Category Archives: blogging for business

Is Email Dead? If Social Media Has Its Way, It Just Might Be. . .

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Posted by admin on April 20, 2009 – 5:18 am
Filed under Gain Brand Loyalty, attract clients, blogging for business, grow your business, increase site traffic, marketing in bad economy, marketing trends, small business marketing, website copywriter

The fate of email is beginning to fall into the online graveyard, where dial-up internet and huge computer monitors rest in peace. According to Nielson Online, internet users are communicating via social media sites and blogs more than email.

What is drawing so many people away from using email ? Could it be that we love knowing what everyone is doing 24 / 7 and need to be updated when someone is taking a nap? I think so. As we become hungrier for information, email doesn’t seem to cut it anymore.

Social media sites have everything, it seems. They’re more engaging, provide media beyond the written word, offer more in-the-moment information than a mass email, and reach out to hundreds of followers.

The graph below was taken from emarketer.com and illustrates the most popular online activities:

email-graph

According to Nielson Online, “Social network and blog use exceeded that of email, increasing their reach by 5.4 percentage points.” In addition, Nielson Online reported that online social networks and blogs are growing three times as fast as overall internet growth.  

Find your business followers by joining a social media site today.

6 Ways to Drive Targeted Traffic to Your Website

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Posted by admin on April 13, 2009 – 6:17 am
Filed under Copywriting, Gain Brand Loyalty, Marketing Strategy, RSS Feed, article marketing, blogging for business, ezines, increase site traffic, market in economic crisis, social networking, web traffic, website copywriter

1. Blog for Business: Blogging for business is free and is an excellent way to attract thousands of potential customers to your website, increase your search engine rankings, and boost company credibility. Regularly posting a blog also builds loyal readership and attracts more people to your website.

2. Comment on Blogs: Posting comments on blogs, forums, and discussion boards related to your target market and industry is a great way to increase site traffic. Use these platforms to post comments, get consumer feedback, and search for industry updates. Posting relevant and helpful comments increases your credibility and lures more readers to your website. After every comment, include a link to your blog or website to increase targeted traffic.

3. Socialize Online: Social media sites effectively integrate your business into the online community and help give your company result-driven online exposure. They’re a great place to post inbound links to your website and are a way to express industry expertise. Social media sites allow you to post recent news, company events, company information, discussion questions, and other useful tools to build solid online relationships.  

4. Bookmark Your Business: Bookmarking your online articles, blogs, and website in specific categories on a social bookmarking site, such as Digg, allows you to reach out to your target market. These sites permit you to share web content with others and allow them to vote on the content. If this content becomes popular among viewers, it will be voted to the front page of the bookmarking site and be viewed by thousands of potential clients.

5. Utilize RSS Feed: RSS feed allows you to reach subscribers interested in what your company has to offer. RSS feed is similar to emails since they’re both sent to subscribers, providing them with updated information. RSS feed makes it easy for subscribers to be alerted immediately and allows them to click on the link to your website. Using email together with RSS feed will increase your client base and increase site traffic.

6. Post Articles: Online article directories allow you to place niche-oriented articles into specific categories, targeted at your specific market. For example, if your real estate company writes an article for ezinearticles.com and submits it under the real estate category, you’ll receive viewers who are specifically searching for your articles.

5 Ways Blogs Increase SEO

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Posted by admin on March 15, 2009 – 9:18 am
Filed under SEO, SEO copywriter, attract clients, blogging, blogging for business, increase online sales, increase site traffic, market in economic crisis, marketing in bad economy

Click the play button to listen to the blog post or, if you prefer, read the post below.

Increasing targeted traffic to your website can cost a small fortune, but it doesn’t have to if you know the right tips, tools, and strategies to get a significant amount of targeted traffic. All it will cost you is your time. The more comfortable you become with these tools, the less time and effort you’ll spend on the blog.

One of the best ways to drive traffic to your website is through a blog. Blogs significantly help your SEO efforts because search engines love updated, fresh content.

Creating a blog is free and is an excellent way to attract thousands of potential customers to your website, increase your search engine rankings, and boost company credibility. A constantly updated blog is a great way to build a loyal readership group. It allows you to establish yourself as an expert in your field by providing visitors with tips, industry news, and information they can use in their own business. It’s also a great place to showcase news relevant to your company and post case studies, testimonials, or awards you’ve received. It’s also an excellent vehicle to let the public know about community service your company is involved in.

There are 5 major ways blogs can increase SEO:

• Search engines love keyword-rich, updated content. 

• Search engines rank you on how many inbound links you have, and blogs are a great way to link back to your site. The more links you have from reputable websites, the higher your page will rank because the search engines will view your site as one of high importance.

• Keywords work on your blog the same way they do on your website. You want to utilize keywords your target market will likely use on search engines and incorporate those into your blogs.

• If you post your blog on social bookmarking sites, it provides a link and gets you exposure.

• Recycling your past blog posts in future articles that are submitted to other online platforms further increases inbound links, exposure, and higher page rankings.

Increase SEO with Keyword-Rich Blogs

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Posted by admin on March 2, 2009 – 7:00 pm
Filed under Copywriting, Marketing Tip, SEO, blogging, blogging for business, increase online sales, increase site traffic, market in economic crisis

It’s important to keep in mind your keywords when posting on your blog. The keywords you use should be the same keywords you use on your website. Keywords work on your blog just as they do on your website. You want to utilize keywords your target market will likely use on search engines and incorporate those into your blogs. The goal of using keywords on your blog is that when someone types in a specific keyword, your blog pulls up on the first page of search engines.

Keyword placement is critical in attracting viewers to your blog. A set of the same three or four keywords can be placed strategically in the title, links, categories, and body of a blog. As with your website, you want to attract a specific target market with profitable keywords. Your goal is to get a high conversion rate from your visitors. This won’t happen if you generalize your target market. Know your target market, and get specific with your keywords.

Each blog post has its own set of labels and categories to help the engines and visitors know what their post is about. Too many bloggers aren’t taking full advantage of labels and categories. Labels and categories are the best place to use the keywords you use in the post—it’s about using the appropriate keywords or phrases in your labels. These keywords and phrases have to match up with what the post is about. The goal isn’t to put out as many keywords as you can think of. The goal is to have a concentrated set of keywords.

Grow Your Business With Social Media Marketing

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Posted by admin on February 7, 2009 – 6:58 pm
Filed under Marketing Tip, attract clients, blogging for business, grow your business, increase online sales, increase site traffic, market in economic crisis, marketing in bad economy, marketing trends, online marketing

One of the greatest challenges companies face with their online presence is lack of time and effort to market their company online. One of the most important aspects of growing a booming business is to market your company online in the most efficient way possible.

Using social media resources to promote the presence of your business online drives website traffic, reaches thousands of potential clients, and gets you involved in your industry’s online community.   

Since social media marketing is one of the most important ways to grow your business online, it’s important to set aside a minimum of three hours a week to promote your business on various social media sources. You can reach out to thousands of potential clients by simply adding three hours a week of social marketing to your schedule. Your business will thank you.

Below are important social media marketing vehicles to utilize.

Video Posting

Videos are an excellent way to allow customers to see the face behind the business. According to comScore, a global internet information provider, internet users in the U.S. watched 13.5 billion videos in October 2008, which was a 45% increase from October 2007.

Video provides a personal connection to customers and allows you to show them how certain services are done, how you work, how the company works, how your product works, and so much more.

YouTube is one of the most popular sites to post videos, since thousands of potential clients view them. Developing a video for YouTube is simple and benefits your company tremendously. You can place the YouTube video on your website or blog to further promote your company.

Blogging

Posting professional advice, information relating to your industry, company projects, and more on a blog, shows customers you’re an expert in your field and are passionate about getting the word out to the online community.

Commenting on other blogs relating to your industry, adding companies to your blog roll and vice versa, and using interactive media on your blog, all create an excellent haven of company / industry information. Using a call to action at the bottom of each blog post and linking it back to your website is an excellent way to bring in potential clients. 

Social Networking

Social media is the key to successful networking. There are many social media websites where you can post your company profile, interact with other companies, integrate yourself into the online community, and share information. Facebook, Twitter, Stumbleupon, MySpace, and discussion forums are just a few places worth checking out. Facebook, for example, allows you to create a company page with your mission statement, basic information, photos, events, video, a place to put your logo, and an area where your blog is fed directly onto the page every time you add a post. Stay active on these sites by posting comments, joining groups, joining causes, and becoming a fan of company pages.

NOTE: Social media sites are not a place to simply promote your company / product / service. They’re a place to build relationships and network with others.

Targeted Traffic: How to Bring the Right Prospects to Your Website

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Posted by admin on January 6, 2009 – 7:56 pm
Filed under Growing Business, SEO, SEO copywriter, attract clients, blogging for business, client attraction, grow your business, increase site traffic, market in economic crisis, online marketing, target market, web traffic

Reaching your target market online ensures a steady flow of clients from different online sources. Making your business visible in numerous areas on the web increases the number of potential clients who will look at your site. This can eventually increase sales, skyrocket site traffic, and boost your conversion rates.  

Here are some ways to bring in targeted traffic to your website:

·       Posting online articles on directories, forums, and social bookmarking sites is a great way to present your business to your specific targeted market. These sites have categories where articles can be posted, allowing viewers to immediately click on categories related to their specific interests. For example, if you offer skin care services and write an article on revolutionized products, you would place it under its associated category and viewers interested in this category would be viewing your article. Right there, you’ve reached your target market.

·       Research the richest keywords for your website. For example, if you own a high-end day spa, it’s important to anticipate the most popular words your target market is using on search engines. This will allow you to increase your SEO (search engine optimization) and reach out to clients with a specific interest in your company and its offerings.

·       Comment on blogs and forums that relate to your industry. These comments can be chock-full of tips and information about your industry, while expressing your opinion in the blog or forum conversation. Know what kinds of blogs and forums would interest your target market and make frequent appearances on them to show you are interested in comments, news, and updates related to your area of work.

Maximize Your Marketing Efforts in Any Economy

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Posted by admin on December 29, 2008 – 5:55 pm
Filed under Marketing Strategy, Marketing Tip, SEO, SEO copywriter, attract clients, blogging for business, grow your business, increase site traffic, market in economic crisis, marketing trends, online advertising, online buying behavior, online marketing, press releases, small business marketing, social networking, target market, web traffic, website

How would you like to be able to keep growing your business no matter what the economy does?

Sign up for expert online copywriter Michelle Salater’s Online Business Marketing Bootcamp for Beginners, and she’ll show you everything you need to know to go where the customers are—online—and grow your business by maximizing your marketing efforts.

And do it in any economy. 

Over the course of 8 weeks, you will work one-on-one with Michelle as she shows you the same tips, tactics, and strategies she used to take her own business from flat broke to so busy she has to turn customers away…and she did this all within one year.

 

Because Michelle really wants to help you grow your business online without struggling so you can skyrocket your sales in 2009, she’s offering a $200 Early Bird Discount to those who sign up before January 4, 2008 (midnight PST). 

 

— http://www.marketingonlinebootcamp.com/

Now is A CRITICAL TIME for businesses to invest in their marketing. And the best way and most cost efficient way to do this is to market online.

A 2001 McGraw-Hill study found that aggressive recession advertisers / marketers increased their market share 2 ½ times the average for all businesses than in post-recession.

How would you like to increase your market share 2 ½ times?

If you’d like to skyrocket your online sales, increase website traffic, and save thousands of dollars by implementing online strategies on your own, NOW IS YOUR TIME to sign up for Michelle’s Online Business Marketing Bootcamp for Beginners. The course begins January 21st.

She can’t make it any easier for you than the 3-payment option she’s made available and the Early Bird Special (save $200) that ends at midnight January 4, 2009.  

Remember, this special offer won’t be available after January 4…

–http://www.marketingonlinebootcamp.com/

5 Tips To Increase Traffic to Your Website

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Posted by admin on December 11, 2008 – 5:58 pm
Filed under Growing Business, RSS Feed, SEO, SEO copywriter, article marketing, blogging, blogging for business, increase site traffic, market in economic crisis, online articles, online marketing, social networking, web traffic

Increasing targeted traffic to your website can cost a small fortune. But it doesn’t have to if you know the right tips, tools, and strategies to get a significant amount of targeted traffic that you need right now. 

·       Post comments on blogs, forums, and discussion boards related to your target market. It would be highly beneficial for you to join a discussion board / forum related to your industry in order to post comments, get consumer feedback, and be introduced to new industry information you may not already know. Posting relevant and helpful comments can increase your credibility and lure more readers to your website link. After every comment, include a link to your blog or website to increase targeted traffic.

·       Social bookmarking is a great way to increase targeted traffic. Bookmarking your online articles and website on a site, such as Digg, under specific categories allows you to reach out to your target market. It permits you to share your web content with others and allows them to vote on its content. If it becomes popular among viewers, it will be voted to the front page of the bookmarking site and be viewed by thousands of potential clients.

·       Utilizing RSS feed and email lists allows you to reach subscribers interested in what your company has to offer. RSS feed and emails are similar since they’re both sent to subscribers, providing them with updated information. RSS feed makes it easy for subscribers to be alerted immediately and allows them to click on the link to your website. Using these combined marketing strategies will increase your client base and will likely ensure an increase in visits to your website.

·       Exchange links with others to increase targeted traffic. If your link can be found on a handful of sites, it can dramatically increase the number of clients visiting your site.

·       Online Article Directories allow you to place niche-oriented articles into specific categories. Your target audience is more likely to be searching for articles in a specific category. For example, if your real estate company writes an article for ezinearticles.com and submits it under the Real Estate category, you’ll receive viewers who are specifically searching for Real Estate articles. This will eliminate viewers who are not in your specific target market.

For more helpful tips on marketing in economic crisis and to learn about our many marketing services, visit Michelle Salater Writing and Editorial, LLC.

Interactive Marketing Spending: The Future of Marketing

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Posted by admin on November 12, 2008 – 4:37 pm
Filed under Audio Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Uncategorized, blogging for business, client attraction, increase site traffic, marketing trends, small business marketing, video marketing

According to a recent Forrester Research study, interactive marketing spending will more than triple by 2012, reaching a high of $61 billion.

Interactive media is an extremely beneficial vehicle to implement marketing campaigns. These types of vehicles include email marketing, online video ads, social media, search marketing, and texting.

Customers demand new and improved products / services, and it’s important for your marketing campaigns to be fresh and innovative as well. With the increasing use of handheld internet devices, many consumers are using the internet to receive information, interact with others, and browse for entertainment purposes.

Differences between traditional media and interactive marketing:

·       More personal communication with customers. Posting videos on YouTube and advertising on MySpace and Facebook are excellent ways to create a more conversational and personal campaign. YouTube videos create the opportunity for you to post videos that may keep the attention of viewers longer than a print ad.

·       Develops two-way communication. Emails can be used to promote and advertise sales, new company products / services, and to keep customers up-to-date on company news. They can also be used to conduct surveys and derive responses from the viewer, creating a direct communication between company and customer.

·       Newsletters, subscriptions, and mailing-list sign-ups are popular among consumers interested specifically in what your company offers. These tools help you target your exact market and cater marketing campaigns toward this clientele.

How Blog Commenting Can Make Your Business Successful

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Posted by admin on October 1, 2008 – 3:23 am
Filed under Marketing Tip, attract clients, blogging, blogging for business, increase site traffic

Blogging is an excellent way to get thousands of potential customers, increase website traffic, and boost company credibility. One thing many bloggers don’t realize is the importance of commenting on other blogs. This is an excellent way to get inbound links to your site, gaining you more potential customers. Commenting on blogs is a powerful networking tool in the internet community and should not be overlooked.

Your comments should . . .

·       Add value and your expertise to what is being said in the blog.

·       Give positive feedback. Don’t be a Debbie-Downer, even if you disagree with what the author is saying. It’s important to give constructive criticism.  

·       Peak the interest of the author and other viewers. Authors who are intrigued by your comment may want to visit your blog and comment themselves. This creates even more clicks to your site.

·       Contain links to similar pieces you may have written about the subject. 

·       Be relevant to the blog topic. Make sure you’re on a site where your target market would visit and be interested in what you have to say, relevant to the topic of the blog. People may get frustrated if they click on a link that is not relevant to the topic, possibly creating a poor image of your company in the client’s mind.

·       Have a link to your email and website below comments you make. When people viewing the blogs see comments below that intrigue them, there is always the potential for them to click on these links to view your site or send an email your way.

Visit Michelle Salater Writing and Editorial, LLC, for more marketing tips and view our many writing services.