November 4, 2006 by rcarruth.

Liz Tomey has created a really helpful ebook titled ” Confessions of an Adsense Girl - 60 Cut throat Questions and Answers About Making Money With Google Adsense “.  Now, many sites are charging for this ebook… I’m not. In fact, I’m going to offer you the ebook for free AND give you free re-sell rights as well.. Can’t beat that!

adsenseinfo.pdf

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October 23, 2006 by rcarruth.

 Ebooks and reports are my favorite method for generating passive income. I have an article in the works that will detail the tools needed to generate your own ebooks and reports, from your computer, at NO cost.. Stay tuned..  

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Information products are a hot commodity in the online marketplace, transforming traditional entrepreneurs into infopreneurs. Ebooks and special reports are two of the most basic forms of info products. They are relatively easy to create and distribute and best of all, these products can generate passive income—money you make while you sleep.

An ebook is an electronic book that can be downloaded to a reader’s computer or hand-held device. Special reports are similar, but typically shorter in length. Some savvy internet marketers sell special reports ranging in size from two to twenty pages. Ebooks tend to be more comprehensive, with page counts from twenty to three hundred.

If you’ve been thinking about cashing in on this trend, then follow these simple steps to get started.

Establish Your Expertise

Everyone is an expert at something. Whether you are great at writing financial reports, organizing a home or training hamsters, you have something to offer the public. Sure there may be other people out there with similar qualifications, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t room in the market for another expert. If you have a unique approach, you can compete with the best of them.

Building your expert status takes some effort. If you have special degrees in your field, a popular website, have published articles, been quoted by the media or given presentations on your topic, you are on the right track. If you don’t yet have these qualifications on your resume, start working on adding as many of these credibility-builders as possible.

Find Your Audience

You could write the most fascinating ebook on the planet, but your parents and friends will not be enough of an audience to make it worth your while. To be successful at selling ebooks and special reports, you must be able to reach a broad group of buyers. The best place to start is with a content-rich website.

For example, if you want to become an expert on dog training, your website should appeal to dog enthusiasts. To attract an audience, offer resources and articles that appeal to the dog-loving community. You can write your own articles or ask others to contribute content to your site. You can also locate articles available for reprint from sites like ezinearticles.com and ideamarketers.com. The key is to offer as much valuable information as possible. When your site visitors find value, they will be more interested in investing in the products you have for sale.

Communicating With Customers

One of the most effective ways to reach potential buyers is with an ezine. By sending a monthly or even weekly electronic newsletter, you accomplish several things at once: you get your name in front of your website visitors, you establish your credibility as someone who provides valuable information, and you can get your products in front of readers repeatedly. Studies show that the average consumer must be exposed to a product six to eight times before making a decision to buy. Your ezine can become a powerful tool for your information product business.

To capture subscribers to your ezine, provide a subscription link on every page of your website. You may want to offer a bonus, such as a complimentary special report or ebook, to entice visitors to sign up.

Create Your Products

Once your website is drawing traffic and your ezine is going out on a regular basis, you’re ready to create your first information product. First you must decide what topic to cover in your ebook or special report. Consider what information your site visitors want to know. Do you receive the same questions over and over? Answering those could be the basis of your first product. You could also survey your customer base to find out what interests them.

Once you know what your subject matter will be, then get to work on writing your first ebook or special report. It would be wise to have your content edited by either a friend or a professional so you can ensure you are delivering the best output possible. Don’t forget to include your website and contact information along with a copyright statement similar to the following:

Copyright © 2006 by Annie Author

Once your work is complete, you will want to convert it to a user-friendly format. Adobe PDF Creator software allows you to convert your document to PDF format which can be viewed on personal computers, Macintosh computers, and numerous handheld devices. You can also choose security settings to protect the contents of the document. If you don’t already own this software, you can visit www.adobe.com to convert up to five documents at no charge.

Automate the Sales Process

Once your finished product is ready to go, you will need to automate the sales process. You could add a link to your website and attempt to process payments and deliver your info products manually, but this will only leave you and your customers frustrated. One of the benefits of info products is the instant gratification. When a customer makes a purchase, he wants to access the product immediately instead of waiting for you to check your email and deliver the goods.

There are a variety of online merchant systems available and one such solution is offered by www.payloadz.com. This service manages the sales and delivery of electronic products. You can upload your file to Payloadz and create shopping cart buttons that can be placed on your website. When a customer makes a purchase, Payloadz will handle collecting the payment (which is processed via Paypal), and will send the buyer a link to download the product from their server. All you have to do is sit back and wait for the cash to hit your bank!

Market, Market, Market

Once your product is created and the sales and delivery process automated, your focus should be on marketing. Few businesses can be successful without marketing, and information products are no exception. Here are some ways to market online without breaking the bank:

*Publish articles in related industry publications and websites.

*Publish articles through content sites such as ezinearticles.com.

*Write a book. Being an author is an instant boost to your credibility and a book can open the doors to a variety of opportunities such as media appearances and speaking engagements.

*Form strategic alliances with website owners in your industry. Trade links to each other’s sites, swap ads in your ezines, or partner on a project or event.

*Be everywhere. Participate in teleconferences, internet radio interviews, blogs, and industry-related forums and chat rooms.

As your business grows, continue to evaluate what your customers want to know and develop products to meet those needs. Remember that it’s much easier to fill a need than to create one. And if you can do just two or three things each day to market your business, it shouldn’t be long before your website traffic and product sales exceed your wildest dreams.

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October 19, 2006 by rcarruth.

No matter where you go or who the source might be, the advice is still the same. You can’t make a sale without benefit of *killer* content (otherwise known as sales copy).

Unfortunately, for most individuals, meeting this criteria is much easier said than done. After all, not everyone is blessed with the ability to write well, let alone establish content that’s geared toward advertising genius.

So… if the only way to guarantee sales is to use killer copy, and you don’t happen to possess that level of writing ability, what alternative does the average webmaster have?

The obvious choice, of course, is to simply hire a professional copywriter. Needless to say, we’re talking major expense here so let’s just forget that one. And assuming you don’t have some close friend or family member that writes for a living and is willing to donate their expertise to you free of charge, two choices remain.

1. Find some way of writing the sales copy yourself.

2. Don’t even worry about it and let the chips (or potential buyers) fall where they may.

Since the latter choice is totally unacceptable, let’s roll up our sleeves and see what it takes to transform a non-writer into the necessary advertising genius.

The first priority is to swipe good copy.

And before you ask, no one’s suggesting you go out and steal someone else’s hard word. At best, it’s immoral to do so, at worse, it’s downright illegal.

Instead, the word “swipe” refers to developing a file that contains each and every piece of quality sales copy you happen to find.

Every copywriter worth their salt has a swipe file, a folder (or folders) stuffed with headlines, sales copy examples, and advertising ideas in general. Then, when it comes time to write something, they merely breeze through the material and pull out what works best for a particular ad campaign.

Naturally, the more information contained in your swipe file, the easier the chore of putting together the entire sales content. So now the question is, where do you begin?

Start by checking out websites owned by top Internet marketers, more specifically, the pages where they’re promoting a specific product. Pay close attention to how they present their sales copy, how they skillfully lead the viewer to the order button.

If you run across a headline or an ad in a newspaper or magazine that not only grabs your attention but compels you to make a purchase as well, make certain you add it to your swipe file.

Once you’ve collected a good assortment, take a closer look at what prompted you to add them to your file in the first place. Regardless of whether it was the headline, the copy in general, or the basic format, see if you can determine exactly why it was so effective.

Choose the methods that made the most impact and then use those same techniques in your own sales content. Keep in mind, most successful (and high-priced) copywriters didn’t start out creating genius ad campaigns and neither will you.

The only way to learn how to write well is to write and then write some more. If you start by using material taken directly from your swipe file, practice re-writing it to suit your own product or service, you’ll eventually reach the point where you can simply create original content on your own.

And since the ultimate content you create will have been based on proven, professional methods, your own writing skill will not only excel but continue to improve as time goes on.

Keep in mind, however, that if you skip this crucial “practice writing” method, there’s not much chance you’re ever going to have the ability to create killer sales copy. Practice, practice, practice… write, write, and then write some more.

If you’re not willing to invest hard work and effort, you’re not really serious about succeeding online. Let’s face it. It’s a very simple equation. Top Internet marketers are successful because they worked hard at it, not because it got handed to them on a silver platter.

So follow their lead and establish a commitment to do it right by investing whatever time and energy is necessary to get from Point A to Point B. The end result will be well worth the effort.

For more detailed information about this topic, make certain you grab a copy of the free distribution ebook entitled “Learn How To Write Killer Sales Copy” at www.ebookhelper.com/FreeEbooks.html.

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October 4, 2006 by rcarruth.

 I use these tools. That’s why I published this article. If you aren’t using Google’s array of tools for marketers and web site builders you’re missing out on a ton of freeware. Check it out… 

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 10 Most Valuable Free Google Marketing Tools
Google has become the dominant search engine on the Internet. It would be hard to imagine a web without Google. For that matter, it would now be hard to imagine a world without Google. As frightening as that may seem to many people, it is none the less true.

For better or worst, Google has permeated into almost every aspect of our everyday life. Being Googled is now a common expression and an act carried out by millions of users around the world each day. New Google products and services are coming on stream at a frightening pace, further increasing Google’s impact on our lives.

Despite this dominating presence, many people still don’t realize Google offers some excellent free marketing tools for marketers and webmasters. Marketing tools which can prove extremely valuable to any webmaster or marketer trying to promote their sites or products online. Useful tools that will make your promotions easier and much more profitable.

Don’t be fooled by the ‘free’ label, these marketing tools might be free but there are also valuable. One even wonders why Google would be giving away these tools and services for free? It probably makes good business sense in the long run, by providing these free tools Google is fostering a lot of company good-will and building up the Google brand name in the process. Good PR is good business.

Every marketer and webmaster should be taking advantage of Google’s good-will and snapping up these professionally run services and marketing tools. Here’s a quick run-down of the 10 most valuable free Google Internet marketing tools:

1. Google Analytics

Perhaps the premier marketing tool offered by Google. It will prove helpful to both the marketer and the webmaster. Google Analytics gives you a daily snapshot of your web site. Google Analytics analyzes your traffic, where it comes from and what it does once it enters your site. You can monitor up to three sites for free.

Google Analytics is extremely valuable in analyzing your marketing funnel, it tracks all the steps leading up to your sales or checkout page. Vital information for raising your conversion rate and ROI.

You may be placed on a waiting list for this highly in demand service from Google.

LINK http://www.google.com/analytics/

2. Google Sitemaps

Webmasters can use Google Sitemaps to almost instantly place newly created pages on their site into the Google Search Index. This is an XML file that is uploaded to Google as new pages are added on your site. Needless to say this can be a valuable service for any webmaster or marketer who wants to get their information on the web quickly.

LINK https://www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps/docs/en/about.html

3. Google Alerts

Be notified when someone or another site lists your site or mentions your name. Great way to keep track of all your online activities. Great way to monitor all your online business interests and products.

LINK http://www.google.com/alerts

4. Google Froogle

Froogle is Google’s price directory! It simply lists all the cheapest prices for different products on the web. For marketers and webmasters who are promoting products, it should be studied and analyzed. Optimizing your site’s content for Froogle may prove to be very beneficial.

Follow Froogle or Google directions exactly on how to list or display products on your site. Froogle will spider your site and display your prices and products to thousands of targeted customers. That, as they say, is priceless.

LINK http://froogle.google.com/

5. Google Checkout

Not exactly free but for those marketers who use AdWords — for every $1 spent on AdWords you can process $10 for free. You can also place the shopping cart logo on your AdWords ad and take advantage of the prestige and trust the Google brand name has built up.

Over time marketers may find this tool to be very effective and valuable.

LINK https://checkout.google.com/

6. Google eBlogger

Blogging has become vitally important to the health and functioning of your web site. No site should be without at least one blog and RSS feed. Creating a blog (online journal) on the topic of your web site or product will bring in extra traffic and targeted customers. eBlogger is a simple free blogging service that even lets you publish or post your blog files to your own web site server. Keep in mind, each blog has that all important Google Blog Search bar.

LINK http://www.blogger.com/

7. Google Toolbar - Enterprise Version

Try the new enterprise version of the Google Toolbar for your company or business. Integrates countless features with all your employees or corporate network. These could include a common customer database, company calendar, financial news…

Keep in mind, Google also ranks every page it indexes on a scale of 0-10. While it is important to know the Page Rank of your own pages, it is even more important to know the PR of your competitor’s pages. You can use the toolbar to get the PR of each page you’re visiting. Extremely helpful information for webmasters and marketers to know when forming online linking or business arrangements.

LINK http://toolbar.google.com/T4/enterprise/

8. Google Groups

Every marketer knows the important of having a large contact list of people with a similar interest. Social networking will play an ever increasing role in your success on the web. Just look at the growing popularity of sites like MySpace and LiveJournal.

Google groups is another form of social and business networking that every marketer should be aware of and pursuing.

LINK http://groups.google.com/

9. Google Adsense

One simple way to monetize your web content is to use Google Adsense. Just place the Adsense code on your site and receive a check from Google each month. For webmasters who are not really into online marketing (does such creatures exist?) Adsense can be a painless way to earn extra income from your site.

For professional marketers using the Adsense system can supply a tremendous amount of marketing information on the keywords in their particular niche. It keeps the marketer informed on what keywords are being bid on and how much advertisers are willing to pay.

Adsense also has an excellent real-time tracking system you can use to keep track of all your important web pages.

LINK https://www.google.com/adsense/

10. Google Writely

A recent addition to Google’s stable of free products. Writely is a full featured online writing editor with spellcheck and great collaborating features. It also lets you publish your content directly to your blogs. One feature that may be of interest to marketers, it lets your save files in the popular download format of PDF.

Lets face it, until video takes over the web in four or five years time — the written word is still king on the net. It is the medium that markets, promotes and sells your content or products. Writely will help you write better.

LINK http://www.writely.com

Honorable Mention - Google Trends

This Google program will let you search popular trends, important for marketers searching for the latest hot product to promote. You can also break down these trends by different regions.

LINK http://www.google.com/trends

Final Note

Please take note that signing up for a Google account will usually help you in obtaining most of these free services or programs. Some of these programs may have to be applied for individually. But be assured, all these free Google marketing tools are well worth your time and effort. They will make your marketing easier and they will help any webmaster or marketer run their online business more efficiently.

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September 20, 2006 by rcarruth.

 This works for me. I’ve used this very technique the past few years to drive qualified traffic to my web sites. Like Jeff, I’ve managed to get certain sites listed #1 for longer phrases that are hard to find using shorter versions of the same phrase. One of my web sites is www.Streetmagic.info . Look for this term, “street magic”, in Google. Then, look for “street magic secrets” and “street magic secrets revealed” and see where you find my site….

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Does your make money online business have a focus? One of the best things about the niche marketing craze is it forces you to concentrate on one market. A website that starts out as a site about fishing and ends up with pages on health does not have a focus. Most niche sites are very well defined and concentrate on that specific niche. If you want to make money online fast you will find having targeted pages will make a huge difference.

As search engines continue to provide better and more accurate results it is to your benefit to build web pages around keywords that are longer in nature and are about a very specific search. Make money working on the internet is going to provide a different result on Google than the shorter keyword phrase make money.

If you understand that and build a web page with the file title of make money working online you stand an excellent chance of climbing up the rankings for that specific page. On my site for example if you do a search for best mlm leads you will see I am #1 for that phrase. If you do the shorter search of mlm leads I am not in the top 20.

As a general rule the longer the keyword phrase the less traffic it produces and the less competition there is for that phrase. The shorter the phrase the more competition and the more searches it will produce. When you begin to understand the power of this you will begin to make money online in a way you never imagined.

The reason for that is simple. The longer the keyword phrase being searched the better the quality of the visitor doing the searching. If someone is doing a Google search for fastest way to make money on the internet you have a person who is looking to make money right away. By providing products and services that address how specific their search is you stand an excellent chance to make a sale, capture a name and email address. get a click on a Google ad, or whatever your site offers.

They key is to build a web page with that specific keyword phrase. In this case your file would be /makemoneyfast.htm. Write an article titled something like “10 Ways To Make Money Fast”, optimize your page with make money fast in the title, description, keywords, all images, bold, underline and italicize it once in the article itself, and put it at the bottom of the page.

Include some affiliate products hyper-linked in the text of the article, ad some Google Ads at the top of the page and along the side somewhere and you will find it climb up Google over a period of time.

Linking back to this specific page in directories, link trades, and internal linking will help it climb as well. Depending on the competition from other websites you could expect to have hundreds of your sub pages on page one of Google by just repeating this process over and over. I do!

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September 17, 2006 by rcarruth.

I love Google Adwords. Why? Because they are the quickest way for the average website owner to get traffic to their site. Waiting for the search engines to drive traffic can take months and months, IF at all. After all your hard work, you may be so low in the index for your keywords that it’s as if you’re not there at all. Here are some good tips to maximize your adwords campaign… 

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 5 Amazing Free Google PPC Ad Boosters
Try this; in a Google search page, enter the word, ‘Google.’ How many results do you get?

Over 2.5 Billion.

Zap back to the mid-90’s; two students named Larry Page & Sergey Brin are working on a new research project at Stanford University, California. Using the leading search engines of their day; Inktomi and AltaVista, they’re entering the word ‘Inktomi’ into the Inktomi search engine and ‘AltaVista’ into the AltaVista search engine.

How many results do you think they got; a Thousand? A Million?

Zero.

Larry & Sergey couldn’t believe it. Because Inktomi and AltaVista search engines were the leaders, but couldn’t even find their very own websites in an online search. This added to the boys’ conviction. Now they were sure they’d soon be blasting the competition with their own new creation; Google.

Google didn’t get to be king of search and PPC (Pay-Per-Click) by thinking like everyone else. They worked ‘outside the box’ to develop an alternate plan of attack. The results; obscene profits and domination of the search engine world.

In short, Google used imagination to get where they are today.

To beat competitors in your business category you must use imagination too. Here are 5 top techniques that’ll boost your performance. While your ad is climbing the Results ladder, you’ll be getting far more attention from prospective customers.

Introducing these tips may take a little time and effort (perhaps that’s why most advertisers aren’t using them). But there are resources available to help you. What’s more, these methods won’t cost you a penny.

1. Tailor the Web Address Displayed in Your Ads

Let’s say Mr Smith is searching online for apples. Meanwhile, you own ‘Fruit’ dot-com. If you happen to have the word, ‘apples’ in your ad’s web address, when it comes to providing Mr Smith with his search results Google is going to love you.

Problem is, you don’t have the word, ‘apples’ in your existing web address. Well, there’s an easy way to fix this. It’s called a subdomain. Subdomains are a great way to ensure the keyword entered by your prospective customer, is actually displayed at the bottom your Google ad text.

So let’s create a subdomain using your web host’s control panel, so that ‘Apples’ will be a subdomain of your existing site. This allows you to display ‘Apples.Fruit’ dot com as the ad’s web address. Your ad will contain address text matching exactly what Mr Smith is seeking. What’s more, ‘apples’ will be highlighted in bold text.

Result? A big, free boost for your ad.

Most website hosts such as Network Solutions, Go Daddy and others will allow you to have 70 or more subdomains. So, you can have many tailored ads with different keywords in your address; ‘Pears.Fruit’ dot-com, ‘Bananas.Fruit’ dot-com - you get the idea.

By the way; don’t try to fool Google by entering a subdomain that doesn’t exist. Within a matter of hours they’ll catch you. And switch your ad off until you’ve fixed it.

2. Interesting Text Beats Boring Competitors’ Cash

As legendary ad man Claude Hopkins said many years ago; “Any studied attempt to sell, if apparent, creates corresponding resistance.”

Which is more interesting; ‘Online Tax Services; we’re the best,’ or ‘What the IRS doesn’t Want You to Know?’ The goal is to think creatively. Produce text so tempting, internet users yearn to learn more.

So don’t get in customers’ faces - be subtle. Ease your way into their minds. Because ads that give people a real reason to click, work. You’re limited only by your imagination.

3. Always Place the Keyword in Your Headline

If you’re bidding on the keyword, ‘Hammers,’ make sure the word ‘Hammers’ is in your headline. Google will then show that word as bold text; a huge benefit. You’ll need to create a number of tailored ads in order to make this work. Perhaps you’ll have one ad for every 2 or 3 keywords. No problem - Google makes this quite easy.

4. Put the Price in Your Text

People on the internet are busy. They want info - now. If you display a price of your product or service in your ad, you’re likely providing them with more info than your competitors are. Get ready for more clicks. And more clicks means your position soars.

5. Be Frugal with Google

Why pay for clicks that do you no good? Calendar studies show there’s likely at least one day a week you’d have to be insane to run your ad. For example, if you’re selling office supplies, it could be the weekend your ads should be off. If you’re selling theme park tickets, it could be Mondays that make no sense for you.

By studying your ad’s daily click patterns you can discover the days or hours to put your ad to sleep. This saves you money. Money which can be spent later, and boost your ad during the proper times.

After all, the goal is to save you money. Or, do you prefer to contribute unnecessarily to Larry & Sergey’s Google retirement fund?

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September 11, 2006 by rcarruth.

Are you taking advantage of the many ways possible to advertise your website offline. Chris suggest ten ideal ways to exploit simple and cheap advertising methods that many of us overlook in our search for traffic. For some psychological reason, we actively seek traffic from across the country, from unpronounceable countries, from people down under, and our neighbors to the north and south. But we overlook those in our neighborhood…

One hundred visitors from your home town are every bit as valuable, and probably more so, than visitors from any other part of the world. Never overlook the obvious… 

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The Top Ten Offline Website Marketing Tools

When most people think about marketing their website they think about “How can we get more traffic online” and yet they seem to totally disregard the Offline Website Marketing Tools already available free and in most cases they should be using.

I want to set about in this article to give you 10 Offline Website Marketing Tools that are guaranteed to give you traffic. However, one point to note, it will not be easy to track how many people are using these offline website marketing tools unless you ask them. So on your contact page on your website make sure you have a drop down box with these options for your customers to select from. To often website owners only include online website marketing tools in their “How You Heard About Us” drop down boxes on their contact pages.

So let us get started …

Offline Tool #1 - Put Your Website Address on Your Business Signs

If you are like my company we have spent thousands of dollars on advertising signage on our business headquarters in Townsville Australia but it still amazes me as I visit other towns and cities, even countries, that businesses with really effective websites still do not advertise their web address on their traditional bricks and mortar signage.

Let me throw a few things at you … How would you like 37,000 people per day to see you! I am quite sure you would do anything to get that sort of traffic wouldn’t you? Course you would. Well there are 200 - 300 business on the street where we are located and in our street we have 37,000 vehicles going past each day which we will call free traffic. Then why wouldn’t you as a business owner have your website address plastered all over your business signs. Do you realise that of the 200-300 businesses that are on our street less than 10 actually have their website address on their business? That’s right, less than ten.

How crazy is that! Going past your business is free traffic. Never underestimate drive by traffic, and if you do not believe me then ask yourself a question, “Why do companies like Walmart, Harvey Norman, Coles Myer etc put their stores on main roads?” For the drive by traffic! It doesn’t matter whether you only get 100 cars a day or 1 million cars a day, having your website address on your signage is a mandatory action. If you do what you will find is that as people go to work and see your website address, they will be more likely to have a look at your website as soon as they get to work than any other time. If a person has a particular need for your products, studies have shown, they are more likely to first check out your website, than actually come into your store.

Offline Tool #2 - Put Your Website Address On Your Vehicle

Just like the previous offline website marketing tool, this is a no brainer. If you have sign writing on your car for your business, you must also put your website address on it. Would you forget to put your phone number on the car? Course Not (Mind you I have seen a few cars that have even forgot that) then why would you forget to put your website address on your car. If your business sells products and services via the internet, then you need to tell your customers where to find you.

30% of our car detailing traffic that I own actually comes from our vehicles and within that 30% over 60% of our business is derived from people seeing our cars on the road, then visiting our web address to see our prices and services and then booking their cars in. So, rule number 2, never forget your website address on your vehicle.

Offline Tool #3 - Put Your Website Address in Your Yellow Pages Advertisement and White Pages Advertisement

The world seems to be obsessed with the Yellow Pages. It is truly a phenomenon. We pay thousands of dollars a year to be in the Yellow Pages and the three things we check to make sure are in our advertisements are our Address, Telephone number and web address. Most people before they ring you will in fact check out your website first. If the website address tells them nothing, then they will simply move on to the one that has a website address that tells them what they need to know.

Offline Tool #4 - Put Your Website Address on Your Business Cards

Look this one is another one of those no brainers. Everybody in business should have an email address and website address and they should both appear on your business cards prominently. Since a large proportion of business these days is done through email then not having just your email address is costing you business. I know of some businesses that will not communicate with you through anything but email and the phone. They simply refuse to deal with people who have a fax because they want to save money and faxing costs money.

Get your website address on your business cards. If you have only just gone and got brand new business cards printed then go down to your local stationary supply company and buy some small stickers and stick them on the back. Might look tacky but at least your customers will know how to contact you.

Offline Tool #5 - Put Your Website Address on all Media Advertising

When ever you do any advertising at all, whether it is a leaflet drop or billboard advertising in Time Square (Nice if you can afford it) make sure that your website address is on the advertising. When people see your website address they are more likely to visit your site first before coming into your store. Many many important sales are won or lost long before you ever see the customer and in many cases your website could be that deciding factor.

Offline Tool #6 - If you are sponsoring a Charity or Sports Group Demand your Website Address be included next to your Company Name

If you have decided to sponsor a Charity or Charity Day or even a sports group then make sure that the Charity or Sporting group includes your Name and Your Website on their printed material. The human race is really quite bizarre as they are more likely to remember your website address than your telephone number. Just like before, if they see your details at a Charity or Sports function, then they are more likely to go to you then your competitors because you are actively supporting your community. To finish this off make sure that the Charity or sporting group gives the customers a way to find you.

Remember to have your website address on all of their printed material and signage if possible.

Offline Tool #7 - Put Your Website Address on your Uniforms

One of the core reasons we give our staff uniforms is so that they are easily identifiable when they are out and about but more so, the uniforms make my staff walking billboards for my company. Most companies when developing their uniforms will only include their logos. My recommendation to everyone is to include your website address as well.

Many people have told me they have seen my staff at the shopping centre and seen our web address on their uniforms and that is how they have found us. Some of our biggest customers have come from the website address on my staff uniforms. This is one of the cheapest and free offline website marketing tools.

Offline Tool #8 - Put Your Website Address on all of your Business Merchandise

If you are creating merchandise to give to your customers, make sure you include your website address on the merchandise. In fact, it is less intrusive to include your website address on your merchandise than it is to include your telephone number. Let me give you an example. I am sitting in our business headquarters writing this article and I looked over at a Stainless steel mug that my brother gave me from Canada (He lives in Canada). The mug is a merchandise item from Prince George Savings Credit Union. I tried to look up their site and put in the usual but all I got was spam sites. Finding their website was simply to hard for me and so I gave up.

I should note that this stainless steel mug takes pride and place on my desk in my office and I use it all the time. If they had their website address on this stainless steel mug then I could have easily looked up their website and maybe set up a bank account or invested some money with them but they have made it too difficult to do so.

If your merchandise is designed to push your name or market you in the workplace, then make sure you make it easy for your customers to find you. Remember, most people will go to your website rather then to call or visit your store first, simply to avoid the heavy sell.

Offline Tool #9 - Incorporate Your Website Address Into Your Logo

When I work with our SEO clients and their business coaches one of the things we look at is their logo. When I first setup our training and car detailing business, one of the things I did was to incorporate our website address in the logo. The core advantage to this is that where ever our logo is our website address is and it allows people to find an easy way for people to contact us.

Often when you are sponsoring teams at football games, the only information about you they allow to be shown is your logo. If you are one of those companies that does not have a prominent office then people may find it to difficult to find you but if you include your website address in your logo, your customers will always have a sure fire way to find you. Remember the human credo, “We Are Lazy!”

Offline Tool #10 - Put Your Website Address On Your Press Releases

When ever you release a press release ensure that you put your website address on it. Many a time, media companies will actually include your website address in their news stories, in particular when they post information about your press release on their websites. I have noticed a trend at MSNBC, Ninemsn and CNN to do this. The advantage to you as the website owner is that the link they include in the text will be treated as a high quality link over others, because most of these three media sites have PR rankings of 8 or more which means this will help you in your webpage rankings in the search engines.

The other point to this is that you may find a traffic peak whilst your news story is actually visible or being played. For example, as a proud Australian I was heartbroken to hear about the death of Steven Irwin an Australian Icon and Legend and also a proud Queenslander like me but when his family did the press release about his death and what he stood for they included the Wild Life Warriors website address on the press release. Virtually every single media outlet around the world has posted the website address on their websites which means this website is doing outstandingly well. Which I am very ecstatic about … as at least in this tragic circumstance there will be some good come out of it.

To finish off, I want to reiterate the 10 Offline Website Marketing Tools you should be utilising -

Offline Tool #1 - Put Your Website Address on Your Business Signs

Offline Tool #2 - Put Your Website Address On Your Vehicle

Offline Tool #3 - Put Your Website Address in Your Yellow Pages Advertisement and White Pages Advertisement

Offline Tool #4 - Put Your Website Address on Your Business Cards

Offline Tool #5 - Put Your Website Address on all Media Advertising

Offline Tool #6 - If you are sponsoring a Charity or Sports Group Demand your Website Address be included next to your Company Name

Offline Tool #7 - Put Your Website Address on your Uniforms

Offline Tool #8 - Put Your Website Address on all of your Business Merchandise

Offline Tool #9 - Incorporate Your Website Address Into Your Logo

Offline Tool #10 - Put Your Website Address On Your Press Releases

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September 7, 2006 by rcarruth.

What is Magical Marketing Juice? Read on and find out..

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Magical Marketing Juice is the sort of thing that’s only talked about in dark alleys by faceless individuals speaking in hushed tones. It’s powers are so grand and it’s secrets are so great that any single person marketing their business after taking just a sip of this heavenly concoction would have enough success to last to the end of their days.

My quest to learn the secrets of Magical Marketing Juice was born out of a desire to catapult my own business. So through diligent research and a few alliances with individuals who cannot be named lest their lives be at risk, I finally found the source of this potent mixture. In a land far away lay the answers to all of my marketing dilemmas. My lips were about to taste the grandest of marketing prizes!

High atop the Andes mountains, in a small cave barely lit by smoldering torches sits a small man with a long white beard. He’s the keeper-of-marketing-secrets. He has more marketing knowledge in his little pinky than the worlds greatest entrepreneurs. After a two-week hike through some of the roughest terrain known to man-kind, I wearily set down my pack and approached him. In the dull orange glow of this cold, hard cave I asked if I may partake of his home-made concoction - Magical Marketing Juice - to reach the heights of success beyond my wildest dreams.

He slowly opened one eye with a raised brow and said …

“There IS NO Magical Marketing Juice you insufferable, unthinking, warthog-faced peasant! Now get outta my cave before I go ‘Kung Fu’ on your backside!”

Well, so much for life’s mysteries! He did offer to sign me up for his bi-weekly newsletter before I left, though I declined as the entire trip left me with a sour, bitter taste in my mouth - it wasn’t what I was expecting, but at least I finally had a chance to discover the true taste of Magical Marketing Juice.

Every day on any number of marketing forums on the internet you’ll see posts such as this:

“Please Help! I need a fast way to generate lots of money on my website and I only have $20 to spend!”

“I need a writer who can write a book for me - I can’t pay up front but I’ll give you some profits!”

“I’m looking for an expert web-designer to build my site but I’m just starting so I have very little cash!”

These examples aren’t made up, mind you. These individuals are all on the same quest I was - forsaking the age-old advice of “you get what you pay for” and in some cases throwing common sense out the window in pursuit of the impossible. Perhaps it’s the culture of the internet where everything is available instantly and immediately as soon as you ask for it. This goes far beyond a “get-rich-quick” scheme - this is a pervasive thought process that can be a real dangerous dose of anti-reality to someone trying to make an honest living online or offline.

Combine the desire for quick ways to bolster your biz and generate a ton of cash with various internet marketing products out there and you have a recipe for disaster. Some people sell marketing eBooks for $20 that are accompanied with sales letters so stacked with hype phrases like “Laser-Focused”, “Ultra-Powerful”, and “Once-In-A-Lifetime” that the only end result is someone with the bitter, sour taste of Magical Marketing Juice in their mouth.

Does that mean that someone selling a marketing eBook for $20 is responsible for this? No. Does this mean that every marketing book out there is not worthwhile? Not at all - however, this is a “buyer beware” culture accompanied by a heavy dose of “you get what you pay for” and that’s even more important when dealing with businesses on the internet. All this does is serve as a warning …

If ever you find yourself pulling your hair out, and beginning the search for that great Holy Grail of Marketing Miracles, do everything you can to resist. What you really need is time, and a step back to see everything with an objective eye. Only then will you taste the sweet fruit of your hard work instead of the empty bitter gulp of that Mythical Marketing Juice!

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September 6, 2006 by rcarruth.

I really can’t stress the basics enough: getting high listings in the search engines, and driving traffic to your site. Oh, there are many other factors to making money online, including site design, domain name, topic, readability, and most of all - your product. But the basics are the building blocks on which all else are built.

I had a small magic related site one time, built on a free host with a simple wysiwyg editor, that was the number one site for it’s keyword in both Google and Yahoo. I made a good chunk of money with that little four page website. I didn’t know any better…

But I had studied website optimizing techniques that bode me well, even with my simple site. The design was totally simple, but the subject was hot, the traffic was there, and the ranking was there as well. The MONEY followed…

Scott has some really timely ideas for getting YOUR site listed highly in Yahoo! 

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 Yahoo!-It — Reach High Rankings with Your Website in Yahoo!

In terms of relevancy Yahoo! is the number one search engine, while Google leads the market in terms of popularity. The question is: could you optimize for both? It depends…

Keyword Optimization

One of the major differences between Yahoo! and Google is the keyword density tolerance. Google tolerates a maximum of 3% keyword density while Yahoo! around 5-6%. Now, the question is: are you going to ignore Google and start optimizing for Yahoo!?

If you go over the 3% keyword density boundary Google might penalize your website, considering it keyword stuffed. Are you going to take that risk for higher rankings in Yahoo?! Certainly not. Then what could you do to “score” in both search engines?

Use synonyms. The Yahoo! search algorithm is language based so it will recognize your words and reward your website for its variety. This way you’ll add a few more searchable keywords to your content and this might bring good results in Google too.

Stemming works well in Yahoo! too. Stemming refers to word variations, including prefixes and suffixes. For example the stem forms for tattoo: tattoos, tattooing, tattooed, tattooer, etc. Google doesn’t consider stemming spam either, but you should be careful how many keyword variations you use.

These two techniques will help you write your page copy in a more natural form and well-written content is valuable for your clients too. As a matter of fact the main purpose of your website is to rank well among your visitors. That’s why natural language is the best approach.

Adding More Content

Adding content works for all search engines. It’s like a magic potion: Google, Yahoo, MSN fall in love with content-rich websites. But you’ll need to do this constantly. You’ll also need to refresh web content on regular-basis. Additionally, more pages mean more possibilities to be found be your target customers.

When you add more pages don’t ignore website usability. Your visitors should be able to find their way through your website and not feel as walking thorough a virgin forest. This is why you need a site map, good internal linking, clear menu bars and a easy to use website navigation.

Both Yahoo! and Google love fresh content so both love blogs. Adding a blog to your website will give the search engines a reason to come back and crawl your site more often. Yahoo! treats blogs even better than Google, so it shouldn’t surprise you when you see a blog placed higher in the Yahoo! SERP than in the Google SERP.

Remember that each page, no matter how new, needs its own title and description. META tags are not as important in Google as they are in Yahoo!

In conclusion, enough quality content, good keyword choice and relevant linking will bring you results in all search engines, no matter the algorithm differences. But if you optimize for Yahoo! it is always useful to know that content is really the key.

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August 30, 2006 by rcarruth.

 There are many ways to make money online… Some work much better than others. Composing DIY type web sites is the perfect way to get your feet in the water. Niche categories thrive, the work is minimal… considering, and the lessons learned are invaluable..  Read on.. 

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What’s the Attraction?

Today, with the cost of ready-made products continuing to rise, more and more people are finding it prudent to make or do things themselves. Sometimes kits are available, such as those for birdhouses or jewelry and sometimes it’s necessary to build it from scratch, such as wood planters or an extra bedroom. Whatever your preference is, don’t let potential customers miss the sense of accomplishment they’ll feel when they’re able to stand back and say, “I made that!”

What’s the incentive?

Online “shoppers” are always checking websites regarding how to make or do specific things. You may have just what they need.

• For example, last winter you built your grandson a very elaborate playhouse, from scratch. As you worked, you wrote down the details of your original pattern. When your wife suggested you try to market the pattern online, you did just that. Using a marketing plan, you set up your own website, arranged for credit card and PayPal billing, and took detailed photos of the playhouse. Once the site was up and running you simply sat back and waited for the orders to come in. Success! Not bad for two weeks of work! 

   

• Another example of a DYI website is one related to writing your own tutorials for popular software programs such as PhotoShop or Norton’s Utilities. Having used these programs for years, you now consider yourself an expert, particularly related to shortcuts and customizing your work. You’re so good, in fact, that you were able to take some rather mediocre wedding photos and, using sepia tones, turn them into keepsakes that even the most highly paid professional would envy. You’ve decided you’re now willing to share your talents, so you develop a website to market your original tutorial online. Your first offering has paid off well.

Consider online DYI projects as a viable income source.

The sense of accomplishment one gains through successfully completing a DIY project cannot be easily described. Let’s just say, it makes you feel good and proud of yourself. Any market that aims at fulfilling these two factors is attractive to any potential online “shopper.” Because of the anonymity of website exploration, shoppers are willing to explore topics they’d stay clear of in real life. For example, a man might research flower arranging or sewing, and a woman might explore automobile timing or repairing small appliances. When you develop a website for a specific DIY topic, you are opening up a possible floodgate to online profits. Even something simple such as selling the details of flower arranging could bring in a comfortable sum if it’s marketed to the right people.

Go ahead - take a chance.

Go ahead - take a chance - you haven’t much to lose. Rather than make a large initial investment in your own website, test the waters using e-Bay or Craigslist.com. Try to sell your playhouse pattern or your PhotoShop tutorial through them. While you may have to pay them a percentage of your profits, it will be well worth it. You’ll know for sure if there’s a market out there for your DIY idea. Considering all the people, worldwide, who scan the web looking for do-it-yourself projects, you’re bound to appeal to dozens of potential buyers.

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