Category Archives: SEO copywriter

Is It Dangerous To Depend Solely On Social Media?

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Posted by admin on August 20, 2009 – 8:33 am
Filed under Marketing Tip, SEO copywriter, Twitter, online marketing, social networking

Although popular social media sites are some of the greatest tools to use to market and promote your website, they’re not the ONLY tools you should be using. The above video illustrates how Twitter, as well as Facebook, were the recent victims of a hacker. When these systems were down, Tweets and Facebook updates could not be passed through.

This event should inspire you to use other online channels to market and promote your business. Other channels include discussion forums, blogs, and email.

Were you affected by the Twitter and Facebook catastrophe?

If you enjoyed this post we’d love to hear from you in the comment section or share this post on Stumbleupon or Digg.

The Power of Twitter Unleashed

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Posted by admin on August 13, 2009 – 10:47 am
Filed under Marketing Tip, SEO copywriter, Twitter, attract clients, increase online sales, increase site traffic, online marketing, social networking

 

The above video taken from WebProNews is a fantastic illustration of just how powerful Twitter is in real-time news. In this video, Brett Tabke founder of WebmasterWorld, shares his expert insight into the world of social media and Twitter, and provides useful Twitter statistics that support the rise in social media marketing.

 
 

 

The Baby Steps to Marketing Your Business Online

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Posted by admin on August 11, 2009 – 9:09 am
Filed under Marketing Strategy, SEO copywriter, attract clients, blogging for business, increase online sales, increase site traffic, online marketing, social networking

second sumer sg

You know you need to change the way you market your business online, but where on earth do you start? Don’t try to take on the Internet as a whole. The key is to take baby steps.

Begin by analyzing how your company is currently marketing. If you’re using print and word of mouth as your main means for marketing your company, it’s time to consider the web as a primary marketing tool. Marketing online is one of the greatest ways to attract thousands of potential customers, increase brand exposure, and interact immediately with your target market. And it can be less expensive than print.

So, where do you begin?

After reviewing your company budget, you may find you’re not ready to give your website a complete facelift just yet. If so, Sūmèr’s Life after Launch services are the perfect fit for you. Life after Launch is primarily for those looking to increase online exposure, ramp up online marketing campaigns, and boost brand presence on the web—without spending a ton of money.

Whether you’re using Life after Launch services for blog marketing, social media networking, or social media marketing, you’ll see immediate results thanks to excellent online analytic tools and Sūmèr’s highly experienced online marketing gurus. These analytic tools show you direct results from our online marketing efforts, allowing you to track your progress. Also, you can track the percentage of increased website visitors and determine the exact websites visitors come from.

For example, if you use Life after Launch services to ramp up your exposure on Facebook, you can see how many people visit your business website from inbound links on Facebook. We make this possible through our analytic tools and provide you with a comprehensive breakdown of important analytics.

Once your social media marketing efforts rise, you can use Life after Launch services to maintain your accounts and keep a steady flow of visitors coming to your website from social media sites.

What’s the next step after implementing Life after Launch services?

After increasing your website traffic dramatically with Sūmèr’s Life after Launch services, consider hiring a professional web copywriter to rewrite and optimize your web copy for search engine purposes. The right web content writer can write result-driven and optimized web copy that speaks clearly and effectively to your target market, while projecting an accurate brand image and company message.

Remember, you don’t have to spend a ton of money to get amazing marketing results on the web. Begin with social media marketing and work your way up to having your web copy rewritten and optimized. A steady increase in online marketing efforts over the course of several months will have amazing results and sky-rocket your sales and company exposure online.

Are You Going About Social Media The Wrong Way?

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Posted by admin on August 6, 2009 – 10:59 am
Filed under Gain Brand Loyalty, Marketing Tip, SEO copywriter, attract clients, blogging for business, increase site traffic, online marketing, social networking

 

In the above video, web public relations expert Brian Solis shares his expertise on how to effectively build relationships on social media sites. You might be surprised to find out the truth behind building solid connections . . .

Twillitary Strikes

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Posted by admin on July 28, 2009 – 12:29 pm
Filed under Marketing, SEO copywriter, Twitter, blogging, online sales

Military Twitter 

This Twitter themed T-shirt is being sold by Bouhammer.com in conjunction with KissMyGumbo.com and Vision Strike Wear, in honor of #MilitaryMon. All procedes from this shirt benefit Project Valour-IT, which ”helps provide voice-controlled / adaptive laptop computers and other technology to support Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines recovering from hand wounds and other severe injuries.”

Purchase yours today and support our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines.

Are You Using Your Blog To Its Fullest Potential?

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Posted by admin on July 23, 2009 – 6:39 am
Filed under Marketing Tip, RSS Feed, SEO copywriter, attract clients, blogging, blogging for business, increase site traffic, online marketing

Blogs are an excellent online platform to provide valuable industry news and tips to your target market, but they are also an integral part of marketing and promoting your business online. Blog posts that provide value to your readers help position you as an expert in your field and a credible source for viable information.

If you want a successful blog–one with a large readership and one that brings you customers–simply posting regularly isn’t enough. You need to market and promote your business blog. Setting aside an hour or two each week to market your blog will help increase readership, position you as an expert, and grow your client base. If you’re not using your blog properly and to its full potential, you are missing out on increasing website traffic and boosting sales.

Below are 9 steps to effectively market and promote your blog:

Step 1: Attach the RSS feed widget to your blog: RSS feed stands for Really Simple Syndication, which is a file containing a brief amount of information–a headline and synopsis–and a link to the full content on the blog. Voluntary subscribers to specific blog RSS feed will receive this information through their RSS readers. Search engines can detect if your blog is high quality based on how many people subscribe to your blog’s RSS feed. In addition, search engines can detect how many people visit your blog from their RSS readers and how many times they click through to your blog.

Step 2: Import blog posts into your social media sites: With a large concentration of companies and individuals using social media sites to communicate, it’s important to import your blog into social media sites. Nearly all social media sites allow you to import your blog into your profile, including some of the most popular social media sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Importing your blog allows your target market to post comments and share posts with friends. Whenever a comment is posted on your blog from a reader via Facebook, the comment is visible on the reader’s minifeed, which can be seen by all of the reader’s friends.

Step 3: Create a blog marketing and promotion schedule: Creating a strict marketing and promotion schedule ensures you will stay organized and current with its promotion. Each week, set aside time to comment on like-minded blogs, ask other bloggers if you can be a guest blogger, or ask others to guest blog for you, and request to be on like-minded blogrolls. Don’t forget to set aside time to track your blog posts and recycle posts into articles.

Step 4: Comment on like-minded blogs: One thing many bloggers don’t realize is the importance of commenting on other blogs. Commenting on like-minded blogs is a powerful networking tool and works to increase inbound links to your own blog. Your comments should be relevant to the blog topic, add value and your expertise to what is being said in the blog, give positive feedback, peak the interest of the author and other viewers, provide links to similar pieces you may have written about the subject, and have a link to your email and website below each comment.

Step 5: Approach popular, like-minded bloggers, and ask if you could be a guest blogger: Search engines look highly upon blogs mentioned on other blogs because it illustrates that your blog provides intellectual material that ignites curiosity and discussion in the online community. Aside from other blogs, if search engines find your blog’s URL on social media sites and social bookmarking sites, these social media sites consider this a positive indicator that your blog is high quality.

Step 6: Approach popular, like-minded bloggers, and ask if they would be a guest blogger on your blog: Requesting like-minded bloggers to be guest bloggers is the perfect way to build relationships online and increase exposure. The more people you can touch and build working relationships with, the more likely you are to successfully market and promote your blog. Having guest bloggers also shows you are interested in what others have to say and are striving to find the best possible industry information available.

Step 7: Request to be on popular, like-minded bloggers’ blogrolls: After commenting on other blogs and requesting to be a guest blogger–and vice versa–it’s time to request to be on those bloggers’ blogrolls. Since you have a basis of a relationship with most of these bloggers now, you are more likely to receive a yes to be on their blogroll. Being present on other blogrolls helps increase inbound links and drive targeted traffic to your blog and website.

Step 8: Track blog posts: Tracking the popularity of specific posts helps you see what topics are of interest to your readers. Regularly tracking your blog also helps you track key phrases people use to find your blog and the amount of click-throughs you receive.

Step 9: Recycle posts into articles: Recycling past blog posts into online articles helps to increase inbound links, position you as an expert in your field, and reach thousands of potential customers. Articles are the perfect way to recycle important and valuable information and share it with thousands of individuals who have never visited your blog before.

Three Ways to Market Your Business Transparently

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Posted by admin on July 16, 2009 – 10:02 am
Filed under Business Communication, Marketing Strategy, SEO copywriter, attract clients, increase online sales, increase site traffic, online marketing

Building a successful business online requires effectively reaching potential clients through strategic and authentic marketing practices. And companies that utilize transparent practices are more successful than companies that shy away from expressing their brand personality and business practices.

Transparent practices are crucial if you want to build trust between potential clients and your brand. If you hide your brand personality, if your message is inflated or muddled in industry jargon, or if the message is too focused on the company, it will be difficult to reach a large range of potential clients and strategic partners.

The key is to get real. Take some time and evaluate your business mission and what your company stands for. Take a look at where you aren’t being as authentic as you could be, then rework your message to reflect the personality and the message you want to communicate.

Here are three result-driven ways to authentically market your business:

Share your brand story and your company’s personality on your website. Don’t make your potential customers feel out of the loop or intimidated when they visit your website. A website that lacks a clear, authentic message and unique company personality will weaken the connection between the visitor and your brand image. A site with a transparent About Us page is a powerful tool that facilitates a strong connection. Not only do potential clients like to see whom they’re doing business with, they also like to see an authentic brand story and the personality of the company.

Become transparent on social media sites. Social media sites are the perfect places to reach a high concentration of potential customers and strategic partners and to integrate your company into the online community. They are an informal way to market your business and places where you can truly let your personality and brand image shine through in a fun and interactive way.Offering behind-the-scenes information, sneak peeks, photos, videos, and recent news about your business on these social media sites provides potential customers with a clear understanding of your brand image and your practices. It also gives prospects a sense of the personalities behind the business.

Share yourself and your company at networking events. A networking event is the perfect place to meet referral partners, strategic partners, and potential clients. Your goal at a networking event is to be remembered–in a positive way—by a handful of people with whom you speak. Don’t be afraid to let your personality shine through when discussing business. This transparency is the key to showing others that your business practices and brand image are authentic. Allow potential customers and strategic partners to build a strong connection between you as a person and your brand name. When you are remembered, your business will be remembered.

HobNobCharleston.com: Charleston’s Premier Community Portal

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Posted by admin on July 9, 2009 – 9:45 am
Filed under Business Communication, SEO copywriter, online marketing

Rising to the top since their debut online in October 2008, HobNobCharleston.com is the perfect online portal for locals and visitors alike to meet all their Charleston, SC, needs. This includes videos, pictures, blogs, news stories, directories, and an extensive calendar of events.

In a nutshell, HobNobCharleston.com is a community website that provides viewers with an extensive business directory, an all-embracing calendar of community events, a wide spectrum of community blogs, videos, and so much more. With sister websites in 800 other cities nationwide, HobNobCharleston.com offers its online visitors a plethora of information to choose from.

Referred to as the “virtual Mayor of Charleston,” owner of HobNobCharleston.com, Becky Smith, serves the overall community, business community, and nonprofit community.

“We love to highlight events and businesses that are special and that are making a splash in the city,” says Smith. “We have a great business directory that we offer to all the businesses where they can list their business for free.”
HobNobCharleston.com also offers great deals on ad space for those businesses looking to get front row and center on this premier Charleston, SC, community portal. HobNobCharleston.com also has a page for real estate agents to post their listings at no charge. The great benefit to real estate agents: Their listings don’t just show up on the

HobNobCharleston.com site; they show up on all 800 HobNobCharleston.com sister sites. Smith also encourages HobNobCharleston.com visitors to upload important community events on the HobNobCharleston.com calendar.

“We want it to be the biggest community calendar in Charleston, so everyone knows where to go,” says Smith. “It’s a one-stop shop for them.”

In this exclusive interview, Smith breaks down HobNobCharleston.com’s role in the community:

What makes HobNob unique compared to other community sites?

Well, what we like to focus on is interacting with the community. We don’t like to just spit information out there and let it sit. We like to update it—keep you informed. We want you to interact with us by communicating anything going on in the Charleston area. Also, we are always running contests that not only highlight our businesses but are also a lot of fun for the community to get involved with. We do trivia, giveaways, and raffles.

Can you provide us with an example of one of your contests?

We started our first contest with the Women of Business. We had hundreds of women sign up for a Pamper Yourself in Charleston package of almost $1000 worth of prizes—all donated from local businesses. The winner was Tiffany O’Neil, and she was very excited to get her huge package! She received a free teeth whitening, free wine tasting for five people at Wine Awhile in Mount Pleasant, beauty control products, $50 spa giveaway, and more.

If I were going to visit Charleston, how would I benefit from visiting HobNobCharleston.com?

You can definitely visit our local business directory and find local restaurants, local music events, shopping centers, hotel listings, art galleries, sporting events, real estate, transportation companies, and so much more. All the things you would need in Charleston are on our business directory, and you don’t have to filter through all the other things on the Internet. You can go straight to HobNobCharleston.com, and the site will tell you exactly where to go. Also, our events calendar lets visitors know all the exciting things that are happening around town. We have a lot of people uploading events, including local businesses, HobNobCharleston.com, and community members—so it’s a very extensive list of events.

Mostly, visitors can get a real feel for what Charleston is all about by visiting HobNobCharleston.com because we highlight much of our local events and businesses with video and pictures. Basically, visitors can see what the community does and how this is a small town and a big town.

Hulu Hits a Home Run in the Online Video Community

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Posted by admin on May 17, 2009 – 8:13 pm
Filed under SEO copywriter, increase online sales, increase site traffic, marketing trends, online advertising, video marketing

YouTube can easily be considered King of the online-video scene. No force has dethroned YouTube from its number one online-video platform—but it looks as though there may be a challenger. Hulu.

According to comScore, in March 2009, Google sites ranked as the top U.S.-video platform with 5.9 billion videos viewed. YouTube accounted for 99% of views on this video platform.

Rising quickly and steadily, Hulu has reached the number three spot on top online-video properties among U.S. internet users and is beginning to take a step into the international realm of online-video.

According to WebProNews, the UK is already beginning to provide full television episodes to viewers, and Bollywood is in negotiations with Hulu, as well.

According to eMarketer.com, comScore reported that Hulu’s total video streams grew 14.3% in March, and the number of unique viewers was up 19.7% in the same period. Although Hulu hasn’t yet reached YouTube’s video-guru status, it’s definitely on the rise and is something YouTube needs to consider as a major competitor. With video spending expected to rise past the $1 billion line by 2011, according to eMarketer.com, competition between the two video platforms could get fierce.

According to eMarketer.com, MAGNA Global stated that approximately $530 million was spent on online videos last year and this number is expected to rise 32%.  

Since there is a significant growth in professional video production, many advertisers are taking the online-video route for their marketing campaigns’, and it’s only a matter of time before online-video properties are advertisers’ main vehicle for advertising.

Press Releases: Skyrocket Your Business to Success

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Posted by admin on May 13, 2009 – 9:18 am
Filed under Gain Brand Loyalty, SEO copywriter, attract clients, increase site traffic, press releases

Are you looking for higher conversions, increased targeted site traffic, and stronger brand recognition? If so, a carefully crafted press release is a sure-fire way to bring your business infinite success. With the viral power of press releases, it’s important to know the finite details of what constitutes an effective press release.

Questions to ask yourself when beginning a result-driven press release:

What makes a great press release?

A press release is any positive, entertaining, or useful highlight about your company. This highlight could come in the form of tips, strategies, product / service highlight, company update, or company event. Keep in mind, the press release content must be relevant to your target market’s interests. For example, if you’re a visitor’s center for a touristy area and are having a contest for best sand castle, it would be beneficial to have a press release written about tips for building the best sand castle. This type of press release is perfect content for blogs, travel sites, and travel publications, because, not only does it provide tips on how to win a contest, but it informs a large amount of people about the event. In the end, you’re receiving brand exposure, and providing useful information to your target market. 

Where is my target market receiving information—print or online?

Ten years ago it was safe to say most target audiences went to large print publications for their daily news dose. But, today, newspapers are taking an enormous hit. Many newspapers have cut staff to nearly half of what it was five or ten years ago, because of the Internet’s rising popularity as a prime news source for the general public. If you want to rank high in Google News, gain brand recognition, increase sales, and drive more targeted traffic to your website, use print and online platforms simultaneously.

How do I begin ramping up online exposure through PR?

Research the terms and keywords related to your company, industry, or product /service to determine what your target market is typing into search engines. Keyword research is a vital component to writing a result-driven press release. This research will show you exactly what your target market looks for on the Internet based on the words they use in search engines. Also, keyword research provides you with information on the language your target market uses to look up information. Effective press releases speak the language of the market they’re targeting. This is why keyword research is so important. Without adequate keyword research, sending out a press release is a shot in the dark.

I’ve done my keyword research. What next?

Once you’ve completed your keyword research and have a solid list of accurate search terms your target market is using, it’s time to find online blogs and articles written around these search terms. Google Alert is an excellent tool to use to stay on top of news in your industry or with your company. Google Alert searches the Internet for the keywords you provide and sends you emails when an article / blog is discovered on the Internet that uses those keywords. Using Google Alerts and search engines to track relevant articles and blogs circulating through the Internet, provides you with a list of several sources that might benefit from publishing your press release. Once you have found several articles / blogs based on your searched topic, you can approach the journalists, writers, and bloggers, and present them with your press release. Explain to the writer that you read their story and believe your press release would be of great interest to their readers and an excellent follow up to their story. 

Who do I send my press release to?

Most of the time, public relations is all about connections. If you want your press release to appear in a prestigious online platform, fantastic copy alone might not cut it. The power behind a solid network of contacts and stellar copy is crucial to getting your press release exposure in well-known online vehicles. So, if you’re cousin’s, best friend’s father is a reporter for the New York Times—which also has an extremely popular website—contact your cousin to get your foot in the door. Also, it’s important to approach popular bloggers and online news sources since they’re excellent contacts in the online community. If you don’t know anyone, it’s time to start building relationships by sending press releases to reputable online communication channels, including reporters, bloggers, and online news sources. If you don’t hear from anyone immediately, don’t be afraid to follow-up from time to time. If one or two respond, it’s important to nurture the relationship and keep it thriving. Also, post your press release on popular social bookmarking sites and your business / industry blog.