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Wed, Aug 25, 2010 @ 08:00 AM

The following is a guest post by Tina Rawlins. Rawlins is a Digital Marketing Specialist for ymarketing, who manages SEO and Inbound Marketing campaigns for ecommerce and lead generation clients, and a provider on the HubSpot Service Marketplace for On-Page SEO and Off-Page SEO services. You can follow her on Twitter at @googlegirl or read her blog.

Natural Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can be a confusing and contradictory topic even amongst the industry’s most recognized experts. Organization, directories, trade events and publishers (online and offline) can endlessly debate the finer points of SEO best (and worst) practices. So what can companies and marketers do to sift through the noise of link building and Off-Page SEO.

First, understand that while there are nuances to SEO approaches the fundamental truth is that proper SEO should include efforts in the two primary areas that contribute to a site’s search rankings by search engine algorithms:

1. On-Page SEO Factors: What search engine crawlers can discern from the content and structure of your site.

2. Off-Page SEO Factors: What search engines can determine about the linking structure of other sites, and the sites inter-related to those sites, in relation to your site.

To help clarify your Off-Page SEO best practice approach and enable your organization to move forward, we’ll explore the ABCs of SEO tactics beginning alphabetically with A, for Article Marketing. Follow-up blog posts will explore Blog Marketing, Comments & Ratings, Directories & Profile Building, and more.

A is for … Article Marketing

A well written article contains targeted content for publishers and often subtly advertises products and services. Most articles are hosted by article directory sites and reprinted by webmasters with topical content needs. Including keywords and links within articles adds SEO value to advertisers.

Be Clear and Direct

Create an article that is direct about the value you mention in your title. Do not repeat your title in the subtitles. Typically articles are 400-800 words. Consider separating your article content into smaller portions and adding subheadings to create a web friendly format.

Create Unique Headlines

Review your unique titles in the search engines to track your article pickup. Also review your website analytics for referrers as an indicator of traffic from article directory sites.

Use articles to promote additional web assets:

  • Hosted Content (social networking sites, image sharing sites, profile sites)
  • Bookmarked or promoted website pages in Digg and similar sites
  • Downloads or Whitepapers using tracked links
  • Unique Video or Flash Views on a landing page
  • Unique Title Mentions in Twitter
  • Links to Promoted Blog Articles
  • Promote RSS Feed URLs

Develop Unique Content

Develop written content that invites people to click or take action several times in the text. Promote additional free content where you can track, interact or engage the reader in a social media platform.
Note: Consider using social platform API’s to allow users to join your site using social networking login credentials.
Easy To Share
If your article is a downloadable document, consider adding a twitter button to a PDF, then add a Social Media Widget to the pages of your document. If your article is being submitted to directories, add links in the resources sections of your submissions to your social sharing site.

Request Feedback

Send article content out to a few friends, family, and coworkers and ask for their responses. Find a few people who represent your target audience and get their responses. Specifically ask them to evaluate your article and give their honest opinions. Your article is a long term marketing asset. Your social network can give you important feedback on the voice, length, and resources of your article.

Read more: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/6487/The-ABCs-of-Off-Page-SEO-Tactics.aspx?source=Blog_Email_[The+ABCs+of+Off-Page]#ixzz0xiTV5huA

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Search engines love blogs, and are always pretty fast to index them. Getting yours out there for the world to see is not going to be hard. There is this cool tool that you can use every time you update your blog that is known as pinging. Pinging your blog after every entry that you make will let everyone know that your blog has a new entry and updated.

Many people think that they can write it or build it and they will come. This is not the case at all.

Just because you put something out there on the Web, does not mean that it will be seen by all. There are some things that you can do to ensure that your blog will be seen and seen by many. Blog marketing is really only as hard as you make it.

Building links for your blog will definitely help get it out there and get it know. However when you are trying to build a customer base and get your blog known, just a few links are hardly every enough. You will need to continue to work on your blog and get links to it all of the time. The more the better in this case.

Also keep in mind the higher authority sites, the more links you can get from the high authority sites, the better off your blog is going to be. Obtaining links is something that you will never stop doing. While you may take a short break, you will never be done.

continue reading…

Adding videos if possible to your blog is also a great technique that you can use for blog marketing. This is because you can then submit your blog to the video directories.

So if there are any videos that will fit into the market of your blog it would be to your advantage in the blog marketing world to add them. Then submitting your blog to all of the directories that it would fit in would be a great plus for your blog.

If you have funds for your blog marketing campaign, you should most definitely use those to submit your blog to the paid directories. Google trusts the paid sites, and they know that money was used to get your blog into those sites. They will also use the fact that not all paid directories will take just any site or blog. No matter how much money you have.

So, seeing if you can qualify for their blog standards will be something that you can use as well and get you in with the best sites and blogs on the web.

Using a press release as part of your blog marketing is another awesome way that you can get your blog out there. For a fee, you can have a press release written about your blog and then submitted to all of the hot off the press news sites. Your blog will get many hits from a press release and having it linked to these kind of sites will also help the page rank substantially as well.

While the cost of all press releases range from the company or person that you have do them, many times they are affordable and will fit easily into a marketing budget that you may have.

Using discussion boards such as forums and message boards with your blog link in your signature is still a great way to get your blog out there and known. Be sure that the message board that you post on is relevant to your blog or chances are that no one will be interested in clicking on your link.

Also, if you came off as an expert in your market, you should have no problems attracting new readers to your blog from the use of message board posting. This can also be a great way to market a website and get that out there as well to be seen by the world.

Find other blogs that are in the same market as yours and leave the writers comments. This will take them back to your blog and will also take their readers there as well. Doing this will bring some more traffic and is a great way to get your blog seen.

Getting links to your blog is a good way to gain new readers. Another great tool you can use is the RSS feeds. When you use the RSS feeds, it allows people to publish your blog on their site, and in return it gets you more visitors.

Blog marketing can be pretty effective if it is done right. However, you cant just set up a blog and expect people to find it. Get your blog out there and make it known to others just as you would a website. Exchanging links with others will help, so will article marketing using your blog.

Follow all of these great tips for easy blog marketing and you will have more readers reading your blog in no time.

About the Author: Anne-Marie Ronsen is the author of many wealth and self development books. Download FREE e-books from http://www.e-bestsellers.com, http://www.plrbestsellers.com or http://www.universalpublishingltd.com. You will learn about the best tips and recommendations to improve your health, weight and wealth. You’ll also discover free Premium content at http://www.ibestof.com or http://www.e-bestsellers.com/article.

BabysNursery-BeddingandMore.com/blog a Parenting blog, many great articles

BirdGuidesBlog a Bird Guide blog for the beginner Bird Watcher, many great pictures



The Info Prodigy product I spoke of below is now closed. If you are ever thinking of making your own Information Product to market & sell, then Info Prodigy is for you. It gives you step by step instructions on everything you need to do from start to finish.

Let me know if you are still interested and I can find out if it would be possible to get a copy.

Lori, admin

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Posted by Kipp Bodnar
Thu, Aug 12, 2010 @ 01:00 PM
The rumors are now official. Today, Twitter released its own Tweet Button to allow website owners to encourage visitors to Retweet articles and pages. The new Tweet Button replaces the current industry leader, TweetMeme, though Twitter has worked out a licensing deal with TweetMeme

for some of the technology they have already developed.

Twitter Tweet Button
Twitter’s Tweet Button comes with some additional options: as well as multiple formatting choices, it also allows website owners who install the button to suggest Twitter accounts to follow for people who use the button on their site. Although the design of the button is different, it works in the same way as TweetMeme in that it allows users to easily share stories on Twitter and provides a counter for the number of times each article or page has been shared. The release of this new button is the next step in Twitter’s expansion and filling the gaps in its core service offerings.

Marketing Takeaway

For marketers who create content online, Twitter provides one major reason to switch to the new Tweet Button from TweetMeme’s existing button: suggested followers. A common goal of many businesses on Twitter is to increase followers and reach. By installing the new button, businesses can then add their corporate Twitter account(s), which will be recommended when new site visitors use the Tweet Button. As a marketer, switching to the new Tweet Button now makes sense to take advantage of this current benefit as well as future benefits that will likely come from Twitter as it improves its API.

Do you plan to switch to the new Tweet Button for your website?

Read more: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/6396/Goodbye-TweetMeme-Twitter-Launches-Its-Own-Retweet-Button.aspx?source=Blog_Email_[Goodbye+TweetMeme%3a+T]#ixzz0wPzjM845

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Did You Know That The Largest Online Market

In The World Is The Information Business?

Free Report & Video Will Be Available On Monday, August 2,2010

This post is most likely the most important
message I’ve posted this year. If you are
short of time, be sure to watch this amazing
video and sign up below for the free report
entitled: ‘From $24.95 to $2′495′000 selling

Information Online’

Info Prodigy

Having said that, I STRONGLY recommend that
you read the following VERY carefully.

**********************************************

It’s a well known fact that the ‘information
business’ is the largest (and most profitable)
online market in the world… and is likely
to remain that way for many years to come.

That’s why Apple can sell over a quarter of a
million iPads in 24 hours… It’s why Google
performs over a quarter of a BILLION searches
each day…

…and it’s all down to the mammoth numbers
of people across the world who go online
to look for information that’ll solve problems,
provide solutions, and give answers that will
make their life better, easier or more efficient.

To them, it doesn’t matter in what form the
information is delivered to them; as long as
they get it – and get a result – FAST!

…and *this* is where YOU step in.

Let me ask you a question…

Is ‘delivering’ information to people something
that YOU are involved in as a business?

If it is… then that’s GREAT news because what
I’m about to reveal could sky-rocket your
revenue drastically.

If ‘delivering’ information ISN’T a business
that you are currently pursuing, then that
DEFINITELY needs to change as soon as possible
for reasons that I will tell you about in just
a few moments.

But first, check out this video and sign up for
the free report entitled: ‘From $24.95 to
$2,495,000 Selling Information Online’…

Info Prodigy

It has been devised by Tim Godfrey and Steve
Clayton (the creators of the Niche and Commission
Blueprints) along with the expertise of Kate
Anderson who has been selling info products for
nearly ten years and has hundreds of them to her
name.

The report reveals how Tim went from making his
first sale of the first ebook he created, to
putting together (with Steve) a string of hugely
successful info products, one of which generated
over 2.5 million dollars in revenue in only 36
hours!

Obviously, it’s a *must read*…

Info Prodigy

…and here’s why it is SO important that you take
action TODAY, access this content and *also* find
out more about their upcoming and highly anticipated
step-by-step course called ‘Info Prodigy‘.

The truth is this…

People want information and more often than not are
willing to pay YOU massive sums of money for it, IF
you have the solution to their problem or possess
the knowledge that they seek.

It’s an amazing opportunity for a number of reasons.

Firstly, creating these types of product (ebooks,
videos, audio etc) is a business that you can run
from home – it requires no previous experience and
little or no money to start.

Secondly, the profit margins are ridiculously high
and you could get EXTREMELY rich VERY fast, IF you
follow the correct formula.

I mean, there are 50 page dieting ebooks out there
selling at $39 a piece that have amassed nearly
100,000 sales (do the math!)… and there are numerous
instances of these sales numbers in MANY different
markets.

Amazing isn’t it…. and what’s even more incredible
is that in each case, the actual writing of these
ebooks was an action that the product creator took
just ONE time!

Then, the sales from this original effort continue
forever, raking in income, even if the creator died…
(glum – but a fact) Of course, the process can be
replicated over and over again.

The trend is not going to stop either…

As I’ve said, the online information market is
ALREADY a *billion dollar industry* and is set to
steadily increase as more of the global population
gets online and also begins needing and PAYING for
information.

What does this mean?

Simply… more MONEY – for YOU!

*Even* if you created a ‘mediocre’ product, which by
the way is easy to do and could be outsourced and
completed within the space of 7 days, a FIVE-figure
payday would NOT be out of the equation.

(As proved here:
Info Prodigy)

I don’t know about you… but to ME, this whole thing
makes SO much sense…

I mean, most people, when they start trying to make
money online, begin with affiliate marketing as it is
arguably the fastest and easiest way to earn your
first buck on the net.

…and whilst this is true… and even though millions
of dollars can be made from this business type, it does
beg ONE question…

Why Be ONE Affiliate Among Thousands… When You Can
Have Thousands Of Affiliates Promoting For YOU?

As the ***Product Creator***, affiliates will hammer
YOUR sales page with traffic and bring in revenue on
autopilot… which is obviously better than YOU being 1
out of a thousand affiliates trying to hammer ANOTHER
product owner’s sales page with traffic.

Make sense?  Hopefully it should.

Listen, I’ve gone on long enough…

Here’s the ‘take away’….

Creating information products is possible to do with NO
experience at all, and can also be done alongside your
affiliate or ecommerce businesses, or indeed any other
online venture that you are currently pursuing.

As a result, I highly recommend you check out this video
and download the accompanying report that reveals more
about the exact step by step formula Tim, Steve
and Kate have used to make millions of dollars online
selling information.

I VIGOROUSLY recommend that you check out the following…

Info Prodigy


Peek Preview of the new Info Prodigy program that will be available August 9, 2010

Part 1 – Finding a niche

= Introduction
= Brainstorming part 1
= Brainstorming part 2
= Testing The Market

Part 2 – Developing Your Product

= Do It Yourself Info Product Creation
+ How to organize & structure info product
+ How to research ideas
+ Creating a USP
+ Compiling, packaging, finishing touches
= PLR Mastery
+ How to use private label rights to create high value info products
+ Where to find quality PLR products
+ How to modify/edit/improve private label
+ How to re+package private label products
= Outsourcing Blueprint
+ How to outsource your info product
+ Where to find freelancers, choosing the best developers
+ How to protect yourself when hiring freelancers
+ Payment terms & delivery
= 72 Hour Info Product
+ How to compile info products from articles & reports (needanarticle.net etc)
+ How to create a Q&A info product
= Interview Secrets
+ How to approach & interview experts to create info products
+ Where to find market experts
+ What questions to ask
+ Equipment Needed
+ How to package the info product
+ Offering various formats, enhancing value
= Do It Yourself Info Product Creation
+ How to organize & structure info product
+ How to research ideas
+ Creating a USP
+ Finishing Touches For A Polished Product
+ Bonus: Ebook Templates (will see what I can come up with )
= Protecting Your Product
+ How to set up download protection
+ Protection Software & Script resource file
= Continuity Profits
+ How to create a successful membership website
+ Finding & re+purposing content
+ Setting up the website (membership script overview)
+ Choosing Your Membership Format ( e+courses, training, monthly/traditional etc)
+ Boosting member retention rates
+ Increasing subscriber value

Part 3 - Sales and marketing strategies

= Introduction
= Product and domain names
+ Why names are so important
+ Choosing a catchy name
= Product Presentation and Pricing
+ Deciding How To Present
+ deciding how to price
= Creating a pitch page
+ Sales Methods
+ Sales copy
+ Video sales
+ Layouts
= Product Product Graphics and Images
+ What graphics to use and why
+ How and where to get them done
= Membership Models
+ The advantage of membership models
+ Creating an Angle
+ how to implement
= Upselling And Backend funnels
+ Exit pops – trials, reductions and list building
+ Upselling techniques and examples

Part 4 – Taking Payments

= Introduction
= Payment Processors
+ Clickbank
+ Paydotcom
= Process Flow
+ content
= Setting Up And Autoresponder
+ content
= Protecting Yourself Legally
+ Documents that you should include
+ Where to get then and how to implement
+ Affiliate legal issues

Part 5 – Getting Affiliates And JV Partners

= Introduction
= Building Relationships
+ The importance of building relationships
+ How to do it
= How to find affiliates and JV partners
+ Advertising
+ Forums
+ Networking events
= How to contact affiliates and JV partners
+ What to say
+ email templates
= Creating Affiliate Tools and resources
+ The importance of affiliate tools
+ What to include
+ examples

Part 6 – Launching Your Product

= Introduction
= The launch sequence
+ Overview of launch process
+ how to implement it
+ process flow
= Product launch techniques
+ buzz building
+ Free Stuff
+ Scarcity
= Creating a pre-launch
+ what to include
+ the set-up
= Launch Crunch time
+ getting prepared
+ severs and backup
= Post launch and customer support
+ organizing support
+ Outsourcing
+ stopping refunds

Part 7 – Exit Strategy, How To Sell Your Website & Product

= Getting Started
+ How to set up your website for a quick and easy exit strategy
+ Why and where to sell your info product/website
+ Collecting Data + Important Information needed when selling your website
= Increasing Value
+ How to add value to website before selling
+ Essential Components Of A High Value Listing
= Your Value Range
+ How to determine the websites value
+ How to price your website for the marketplace
+ How to gauge perceived marketplace value
= Killer Listing Strategies
+ How to create an auction listing on Flippa
+ Getting the most from your listing
+ How to deal with bidder questions
+ How to generate massive exposure for your listing
+ When to list, starting price and reserve auctions
= Completing The Sale
+ Conducting buyer due diligence
+ How to transfer website
+ After sales support

Lori Walker, admin

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Before you read about the  **NEW** product below, Info Prodigy I would like to re-emphasize the fact that these two guys and their wonderful support staff are so knowledgable in what they do, that each new product they come out with is just more amazing than ever!  I met these guys and their staff at a Marketing Convention in Las Vegas (June 21-22) and they are even more impressive in person.

I have several of their products and I can say first-hand that these are quality–latest technology–products that are worth every penny! I am going to list some of their other products and if you are serious about your online business, then you should consider these products!

Niche Blueprint (Original)

Niche Blueprint 2 (E-commerce program)

Commission Blueprint

Commission Blueprint 2
(Affiliate Marketing program)

SEM Blueprint (SEO Marketing program)

Mining Money Online (Beginner online business program)

IMA Program (monthly membership to get lots of info and products that no one else has access to)

IMeye Keyword Finder–It does the work for you–this is amazing!!

Blog Blueprint–a great program to submit blog posts.

Link Blueprint–a program designed to get high PR quality links that will boost your Page Rank.

Article Blueprint–a program that submits your articles (3 versions of same article) to Article Directories.

Contact Me if you have any questions about these products!  I have and use ALL of these programs.

Lori Walker, admin

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Image representing Rosalind Resnick as depicte...
Image by Rosalind Resnick via CrunchBase

When the status quo just won’t do anymore, these 10 ideas will help you take your homebased business to a new level.

By Rosalind Resnick

Small is beautiful.

Slow and steady wins the race.

Inch by inch, row by row, that’s the way my garden grows.

While such homespun wisdom might be fine for common folk, it can be awfully frustrating for an ambitious homebased business owner determined to take his company to the next level of growth and profitability. Sure, a thriving one- or two-person service business with no inventory, rent or employees can seem like an easy way to make money at first, but when the phone starts ringing off the hook and customers keep coming back for more, homebased business owners who fail to plan often fall victim to their own success. Either they burn out trying to juggle everything themselves or they spend so much time and money hiring people to help them that their profits go down the drain.

Fortunately, there are some ways to take your homebased business to new heights without sacrificing your business’s profitability or losing your peace of mind.

Follow these 10 steps to grow your homebased business into the personal and professional success it was meant to be:

1. Focus on a single product or service, and then market it, sell it, promote it-do everything you can to increase sales of that one product or service. While it’s tempting to swing for the fences and try to be all things to all people, it’s often less risky and more profitable to pick a product or two that you can execute really well and just try to get on base.

Richard Roy, a Sparta, New Jersey landscaper, started a homebased dog-waste removal business called Dr. Pooper Scooper when he got tired of picking up the dog poop from his customers’ lawns. Instead of splurging on a retail storefront or an expensive Yellow Pages ad, Roy decided to use his truck as his primary advertising vehicle. Says Roy, “I decorated the truck as a Dalmatian, used full signage and put magnetic business cards on it. By using the truck as my moving billboard, by joining community groups and through word of mouth, I’ve turned what was once my nightmare into a thriving business serving 100 customers and making 1,100 pickups a week.”

Thanks to Dr. Pooper Scooper’s success, Roy is now planning to phase out his landscaping business and focus on his new venture full time. “When I scoop the poop, I do it 12 months a year and never have to fix or replace equipment,” Roy says. “It’s also three time easier than landscaping, and I can do it until I can’t walk anymore.”

2. Expand your product line to offer complementary products or services. Once you’ve hit on a product or service that customers really like, don’t miss the opportunity to bring out related items to diversify your product line. Not only does that give your customers a wider selection, but it also makes your products more appealing to retailers who typically like to stock a line of products as opposed to a single item.

Meredith LiePelt, who runs a company called Contemporary Baby out of her home in Dublin, Ohio, started off making colorful burp cloths for newborns. Now she’s expanded her line to include such “go along” products as receiving blankets, bibs and gift baskets. Says LiePelt, “Our retail customers have enjoyed having more gift-giving options, and our wholesale clients are able to offer their customers a wider selection to choose from.”

3. Find ways to increase sales to your existing customers. It’s a lot cheaper than finding new ones. Even if you can’t expand your product line, you can boost revenues by selling more of your existing product or service to the clients you already have. One easy way to do this is through volume discounts. Especially if your products cost little to produce, offering your customers the chance to buy, say, two T-shirts for the price of one lets you ring up additional sales without sacrificing much profit. Another common practice is to reward loyal customers by giving them a punch card that entitles them to a free product or service for every 10 items they buy. This technique is common at hair salons, car washes and arts-and-crafts stores, but homebased businesses can use it, too.

4. Hire someone to help you out-an employee, a freelancer, an intern, an independent contractor, even your kids. Not only does this free up cash flow by adjusting your expenses to the level of work you bring in, but it also enables you to cultivate a large network of talented people you probably couldn’t afford to hire full time.

Marc Kirschner, a neighborhood directory publisher in New York City, employs 50 to 75 writers-all of whom are freelancers-to develop his directory’s content. This way, Marc saves on payroll taxes, medical benefits, employer liability insurance and all the other costs of hiring full-time staffers. There are other benefits, too. “Bringing in outside help gives you someone else to bounce ideas and strategies off of,” Kirschner says. “It prevents you from feeling you’re going it alone.”

5. Create a Web site to advertise your company or sell products online. Thanks to the Internet, it’s no longer necessary to open a store to reach retail customers. For marketers of specialty products like rare books, collectibles and gourmet foods, a Web-based boutique lets you reach millions of shoppers around the world without paying for rent, utilities or garbage collection.

And while creating Web sites once required a big investment and the skills of an experienced Web designer or programmer, do-it-yourself Web sites are now available for less than $30 a month with no technical knowledge required. Typically, the companies that help you register your domain name (Web address) will provide online templates you can use to build your site, host your Web pages on their server and provide you with multiple e-mail addresses as well. E-commerce capabilities can often be had for an additional charge. You can also set up low-cost Web sites through Web hosting companies and search engines.

6. Join forces with another business to promote your company. Partnering with a company in a related industry is one of the cheapest and easiest forms of marketing that you can employ. If you make spa products, for example, you may be able to convince a local health club to carry them in its store by offering a discount to its members. Likewise, you can send a free, one-day health club pass to anybody who buys your lotions and scrubs.

Nancy Tamosaitis, a homebased publicist, says her New York firm, Vorticom, has partnered with a graphic design firm to provide creative services such as Web design and brochures to her corporate PR clients. From time to time, she also joins forces with specialty PR firms to assist clients in fashion, finance and other industries. “Now that I’m working from home, my clients receive infinitely better service and results-at much lower cost-than when I managed a $3 million profit center at a top PR agency,” Tamosaitis says.

7. Target other markets. If you sell to teens, start marketing to college students. If you sell to working moms, maybe your product will work for stay-at-home moms with a few modifications. Another strategy is to take a retail-oriented product or service and sell it wholesale. For example, a homebased catering business that specializes in cakes, pies and other tasty desserts can contact local bakeries to sell its goods on a wholesale basis. While the price you get from the bakeries will be lower (because the bakeries need to mark it up to their customers to make a profit), you’ll sell more products and generate consistent cash flow that you can bank on.

8. Find new and different ways to market your business through e-mail newsletters or by doing guest-speaking gigs or by teaching a class. Marketing your homebased business doesn’t need to involve spending big money on newspaper ads, Yellow Pages listings, or TV or radio spots. Grassroots marketing techniques cost far less and are often much more effective. Most chambers of commerce and community groups are more than happy to provide a forum to a local business owner who’s willing to share his expertise at no charge. Sending out a weekly newsletter is also a great way to get your name out in front of new and potential clients. Thanks to the Internet, you can send out your newsletter via e-mail using online templates and automated delivery systems.

9. Expand to another location. That could mean renting “virtual” office space in a business center or by sharing office space with another growing business. Brad Taylor, a CPA in Springfield, New Jersey, spends most of his time at home preparing tax returns, developing tax-planning strategies and revising his clients’ QuickBooks files. But when he needs to come to New York City for a meeting, he sometimes rents space at a Manhattan business center operated by HQ Global, a national provider of temporary office space.

For a monthly fee or a la cart, business centers like these offer everything from conference rooms and receptionist services to remote-access voicemail, high-speed Internet connectivity and tech support, offering homebased business owners as much or as little outside office services as they need. Taylor pays just $10 an hour to use the space and is able to bill the cost to his client. “While I still want to run my business from home, this has allowed me to pursue new opportunities and network with other professionals,” Taylor says.

10. Think about turning your business into a franchise or business opportunity. While most homebased businesses remain small, yours may have the potential to hit the big time through franchising, licensing or wholesale distribution. The key question to ask yourself is if your business can be converted into a business format that somebody else could operate (a franchise) or if you have a standardized product or service that someone could resell multiple times (a business opportunity). While you may think that expanding your business requires raising capital, hiring employees, buying equipment and leasing office or warehouse space, it’s often more profitable-and less risky-to license your product to a big corporation with manufacturing capabilities and an existing sales force to do the work for you.


Rosalind Resnick is president and CEO of Axxess Business Centers, Inc., a boutique consulting firm for startups and small businesses. She can be reached via her Web site at www.abcbizhelp.com.



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The quantity of information on the Web can often seem overwhelming. The emails, feeds, and social comments just keep coming – and they just won’t stop. Sometimes, particularly in the summer months, it’s often helpful to head to the pool, pour yourself a nice cold drink and enjoy a good and meaningful book. But wait, you’re a Web professional! You are compelling to stay connected at all times, right? Website Magazine has selected seven recently released industry-related books for you to consider reviewing this summer as you lounge by the pool. From copy writing and persuasion to entrepreneurship and marketing, Website Magazine Summer Reading List for Web Workers is one not to miss.

Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose
Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsieh discusses his experiences in entrepreneurship, the importance of customer service and taking business risks. While the book has been accused of being filled with a bit too much hype, others argue that it’s a powerful and inspirational read.

The Yahoo! Style Guide: The Ultimate Sourcebook for Writing, Editing, and Creating Content for the Digital World
Yahoo!’s recently released style guide provides a detailed reference to essential Web style writing elements. Ideal for writers, editors, bloggers, and marketers, many of the most essential topics are covered including the basics of grammar and punctuation and the guide even manages to offer up several ways for improving writing.

The Power of Pull: How Small Moves, Smartly Made, Can Set Big Things in Motion
A provocative and insightful look at the power of today’s knowledge flow. If you want to meet the challenges of working and living in the 21st century, this book should be your guide as it provides a meaningful framework and context to approach the future for anyone interested in surviving and enjoying it.

Gamestorming: A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers, and Changemakers
Provides a toolkit for “inventors, explorers, and change agents” who want to use design thinking to navigate successfully in complex and uncertain knowledge and information spaces. Filled with techniques to engage your team and help everyone collaborate effectively.

Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age
Reveals how technology is changing people from consumers to collaborators. Author Clay Shirky, who teaches at the Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU, forecasts the changes we will enjoy as new digital tech puts our untapped resources of talent and goodwill to use.

The Referral Engine: Teaching Your Business to Market Itself
Master marketer John Jantsch outlines the necessary steps to achieving marketing success without a huge budget. Discover how to get others to start talking about you company and driving new business to you door. Plenty of real-life examples make this a must-have for your personal marketing library.

Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation
Lust, power, mystique and trust are just some of the triggers that can help marketers improve relationships with customers and colleagues. Author Sally Hogshead expertly delves into the notion of fascination, providing practical examples along the way.

Posted Jul 16 2010, 02:45 PM by Peter A. Prestipino

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Fireworks on the Fourth of July
Image via Wikipedia

Have a great and safe 4th of July celebration with family & friends!

Lori Walker-admin

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Driving awareness, providing entertainment and generating profit

Content: It’s what we consume — sometimes intentionally, other times subliminally. But we are inundated with it every minute in today’s information economy.

But what is “content”? On today’s fast-paced Web, content arrives in many forms and through many channels — audio, video, research papers, images, product descriptions and consumer reviews — it’s all content. And, it’s increasingly taking center stage.

There is more content available on the Web than ever before, and it’s being delivered to consumers at blinding speeds. To make your content stand out in a saturated market (and ensure that it ultimately influences sales and conversions), you will need to rethink content as an asset — then retool for the new content experience. Of course, this might require reconfiguring some aspects of your business and marketing plans but you will find that content is the best means to accomplish any number of critical tasks, from sales to support.

You will quickly discover that meaningful results come not from simply pumping out an endless stream of content but by producing content that entertains or educates (or both at the same time). In today’s fast-paced, big-profit world, consumers want opinions, analysis and techniques. They want insights and answers, and they will look to you or your competitors for that information.

Consumers increasingly want to feel connected. And the single best way to accomplish that is to create not just content but content that offers a complete and immersive experience. If, like me, you groan at every mention of “produce quality content”, you will want to keep reading. What follows are practical, actionable ways to create content that engages, entertains and educates, and brings consumer awareness to your business and its brand for the purpose of profiting.

Dominate Daily
The challenges are many for content developers. While content remains king, today the king has many faces. No longer are you as a Web marketer or Internet professional forced to create content in one way, attracting one type of audience in the process, at one point in time in the users’ buying cycle. Today, ideas can be expressed in unique, innovative and immersive ways; brands can be built through entertaining or educating an audience; and products can be sold — because the vendor has taken time to consider the audience’s preferred method of content consumption.

Source: Website Magazine-June

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