Archive for Web 2.0
Use Social Bookmarking to Gain Recognition
Posted by: | CommentsWho wouldn’t want to be viewed as an expert in their field? It can mean more traffic, more sales, more credibility and greater visibility. Your readers and social bookmarking sites can help you there.
When you find something that you love to read, you want to tell everyone. You also want to be able to find it again if you needed to. That is part of what a social bookmarking site is all about.
When you provide good quality content, your readers are happy. They are sometimes so happy that they will bookmark your content on their favorite social bookmarking site.
There are bookmarking sites for just about everything. Readers can tag content, videos, pictures and more. You can create your own account with these sites and add icons to your blog (like mine, see below this post) or website content pages.
The sites don’t copy your content but index a link to it when someone bookmarks it. The bookmarked content or media is voted on by other members of the site. You could even be featured on the front page which could bring you more readers.
There is one crucial point: Readers won’t bookmark your content if you don’t try to build relationships with them. Listen to what readers say in surveys, comments on your blog and make changes on your site or to your products. Knowing that they are being listened to is a great way to build additional credibility.
Don’t stop there. Your readers may be writers in their own right. Endeavor to find to what your readers are interested in. If they have blogs, read and comment on them. Bookmark posts that you find interesting. If you see any of their bookmarked content, leave comments when you vote.
Reply when readers post on your blog. Use your responses to start a conversation with them. It can be both a fact-gathering mission and curiosity about those who read what you write or buy your products.
When your loyal readers see your stuff bookmarked on a site like Digg or StumbleUpon, they will vote for you. Social bookmarking is one way to drive traffic to your site and help build expert status. Choose social networks that cater to your type of content.
If readers like and trust you, they may be more inclined to use social bookmarking to interest others in your work too. Reciprocate by visiting their blogs or websites and tagging their work. Again, the reader/business relationship can prove to be mutually beneficial.
Visit Reader Blogs and Get to Know Them
Posted by: | CommentsReaders visit your website each day. They are there for information to start. They may keep coming back because of your knowledge or to get to know you before they try your product or service offerings. Let them know that you are a real person by returning the favor and visiting them too. It’s great add a comment to your blog post where your reader commented, but it’s another game all together to return the favor by commenting on their blog.
Everyone is a real person but not everyone comes off like they are. Business owners who intentionally stay aloof from their readership set themselves up for all sorts of scathing comments. They are like royalty in ivory towers – high and unreachable.
You are one part of the business equation. Your readers (potential customers) are the other part. Without traffic, you can’t hope to make a sale. Unless you build relationships with the readers, they won’t see any reason to stay loyal to you.
Blogging
Chances are, at least one third of your readers have some sort of presence in cyberspace. More than likely it will be a blog. They may be professional bloggers, recreational bloggers or online entrepreneurs like you.
One way to get to know them is to visit their sites. If you have your own blog for your business, have a category devoted to reader news. Take some time to highlight some of your regular readers on a bi-weekly or monthly basis.
Next, visit their blogs. Read what they have to say and the kind of topics they talk about. Leave helpful comments that show you actually read the posts and not just wishy-washy “I came to visit you to say hello.” Really get involved. Remember the old saying, “treat others the way you want to be treated?” This old saying, when put into practice, can really catapult your expert status.
If you have an RSS reader, you can include all of their sites in it so that you will be notified when there are new updates. Participate just like any other follower of the site. They will recognize your name.
Sites, that you like, will benefit when you link back to them on your site. Organic links rank higher in search engine eyes than simply doing each other a favor and exchanging links. On your blog, you can post reviews of their blogs or just write posts that highlight each one. This is essentially a review without calling it that.
Interacting with your readers and getting to know them in this way is mutually beneficial. Those organic links work both ways. Besides, you never know who will hear about your business through these comments and other relationship building techniques.
7 Reasons to Use WordPress For Your Website
Posted by: | CommentsYou are ready to do it. You are ready to have your voice be heard. You are ready to start your own website or blog. Good for you – now to decide which platform to use…
Blogger, WordPress and TypePad are just a few of the more popular platforms. While there are several different applications that are low cost and/or free, most solopreneurs find themselves in the world of WordPress. There are many good reasons to choose WordPress over the competition, including open source content management and SEO ability. If you find yourself trying to decide which is right for you, here are some everyday reasons to use WordPress as your platform of choice.
1. Personality Zone – WordPress is all about you. There are hundreds of free themes available to personalize and provide an Internet presence that represents who you are as a solopreneur.
WordPress themes are flexible and can be customized to your niche audience, service and product line. Best yet, if you get tired of the theme you are using on WordPress, simply change it by uploading a new theme. With a simple click of a button WordPress moves your content to the new theme for you.
2. Plugins! Plugins! Plugins! – Get the idea? Plugins are another way to customize your space. Popular plugins include contact forms, site statistics, search engine optimization, and photo resources. WordPress currently offers many different free plugins and is adding to their plugin resources daily.
3. Pagination – Back in the early days of blogging or using a platform of this type, blogs appeared as online diaries with one post following the next and comments intermixed between. With WordPress you can actually create pages to separate your material or to provide additional information.
Maybe you have a blog that focuses on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Each of these could be placed onto their own unique page, making it easier for your readers to find the information they are looking for.
You can also create additional pages such as ‘Contact Me’, or ‘About Me’ pages. This functionality also makes WordPress the perfect platform
for businesses, not just bloggers!
4. Performance – Believe it or not, not everyone who uses WordPress is an expert at web design. Creating your own website or presence can be a daunting task for anyone. WordPress provides easy to use functionality with a built in dashboard to help manage your sight. Also, because of its popularity WordPress has many resources available to their users including online forums, help references, and support teams. Best yet, if you just want to try blogging out for a bit before you invest in your own domain name, WordPress allows you to register your blog on their site for free at www.wordpress.com.
5. Permalinks – When you create your blog and/or website, you want the world to be able to connect to that specific blog quickly. This is where permalinks come into play. For every blog you post, WordPress creates a unique permanent link to that specific post.
6. Ping Back to Me – What is auto pinging anyway? It is a tool that allows you to notify the search engines that you have posted a new entry. By default, WordPress has pingomatic.com built right into the platform, so the search engines are automatically notified that you have posted to your blog. In addition each time another website or blog owner links to one of your blog posts, you are notified on your WordPress Dashboard as well as in the post iteself in the comments section.
7. Pathways Back – Have you ever commented on another person’s blog? Many times the blog will only post your user information when you leave a comment, but if you use WordPress and you are commenting on another WordPress blog, then WordPress has the ability to automatically provide a link back to your blog for anyone to see. A great and free tool to increase your readership.
This is only a small list of reasons bloggers choose WordPress to host their blog. Ultimately, you need to choose the platform that’s right for your needs. Keep in mind, WordPress prides itself on being one of the most user friendly platforms and is constantly striving to make things better for users.
Why What’s in Your Twitter Profile Matters
Posted by: | Comments“Hi, do you want to be my friend?” Thousands of people ask each other this on Twitter every day by following someone. The first thing most people do when one of these requests shows up in their inbox is check out the profile of the person asking. Because unscrupulous marketers find a way to spam any electronic program available these days, and abuse the flow of information by sending unsolicited requests through automated programs, you need to take the time to check out their profile, rather than blindly following everyone who follows you first.
When a person begins to follow you on Twitter, try to get a feel for them. Who are they? Do you share common interests? Is there something there that could turn them into a client, a joint venture partner or a referral source at some point? These are all good questions, but you must remember- they are asking the same thing about you when you follow them.
Your Twitter profile is a snapshot of who you are. It’s a quick 5-10 second glimpse into your world so someone can get to know you better. When you create an account with Twitter, you can chose from one of the pre-made backgrounds or you can use one of the many free Twitter-related tools to custom design your own. If you are really serious about branding yourself or your business on Twitter you can opt to have your Twitter profile custom made by a professional, just like a website.
Here are a few tips to think about when designing your Twitter profile.
• Keep it neat – Too many items on the page, just like a website, distract the viewer’s eyes from the content of the profile. Keep it simple and say what you need to say.
• Keep it consistent – Make sure your profile, and the wording in it, is directly in line with your brand, marketing campaign and other areas of your business you want to emphasize.
• Keep it short – Remember, you only have a few seconds to show off what you have before someone makes a decision whether or not they want to follow you back or follow you at all. Keep your point short and sweet.
• Keep it useful – What do you offer? How can they contact you? Where can they find samples? Make sure your Twitter profile is as useful as possible. People don’t like to hunt for information.
• Keep it interesting – Give your viewers a reason to talk to you. Ask them a question, make a controversial statement, do something small to get them into a conversation with you so you can determine their needs.
• Include links to your websites or even a freebie they could download.
Twitter is a useful tool for any business, but without a proper profile, the business has no identity. Make sure you take the necessary time to design a useful, branded and interesting profile so when you ask someone to be your friend, they don’t have to think twice. There are many other ways to pump up your Twitter profile, but if you follow the six steps above, you will be on a good path to developing a healthy brand.
Use Social Networking in Your Marketing Plan in 2010
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You’d be hard-pressed to find someone these days that isn’t a part of at least one social network. Use that to your advantage. Join in and find ways to engage users, promote your website and increase your traffic for at no cost.
Social Networking Craze
Social networking is one of the easiest ways to stay connected to friends and family near and far. You can share pictures, stories and send instant messages when you are both logged in. This way of keeping in touch has extended into the business world and become useful as a marketing tool. Joining a social network is free so there’s no reason not to give it a try. These sites bridge the gap across the miles better than simple email.
Which sites can you use? Actually, business owners have found most of the more popular sites useful: YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and MySpace. The results from each site are different for every business so don’t be afraid to test and track which ones yield the best outcome for your business. Once you sign up with a valid email address and password, you are ready to get started.
Using sites like these, you can create a page that tells all about you and your business. Look for friends, family and business associates who are also connected so you can keep up with what is going on in their lives and businesses as well.
How to Use Them Effectively
Let’s look at a site like Facebook. It is highly popular and can be beneficial for both business and personal use. On the business side, you can post links to your website when new products are launched, new newsletters are published or sales are going on. If you blog, post links to your newest blog posts (or to guest blog posts you’re doing elsewhere around the blogosphere). Highlight contests, guest bloggers and other events that you are a part of. Have an online radio show? You can invite friends to listen to live podcasts to learn more about your business.
On a site like YouTube, you can post videos and add the links to your Facebook profile, Twitter stream, etc. Invite friends to view and leave comments.
The best part about social sites such as these is that friends and business contacts can pass your links on to others who might be interested in the topics as well. Quite possibly viral marketing at its best!
Relationships Matter
The one thing to remember about promoting your website or blog on social networking sites is not to do so just for that purpose. Relax and get to know the people you are trying to reach out to. They say that social networking can be addictive. While it can be a double edged sword if you’re not careful, setting boundaries will make it addictive in a good way by growing your business.
Just like so many other marketing tools, the name of the game is relationships. You can build meaningful ones not only with friends and family, but with your target audience and business associates on all the social networking sites like LinkedIn, MySpace, Twitter, Facebook of course, and others.
Comment on your friends posts and visit their links as well. As an Internet marketing tool, social networking works both ways. Don’t think of it as a means to an end but one of the more fun marketing tools you get to use to grow your business.
If you aren’t currently using any social networking platform, now is a great time to start. It can serve dual purposes in your life; both to your benefit. Each business contact you meet, invite them to be your friend or follower. Who knows? You could be connecting with a future joint venture partner or find that diamond in the rough service provider to help you take your business to the next level.
If it feels like I am speaking another language or you want to learn more about social networking and its advantages for your business, join me for Social Media Made Easy.
