The Business of Marketing Your Small, Online Business

Are you a small business owner who runs an online business? If you are, are you currently satisfied with your business’s profits? Even if you are happy with the money that you are currently making, you may be looking to make even more. If you are, you may want to examine the marketing tactics that you are using, if you are even marketing your business at all.

When it comes to marketing an online business, you will often find that it is easier to market an online business than it is a storefront business. One of the reasons for that is because of the internet. There are a number of different ways that the internet can help you with the marketing of your online business. A few of those ways are briefly touched on below.



One of the many ways that you can go about marketing your business online is by using online message boards, which are also commonly referred to as online forums. Online message boards or online forums are communities where internet users are able to come together and discuss activities or interests they may share. 

There are many online message boards or forums that allow participating members to have what is referred to as a signature. A signature is a block of print that always appears at the end of a member’s posts. It is not uncommon for an online message board moderator to allow signatures to include business links, like a link to your online store or online website. With using online message boards or forums, the more you post the more exposure your online store gets. 


Another way that you can market your small online business is by joining a pay per click advertising program, like Google Adwords. What is nice about pay per click advertising programs is that, just as the name sounds, you only have to pay when one of your advertisements gets clicked on. 



This type of advertising arrangement may be able to save you a considerable about of money, when compared to paying a flat rate fee for an advertisement that may never even be seen, let alone clicked on. Also, by doing business with a well-known pay per click advertising program, like Google Adwords, you are less likely to experience problems associated with malicious clicks, as the programs tend to be carefully monitored, to ensure that you don’ t end up wasting money on the marketing for your small business.


In addition to paying for advertising, you may also be able to get free advertising by doing what is known as a link exchange. A link exchange is when one website owner, like you, agrees to display the online website link or banner for another website owner, free of charge, as long as they do the same for you. If you are looking for free or low-cost ways to market your small online business, a link exchange may be the perfect option for you. The only thing that you want to make sure you do is not exchange links with your competition. You want to try and make sure that all links can be connected or related to each other, in one way or another, but you don’t want to end up generating income for your competition. 




When it comes to running a small online business, standard internet searches may also pay a large role in the traffic that you and your website receives. That is why it is important that your website, whether it is used to sell products or services, is optimized for the search engines. This process is commonly referred to as search engine optimization. When it comes to search engine optimization, content is important. Your website needs to be filled with content that the search engines will pick up, as well as content that your visitors can read. If you need assistance with this, you may want to think about hiring the services of a SEO specialist or a professional content writer.

The above mentioned marketing approaches are just a few of the many that you may want to use to help increase your small online business’s profits. For the best chance of success, you are advised to implement more than just one of the above mentioned approaches.

Getresponse Landing Page Creator

The new Getresponse Landing Page Creator lets you choose a customizable template and use the drag ‘n’ drop editor to quickly create a web page with an automatically integrated sign-up form and a dedicated url address.

And it’s not just for creating dedicated pages to go with your email offers; you can use it to create landing pages for other purposes too, such as squeeze pages for display-ad campaigns.

The good news is that you can have a 30-day trial for free.

Watch this video Create stunning pages in minutes!

Related Blog Post: Getrespons 2014 Review

Affiliate Marketing In A Nutshell

As you pursue research in an effort to understand search engine optimization and Internet business more fully, one thing you may be left wondering is whether it is actually possible to make money online, or whether (as many people assume!) every "make money online" approach is nothing more than a scam.

The simple answer is as follows:

There are certainly "make money online" approaches that are nothing more than scams, but there are also plenty of legitimate - and lucrative - ways to make money online!

And outside of setting up a website that is specifically designed to promote your business, the best way to set up a website - and make it generate money for you - is to become an affiliate.

Affiliate marketing entails using your website to promote products from external websites - from whom you receive a percentage of the sale, each time a sale is made as a result of your website.

The best way to completely understand affiliate marketing is to look at an example:

One of the most popular affiliate websites is Amazon (its popularity as an affiliate site being due largely to the fact that it is such a popular site in general!). 

When you set up an affiliate account with Amazon, you can use your website to detail certain products, and as you detail a particular product, you can also link to it (using an affiliate link) directly. 

If anyone who visits your site clicks on this link and subsequently buys anything at all on Amazon, you will make 4% of whatever the person pays. This affiliate payout quickly escalates to 6%, and you will generate this money at all times of the day - regardless of whether you are at your computer or not - just by virtue of providing the link and sending people to Amazon through your site!

While Amazon is on the low end of payout percentage, it is also a website people recognize - and probably already have a buyer account on - which will make it likelier that they will pull the trigger on a purchase. 

However, there are websites on which you can make as much as 10% or 15% of each sale you create - and all you have to do is link to their products on your page!

Of course, there is more to making money as an affiliate than simply setting up a page and waiting for people to click on your links. After all, you need to get people to your page in the first place - which will require a thorough understanding of search engine optimization. 

But once you have a handful of affiliate accounts set up and an understanding of search engine optimization in hand, you will be ready to start building your website - and effortlessly making money on the Internet!

Why Google Apologized to Me?

Today I want to share a personal story with you.

As you may know, Google owns bglogspot.com which provides a free (and popular) blogging service.

Last December I was shocked to note that one of my top ranking blogs, how-to-make-cash-money.blogspot.com is disabled by Google.

Google simply disabled this once #1 Ranking site on how to make cash money with social media, without any communications to me.

That was devastating!  I have spent so much time and efforts on this blog, developing it into a Google top ranking site.

Suddenly, it's gone, without any warnings.

After logging into my blog account, I then realised Google's robots have mistakenly marked this blog as a spam blog.

I immediately lodged an online request on 31 December to have my blog restored.

Then the story gets very interesting...

As Google's web message asked for my patience, and promised to notify me the outcome.

I kept waiting for over two weeks.

No news.

Then I logged into my account again.  Google seems totally forgot the previous request, and asked me to request for restoring again.  Otherwise the site will be closed forever.

That's panicking!

Then I filled out the web form again.

Another two weeks were gone.  Still nothing in the email from Google, despite that I deliberately supplied a different email address for communications with Google.

Then I logged into again.  My god, Google forgot everything again, and asked me to fill out the web form again!  Otherwise the blog would be closed for good.

I have repeated this game with Google for at least 8 times!

Three months were gone and it seemed that I would never get my case heard!

Finally on 21 March, I received an email from Google:

"Unon further review, we have determined that your blog was mistakenly marked as a TOS violator by our automated system and, as such, we have reinstated your blog.

"We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused in the meantime and thank you for your patience as we completed our review process"

Thank God, after 3 months of repetitive request, I finally have my treasured blog reinstated!

So what are the morale of this story?

1. Stand up to appeal for any injustice which may be a result of unintentional consequence;
2. Be persistent.  If I gave up half way without repetitive requests, I would have lost this blog for ever.
3. A free service can be turned off any time by its provider.  

That's why I have started building my own web site www.social-media-in-marketing.com which can't be simply turned off by Google.

Moreover, I have gained so much knowledge and experience in building a professional blogging and e-commerce web site using Wordpress.  I shared some of my insights in this blog post:

How to build a professional e-commerce site for free

This Google incident forced me to devote so much time and efforts into exploring this new alternative...  

In the end, it's so satisfying and also gives me so much comfort to have another solid web presence owned by myself.

I will record some video tutorials on how to build your own professional look site soon.

Stay tuned!

Related Post: 

Create A Website – Part 1: step by step guide on getting domain names and web hosting

New Google ranking system for 2014

Today is a very exciting day because it marks the beginning of a new era in the world of SEO. I can't even begin to explain just how excited I am about what I'm going to be telling you about in this email.
                            
Alright, as you know, the SEO world has been turned upside down for the past, roughly, 3 years, as Google implemented their Panda, Penguin, and Hummingbird updates.

Almost all of the known "blast" methods of ranking your site in Google not only stopped working, but actually hurt your rankings.

And we're not talking about super spammy methods of getting sites ranked highly in Google. We're talking about foundational strategies that have worked for a decade, without fail.

Anyway... The past 3 years have been full of all types of "new" SEO services that promise top rankings, but can't back it up with their results.

People end up buying them anyway, because... well, there just wasn't anything out there that's proven to work really well for the past 3 years.

Sure, some methods work fairly well, when combined with other methods, but overall, there was no longer that one "magic bullet" like there always had been in years past.

I know so many people that simply gave up on SEO and ended up losing their business, and everything they'd worked so hard for, for so many years.

OK, enough of the depressing talk.

Today, I want to tell you about something SEO expert, Alex Krulik has been testing for a LONG time and is as close as you can get to the good old "magic bullet" that used to exist prior to the Penguin and Panda updates.

His team has used this on tons of our his sites, as well as several of their seo clients' sites too.  It's tested and it's 100% proven to work if you use it the right way.

=> Click to view video 

For example, one of their clients, did the following to rank #3 in Google for his keywords after just 4 days:

- Created a web page with the basic on page seo factors (nothing special).
- Drip fed links to his site from various web properties using OUR software, and didn't even have to use their main keyword in any links.
- 4 days later, ranked at the top of Google!

Yes, I said, 4 days later. 

The most important point in here is Daily Drip Feed and use a lot of platforms to build your links so that it will look natural in google eyes.

Basically, what I'm saying is, all he did was some basic on page optimization,
set up his site's linking strategy with our system, and that's it!

Can they guarantee this will happen every time? No, they obviously can't guarantee results like this, but you'll see some other awesome results from using their software here:  => Click to view video 

So it is very common.

This is what all of us SEOs have been waiting to be developed, post Panda and Penguin, and I'm so excited to be able to finally give my highest recommendation for this software!

Take a look at the video about the software here, and start rebuilding those top rankings. 

=> Click to view video 

Let the good times in SEO begin... again!!

How to use keywords to my advantage?

What are keywords?

Keywords are the words, or combinations of words, that cause your website to show up on search engines (such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing). They are among the most important things for you to understand if you want to increase traffic on your website.

Click below to watch this 3-minute Youtube video

How do I use keywords to my advantage?

The best way to use keywords to your advantage is to know the words and phrases people are likely to use when searching for the content your website provides. Once you have identified the words and phrases people are likely to use, do your best to incorporate these words and phrases into the content on your site. Make sure the words and phrases are included in the content in a fluid manner, however, as search engines can mark your site as "spam" if they feel you are using keywords that are irrelevant to your content, simply to drive up your traffic.

Can I designate specific words or phrases as keywords?

Most websites allow you to use meta tags to designate certain words as your "keywords." However, this is inadvisable, as search engines no longer use meta tags in their compilation of search results, and in fact, this may even increase the likelihood of a search engine labeling your site as "spam."

I've heard search engines don't use keywords anymore; is this true?

In the 1990s, search engines relied heavily on meta tags in order to distinguish keywords, and thus, to determine site rankings in search results. However, this led to "spam" sites tagging relevant keywords en masse, but providing no content on the site to go along with the keywords. Since then, search engines have changed their approach, and in 2009, Yahoo - who had been the last search engine still giving serious weight to meta tags - switched away from meta tags altogether, meaning that meta tags are no longer a valuable way to increase visibility through search engines. However, this does not mean that keywords in general are not used by search engines - and while search engines do not make their processes public, studies have shown that using keywords effectively, in the content of a website, greatly increases the chances of the website showing up in searches!

Where should I put my keywords?

Using keywords in the title of posts on your website, and in the description of your website, will help quite a bit in giving your website search engine visibility. But in the long run, the best thing you can do is know the keywords you feel will be beneficial, and incorporate these keywords into the content you add to your site!

How do I know which keywords to use?

It can be difficult at times to know which keywords will most effectively bring readers your way, but one of the best things you can do is conduct searches for the content you are planning to write. As you use different keyword combinations, you will be able to figure out the words and word combinations people are most likely to use, and will also be able to get a feel for where your content will show up in a search as you use certain words and phrases.

What else can I do with keywords to increase my search engine visibility?

Studies have concluded that one of the best ways to increase your ranking in search engine searches is for others to link to your site - and the best way to make this happen is to provide valuable content! As you provide valuable content, others will link to you using the same keyword combinations you use in the content itself, and this will help you to keep climbing higher in those ever-important search engine rankings!

You may find that using webfire's keyword tools can help you quickly research to determine your ideal keywords. There are a wide range of keyword tools in the keyword section, and they range from broad to specific in nature. 


Related blog post: 

Tips on Using Google Keyword Tool

Social Media ROI: 11 FREE Tools for Measuring Social Media Success

One of the most challenging tasks in selling digital marketing to the C-Suite is defining the return on investment (ROI). It can be particularly challenging when justifying the budget for social media marketing (SMM).

Many SMM efforts lend themselves to brand building, community building, and customer service. Unlike "traditional" SEO, these activities aren't always transactional in nature.

Marketing ROI has traditionally been measured like this:

Return on Investment (%) = (Net profit / Marketing Costs) × 100.

Sometimes, cost per customer acquisition is the measure. As recently as 2010, the dawn of social media marketing, those in the C-Suite attempted to apply the tried and true transactional ROI model to SMM. The CMO Survey, as reported by Forbes, lists the most common metrics used to measure social media investment.

By 2013, only 9 percent of marketers were using traditional ROI metrics, down from 17 percent in the initial survey. The reason: many social media activities can't be effectively measured using a transactional formula. SMM is often best measured in terms of audience reach, engagement and sentiment.

That said, there are highly successful direct response campaigns that run on Facebook and other social networks every day. These approaches deliver an ROI that can easily be measured the old-fashioned way. Pam Dyer lists 10 here. If that isn't enough, Rob Petersen has another six examples.

Business Insider recently published a story on the death of social ROI. They claim that companies are starting to drop the idea that social media ROI can be measured.

I asked Nicole Harrison (@SocialNicole) about this and the importance of ROI in social media. She was adamant that social media done correctly will deliver results and recommended the following list of 11 free tools for measuring both ROI and social media success.

1. HootSuite

HootSuite is a good all around tool to use for management and metrics tracking. You can schedule posts from multiple social media channels as well as create over 30 individual reports. The free metrics are somewhat limited, but for beginners it's all you will need.

2. SocialMention

SocialMention is an aggregate tool similar to Google Alerts, but for social media, only. This will give you insight into not only what is being said, but who is saying it and what the general sentiment is.

You can set an RSS feed, email alerts, or even add a real-time widget to your website. You can also download a CSV/Excel file for further evaluation.

3. Klout

Monitoring influence isn't an exact science, but having a tool that helps you begin to gage someone's online presence can be useful. Klout is a free tool that will allow you to measure influence on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and several other channels.

4. Facebook Insights

The Facebook insights dashboard gives you all of the analytics data for your Facebook page. The insights allow you to understand your audience, what they are reacting to, and adjust your content to meet their needs.

5. Twitter Analytics

Twitter now has its own analytics dashboard. With Twitter Analytics you can track timeline activity, including tweets that were favorited, retweeted, and replied to. The tool also tracks number of mentions, new followers and newly followed. For more information, see "Twitter Analytics: A Beginner's Guide".

6. Google Analytics

With Google Analytics Campaign Tracking, you can set up links for campaigns with UTM parameters to track the campaign. Go here to create the link using Google link shortener for campaigns.

This is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to track success of a specific link within a campaign. It's also one of the most overlooked methods of tracking.

7. Custom Social Media Reports

Google Analytics does a nice job tracking the number of visitors to visit a website from different social channels. These custom reports give you additional insights as to how traffic is being driven to your website.

If you aren't blogging or creating new and useful content to draw people to your website, don't expect these numbers to be high. It requires a content strategy to really work people toward your website. These easy to install one-click reports are invaluable.

8. Bitly

This link shortener allows you track everything you share. This is a great way to see what your audience is interacting with and decide if the content you share is valuable.

Bitly also integrates into many third-party software packages, making it a great umbrella tool, as you can track within multiple platforms. For example, you may use Social Sprout, a paid management platform and Buffer both with Bitly then review data in individual platforms or as a whole through Bitly.

9. Buffer

Buffer is a great tool for scheduling content. You simply fill up your Buffer account each day and it will automatically post the content to the channels you select.

For metrics, you're able to look at a dashboard inside Buffer to see what posts are getting the most interaction, or attach it to Bitly to include in your general tracking. You can also attach UTM parameters to track traffic in Google Analytics.

10. TweetReach

TweetReach is a great tool for tracking a campaign or conversation on Twitter. Simply enter your search term or hashtag and allow TweetReach to search for the tweets to tell you reach, exposure, activity, top contributors, and more. You can look at the past 50 mentions for free.

11. Keyhole

Keyhole is similar to TweetReach except that it also tracks Facebook and Instagram as well as Twitter. This is a great way to track a hashtag or keyword for a campaign or event.

The free social tracker gives you a sample of what the tracker can do. If you signup you can get a three-day free trial, which may be adequate for an event or snapshot view of a campaign. To get a long-term view you can sign up for a monthly paid plan.

Summary

Measuring social media ROI isn't always easy. Building a brand and improving your customer service may not show up directly in your analytics, but these "soft" metrics can have a major impact on the bottom line.

Do you have any tools or measurable SMM success stories to share?

By Chuck Price.  Article source: http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2308870/Social-Media-ROI-11-FREE-Tools-for-Measuring-Social-Media-Success