With over 500 million users, Facebook is a powerhouse in social networking. If you’re not on Facebook and using it for your small business, then you are missing a huge opportunity. In my upcoming webinar series “Facebook 4 Biz: Ready, Set, Go!” (this webinar series is also part of my Super Summer Sale, which means you get an additional 20% off at checkout), I’ll be delving into the world of Facebook and how to use it to build your brand.

Have you ever wondered how businesses on Facebook get the “pretty” business pages? The answer is Static FMBL (Facebook Markup Language) which is Facebook’s answer to HTML. You can create your design in a WYSIWYG editor like DreamWeaver and paste the code into Static FBML. Just copy and paste everything between the “body” tags (leaving them out) and leave out any Javascripts. If you’re not familiar with writing HTML code, there are a number of HTML tutorials available online or you can partner with a virtual assistant, like Virtual Accuracy Companies, for your HTML creation.

After you’ve created your design elements then use this quick “how-to” I made about creating a landing page for Facebook Business page.

1. Install the Static FBML application located here: http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=4949752878

Underneath the FMBL logo, click, “Add to my Page”

2. On your Facebook Business page, click on “Edit Page”, which is located underneath your picture or business logo.

3. You will now be taken to the backend of your Facebook Business page. This is the nuts and bolts of the Facebook design elements. Under “Applications”, scroll to the FBML application and click “Edit”.

4. Create a title for your landing page, in this case, I chose “Welcome”. Now paste the HTML code you created earlier into the FBML box and click “Save Changes”.

5. To make the new page your landing page, go back to your Facebook Business page and underneath the “Share” button, click on “Options”, then click on Settings and a number of different options will appear. For the option of “Default Landing Tab for Everyone Else”, choose the name of your page from the drop down menu, in this case it is “Welcome”. Your information is now auto–saved.

Now anyone who visits your Facebook Business page and is not a fan, they will automatically be directed to your landing page.

How do you get more traffic to your blog? There are all kinds of strategies that work. When you know the right methods you will be amazed at how easy it is to increase your readership and profits. Here are the five most effective tips:

1. SEO

Search engine optimization is your biggest asset. No matter how many other traffic-getting methods you employ, SEO will make or break your efforts.

The best strategy, of course, is targeting keywords in each post. Obviously you don’t want to make it look unnatural, but you need to lace your posts with keywords in a natural way if you want to get ranked.

What kind of keywords should you go after?

It all depends on the size of your blog. In general, you might want to consider targeting long-tail terms, because they are easier to rank for and are also the most profitable ones. It’s always simpler to rank for ten keywords that get thirty searches a month than one that gets three hundred searches. **To learn more about long-tail keyword phrases see http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/050314-164653**

Also, the long-tail terms are generally the most profitable because they are the most targeted. For instance, if you have a fitness blog, you wouldn’t want to get ranked for the term “fitness.”

Instead, you want to rank for something like “how to improve your health with the Mediterranean diet.” That’s a much more specific search, and you will find it much easier to give information or sell a product for this phraseology.

2. Update constantly

Make sure to continually add new content each and every week. Search engines like fresh sites, which is why blogs are so easy to get ranked.

How often should you add new posts? Try and do so at least a couple times a week.

3. Comment on forums

Forums related to your blog topic are great places to get the word out about your site. However, don’t just go and make a few meaningless comments and move on to the next forum.

Even if you get the link, which is unlikely, you will never get long-term traffic from that site. Make sure you add meaningful and useful content, which will help people come to trust you.

By answering people’s questions, you will build yourself as an authority figure. This will in turn drive traffic to your site. This way you get SEO benefits from the one-way links you are generating, as well as getting traffic at the same time.

4. Comment on blogs

Bloggers love reciprocating. So if you are taking an active interest in other people’s blogs and make intelligent comments, they will probably come and check out your site as well.

Again, make sure you provide a meaningful comment. Try to stick with the popular blogs in your category for more traffic.

5. Article marketing

This is another effective strategy for driving traffic and getting one-way links.

In summary, the best links are generally the ones that will also bring traffic in addition to getting you “link juice.” Therefore, before getting a link, ask yourself if it will also provide visitors.

Before we get into the blog post for today, I recorded a video to accompany it since the topic seemed to beg for it.

How are you using video for your business?

You’ve heard that using video to market your business can bring incredible results. But do the benefits outweigh the effort it takes to put your video online? In a word, Yes! Shooting a video, editing and formatting it, uploading it to the internet with the right title and description takes a bit of time. But the payoff for video marketing can be tremendous. Here are seven real benefits of marketing with video:

1. Personal Connection – Especially for internet based businesses, the personal connection with your potential market is a huge selling factor. With video, your audience can truly get to know you, eye-to-eye. They get to see that you are indeed a real, live person. They start building a deeper relationship with you and feel as if they actually have met you.

2. Social proof – There’s an old proverb: “Believe nothing of what you hear, and only half of what you see.” On the internet it’s so easy to be a fake and a fraud. People are skeptical about claims they read online, and rightfully so. But video puts a face to your words and makes you more believable and trustworthy.

3. Traffic – People are watching 2 BILLION videos per day on YouTube alone! That’s a whole lot of traffic you’re missing if you’re not marketing yourself with video. It’s free and easy to add your video to a large number of the video sites available online.

4. Emotional Influence – The classic horror movie is a great example of how the audio has an emotional effect on us. The creepy music comes in, immediately cluing you in that something bad is about to happen. Now, imagine combining that audio with powerful video cues to influence the emotions of the listener and create a much more compelling message than with just text alone.

5. Portability – Maybe even more so then articles and ebooks, video is portable. iPhones, Smartphones, iPads and all kinds of other devices allow video to be seen on the go. You can also allow people to download video easily so they can view it over and over again.

6. Demonstrations – Reviews, case studies and examples are great ways to sell products and services. It’s the reason why infomercials make millions of dollars. Now there’s no need for you to be as annoying as the Sham-Wow guy to make money with video, you just need to create videos that show and tell your potential customers why your product will be helpful for them.

7. Engagement – There are many reports available online to show that video boosts response and conversion rates. When someone is watching a video, you have their full attention – eyes and ears. Unlike with the written word, they’re not likely skip ahead or gloss over important information. Most people will watch a video from beginning to end, allowing you to clearly create a message and call to action that engages your audience.

Overall, video is an effective marketing strategy that is only growing in popularity. Since video is here to stay, it’s time to check out the options and see how quick and easy video marketing can be.

Do you have trouble understanding Twitter? Whether you want to use it for marketing or social purposes, you still have to understand the language. Here is a list of the more popular terms to get you up to date.

Twitterism – Any word that is only used by the Twitter community. They are generally formed by putting the letters TW before a basic word, like Twaffic in place of traffic.

Tweet – Your 140-character or less message. This is the backbone of the site.

Twitterjacking – Where people hack other twitter accounts and pretend to be that person. Celebrities are particularly vulnerable to this.

Twitterer - Any user of the site. Also called Tweeple on occasion.

Twitterverse – The whole society of people who use the site. This includes both those using it for business and those just using it for social reasons. Also sometimes called the Twitosphere.

Twittersona – Someone’s Twitter persona.

Retweeting – Alerting those following you to another person’s tweet. You are basically quoting that person’s tweet and reposting it on your account. Just make sure it’s clear you didn’t originate it. You must add RT at the beginning and then provide the username of whoever you are quoting. For instance, if you are quoting janetslack, you would say RT @janetslack and then the message. If you don’t format it this way, you are actually claiming their tweet as your own. This is a violation of Twitter policies, and could get you in serious trouble.

Followfriday – This is where you provide the usernames of people that your followers should follow themselves. You don’t necessarily have to include a reason. You format it #FF @the username of whoever you are suggesting.

Twaffic – All the visitors you get from using Twitter.

Tweekend – When you devote an entire day of the weekend to using the site.

De-Follow – When you stop following someone. It’s a play of the standard “de-friend” term used by most social sites.

Hashtag – Tagging a specific tweet by placing the hash prior to the tag. For instance, you would put #pgatour if you were talking about the PGA Tour.

Mistweet – When you send one of your messages to someone you didn’t intend to.

Tweeps - Used to describe people following you that you also interact with on other social sites.

There are many more terms to learn, and this just gives you a rundown of the essentials. You will discover the rest as you start using the site more regularly.

Twitter can be a very effective marketing platform for your business. Hopefully this overview has helped you understand this complex world a bit better, and will help you use it properly in your business.

Windows Live is part business productivity tool and part social networking. The service seems to integrate the two seamlessly. What makes it even better is the fact that there are a number of ways you can utilize it, even if you don’t want to use it as another social network.

1. If you use MSN Messenger you already have “friends” who you can interact with using Windows Live. There are currently 299 MSN messenger users/accounts created, which means if you are an active user, it may behoove you to utilize the services of Windows Live.

2. In addition to being able to add your own original status updates, your Facebook feed can also be imported into Windows Live. This means that your status updates, photos, videos, etc. can be published to your Live account. This feature is also available for MySpace, Blogger, YouTube, Digg, StumbleUpon and soon, LinkedIn. You have the ability to comment on your friends updates in those networks directly from Windows Live.

3. One of the best features is free access to Microsoft Office online. Within Windows Live there is an Office tab and you are given a drop down where you can create Word, Excel, PowerPoint and One Note documents. The service is quite scaled down, but many of the basic and intermediate functions have been included. When you are finished, you can also share the documents with others. This would work very well in a team environment. The programs look almost the same as the ones installed on many computer systems, so if you like the feeling of familiar, you’re going to LOVE this feature.

4. Windows Live gives you the option to store your photos. Like many other social networking services , you can upload and store your photo files for quick retrieval. Plus you can also attach your Flickr, PhotoBucket and other accounts to the Windows Live platform.

5. Privacy seems to be of the utmost importance in Windows Live. When you first sign up you are placed in what seems like stealth mode, meaning you are the only with access to your account. You have to go through numerous steps under each individual piece of your profile to determine whether it will be public, shared with your friends or private. Unlike Facebook, Microsoft has made it clear that you own all of your data.

I know what you’re thinking, who needs another social network? But with the extra tools provided by Microsoft, Windows Live may bear some looking into.

Video marketing is becoming more and more popular all the time. Because many people are visual learners, they prefer to learn new information by watching a video rather than by reading pages of information. Additionally, videotaping yourself can make you seem more personable and approachable. Your viewers hear your tone and see your expression, which can make your message more compelling.

Video marketing is also extremely affordable. Many computers come with a webcam that can record videos. If your computer does not have one, you can get one very inexpensively at an office supply store or online. Another popular tool for recording videos is the FLIP Video, which is robust, compact and affordable. Best of all you can take this mini video camera with you. As a result, video marketing is a cost-effective way to market your website. Here are some ways to get the most out of your video marketing.

Remember your primary goal. When you’re making your first videos, there are a lot of different things to keep in mind and experiment with. First and foremost, your video is intended to promote your business. It should inspire viewers to visit your site and convert your visitors into paying customers.

Keep your video a reasonable length. Around two minutes is generally about right. That is how long it should take you to say something that it takes the average person ten minutes to read.

Promote your video on Twitter and Facebook. When your video is ready to share, publish your link on Twitter and on Facebook. Invite your followers and friends to watch your video and respond. Give them an incentive to watch by posting a teaser of what they’ll learn when they watch.

Track your results. There are tracking tools that can tell you how much of your video was played before the viewer closed it. You can also find out how many of your prospects decided to visit you after watching your video on a different website. Take advantage of these tools to measure your success and make necessary changes to your video marketing campaign.

Give your videos relevant file names. When you save your video, give it a meaningful name that is relevant to the content and interesting to your viewers. It is more likely to be viewed if the title is applicable to what your prospect is looking for.

Submit your video to video hosting sites. You can attract more prospects by submitting your video to other sites. YouTube is the most popular video hosting site right now. You can also submit it to Vimeo and Google Videos.

Add a call to action. At the end of your video, remind your prospect to visit your website or take another desired action. This is why you created the video in the first place – to motivate your viewer to take action.

Video marketing may be new, but it is here to stay. Following these tips will help ensure that you experience the greatest possible success from your video marketing.

For additional ideas feel free to check out and subscribe to my YouTube channel.

The popularity of blogging is increasing by the minute. Because of this, the need for blogging software is also increasing. Using a software that caters specifically to blogging can simplify the entire process. The task of selecting a software package is overwhelming because there are many different packages available.

The process of choosing the most appropriate blogging software is not as difficult as it may seem. Since you’re a virtual business owner, you spend a great deal of your time online. Do some research and you will find helpful websites that can simplify the software selection process.

These websites can provide you with comparison charts so that you can compare the different software packages.

You can save a lot of time by making use of the comparison charts because they have all the information you’ll need in choosing the right software. However, for the purpose of choosing the appropriate software using the charts, you need to look for other important information such as the methods used for comparing the software, understanding the charts, and some helpful tips in selecting software.

Before you attempt to compare the different blogging softwares which are available, you must understand certain criteria. You have to understand the minimum requirements for the server, design, post editor and data storage. If you can understand these things, you can compare the different software packages.

There are many different types of blogging platforms, but the preference of many is to install the software on their server. Take some time to talk to your current webhost to learn more about your server’s capabilities. Depending on the software you choose, you may have additional costs for the license requirements of the software.

In comparing the different blogging software packages on the market, it is imperative that you find the best blogging software for your needs and for your business. Be sure to identify your needs, in advance, so that you can choose the appropriate software package.

Do I want to just use the software as a blog?

Do I want to incorporate my website into this software?

Do I just need a simple sales page?

Do I just need a squeeze page?

Once you’ve evaluated the packages, it’s now time to install the software or use the software housed on the blogging server you chose. This is a very important decision so you need to think things out carefully.

As an educated consumer, you shouldn’t forget about versatility and cost. There are free software packages as well as paid packages. You need to choose between the free packages or purchase one that can exactly meet your needs.

The personal preference for Solopreneur.biz is WordPress.org. This software is available free as an open source option. The software is installed on your server and you have complete control over the look and feel of your completed blog and/or website. Additionally because the software is located on your own server you own all of your links. But best of all you have all of the control.

Anchor links are an effective way to drive traffic to your website or to internal web pages by linking to them in your content. They’re usually referred to as a “link” or a “hyperlink”.

In many word processing programs, like MS Word, you can simply highlight the text you want to use to create the link and then click on the link icon in your toolbar. Once that pops up, you simply type or search for the appropriate page you want to link to and you’re good to go. If you convert that document into a PDF you’ll have to take extra measures or use the Adobe products themselves to retain the links but it’s fairly straightforward.

And many website development programs and interfaces give you the same look and feel. Joomla for example has a user interface that let’s you type and link in much the same manner you would as creating a Word document and WordPress works in much the same manner.

However, if you’re creating your links in a text document or using HTML to write your content and coding then you’ll need to know a few things.

First things first, by default, all links will appear as follows in all browsers:

- An unvisited link is underlined and blue
- A visited link is underlined and purple
- An active link is underlined and red

Understand the basics of HTML. In order to write your own anchor links you’ll need to know some basic html.

Here’s an example of what an anchor link would look like and what the various codes mean:

- The <a> tag defines an anchor and </a> closes the anchor
- href then the URL, specifies the destination of a link

So the following sentence which would appear to your readers as this:

If you haven’t read Biz Tips: The Book Entrepreneur Edition, click here for a FREE copy.

Will look like this in your code

<a href=”http://www.solopreneurbiz.com”>If you haven’t read Biz Tips: The Book Entrepreneur Edition, click here for a FREE copy.</a>

It’s pretty straight forward and easy to accomplish whether you’re doing the coding yourself or using a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) HTML editor. Regardless, anchor links are a great way to link to specific pages in your content without detracting from the copy. And it has been proven that people commonly skip over banner ads but they’ll often click on the hyperlink in your content so it will result in more traffic going to chosen web pages.