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Have you fallen into the social marketing trap? How much of your time should you spend in the social networking arenas (twitter, facebook, my space etc.) trying to market your web business? Can it pay off? Let’s take a look at Twitter……..
What Is Twitter?
Simply put, Twitter is a free social messaging utility for staying connected in real-time. Huh……. The best way to understand Twitter is to picture a bunch of people conversing around a water cooler, except in this case, you can only communicate in text and you have a limit of 140 characters!
According to Wikepedia:
“Twitter (twitter.com) is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read each others' updates, known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters, displayed on the author's profile page and delivered to other users - known as followers - who have subscribed to them. Senders can restrict delivery to those in their circle of friends or, by default, allow open access.”
So how do you connect with other Tweeters? You can access other individual’s "conversations" or “tweets” through Twitter's search tool. You simply key in various terms of interest and then scroll through the results until you find a comment that grabs your attention. Next step? Introduce yourself and share your own thoughts. If you like where the conversation is going, add the person to your twitter feed by hitting their ‘follow’ button and when there's something new about that topic, you'll know. That's it in a nutshell...
So Can Twitter Help Build Your Web Business?
Yes and No……The key is to find time-effective ways to use Twitter for building your business. There are many strategies that can be used to build a following for your web site or blog, establish joint ventures and build your ‘brand of one’, but each needs to be weighed according to time invested and return. If you find yourself spending 5 mind numbing hours a day ‘tweeting’ you should ban yourself from Twitter and reconsider how your time could be better spent. Remember, we only have so many hours in a day. Prioritizing that time is critical. And it's easy to lose lots of time at Twitter, 140 characters at a time.
Here's a one-time strategy (perhaps repeated monthly) for Twitter that you may find effective... Search for someone interesting and influential in your field. If you find someone, open an account, make a couple of good tweets, and follow that person. Try to strike up a personal contact and take it from there. If you're good, it may yield something, especially if you don't shoot for the super-stars. Following major players in your niche and staying up-to-date can benefit in multiple ways from providing you with fresh content ideas to striking up unique joint ventures. But keep your mind open and your time tweeting to a limit.
Twitter Tips
1. Twitter Settings. Use these wisely...
2. Twitterfeed (twitterfeed.com) Use this to distribute your new pages to Twitter.
3. Other "Feed Services" Other services (ex. Ezinearticles ) enable you to update your submissions at Twitter.
It's All About Leveraging……. If you find that you are working or communicating only one-on-one, that's not leverage -- it's just fancy e-mail or messaging. But if you get folks involved in your site or if you can reach out to a large player (or YOUR equivalent) in your niche that tweets and strikes a deal, THAT's leverage.
Bottom Line?
Twittering, as with all social networking tools, is about leveraging your time as much as possible. Keep in mind all communication can be a waste of your time and energy, it’s about leveraging your time wisely whether you are communicating via twitter or having a face-to-face conversation with a prospect. The bottom line is, make each tweet count…… OK I have taken the plunge and joined Twitter. You can follow me here, Natureheals Twitter. Happy Tweeting!
You can check out my web sites Healthy Holstic Living.com and Home Remedies and Natural Cures.com. To get more great tips, like the ones above and to see how and what tools I used to create a successful on-line business go to http://sitesell-sbi.com
The blog post below is a continuation in the series of articles on 'How I Started a Thriving Business While on Disability' and boy is my business ever THRIVING! Who ever said being a small business owner during a recession is bad is dead WRONG! The absolute best business to have during a recession is ‘Webprenuer’!
Top Do's and Don’ts when Building your Web Site
DO….
…build a web site with tons of content to please both the search engines and your readers!
…use short sentences. The Internet is a fast-paced world and your visitors want to get your information fast. So edit, edit, edit! And remember misspelled words and poor grammar are a quick way to send your readers packing!
…use a consistent look and feel on your web site. A site should be informative and easy to maneuver. And all of the pages should have a similar look and feel as well as the same navigation system throughout the entire site.
…keep your links current and accurate. How many times have you gone to a web site and clicked on a link that didn't work? Enough said.
…make sure visitors to your site can tell at a glance what your site is about. Most people will leave a site in the first two seconds if they don’t think your site offers them what they are looking for.
DON’T:
…fill your web site with useless links and irrelevant text as this diverts most of the traffic from the web site. Give them what they came for: INFORMATION.
…put a lot of slow-loading graphics on your page. No matter how fancy and snazzy those graphics are, people are not going to stick around and wait for them to load.
…have pages that are “Under construction”. If it is not complete, do not post the page. And what ever you do, don’t put one of those ‘under construction’ images on the page.
…try to mislead search engines. Trying to mislead search engines by repeating keywords will turn against you. Search engines recognize many of these attempts and will react on it by giving your site a lower ranking or by not placing it at all.
…use pop-ups, force people to download a new browser and/or a special plug-in to see your site, or put music on your site. Visitors find these really annoying. Needless to say the less you annoy a visitor, the more likely he or she is to stay.
“…participate in link exchange programs or link farms. Google will ban sites that participate in link exchange programs, and many of the other major engines have also expressed their dislike of artificially created link popularity.”
Want to learn more about "me"? Check out my Bio Page, visit my web site, Healthy Holistic Living or you can listen to my interview with Brian Therrien at The Disability Digest.
Want to learn more about the tools that I used to build a successful on-line business? You can go to Site Build It or you can check out this video
If you have questions about how to start your own on-line business you can contact me via my Bio Page or you my web site.
Want to keep up with my disability digest blog posts? Sign up for my feed
The blog post below is a continuation in the series of articles on 'How I Started a Thriving Business While on Disability' and boy is my business ever THRIVING! Who ever said being a small business owner during a recession is bad is dead WRONG! The absolute best business to have during a recession is ‘Webprenuer’!
Blogs anyone?
“A blog (short for web log) is an online journal or diary of an individual’s opinions and latest news that is updated regularly, in reverse chronological order. Many blogs allow visitors to make comments, or “postings” in response to the blogger (the author), or ask questions.”
“This is a term coming from the combination of the terms web log – it is a web page that serves as publicly accessible journal for the author. It can be formal or informal, is usually updated daily and reflects the personality of the author.”
Content-based web site:
“A Theme-Based Content Site contains information based upon a main subject. Each page focuses upon a single topic that is related to that theme. The net sum of all the information on all your pages forms the Content of your site.”
OK, so a Blog is a form of web site but it is just in a different format. And a content-based web site is organized in a manner that relates to the overall theme of the web site. Simple enough, right? So which one is for you?
Well, it depends on your overall goals and whether or not you enjoy writing on a regular basis. You see, if you choose to build a Blog, beware that you need to update it on a regular basis, daily if possible. A Blog is a responsibility if you want your readers as well as the search engines to stick around.
But a real positive with a Blog is its simple format that takes little or no time to set up. On the other hand, a content-based web site is going to require that you put in your time up front building your site.
Another key point to consider is the traffic flow or readers that find your web site or Blog via the search engines.
Because Blogs are pretty much all content, Blog posts often get indexed quickly by Google resulting in a boost in traffic. The only problem is, because of the chronological order of the Blog, that traffic boost is short lived and you have to make one great post after another to maintain the traffic.
A regular website has pages that remain the same because it’s ordered topically by the Navigation bar. A website generally takes longer to get indexed, but once indexed, the page stays there for as long as it meets Google search engine requirements. Therefore, the traffic lasts longer.
Bottom Line............
It’s a great idea to mix the best of Blogs and “content-based web sites” together. If you build a solid content-based web site with a Blog component, you will benefit from both the short-term traffic spurts while maintaining your long-term traffic. This way you are not necessarily tied to the idea of having to post daily to your Blog to maintain traffic!
Want to learn more about "me"? Check out my Bio Page, visit my web site, Healthy Holistic Living or you can listen to my interview with Brian Therrien at The Disability Digest.
Want to learn more about the tools that I used to build a successful on-line business? You can go to Site Build It or you can check out this video
If you have questions about how to start your own on-line business you can contact me via my Bio Page or you my web site.
Want to keep up with my disability digest blog posts? Sign up for my feed
The blog post below is a continuation in the series of articles on 'How I Started a Thriving Business While on Disability' and boy is my business ever THRIVING! Who ever said being a small business owner during a recession is bad is dead WRONG! The absolute best business to have during a recession is ‘Webprenuer’!
Things are going so well that I am starting a second web site on ‘Home Remedies and Natural Cures’ I should have it up and running in the next 3 months. My goal is by next year to be earning $5,000 per month and working 5 hours per week! And to finally say goodbye to my Disability Checks!
Do My Readers Really Care Who I Am?
How important are you, the writer, to your readers? Do they really care who you are or why you built your web site?
We have all seen the “About Us” button on a web site and if you have a web site you might even have one, but how important are they? And what's the real value of such a page? And, of course, the all-important question, do you know how to maximize its value?
Well, after reading an article by Bryan Eisenberg called “The Power of the About Us Page”, I am sold on the importance as well as the advantages of sharing a piece of yourself with your reader.
According to Bryan, an “About Us" page is a tremendous opportunity to cement a relationship with many prospective customers. It can put a human face on an otherwise technical, dry, and impersonal page. Properly written, it can provide some serious buying resolve to certain customer segments.
Humans want to connect with other humans. That's easy to forget in a transaction-focused business world, but consider MySpace.com's explosive success. What's MySpace if not a massive collection of "About Me" pages?” It’s simple building a business is about building relationships.
In his article, Bryan also shares the most common “About Us” page mistakes:
Bottom Line.........
Not every customer wants to know more about you, but don't disappoint those who do. Writing an "About Us" page that focuses on the human aspect of your business could result in higher conversion from those who encounter it and that could mean more money in your pocket!
Want to learn more about "me"? Check out my Bio Page, visit my web site, Healthy Holistic Living or you can listen to my interview with Brian Therrien at The Disability Digest.
Want to learn more about the tools that I used to build a successful on-line business? You can go to Site Build It or you can check out this video
If you have questions about how to start your own on-line business you can contact me via my Bio Page or you my web site.
Oh and if you are ready to build your own successful on-line business now is a Great Time Site Build It is running their ‘Spring Special 2 sites for $399.00’ which means you could pair up with another Disability Digest member who is interested in building a web site and share the cost. That means it would only cost each of you $200! Seriously this is a fantastic deal! And if you decide to keep the second site for yourself you have up to 9 months to activate it!
NOTE: OOPS looks like to Spring Special has expired! If you are interested drop me a note and I can sign you up personally and still offer you the SPECIAL!
So you want to build a web site but are a little apprehensive about writing......? Boy, do I ever understand! But the key is simple, just be YOU! There is nobody else out there that has your unique voice, style or expertise.
The goal of good writing is to COMMUNICATE... to build relationships with your audience.
Do you realize that all day long, in your "OFFline life," you do exactly that? You PREsell yourself. You build your personal "offline brand of one." This is the image that people have of you. Building a "brand of one" is just as easy to do ONline, and just as important, through your writing.
Relax. There is no mystery to good writing. No secret society. No smoke and mirrors.
You can write to PREsell! No genetic talent required! It's just a matter of unlocking what's already inside YOU.
On the Net, effective PREselling creates a warm, "open-to-buy" mindset in your target group and gets that important click-through to your monetization source, which is just another way of saying you make money! And PREsold visitors are much easier to convert into customers.
Successful PREselling content "works" at several levels...
1) It has that "been there - done that" voice and flair.
2) It has specific knowledge that comes from real experience.
3) It is supported by a depth of useful information -- good reference material plays an important part.
4) It is spun or positioned in a way that is uniquely yours.Furthermore, it is consistent, from page to page, from e-zine issue to issue, from week to month to year. And finally, it is for the customer, absolutely.
Keep in mind that when I say “spun” I simply mean “how you present yourself”. This doesn’t imply that you are manipulating or twisting your words, it is about presentation. That is why it is so important to “keep it real”, over deliver on your content and give your readers what they want. They can be manipulated and “sold” a bill of goods anywhere else, instead, surprise them by giving them what they are looking for. You will be quite pleased with the results.
Need a little help? Take some time to read Make Your Content PREsell! It provides all the guidance and strategies you need to create winning content... relevant, information-packed content pages that make your business stand out from the crowd and open your visitors' minds to your monetization offerings......oh, yeah, and it’s free!
Always build a web site with your unique voice and expertise. On the other hand, there may be a point that outsourcing your articles makes sense.....time is usually the reason someone would outsource their articles…. But, keep in mind this is only after you have an established web site that has developed your unique “brand of one.” The key is to weave a bit of your voice into every article regardless of outsourcing or not!
Bottom Line......
Building a “brand of one” is essential to creating a successful on-line or, for that matter, off-line business! Follow your passion; speak from your experience and keep it real....and you won’t go wrong.
The information, concepts and tools that I am sharing with you are taken directly from Site Build It!, created by Ken Evoy. This is the system that I used to build my successful web business and the only one that I would recommend you use to build your Internet business. Site Build It! is the only, all-in-one, site-brainstorming-and-building-and-hosting-and-marketing, step-by-step system of software tools that delivers thriving, profitable business.
Want to learn more about "me"? Check out my Bio Page, visit my web site, Healthy Holistic Living or you can listen to my interview with Brian Therrien at The Disability Digest.
Want to learn more about the tools that I used to build a successful on-line business? You can go to Site Build It or you can check out this video
If you have questions about how to start your own on-line business you can contact my via my Bio Page or you my web site.
Are you planning on starting your own web business? Then you need to know what an 'authority site' is and why you need to strive to become one!
The definition of ‘Authority Site’ seems to be a debatable topic among experts on the Internet. To deem a web site an ‘authority’ or a person for that matter, always seems to leave a bit of room for debate, but, to put it simply, an authority site is one that is a well-presented, well-read, and well-regarded site.
An authority site focuses on creating a positive user experience and provides high quality content within a specific niche. Writing good articles, keeping up-to-date blogs and content, making the site easy to navigate, and blending ads in with the content all are traits of an ‘authority site.’
According to seodesignsolutions.com: “In layman’s terms, an authority website is a popular site that people frequent, that gets linked to on the basis of it’s merit, or that others willingly refer to when the theme of that site comes into play.”
And Miles Galliford, a leading internet entrepreneur says that “An Authority Site can be defined as a website that sets out to be a leading online source of information for a niche subject.”
Simple enough, but who deems a site an authority site?
An ‘authority’ site is one which Google values and deems an ‘authority’ for a particular search term or topic. Typically Google grants ‘authority’ status to well known brands, such as Gap or a leader in any particular industry or niche.
An authority site will appear as the first result in Google’s search engine results as well as having 4-5 and sometimes 8-10 other links directly under it pointing to other high ranking pages within the listed web site. Google rewards ‘authority sites’ with additional links for being a trusted and quality website.
Not to toot my own horn but………..my web site, Healthy Holistic Living.com is an ‘authority site.’ Yup, check out the image below showing the results for the search term ‘holistic living.’
And what is even more exciting is that I have the same ‘authority status’ for the keywords ‘holistic healthy’ which means I am the authority out of over 9 million web sites! Of course I am not going to get the same results for all the keywords associated with my web site, just for certain keywords that Google considers my web site to be an ‘authority’ on.
To check whether a site has been given ‘authority website’ status, you need to do a search on Google for its full domain name. If the search engine results page shows the site listed as number one with anywhere from 4-10 sublinks under it then it’s an ‘authority site.’
So why do you want your web site to be an ‘authority site’?
When you establish authority in your given niche, you become an industry leader and, from that, consumers start to seek out your products, information and services instead of the traditional marketing process, where marketers seek out consumers. And that means more profit for you.
What does it take to create an 'authority site'?
An ‘authority site’ requires strong content, a large number of pages, and a large number of incoming and outgoing links that are themed to the web site’s content.
According to theinternetdigest.net an authority web site should be:
“Interactive: You should be engaging the minds of your visitors at all times using surveys, commenting and feedback. Make these features easy for your visitors and your site will grow exponentially. Why? Because they feel like you actually care about them. Interaction is a powerful tool and creates a sense of community on your site.
Consistent: You should post to your web site often, and you should always provide quality and original content. That doesn't mean you need to produce 800-word articles three times a week. Your goal should be to become an information master. You need to be an "authority" on the news or information in your niche.”
The keys to becoming an authority site are highly interrelated. They include number of indexed pages, quality content, links, and strong Google PageRank. All of these factors work in harmony to achieve that highly desirable ‘authority site status’; lacking any of those qualities, can hinder a web sites goal of becoming an authority site.
Bottom Line…..
If you want to become an authority site you need a good amount of original high quality content and you need to provide a superb visitor experience, the rest will come naturally.
Want to learn more about "me"? Check out my Bio Page, visit my web site, Healthy Holistic Living or you can listen to my interview with Brian Therrien at The Disability Digest.
Want to learn more about the tools that I used to build a successful on-line business? You can go to Site Build It or you can check out this video
If you have questions about how to start your own on-line business you can contact my via my Bio Page or you my web site.
Hello everyone. Hope all is well. Wishing you Happy Holidays and sending blessings your way. It's been a while since I last blogged. With having lupus and fibromylgia, it can be a struggle.
I would like to offer everyone on Disability Digest one voucher for various items, including travel. I appreciate all the stories shared on this network regarding disability. I have grown as a result. If interested in receiving the voucher, select the one you would like here ==> http://www.vestedtravels.com/incentives.php and provide me with the voucher you would like and send me your email address. I would never reuse or share your email. I would use it to send the voucher and instructions on how to redeem the voucher. Restrictions and fees do apply.
Personal Goals;
My personal goals in 2009 is to work on the foods I eat and exercise. I will be switching to organic foods and doing some level of exercises. You have to start somewhere. I truly believe that having a positive mindset assist in healing, no matter what type of disability you may have. Negativity only hampers your ability to heal. So, whatever your goals are for the new year, wishing you much success. Just remember, you can do whatever you set your mind to.
Professional Goals;
With the help of my sister, I have created my first E-Book - Entrepreneur Tips and Strategies. I am so happy and blessed to share something that helped me during my journey of starting my Travel Biz. This E-Book is packed with information for the beginning or experienced entrepreneur. I share a lot of information based on my struggles when building my business. The E-book has been reduced to $12.50. If interested, check it out here ==> http://www.lulu.com/browse/preview.php?fCID=5204808
My sister and family have also been a GREAT help in maintaining my websites when I cannot on Entrepreneurship, Health, Technology and Travel. I pay $7.95 a month for hosting. Blogging on my websites allow me to share my knowledge on a variety of topics. My business site is http://www.ebonywoman.info and my travel site is http://www.allaboutvegastravel.info. Check them out if you get a chance. Packed with GREAT content!
In 2009, I will continue with my e-book writing on various topics. I will also continue with my Travel Biz. My main focus and goal for travel is to do more GROUP cruises. In 2008, I was successful in setting up 4 group cruises. In 2009, my goal is to increase the number of group cruises to six. I so enjoy what I do, even with my current disabilities. My travel website ===> http://www.gottitravel.com.
I look forward to blogging and sharing in 2009. Again, Happy Holidays to all!
So you have a disability and need to find work you can do from home...right? Are you having a tough time finding employment options? Are you thinking of starting your own business from home, but have no idea how to get started? If you answered yes to all these questions, by now you are probably frustrated and about to give up!
I know exactly how you feel because I spent months looking on the Internet trying to find options that would allow me to work from home. I needed something that was extremely flexible and that would allow me to work an hour here or there and then maybe not for a week or two. I certainly couldn't find anything that gave me the flexibility I needed with my illness . Truthfully, most of what I found sounded like a scam.
That is when I decided that I would need to do something on my own, start my own business. I have always been entrepreneurially inclined so the thought of starting my own business worked well for me but not everybody is cut out for it….
So first things first…. One of the most important things an entrepreneur, or anybody for that matter, can do is better understand who they are, their strengths and their weaknesses.
So, before I go on, this would be a good time for you to take a personality test. Take the time now to assess if you are the type of person to succeed in your own business. Just don’t wait to figure it out after you get started! Just click on “Benevolent Leader” below and you can start your own personality test.
My results came up:
If you want to read about my results you can click on My personalDNA Report
Done? Good, that should have given you a little more insight to help you determine if you have the personality and drive to create your own business.
According to Entreprenuer.com there are 5 things that separate the entrepreneur from the average 9-5 guy:
1. PASSION
2. POSITIVITY
3. ADAPTABILITY
4. LEADERSHIP
5. AMBITION
And I would add ORGANIZATION....but that's just me.
If this sounds like you it's time to consider starting your own business.
So you have the personality, drive, ambition and all that other good stuff but you have absolutely no idea what business you could start...Well, for our situation, anyone living with a disability one of the best options is starting an online business.
OK this all sounds good, but now what? And how do you go about selecting a business that will succeed on the Internet? And, how do you know where and how to start?
The problem is that most of us are not certain what the best way to approach this is or we don’t have any web design experience. If you are anything like me, you have already done a ton of searches on home-based business opportunities and have felt let down by all the scams and get-rich-quick schemes out there. It took me over a year, traveling to another country and listening to my Dad’s advice to come across this Site Build It opportunity.
I now have a successful business on-line, Healthy Holistic Living , but when I got started I knew nothing about how to begin. I floundered for a while until I found the right way to go about it.
The first thing I learned was that the most important principle you need to understand is WHAT DRIVES THE INTERNET. You may think you know, after all you have searched a ton of successful sites and it all looks fairly simple. But building a business on the Internet has its own set of rules and principles.
Luckily after a rough start I was introduced to a business tool called Site Build It that took all the mystery and fear out of building a successful web business.
You see, I had zero, zip, nada computer experience... sure, I used one at the office but I never really ventured on the Internet until I got sick. And I had no tech background so the idea of building a web site and writing code was beyond my skill level. So when I came across Site Build It and read over there Action Guide , I thought this is the ticket for me.
Site Build It’s philosophy of “following your passion” resonated with me. That combined with powerful business tools that handled all of the technology and an incredible price sold me right away.
We are only limited by the tools we choose to use, our vision and our belief system.
Once I got started with Site Build It, my ideas just pored out and everything followed effortlessly. Don’t get me wrong, it is still hard work with lots of numbers crunching before you begin the actual page writing, but the tools are there to support you all the way. This program is designed to let you know in advance if the information you plan to focus on has any value/demand on the internet and how you can then monetize it. It will help you figure out how to take your ideas and put them into action. It will help you with the web design layout and how to monetize the traffic without ever leaving your home or, if you choose to travel, you can build and maintain your website anywhere in the world where you have internet access.
Again, you don’t have to have any site-building experience, the Site Build It program is specifically designed for the neophyte.
So, what’s your next step if you want to build a unique, successful and profitable website? This is where the word UNIQUE comes in; this is your knowledge, your passion and your experience. It's about finding your niche, and giving people quality information they can trust!
First, find what you are most knowledgeable about. Second, find what you are most passionate about and using the Site Build It program build a website around that with lots and lots of information, articles, research data, pictures, whatever, to create credibility and trust and then consider monetizing the traffic that will come to your site in search of your knowledge!
Want to learn more about "me"? Check out my Bio Page or you can listen to my interview with Brian Therrien at The Disability Digest
Want to learn more about the tools that I used to build a successful on-line business? You can go to Site Build It
If you have questions about how to start your own on-line business you can contact my via my Bio Page or you can contact me via my web site
Curious about the success of my site using Site Build It ? Do a quick search:
- Go to the Google home page and key in "holistic living", I should be listed as #3! Now try keying in "healthy living tips", I should be #9!
- Still not sure? Ok, go to the Yahoo home page and key in "benefits of living healthy", I should be #2! How about "healthy holistic living" I should be #1!
-All right now, let’s go ahead and check out MSN and key in "Holistic Living tips." I should be #3! OK, you get the point, I hope, because I could go on for a while!
-OK one more, key in “disability digest” into MSN, Yahoo or Google I am on page #1 for all three search engines!
The neat thing about Site Build It is that it doesn’t take long to achieve this kind of success. I built the first page on this website July 2006! And I was able to incorporate this program into my life in a Holistic way, without changing my vision and my belief system. The key is to follow your passion and allow yourself to be open to the tools presented to you.
And last but not least according to outside ranking sources my site; healthy-holistic-living.com is in the TOP 1% of all web sites on the internet today for traffic statistics!
Simply put my year and half old, little, one man show web site has more traffic coming to it than most web sites on the internet today! You can check out my results (click on Health & Medicine) Thanks to Site Build It I was able to accomplish this without the expertise of a web master and in a very short period of time!
To get technical, according to Alexa.com I am in the Top 1% out of 100,000,000 sites but in all actuality there are about 160,000,000 sites but why quibble!
Look for my future Blog posts where I will share tips and more about my experience as well as answer any questions you may have.