: successful business practices

Showing posts with label successful business practices. Show all posts

Thursday, September 29, 2011

The Basics of Search Engine Optimization

Just last week my brother-in-law asked me to look at a website and see what needed to be done to increase his search engine optimization. As I took a look at the code and other aspects for him, I came across a lot of little things that add up to a big thing that could cost him page ranking with the search engines. Since this is always an important subject to all website owners – I have decided to write an article on the basics of Search Engine Optimization.

This article is not talking about off page SEO – meaning back-links, social media strategies, etc. I am talking about on page SEO what you must do on your website to get higher ranking on search engines.

There are some fundamental things that need to be done before you submit your website to search engines. These things should ALWAYS be a priority.

If you have a web person taking care of your website make sure they have done these things.

First 11 Steps to Search Engine Dominance…

Indicate page titles using title tags – so important that each page has a title that is unique and descriptive.
Create accurate descriptions of your business using the description meta tag. Write a description that would both inform and interest users if they saw your description meta tag as a snippet in a search result

Example:

Source Code Looks like this. <html> <head> <title>Marketing-Information and Advice on Marketing Strategy</title>

Use mostly text for navigation. Controlling most of the navigation from page to page on your site through text links makes it easier for search engines to crawl and understand your site.
Put an HTML site map page on your site, and use an XML sitemap file.
Create content that is useful and compelling. Use a good mix of keyword phrases.
Write text that users will enjoy that is well written and easy to follow
Break your content up into logical chunks
Make sure each page has relevant and unique copy – do not copy the same text from page to page
Format links so they’re east to spot –choose descriptive text to link with.
Optimize your use of images – be sure and use the alt tag with a descriptive keyword related to your page.
Use heading tags – these are what you may consider the title text on your pages. Use headings sparingly across the page

Once these basic rules are in place you know you now have a great foundation to launch the rest of your marketing plan…

For more insight or if you have any questions what so ever please contact me!

Pamela Jacob - Artista Design

801-910-4825

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Do You Need Outside Help to Achieve Success?

I recently sent out a newsletter and received an interesting comment. In my newsletter, I talked about a goal-setting program that is called. "The 100-day challenge" it is an amazing program that I had taken twice.

My subscriber stated: If you’re relying on someone other than yourself to achieve your goals, I’d suggest re-evaluating your own desire for success…

Obviously, this person is very driven and excited about his business. I am thankful he took the time to read my newsletter and connect with me.

Nevertheless, I was taken back by the comment. I even felt a little defensive, like I had been perceived as weak for needing something other than myself to achieve my goals.

This response was unusual for me. I normally love to receive comments good or bad - and constructive criticism always helps me to make what I do even better than before.

As I thought about this, it occurred to me, there may be many people out in the business world who felt this way. They do not need outside help to achieve success – they know what to do and how to do it.

Do you believe this in your own life and business? It doesn’t make sense to me. I believed no matter what you know, or think you know there is always room for improvement.

As successful as my business is I know that the learning never stops. The more I know, the more I need to know. That includes better ways to motivate myself and hit the ground running.

Life also throws curve balls, with the death of both my parents last year I needed something to prop me up and give me a good push to get me back on track. In life we will all go through some challenging times.

The moral of the story if there is one?

Everyone no matter how proficient or successful they are can always learn through others. Putting money out for quality programs that improve and motivate is one of the most important things you can do for yourself and your business.

If you would love to be motivated, inspired and learn a better way to achieve your goals – I strongly suggest you take “The 100-Day challenge” Gary Ryan Blair has developed 100 days of videos thoughts and actions that will propel you to achieve your goals faster than ever.

Check it out Click Here…

Until next time may great success and happiness come your way.

Pamela Jacob “Artista Design”

Providing Creative Solutions & Amazing Results

Monday, August 25, 2008

How to Write E-mail Promotions That Get Results!

I absolutely love this series of free - video's, I hope you enjoy them and learn as much as I have. Below is a total synopsis of the video's (video by video) and exactly what you can expect. You will love them! Have you ever been faced with the task of having to write an email promotion to your list, and then realized that you didn't know what to say or how to say it? Michael Rasmussen's new video course "E-mail Promos Exposed" promises to solve that problem for you by walking you through the actual process of creating effective e-mail promos step-by-step. ************************************************* If you're in a hurry, just go ahead visit this URL to get instant free access to these videos: Free Video's I decided to see if Michael's videos live up to their promise by trying them out myself. Here's what I found: ************************************************* Over all Quality ************************************************* The first thing I noticed when I opened up thefirst video was the stunning production quality. He used Camtasia Studio for the production, which is now the industry standard for creating high-quality screen capture video products. I also liked how Michael divided the Free Video's up by section, and then again by sub-section. For example, one video is all about the subject line, and then there are different parts of that video that each cover a certain area of crafting a killer subject line. Now let's move on to... ************************************************* THE ACTUAL VIDEOS ************************************************* Here's a brief summary of each video. Obviously it's impossible to list every single thing here, but I want you to get a feel for what each one covered, and how well it covered it. If you're in a hurry, just go ahead visit this URL to get instant free access to these video's ************************************************* VIDEO 1 - INTRODUCTION This video served as an introduction to the wholecourse. You get to see a picture of Michael in his every day life, and he establishes his credibility right up front by talking about some of his successes online. He even provides proof of credibility by displaying two checks which prove that, when it comes to the subject of making money with email promos, he knows his stuff. This is a good lesson for anyone to get. When ever you're teaching people how to do something, it's good to establish your credibility up front, so that there's no doubt about whether or not you'requalified to talk about the subject. Most product developers either skip or minimize this step. VIDEO 2 - BEFORE YOU WRITE THE PROMO This video talks about some things that no other marketer has bothered to mention. You'll learn things like:

The mindset you need in order to write an effective promotion
The different tools you need before you get started
How to keep your e-mails laser-focused
How to create an outline that practicallywrites the email for you.

This was a fantastic video, and did a good job of kicking things off. VIDEO 3 - THE SUBJECT LINE I liked this video, because it talked about one of MY biggest weaknesses when it comes to writing e-mail promos... the subject line. The subject line is a confusing topic, because nobody's 100% sure what the best tactics are. Michael breaks it down, and reveals:

The biggest secret for writing a subject line that makes people insanely curious.
Techniques for personalizing the subject line.
Mistakes to avoid when using personalization.

I was surprised to find that I was making some of the mistakes that Michael mentioned in this video, but now I know better. VIDEO 4 - THE OPENING This is where a lot of people slack off when writing their emails. Michael talks about how important it is to create an opening that is conversational, and then reveals techniques and examples on how to do that. He also reveals:

How to get people to keep reading your email once they've opened it.
How to make your opening interesting.
Mistakes to avoid when creating your first few paragraphs.

VIDEO 5 - THE BODY COPY This is one of the "meatiest" portions of the course, because it reveals techniques that are not widely discussed on the forums, blogs, and in most e-Books. He talks about the importance of keeping your body copy tight and relevant, and then reveals how you can do that. You'll also learn:

How to write powerful bullets that make people curious and want to find out more.
Simple formatting tricks for making your body copy easy to read.
The secret of "bucket brigade copy" and how to use it in your e-mail promos to force people to keep reading.

VIDEO 6 - THE CALL TO ACTION This is where a lot of people wimp out in their e-mail promos. They start out strong, but when it comes time to ask the reader to click the link and take action, they don't know what to say. Michael talks about some of his favorite techniques for making that happen. He also reveals:

The "magic question" to ask yourself that will make your close much more powerful.
The secret of the "unanswered question" and why handling this is a surefire way to get people to act right away.
The structure of a powerful close.
Mistakes people make when creating their close.

VIDEO 7 - CREATING AN EFFECTIVE P.S. Some people say that the P.S. is one of the most important parts of the email, because it is often the one thing that gets people to click the link at the end. In this video, Michael talks about:

Why you should including a P.S. at the end ofyour email.
The 4 different kinds of P.S.'s you can use (this section was a real eye-opener for me).

VIDEO 8 - COMMON MISTAKES PEOPLE MAKE I loved this video, because it showed me some mistakes that I was making that I wasn't even aware of. Unless you're a seasoned pro, you're probably guilty of some of the things that Michael talks about in this video as well, and that's why it's so valuable. I've shaved years off my learning curve, because now I can avoid some of the costly mistakes that I was bound tomake in the learning process. VIDEO 9 - HOW TO CREATE FOLLOW-UP EMAIL PROMOTIONS This video alone is going to make me a lot of money. Why? Michael shows in this video how important it is to send a follow-up promotion, and he shows you exactly how to do it.

He covered things like:

The psychology of follow-up e-mail promo's.
The 2 main types of follow-up promos that make the most money.
How to over come readers' objections in your follow up e-mails.
The 2 most common mistakes people make when writing follow-ups and how to avoid them.

VIDEO 10 - HOW TO WRITE BACK END E-MAIL PROMOTIONS Every marketing guru out there says that the REAL money is on the back end. The problem is... Most people have no idea how to set up a back end system that makes money. This video will teach you how to set up an automated back end. He reveals things like:

Common mistakes people make when creating backend email promos.
How to prepare a backend promotion sequence.
The big difference between regular and backend e-mail promos.

VIDEO 11 - CREATING AFFILIATE EMAIL PROMOTIONS Some of you are strictly affiliate marketers, or you would like to promote products that you love - and get a bonus in return. Let's face it, if you only have 3 products, can you really afford to only email your list 3 times a year? They'll get bored hearing about the same old products over and over again. This video sheds some light on how to create killer affiliate promos. Michael reveals things like:

The two main types of affiliate promos.
What makes affiliate promos different than regular promos (and why ignoring this huge secret could cost you big money).
Michael's favorite tactics for creating affiliate promos that no one else is doing.
3 different ways to add scarcity to your affiliate promos (this is the most important section of the video, so make sure you watch itover and over again).

************************************************* CONCLUSION ********************************************* As you can see, E-mail Promos Exposed really packs a lot of punch! Most of the courses out there offer only watered down, weak content. Not this one! These videos are going on my "A-list" for along time. I've already watched them twice, and plan on reviewing them every couple months to make sure that I have the principals, techniques and tactics burned into my mind. If email marketing is an important part of your business (and in my opinion, it's the most important part of ANY online business), then you owe it to yourself to check out Michael's exciting new videos, E-mail Promos Exposed. Here's the URL where you can get instant free access to the videos right now. Free Video's I hope you take advantage of these free video's they are phenomenal... Pamela Jacob - Artista Design