Use A Blog As A Newsletter Discussions Forum
June 26, 2008
Today we are going to take a look at using a blog on a business website. A blog is simply an online conversation. It is another channel that can be used to communicate with customers or potential customers.
First we want to suggest that if you are going to create a business blog that it be hosted on your website and not somewhere else. You never want to direct traffic away from your website to a blog hosted elsewhere. There is almost no advantage to a blog that is not on your businesses website.
Many websites include a sign-up form for their newsletter, as part of the design process, which they periodically send out in an email form. This is a very common practice used by coaches, trainers and consultants. The newsletter gets sent out and then the responses begin to trickle in one email at a time. If the newsletter is especially good, interesting or provocative it can generate a fair amount of emails.
The end result is that a collection of separate conversations begins to occur on the same topic but they are not connected to each other. The newsletter owner can end up answering the same or similar questions over and over again.
Our advice is to post your newsletter on your blog and then send it out and include a link or links to your blog. Then ask that the conversation be moved to the blog. One of the advantages of having a blog in combination with a newsletter is that it allows you to address the questions generated by the newsletter quickly. It eliminates answering the same question over and over. It can also stimulate an ongoing discussion between those who have read the newsletter. It can create its own little community interacting on your blog.
This format allows you to expand on your original newsletter concept in more detail. Most newsletters cover multiple topics and each can be given its own blog post and conversation. This process can breathe new life into your newsletter and create a much more powerful marketing tool.
Are you ready to transform your newsletter into a powerful marketing tool?
Here’s some valuable resources:
Would you like to find 192 Do Follow Social Bookmarking sites with a Page Rank of 3 or Higher? Then go here.
Would you like 66 Do Follow Backlinks from high PR sites? Then go here.
Would you like to download the Scratch My Back Marketing anti spam plugin? Then go here.
Would you like to learn more about the Scratch My Back Marketing (not the plugin?) Then go here.
Too learn more about our services please check out these links:
Sierra Vista – Green Valley SEO – Internet Marketing Services Niche SEO – Internet Marketing Services
Holistic SEO Local SEO Services Phoenix Niche SEO – Internet Marketing Services
Geo-Targeted SEO Solutions Yuma – Flagstaff Arizona SEO -Internet Marketing Services
Affordable Quality BackLinks Building Services Local Internet - Website Marketing Services
If your business is located in the US, Tempe, Phoenix, Glendale, and Scottsdale, Arizona or beyond and you would like to learn more about how your website can benefit from a blog, SEO, Niche SEO, Internet marketing, or our affordable website design/re-design services please call Tucson SEO at 520-505-6024, 520-777-6479 or 843-882-7661 Now!
Tucson SEO… Solutions that create probabilities out of possibilities.
Turning Spam Into Gold
June 25, 2008
We are not talking about Hormel here. What I’m about to suggest will seem reasonable to many and some will see this as unethical, but here it goes. We, who market on the Internet or those who simply have an email account or two, deal with spam daily. It is a sad fact of life that our mail boxes and blog comments are filled with spam, those unwanted pieces of electronic drivel.
I am going to address the spam that arrives in my Akismet blog spam filter. Since we moderate our comments nothing slips through onto the pages of our blog without are approval. We are going to suggest a solution for turning this putrid junk into gold.
We have no real recommendations for those solicitations that are merely a bunch of links. You are on your own on this one. What we are addressing are the comments that arrive daily that include text right out of your blog. It often has the appearance of a trackback. The spammers hope that your spam filter will not pick this up and the comment slips into your blog. Maybe, just maybe, someone clicks onto that link and visits there site. Spammers after all play a numbers game.
Now, this is where you can turn this into gold, comment gold. You can edit the track back style comment or have a friend do it for you. We suggest changing the name and deleting the email and website address. Then change the comment to whatever you would think best adds to the on-going blog conversation. You have now created value, or gold, out of spam.
This was written as linkbait, and while some will see it as unethical, others will see it as Gold.
So is this Gold or fools Gold?
Here’s some other valuable resources:
Would you like to download the Scratch My Back Marketing anti spam plugin? Then go here.
Would you like to learn more about the Scratch My Back Marketing (not the plugin?) Then go here.
Too learn more about our services please check out these links:
Our Arizona Services:
Local SEO Internet Marketing Services Tucson – Phoenix
Phoenix Niche SEO – Internet Marketing Services
Local Internet – Website Marketing Services Tucson
Yuma – Flagstaff Arizona SEO -Internet Marketing Services
Scottsdale SEO – Glendale internet Website Marketing Services
Marana – Sierra Vista – Green & Oro Valley SEO – Internet Marketing Services
Nationally we offer the following services:
Detailed Website Review – Audit
Holistic SEO – Search Engine Optimization
Niche SEO – Internet – Website Marketing Services
Local SEO Internet Marketing Services Tucson Phoenix
Geo-Targeted Geo-targeted SEO – Search Engine Optimization Services
Affordable Quality Ethical Links – BackLinks Building Services Training
If your business is located in the US, Tucson, Phoenix, Glendale, Flagstaff, Yuma, Scottsdale, Arizona or beyond and you would like to learn more about how your website can benefit from a blog, SEO, Niche SEO, or Internet Marketing services please call Tucson SEO at 520-505-6024, 520-777-6479 or 843-882-7661 Now!
Tucson SEO… Solutions that create probabilities out of possibilities.
EMoney Marketing A Referral Worth Sharing!
June 22, 2008
I am very fortunate to have had a mentor when I launched this website. Back then I was still cleaning houses, and one of my customers was a semi-retired marketing professional named Robin. She was on a bi-weekly cleaning schedule and I looked very much forward to my visits. We spent dozens of hours discussing marketing and Internet marketing and we became close personal friends.
She was there when I gave my first free Search Engine Optimization basics seminar that I gave at my entrepreneur Meet-up group. She was also in attendance when I gave my first paid presentation. She was often the wind beneath my wings when no one else believed, she did.
Sometimes we didn’t see things eye to eye, but when she emailed me something, it is usually very useful information. It is rare to find such a person and I have the greatest respect for her. So when she emailed me a copy of this newsletter for EMoney Marketing I took time to read it and I liked what I read. I bookmarked the website for further reference and come back often.
I noticed at the time that the blog was also a “Do Follow Blog” so when we started putting together our “Do Follow Blog List” EMoney Marketing was one of the first blogs listed. It is a treasure trove of very useful information about making money online and marketing in general.
I really appreciate the nice clean and somewhat Spartan design. This blog is all about providing useful information for the visitor. You are not bombarded with a bunch of AdSense junk. It is a pure informational blog and there are so few of these around.
You owe it to yourself to visit the website just for the fact that you are not going to be bombarded with junk. Every time I visit a gem something is gleaned from the pages. I especially liked the article “6 Signs To Tell If He Doesn’t Give A Hoot To What You Are Saying.” There are also very useful free downloads.
Plus he has a sense a humor with his “If you like this post buy me a beer.” That’s the extent of the solicitations.
So what are you waiting for go visit I’m sure he could use a cold beer!
We invite you to join the conversation and leave a comment. We also invite you to continue the conversation on your blog or perhaps use a trackback, or maybe even social bookmark this article, give it a Digg or Stumble it.
To learn more about our services please check out these links:
Local SEO Tucson Website Designs Phoenix SEO Tucson Search Engine Optimization
Small Business SEO Solutions Geo-Targeted SEO Solutions Niche SEO Solutions Do Follow Blog List
If your business is located in US, Canada, or in the Arizona cities of Scottsdale, Tempe, Mesa, and beyond and would like to learn how your website can benefit from a blog please call Tucson SEO at 520-777-6479 or 1-866-512-1230 Now!
Tucson SEO… Solutions that create probabilities out of possibilities.
Does SEO Need Standards?
June 19, 2008
This is a very good question that may or may not have any easy answer. The whole premise of the question is based on the fact that a large group of individuals and businesses are offering SEO services that know little about Search Engine Optimization.
Those of us that do offer straight forward ethical SEO would like a way to establish some order in the industry.
I see these folks on Craigslist all the time offering services on the cheap. Usually they have gotten lucky with a Page Title for a seldom targeted search and landed in the #1 position. It’s the old saying “even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while” in action.
I use Craigslist myself and see these people’s postings. They always say “email me your URL and I’ll get back” or something like that. They never have a phone number in the post nor do they show a link to their SEO website. I email these posters and ask them to verify there work.
They often will provide a link to a website and the targeted keywords. Usually the same page title is used on every page. It doesn’t take long it discover that they got lucky and now think that they are experts.
There is also a large pool of companies that will guarantee first position on Google or your money back. There trick is that they target a very obscure phrase that no one else is using. It likely will have nothing to do with the websites products or services.
The true professional understands that it is unethical to guarantee the search results because they are out of our control. You can optimize a website based on today’s known standards only to have it changed by the search engines tomorrow. You competitors also have a dramatic impact on the results which you can not control.
Because our company is only a year old we have a link disadvantage compared with long established websites. While we currently rank well for 7 SEO related searches that we target that could change quickly if any of these established websites began to target our keyword phrases.
So it would be nice it there were rules and if everybody played by the same set of rules, but this is why even a good set of rules will not work. The search engines changes the rules all the time and they don’t tell us when they have done this. These changes become known only when we are able to detect them and this is not an easy task.
There is all kind of speculation abut various penalties but until the search engines reveal there existence, it is only speculation. We wait for Mr. Matt Cutts, the Google spokesman to inform us and even then the explanation is usually vague.
So knowing all of this I think the talk of standards is foolish. As for Tucson SEO Solutions we play by the rules as we understand them to be.
We invite you to join the conversation and leave a comment. We also invite you to continue the conversation on your blog or perhaps use a trackback, or maybe even social bookmark this article, give it a Digg or Stumble it.
To learn more about our services please check out these links:
Local SEO Tucson Website Designs Phoenix SEO Tucson Search Engine Optimization
Small Business SEO Solutions Geo-Targeted SEO Solutions Niche SEO Solutions Do Follow Blog List
If your business is located in US, Canada, or in the Arizona cities of Scottsdale, Tempe, Mesa, and beyond and would like to learn how your website can benefit from a blog please call Tucson SEO at 520-777-6479 or 1-866-512-1230 Now!
Tucson SEO… Solutions that create probabilities out of possibilities.
Social Media Gone Wild
June 18, 2008
Today, I discovered a link builders list of social media sites. The site lists social bookmarking websites, along with forums and Digg style websites. The list is huge it includes over 380 website. Be warned that it does have links to XXX sites.
The nice feature is that it includes sites that are other than English. It seems to have a little bit of everything. I read about this one in a post on webmaster Forum. Thanks guys!
Oh, yea before I forget the details, the site is The Online Cash Machine at http://www.theinternetscashmachine.com/digg-traffic.htm.
Note much of the list is 1–2 years old so some of the info is outdated. I don’t know about you but for me these things are like treasure hunts in that you never know what your going to find.
We invite you to join the conversation and leave a comment. We also invite you to continue the conversation on your blog or perhaps use a trackback, or maybe even social bookmark this article, give it a Digg or Stumble it.
To learn more about our services please check out these links:
Local SEO Tucson Website Designs Phoenix SEO Tucson Search Engine Optimization
Small Business SEO Solutions Geo-Targeted SEO Solutions Niche SEO Solutions Do Follow Blog List
If your business is located in US, Canada, or in the Arizona cities of Scottsdale, Tempe, Mesa, and beyond and would like to learn how your website can benefit from a blog please call Tucson SEO at 520-777-6479 or 1-866-512-1230 Now!
Tucson SEO… Solutions that create probabilities out of possibilities.
Good-Bye My Friend: A Tribute To Tim Russert
June 18, 2008
I have tried to write this post several times previously, but have been overwhelmed by grief and stopped. My sadness has been very real and very deep. You would have thought that I was a close personal friend or family member. The truth is that I never meet the man in person. Yet, he was a hero to me, a well respected and loved individual and family man.
Tim Russert had become part of my Sunday ritual and on days when I was so caught up in running this SEO service that I would miss the show, I would go to bed saddened that I missed my friend today.
You see, I grew up watching Meet The Press with my ‘Big Russ’ a term Tim used to describe his Dad, back in rural Pennsylvania. I would sit quietly listening to my Dad explain what they were talking about on TV. My Dad, and Meet The Press taught me much about government, politics, and life beyond our little town.
This interest in how government works impacts me to this day. I enjoyed watching Tim question politician trying to get at the truth. Never rude, superior, or arrogant he loved his job and it showed. At the end of every tough session, Tim always showed his softer human side. He would cheer on the Buffalo Bills or the Boston College Eagles where his son Luke attended.
I loved watching him cover this current election cycle. He could often be heard to say “Isn’t this great.” He loved what he was doing and it showed. I especially enjoy people who love what they do.
I found that Tim and I had some things in common. We both love what we do and it shows. We are both Irish and love politics. What I had not realized how much he had become I part of my life. The last and only public figure to die that brought sadness into my life was President Kennedy, another Irishman.
I just watched a final tribute to Tim on TV and again was reduced to tears. I was amazed by how well his son Luke handled his tribute. My Sundays, and the Sundays of many others will not be the same without Tim.
The sad irony here is that Tim though this election was the greatest ever, he will not see its conclusion from this vantage point on Earth. Some would say that this does not seem fair, and I would have to agree. However, I also know that life has only one guarantee and that is death.
It is at times like this that SEO, search rankings, and the Internet, the things of my life are somehow insignificant. They have moved from the fast lanes of my life to standing still along a dusty back road.
Thank you Tim, Thank you Dad, Thank You Life.
We invite you to join the conversation and leave a comment. We also invite you to continue the conversation on your blog or perhaps use a trackback, or maybe even social bookmark this article, give it a Digg, Sphinn it, or Stumble it.
To learn more about our services please check out these links:
Local SEO Tucson Website Designs Phoenix SEO Tucson Search Engine Optimization
Small Business SEO Solutions Geo-Targeted SEO Solutions Niche SEO Solutions Do Follow Blog List
If your business is located in US, Canada, or in the Arizona cities of Scottsdale, Tempe, Mesa, and beyond and would like to learn how your website can benefit from a blog please call Tucson SEO at 520-777-6479.
Tucson SEO… Solutions that create probabilities out of possibilities.
Need A Free Website That Includes Free Domain Name, Hosting,And Email That’s Ad Free?
June 7, 2008
This is no joke you can get an absolutely free basic website. The website comes with a free domain name, email, and free web hosting. This offer isn’t a free offer like Geocities or Google free offering.
You get to choose your unique domain name, if its available of course. Big Brother is making the offer, no the other older big brother. This offer is from Microsoft’s Office Live group. To get started you need to go here, http://smallbusiness.officelive.com.
The software that is used is a WYSIWYG editor. You choice of templates are limited, as in very limited, but it’s free. You don’t have to put up with text ads which is way cool.
We started this SEO business with an Office Live website and made tens of thousands of dollars using the site. The great thing about the software is that it is very SEO friendly. It allows you to create your own page titles, descriptions, and keywords. Yes, Google may not use them but others do including MSN.
The software is a bit buggy but it’s free. It saved us lots of money and it made us lots of money. When we closed the MSN account we controlled the domain name and took it with us.
Here’s some other valuable resources:
Would you like to download the Scratch My Back Marketing anti spam plugin? Then go here.
Would you like to learn more about the Scratch My Back Marketing (not the plugin?) Then go here.
Too learn more about our services please check out these links:
Our Arizona Services:
Local SEO Internet Marketing Services Tucson – Phoenix
Phoenix Niche SEO – Internet Marketing Services
Local Internet – Website Marketing Services Tucson
Yuma – Flagstaff Arizona SEO -Internet Marketing Services
Scottsdale SEO – Glendale internet Website Marketing Services
Marana – Sierra Vista – Green & Oro Valley SEO – Internet Marketing Services
Nationally we offer the following services:
Detailed Website Review – Audit
Holistic SEO – Search Engine Optimization
Niche SEO – Internet – Website Marketing Services
Local SEO Internet Marketing Services Tucson Phoenix
Geo-Targeted Geo-targeted SEO – Search Engine Optimization Services
Affordable Quality Ethical Links – BackLinks Building Services Training
If your business is located in the US, Sierra Vista, Wilcox, Marana, and Tucson, Arizona or beyond and you would like to learn more about how your website can benefit from a blog, SEO, Niche SEO, or Internet Marketing services please call Tucson SEO at 520-505-6024, 520-777-6479 or 843-882-7661 Now!
Tucson SEO… Solutions that create probabilities out of possibilities.
Wal-Mart Takes On Craigslist And E-Bay
June 3, 2008
Perhaps, brick and mortar Wal-Mart is taking a page out of the online retailer E-Bay’s book by entering the free classifieds market. That would lead one to suspect these free classifieds sites are income producers.
E-Bay was looking for different marketing opportunities when it turned to Craigslist in 2004. At that time they purchased a 25% interest in Craigslist. This seemed like on odd move for the retailer, as most of craigslist classifieds are offered for free. In the process E-Bay had out maneuvered many Silicon Valley venture capitalists, as well as companies like Yahoo and Google
Insiders would later reveal that the honeymoon didn’t last long. Tensions between the camps mounted over time. E-Bay’s 25% position gave it control of one of three board seats. Then in early July of 2007 E-Bay launches it own free classifieds site Kijiji.
By April 2008 E-bay sues Craigslist for shareholder dilution. Many writers rejoiced seeing these purveyors of used items going at each other. And to make things more interesting, of course, Craigslist countersues. Craigslist alleges E-Bay was performing corporate spying.
Then as these corporate giants slug it out, The Wall Street Journal, reported today that Wal-Mart has quietly joined the free online marketplace for classified ads. Wow, that’s three giants feeding at the same trough.
It seems Wal-Mart is teaming up with another classified website Oodle.com. Now, finding this area on the Wal-Mart site was not an easy task. If you use their search feature on the site it will provide you with 435 products related to “Free Classifieds.” You have to use the site directory which is found on the bottom of the home page. Click on it and you will see the link for classifieds. Follow that and you will eventually arrive at your destination.
Since the Wall street Journal failed to provide that url, here it is www.oddle.walmart.com. One is left to wonder how Wal-Mart will deal with the onslaught of spam that will surely target their new venture. This should be interesting since Oodle has been a spammer haven for sometime. They pull ads from other sites and place them on their site. So there is not a whole lot of filtering going on here.
From my perspective this might be a very smart move for Wal-Mart. Their market is a low income customer or someone interested in saving money. This is the same demographic that these other websites are targeting.
So let’s say you have a $30.00 budget for a used DVD player and you visit Wal-Mart’s free classifieds option. While on Wal-Mart’s site you search for a DVD player and you find a new one under warranty for $49.00. All a sudden that new DVD player at $49.00 starts to look real good.
And I never thought I would something good to say about Wal-Mart!
We invite you to join the conversation and leave a comment. We also invite you to continue the conversation on your blog or perhaps use a trackback, or maybe even social bookmark this article, give it a Digg, Sphinn it, or Stumble it.
To learn more about our services please check out these links:
Local SEO Tucson Website Designs Phoenix SEO Tucson Search Engine Optimization
Small Business SEO Solutions Geo-Targeted SEO Solutions Niche SEO Solutions Do Follow Blog List
If your business is located in US, Canada, or in the Arizona cities of Scottsdale, Tempe, Mesa, and beyond and would like to learn how your website can benefit from a blog please call Tucson SEO at 520-777-6479.
Tucson SEO… Solutions that create probabilities out of possibilities.
We Are Announcing The Launch Of Mountain View SEO .com
June 3, 2008
Golden opportunities abound on the Internet for those who are resourceful. The Internet really didn’t get going until 1995 with the advent of Yahoo and its searchable database. Things took off very quickly and got out of control. Many Internet companies went crazy and went through money like it was water. Then came the bubble and most of them went away.
Now, the web is playing a vital role for all large and small businesses. Like any technology the small business owner is often slow to adapt. However, many small businesses and entrepreneurs are focusing on the Internet with all this attention it is some times overwhelming. Yet, opportunities abound.
Yesterday, on a lark, I looked up the location of Google’s headquarters, and found it to be located in Mountain View, California. We then searched to see if www.mountianviewseo.com was available. There smack in the center of the search engine universe, this url was available. Needless to say, we snagged it ASAP. We are now the proud owners this web address.
For us this is a huge haul. We have already re-adjusted are growth plans to move this to the forefront of our business expansion. Mountain View is right next to the city of Sunnyvale which is the home of Yahoo. The opportunity to quickly land on the SEO center stage is a very exciting prospect.
You never know, this has the opportunity to place us in the big leagues, if we can convince the industry leaders to participate in providing content and comments for the websites planned blog. Stay tuned folks this could get real interesting real quick.
So this just goes to show, that opportunities are still available if you only slow down and look in the right places. For me, it’s a matter of listening to that still quiet voice inside myself.
We are prepared to launch the website later in the month of June 2008. We will be launching the website without a permanent header. We are having a header design contest and we will be awarding a winner take all prize of $250.00.
We invite you to join the conversation and leave a comment. We also invite you to continue the conversation on your blog or perhaps use a trackback, or maybe even social bookmark this article, give it a Digg, Sphinn it, or Stumble it.
To learn more about our services please check out these links:
Local SEO Tucson Website Designs Phoenix SEO Tucson Search Engine Optimization
Small Business SEO Solutions Geo-Targeted SEO Solutions Niche SEO Solutions Do Follow Blog List
If your business is located in US, Canada, or in the Arizona cities of Scottsdale, Tempe, Mesa, and beyond and would like to learn how your website can benefit from a blog please call Tucson SEO at 520-777-6479.
Tucson SEO… Solutions that create probabilities out of possibilities.