So you think Social Networking Sites are a Waste of Time? Rethink this or lose out.

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So you think Social Networking Sites are a Waste of Time? Think again, Google's new Indexing System says different, site owners take note. If you have been one of the nay-sayers about Social Networking sites like FaceBook, MySpace, Twitter, Friendster, and YouTube you may want to rethink this belief. If you have been saying, "I just don't get it." It's time to "get it" especially if you want to exploit this for the good of your online business. First, you need to know that Google is now indexing Social Networking content including video, images and blogs right alongside with webpages. What this means for you is this. If you don't use these sites to promote your business you are missing out on a lot of free promotion for your business and opportunity to get better indexed at search engines. The more content you have online about your business, products and services, the better indexed your site will be. This means your customers and prospects will be more easily able to find what you have to offer at your site. The more links TO your site (called backlinks), the more popular your site is viewed by search engines, especially if those links come from what are deemed as high-profile (authority ) sites. Here is what you need to know to capitalize on all this free promotion for your business (essentially this is Search Engine Optimization Strategy whether you know it or not). Getting good returns from Social Search Results means: 1. If you don't have a Google account get one. Make sure you have all of your important links on your Google Profile. 2. Do make as many connections as possible on the most popular social networking sites especially the ones that attract your market. 3. Encourage customers to follow you via social networks. Include your Twitter address, FaceBook address etc on your site and your marketing materials. 4. Participate in social media so people will engage with you. This starts with getting a free account for your business on the popular social sites. 5. Encourage sharing of content (there are plenty available social media buttons) Example: Flicker, Digg, etc, 6. Always include social network information on business cards, signs and so forth. Get the word out in as many places as you can. 7. Be sure to include as much social network information as you can in your online promotions 8. Everywhere you network include a link BACK to your website - this is CRITICAL. Remember when doing searches, social results will always be clearly marked as such on Google's SERPs (Search Engine Results Page). The returns will be accompanied by a heading "Results from your social circle". For traditional Search Engine Optimization (SEO), it is just one more thing to compete with as far as website property. That's why social networking is a much more of an important part of search than ever. Get on board now, Google will be announcing more changes to their new indexing system, so make the most of this information now. Sandi Hunter, is the Director of Website Development at Worldprofit Inc., and an IT Consultant for small and home business owners. Republished with author's permission by John Silva http://InstantComputerBiz.com.

Techniques To Help You Market Through Facebook

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There's more to Facebook marketing than just creating a Facebook page. If you're new to Facebook or your campaign hasn't seen results yet, you probably just need more information so you can be successful. Read on to learn what to do in order to market your business on Facebook. If you are going to share images with your fan base, make sure that you know exactly who or what is being portrayed. Posting a picture of one person and saying it is someone else is a very terrible faux pax. It may give people the idea that they are not individuals in your eyes. When thinking of information to share with your followers on Facebook, try to keep them relevant to what is going on with your business or industry. If your company sells auto parts, you should make posts about auto parts. Posting photos of cats or other irrellavant topics will ensure that people unfollow your page. Get faces to your brand active on Facebook. You know the social media has "face" in the name don't you? Facebook is really about building relationships, and it's tough to build relationships around corporations or faceless brands. If you add some faces and names into the mix, it can do a lot for building brand engagement among your fans. Use Facebook as a customer service tool. Invite customers to send you questions, comments or complaints by commenting on your Facebook page. This is a great way to display your excellent customer service policies. Answer questions in details and offer refunds or new products right away to the customers who complain. A clear purpose is necessary when figuring out your Facebook marketing campaign. You can't just think that getting lots of Likes on Facebook will bring in huge profits as a result. You must have clear goals, such as building sales by x percent, so you can work towards them. Be careful of any images you post as ads, as only 20% of the image can be actual text. If you end up submitting an image which has more than 20% text, it will be rejected and you've wasted your time. Be creative and create an image which captures your audience's attention. Make sure that any content you post is made shareable. There are many businesses that leave messages then they fail to allow users to share it with others. Word of mouth is your biggest Facebook fan, so do not forget to allow sharing. Failing to place share links on your page will set your business back a lot. Never buy Facebook fans to make you look bigger than you are. It may be tempting to throw down some cash to buy your way in to big fan numbers, but it never turns out the way you want. Those hallow fans bring nothing to the table, and people who are in the business can see through this tactic in a heartbeat. It's never worth it. As you can see, Facebook marketing does take a bit of effort. Now that you know what to do, though, it should be pretty easy to get started. So get on your computer and create your first post today. If you use our tips, you will see success almost instantly. John Silva is the Owner of http://InstantComputerBiz.com. Check us out anytime for marketing tips and a free subscription to our cutting edge newsletter.

The Importance Of Search Engine Marketing

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Many people ask what search engine marketing is and how can it pertain to their business? Search engine marketing is the promotion of your website through search engines while obtaining more web traffic to your website. This in turn generates more leads for potential sales within your business. A very important part of search engine marketing is pay per click advertising. Pay per click advertising brings in internet traffic to your website once your pay per click campaign is active. You can actually start receiving targeted visitors to your site within minutes, provided of course you have set up your PPC campaign correctly. SEO on the other hand will minimally take hours, days and in some case three to six months before you will see results. Ensure your business website is registered with the major search engines: Within today?s world, unbelievably more people spend more time on the internet as compared to those who do not use the internet. The younger generation (ages 18 to 35) spends more time upon the internet as compared to other market groups. No matter the market group, which you are targeting, you must ensure your business website can be found within the major search engines upon the internet. Internet visitors utilize the search engines in searching for products, services and information. If you do not have your business listed within the major search engines, you will be losing business or even worse go out of business. What can SEO do for my business website? The most effective method of search engine marketing is search engine optimization. SEO improves the quality as well as increasing the multitude of traffic to your business website through the major search engines. The more often your business shows up within the major search engines, the more visitors you will receive to your internet site, which will in return generate more leads as well as sales for your business. What is the big deal about rankings with my business website and search engines? You want your business to rank well within the search engine rankings. Upon achieving good rankings, you will find that your business website will bring people in who are looking for particular services or products. These are commonly titled ?potential customers?. SEO is not a one-time deal SEO requires a lot of time as well as your efforts in obtaining success. This is not a one-time thing, which you must perform. SEO in order to be effective must be updated continually; as well as often. If you are not confident with your own SEO skills, I would recommend you hire a professional SEO to aid you with your SEO needs. This will allow you to focus on other matters pertaining to your business. What is pay-per-click advertising and how can it aid my business website? How important is search engine marketing? Search engine marketing is very important for your business and should be permanently instituted within your marketing plan for your business. If you utilize search engine marketing effectively, you will find that your business will experience the success you have worked so hard to achieve. John Silva is the Owner of http://InstantComputerBiz.com. Check us out anytime for marketing tips and a free subscription to our cutting edge newsletter.

Keeping Your Blog Fresh And Exciting With Simple Tips & Tricks

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A lot of people today are very interested in the subject of blogging, but they aren't sure what they should be doing to create and manage a well structured blog. If this is something that catches your interest then you should read further, as the following information can set you on the right path. Don't go too broad with your posts. If you have different skills, try using them on a specific topic. Creating broad blog posts in an uncontrollable way can make your brand dissolve. Even if you have readers that are interested in various topics, you're making it harder for people to recognize your single brand. Ensure that the titles of your blog posts are very catchy. Imagine that you are someone who is just browsing the internet and you see your blog post among thousands of others. You should ensure that your blog headline sticks out from the rest. If you are starting your own blog, you probably won't have a multitude of readers and comments right away. You will have to search out people and show them you exist. Some ways to do this are with social networking, such as Facebook and Twitter. Use these sites to communicate with people, not just to post links. Since blogs are written on a more personal level, you should avoid writing in formal tones. This will make it easier for the reader to relate to you on a personal level. This will keep your readers coming back later on to read more of the blogs you write. Minimize the background "noise". You want your readers to focus on your words and the point you are trying to make. If your background is not somewhat plain, you will draw the readers focus from your entries. Keep your background to a light or white color without images or other distractions. If you plan to blog for the long haul, then invest in a domain name. It's inexpensive and will make your blog look more professional. Using your business's name or something related to it will make it easier for viewers to remember it. Refrain from using blog designs that are similar to MySpace. This means using extremely busy designs that have too much content on your screen, too many animated graphics, etc. Having these busy designs makes it extremely difficult for your readers to read your blog. As a result, they'll likely leave. Consider adding pictures or music to your blog. Stimulating their senses will create a fuller experience, and increase the pleasure of your visitors. Choose pictures and sounds that are relevant to the content of your blog. Before you chose anything, be certain that you are not in violation of any copyright laws. Building an online presence via blogging is something that takes time, keep this in mind. Just remember that the sooner you start the sooner your potential to build an audience becomes. So do your best to apply all of the knowledge you learned and the audience you've been seeking should follow. John Silva is the Owner of http://InstantComputerBiz.com. Check us out anytime for marketing tips and a free subscription to our cutting edge newsletter.

What Every Home-Based Business Owner Needs to Know About Shiny Object Syndrome

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One of the greatest enemies to business success is Shiny Object Syndrome. You as an entrepreneur are probably highly creative, intuitive and optimistic by nature, and it's likely common for you to have a mind full of new ideas at any given moment. You see opportunity where many others don't and the trouble arises when you want to bring all of the ideas to life at the same time. It may also be difficult for you to say 'no' to pursuing a new idea or opportunity when it's presented because you love 'new' and 'exciting'! Some days you may feel you're chasing after many ideas at the same time while accomplishing no real progress on any one of them. In order to beat Shiny Object Syndrome it's important to pick ONE idea and focus your undivided attention on it. Of all the ideas you have in your head right now, which one has the potential to make you the most money? This is the idea you want to focus your complete attention, energy and resources on. Many other great ideas and opportunities will come your way as you work on bringing your best idea to life, but until that happens, keep a running "Great Idea/Opportunity" list where you can keep a record of these items for future attention. All of those great ideas and opportunities are useless to you if you can't bring them to full completion within an effective time frame. With your best idea at the forefront, decide on how to implement a structured plan. Map your plan into bite-size, manageable pieces and once done, focus your attention on completing the first step. Only once you have completed that step, move on to the next. Keep in mind, throughout the process distractions will surround you. When presented with an opportunity, albeit a good one, learn to say 'no' if it takes you away from your primary goal. It's often hard for entrepreneurs to say 'no' but chasing many ideas simultaneously will only put you further and further behind. So, where do you start today? Here's a brief guideline to help you along: 1. Make a list of all the ideas and opportunities on your 'to do' list right now. 2. Pick the one that will make you the most money and develop a manageable plan to complete it. 3. When distractions arise, ask yourself, "Will this bring me closer to my goal or take me further away from it?" 4. If they take you away from your primary goal, learn to say 'no'. John Silva is the Owner of http://InstantComputerBiz.com. Check us out anytime for marketing tips and a free subscription to our cutting edge newsletter.

How To Gain Access To The Best SEO

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The primary question any online business owner should have these days is; how to gain access to the best SEO company for the purpose of implementing the most efficient ways to achieve revenue generation and ensure future company growth. Since marketing your business can often be complicated, you need to know how to gain access to the best SEO companies to assist you with your brand recognition, online visibility and advertising efficiency. T The following identifies a few reasons many business owners choose these services: 1. You benefit from their knowledge The first reason that businesses may choose to hire a professional is the fact that they just do not know enough about search engine optimization and fear they are losing customers. By outsourcing these services, the professional knowledge provided by a SEO company will ensure that you are getting all the traffic and business that you can handle. 2. Using the tools that are available The Internet has become the leading resource for marketing an online business and can also be one of the most complex resources for a business to understand and put to good use. There can be a huge learning curve if you wish to learn how to market your business on your own. But, a good SEO company will be able to take the pressure off of you so you can do other things related to your business. You will have access to back office tools such as tracking services so you can see your back links and any changes in traffic which will help to gauge whether the company you hired is really helping you or not.. 3. Access to marketing techniques and strategies Anyone can put up a website but marketing that website can prove to be somewhat overwhelming at times. Hiring a SEO company will allow you to gain access tools such as search engine optimization, link building, online advertising, and social networking simply and easily. How is that for stress free advertising? 4. Improving your bottom line The final reason that many online business owners hire SEO service companies is to improve their bottom line. Effective marketing is important and if you feel like you just are not making a big enough splash in the marketplace then maybe a look into hiring out some aspects of your overall marketing strategy should become your priority. If you have an online business you need to enhance your online presence any way you can, legally, of course. By hiring a SEO company you will dramatically increase the traffic coming to your site, which in turn will lead to more sales of your product or service. This, obviously, then improves your bottom line. Learning how to gain access to the best SEO company is very important if you do not know these things yourself. Any company worth it's salt should also provide you with some support, if not training, into how to track and organize all of this new information coming in because of their efforts. No good company should ever leave you hanging. John Silva is the Owner of http://InstantComputerBiz.com. Check us out anytime for marketing tips and a free subscription to our cutting edge newsletter.

How To Send Email Customers Want To Read

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You've probably never heard the term "email marketing" before, but more than likely you have seen it. It's everywhere! Your favorite companies have more than likely sent you a message telling you about a product. This is email marketing in its purest form. Does this sound like something you would want to use? Granting that it is, then continue reading. Playing with fonts is fun, and you may be tempted to spice up your emails with exotic fonts. Resist that temptation! Fonts may display differently, or even be replaced by defaults, on someone else's computer. Even if an odd font does display correctly, there is no guarantee that your recipient will appreciate it the same way you do. To avoid any font-based mishaps, stick with fonts that are widespread, easy to read, and understated. Your color scheme should be consistent and should reflect your brand. If your colors are all over the board, you will appear amateurish and your efforts may not achieve the results that you desire. You can look on sites like COLOURlovers if you need some good ideas to get you going. One of the most important things you can do during your e-mail marketing campaign is to set your goals and re-evaluate them as necessary. Make sure you know what you want to accomplish with your e-mail marketing campaign and be willing to change some of your practices as the industry, your business, or your customer basis changes. Take every opportunity that comes up to be festive when you send out your emails. When there is a holiday try to tailor your emails to fit the occasion. Subscribers will be very appreciative of this, and they will feel as if you are human and not a robot. Offering holiday discounts is another great idea that ties into the festive theme. Write your message copy with benefits in mind, but not yours. Make sure your messages reflect the benefits that your content, products or services are offering your subscribers and readers. They want to know what is in it for them before they commit to the call to action, which is where your benefit happens. When following up with your potential customers, you could follow them up by sending out an email that gives them a summary of an offer. Attach a line on the email that tells them to review this offer. The ending postscript could inform them that there are absolutely no hidden fees on the offer that you are providing them. Email marketers would be wise from including pre-checked opt-in boxes within their emails. This will make you look untrustworthy to your readers as they may take this to be a little to forward. Also, when you let readers opt0in themselves, you create a better email list of customers that are actually interested in you and your business. After countless times of encountering email marketing, you finally know what it is. Put simply, it's using the medium of emails to send messages either current customers or future customers for the sole purpose of marketing to them. Now that you know what it is, make use of it in your own emails! John Silva is the Owner of http://InstantComputerBiz.com. Check us out anytime for marketing tips and a free subscription to our cutting edge newsletter.