Today I ran into an excellent blog post by a fellow New Yorker Sarah Kessler who is one of Mashable’s newest writers.

Sarah gave a great overview of 7 services that she recommends to use when checking the availability of  your name on the internet.

It is very important that you secure your name, your company’s name, or your brand’s name early on in the game on the various social networks you plan to use. Especially if you have a very common name like John Smith because you will end up having to use an alternative name like JohnASmith  and also have the problem or not being easily found be your freinds or clients who know you as John Smith.

When I first got started online I used namechk.com to check the availability of my personal name. It is very simple to use, just enter your name  in the  search box and namechk will find the available websites for your name.

One of my favourite services that Sarah talk about in her blog post is knowem.com . Knowem.com not only will search your name over the most popular social networks, but it will categorize the networks by it’s particular purpose. For example it will break down the search by blogging, bookmarking, photo, video, business, community, design, entertainment, microblogging, music, news, tech, or travel sites’. This is excellent as it give you an idea of which newtork you should join according to your companies marketing strategy.

For the complete list of 7 Service you can read Sarah blog post “7 Services to Find and Reserve Your Name Across the Web” courtesy of Mashable HERE.

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Many of the concepts I write about in this blog post about generating traffic to your website is info I gathered from a report by SEO expert Ryan Deiss called Perpetual Traffic Formula. You can grab your personal copy of the report here.

There has been a lot of buzz in the SEO and online world about the recently released version of Google’s search engine, called Google Caffeine. With this update to the Google algorithm comes enhanced search results at amazingly fast speeds. The new algorithm is a lot different from the old classic Google search engine and relies more on social activity and the newest more relevant content.

What this means for business owners who have websites and blogs online is that you will need to adjust your strategies to work within this algorithm which I will talk about more in the post. Google Caffeine is indexing new content extremely fast- in some cases new content posted appears in searches within minutes, posing a challenge for online businesses to keep their content fresh and relevant.

For more info on the June 2010 Google caffeine update visit Tech Crunch or just Google “Google Caffeine Update”. There has been a lot of blogs that have already written on this topic including the “CNN of Social Media” Mashable.

With that being said let’s take a look at the

Top 3 ways to Drive Traffic to your Website based on the updated version of Google Caffeine:

1. Posting quality original content (includes keywords, domain name, tags, etc.): Content has always been king in the internet world, and never has that been as true as it is now. Providing lots of fresh, relevant content for human consumption on your website/blog is one of the key elements of generating traffic. Post frequently and remain true to your niche, while providing valuable information and you will gain a loyal following of readers and a steady flow of traffic.
2. Generating a handful of quality links (includes inbound, outbound, authority, etc.) : Lots of inbound links help to raise your rankings in the search engine algorithm, and bring traffic directly to your site. Update and republish articles that you’ve previously posted on your website to article directories and Web 2.0 sites. Be sure to include a resource box that describes your site and a link to your site. Another quick and easy way to generate inbound links is by blog and forum commenting, and using your signature link.
3. Human/social activity (includes traffic, RSS subscriptions, comments, updates, etc.): With the new Google Caffeine update, no longer are SEO and Social Media two separate animals, but rather they have become blended. Caffeine indexes social links and they get high rankings in this new system, especially in view of the fact that rankings are now more dynamic, constantly changing to display the freshest information.  You should definitely integrate social media into your marketing strategy; Caffeine’s new, real-time results are tied in directly to that social buzz.

Content and inbound links have always been present in Google’s algorithm. At times they have weighed one more heavily than another, but still CONTENT and LINKS remained the two primary variables that made up their algorithm…

However great content and quality inbound links doesn’t mean anything if your webpage remains unchanged for days and weeks at a time.

Based on research done by SEO expert Ryan Deiss sites that:

1.  Get more blog comments…

2. Generate more RSS subscribers (esp. via FeedBurner.com, which is owned by Google…hhmmm)

Get a bump in overall traffic and have a tendency to move up in the rankings faster and stay there longer.

Links and content alone may get you temporary rankings, but if you want to stay there you need SOCIAL ACTIVITY.

Ryan has come up this new formula…

Content + Links + Activity = PERPETUAL TRAFFIC

So how do you put this all together to drive insane traffic to your website?

FIRST you need content: Start of by building a website, preferably a WordPress Blog with at least 12 articles.  These articles must be relevant to your business with keywords that are consistent with your domain name, title page and your brand.

Then send just enough traffic (i.e. ACTIVITY) to it through paid sources and social media to give your site a “pulse”.

SECOND generate a few in-bound links: This is pretty easy to do with the help of link brokers and link tactics already available from the Google.

Note: There is an inexpensive software called “The Authority Codes” that you can use that costs less than $100 that will allow you to add 50 – 100 links to your site in just 10 – 15 minutes. For most business 50-100 inbound links is all you need

Once your site is setup with quality content and you have some links (and a small amount of activity to your site), your site will get noticed and picked up by Google.

THIRD use Google’s proprietary tools in your favor: Google has tools which monitor human activity through Google Analytics, Chrome, FeedBurner, etc. and based on the activity from these tools they can estimate the total activity to your site.

Using what Ryan Deiss calls “The Perpetual Traffic Formula” you can focus all your human activity through Google’s proprietary channels making it appear like your site was receiving more activity than it really was…this is very an interesting finding. I am still waiting for more feedback on Ryan on how he implements this final piece of the puzzle which he will be discussing in his traffic generating trainings on his blog. You will need to opt in to gain access to his blog site but on it he has some great training and free software to help you drive traffic to your website.

One of Ryan’s free software is called “Cherry Picker” that helps you find the right targeted and niche keywords for your online marketing business…you can get access to his new “Perpetual Traffic Report” and his “Cherry Picker” software HERE.

If you are using any of the above methods to drive traffic to your site I would love to hear about it…let’s continue the discussion in the comments box below.

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This may come as no surprise but WordPress takes the cake in an online survey conducted by The National Federation of Independent Business via “SmartBlog on Social Media”.

They ran a poll and asked business owners

“Which blogging platform they preferred to use?”

…and the results are in!

Landing in first place was wordpress.org, the self-hosted version, with wordpress.com which is the hosted version coming in second place. WordPress is without a doubt in my opinion dominating the market share over Blogger and Typepad.

I must say that if you plan on blogging for business you do want to set yourself apart from the rest. According to Technorati there are over 112.8 million blogs in the blogesphere and that does not include the 72.82 million Chinese blogs as counted by The China Internet Network Information Center. So I can totally agree why wordpress.org comes out on top of this survery.

One thing that you have to consider…

WordPress.com comes in a close second because I believe many businesses are trying to cut corners and are not willing to to spend the typical $8-$10 per month it costs for hosting and the $500-$2000 it costs to get a great looking blog theme designed. So the hosted version of wordpress has become the solution for many business owners who are on a tight budget.

But the few extra bucks it takes to have a great online presence for your company is definitely worth it. I wish that someone could take a survey of business owners who have hosted sites and those who have self hosted sites and calculate which sites generate more revenue for the respective business owners. That would be the ultimate deciding factor, but I don’t think that survey would be necessary.

The images below are from my original and very first blogs I started on blogger and wordpress.com. When I started those blogs I felt discouraged and did not write any blog posts simply because my blog looked like every other blog on the net and I believed that one of the best ways to set my blog apart from the rest was to take the extra step and host my blog myself so that I can have full control and ownership of my blog look and feel and it’s content .

At the end of it all it does matter whether which platform you use, if you have great content and you if are providing value to your readers. People will find out about you and spread the word. Take for instance Master Marketer Seth Godin who usess Typepad, according to Compete.com Seth has over 333,000 unique visitors to his blog.

So doesn’t really matter what platform you use, to each their own.

If you don’t have a blog and you fall into the 22% who are not blogging yet you have many blogging platforms to choose from, but if you plan on blogging for business I will recommend that you check out wordpress.org, they have lots of tutorials on their site to help you get going with your self hosted blog.

You may want to check out Free Blog Factory I have used them to setup, design and install my blog and they have a great system in that helps business owners get started with a new self hosted WordPress blog for FREE. This may be a great option for you or your company if you are on a tight budget…you can find out more about them HERE.

So until my next post.

Happy Blogging and  GO WORDPRESS!

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The key to running a successful blog is convincing your readers that you’re a trustworthy source of the information they need, argues Michael Low . To produce that effect, sprinkle your posts with just enough jargon and technical detail to make yourself sound authoritative, and don’t be shy about mentioning awards or testimonials that speak to your, or your brand’s, achievements, this article suggests.

Here are the first 5 ways to make your blog posts more credible:

1. Use rich, vivid detail.

When you use rich, vivid language, words that paint vivid pictures in your reader’s mind, she tends to believe what you are saying because she can see it for herself. After all, seeing, as they say, is believing!

2. Use scientific or technical language.

I know this goes against the grain of what most people suggest. But depending on the type of article you are writing, it might be appropriate to use scientific or technical terminology that demonstrates (without over doing it) your grasp — and thus, your authority — on the topic.

3. Use sequencing or process description.

In some cases, it may be appropriate to describe the steps involved in achieving an outcome. A list of numbered steps would be a good example of this. Or even a simple description in a single paragraph such as:

After taking your new computer monitor out of the box the first thing you will notice is a small bag containing three cords. One cord is blue, one is red, and the other black. Take the blue cord and plug the USB end into your computer, plug the other end (color coded orange) into the left side of the monitor in the port labeled “audio in”. And so on.

4. Use charts, diagrams and graphs.

There’s a saying in selling (where credibility is paramount) that “nothing sells like a demonstration”. The saying holds true in building the credibility for your article content too. If the content of your article lends itself to demonstration via a chart, graph or diagram you should use it.

5. Use a photograph depicting the article topic in action.

This may not always be possible. But have you noticed how the news media use intriguing photos to pull you into the article by attracting your attention? Photos can be as equally powerful when used in your articles to add credibility to your message.

Continue on to Problogger.net for the remaining 7 tricks to boost your blog’s credibility by researcher and writer Michael Low .

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This well established practice has an outstanding reputation for providing top quality service and enjoys a diverse orthopedic patient population from a wide range of referral sources. The practice is operated out of a first class office environment with 3,350 square feet of space providing ample room for existing business and plenty of room for growth. The practice is set up with a gym with a full complement of equipment, 9 private treatment rooms and executive offices for staff. The practice is a participating provider in many major insurance plans.

This practice represents an excellent opportunity for an existing Physical Therapist to add on a new location or for a new professional looking to acquire a solid, well run operation with an experienced support staff in place.  The owner is willing to stay on for a reasonable transition period.

Asking Price: $ 215,000 (Furniture / Fixtures included)

Sales revenue: $549,968

Average Net Adjusted Income: $95,000

Training & Support: Seller will offer training

Seller Financing: Financing available to qualified buyer

Contact:

NEW YORK BUSINESS BROKERAGE INC.

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I had a an hour long discussion with a very good friend of mine yesterday who wanted some tips and how to promote his new blog unleashedwellness.com

After getting off the call with him I realized that when it comes to promoting a new blog it can be a daunting task to get your blog noticed amongst the thousands of new blogs launched everyday. Although this may be true in some regard but when you think about it, just as no two people are the same, no two blogs could ever be the same.

People will follow your blog because of you!

So don’t try to get hung up on the fact that there are so many blogs on the internet. Your goal should be to write the best blog that you can write and just be yourself and remain as authentic and genuine and your followers will come.

But apart from your writing style and your content you do want to implement some simple strategies to help you promote your blog. . Because everything you can think of is available on the internet these days I decided to do a search on some great tips for promoting new blogs.

During this search I ran across a blog post by Thomas McMahon via Guy Kawasaki Alltop.com perfectly

Titled: “Tips for Promoting New Blogs”

Here are some of best tips I got from his blog post:

Email – Add a link to the blog in your email signature.

Network – Announce the blog to your Twitter followers, Facebook fans, Linked in connections and any other social networks that you are apart of.

Press Release – If you feel that the blog is important enough to support a press release, put one out.

Submit – Submit the blog to blog & feed directories.

Share – Share your blog with co-workers, friends and others in your network. You never know when they might promote it for you.

Link – One way to get other bloggers to notice you is to link to them. Summarize someone else’s long blog post, expand upon someones shorter post, or just write your thoughts on a topic that someone else wrote about and link back to the original post.

Give Away – If it’s a product blog, run a promotion on the blog giving away one of your products. Sometimes the value that can come out of giving something away can be more beneficial than all the items above.

Guest Post – If there are other blogs in your industry, ask around and see if they’d allow you to guest post for them. In return, you’d get a link back to your blog in your profile, or post, on their site.

Ask – Tap into the social networks within the industry you’re trying to reach and ask them what they’re interested in. Here’s an example of a post that did just that on Twitter for this blog. Show interest in the interest of your audience and they’ll pay more attention and share your content.

One thing that worked well for me was to make your blog launch into a huge event. I come from a family that believes the only way to do things is to DO IT BIG!

When I launched my blog I decided to make it into an event where I scheduled a Tele-Seminar with Bob Burg Best Selling Author of the book  The Go-Giver on the day I opened up my blog for the public. I used a word press plugin called “CJ Coming Soon” which made my blog private and posted a squeeze page with a launch date and an email capture form for curious blog  readers to opt in to be notified of my upcoming call and my blog launch.

It worked perfectly!

I had over 40 people on very first Conference Call Series for Entrepreneurs and captured over 100 emails address to add to my newsletter list for my blog. Talk about a blog debut..it was great.

Here is a look of what your blog would look like after the plugin.

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I am so looking forward to this new book from Darren Rose and Chris Garrett from ProBlogger.com  This is the 2^nd Edition of ProBlogger the Book and I believe this one will be their best one yet…Get Your Copy Today!

Setting up a blog and moving forward with a successful blogging strategy can be very daunting at times. Everyone says you need a blog, but not too many people teach you the right way to get started with blogging, much less how to make money blogging. In this new book from ProBlogger they will walk you through all the many aspects of setting up a blog and making money in the process.

This new book has many updates from the first book including an entire chapter dedicated to social media, plus a case study of Darren’s main blog Digital Photography School showing you how he launched it, drove traffic to it and made income through social media and newsletters.

They are even offering several bonuses to anyone who buys the book which will include interviews with successful bloggers.

“ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income” has already received over 67 customer reviews and has a 4 ½ Star Rating.

Click here to get your copy

I heard that the last edition sold out pretty quickly so get your copy today while stocks last…Plus right now you can get it for 34% OFF at Amazon.

Check out a video preview of the book below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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I ran into this blog post today and I just had to comment on it.

Christina Warren a guest writer for Mashable talks about the rising popularity of Smartphones based on a study done by RingCentral which talkes about how the use of smartphones has become just as popular as sex.

I don’t know about you but I would rather have sex over my Blackberry Bold any day, however ever since I started using smartphones it has become a little bit addictive. Especially now that everything is so accessible on your phone these days… it’s just powerful the things that you can do with your phone now….it’s crazy. Pretty soon you will be able to pay your taxes on your smartphone…Simply Amazing!

I believe that I use my Blackberry Bold just as much or even more than use my PC (It could be because my Sony Vaio got issues of it’s own but that’s another story).

In her blog post Christina writes about this case study that RingCentral did with about 400 customers and here is the scoop:

79% of respondents use their smartphones to conduct most business calls, versus an office phone or home phone.

34% use a smartphone more than a computer for business. 7% even said they don’t take their laptops with them when they travel for business if they have a smartphone.

48% of respondents said that at least two-thirds of their phone communication is via smartphone.

Smartphones and intimate relationships tied at 40% for the number one thing respondents can’t live without.

Very interesting poll done by RingCentral but it sparked me to start my own survey..

So I got a few questions of my own.

After you have answered each question (only 5 quick fun ones) hit next to go to the next question, then hit “Submit Survey”.

I would love your feedback on this topic…

If you have a question to the survey to add, put in the comment box below and I will add it to the survey.

Until next time…

Read the Christina’s original blog post courtesy of Mashable.

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19 Tips for Driving Traffic to Your Blog

Haven’t you ever wondered how some bloggers get loads of traffic to their site and other’s don’t?

It feels great to be able to publish your ideas and views to world, but if no one is reading your content what good is it?

Well I found a great blog post that gives you 19 tips that will drive traffic to your blog and you might want to check it out.

Denise Wakeman of socialmediaexaminer.com shares some great and interesting but seldomly used techniques that you can implement to drive traffic to your blog today.

Her blog post was just the inspiration I needed to spruce up my blog visiblity a bit, since I have not done much since I started my blog a few months ago.

In her very first tip “Publish as frequently as possible” I am guilty as charged as I have not been able to post as frequent as I would have liked. I originally planned on posting 1 to 2 times per week, but you know what happens right? You miss a posting and you say that you will catch up next week and next week you never catch up.

Denise says “The more frequently you post, the more traffic you get because the search engines are indexing your content more frequently.”

Just this one tip alone can double or even triple your traffic.

Check out Denise’s  remaining 18 Tips on socialmediaexaminer.com you will thank me for it.

Over 300 hundred viewers have already re-tweeted her blog post, the content is that good.

What strategies to you use to drive traffic to your blog?

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I was surfing the blogosphere looking for some great content to brainstorm for my blog and I ran into this blog post on problogger.com by Mark Hayward title “How to Blog When Your’rs Not a writer”

This title caught my attention as I am relatively new to blogging and I don’t consider myself a writer in any regard.

In this blog post Mark gives a great guide that non writers can use to help them get up and going with their blog.

Read full article courtesy of  ProBlogger.com

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