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6 Ways Make Money from Your Blog… Starting Right Now

Doug Williams @ 5:22 am

This blog entry was posted on May 31, 2010.

Many of you will write blogs because you simply want to share their opinion on something. You can use your blog to bring in some extra cash too. For these money making strategies to work, you need to focus on generating traffic to your blog. This requires interesting and original postings.

Once you have a steady flow of visitors, you can start turning your blog into a moneymaker.

  1. Sell advertising: Placing ads on your blog like Google Adsense is an easy way to add relevant advertising to your blog. You get paid for every visitor that clicks on one of these ads. You can also sell display ads for a monthly fee. The more visitors your blog receives, the more you can charge.
  2. Referral Sales: You can get paid for connecting your visitors with other websites that sell products. You can keep a percentage of the sale for supplying the customer. Amazon.com is a popular affiliate where you can offer books and products that your readers would be interested in.
  3. Sell products: you may want to sell products with your logo or slogan. Café Press offers an affiliate program where your visitors can order all sorts of products that they will apply your branding to. You will earn a commission on everything sold.
  4. Solicit donations: If your blog has developed a following of loyal readers, then you may be able to get readers to support you through donations. Add a Paypal button and ask for donations. This is especially effective if your blog supports a popular cause.
  5. Market your services: You will get new business if you write about topics related to your business that your targeted clients are interested in. Establish yourself as the expert in your market niche and people will seek you out. I receive regular requests to help companies with their web marketing initiatives because of this blog.
  6. Build relationships: Blogging allows you to stay in touch with your current customers by educating and helping them. They will learn the full breadth of what you offer. This keeps you fresh in their minds so you will be the first one they call when they need your services.

Why not turn your writing and opinions into a revenue stream. Making money from your blog usually is not your primary motivation for blogging. Your blogging can at least bring you new business opportunities.

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Filed under: Blog Marketing



An Easy Introduction to Marketing Your Local Business on the Web

Doug Williams @ 5:17 am

This blog entry was posted on May 28, 2010.

You are spending a fortune on yellow page ads for your restaurant and it’s just not working. You hand our flyers for your landscaping business, but no one is calling. You think you want to try the web, but how do you get started?

Many local businesses start by putting up the equivalent to a brochure on a do it yourself type website, but this just doesn’t work. You need strategy and a plan behind your website. Here is what you need to do.

  1. Customer focused: When creating a website for your local business, you have to start by thinking like your customer. A visitor arrives to your website looking for something. It could be your menu with pricing, your phone number, the hours you are open or even driving directions. Whatever they want, you need to make it easy for them to find on your website.
  2. Encourage action: You want your visitors to do something when they arrive. If you want them to call, place your phone number in a large font on the top of your website. If you want them to come in, place your address prominently on every page. If you want them to buy, make it visual and prominent for an arriving visitor to see.
  3. Local search: If you want your website to come up on a Google search for your local area, then clearly state what services you provide and the cities you serve. People search locally combining the city with what they are searching for. This could be a Denver florist, a Chicago plumber or a Portland restaurant. Use these words in your text, in your headlines and hyperlinks.
  4. Directories: You also want to get your free local listings on Google Places, Yahoo! Local or Bing Local. This will bring your listing up even if you don’t have a website.

Sign-up for a FREE 2-1/2 hour webinar designed to teach you how to market your business on the web: Website Marketing Mastery 2010. (Tuesday, June 8, 2010, 7:30AM Pacific Time – 10AM Pacific). This webinar is designed for the small business owner that wants to learn how to market their business on the web.

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Filed under: Internet Marketing,Local Search



Use AB Split Testing to Take Your Website to the Next Level

Doug Williams @ 4:05 am

This blog entry was posted on May 27, 2010.

A/B Split testing is a marketing term for optimizing a web page for maximum conversion. Two versions of the same page are each presented to 50% of the visitors and you can then measure which version is better at getting your visitors to take action.

In split testing you test a single variable against a control. You keep your goals the same and your medium (email, web page or banner ad) the same. You change things such as layout, copy text, placement, call to action text or type of offer.

You measure the response rate and identify which changes produce the greatest improvement. You keep the best and go on to test something else. This trial and error testing where you are comparing against your existing (control) will continue to improve your marketing effectiveness.

The process is very simple and powerful:

  1. Plan / Design
  2. Measure
  3. Evaluate
  4. Optimize

A/B split testing is best when done as an ongoing process that never ends. Always testing, measuring and changing to continuously improve your marketing site.

Google has a free website testing and optimizing tool called Google Website Optimizer. This allows you to compare whole pages against each other. This is the tool we recommend for our clients to use.

Most web pages are built with your best guess on what your audience will like. Split testing allows you to measure and change to what your audience truly wants. Google Adwords costs can effectively be reduced with A/B split testing.

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Filed under: Internet Marketing,Web Usability



10 ways to Re-purpose Your Blog Postings

Doug Williams @ 5:16 am

This blog entry was posted on May 25, 2010.

You spend a great deal of time and effort writing great original postings. You carefully research and write new blogs and your readership continues to grow. You use blog marketing as an educational tool for your business. How can you make use of your work in other ways?

The answer is by re-purposing your content to reach your target audience in different ways. Reformatting allows you to reach new audiences and gives new life to your blog writing. Here are 10 ideas.

  1. Articles: Combine two or three related blogs into an article that you can publish on article syndication sites. Use the articles as reports and offer them to your email list.
  2. Newsletters: Publish a weekly or monthly newsletter using your blog postings. Include these along with special offers to create an interesting newsletter.
  3. Videos: Record short videos based on your blogs and include on your blog or post on YouTube. You can even create a YouTube channel. These can be you standing up in front of a camera or doing a voice over using PowerPoint slides.
  4. Webinars: Use material from your blog and create a webinar or seminar. Use PowerPoint to create slides for your presentations. These can be free webinars to attract new customers or charge for them.
  5. Twitter: Use excerpts from your blog with links back to your blog. This will help attract new readers.
  6. eBook: Combine your postings and re-write into an e-book. A 30-60 page e-book makes an excellent giveaway as you are building up your email list.
  7. Book: Become an author. Combine even more postings into a 200 page book and self publish using CreateSpace which allows your book to be sold on Amazon.com.
  8. MP3 Audio: Record audio and create down-loadable podcast files for your audience to listen to.
  9. Email Auto Responders: Create compelling educational emails for people who sign up for your email list. Following up with 8-10 emails allow you to create an e-course.
  10. Produce DVDs: Sell your material as a course on DVDs along with workbooks. All this based on the blogs you have written.

Blogs allow you to write a little at a time. You can combine and re-purpose your materials in many ways to build your reputation and reach many more people.

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Filed under: Blog Marketing



How Canadian SEO is Different than US SEO

Doug Williams @ 4:45 am

This blog entry was posted on May 23, 2010.

Last week I was asked “What should a local Canadian business do for SEO?” This Canadian company wanted to rank well on Google.ca and didn’t much care about top rankings on Google.com.

All the general rules for search engine optimization still apply. You start with keyword research and choose the most relevant phrases that are the most searched for. You optimize the web pages applying the best on-page techniques. You then want to attract as many backlinks as possible from relevant sites.

Canadian SEO is actually easier than US based SEO. Canada has a population less than the state of California, so the competition is less than in the US. You will do the normal SEO process. You just need to take some additional steps that will clearly label the website as a Canada based website.

7 Additional Steps

  1. .CA domain: This makes it clear that the website is Canadian.
  2. Spelling: Canadians spelling of words like flavour, behaviour, colour, endeavour, sulphur and cheque are distinctly different than in the US. Use the correct Canadian spellings.
  3. Address: Use the word Canada clearly on the site. Prominently place the Canadian address on the website to make it clear to both visitors and search engines that this site is Canadian.
  4. Hosting: Use a Canadian based hosting company. This will insure your website will have an IP address identified as Canadian.
  5. Backlinks: Obtain as many as possible links from other Canadian websites. Directory links are a good way to procure distinctly Canadian links.
  6. Webmaster Tools: In Google Webmaster tools, associate the website with “Canada”. This will signal Google.ca that this website should be included in their results.
  7. Google Maps: Obtain a local listing with a link to the website from Google Places.

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Filed under: SEO Strategies



The Secret Formula for Business Web Design

Doug Williams @ 4:16 am

This blog entry was posted on May 21, 2010.

Web design is meant enhance your message. It is not your message. It adds the emotional spark and inspires confidence. A flashy or showy design may be an attention getter, but it distracts a potential buyer from seeing what you have to offer.

There are three things a business website needs to do. It needs to be focused on your best buyer, it needs to create a professional image and it needs to get your visitor to take action. Great website design is not only pleasing to the eye; it communicates your message and guides the visitor toward action.

Best Buyer: The difference between a poor performing website and a successful online business is in how well you understand your customer. Don’t make the mistake of trying to sell to everybody or you will appeal to no one. Instead focus on your best buyer. This is the one who is your ideal customer that most wants what you have to offer.

A visitor arrives to your website looking for something. It may a solution to a specific problem; it may be to learn or to purchase. You need to clearly understand why your best buyer came to your site and then give them what they are looking for.

Image: You need a design that gives you a professional image that makes you appear as a top player in your market. You want to demonstrate you are the best and logical choice to do business with. Branding and design are meant to convey emotion and affect the visitor at a subconscious level. Don’t let it over power your message.

Action: When a visitor arrives, they scan your website and need to instantly understand what you do and how to take action. The most important thing in any offer is that it be clear and concise. Grab your visitor’s attention with a button. The larger it is, the more visually important it is. Make it quick and visual for visitors to see what to do next. Don’t let them decide for themselves.

Remember, usability and utility, not the visual design, determine the true success or failure of your web-site. Use your design to enhance your message and build credibility.

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Filed under: Web Usability,Website Design



What the Web Will Look Like in 2020? – Part 4

Doug Williams @ 4:35 am

This blog entry was posted on May 19, 2010.

7 Impacts of these new technologies

  1. New Credit Cards: Your cell phone or personal communication device will have replaced credit cards. You will be able to transfer cash or credit into your phone, be able to do one button purchases either in person or via the Internet. They will become your own personal automated teller for your banking transactions.
  2. Hyper Local Web: The web will have moved from desktop to mobile. Based on where you are located, promotions and sales will stream into your mobile device as you are out shopping. Social networking and social media will become more local. 2020 will be the era of the localized web where most searches are for things within walking or driving distance.
  3. Mobile Advertising will become the primary money source for Google replacing the current Adwords revenue model. Ads will be location-aware and be delivered based on proximity to your business. Consumers will be able to opt in with preferences and receive the types of ads they want. This will become the dominant marketing method for local businesses.
  4. Telecommuting: The trend for working from home will continue to increase with virtual offices becoming the norm. It is estimated that by 2020 over 50-70% of the information workforce will telecommute rather than driving to the office. The impact will be an increased flexibility in hiring and recruiting talent without worry of location. There will be more work life control, but the line between work and personal time will blur.
  5. Subscriptions: Software, business applications and even websites will move toward subscription based models. Purchasing software to loads onto your desktop will be obsolete. Instead with cloud computing, the norm will be to pay a nominal subscription for access to the software. Updates and maintenance fees will be rolled into the monthly expense making it easier for businesses to start up, shrink and expand with demand.
  6. Digital Books: Printed books will almost completely be replaced by digital books that can be read in readers, smartphones and personal communication devices. Physical books will be more curiosities, gifts and keepsakes and not purchased as much for their content. Digital books will grow in popularity because of easy instant access to any book. Prices are expected to decline without the need for printing.
  7. Hackers: These digital criminals or cyber-terrorists will still be attacking sites on the web. With so much of our infrastructure having moved to the web, hackers will be attacking the electrical grid, transit and police sites. Laws and technology will continue to strengthen against cybercrimes, but these criminals will continue to get more sophisticated and targeted.

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Filed under: Internet Predictions



What the Web Will Look Like in 2020? – Part 3

Doug Williams @ 4:45 am

This blog entry was posted on May 17, 2010.

Social Impact

By 2020 magazines and blogs will have merged, giving rise to the new Journalism or the mediasphere. This new journalism will be dominated by personal media and the large networks will need to harness personal media to become information integrators. The battle between privacy and transparency will have shifted strongly toward transparency. Social media will continue to grow and dominate life on the web.

New Journalism

Personal media in the form of blogs will continue to erode the market of the big media until by 2020, the major weekly publications won’t exist. What will flourish will be the information integrators. These are the businesses that monitor the mediasphere and quickly integrate new stories as reported by independent blog writers.

Gone will be the printed publications where the stories reported are already outdated by the time they are delivered. Digital publications delivered on tablet PCs or Kindle-like devices will be how people receive their news stories. One-man companies will be able to compete and flourish in this age of new journalism.

Privacy

Over the next decade there will be a battle between individual privacy and transparency. The new privacy will prevail with human curiosity knowing no limits. There will be legal limits set on certain types of information such as medical history and types of information linked to identity theft. Reputation repair will be as big as credit repair is today. Reputation monitoring by individuals will be as common as credit monitoring is today.

The new privacy will be both a curse and a necessary part of daily life in 2020. People will adapt and be much more careful about how they discuss information online.

Social Media
Growth will be strong in the area of collaboration. Social media will fully integrate with collaboration tools which will blur the line between personal time and work time. In 2020 social media will be heavily mobile. Geo-Tagging of posts will allow filtering and selecting of what social posts you want to view from your nearby area.

Social media will be the vehicle that helps put the human face back on business. Many big companies will move to virtual workforces that will work from home. This will give many big businesses the opportunity to feel small and human again

Our aging population will continue to adapt to and adopt technology. This will produce new flexible career opportunities for seniors who are past the age of traditional retirement. They will be able to contribute and earn incomes utilizing their life experiences and on their schedules. They will be able to work from home.

To be continued in What the Web Will Look Like in 2020? – Part 4

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Filed under: Internet Predictions



What the Web Will Look Like in 2020? – Part 2

Doug Williams @ 5:11 am

This blog entry was posted on May 15, 2010.

Computer innovation is happening at an ever accelerating pace. Hardware will continue to get smaller and more powerful. Smart computers aided by artificial intelligence will be here by 2020. At least repetitive tasks will be taken over by the smart computer.

Hardware Technology Advances

In 2020 laptop computers will have been replaced by personal communication devices (PCDs) that will be an evolution from the SmartPhones of today. These PCDs will be wirelessly connected and much smaller in size than we are used to today. These new devices will easily tie into the power of cloud computing.

These multi-function PCDs will be adopted the way wireless phones were adopted in the prior decade. In the US, cell phones had only a 38% penetration in 2000, but this rose to 91% by Dec 2009. PCDs will not only be phones, computers, GPS and video cameras, they will be portable translation devices and voice controlled smart computers.

These mobile devices will be the primary connection to the internet for most people in the world in 2020. These devices won’t require large amounts of storage because data and software will be store in the cloud.  This will allowed shared devices or duplicate devices to easily access programs and data where ever and whenever you want. But because storage will be cheap and much improved, they will have a large amount for video and photos.

New classes of portable devices will be developed that will have ten times more battery life. This will be done with a combination of advances in battery technology and new low energy processors for computing.

They will connect to displays as you move between home and work (if you are still commuting that is). You will only need to be in the proximity of your display in order to allow them to link up.

Display interfaces will dramatically change. Voice recognition will have become very robust augmented by artificial intelligence making the need for keyboards either greatly reduced or obsolete. Touch screens will become the accepted technology making the use of the mouse unneeded.

By 2020 most gadgets you purchase from appliances, TVs, cameras and cars will be Internet enabled allowing you to access information and communicate from almost anywhere.

To be continued in What the Web Will Look Like in 2020? – Part 3

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Filed under: Internet Predictions



What the Web Will Look Like in 2020? – Part 1

Doug Williams @ 5:22 am

This blog entry was posted on May 13, 2010.

The web has changed the very fabric of society and and how we conduct business during the first decade of the millennia. This last 10 years was named the Digital Decade by Microsoft in 2003. We saw massive adoption of technology by every age group from teens to seniors. It has affected how we communicate, how we shop, how we do business and even how we socialize.

Cell phones were transformed from simple phones to Internet enabled SmartPhones. Dial-up modems became almost extinct as broadband access rose from just 6% in the US in 2000 to over 95% among active Internet users. Displays moved from CRT to flat panel displays. Portable storage moved from CDs to DVDs to USB Flash drives.

What will the next 10 years bring?

Access: Today’s Internet has 1.8 Billion users according to Internet World Stats. With a World population of 6.7 Billion, this means 26% of our world population is online in 2010. The National Science Foundation predicts that by 2020 there will be nearly 5 Billion Internet users out of a projected population of nearly 7.6 Billion. This means 65% of our world population will be online.

By 2020 we would expect WiFi access to have seamless conductivity and no longer be limited to hotspots making web access from any device easy and universal. This has been described as a WiFi cloud cover or the “fog” for planet earth.

Being disconnected will be the exception. Historically bandwidth improves 3x every two years. The cloud will become the real power in the 2020 web. Who will become the big player in providing the cloud? Will it be Google? IBM? Microsoft? Cisco?  AT&T?

Cloud computing is internet based computer power where resources, data storage, software and information is shared on demand, much like the electricity power grid. By 2020, cloud computing will be the dominant technology where data and software is completely device independent.

To be continued in “What the Web Will Look Like in 2020? – Part 2” in our next blog posting.

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Filed under: Internet Predictions



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