Recently in Internet Marketing Category
If you were to go the web now and search on your name you may get bits and pieces about who you are, your professional successes and what your business is all about. But the information is often time fragmented and often time not quite accurate.
Have you ever wanted to just add a line or two to a posting on the Internet about you related to you to make it sound better but were unable to to get in touch with the one that posted your information to make some changes?
What if you could have complete control of what you want the web to say about you? In your words and with your facts! By having control of what the Web is saying about you it is the only way I know you can build your own personal brand the only other way would be to go through the time and expense of building your own personal website. as busy professionals we don't necessarily have the time or the knowledge to create such a site. Now that has all changed!
Cornerstone Media Group and qAlias have team up to provide you with a way to get your name number one in Google and Yahoo that combined is being used over 75% of the time by people wanting to know more about you before they do business.
A real advantage of qAlias is that you can send a personalized bulletin that presents a focused, effective message to your family, friends and more importantly customers right from your profile about anything you want, as often as you want. This is a great way to stay in touch with your customers when your business has an announcement. Depending on the size of your company (50 person minimum) we can even customize the background to reflect your brand and company's image. From your own personal bio to your business card online you are taking control of what the Web is saying about you at qAlias.
If you are a soon to be college grad or looking for a new job you can post your resume for downloading 24/7 from your profile on qAlias. It can be downloaded by anyone searching for innovative people they are looking for to fill some of the best jobs in the world.
For more information visit the qAlias website. Hey! Just Google me, Mark Treager to see just a small sample of the sort of personal results you can achieve using the amazing technology from qAlias.
Have you ever wanted to just add a line or two to a posting on the Internet about you related to you to make it sound better but were unable to to get in touch with the one that posted your information to make some changes?
What if you could have complete control of what you want the web to say about you? In your words and with your facts! By having control of what the Web is saying about you it is the only way I know you can build your own personal brand the only other way would be to go through the time and expense of building your own personal website. as busy professionals we don't necessarily have the time or the knowledge to create such a site. Now that has all changed!
Cornerstone Media Group and qAlias have team up to provide you with a way to get your name number one in Google and Yahoo that combined is being used over 75% of the time by people wanting to know more about you before they do business.
A real advantage of qAlias is that you can send a personalized bulletin that presents a focused, effective message to your family, friends and more importantly customers right from your profile about anything you want, as often as you want. This is a great way to stay in touch with your customers when your business has an announcement. Depending on the size of your company (50 person minimum) we can even customize the background to reflect your brand and company's image. From your own personal bio to your business card online you are taking control of what the Web is saying about you at qAlias.
If you are a soon to be college grad or looking for a new job you can post your resume for downloading 24/7 from your profile on qAlias. It can be downloaded by anyone searching for innovative people they are looking for to fill some of the best jobs in the world.
For more information visit the qAlias website. Hey! Just Google me, Mark Treager to see just a small sample of the sort of personal results you can achieve using the amazing technology from qAlias.
Television ads are often prohibitively expensive for small businesses to produce and air. Magazine and radio ads are less expensive but still require a sizeable investment when part of an ongoing campaign. Although you can spend a lot of money on an Internet campaign, there are many ways to leverage the Internet and gain free advertising for your business. Following are 20 ideas to consider.
Increase your visibility on search engines: Insert keywords that describe your business into the HTML < META > tags on your Web site pages. Repeat these keywords in the text of your Web site's homepage. Strategic use of keywords can put your business name at the top of customers' search results. For more information, see our article "Optimizing Your Site for Search Engines and Directories."
Put your URL on everything: Maximize your advertising efforts by listing your Web site address on everything you do. Print the URL on your company's letterhead, on your business cards, on the front of your building or the door to your office suite. Use the URL in your e-mail signature. List the URL on any print advertising that you do, including phone books, brochures, flyers, and direct mail pieces.
Submit your site to every directory, specialty listing, industry organization, and yellow pages you can find: No matter what industry your business is in, there are online directories, such as Yahoo! Yellow Pages, that you should register with. Many business and industry associations allow you to list your business on their Web site. In addition, there are individuals who maintain popular lists of resources; use Web search engines to find these lists, and then create an entry for your business.
Utilize evangelists: Channel the energy of your most enthusiastic staff and encourage them to promote your company's product as they surf the Web.
Blogs: A Weblog, or blog, is a collection of short articles, essays, or loosely-formatted thoughts, usually written by one individual. Since the 2004 U.S. presidential election, blogs have become extremely popular as both a medium to get your message out and a vehicle for paid advertising. Blogs also encourage reader comments, making them a valuable tool for gathering customer feedback. Companies such as Blogger will host your blog for free. You can also install a blog on your own Web site with free software such as MediaWiki.
Podcasting: Podcasts are audio files recorded in a radio talk show format. By posting podcasts on your Web site and other sites like Apple's iTunes (www.itunes.com), customers can subscribe to your podcasts, download them as soon as they are available, and then listen to them on their computers or portable MP3 devices. The software to create podcasts is free; for more information visit www.podcastingnews.com.
Join online communities: No matter what the topic, there are thousands of people discussing it passionately on the Internet. By contributing to these discussion groups, you can inform your customers and advertise your business..
E-mail lists: Cultivate a list of your customers' e-mail addresses and send them new product announcements, coupons, special offers, and useful information. See our article "Introduction to E-Mail Marketing" for more information.
Get the attention of the press: Pitch news ideas about your industry to local newspapers, radio stations, and television stations. Pitch ideas to Web news sites. Propose that one of your employees be the expert interviewed in the news piece.
Win awards: Research organizations that give awards for the products or services you provide. Apply for these awards and take the process seriously. When you win, make the most of the publicity.
Donate time or resources to a charity: Encourage charitable organizations to promote your business' donations and involvement. Try to get media coverage for the organizations and community causes you champion.
Publish information and reports about your industry: Provide consumers with free information about your business' industry. Invest in potential customers and they will invest in you.
Reciprocal links: Companies such as LinkLeads (www.linkleads.com) help businesses by facilitating an exchange of hyperlinks. By allowing a company to insert links to their products on your site, a company will allow you to insert links to your products on its site.
Reciprocal banner ads: Companies such as 123Banners (www.123banners.com) help businesses by facilitating free banner advertisement swaps. By allowing a company to advertise on your site, they allow you to advertise on theirs. Be sure you retain control over what Web sites carry your ads, and what ads you post on your site.
Coupons: Make coupons available on your Web site and e-mail them to your customers. Encourage them to give the coupons to friends and family.
Free samples of your product or service: Offer free samples of your product or service. Distribute these samples as widely as possible. Register your giveaways with Web sites such as A+ Free Stuff (www.aplusfreestuff.com) that act as a clearinghouse for free products. Before giving something away for free, ask customers to provide their e-mail address or fill out a short survey.
Free classified ads: Use services like Yahoo! Classifieds to post free ads for your products and services. Also consider posting offers for free samples of your products, sweepstakes, and other giveaways.
Excellent customer service: There's no advertising like personal recommendations made between friends and family. The best way to encourage this type of "viral marketing" is to provide excellent customer service. Take the time to properly train and motivate your sales people and do what is necessary to satisfy your customers' needs.
Business alliances and partnerships: Build partnerships with businesses that offer complementary products and services, and then promote each other. Make joint press statements about your industry, your partnership, and your products and services. Make sure your partners provide links from their Web sites to yours.
Ezine: Write an e-mail newsletter, called an ezine, with articles about your industry, your products and services, and related news of interest to your customers. Check out sources such as goarticles.com and ezinearticles.com, which provide free articles you can use in your ezine. Advertise your ezine for free with directory sites such as www.ezine-dir.com.
Not all these ideas may be appropriate for your business. The important thing is to think creatively and experiment. The Internet is an extremely flexible tool that gives your business many avenues for advertisement and enables you to react quickly to customer feedback.
Increase your visibility on search engines: Insert keywords that describe your business into the HTML < META > tags on your Web site pages. Repeat these keywords in the text of your Web site's homepage. Strategic use of keywords can put your business name at the top of customers' search results. For more information, see our article "Optimizing Your Site for Search Engines and Directories."
Put your URL on everything: Maximize your advertising efforts by listing your Web site address on everything you do. Print the URL on your company's letterhead, on your business cards, on the front of your building or the door to your office suite. Use the URL in your e-mail signature. List the URL on any print advertising that you do, including phone books, brochures, flyers, and direct mail pieces.
Submit your site to every directory, specialty listing, industry organization, and yellow pages you can find: No matter what industry your business is in, there are online directories, such as Yahoo! Yellow Pages, that you should register with. Many business and industry associations allow you to list your business on their Web site. In addition, there are individuals who maintain popular lists of resources; use Web search engines to find these lists, and then create an entry for your business.
Utilize evangelists: Channel the energy of your most enthusiastic staff and encourage them to promote your company's product as they surf the Web.
Blogs: A Weblog, or blog, is a collection of short articles, essays, or loosely-formatted thoughts, usually written by one individual. Since the 2004 U.S. presidential election, blogs have become extremely popular as both a medium to get your message out and a vehicle for paid advertising. Blogs also encourage reader comments, making them a valuable tool for gathering customer feedback. Companies such as Blogger will host your blog for free. You can also install a blog on your own Web site with free software such as MediaWiki.
Podcasting: Podcasts are audio files recorded in a radio talk show format. By posting podcasts on your Web site and other sites like Apple's iTunes (www.itunes.com), customers can subscribe to your podcasts, download them as soon as they are available, and then listen to them on their computers or portable MP3 devices. The software to create podcasts is free; for more information visit www.podcastingnews.com.
Join online communities: No matter what the topic, there are thousands of people discussing it passionately on the Internet. By contributing to these discussion groups, you can inform your customers and advertise your business..
E-mail lists: Cultivate a list of your customers' e-mail addresses and send them new product announcements, coupons, special offers, and useful information. See our article "Introduction to E-Mail Marketing" for more information.
Get the attention of the press: Pitch news ideas about your industry to local newspapers, radio stations, and television stations. Pitch ideas to Web news sites. Propose that one of your employees be the expert interviewed in the news piece.
Win awards: Research organizations that give awards for the products or services you provide. Apply for these awards and take the process seriously. When you win, make the most of the publicity.
Donate time or resources to a charity: Encourage charitable organizations to promote your business' donations and involvement. Try to get media coverage for the organizations and community causes you champion.
Publish information and reports about your industry: Provide consumers with free information about your business' industry. Invest in potential customers and they will invest in you.
Reciprocal links: Companies such as LinkLeads (www.linkleads.com) help businesses by facilitating an exchange of hyperlinks. By allowing a company to insert links to their products on your site, a company will allow you to insert links to your products on its site.
Reciprocal banner ads: Companies such as 123Banners (www.123banners.com) help businesses by facilitating free banner advertisement swaps. By allowing a company to advertise on your site, they allow you to advertise on theirs. Be sure you retain control over what Web sites carry your ads, and what ads you post on your site.
Coupons: Make coupons available on your Web site and e-mail them to your customers. Encourage them to give the coupons to friends and family.
Free samples of your product or service: Offer free samples of your product or service. Distribute these samples as widely as possible. Register your giveaways with Web sites such as A+ Free Stuff (www.aplusfreestuff.com) that act as a clearinghouse for free products. Before giving something away for free, ask customers to provide their e-mail address or fill out a short survey.
Free classified ads: Use services like Yahoo! Classifieds to post free ads for your products and services. Also consider posting offers for free samples of your products, sweepstakes, and other giveaways.
Excellent customer service: There's no advertising like personal recommendations made between friends and family. The best way to encourage this type of "viral marketing" is to provide excellent customer service. Take the time to properly train and motivate your sales people and do what is necessary to satisfy your customers' needs.
Business alliances and partnerships: Build partnerships with businesses that offer complementary products and services, and then promote each other. Make joint press statements about your industry, your partnership, and your products and services. Make sure your partners provide links from their Web sites to yours.
Ezine: Write an e-mail newsletter, called an ezine, with articles about your industry, your products and services, and related news of interest to your customers. Check out sources such as goarticles.com and ezinearticles.com, which provide free articles you can use in your ezine. Advertise your ezine for free with directory sites such as www.ezine-dir.com.
Not all these ideas may be appropriate for your business. The important thing is to think creatively and experiment. The Internet is an extremely flexible tool that gives your business many avenues for advertisement and enables you to react quickly to customer feedback.
To build your web presence, you need to take great care in selecting a domain name. You want the name to describe your business, be easily remembered by your visitors, and most importantly, inform search engines about the nature of your website. This thoughtful domain name choice will give you traction over your competitors.
Search engines have been refined over the years and are constantly being upgraded, but they are limited by the information you give them. There are certain techniques you can use to improve a search engine’s ability to interpret useful information out of your domain name in order to give you a better ranking.
1. Use keywords related to your business in your domain name. This is a great first step when it comes to search engine optimization. For example, you run an e-commerce website that sells used parts for a classic car model – the original VW Beetle of the sixties. When people use a search engine to find the product, they will be using keywords such as “used car parts” or “vw beetle.” These are keywords that you want in your domain name.
Examples: oldvwbeetleparts.com or
vwbeetlecarparts.com
2. Use separators between keywords in your domain name. This further ensures that search engines interpret or “parse” the information on your website. When the search engines look for information in your domain name, they determine the keywords by the recognizable separators. In other words, “oldvwbeetlepart” would be more easily read by the search engines if it was “old-vw-beetle-parts.”
Often times a short domain related to your company, product, service or a result from using your company can often times produce great results for you on the Internet.
1. Use as short of a domain name as possible. Most of the time, the shorter the domain name, the easier it is to remember.
2. Use a descriptive domain name. No matter how unique your product may be,
you need to be creative yet to the point. A good example of this is what we did with one of our clients that has a product that gets odor out. We chose the domain name www.GetOdorOut.com as it is short, easy to remember, and describes exactly what the product does.
By using some creativity and experimentation in choosing a domain name, potential customers and the search engines will direct traffic to you!
Search engines have been refined over the years and are constantly being upgraded, but they are limited by the information you give them. There are certain techniques you can use to improve a search engine’s ability to interpret useful information out of your domain name in order to give you a better ranking.
1. Use keywords related to your business in your domain name. This is a great first step when it comes to search engine optimization. For example, you run an e-commerce website that sells used parts for a classic car model – the original VW Beetle of the sixties. When people use a search engine to find the product, they will be using keywords such as “used car parts” or “vw beetle.” These are keywords that you want in your domain name.
Examples: oldvwbeetleparts.com or
vwbeetlecarparts.com
2. Use separators between keywords in your domain name. This further ensures that search engines interpret or “parse” the information on your website. When the search engines look for information in your domain name, they determine the keywords by the recognizable separators. In other words, “oldvwbeetlepart” would be more easily read by the search engines if it was “old-vw-beetle-parts.”
Often times a short domain related to your company, product, service or a result from using your company can often times produce great results for you on the Internet.
1. Use as short of a domain name as possible. Most of the time, the shorter the domain name, the easier it is to remember.
2. Use a descriptive domain name. No matter how unique your product may be,
you need to be creative yet to the point. A good example of this is what we did with one of our clients that has a product that gets odor out. We chose the domain name www.GetOdorOut.com as it is short, easy to remember, and describes exactly what the product does.
By using some creativity and experimentation in choosing a domain name, potential customers and the search engines will direct traffic to you!
