The value of a mailing list is not in its word of mouth power. It is not in the indirect sales power, either. The value of a mailing list rests on its ability to convert readers into buyers, subscribers into clients, and interested parties into long-term customers.

If your mailing list is failing to do this, you are missing out on the potential for greater long-term sustainability for your business.

There are some horribly ineffective mailing lists out there. From one-email-a-month jobs to mailing lists that spam you to death with terrible offers, frequency is a factor that’s neglected by many email marketers. Add to that the terrible sales pitches, frequent factual and spelling errors, and utterly unprofessional behavior and you are left with a marketing form that is often stained and rarely shining.

However, with our 4 simple steps you can change your mailing list from an ineffective beast into a finely tuned machine. Read through, observe and analyze your mailing list, and apply as necessary.

Step 1: Don’t offer incentives for no reason.
Sign up and you will win a free PS3!!! We have all heard it, we have all ignored it, and we are all quick to unsubscribe once we do not get it. Incentives are great for short-term promotions, but they are horrible for long-term business opportunities. Look at creating real relationships instead of relationships that are based on the possibility of winning a prize. While it is fine to run competitions and promotions, keeping them relatively long-term based is a great way to create subscribers that are not in it for the short haul.

Step 2: Aim for long-term sales, not one-off snaps.
It is tempting to start emailing offers to your subscribers straight away, but it is not an effective long-term strategy. Focus on the long-term sale, and give your subscribers a wealth of great content before you think of trying to pitch anything. Sales are built on trust and relationships, and when you pitch out of the blue you do not just eliminate the chance of a short-term sale, you eliminate the chance of long-term success. Aim for the eventual sale, not the instant one.

Step 3: Guide buyers to indirect sales copy.
Do not just link to “BUY NOW!” That may work for short-term PPC marketing, but it is a failed strategy for email marketing. When your readers can unsubscribe with the click of their mouse, you have got to focus on sales tactics that are not going to push them away from you. Whenever you link your subscribers to something, ensure that it is soft sales copy, not the hard sell. You will generate less direct sales, but you will also preserve the relationships of those who do not buy.

Step 4: Aim for repeat customers.
It is one thing to offer a product straight away and generate a short-term sale, and it is another altogether to build a subscriber base that is in it for the long haul with you. When you focus on quality, you will find that your customers return for more. Only offer quality products, and focus on things that can bring long-term success to your subscribers. The more successful they are with your mailing list, the more successful you are from them.

2012 is being touted as the year when mobile technology really comes to the fore. So what are the characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of mobile web design? Which web development features are mobile friendly and which are not? Lastly and most importantly, how do you find out how mobile web design could work for your business?

Advantages of Mobile Web Design

* A well developed mobile website can mean an increased range of web visitors to your web site who will be happy to use your site to full effect and appreciate that it functions in the right way.

* If your business targets people on the move (e.g. a restaurant or hotel), you’ll most likely pick up business with good mobile web development.

* Even if your business isn’t a natural fit with mobile technology, giving thought to good mobile web design can present your company as a professional, cutting edge outfit which embraces new technology.

* Developing for mobile can expand your brand and product beyond your website into apps and software programs. The possibilities with mobile technology are growing by the day.

Disadvantages of Mobile Web Design

* You have to know what you’re doing. If done properly, there shouldn’t be any disadvantages to having a mobile web designed site. However, there are a few potential pitfalls which might annoy your mobile customers and have a detrimental effect on your search engine rankings for your web site as a whole.

* Things are always changing. You can’t expect to invest in your mobile web design and leave it there. Mobile web technology is growing and expanding. When a new smartphone comes on the market, you need to be prepared to grow and change to meet the new demands.

* It may not be appropriate for your business. As with any investment of time or money, you need to decide whether the ROI merits the effort you will put in. Businesses don’t all fit one mold, so you need to do your research before embarking on developing a mobile site to ensure that your expectations of the returns are met.

How to go about developing your mobile site – some of the characteristics of mobile web design and development

1) Check Your Stats

Before developing a mobile site, your first port of call is Google Analytics or similar program, where you can identify sources of traffic to your website. Google Analytics lets you know what percentage of your visitors are using mobile to access your website and which specific devices people are using. This will help you decide whether it is worth allocating resources to building a mobile web site for your business and which devices to use when testing your website design.

2) Create a Mobile Stylesheet

The best way to manage a mobile site is to use a different CSS stylesheet from the one you use for your browser pages. This technique is preferable to any other because it avoids duplicating content within your site (which can damage your search engine rankings) and makes it easier to update your site in one fell swoop.

3) Avoid Duplicating Content

Google can penalize your website for having lots of pages with the same content, so if you do decide to develop a different set of webpages for mobile phones, make sure that the content is specifically different from that for your browser website. If you need a full reference of dos and don’ts from Google, Webmaster Tools is a good place to start:

4) Keep Images to a Minimum

You need to work to your lowest common denominator and you don’t know what connection speeds you are dealing with on smart phones. If you can do so, keeping to a few small images will provide a more enjoyable experience for your customers visiting by phone.

5) No Flash… end of

Flash is not a feature of web development which is considered mobile friendly. It doesn’t work on iPhones and because of security constraints, may be phased out of many web browsers in the future, so it’s best avoided in any case. Additionally, Flash can’t be read by search engines so you won’t be scoring points on Google or Bing. If you want a phone-and search-engine-friendly Flash look-alike, why not try jQuery? It works using JavaScript, which is available on the vast majority of browsers and phones and your text can be read by search engines.

6) Apps

Depending on the nature of your business, you may wish to develop an app. An app is a small program which is either free or can be purchased (the usual price for an iPhone app is £0.80). Apps sit as icons on the iPhone or other smartphone, so as well as providing a useful service to your web visitor, they are a great ongoing advertisement for your website and business.

6) Test It Out

Don’t have a smartphone? Opera has a great mobile emulator which allows you to see how your mobile site will look to your visitors by phone. With the Opera mobile emulator, you can try out different phones, vary screen sizes and resolutions and test out touch and keypad phones.

Happy mobile web development!

Victoria is an experienced, professionally qualified freelance web developer and web design professional based in Cambridge, UK, committed to delivering bespoke, elegant and reasonably-priced web solutions to small and medium-sized businesses across the UK.

My web design and development website: http://www.rebelphoenix.com Find me on Twitter:

http://www.twitter.com/rebelphoenixweb/
This article courtesy of SiteProNews.com

While great content will always get you noticed, I have come to the somewhat obvious conclusion that “Content is NOT King, Google is King” on the web. This is a slightly different mindset when it comes to getting traffic and marketing on the net.

This new mindset doesn’t change the fact that you still have to create great content, but it changes the way one goes about promoting that content on the web.

In the last few years, Google’s share of the search market has grown to 65% or much more in most areas of the world. This domination of online search puts Google in control of what content is seen – regardless of its quality.

It plays a major role in your content’s visibility, a role so great that without Google’s approval, your content is not exactly dead in the water, but your chances of succeeding is much less than with a thumbs-up from Google.

Now, the real turning point (light bulb moment) for me was Google’s recent promotion of its own products or data, as in the whole “Google Plus Your World” search results features which were introduced a few weeks ago. Google is actively showing and promoting its Google+ profiles and posts within its SERPs.

Many believe Google is sacrificing both relevancy and quality by only showing its own data (as opposed to Twitter’s and Facebook’s profiles/posts which Google claims it no longer has access to) when Google users are logged into their accounts.

Those same critics also believe Google has stepped over the line and has become too self-promotional in the way it is now handling search. These critics say Google is promoting its other products such as YouTube, Blogger… over other outside entries in their search results.

Regardless of your view on this matter, there’s no denying Google has become much more pro-active in promoting its products. You can now see ads on TV and elsewhere for Google Chrome, Android, Adwords… all promoting Google’s products.

Why is all this important?

Many believe, myself included, that Google is aiming for control of all aspects of the web – not only search, but video and social as well. They want to control what web users search, see and how they socialize on the net. Google wants to be in the driver’s seat – plain and simple.

But Google’s influence will go much further than those three areas; Google probably would also like to control the browser (Chrome) we use, the operating system (Android) and the device (Chromebook) we view those results on. Only Microsoft comes close to doing the same thing, but they have really not presented a search engine which can beat Google and fall short in this respect.

This leaves Google in the Captain’s chair. It now controls what content on the web is seen and viewed. While this control is not complete, it is growing stronger month by month, year by year.

What is extremely troubling and a little hard to understand, Google is now JUDGING your WHOLE site instead of just the webpage/ content in question. This new attitude is reflected in the recent Panda Series of updates which was supposedly aimed at removing duplicate and low quality content from the web.

However, if a webmaster or site triggers just one of Google’s new rules… their whole site is lowered in the rankings, including their perfectly good high quality content. It is like saying you can’t have visitors into your house, because you have an untidy attic. Your visitors will never see the attic, but Google as Gatekeeper of the web, with the Panda Updates and other restrictions, makes sure your rightful visitors don’t even make it to the door.

This absurd, arbitrary ruling by Google is extremely hard to understand by small web site owners and businesses who don’t have the resources/manpower to re-design their sites at a drop of a hat. Whatever happened to Google’s motto of “Don’t be evil” or “Do no evil” when it comes to judging and penalizing WHOLE websites, instead of the pages in question. Many webmasters would be satisfied with “Don’t be cruel” when Google is ranking their sites.

Likewise, Google is rolling out another rule which states webmasters can’t have too many ads “above the fold” or their whole site will be penalized, not just the offending page in question. Ironically, at the same time, Google is actively telling webmasters to place Adsense above the fold… but they have no problem with placing their own ads above the fold.

What does this all mean?

To put it bluntly, you must make sure your content passes ALL of Google’s hurdles if you truly want it to succeed on the web. The long series of Panda Updates really pointed this out to many webmasters who failed to jump a few hurdles and saw their rankings drop from sight in Google.

To put it even more bluntly, webmasters and marketers must please Google if they want their content to have the best results. While quality content is still important, without Google’s approval your great content will go nowhere fast.

In addition, webmasters and marketers must optimize their content not only for Google search, but also for other Google products such as Google+, YouTube… and they must make sure their content displays properly in the Chrome browser because Google is taking data from these users to rank your content.

Quality content is no longer king of the web, Google is king of the web and you better play by Google’s rules or you might as well take your ball and go home.

All views, opinions and conclusions are solely those of the author, who is a full-time search engine marketer. He runs numerous niche sites, including two sites on Internet Marketing. To get valuable marketing tips for free click here: internet marketing tools or here: web marketing tools. Titus Hoskins Copyright 2012.
This article courtesy of SiteProNews.com

There are numerous ways to promote your products and services online and one of the most powerful is still the email and the newsletter. However, it is very important that you have permission from the addressees or your mails will be treated as spam and will not be read. This can not only have repercussions on your business reputation, but will also be  a huge waste of time and drain of resources. So, what steps can you take to make the most of your emails and newsletters? Always make sure that you have a purpose in mind when writing your email or newsletter, as it is essential to know what you want to get out of the process. Do you wish to just give information, make more sales or is it just keep in touch with your customers? Whatever your reasons, ensure that you do not waste the opportunity and your time by following these simple tips.

The Emarketing List

Your first task is to obtain contact details. There are many ways of doing this, but a fairly easy way is to use a so called squeeze page asking for their information. You can sugar coat this by offering a free gift or a discount on their first order or something else. Tell them that you will be sending newsletters and always make it easy for them to unsubscribe this service if they so wish. Always make them feel that there is no obligation. Potential and existing customers are more likely to remain with you and buy from you.

Interesting and Factual

Always make information interesting but keep it factual. Do not ramble on and on about things not relevant to your business. Choose topics carefully and attract attention quickly, so do consider your target audience thoughtfully. Keep the reader hooked so that they will visit your website. Perhaps give a couple of useful tips or insights. Do not give the hard sell, people don’t like this and they won’t read your news so give them useful information about your products or services. Try to demonstrate how your products or services can enrich their lives. Depending on what you have to offer, tell your audience how your products or services work and how much you can do to help them. However, do make sure that you can follow up on any promises made as nothing is more disappointing or frustrating than being let down.

Cheaper to Keep an Existing Customer then Get a New One

Fact is, that it is easier to keep an existing customer than it is to acquire a new one, so look after your existing customers and keep them coming back for more. Using email to give special discounts to past customers can give your business a boost. If a customer purchases goods from a company and never hears from that company again, chances are the buyer will forget the name of the company. By keeping in regular contact with your customers means that they are more likely to consider you when looking for the products or services that you offer. This of course is good for business and if you give excellent service, customers are more likely to recommend you to their friends and families.

Choosing How Often to Send Newsletters and Emails

You can choose how often you send out newsletters but be aware of sending too many or too few, you need to get the timing just right. That way your customers will look forward to receiving their newsletters or emails. In the end, it is all about keeping your customers happy.

Graham Baylis – The use of newsletters and emails as a marketing tool is increasing all the time, but for those new to the medium, it can be difficult to know what to do and how to do it. Then of course you need access to the software applications that will actually send the messages out. For advice and help on both of these check out http://www.amdcommunications.co.uk.

This article courtesy of SiteProNews.com

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• How to Write Email Newsletter Articles Your Audience Wants to Read (cathystucker.com)

Article writing and marketing is one of the most powerful ways to boost your traffic and sales. Articles will build your reputation and credibility. Articles will allow you to make more contacts and establish more connections. Articles will improve your ranking and bring you more traffic. Articles will improve your online presence. Article marketing is free!

Writing an article is not as hard as most people think. You are not writing a dissertation but a simple and informative article.

Below are ten steps to help you write a more successful article.

Step 1: The Title

Be sure you choose a title that will grab people’s attention and catch their interest. Most people will decide to read an article or not just by the title. Be specific in what your article is about.

For example: How to Grow Vegetables vs. 5 Ways to Healthier More Delicious Vegetables

Which article would you read? I know I would read the second one.

Step 2: Topic of Interest

Be sure to choose topics that people will want to know about. Do some research to see what questions people are asking. Visit forums, groups, social sites and see what needs to be addressed. See what the buzz is about and write your article accordingly.

Step 3: Easy to Understand

There is no need to write a college dissertation. Use short, easy to understand sentences. Use 5th grade level words to be sure everyone who reads your article will understand what you are talking about.

Step 4: Easy to Read

Going along with the short easy to understand sentences, keep your paragraphs short but informative. Leave plenty of white space so reading your article is not hard on the eyes.

Step 5: Relevant Keywords

Research keywords when writing your article. Try to use some of the most popular search phrases that deal with your article subject. A good program to use is Google’s free research tool. But once you find the relevant key phrases be sure not to overstuff your article with them. If you use them too many times your article will be too repetitive and will not do well in the search engines.

Step 6: Writing

When writing your article, write it as if you were explaining it to a friend. Don’t make it sound like a seminar or lecture. Add personal experiences when possible so your readers can identify with you and feel a bond and/or connection. Let your personality shine through and write from your heart!

Step 7: Lists

If you are including any kind of list in your article, be sure to write it in a bulleted or numbered list style. This will attract the reader’s eye and increase the chances of it being read through.

Step 8: Article Body

The first paragraph should be an introduction to what type of information your article will contain. Use it as a lead-in to the main body of the article. When writing the main body, be sure your writing flows from point to point and doesn’t jump around aimlessly. The last paragraph should sum up what the article meant and what points were made.

Step 9: Proofread

This step cannot be stressed enough. Read over your article several times to be sure all spelling, punctuation and grammar is correct. Things can be missed in just one or two goings over so do it several times to be sure.

Step 10: Resource Box

Your resource box is very important so you want it to be effective in getting people to click on your link and take you up on whatever you offer. Don’t try to sell anything in your resource box. Offer something free if possible.

For example:

John Doe is an expert in the SEO field. He can help you get your site to the top of the search engines. Click here to get his free step by step report.

Article writing is not as intimidating as it sounds. You do not need to know big fancy words. You do not have to be a scholar and you do not have to be a professional author to write a quality article with helpful information.

Don’t be one of the 95% of people who fail at their online business. Terri Seymour can help you make money online. Find out how to increase your traffic and sales with her popular “How to Build Your Online Business” ebook for FREE at: ==> http://www.SeymourProducts.com

This article courtesy of SiteProNews.com

Internet marketing, particularly in traditionally offline industries, exposes a forest of low-hanging fruit, and provides a multitude of opportunities to quickly capitalize on relatively under-developed markets.  As online marketing technologies evolve and new strategies are developed, the opportunities for businesses to reach and convert consumers expand. This is especially true within those markets that are not wholly dependent on the Internet or those that use online measures as only a part of their overall marketing plan.

The latest tool to fall into the lap of online marketers is video and it has changed the game almost beyond all recognition. In more tech savvy markets, video is the standard since it allows as intimate a conversation as possible without meeting face-to-face.  An effective video can deliver tangible, bottom-line results.

For industries that have yet to embrace video as a strategy, it can go even further to establish a business as a clear market leader and add invaluable credibility to what you offer.  Whether you’re targeting local consumers or shaping your industry online, video is one of the most effective ways to speak to the customer – and for less tech-orientated markets the results can be truly profound.

So how does video make the difference?  Video can be used in two main ways to deliver value while maximizing cost efficiencies:

      1.  Traffic Generation: similar to article syndication, submitting videos online to sites like YouTube and DailyMotion leads to more referrals to your website, assuming your video displays your URL and is hyperlinked to a relevant page.

      2.  Conversion: arguably the main purpose of video content, stronger conversions and implied authority can create a more attractive proposition for customers and can help to move you out in front of your closest competitor.

The main and absolutely primary focus of your video should be its content.  While that might sound obvious, it is the quality of information that makes the difference (rather than quantity of backlinks or frequency of distribution as with other forms of online marketing strategies).

Your video content should speak to the quality of your brand and the products or services you offer, including appropriate and relevant images to the collection of genuinely helpful information.

This is your chance to paint your business as a credible, authoritative player in the market by answering a frequently asked question or common concern. Providing key, valuable insight into your target market can provide a significant boost to your reputation. This will pay serious dividends through strengthening your conversion rate and will make your video clip much more watchable than a blatant advertisement.

Don’t fall into the obvious trap of creating a promotional video.  A short video clip (no more than 3mins) focusing on your industry, product or service that offers some tangible benefit or advice has the potential to attract tens of thousands of visitors if done correctly. This can instantly position your business as a credible source of information and as a go-to for those interested in learning more about your industry.

Another tip for maximizing traffic juice from your video: close out your clip with a 10-second still of your logo, key slogan or product and contact details (including your direct ‘buy-now’ URL or equivalent).  Research into browsing behaviors indicates that these really do make a difference and that the majority of consumers are prepared to watch a quality video until comes to a natural end. It’s good to let them know who you are, and where they can find out more about your business.

Video can be a powerful tool if used correctly, and there’s no need to break the bank in developing ground breaking content in order to make an impression.

A clean, professional video that provides genuinely useful information can be created for under $100 on most freelancing sites, or even less if you have your own video camera. And this is for a product that can generate traffic for years to come, while also adding to the branding and conversion mix that truly reflects your business.

TIP:  Check out freelancing sites such as Elance (www.elance.com)  RentaCoder (www.rentacoder.com) for low cost video production.

Imagine – a platform of only business owners and business professionals that has over 140 million members and is growing daily; where the average income per member is $120,000 US.

And the best part? Almost no-one is using this to its full potential.

What is LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is a business directory that specializes in finding businesses, talent, and opportunities. It is therefore a place to discover businesses and for others to discover you. A place to discover talent; for recruiting, outsourcing, partnering with, or consulting. In short, people who can help your business.

It is a place where you can see credentials, build a relationship first then trust. It is a place where you should be able to generate 4 – 5 leads per day for your business. 75% of your business should come from LinkedIn.

In short – you are the talent that others are looking for.

But are they finding you?

LinkedIn has a record number of searches per day for SEO, Reputation Management, Mobile Marketing, List Management, Web Development, PPC, Lead Generation, YouTube management, and many others.

Why is LinkedIn so Popular for Business?

The main reason is that it is a search engine where you can search for people rather than information. You can see their credentials, and get to know them first before you commit to anything.

You also get geographically targeted search results so you can search for local people.

LinkedIn is perfect for you if you have the skills that are searched for, or if you want to outsource to people with those skills.

Benefits of Using LinkedIn

- You can only have one profile.

- You can generate leads all over the country and even the world even if you have a free account.

- You can use apps on your profile which help you to showcase yourself and your business.

How to Use LinkedIn:

You need to have a well written and well-presented profile that is SEO optimized with keywords. It is best to have a salesletter or similar copywriting for best results. Only talk about what you do for your clients and how you do it. Your past is irrelevant, unless it shows your experience in your current position. Use apps to help you. Slideshare is a good one to use as you can upload powerpoint presentations or YouTube videos to slideshare which will then show on your profile.

Always keep Search Engine Optimization in mind as people need to find you. Also, make your email address visible on your profile.

A systematic approach to networking works best. So decide first what you’re going to offer, and make sure it will pre-close clients for you, and generate relationships with your prospects. It should help you find business, and generate value for your leads.

In our case study, a start-up business approached his target market and asked them if they knew a good accountant in their area. They had one of three responses: No, I don’t know an accountant; yes I know an accountant; or no response.

He mentioned his business only in his signature with a keyword rich sentence and a link. He contacted 100 prospects. Of those 100, 22 responded that yes, they did know an accountant and made a referral. 43 responded that they didn’t know an accountant, and 35 gave no response. He then wrote to the accountants, told them that they came highly recommended and asked if he could recommend them to others.

The results: one accountant offered him $500 to buy his list of people in his area who needed an accountant. And 21 people wrote back and asked about his SEO services. He made five sales resulting in $4300 income.

Now you don’t have to offer the same, but you need to offer something of value. This way you will build excellent relationships and trust with your prospects.

For more information on LinkedIn, visit Attraction Marketing, and search for the article: The keys to Success on LinkedIn.
This article courtesy of SiteProNews.com

Once you’ve done the keyword research for your website, you can then use those phrases strategically in your article submission campaign. By creating keyword focused articles, you’ll get much better results from your article marketing efforts by helping search engines to associate your website with particular keyword terms.

This article gives some quick article marketing tips on how to appropriately use your keywords in your article submissions:

1 – The Headline:

The purpose of your headline is to indicate the topic of your article.

Try to place the keyword phrase that you’re targeting at the beginning of your headline. This takes some thought – the goal is to create a headline that would capture the attention of your potential reader, but that also prominently displays the keyword phrase. The title also has to be grammatically correct and contain correct spelling.

The best SEO-friendly titles just look like a great title – no one should be able to tell that you have specifically crafted it with your keywords in mind.

Please note: In addition to the keyword research you completed for your website, it’s a good idea to also do keyword research for the topics of your articles. The phrases associated with your article topics will naturally be longer, say 3-8 words long. They are more specific than the main words that are associated with your website, but that makes them perfectly suited for article topics.

The main difference between these two types of words is that the ones you use in your title and article body are what you’d like the article to rank for, and the keywords you use in your resource box are the ones you’d like your website to rank for.

2 – The Article:

The topic of the article is determined by the title.

Try to repeat your keyword phrase in the first 5 sentences or so of the article, in a natural sounding way of course.

Then, just write naturally about your topic. Since the keyword phrase is closely related to the topic of your article, then variations of the phrase should appear naturally in your article. Don’t try to force it too much, and by all means don’t pepper your article with the keyword phrase.

The most important part about the article is that it is easy for a reader to understand and that it provides helpful information. So, focus on writing a well-written article that teaches your reader something. After carefully placing your keyword phrase in the 5 lines, don’t worry too much about how many times the keyword phrase appears in the article. It will show up every once in a while as you naturally write about your topic.

Also, it’s okay for the phrase to appear in different forms, for example, ‘race cars,’ ‘racing cars,’ ‘race car gear’, etc.

3 – The Resource Box:

The resource box is where you can tell a little about yourself and your business and where you can encourage the reader to click the link leading back to your website. This is also a great spot to put one of the keyword phrases that you’d like your website to rank highly for.

Many directories will allow you to create an anchor text link in your resource box. With an anchor text link, you can use your keyword phrase to form the link that leads back to your website. This helps search engines to associate that phrase with the topic of your website and can influence the search engine ranking for your site for that phrase.

Be sure not to use the same phrase each time though – you should have a list of keyword phrases for your website, and you can alternate those in your resource boxes. If you use the same phrase as anchor text each time, it can look suspicious to search engines, which could have negative SEO consequences for your website.

Let’s recap the main things to remember when creating an SEO friendly article:

=> Do your keyword research, and find phrases to target in your articles as well as phrases that you’d like your website to rank for.

=> Write naturally. The phrases that appear in your article should not be conspicuous or awkward sounding. They should just be a natural part of a helpful article.

=> Be sure to use proper spelling and grammar. This is necessary for the article to be published and also for readers to be able to understand what the article is saying.

After doing this a few times, writing an SEO-friendly article will be like second nature. You’ll become very skilled at creating content that’s useful to your readers, while at the same time crafting an article that will attract the attention of search engines.

Steve Shaw has helped thousands of business owners worldwide build traffic, leads and sales to their websites, and he wants to help you do the same – grab his free report giving you a blueprint for attracting sustainable, dirt-cheap, long-term, targeted traffic to any website…including yours! Go now to http://www.submityourarticle.com/report – some people have used the same information to boost their traffic by up to 600%!
This article courtesy of SiteProNews.com

The Internet has helped countless individuals and businesses to make significant amounts of money online. In order to be successful with your online marketing campaign, it is imperative that you avoid the common mistakes often made by those new to the industry.

One of the most common mistakes made is simply the failure to take action. This is usually just due to over-thinking and constantly changing your plans. Some call it ‘paralysis by analysis’. Once you have properly planned your business, it’s time to take the necessary action. Sometimes this pitfall can be attributed to perfectionists. If you spend all your time tweaking the design of your website, you will never get to doing the tasks that will really take your business forward. If you are not happy with a particular aspect of your website or products, it may be a good idea to hire a designer to help you out behind the scenes, allowing you get started with more important things.

Another mistake is not planning an online advertising strategy that best suits your needs. Don’t re-invent the wheel. You can try to emulate other people’s success by analyzing what works for them and what doesn’t. A good idea is to put your goals in writing and put them in a prominent place that you will see every day. As you complete each goal, you can mark it as completed. You will likely end up adding new goals down the road in order to keep your business moving forward and to keep you motivated.

Some internet marketers focus solely on the cheapest methods and tools. This can be counter-productive to your efforts since it’s true what they say – you get what you pay for. This is especially true when it comes to online advertising.

When advertising, it’s usually more effective to focus on quality over quantity. Numerous poor quality ads will probably not produce as much results as a single high quality advertisement. A poorly done advertising campaign can do real harm to your business reputation and brand. But, they do happen. When they do, it’s best to not let it get you down and instead use it as a learning experience.

As long as you find your most effective methods of online marketing and keep doing them on a consistent basis, there is no reason why you won’t be successful. Use any possible mistakes as a learning experience in order to improve your next campaign and don’t get distracted with anything that doesn’t provide value to your overall business model and goals.

One of the most powerful ways to build a successful online business is by creating relationships with your visitors so they can begin to trust you and feel comfortable ordering from you. One way of building these relationships is by having a mailing list so you can keep in contact with your subscribers. This helps form a bond and will start to build that foundation of trust and credibility.

Sending out weekly online newsletters or mailings is a great way to solidify the trust relationship. But who do you send it to? Taking the time and effort to build a responsive email list is not easy but it certainly can be done.

The ten tips below will help you get started building that all important list of names and email addresses.

1. Privacy Guarantee – One of the most important things you can do is guarantee the visitor’s privacy. Be sure to let them know their information will never be given out or sold to anyone under any circumstances!

2. Easy Sign-Up – Be sure to put a quick and easy sign-up form for your visitors. You do not want your potential subscribers chased away by having to click through a maze of forms. Make the sign-up as easy and fast as possible.

3. Multiple Forms – Don’t make the mistake of just putting one sign-up form on your site. Be sure to have one on every page. Not everyone will go to your homepage. Also, be sure to add subscription forms to your Facebook page and other social networking sites.

4. In Plain Sight – When putting the sign-up form on every page of your site, be sure to put them on the top of the page on either the right side or the left side. I have read that the left side is more effective.

5. No Life Story – Don’t ask for a ton of information when trying to get people to sign up for your mailing list. You don’t need to know their phone number, address, gender, birthday, etc. The person is going to wonder what you want all that information for and they will be inclined not to give it to you. A name and an email address is all you need.

6. Double Opt-In - Always provide double opt-in for your subscriptions. So after they sign-up, an email will be sent to them to give them a chance to confirm their subscription. This will protect your subscribers from being added to unwanted lists and it will also protect you from being reported for spam.

7. Free Gift- Always offer a quality free gift to everyone who signs up for your mailing list. Show them you appreciate them and are willing to give something to them as well. I usually offer a free ebook with helpful, quality content. Put the download link in the welcome subscriber email you send out so they can access their gift immediately. Don’t make them contact you or wait for it.

8. Email Signature – Be sure to offer a sign-up form or link in your email signature. A lot of people will sign-up directly from an email.

9. Forward to a Friend – Encourage your subscribers to forward copies of your mailings to their friends and associates. Offer incentive contests. For example, whoever gets the most people to subscribe gets a free gift or big discount on their next order.

10. Ad Swaps - Contact other newsletter publishers and ask them to do an ad swap. You will run a blurb about their newsletter if they do the same for you. You can also exchange blurbs on your welcome email that is sent to all new subscribers.

Bonus Tip: Be sure to offer quality content and products in your mailings. Add some contests (for example: a trivia challenge), some fun and encourage your readers’ interaction with you. This will go a long way in building that foundation of trust which in turn will bring you much more business!

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This article courtesy of SiteProNews.com