I was talking to one of my friends last night and I was trying to teach her a little bit about Internet Marketing so she could get started with learning how to make money online. She asked me how I knew all this stuff.

Well, first of all, I don’t know "all this stuff". Like everyone else, I am constantly learning, constantly reading, constantly trying new tools and constantly seeking updates and new information. Internet marketing is ever-changing, especially when you factor in the "social media" aspect so I don’t think any one person knows it all, all of the time. The key is to stay informed and stay updated.

But, what I do know is that it’s important to have good resources. There are a lot of great resources when it comes to marketing online but I wanted to share a few of my favorites that focus on specific aspects of marketing rather than "in general marketing".

The Copywriter’s Roundtable is a place I really enjoy. There are so many good ideas and insights there. I suck at copywriting. I’m aware of my strengths and weaknesses and copywriting is a weakness for me. So, although I don’t plan to become a genius copywriter, I do know it’s important to have some knowledge about it. I’m always eager to learn a little bit more so that maybe one day I’ll at least not suck so much! And they have a bunch of other valuable tips there too.

Problogger is run by Darren Rowse and he is THE expert when it comes to making money with blogs. Lots of great info here.

Paul Colligan’s blog on "The Business of Podcasting and New Media" has some good information on new media networking and advertising.

There is a lot of information out there to soak up when it comes to marketing online. Some sites provide general information that covers a variety of topics and some are more focused on one topic in particular. It’s important to have a good mix of knowledge and to have a "valuable" mix of knowledge.

There are too many fakes out there who really have nothing of value to offer but make it appear that they do to the untrained eye. The blogs I just pointed you to are run by reputable people with longevity who have valuable information to share on their topic so I hope you enjoy!

Do you know of other blogs that deliver valuable content to the community and focus on a specific topic? Please share!

Karen J. for Online-Marketing-Wizards.com

When it comes to online marketing, one of your greatest weapons are networking websites. There are social networking sites all over the Internet. For some business people, using social networking websites as a business tool is a bit uncomfortable. Sometimes, though, we must leave our comfort zone to be successful. Let’s talk a bit about a relatively young networking site. Twitter. You can find Twitter here. What good is a site like this? What’s the point? Here’s how it works: The question on Twitter is always “What are you doing?” The catch is that you’ve only got 140 characters to update your followers, so make it short and sweet. You can try different ways of updating. Test it out, have fun. Are you looking for new clients? Update your followers on Twitter, they may need your product or service, or might know someone else who does. Just start a big project? Let people know! Launch a new division or product? Take 30 seconds and post an update. On Twitter, you can find people who you know or seek out new ones. You can then follow their Twitter, which means you see their updates when you log in. Also, people can follow you, and they will see your updates. Want hundreds of people to know about your new website? Follow as many as you can, and get them to follow you. They’ll all be informed when you post an update about the new site. I’ll be the first to admit, at first glance, it seems insanely ridiculous. But thousands of people are on Twitter. They are potential clients and customers. Try it out, because you may have fun. Effective online marketing that’s also fun! What more can you ask for? One downside of Twitter is that it can be a bit more challenging to focus on a certain piece of the market. If you only service clients in New York state, it may take some time for you to weed out all the Twitterers who don’t reside in that area. Otherwise, I recommend you try it. It’s free, fast, and fun. Check it out at www.twitter.com. Remember, we will consistently bring you the most recent, must-have information, so come back frequently. After all, we’re your Online Marketing Wizards. You don’t want to miss what’s coming next. Your Online Marketing Wizard, Lisa on behalf of Contemporary VA www.contemporaryva.com

Online marketing can be the saving grace for your business or organization. Never before has there been such a medium. You can reach millions of people, worldwide, and still successfully aim your efforts at the slice of the market you desire. Your target market is within reach, on a scale that you’ve never imagined.

What’s the closest comparison? Television, probably. You get limited exposure for thousands of dollars, and cross your fingers that someone within your target market is watching. Not to mention all of the production costs. For some, though, it works.

Don’t want to go through the trouble? We don’t blame you. If you’re here, you probably know about the revolution that is online marketing, and want to know more. If not, never fear, you will soon be an expert. The least you need to know, for starters, is that online marketing is inexpensive (often free), effective (most people use the Internet), and you can easily keep your campaign focused on your target market. Don’t worry, we will delve into all kinds of detail as time goes on. People also refer to online marketing as Internet marketing, web marketing, and emarketing. It all means the same thing: little or no cost and a global audience.

Don’t want a global audience? Not a problem, you can target your energy at a geographical region, state, city, or even neighborhood.Let’s face it, the more you have to market, the better.

Online marketing is great for e-commerce businesses (small and large), websites, and organizations that operate in the “real world.” Online, there is an audience for everything, so feel confident that your time will not be wasted. We will bring to you some of the most fool-proof, inexpensive, and effective techniques out there.

Regardless of what others tell you, it is simply unnecessary to spend a great deal of time and money marketing online. And don’t fret, even if you’re not the most technologically-savvy person on the planet, you’ll still be successful.

Remember, we will consistently bring you the most recent, must-have information, so come back frequently. After all, we’re your Online Marketing Wizards. You don’t want to miss what’s coming next.

Your Online Marketing Wizard, Lisa on behalf of Contemporary VA www.contemporaryva.com

According to an article published online at CNN Money , marketing professionals predict that more Americans will spend their holiday money online as opposed to in the stores. For Internet Marketers, the information is vital to building a profitable plan. It’s true that retailers can expect a decline in holiday spending in comparison to past years. Even with the conservation in spending, knowing that Americans will look to online solutions, it’s time to build the right campaigns to bring those customers to your virtual door. Customers this year are going to be looking for the following: Free shipping Exclusive online deals Coupons Discounts As you plan your internet marketing tactics for the remainder of 2008, make sure to remember that many Americans are more frugal this year. Bring them to your site by offering incentives, free shipping, deals and coupons and you may end up with a very profitable November and December! Linda for Contemporary VA

So you have a great free taste offer to give your prospects, but how do you let them know about it? Here are fifteen ideas for promoting your free taste. 1. Email Signature – Include a link to your free offer with your name and contact info at the bottom of every email you send. 2. Website – Include a sign-up box on every page of your website. That way no matter which page they land on first, your offer is there. 3. Directories – If you belong to an association for your niche, place a link to your free taste along with your contact information. 4. Articles – Include a link to your free taste in the resource box at the end of any articles you write and submit to article directories. 5. Guest Blog – Offer to write a guest post for a colleague’s blog. Include a link to your free taste in your signature line. 6. Forums – Participate in active discussion lists. When appropriate, and with the guidelines of the site, include a link to your free taste. 7. Other publisher’s email marketing – Ask for your free taste offer to be mentioned in an ezine sent by someone else. Offer to do the same for them. 8. Other people’s websites – Allow colleagues to offer your free taste as a bonus for people who sign up for their lists. 9. Testimonials – Write a brief testimonial for products and services that you love related to your niche. Allow the owner of those products to use your testimonial on their site if they include a link to your free taste. 10. Thank You Page – Include a link to your free taste on your thank you page. Even though they’ve already purchased from you, they may not have received the free taste offering. Providing it now may also prompt them to forward it to a friend. 11. Squeeze Page – Offer multiple opportunities for them to sign up for the free taste on your squeeze page. 12. Business Card – Even with an online marketing strategy, you can’t forget about offline opportunities to market your business. Include a pitch for your free taste on your business card. 13. Teleseminars – Provide a bonus free taste at the end of your teleseminar to further engage with your prospects. 14. Advertisements – Purchase advertising space in another ezine to promote your free offer. Find a colleague to swap advertising space with for a no-cost alternative. 15. Give Away Promotions – Partner with other colleagues to bundle your offerings and market it as a huge giveaway. Run it as a birthday bash, anniversary celebration, or New Year’s giveaway. Keep your free offer link visible and easily accessible. When you find an area that produces good traffic results keep promoting there until the numbers begin to fade. Then change your offer to freshen it up again. Cathy Yerges Partnering in Your Marketing Success

The key with a free taste is to not sell too hard. Give free information that makes the recipient want more. Build the relationship so that people will become familiar with your style and what they can expect from you. People do business with those they know, like, and trust. The purpose of the free taste is to allow them to get to know you. Take a look at these ideas for inspiration in developing your own free taste. • An author could offer a free chapter of a book just released • A musician could offer a free download of a song • A motivational speaker could offer a complimentary ticket to an event they are speaking at • A business coach could offer a free invitation to a teleseminar • A pizza restaurant promoting online ordering could offer a coupon for free appetizer • A camping store could offer a free checklist of items to take on a camping trip • A software developer could offer a free download to a trial version of software • A cleaning company could offer a list of “green” cleaning products • A photographer could offer a free download of a screen saver of their work • A virtual assistant could offer a free time tracking log • A business tax accountant could offer a free schedule of all tax payments due • A wedding planner could offer a timeline for handling all the wedding details • An insurance company could offer a free home inventory worksheet • A financial advisor could offer a free retirement savings calculator • A realtor could offer tips for making your home more attractive to buyers • A general contractor could offer a home maintenance checklist Cathy Yerges Partnering in Your Marketing Success

Link building is one of the ways to optimize your website for search engines. However, different types of links carry different value in the search engines. Overall, Google and other search engines want quality content. The theory is that quality content will lead to more quality links which will lead to a higher rank with the search engines. In other words, a link to your website is a vote of confidence for the content it provides. Types of Links That Don’t Work for SEO Paid links (i.e. advertisements) are not quality links. Many search engines dismiss this type of link since it was put in place by you. Reciprocal links, where you exchange links with other sites, also don’t hold a lot of weight with the search engines since the links may or may not have anything to do with the content on your site. Circular links are essentially non-direct reciprocal links. One site links to another, and that site links to the next, and so on until the last site links to the first. There is no direct reciprocal link, however the webmasters at Google have the technology to locate and break these links when found. How to Get High Quality Links for SEO Directory listings can offer good links if it is a niche directory. For example, if your webpage is on flower design, a link in a directory of florists will mean more than a general business directory. Think in terms of your keywords. Find directories that cater to those keyword niches. The search engines will recognize the link and associate it with your keyword rich content. Partnership or affiliate links can boost your SEO ranking when they link directly to your site without requiring a reciprocal link. Online communities and discussion forums can all provide quality links to your site. When posting to a forum don’t go in with a heavy sales pitch. Engage with the community first. After some time, if you have a solution to a problem that is being discussed on the site, casually direct them to where they can find the answer (i.e. your site). Keyword links are better than links provided in a list. Again, this all relates back to content. When blogging, make your links to a keyword in the post or article rather than providing it in a listing on the side. Find Out Who’s Linking to You Google provides a handy tool for you to see which sites they recognize as linking to you. Google doesn’t capture all links. Links from higher ranking pages will make their list easier. To find out which links Google recognizes type “link:webaddress” in a Google search box. For example, if your website is www.widgets.com, type in link:www.widgets.com. If a number of known links aren’t appearing on the list, it’s telling you that you need to find some better quality links if your goal is to make it to the top of the search engines. Cathy Yerges Partnering in Your Marketing Success

Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is all about boosting your website to the top of the search engines when a person searches on a particular keyword. SEO can be intimidating, but it really can be boiled down to two processes: 1) on-page optimization and 2) link building. Here we’ll cover some of the basics of on-page optimization. On-page optimization is all about getting the right words on the right pages. Your first step is to build a list of the keywords and phrases that reflect your product or service. You can use keyword software tools such as WordTracker or Nichebot to perform your research. Realize that the more generic your keyword, the more web pages you will be competing with for position on the search engines. Try to choose more specific keywords. You’ll get less traffic, but it’ll be of higher quality. Once you have the keywords that you want to use, you need to place them appropriately on your web pages. Ideally, each page should only use 1-3 keywords or phrases. If you find you want to put more than three keywords on a page, you probably need to break the content down and place it on separate pages. Where you place the keywords on the page is just as important as the keywords themselves. There are four areas of the page that should include your keyword: 1) The page title – this is your first level heading 2) The page headings – all headers should be in tags 3) The page text – this is your main content 4) The image alternate text – be descriptive in the image alternate text Search engines have trouble crawling tables, JavaScrip, Flash, and images. Make sure these features aren’t limiting the search engines from seeing your entire page. Use alternate attributes if the main content and keywords on your page can’t be formatted in regular HTML. When you’ve finished the page, read it over from top to bottom. If it reads like it’s been optimized, you need to remove some of the keywords. Don’t write for the search engines, write for your readers. Overuse of keywords can get you blacklisted on the search engines. After all this, you’ll want to make sure that the search engines are actually seeing your website. On Google, you can do this by typing “cache:webaddress” in the search box. (For example, if your website is www.widgets.com, search on cache:widgets.com.) This will tell you when Google last viewed your site. You can also find which web pages are indexed with Google by typing in “site:webaddress” in the search box. (Again, this would be site:widgets.com in our example.) The result will display a list of all the pages of your website that Google sees. If you have a new site, or your site hasn’t been picked up by a search engine, you can submit your site to each search engine directly. Here are the links for submitting a site to a few of the more popular search engines: Google – http://www.google.com/addurl/ Yahoo – http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/ MSN Live – http://beta.search.msn.com/docs/submit.aspx Alexa – http://www.alexa.com/site/help/webmasters#crawl_site Cathy Yerges Partnering in Your Marketing Success

When conducting an email marketing campaign, it’s important to monitor and track the click-through rate of each email to measure its effectiveness.

There are a couple click-through numbers you should look at:

• Unique click-throughs – This reflects how many individuals clicked on at least one link in your email. You can track this as an actually number and as a percentage. These numbers show you the overall success of an individual email campaign.

• Individual click-throughs – Each link in your email can be tracked as well for how many people click on it. These numbers tell you what your subscribers are most interested in and what items piqued their interest.

• Click-to-open rate – This number represents the number of unique clicks as a percentage of unique opens. For example, if 1,000 subscribers open your email and 100 of those who opened the email actually click-through, your click-to-open rate would be 10 percent. Looking at this rate tells you how well your email motivated your readers to take action. If you’d like to improve your click-through rate (and who doesn’t), here are 6 tips to assist you.

1. Make your subject line concise Try to keep the subject line under 50 characters (including spaces). Many email clients limit the length of the subject line that is displayed in the inbox. You don’t want the best part of your subject line to get cut off. Keep it short and relevant to the email you’re sending.

2. Make all images clickable This is often overlooked when building an email but it is extremely important. If an image engages the reader enough you want them to be able to click it to get more information. Send them to a webpage that has a strong call to action. They’ve already clicked once; build on that momentum with a strong offer and a clear call to action.

3. Ask for the click Make sure all your text links clearly ask the reader to click in a compelling way. The standard “click here” doesn’t do much to tell a reader why they should click. Inform them with a promise of what they’ll get on the other side of the click.

4. Learn from past subscriber behavior Looking at your click-through rates over time will tell you exactly what your subscribers are interested in. Was there one link that they clicked on more than others? This is clearly an area of interest to them. Deliver more content related to that topic and include another strong call to action that moves them further through the sales process.

5. Repeat what works When you find a particular template, format, topic, or call to action that works. Use it again…and again…and again…until it doesn’t work anymore.

6. Segment your list Not all prospects are created equal. As such, you shouldn’t treat them all equal. A new prospect may be looking for educational content so they can better understand your product. At the same time, a long-time customer may only want to know about the newest product that you have to offer. Sending the same email to both segments will either bore your seasoned customer or rush the sale with the prospect. Neither will result in good click-through rates or ultimately, sales. Break your list apart and mail different campaigns to each so you can target the needs of all groups. Take a look at your past few email campaigns to get a feel for what your subscribers are interested in what you can learn from their past behavior. This will give you a solid starting point for building your next email marketing campaign.

Cathy Yerges Partnering in Your Marketing Success

Internet marketers often focus so much of their time and effort on finding online methods for generating traffic to their website that they often overlook the offline techniques that can drive traffic as well. Your goal obviously is to get people to your site to learn more about your product or service. But, what if they aren’t even online to begin with. How do you spread the work about your site? Consider these offline marketing methods when developing your overall marketing strategy. Word of Mouth: You are the best person to market your site. Your passion for your product or service will come through when you talk to people. Use every opportunity (without going overboard) to mention what you do and suggest people visit your site for more information. Business Cards: You meet people everywhere you go and a business card is a convenient way to provide your contact information. Make sure your website is prominently listed, as well as any free offer that they can get at your site. Bumper Stickers/Vehicle Magnets: Granted everyone may not want to drive around with your website listed on their vehicle, but you can. Think about how many people see your vehicle each day. Even if you work at home, you still probably drive to the grocery store, chauffer the kids to school, and run errands on the weekends. Premiums/Give-Aways: If your business frequents trade shows, keep a supply of promotional items on hand to give to prospects. This can include pens, post-it-notes, t-shirts, hats, or anything that relates directly to your business. If you can’t afford enough to give to everyone, hold a drawing for a few larger prizes. Be sure to collect contact information on the entry slips – these folks are now a new prospecting source for you. Offline Ads: Consider running an ad in the newspaper or trade journal, whatever is appropriate for your business. Again, mention a free offer that they can get when they visit your site. Expert Advice: If your product or service has a unique angle or target market, contact a radio station to be a guest. Producers are always looking for fun and interesting things to bring to their listeners. The same is true for print magazines and newspapers. Write an eye-catching press release and submit it to various media outlets that match your target market. A well-rounded marketing plan will include both offline and online marketing strategies to drive traffic to your website. Test one or two ideas and monitor the results. Tweak the process until you see positive results. Add new marketing items to the mix on a regular basis to always keep fresh leads coming in and watch your website traffic grow. 

Cathy Yerges

Partnering in Your Marketing Success