3 Great Reasons to Use RSS on Your Website

RSS is a great invention and with the evolution of technology most websites now have RSS as a means of delivering content to visitors.

RSS stands for Real Simple Syndication. However, what it really does is to convert our beautifully formatted webpages to text so that the Search Engine robots (spiders) can index and list our websites.

It is important to know that not all websites have a RSS feed (that's the terminology we tech types like to use). Typically, static websites - those sites that have the content hard coded into the each page - don't have RSS enabled. Dynamic sites like WordPress do and, in general, the 'feed' is enabled automatically. Here are three great Reasons why you should use RSS on your website:

Reason 1: Syndication

Can you imagine that instead of having to encourage people to your site to read your content, you can share your content with 100's, if not 1000's of blogging directories and sites and have that many more people visiting your site? With RSS this is entirely possible. You can submit your RSS feed to RSS directories where other sites will pick up your content to provide interesting information to their visitors - this is syndication

iTunes is a great example of how this can work. If iTunes likes your blog talk radio show or the podcast you provide from your website, they will add you into their podcast directory - how many people run iTunes on their desktop? Can you see how this automatically increases your reach?

Reason 2: Backlinks

Backlinks are one of the elements to improve your sites ranking in the Search Engines and it can be very time consuming. When you add content to your site, advise blogging directories (by submitting the feed for that content) that it's there. These directories are typically 'well loved' by search engines and are visited by spiders every few hours. Once your site is listed in these directories, it will be found by the spiders and listed in its on right.

Think of it as Word Of Mouth advertising - when you receive excellent service you will tell others about it. Now, imagine that you are the 'Go To Gal' (or guy) for your niche - how many people can you refer to the new service? This is fairly close to how blogging directories work.

Reason 3: Ease of Access To Your Content

By providing a RSS feed on your site, your readers will be able to use a RSS Reader and access your content right from their desktop. Savvy internet users will have their RSS Reader setup like their email and when you post new content to your site, they get a notice in their Reader about it. All they need to do is open their reader and start reading. No need to start the web browser, visit the site etc - just read the content.

Given how busy people are these days - this is a great thing to offer them.

To find out more about using RSS on your website, visit www.squidoo.com/rss-for-backlinks

About the Author

Charly Leetham has worked for over 20 years in the IT industry, specifically in the area of data communications and local area networking.

Charly is a qualifed "tech", holding an Associate Diploma in Electronics Engineering. Her experience with Personal Computers ranges from building computers to providing 2nd level user support.

Charly also holds a Masters of Business Admin (MBA), specialising in Internet Marketing.

Learn more about how Charly can help you achieve success in your Online or Internet Business at http://www.AskCharlyLeetham.com

RSS Feeds - How to Make Them Work For You

What is an RSS feed? 
Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is a notification system used to alert subscribers to changes or updates made to their favorite web sites, blogs, music sites, etc. It is easy to recognize that the site is RSS-enabled by the orange rectangular button that allows visitors to subscribe.

Some people tend to ignore the RSS button because they don't know how to use it. However, there are those Internet-savvy people who know how helpful it is in simplifying their searches. The feeds are similar to newsletters and may contain teasers or summaries of the content pages, so subscribers can easily pick out the articles they are interested in. To get the most out of newsfeeds, you need a powerful aggregator, though, that lets you organize, search, categorize and use news items just like emails.

RSS automatically sends the updates, and some subscribers will even display the feeds on their web pages as well, so your updates are visible to the visitors of their websites. Therefore, your website is bound to generate more traffic, making RSS feeds an essential tool in web marketing. It is also an efficient way of retaining clients by reminding them of your website's existence and encouraging them to visit it regularly.

How do I make it work for me?

1. Create your RSS feed. The title and description should be written to describe the content and the link should reference the webpage that contains that actual content.

2. Validate your RSS feed. Once you've made your RSS feed, you need to validate it. Validation consists of checking whether your RSS feeds conform to the RSS format standard. This is important because RSS is XML based, which is very strict in its coding.

3. Create a web page for displaying your RSS feeds. After your RSS feed is validated, add it to your web site. Creating a separate web page for displaying RSS feeds is a common web practice.

4. List your RSS feeds in directories. Now that you have your RSS feed, you need to make your potential viewers aware of it. This can be done by submitting the RSS web page to various RSS directories, such as the one below:

http://rss-feeds-directory.com/

5. Distribute your special RSS Reader. Now you have valid RSS feeds, and users know you have them, but you still need to convince them to add your feeds to their RSS reader. You also need to convince existing viewers to retain your feeds in their readers. To do this, most web sites add a link to download an RSS reader on the page where they have listed their RSS feeds. (http://email.about.com/od/rssreaderswin/tp/top_rss_windows.htm)

6. Update content regularly. Keeping RSS feeds updated is as important as keeping your web site updated. This is because RSS is meant to deliver content quickly and directly to the on-line reader. If you don't update your feeds regularly, then your viewers have no reason to keep your feeds in their readers. Just like your web site, if you want to keep people coming back, you have to keep it fresh with new information.

Try Creative Services at Studio 1C.

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How to Market on MySpace - Guidelines For Success

At the time this article is being written there are 262,557,280 users on MySpace. Yes that is over 260 million! The potential for your message to get viewed by users of this web site is very high. One of the best things about this particular web site as well as other social network sites is that they are free to use. But this comes with a price. You will have to follow a formula in order to get your message out there properly and to be seen by the right people.

Here's one of the biggest questions.

How do I get people to visit my MySpace page?

1. You can use good old fashioned word of mouth (with the help of your computer) Send an email out to your friends and family and have them view your page. Tell your coworkers. Direct new leads to your page.

2. Write and submit press releases. Go to free press release web sites and write a press release stating that your page is available for viewing and discuss what kind of content is contained on your page.

3. Write and submit articles. Go to web sites like this and write articles that pertain to the content of your web page. Then you can direct your readers to your page for more information.

4. Post videos on video sharing sites. Produce a short video with content related to your MySpace page. Tell your viewers to go to your page for more information.

5. Create a pay per click (PPC) account and list your page for search results. This is a paid advertising method and should only be employed if you know how PPC works and have a budget for it. Three major web sites that offer PPC advertising are Google, Yahoo and MSN.

How can I market on MySpace?

1. Blog on MySpace. Create blogs about whatever you like. Some of your blogs even get picked up by search engines depending on the content.

2. Create a group. Create a group about whatever you are selling or service you are providing and talk about it. Invite other members to join your group and start discussions.

3. Join forums. This is a similar concept to groups, but you are joining a forum where there are many members and various topics are discussed. Find a forum that relates to your page and join the forum discussions. Add valuable content to your discussion posts, readers will definitely notice.

4. Add relevant content in your 'about me' section and your 'general' sections. You can use basic HTML code here so don't hesitate to get creative. You can post videos, links and just write in whatever font and size you want. You can find MySpace layout generators that make this process easier.

5. Customize your page to fit your business and what you are offering.

6. Post a lot of pictures. Pictures are very powerful and allow you to make strong connections with your visitors. You want to show your visitors that you are not just some serious marketer, but a real person, who can also have fun.

7. Link some of your other social networking sites to MySpace. You want to create a web so that people who see you on other web sites like YouTube and Twitter can find you easily on MySpace. Make it dead simple for people to find you. After all, these web sites have millions of users and more than likely your leads and prospects are on them also.

Follow this formula for you page layout

When people first come to your page they will want to know about you and see what you are offering. You should follow this formula to captivate their attention and keep them reading.

1. Let them know why your MySpace page is active. 
2. Let them know what you offer. 
3. Empathize with them. If you both suffer from a problem and you offer a solution, tell them about. 
4. State your credibility. If you own anything, written anything or invented something let them know about it. Don't have any credentials? Then write an eBook, or if that's too hard, write an article online and post it. Voila! You are the author of that article and that gives you instant credibility. 
5. Show how you can help them. 
6. Invite them to connect with you through email or whatever. Make yourself readily available to answer question. This will increase their attraction to you.

If you don't already have a profile on MySpace go ahead and sign up now. All it requires is a valid email address. Sign in and edit your profile and account settings. Then start to implement some of these guidelines to your page and watch the connections come rolling in. Be consistent.

The last piece of advice is to be genuine and original. People can tell if you are faking it till you make it. Be yourself and the rest will follow. Incorporate this form of marketing into your arsenal and it will prove to be helpful for you and your business.
Joey Fratantoni is an internet marketing consultant and business coach. To learn more about MySpace marketing and other powerful social networking marketing strategies check out http://www.JoeyFratantoni.com

Want to Make the Most of Ning? Interaction is Key

I've noticed this happen a lot on Ning. People join bunches of networks, post a picture and their link, and then wait for people to come to them. Another variation on this is that they start making friends with lots of people and then they never talk to them. Then they come to this conclusion: This Ning stuff doesn't work. In this article I'll be giving you some tips on how to make your Ning membership work in your favor.

Don't just randomly join Ning groups because they have a big membership. A small network that is related to your business is a lot more beneficial than belonging to a network full of people that aren't interested in small business matters at all. It is important to find networks that fit your business niche or are related to a hobby you have knowledge of. I'm not suggesting that Ning has to be all about business. However, if that's your primary goal, you need to be sure that you maintain a presence in areas where people in your niche are likely to be.

Start your own group within the network. Many groups allow their members to start groups within the network. Basically a group is like a mini network. It's a way of getting more specific in a niche. So let's say you join a Ning network about small business. You could start a group for chiropractors. That way you can know for sure that you're just talking to chiropractors. If you have information that's pertinent to a specific group that might not be specific to the whole group, this is a great way to get that information out without getting in trouble with the network owner. Be sure to read the rules carefully and make sure this is allowed before you do so.

Finally, make a point to talk with the network leader. Find out what that person needs help with. Offer suggestions to make the network better. Community leaders love hearing from their members. It helps them know someone is paying attention. Sometimes we feel like we are talking to ourselves when we don't get feedback.

Just like everything else with social networking, Ning only works if you participate. You have to actually go up to people that seem interesting to you and start talking to them. Most of the time people won't find you unless you find them.Be sure to interact with the people in your network at least once a day if you don't do anything but stop in on them to say hi! I know you've heard this plenty of times before, but it's worth repeating. Networking is a process not a one time event. You have to consistently be interacting with people if you want to see results from your networking.
And you can get a free ecourse on traffic generation. Just go to http://www.learnsmallbusiness.com and click on the words get free ecourse now.

How to Increase Website Traffic With Blogging

Blogging has evolved as a great activity among the online community today. A huge number of people are seen to be members of blogs. Blogs are great tools to stay in touch with friends, acquaintances, the people you know, etc and also a great tool to know new people, make new friends, and for social networking.

Today, blogs have become a great tool used by various businesses as well for their promotion and advertising purposes. This makes traffic an important factor for the blogs. Let us see how to increase website traffic with blogging and how it can help you with your business.

Original and Good Quality Material

When you post information on the blogs, try to maintain a very good standard. Make sure the content you post is original, and of a very good quality. The better the quality of the content, the more number of people will be reading through it. This is because people generally prefer original and quality posts and will treat you with more importance when the standard of your blog post shows good authority. Hence, original and good quality material is a great way to influence people and drive more traffic to your website.

Be Consistent With Your Blog Posts

When you want to make the best use of the blog spaces for the promotion and development of traffic to your website, be consistent with the articles you post. Posting about ten to twenty articles over the various article directories can be a great way to reach out to more number of people than just posting a single article. In fact, try to carry on with this even if you don't see much success initially. Consistent blogging will get more people interested in your articles over time and generate more traffic for your website.

Leave Testimonials and Comments on Other Blogs

Try to read through good quality posts on the other blogs and leave a comment or a feedback if there is an option for it. Moreover, try to write testimonials about what you think of such posts that you read and don't forget to leave a link to your website at the end of your comment. This is also a great way to make people check your website out after reading your comments.

You must understand that a good quality post will have more readers than just any other post. If you comment on such a post, the chances of people reading your comments are also high. This in turn increases the possibility of these people from clicking on the link provided at the end of your comment and checking out your website. This is another great way to increase traffic to your site.

These are some of the great methods when you want to know how to increase website traffic with blogging.
Agnes Seow is an accomplished Internet Marketer, specialises in traffic generation. Are you spending hard time not being able to attract quality traffic to your site? Here is the ultimate solution to bring unlimited volume of targeted quality traffic to your site. Don't blame me if you find your server can't stand the huge volume after you apply the simple traffic generation strategies found at http://growwebsitetraffic.com

Traffic Treasury - 7 Killer Traffic Generation Strategies

Today, I would like to share with you an overview of a book called 'Traffic Treasury' that details some of your the killer traffic generation strategies on how to further generate massive, instant highly targeted traffic to websites, landing pages and squeeze pages.

Here are the 7 killer traffic generation strategies:

Strategy #1: Targeted Keywords

• Instead of experimenting what keywords to use, you should find out what are the keywords used by your potential prospects so that you can incorporate these keyword phrases into your content and marketing campaigns (eg: article marketing, SEO, etc.)

• Avoid using broad or general keyword phrases such as 'weight loss' or 'golf' simply due to the mass amount of competition in the market which will cost you a great deal of money. Instead, try to choose long tail (specific) phrases or keywords such as 'weight loss solutions' or 'old golf equipment' that you can still reach out to your market and drive in targeted traffic while minimizing costs.

Strategy #2: Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

• Optimize every single webpage rather than just your index page as SEO does not rank entire websites but individual pages.

• Focus on both 'on-site SEO' and 'off-site SEO' to obtain high ranking within the search engines.

• With on-site SEO, optimize every page on your website, from its title tag, keywords used within content to the way that your site map or overall structure is created.

• With off-site SEO, focus on building solid back links to your website from relevant authority websites.

• Pay attention to structural elements such as the title tags, meta description tags, meta keyword tags as well as implementing a site map so that the 'spiders' are able to successfully crawl, explore and index all of your main pages as well as all internal (sub) pages. 

Strategy #3: Off-Site Search Engine Optimization

There are many different ways of establishing quality back links to your website but two most popular methods are:

• Online directories: you can add your website into specific categories and instantly establish back links to your website.

• Social bookmarking: you can easily generate traffic to your website, by submitting your website URL into social communities which allow users to share their favorite sites with other members of the community, as well as post comments regarding the website content.

Strategy #4: Pay-Per-Click Campaign (PPC)

• Use a mix of PPC engines in your traffic campaigns, both the large and small networks, to get the most traffic possible for your budget. A recommended mix would be to choose one of the big players, like Google, and one of the smaller players, like GoClick.com

• Focus on building campaigns that include targeted keywords for your niche, as well as action driven ad copy, titles and body text assigned to each ad block.

• Start off with 10-30 keywords and gradually add in additional keywords as you begin to see progress with your PPC marketing.

• Create split test campaigns to determine which particular advertisement will produce the best results.

Strategy #5: Social Marketing

There are two great methods to social marketing: Squidoo and Hub Pages.

• Squidoo: create one-page website referred to as 'lenses' where you are able to rank for specific keywords used within your page's title and content itself.

• Hub Pages: create add ons and tags to your hub pages for better ranking within the search engine. 

Strategy #6: Article Marketing

Article marketing is very effective in generating traffic through relevant back links from authority websites for the long term.

• Write article between 300 and 600 words in length and provide useful information that your target audience would find appealing.

• Focus on high quality content instead of just the quantity that is being submitted to article directories.

• Submit as many articles as possible so that the greater the number of articles in circulation, the more exposure you will receive, and the greater the traffic is driven to your website.

Strategy #7: Forum Marketing

• Find forums that receive a good amount of traffic and that members participate regularly and actively pertaining to your market or niche.

• Participate in forums and community boards and communicate with your target audience to create back links to your website.

By consistently implementing these traffic generation strategies outlined above, you will be able to maintain your positioning and continue to maximize your outreach, effortlessly.
Wilfred Tan is an expert affiliate marketer committed to finding ways to help new online marketers to generate more traffic to their websites. You can also learn more comprehensive traffic generation strategies with step-by-step action plan from his book on Complete Guide To Traffic Generation Strategies or by visiting his website http://www.affiliatesecretprogram.com

10 Tweetlater Tactics to Make Your Twitter Life 100 Times More Productive

Being a fan of twitter and a gadget geek I have tried a fair few twitter tactics and table offerings over the last few months and one of my favourites is Tweetlater for several reasons. So, if you're looking for a reason to splash out on a twitter tool take a look at my list of twitter tactics you can apply by using tweetlater professional as part of your social media marketing campaign.

Here's my list of ten tweetlater twitter tactics to add a little productivity to your social media marketing campaign;

1.Automated follow back - this is a great time saver and allows you to concentrate your twitter tactics on adding value to your new twitter followers instead of spending the evening simply hitting the follow tab.

2.Automated welcome messaging to your new twitter followers - don't spam and don't sell but do add value and entertain and your new followers will thank you for it.

3.Filter out SPAM by keywords - no more FREE E-Books if you don't want them. Simply set your spam filter and that's the last you'll see of them.

4.Mute annoying twitter tweeters - without having to unfollow losing the potential leverage of their followers. Set your account to simply mute those tweeters you don't want to hear (don't try this one at home though!)

5.Unlimited twitter accounts - for those with a multiple twitter personality disorder this is a great tool and adds extra punch to your marketing power if managed effectively. This is gorilla marketing twitter style!

6.Automated unfollow for those who switch off from what you have to offer - this is essential if you want to gather a large twitter following and don't want to hit the twitter wall with too few followers and your account adding tweeters by the day.

7.Schedule tweets tool to be sent out at a later date - automated entertainment to keep you in control of your twitter activity and able to interact while in the background adding value to the twittersphere.

8.Bit.ly shortening on all your links to keep those links intact and allow you to track your twitter followers activity. Tracking is the key to success in internet marketing and is an absolute requirement if you're serious about social media marketing.

9.Inbox management on autopilot - set your account to delete DM (direct messages) every week, 10 days or on a monthly basis to keep your inbox clutter free on autopilot.

10.Keyword tracking - set alerts to follow and search specific keywords. This tool allows you to listen to what is being said about your brand or to follow a specific twitter conversation on autopilot.

Twitter is a modern marketing powerhouse if used correctly and tweetlater is a good addition to the growing list of twitter productivity tools but remember one thing; tweetlater is simply a tool to help you do better what you already do well. Don't misuse it, don't allow it to take the place of good old fashioned interaction and don't forget to add value even on autopilot or people will soon switch off and you'll join the other twitter lepers down at the spam colony.

Neil Ashworth is a successful internet marketer and leading member of the CarbonCopyPro group .

Neil is a former Pro Soccer player and a master online marketer living and working from home in the mountains of West Cork, Ireland.

5 Secrets to Creating a Powerful Google Profile

I often want to find out more about someone before I decide to do business with that person. To get the information that I need, I Google the person's name and see how well-known they are online and what they have to say. What I discovered in my search is that their social media profiles, like those found on Twitter, Linkedin, and Facebook, show up high in the search results. Google, however, has started giving these well-known social networking sites a run for their money by creating their own online profile option.

Google Profiles are simple web pages where you can list general information about yourself. Anyone who can create an account on Google and verify their real name through a screening routine can now have a personal profile page on Google. The most powerful aspect of this system, however, is the ability to include links in your profile, which can pack a powerful search engine optimization (SEO) punch for you. Best of all, Google provides this service at no cost to you.

Profiles are public and include your actual name and/or a nickname. You can list your occupation, where you are located (your profile will be used for Google Maps), a list of links, your photo and a short introduction. Google even provides a way for visitors to click a link on your profile to contact you directly.

Here are 5 secrets to creating a powerful Google Profile:

1. Upload your photo. One of the keys to creating relationships online is to let others know you're a real person. The easiest way to do that is to provide a visual cue, like a photo, to help them remember you.

2. Include keywords in bio. The "About Me" section is where you can use outbound keyword-rich links to your advantage. As you compose this section, be sure and include several keywords others might use to find you, and link those back to your web site. For example, if you're a divorce attorney in Houston, you might have the keyword phrases, "Houston divorce attorney" and "family law attorney" as links back to your primary web site.

3. Link to your sites and profiles. You can link to any number of sites from your Google profile. Just like in your bio, use keywords to your advantage here as well. So, if you run a cleaning business and have produced several videos demonstrating what you do, instead of listing your link to your YouTube videos as "YouTube.com," you might instead use "Professional Cleaning Videos," which links to your YouTube stream instead.

You should add the following links to your profile:

--web site(s)

--blog

--all of your social networking profiles (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Linkedin)

--YouTube.com or UStream channel

--Squidoo lens

--Social bookmarking profiles (Delicious, Reddit, Digg

--Article syndication page

--Free giveaway sign up page

--Products page

--Services page

4. Showcase your products and services. The page editor allows you to upload images through photo sharing sites Flickr and Picasa. Upload images of your physical or information products or shots of you in action delivering your service.

5. Take care when choosing your profile URL. If you have a Gmail account, Google will ask you if your want to use that username as part of your profile URL. Be aware that if you choose that option, you are inadvertently giving away your Gmail address. I chose instead the longer profile URL with the long string of numbers. I don't like my email address appearing anywhere online, so even though this profile URL is longer and more difficult to reference, it beats filling my inbox with spam.

If you don't use Gmail, you can select any available username to be part of your profile URL. If later on you sign up for Gmail, you can choose this username as your Gmail username. Once you've selected your customized URL, you won't be able to change it or delete it. However, you can make it private at any time by selecting your old URL on the "Edit profile" page.

Take a few minutes today to claim your name and create a powerful profile for your business. It costs you nothing, creates powerful one-way inbound links back to your site, and will help you get found online.
Copyright (c) 2009 OnlineBizU.com

Online Business Coach Donna Gunter helps baby boomers create profitable online retirement businesses by demystifying the steps needed to successfully market a baby boomer business online. Would you like to learn the specific Internet marketing strategies that get results? Discover how to increase your visibility and get found online by claiming your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, at ==> http://www.OnlineBizU.com

How I Got My First 2000 Twitter Followers, in Just 3 Days!

Twitter.com is a mini-social network where you can keep in touch with your followers constantly.

To get the ball rolling, I went to Twitter and set up an account.

Making a good bio is important, it should be catchy, mysterious and inviting. Your bio is your first introduction to others and you want them to find you interesting.

Here is my bio:

---------------

Fireman Joe, skier, Husband, Father of 2, Online business Owner, Killer 4-squares player, Poker Loser, Affiliate Manager since 1996. Adreporting.com

---------------

I get replies from people asking what 4-squares is..

The point is, list your hobbies, your work, make it catchy, and people will want to follow you.

Background design is important. You can have one designed for a fee, or use any of the ones supplied by Twitter, but at least do change it, do not use the default one.

Next, you need to find some followers. These are the people you will send tweets (messages) to.

The best way to do that, is to begin following others because once you follow others, if they like your bio, they will follow you back. The whole concept is based on mutual exchange.

You could just follow anyone, but it is best to find like minded individuals, others with interests aligned with yours to follow, as they will be more responsive to your tweets.

To find others with similar interests, I used the Twitter search tool found here. http://search.twitter.com/

I clicked on Advanced and typed in my keywords.

Your keywords might be gardening, bungee, internet marketing or scuba but what ever it is, it will find others, who have used those words in their bios or tweets, and you can click them and follow them. The next important thing is to also follow their followers. Let me explain..

I did a search for 'Lakers Basketball'. I breezed through a few results and found 'sbnbasketball'� is a user who posts a fair bit about basketball. I noticed he has 500+ followers.

I clicked his followers list and began following them also. I did this, because 'sbnbasketball'� has done the work of finding individuals interested in basketball for me. They already follow 'sbnbasketball'� and 'sbnbasketball'� tweets about b-ball. Makes sense to follow his followers.

Repeat this process a few times and in no time, you will be following 1000 users, which is a Twitter limit, until the followers catch up. You will see your Twitter following begin to explode.
How a guy with no knowledge of Twitter, hit over 2000 followers in less than a week, and you can too! By Kevin Needham

Best of luck,
Kevin Needham

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Kevin Needham is the founder of http://www.FollowMyStartups.com
The next step is Tweet Automation and you can find the "how-to" right here.
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4 Reasons to Make Social Bookmarking Your SEO Mate!

It's become the big mummer, social bookmarking sites are flooding the market. Why?... because they are becoming popular way to communicate with people of similar interests, within seconds. Not only can you reach so many people at one time, you can share your views, thoughts, articles and bookmark them all for you to share with others of a like minded nature.

For those who are looking to make money online from the comforts of your home, social bookmarking is a great tool. Why is this so?... the reason being because of SEO strength, reputable branding, social networking and it's fun.

These sites attract a lot of traffic, which if you approach it in a certain way can converted into sales. Best thing is that it doesn't have to cost you a cent... yeah that's right, so you can put your wallet away and crack on.

1. What Is Social Networking:

Generally it's as it states, creating a group of people interested in the same thing, sharing and conversing with each other on a given topic. The search engines love this because the way they see it, is that if people rate an article or what ever, then it's already popular and they index it highly... easy.

So, if you do this right, and I mean right then you can attract a lot of people to your article, video, post, blog or what ever. By creating good links and corresponding with people with the social network system, you can make a good money online.

There are to many sites to mention here, but You Tube, Digg, Delious, Facebook, Twitter and StumbleUpon are some of the main ones to begin with. If you started with these sites alone, then you have a great chance of being elevated to the heights of social bookmarking, reaching a large audience.

The great thing as well with social networking is that it can create an effect of viral marketing. Your article can be passed from one person to another like a hot potato, if it's a good one. This also means it can last the distance, so a year from now someone can read the article. You can check this out at Digg.com and see articles that have been there since 2007 still being read... pretty cool eh!

So write a good article, and you could be seeing the returns from that for years to come!...

2. SEO Strength:

The big search engines love social bookmarking sites... and I mean Luv dem, coochy coo. For this reason the search engines will index your bookmarks highly, giving you a chance to reach more people = more traffic. When bookmarking an website or blog entry, you can often insert categories, tags, and a review of a URL which search engines can rank highly.

If you have created an interesting article or video, the chances are others in your chosen field will get to view it, vote on it, ranking it higher for others to view. It's a great way to increase traffic and keep interesting topics alive. For this reason, it's always best to enter a topic which you have either knowledge about or are interested in.

3. Creating A Reputable Brand:

The thing with social bookmarking is when you create your profile, this is basically is your billboard for who you are and what you represent. Linking all your profiles to each other from different social bookmarking sites you belong to, builds on your branding exposure to world.

When you promote a product or service, people generally will search for your name or product by googling you. With the creation of your profiles on the highly indexed social sites, people can easily find you. Take the time to develop your profile so that it's interesting and professional. This will give you a lot of clout and you'll be seen as someone who is serious in creating a branding for themselves.

If your thinking you don't want people searching your personal side of events, don't worry you can arrange your profile so searches can only view what you want them to view... Phew! i hear you say.

4. Using Social bookmarking sites to your advantage?

This is where you'll have to spend your time actually participating in the whole social bookmarking scene. Bookmarking blog post's, great articles on directories, promote your post's and sites so people can bookmark yours. Basically interacting and socializing with people online.

You maybe thinking you don't have the time to do all this, and you would be right... it all takes time. That's when you can start using other tools to help you streamline this process... and thats when it becomes very powerful.

Depending on the social networking sites you use , will depend on the tools you'll need. If you take the time to learn and familiarize yourself with these sites then it will be worth it in the long run... for sure as these sites are becoming more and more popular through the years.

Start now and you'll enjoy what the future holds for social networking and online marketing. It's a fast moving train which is picking up speed as it goes along, jump onboard now before it runs away from you. when used correctly, it can be a very profitable and fun online business to be in.

Thanks for taking the time to read this article, hope you found it useful in someway in which will help you on your journey.

Cheers Rob

By the way if you want find out more about the coach that made my affiliate marketing business profitable and if your serious about building an online business visit http://www.stepbystepguruprofits.com and let me know what you think! all the Best.

Increase Blog Traffic in 30 Minutes

When I started blogging, I knew there was a science behind it but had no idea what it was! Sound familiar? In about 6 months, I noticed things were starting to turn around. What happened? 3 very encouraging blogging strategies kicked in and I'd like to share them with you:

1. The Forward Principle 
Do you remember the last time you read something so good, you actually forwarded it on to your friends? It might have been funny, educational, or something specific to a need that you and your friends all have.

Next time you write a blog post, ask yourself this question: If someone across the world reads this post, that has no clue who I am, would that person forward this post to their friends?

Remember, content is key and this is one great way to tell if your content is on the mark!

2. Reverse Engineering 
You finished writing. Now it's time for keywords. What do you do, and why do you do it?

I used to ask myself: "What are other people typing into their search bar?" In other words, taking a shot in the dark at guessing how to tag my posts. No traffic- hmmm..... do you understand why?

When it's time to tag your posts, visit your favorite keyword tracker and find out what people are searching for. Then, you can craft keywords that will actually help get your blog found.

3. Blog Directories 
You can spend an entire week submitting your blog URL and RSS feed URL to blog directories and feed sites. Did you know that? I'm not telling you to do spend weeks doing this, rather dedicate some time each day to implementing this strategy into your marketing efforts. It pays off in no time.
3yr Secret Service Veteran. Author and Speaker. 
I help busy people live healthier!

Author of STOP Killing Yourself. http://www.stopkillingyourselfbook.com/ 
Founder of Healthy Habits Blog: http://www.healthyhabitsblog.com/

Ten Reasons For Marketers to Read Marketing Blogs

As marketers, we are always being encouraged to write our own blogs but we much less often get the advice to read blogs to. Why should we read blogs? Here are ten reasons I can think of off the top of my head. 

1. Spy on the opposition. If you want to know what your competitors are saying and doing, then their blog is the best place to look.
2. Get inspiration. Blogs are just one of the places to look for inspiration for your own blog or website content.
3. Keep up to date. Log onto a news blog or a known leader in your particular field and be sure to find the latest information.
4. Improve your skills. Find blogs that teach you how to do things better: tips on writing, using software, extra marketing skills and much more.
5. Get information. Whether you are new to your niche or a seasoned campaigner, marketing blogs can help you widen and deepen your knowledge.
6. Find new stuff. Look for blogs that introduce new widgets and online tools. Find the latest social media sites.
7. Follow trends and find new niches. Niches never stand still. As a subject becomes ore popular, smaller niches appear within the larger one.
8. Post comments. Get your name known, expand and work your network. Add your main URL to your signature and hope for traffic.
9. Look at their style and presentation. Would it work for you? Hat makes you read and interact with a blog? Take the best and leave the rest.
10. Look for links. If theirs is a complimentary blog (but not a direct competitor) link to them, ping them and look for return links.

Jack Munt is a writer and online marketer.
20 Blogs for Marketers
More about online marketing

Common Blogging Traps and How to Avoid Them

As you may know, blogging is an excellent way to market yourself, promote your business and your product or service. It's also a perfect tool for helping you establish yourself as an expert in your field. What you may not know is that if not done right, blogging can end up being a disaster for you as well as your business.

Here are some common blogging traps you should avoid at all cost.

1. Writing irrelevant copy. This is one of the blogging traps that most bloggers make. Instead centering their writing around the main blogging "theme," they wander off into other areas that should be reserved for another blog post or another blog platform. To remedy this you should keep your writing focused on the topics your readers came to read about, If your blog is about article marketing, they probably wouldn't be interested in learning how to repair motorcycles. In other words, stay on target when posting to your blog.

2. Feigning an expert. Be honest with people. Don't pretend to be an expert in a particular field or topic if you're not. People will respect you when you're up front with them. Now that doesn't mean you have to be an expert in order to write about a topic. Nor does it mean that you can't become an expert on that particular topic, because you can. Just do your due diligence. The internet is packed with information. Study and learn all you can about everything that relates to your blog theme.

3. Not categorizing your blog. Not putting your blog posts in categories can leave confusing questions in the minds of your readers. What is the topic? What is his main message? What's the focus of this blog? What's it all about? Categorizing your blog helps readers stay focused on your theme and what it is you're trying to say.

4. Irregular posting. One of the mortal sins of blogging is neglect. Readers don't like reading old material. And even though much of your material might not be of a timely nature, readers still notice the date of your posts. And they can tell when a blog has been neglected or abandoned. If you don't care enough about visiting your own blog on a regular basis, why should they? And if you're not going to post on a regular schedule (at least three times a week) then why have a blog in the first place?

5. Too much commercialism. This is another common blogging trap. Readers visit your blog for the same reason they surf the internet: to find relevant information. They don't visit you in order to read an ad or listen to a commercial. They get enough of that on TV. Spare them the sales pitch and write about topics related to their interests. Call it selfishness, or whatever, but when people visit your blog they are not interested in what you have to sell.

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to blogging mistakes. As you know, there are hundreds more blunders that you can make when setting up and operating your blog. But the main thing to remember is that blogging takes a big chunk out of your daily schedule, and avoiding the above blogging blunders will save you precious time and resources -- and will lead to a more profitable blog.
To Your Success,
Mike Griffith

For more information on how to drive tons of super-targeted traffic to your blog, read my blog article, "10 Strategies For Attracting Loyal Readers to Your Blog." Meanwhile, have a great day!

Mike Griffith
mikegriffith2001@yahoo.com

http://leadgenerationheadquarters.typepad.com/leads/2009/06/10-stategies-for-attracting-loyal-readers-to-your-blog.html

How to Write a Great Blog

First, I want you to read these 2 scenarios in order to understand how powerful blogging can be:

1. You just sat down at your desk and fired up your computer. As you clean out your in box, you come across a boring email. What do you do? Delete it? Probably, or maybe you set it aside in case you may review it later on. Either way, that email is nothing different than any other boring email you receive and eventually discard of.

2. You sat down at your desk. You just received a GREAT email! What do you do? My guess- you forward it on to your friends and family and suggest they read it. Right? The information in the email either solves a problem for your friends and family, you think they will get a great chuckle, or the information is flat out informative and just may save someone's life.

My point is this: Before you hit publish on your next blog post, I want you to consider this:

This blog post will be read by people all over the world. These people don't know you from Adam. When they read your article, are they going to do the same thing you did when YOU got a great email? Or, will the email get set on the side to maybe get looked at later.... with the hopes of sending it to friends and family completely tossed out the window?

Summary: Blogging is all about helping people. Everyone in this world has a problem that needs a solution. The best bloggers research peoples' problems, and then spend their time writing content to solve those problems. Thus, a blog post that will get passed along for years to come!
3yr Secret Service Veteran. Author and Speaker. 
I help busy people live healthier!

Author of STOP Killing Yourself. http://www.stopkillingyourselfbook.com/
Founder of Healthy Habits Blog: http://www.healthyhabitsblog.com/

Why Traffic is Essential to Make Money With Blogs?

Traffic to a blog is a must for the survival of that blog, and more so if you have planned that blog with the aim of making some good money. You would essentially be peddling or promoting an idea or a product through a blog and for that more and more people have to come and see what you have got to offer. A blog that no one sees is as good as non-existent. Once you accept that continuous traffic is the lifeline to survival for a blog, your main concern should be how to generate that mandatory traffic to it.

Links, text ads, banner ads, and traffic exchanges are some of the ways in which you can divert surfers to your site. Traffic generation to your site is practically the same as diverting traffic to your blog. However, to make the blog appealing to the surfers, who are your potential customers, the blog should be rich in information, or can have some humorous content if that can be incorporated into it. It should also have some characteristic that would catch the attention of those who are browsing the net. And your site should ideally offer something extra to the people to make them curious about your product.

Some initial expenses are bound to be there for making good use of any of the various advertising possibilities. AdWords can be a right option, where keywords are used effectively to attract people and divert them to the site. To do that, you will have to invest in opening an advertising account with Google. Likewise, advertising space can be bought on different websites to place banner ads or text ads. For these ads to be effective, the chosen sites should have some connection with the product that you are hoping to market. The price tabs for different types of advertising will vary from site to site and you will have to do some research to balance your budget with the effectiveness of an advertising in getting traffic.

Internet gives many more advertising options. You can have your product and your blog advertised in egroups like Google or Yahoo. Then there are pay to click advertising, referred to as PTC. Traffic exchanges are also not a bad option. So far as you stick to the rules and follow the requirements of the sites, traffic exchanges will get you lots of opportunities to exchange ads with other members. The requirements of these traffic exchanges like avoidance of adult sites etc. are not difficult to follow.

Your blog should have a very good content and your site should have some interesting incentives to attract customers. Once that is taken care of, all your energies have to be concentrated on getting traffic to the site. A blog is a perfect money making formula if you can get people to visit it round the clock. There is no lack of advertising methods on the internet for diverting traffic to the site. The only concern should be that they are within your budget and you should be able to use it properly to get the maximum results possible. Meeting all these requirements in the right proportion will make your blog a moneymaking tool.

The author is a writer that writes about posting links for Google. There is another article he wrote on about how to make money posting links on Google.

Your Basic Blogging Guidelines

This is a very quick post on some essential basic guidelines for your blog. If you adhere to these basics you should not encounter any problems and learn how to blog successfully very quickly.

If you are using blogger.com they have their own terms and conditions for posting content. You can't just post anything, so always read the terms & condition's. Your blog will probably be marked as spam or even deleted if you don't follow there rules.

This is a restriction of using a blogger.com blog. If you wish to have full control over your content that you can post, you need to host your own blog and have your own hosting account.

That brings us on to the dos and don'ts of our blog

Dos:

• Make sure you base your posts with a good category structure to make it easy to find content for a particular topic.

• It is vital to put paragraphs and sub-ideas. It's not entertaining to read one block of manuscript. Digest it into pieces or your readers will get tired of struggling and leave your blog.

• Put pictures and multimedia sources to enhance the content. Could either be a vlog, photoblog, etc.

• Always create mutual communication between you and your readers. Answer queries without leaving your readers hanging for an answer.

• Make your article as simple and as understandable as possible. Avoid beating around the bush. Write like your talking to one of your mates.

• Always respect your reader's opinions, even if you disagree

• Make sure you update regularly. If you make blogging a part of your life, post as often as possible with fresh content.

DON'Ts:

• Never go against your host's legal boundaries. Respect their terms and conditions.

• Don't ignore the quality of your content. Be specific with posting information.

• Don't provoke fights. Sometimes comments can be a pain. And sometimes, none of it is true. Let it go and don't waste your time and energy.

• Don't waste a post with inappropriate details that would just confuse your audience.

• Don't copy the works of others. Produce something original. Imitations trigger criticisms.

• Don't be afraid to advertise. It's one way to make your blog famous among the masses. Go to other sites and leave your blog address. It's a matter of give and take.

Most internet sites like Yahoo! and IBM publish their guidelines on blogging. It is intended to be read, understood, and accepted by the blogger. Obey certain rules and policies. It won't do you wrong. Libellous materials could cause you problems, so better follow the rules.

Above and beyond all, if you write your own content and have fun doing it and keep it informative and entertaining then being able to learn to blog will be a lot of fun and very profitable. 

Happy blogging.

We love blogs,blogging and are trying to teach more and more people how to blog successfully. http://blogmarkethelp.blogspot.com/

How to Become an Efficient Blogger?

Many people are interested to blog whether for business or personal. They are attracted to what blog can provide them. Millions of people rely on internet. They read relevant information to keep them informed and updated. Most of these topics are related to politics, travel, shopping and many more.

Business people create their own blogs as one of the many steps in marketing their business. It is one of the advertising techniques of entrepreneurs although blogging is not only for the purpose of money, but mostly for owner's personal interest.

Almost thousands of bloggers are updating their blogs daily and some of them are making money from it. They provide pertinent details to attract readers. Unfortunately, not all become successful and leave blogging to venture a more rewarding career that suits them.

Blogger must know how to become an efficient one to succeed. Being an effective blogger, you must listen to those experts. They are the professional bloggers who are well versed on various blogging techniques.

To become an effective blogger, you must consider the following;

*The design of your blog is the basic thing that attracts your reader. It is the first thing your readers will appreciate when opening your website. The combination of colors is also important. Fonts should be readable. If it looks fascinating, they will keep on coming back. Most bloggers fail because they do not have the proper design even if they have great content.

*Post content relevant to your niche would give you more readers. Somehow, readers have their own interest also. For instance, a certain reader loves more about travel; he or she wants to read more entertaining details or information about travel. Knowing your website that provides detailed and relevant information about a certain category would certainly give your visitor an idea of returning to your blog site.

*Writing talents are good points, but not necessarily. Somehow, if you love writing, blogging might interest you also. Unfortunately, not all become successful. On the other hand, good writing can be learned also. If you are willing to acquire writing skills, then, you will definitely achieve it. After all, practice makes perfect.

*Commenting more on your post would mean that they love the topic you posted. In return, there is no harm in saying thank you or might as well, find time to read also what they are up to.

*Add contact details. Need to add your contact information for your readers. Suggestion from your followers is a possible way of gaining more knowledge and giving others more information about your topic would be beneficial to both of you.

You can start creating your own blog and write more about your niche.
Find Work From Home Tips at Hangelbel's Work From Home.

How to Blog For Income - Discover the Secret to Making Money From Blogging

It sounds like the perfect job doesn't it? Writing your thoughts in a blog and somehow getting rich because of it - what a life. Of course, most of the stories you hear of people getting rich blogging are about those few whose blog has become hugely popular, enabling them to make a fortune. It is fair to say that these are the exceptions and that for each success story there are millions more blogs that are seen by very few people and from which the authors get hardly any income.  
  
However, the way to make money from blogs is not to just start blogging and hope you are one of the few who get fantastically lucky. You may as well just buy a lottery ticket. The process is not magical or mysterious and you can take a tried and tested and logical approach to it, which will guarantee you a decent income in time. Blogs make money because visitors click on adverts or follow affiliate recommendations. That is where the money comes from, so the only way to get that money is to have lots of visitors to your blog, and your income increases in proportion with the number of visitors you have. If you have visitors, you will get money - simple as that. 
  
Which leads us onto the question of how you actually get those visitors. You can't just write about what you want and hope visitors will find your blog - they are not likely to find it unless you get very lucky. If you want to be guaranteed visitors, you need to choose the right subject for your blog, and optimize it for search engines. The visitors you need to attract to your blog are from search engines, because these are free and plentiful. The choice of subject for your blog is absolutely crucial, because you must find a niche that is of interest to enough people, without being in competition with lots of other websites and blogs. Only if you do this can you hope to achieve high enough ranking in the search engine results to get lots of visitors. Proper research is therefore essential. 
  
Even if you choose the right topic, that will not be enough in itself to get visitors. You need to create and promote your blog in such a way as to make sure the search engines rate it as an important and useful site. This is called search engine optimization and among other things involves selecting the right key phrases for your posts and getting other sites to link to your blog. Backlinks from other sites are seen by search engines as an indication of quality and importance. 
  
Let's suppose you get all this right, choose the right niche, select the best keywords and get links back to your blog so that it shows up in search engine results and gets a steady stream of visitors. Well done, because that is quite an achievement in itself, but it is unlikely to earn you more than a few dollars a day. The only certain way to earn serious money from blogging, is to create lots of other blogs that meet the same criteria as the one we have just described. I mean ten, twenty or even a hundred blogs, all attracting different visitors and earning money every day. Then your income really is worth having. 
  
The problem is the time it takes to create this number of blogs, or any kind of website. You can't skimp on the proper research for the right niche and keywords, and neither can you skimp on good content or all the search engine optimization you need to do, so how can you possibly make enough blogs to earn serious cash? Not surprisingly you can't, unless you employ some sort of tool or software, or combination of tools, to automate as much of the process as possible. 
  

There are lots of tools available to do with generating and promoting blogs, but you need to be careful to avoid any which just enable you to churn out junk blogs full of second hand content and adverts. While claims of putting blogs up without having to write content may sound appealing, search engines hate duplicate content and such blogs will never rank well enough to get decent traffic. What you require is something that will guide you through all the stages you need to go through to create a quality blog, while automating as much of the process as possible.

Get recommendations on the best blog creation software on the author's website. Keith Garrow is an artist whose website now offers detailed advice and guidance on many web related subjects, including web host reviews, search engine optimization and how to create a website.