Archive for February, 2012

Important Twitter Directories to Get listed on

Wednesday, February 29th, 2012 at 10:15 PM  
Leave your comment

Once you start operating your business Twitter account it is important to get it listed on some major Twitter directories. The advantages to doing this are:
1. Directories are one of the ways Twitter users find people to follow so it offers your business one of the easiest ways to get more followers. Even if you have a relatively new presence on Twitter, getting listed is an important part to increasing your visibility in the Twittersphere and getting found by potential followers.
2. Directories offer you an opportunity to get to know other Twitter users who may be useful for you to follow in your niche. By discovering other users in your niche with large followings, your business can follow them and gain some of their followers.

Here is a list of some Twitter directories to register with:

1. Twellow.com- this is like the Yellow Pages of Twitter and has various categories where you can list your account. It is one of the most well known and effective directories to get followers.

2. WeFollow.com- this user-driven directory allows you to use hash tags for keywords you want to be known for such as #plumbing, #hairsalon, #internetmarketing.

3. Twitdir.com- this directory list the Top 100 most popular accounts, the top 100 followers, the top 100 most followed accounts, and the top 100 updaters. It also has a search tool.

4. Twitaholic.com- this directory lists by category and also provides rankings for Twitter accounts

5. JustTweetIt.com – this directory not only offers listings but in addition, you can be notified when new people are listed especially those in your niche category.

6. Twittercounter.com- you can list your Twitter account by category and also use the directory to measure your twitter metrics and statistics as it charts your Twitter followers over time

Getting your local business noticed on YouTube

Monday, February 27th, 2012 at 10:21 PM  
Leave your comment

YouTube provides your local business a chance to get before the eyeballs of millions of people all across the globe, a much more powerful marketing tool than you could possibly imagine. But how does a small business owner hit it big on YouTube, especially when the most popular videos seemed to be rather outlandish such as talking bobble heads?
Here are some key ingredients to getting your video noticed on YouTube:

Choose the right keywords.
To help your business video get found in YouTube’s search engines results, you will want to use keywords that filter through the millions of viewers to target the small number of specific people your business niche reaches. Using longtail keywords will yield highly targeted viewers. For example it is better to use the keywords “real estate Atlanta, GA” instead of “real estate”.

Put a quirky twist to your message
This is where most businesses get their video marketing messed up because they don’t understand that YouTube has a strong entertainment factor and that’s what attracts viewers. No matter what you’re selling you must have an amusing twist that engrosses people attention, even if you’re selling something as mundane as industrial equipment. And that’s when the viral power of YouTube will skyrocket your views.

Create a YouTube channel
This becomes like your own TV station where all your uploaded videos get stored and where viewers can join as subscribers. Your subscribers are like your fans and followers whom you can interact with and who will spread the word around about your business.

Network amongst the YouTube community
You can get your business noticed in the hallways of the YouTube community by contributing comments on other people’s videos, sharing with others within groups related to your niche or creating a group if one doesn’t exist yet. Soon you will become a go-to authority in your field that will boost your local business’s presence on the site.

Online Work at Home Careers Are Abundant in an Otherwise Down Job Market

Sunday, February 26th, 2012 at 3:05 AM  
Leave your comment

Online Work at Home Careers Are Abundant in an Otherwise Down Job Market

If you’re among the unfortunate throngs of people still searching for work, then you know how frustrating it is to search – and how limited the job opportunities are. What you need to know is that if you’re having trouble finding work or you’re having trouble making ends meet, then you have a chance to change the course of your life right now.

You can use the skills you already have to provide services for those that need them. You can do all of that online – setting up your business, marketing to get the word out and handling payments – right from the comfort and security of your home office.

What kind of service should you provide? That depends on what your skills are. Do you have experience with data entry? That’s a service you can provide for others from your home.

You can become a virtual assistant, which is someone who offers clients the same skill and professionalism an actual office assistant would give. And there’s a wide open market for courteous, professional virtual assistants in all lines of work.

For clients, it’s like having a personal secretary or an office manager. People who work as a virtual assistant can work for a pre-arranged time span – some jobs might last a few months, while others might last years depending on the contract agreement.

If you’re skilled in writing, web design or graphic arts, then you can do all of those jobs right from home as a freelancer. That means you get to set your own hours, your own wages – and as you build your client list, your reputation will grow and the amount of income you earn can rise as well.

Another route you can go is to work from home as a project management specialist. To work in project management, you would need to be capable of handling all of the requirements needed to make a job complete.

For example, you’d have to know how much labor the project required and how many people would be needed to work on that project. You would need to know the resources that have to be in place to begin and finish the project. You would need to know the tools required and the approximate cost to get the job done.

To decide if working from home is the right career move for you, make a list of your skills and start formulating a plan of action to launch your own business.

Converting Lists Into Cash: How To Get People To Click And Take Action

Friday, February 24th, 2012 at 10:21 PM  
Leave your comment

When I think of ways to get my email list subscribers to click my links and take action that will generate sales, I often remember the saying that goes “you can get a horse to the well, but you can’t force it to drink.” That analogy is so true in email marketing because you can have a list with thousands of people on it, but that doesn’t mean anything unless you’re able to turn that list into hard cash when you need to.

Here are ways to get people to take action

Give them clear cut calls to action. This might seems obvious but unless you tell people to take specific action, they won’t. People often need to be taken by the hand and shown exactly what they need to do. You therefore need to include action sentences such as: Click here, Buy Now, Place your Order Here, Click this link, Here’s how to get your product.
Provide money back guarantees. These put your prospects at ease and give them confidence to whip out their credit cards. Offering a solid and genuine guarantee protects your prospect from bad deals and getting ripped off. You can offer a 30 day guarantee where they can get a full refund if they are not happy with a product or service.
Quality guarantees. This is useful for certain products especially technical gadgets, machinery, automobiles and food products. Assure your clients with warranties, quality certifications etc
Offer to covers extra costs like shipping and handling so that your customer feels your business is covering more risk in the transaction than they are. This will also give you an edge over your competitors who may not be willing to foot these expenses. As you go the extra mile in customer service, customers will choose you over other local businesses.
Offer bonuses such as accessories related to your offer for free. For example, a coffee shop may offer a free mug on all purchases of fresh roasted coffee beans. You can also increase your sales by offering bonus packages where you sell a product package for a discounted price. For example, the coffee shop could offer a three- pack package of fresh roasted coffee beans in different aromas for a discounted price that results in a $10 saving to the customer.

Important Parts of a Twitter Profile Every Business Should Set Up

Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012 at 10:15 PM  
Leave your comment

After registering and confirming your Twitter account, it’s essential to set up your Twitter profile in a way that boosts your credibility and likeability to other Twitter users. Here are the important facets of your Twitter Profile:

1. Your Image
Always upload an image of yourself or your company logo and never use the default Twitter image. This will help people trust that you are a real person and not a spammer. Your image should be not more than 700K and should obviously be a positive and sociable expression of who you are so choose a photo that has your smiling face in full view
2. Your Description
This is like a brief biography about yourself or your business. It shouldn’t read like a formal biography because Twitter is a social media platform where people come to socialize and be entertained. Try and use casual language that shows your personality while providing key information about how you and your business can create value to others. Using Humor is a definite plus too.
3. Your Website link
Your Twitter profile has a specific space provided for your website or blog URL, so don’t forget to use this feature. It provides a valuable means for people interested in knowing more about you to get more information and content from your website. You will find it also a way to get more leads to your opt-in form and to your products and services that are available on your website. This is especially useful because one of the keys to being effective on Twitter is to avoid hard-selling to your followers and instead directing them to your website or blog where you can take a more direct approach. If you don’t have a website or blog you can link to your Facebook page, Linkedin profile or MySpace page.
4. Your location
It is important to provide your location especially if you want to capitalize on local business. If a majority of business comes from your local area, then indicating your location can attract a lot of local Twitter followers who are in the same locale and can connect with you. If you are a local offline business, this would be the perfect way to advertise specials, deals and coupons to local followers.
5. Your Twitter background
It’s important to create a professional and customized Twitter background that stands out so that it is memorable and credible. It also provides you a chance to stand out from other businesses that use the default Twitter background. Think of your Twitter background as your unique online graphic brand for your business. Businesses that use customized Twitter backgrounds invariably have more followers than those who don’t so it is obviously better for you to create a personalized background.

 Page 1 of 4  1  2  3  4 »