When your...
...wife
...husband
...mother
...father
...neighbor
...friend
tells you that you
CANNOT
WILL NOT
SHALL NOT
ever make your living online, what do you do?
When they say that your idea is
dumb
stupid
and idiotic...
When they say that everything that costs money on the
Internet is a SCAM, if it wasn't, it would be free...
...What do you say?
And when they tell you that the free stuff on the net isn't
worth anything, or else they would CHARGE for it...
...What do you say?
More to the point...
...When they're trying DESPERATELY to DRAG YOU down into the same
muck and mire of failed dreams and lost hope that they're in...
...What do you do??
Here's what I do...
I smile politely and back away.
Because both they and their words are POISON to my success.
How To Create Your Own Product Quickly
Ok, so you've probably heard many times before that you need to have your own products in order to make serious money in internet marketing.
And in a lot of cases this is true, but the problem is that many people simply don't have a great deal of time to invest in creating their own product.
The good news however is that creating a product doesn't have to take an age or be prohibitively difficult.
Below we're going to run through some of the best ways of creating your own product quickly and with minimal effort...
Create an Audio Product:
This is probably the quickest way of creating a product because it only takes the amount of time to create that it took you to record!
Ok, so that's probably not strictlytrue because it's likely you'll have to re-record certain parts,
but it really can be very quick.
I know plenty of internet marketers who have created an audio product in less than a day and it has gone on to make them some serious money.
Following on from this, you could do your audio product as an interview.
The beauty of this is that you can enter a completely new niche that you know nothing about and end up with a quality product just by interviewing someone who is knowledgeable about the subject.
Make a transcript of the audio recording and you've got TWO products!
And in a lot of cases this is true, but the problem is that many people simply don't have a great deal of time to invest in creating their own product.
The good news however is that creating a product doesn't have to take an age or be prohibitively difficult.
Below we're going to run through some of the best ways of creating your own product quickly and with minimal effort...
Create an Audio Product:
This is probably the quickest way of creating a product because it only takes the amount of time to create that it took you to record!
Ok, so that's probably not strictlytrue because it's likely you'll have to re-record certain parts,
but it really can be very quick.
I know plenty of internet marketers who have created an audio product in less than a day and it has gone on to make them some serious money.
Following on from this, you could do your audio product as an interview.
The beauty of this is that you can enter a completely new niche that you know nothing about and end up with a quality product just by interviewing someone who is knowledgeable about the subject.
Make a transcript of the audio recording and you've got TWO products!
Hold a webinar or teleseminar:
This is another good option for creating a product quickly.
Again make sure you record it and you've got another product made in double quick time.
Create a Short Report From PLR Articles:
Many PLR articles allow you to package them together as a product.
Find 10 good articles on a particular subject and put them together in a single document to sell
or give away as a short report.
If you want to make your report really unique then simply add some of your own information in there too.
These are just some ideas, but as you can see creating your own product doesn't have to be difficult or time consuming.
Get more strategies here,
TurboProductCreation.com
This is another good option for creating a product quickly.
Again make sure you record it and you've got another product made in double quick time.
Create a Short Report From PLR Articles:
Many PLR articles allow you to package them together as a product.
Find 10 good articles on a particular subject and put them together in a single document to sell
or give away as a short report.
If you want to make your report really unique then simply add some of your own information in there too.
These are just some ideas, but as you can see creating your own product doesn't have to be difficult or time consuming.
Get more strategies here,
TurboProductCreation.
Strategies For Generating Traffic Using Traffic Exchanges
The most effective way for you to grow your business using Traffic Exchanges will depend on what products and services you’re offering. Some webmasters find that they get great results by offering an inexpensive introductory product – while others use Traffic Exchanges simply to build their mailing list.
Whichever option you choose be sure that your continuously testing and tracking. That’s the only true way to know whether you’ve chosen the right strategy for your business.
Whichever option you choose be sure that your continuously testing and tracking. That’s the only true way to know whether you’ve chosen the right strategy for your business.
Developing Your Downline
To make Traffic Exchanges work in the beginning, it’s important that you surf on a regular basis. A good strategy is to set aside a couple of hours each day. Although it may seem like a lot of work at first, you will soon see reap the rewards of increased traffic to your site.
Since keeping up a schedule of surfing every day can be time consuming, the best long-term strategy for benefiting from Traffic Exchanges is to build your own downline. This is a group of people that you recruit to join a Traffic Exchange under you.
As the members you’ve referred surf – and recruit others – you will receive credits. The larger your downline becomes, the more you’ll be able to cut back on the amount of time you personally surf. Ideally you’ll eventually have a large enough downline that you won’t have to surf at all and you’ll still be getting lots of targeted traffic.
Since they are so important to your overall strategy, it’s critical that you create a relationship with each member of your downline. Start by sending all new recruits a personalized welcome email. Thank them for joining and encourage them to contact you if they have any questions. This is also a good time to share with them any tips that have helped you make the most of Traffic Exchanges.
Don’t forget to encourage them to recruit new members. Since Traffic Exchanges typically offer you credits and/or cash for referrals that your downline make, it’s in your best interest to have them recruit as many people as possible.
10 Tips For Using Traffic Exchanges
1. Track Everything - As with all online marketing efforts, it’s critical that you track all traffic generated by Traffic Exchanges.
Tracking can be done using a tracking service which you pay for monthly, or using tracking software which you purchase and install on your server. Whichever option you choose, be sure to look for a solution that will give you as much information as possible. Many will tell you how many clicks you get, how many are unique visitors versus return visitors and where they were referred from. Some even give you conversion information by telling you which visits resulted in sales.
2. Know Your Audience - It is important to remember that everyone using Traffic Exchanges is first and foremost interested in having their own pages seen. Just like you, they all want to drive traffic to their sites. This means that you have to develop creative, eye-catching pages to entice them to take action. Simply using the same affiliate materials everyone else is will not be effective.
3. Make Sure Your Page Loads Quickly - Your website design and the time it takes for the website to load are very critical when using Traffic Exchanges. Your page will never be seen if your site takes 15 seconds to load and the exchange rotates the websites every 15 seconds. You want to have at least a 10-second viewing window to give the surfing exchange member time to respond to your offer.
4. Use Simple Splash Pages – Rather than sending surfers to your home page, which provides too much information, use a splash page. This is a page that does not require any scrolling. It’s purpose is to be short, sweet and to the point. Typically it consists of a killer headline, a clear list of benefits and a simple call to action. You want your visitor to be able to make a quick decision whether to ask for more information or pass on your offering.
5. Include a Persuasive Call to Action - Make sure the page has a clear “call to action”. That is, that it clearly tells the customer whay they should do next. Whether that’s join your newsletter, request your free ebook or take some other action, it should be obvious to the surfer what they are to do.
6. Capture Their Contact Information – Offer surfers something in exchange for their email address. This gives you permission to contact them later and introduce them to your products and services.
7. Learn From Others - As you’re surfing, be sure to take note of the pages that catch your attention. Chances are that if they are enticing to you, they are enticing to others. What is it about the page that appeals to you? What made you want to take action? This is very valuable information that you can use to improve your own pages.
8. Make Your Offer Stand Out – If you have your own niche website, then you already differentiated yourself from the pack. If you are an affiliate marketer, then you need to find products/services that everyone else isn't already promoting, especially within your particular Traffic Exchange.
Your individual promotion is everything. If you're trying to promote something everyone else is your sales conversions are going to be very low, or nothing at all.
9. Only Choose Traffic Exchanges that Offer Manual Surfing - Most people do not even watch the window when an autosurf is running. If it is a manual surf exchange they have to physically watch the pages in order to go to the next site. This gives you the best opportunity for them to actually see your site and be drawn in by your offer.
10. Test. Test. Test. – If you’ve put in place a good tracking system you’ll be able to run tests to find out what effect they have on your results. Try different headlines, graphics and offers to see which ones get the best response.
The most effective way to test is using Split Run Testing. This involves creating two pages that are similar but have one thing different (for example different headlines). You show the two pages equally to your visitors and see which one converts best. There are several scripts available to help you do Split Run Testing very easily.
Since keeping up a schedule of surfing every day can be time consuming, the best long-term strategy for benefiting from Traffic Exchanges is to build your own downline. This is a group of people that you recruit to join a Traffic Exchange under you.
As the members you’ve referred surf – and recruit others – you will receive credits. The larger your downline becomes, the more you’ll be able to cut back on the amount of time you personally surf. Ideally you’ll eventually have a large enough downline that you won’t have to surf at all and you’ll still be getting lots of targeted traffic.
Since they are so important to your overall strategy, it’s critical that you create a relationship with each member of your downline. Start by sending all new recruits a personalized welcome email. Thank them for joining and encourage them to contact you if they have any questions. This is also a good time to share with them any tips that have helped you make the most of Traffic Exchanges.
Don’t forget to encourage them to recruit new members. Since Traffic Exchanges typically offer you credits and/or cash for referrals that your downline make, it’s in your best interest to have them recruit as many people as possible.
10 Tips For Using Traffic Exchanges
1. Track Everything - As with all online marketing efforts, it’s critical that you track all traffic generated by Traffic Exchanges.
Tracking can be done using a tracking service which you pay for monthly, or using tracking software which you purchase and install on your server. Whichever option you choose, be sure to look for a solution that will give you as much information as possible. Many will tell you how many clicks you get, how many are unique visitors versus return visitors and where they were referred from. Some even give you conversion information by telling you which visits resulted in sales.
2. Know Your Audience - It is important to remember that everyone using Traffic Exchanges is first and foremost interested in having their own pages seen. Just like you, they all want to drive traffic to their sites. This means that you have to develop creative, eye-catching pages to entice them to take action. Simply using the same affiliate materials everyone else is will not be effective.
3. Make Sure Your Page Loads Quickly - Your website design and the time it takes for the website to load are very critical when using Traffic Exchanges. Your page will never be seen if your site takes 15 seconds to load and the exchange rotates the websites every 15 seconds. You want to have at least a 10-second viewing window to give the surfing exchange member time to respond to your offer.
4. Use Simple Splash Pages – Rather than sending surfers to your home page, which provides too much information, use a splash page. This is a page that does not require any scrolling. It’s purpose is to be short, sweet and to the point. Typically it consists of a killer headline, a clear list of benefits and a simple call to action. You want your visitor to be able to make a quick decision whether to ask for more information or pass on your offering.
5. Include a Persuasive Call to Action - Make sure the page has a clear “call to action”. That is, that it clearly tells the customer whay they should do next. Whether that’s join your newsletter, request your free ebook or take some other action, it should be obvious to the surfer what they are to do.
6. Capture Their Contact Information – Offer surfers something in exchange for their email address. This gives you permission to contact them later and introduce them to your products and services.
7. Learn From Others - As you’re surfing, be sure to take note of the pages that catch your attention. Chances are that if they are enticing to you, they are enticing to others. What is it about the page that appeals to you? What made you want to take action? This is very valuable information that you can use to improve your own pages.
8. Make Your Offer Stand Out – If you have your own niche website, then you already differentiated yourself from the pack. If you are an affiliate marketer, then you need to find products/services that everyone else isn't already promoting, especially within your particular Traffic Exchange.
Your individual promotion is everything. If you're trying to promote something everyone else is your sales conversions are going to be very low, or nothing at all.
9. Only Choose Traffic Exchanges that Offer Manual Surfing - Most people do not even watch the window when an autosurf is running. If it is a manual surf exchange they have to physically watch the pages in order to go to the next site. This gives you the best opportunity for them to actually see your site and be drawn in by your offer.
10. Test. Test. Test. – If you’ve put in place a good tracking system you’ll be able to run tests to find out what effect they have on your results. Try different headlines, graphics and offers to see which ones get the best response.
The most effective way to test is using Split Run Testing. This involves creating two pages that are similar but have one thing different (for example different headlines). You show the two pages equally to your visitors and see which one converts best. There are several scripts available to help you do Split Run Testing very easily.
How Traffic Exchanges Work
Different Traffic Exchanges work in different ways. In general though they all offer a free or paid version. Depending on which option you choose you will be eligible to receive a certain number of credits when you surf other member’s sites and when you refer people who join.
Almost all of them also allow you to build a downline of members you’ve referred. Often your downline can extend several levels deep so that as people you refer in turn refer others, you continue to gain more and more credits.
Some Traffic Exchanges also pay out cash incentives when the people in your downline upgrade their membership or purchase other forms of advertising that the Traffic Exchange offers such as banner ads. This gives you several ways to benefit from participating in the Traffic Exchange.
When deciding which Traffic Exchange program to join, there are several features to consider:
1. Credit Ratio – All Traffic Exchanges allow you to earn credits in exchange for viewing other member’s web pages. Look for one that provides a good return on the number of credits you receive for each page you view.
2. Time Limits – When surfing for credits, most traffic exchanges require you to view a site for a minimum amount of time before you earn a credit. This is normally somewhere between 10 and 30 seconds. The longer you have to view a page means the slower you can surf, but it also means longer that potential customers view your pages.
3. Anti Cheat Mechanisms – To ensure that a real person is viewing your web site most Traffic Exchanges use anti cheating mechanisms. This usually means that instead of clicking a “Next Site" button you have to click on a specific graphic such as a number, letter, picture or coloured icon from a selection of a few, to proceed to the next site. Repeated failure to do this correctly means account suspension or termination. Look for a Traffic Exchange with a system like this to ensure that your credits are not wasted on cheaters who never view your page.
4. Referrals – This is the fastest way to build up your credits. Most Traffic Exchanges provide you with referral pages and banners. You can use these materials to recruit your downline. When someone signs up from your promotional web page or banner they are placed in your downline.
5. Paid/Pro Memberships – Most Traffic Exchanges offer paid memberships as well as free memberships. Normally a paid membership earns you privileges such as an allocation of credits per month plus an increased number of credits for your own surfing and the surfing of your downline. Most exchanges also allow you to purchase extra credits.
6. Bonuses – Many Traffic Exchanges will give you bonus credits for signing up, for surfing a certain number of pages, or for winning competitions or sweepstakes. Look for ones that provide added bonuses and accumulate credits even faster!
Almost all of them also allow you to build a downline of members you’ve referred. Often your downline can extend several levels deep so that as people you refer in turn refer others, you continue to gain more and more credits.
Some Traffic Exchanges also pay out cash incentives when the people in your downline upgrade their membership or purchase other forms of advertising that the Traffic Exchange offers such as banner ads. This gives you several ways to benefit from participating in the Traffic Exchange.
When deciding which Traffic Exchange program to join, there are several features to consider:
1. Credit Ratio – All Traffic Exchanges allow you to earn credits in exchange for viewing other member’s web pages. Look for one that provides a good return on the number of credits you receive for each page you view.
2. Time Limits – When surfing for credits, most traffic exchanges require you to view a site for a minimum amount of time before you earn a credit. This is normally somewhere between 10 and 30 seconds. The longer you have to view a page means the slower you can surf, but it also means longer that potential customers view your pages.
3. Anti Cheat Mechanisms – To ensure that a real person is viewing your web site most Traffic Exchanges use anti cheating mechanisms. This usually means that instead of clicking a “Next Site" button you have to click on a specific graphic such as a number, letter, picture or coloured icon from a selection of a few, to proceed to the next site. Repeated failure to do this correctly means account suspension or termination. Look for a Traffic Exchange with a system like this to ensure that your credits are not wasted on cheaters who never view your page.
4. Referrals – This is the fastest way to build up your credits. Most Traffic Exchanges provide you with referral pages and banners. You can use these materials to recruit your downline. When someone signs up from your promotional web page or banner they are placed in your downline.
5. Paid/Pro Memberships – Most Traffic Exchanges offer paid memberships as well as free memberships. Normally a paid membership earns you privileges such as an allocation of credits per month plus an increased number of credits for your own surfing and the surfing of your downline. Most exchanges also allow you to purchase extra credits.
6. Bonuses – Many Traffic Exchanges will give you bonus credits for signing up, for surfing a certain number of pages, or for winning competitions or sweepstakes. Look for ones that provide added bonuses and accumulate credits even faster!
The Benefits Of Traffic Exchanges
There are many benefits to participating in Traffic Exchanges:
1. They’re an inexpensive - often free - method of generating targeted traffic to your website.
2. You will start seeing an increase in traffic almost immediately. No waiting for weeks or months to see results, as is often the case with other forms of advertising.
3. They can be a great way to test ad copy for use with other, more expensive forms of advertising such as Pay Per Click campaigns.
4. You can build a “downline” by referring others, which allows you to more quickly earn credits. Over time your traffic can be almost entirely generated by the efforts of others.
5. You’ll gain exposure to your competitor’s products and services, which will give you some good ideas for promoting your site.
1. They’re an inexpensive - often free - method of generating targeted traffic to your website.
2. You will start seeing an increase in traffic almost immediately. No waiting for weeks or months to see results, as is often the case with other forms of advertising.
3. They can be a great way to test ad copy for use with other, more expensive forms of advertising such as Pay Per Click campaigns.
4. You can build a “downline” by referring others, which allows you to more quickly earn credits. Over time your traffic can be almost entirely generated by the efforts of others.
5. You’ll gain exposure to your competitor’s products and services, which will give you some good ideas for promoting your site.
What Exactly Are Traffic Exchanges?
In simple terms, a Traffic Exchange is a service you can join to generate free traffic to your site. How it works is you view other members web pages in exchange for having your own web page viewed. Every time you view another member’s web page for a period of time (for example 20 seconds) your balance of credits increases. Every time a member views your web page for the same period of time your credit balance decreases.
There are two main types of traffic exchanges – manual exchanges and auto exchanges. A manual exchange requires a real human being to view the web page and click on a link to proceed to the next web page. An auto exchange can be left running in your web browser and will automatically refresh to a new web page.
Although both of these methods will bring hits to your website, the use of a manual exchange is far more likely to bring a visitor who will actually read what is on your web page. The auto exchange user who leaves their computer on all night, surfing web pages while they sleep is unlikely to buy your product.
There are two main types of traffic exchanges – manual exchanges and auto exchanges. A manual exchange requires a real human being to view the web page and click on a link to proceed to the next web page. An auto exchange can be left running in your web browser and will automatically refresh to a new web page.
Although both of these methods will bring hits to your website, the use of a manual exchange is far more likely to bring a visitor who will actually read what is on your web page. The auto exchange user who leaves their computer on all night, surfing web pages while they sleep is unlikely to buy your product.
Traffic Exchanges Secrets
The ability to generate targeted yet low cost traffic is crucial for the success of every Internet business. In fact a lack of traffic is the number one complaint of webmasters. But all traffic is not equal. The key to success lies in being able to generate targeted traffic. That is, traffic that is interested in what you offer and is ready, willing and able to take action.
A good Traffic Exchange will provide you with this targeted traffic. And although Traffic Exchanges will most likely not be able to send you all of the traffic you need. If used properly along with other forms of promotion, they can help you grow your business at a phenomenal rate.
In this ebook we’ll look at several tips for effectively using Traffic Exchanges. If you put these ideas to work for you, we’re confident you’ll see a significant return on the time spent.
A good Traffic Exchange will provide you with this targeted traffic. And although Traffic Exchanges will most likely not be able to send you all of the traffic you need. If used properly along with other forms of promotion, they can help you grow your business at a phenomenal rate.
In this ebook we’ll look at several tips for effectively using Traffic Exchanges. If you put these ideas to work for you, we’re confident you’ll see a significant return on the time spent.
Profiting From Web 2.0 Sites - Table Of Contents
Web 2.0 Sites Exposed!
What Web 2.0 exactly is and why it is the latest wave of the Internet that is totally here to stay!
Blogging
Join the Online Journal craze and learn how a network of web logs can offer a huge boost of popularity, leads and income to your Online Empire!
Social Bookmarking
Social Bookmarking is a recognized way to store, classify, share and search links through the practice of folksonomy techniques on the Internet. Learn how you can use it to your advantage!
Find out how you can have fun and do some serious business at the same time in this increasingly popular Web 2.0 as used by infamous sites such as Friendster, FacE-Book, MySpace, and more!
Audio/Video/Podcasting
In the advent of wide establishment of broadbands and wireless networks throughout the world, these digital entities become more recognized and useful than ever. Here’s how you to use it to maximize your business profits and advantage!
What Web 2.0 exactly is and why it is the latest wave of the Internet that is totally here to stay!
Blogging
Join the Online Journal craze and learn how a network of web logs can offer a huge boost of popularity, leads and income to your Online Empire!
Social Bookmarking
Social Bookmarking is a recognized way to store, classify, share and search links through the practice of folksonomy techniques on the Internet. Learn how you can use it to your advantage!
- Social Bookmarking
- Who is Using Social Bookmarking?
- How Does Social Bookmarking Work?
- How will Social Bookmarking Impact the Web?
- How is Social Bookmarking Affecting Education?
- Why is Social Bookmarking Important?
- Is There a Down Side to Social Bookmarking?
- What is The Bottom Line of Social Bookmarking?
Find out how you can have fun and do some serious business at the same time in this increasingly popular Web 2.0 as used by infamous sites such as Friendster, FacE-Book, MySpace, and more!
Audio/Video/Podcasting
In the advent of wide establishment of broadbands and wireless networks throughout the world, these digital entities become more recognized and useful than ever. Here’s how you to use it to maximize your business profits and advantage!
Recommended Resources
How to Get A Domain Name And Hosting Account
Autoresponder Account
All-In-One Services Provider
Autoresponder Account
All-In-One Services Provider
What Will My Blog Visitors Think About Audio, Video or Podcasts?
The short answer is that they are going to love them. A term that is sometimes used is ‘User Enhancement Optimization’.
You know what SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is but it is possible that UEO (User Enhancement Optimization) is equally or maybe even more important.
Remember...it is all about content. Content is what keeps a visitor on your website and content is what makes them make return visits to your website. It is a well known fact that purchases are seldom made on initial website visits.
A customer will likely return to the website up to seven times before he actually drags out his credit card and buys something.
You have to get them to come to your website for that first crucial visit but keeping them making return visits is just as important.
I can’t really think of a better way to keep them coming back that giving them something as attention getting as audio or video or podcasts. Can you?
While it is true that people do read blog posts, we are a nation that is more geared toward audio and video than toward the written word.
We watch television...a lot. One picture really is worth more than a thousand words in today’s technologically centered world.
Web 2.0 has created an internet that is user driven. The users are the ones who determine the success or failure of an internet business.
They are the determining factor of the way that websites are constructed. It once was said over and over that ‘the customer is always right’. That is still true but in the Web 2.0 world of internet marketing, the user is not only right, he is in charge.
Web surfers no longer simply go to websites to read information. They go to websites to GET information and the love for that information to be delivered in audio and/or video formats.
Your blog website has got to be outstanding. It has got to be original. It has to give the user a reason to visit in the first place and a reason to return often.
Think content, content, content and SEO as well as UEO and you can make your blog website successful. Audio, video and podcasts are the quickest, easiest and most efficient way to reach that goal.
You know what SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is but it is possible that UEO (User Enhancement Optimization) is equally or maybe even more important.
Remember...it is all about content. Content is what keeps a visitor on your website and content is what makes them make return visits to your website. It is a well known fact that purchases are seldom made on initial website visits.
A customer will likely return to the website up to seven times before he actually drags out his credit card and buys something.
You have to get them to come to your website for that first crucial visit but keeping them making return visits is just as important.
I can’t really think of a better way to keep them coming back that giving them something as attention getting as audio or video or podcasts. Can you?
While it is true that people do read blog posts, we are a nation that is more geared toward audio and video than toward the written word.
We watch television...a lot. One picture really is worth more than a thousand words in today’s technologically centered world.
Web 2.0 has created an internet that is user driven. The users are the ones who determine the success or failure of an internet business.
They are the determining factor of the way that websites are constructed. It once was said over and over that ‘the customer is always right’. That is still true but in the Web 2.0 world of internet marketing, the user is not only right, he is in charge.
Web surfers no longer simply go to websites to read information. They go to websites to GET information and the love for that information to be delivered in audio and/or video formats.
Your blog website has got to be outstanding. It has got to be original. It has to give the user a reason to visit in the first place and a reason to return often.
Think content, content, content and SEO as well as UEO and you can make your blog website successful. Audio, video and podcasts are the quickest, easiest and most efficient way to reach that goal.
How Do I Get Podcasts For My Blog?
Now, podcasts you do have to create yourself. The good news is that is a fairly simple process that can be done without a lot of technical knowledge or ability.
The term ‘podcast’ was actually coined by Ben Hammersley in the Guardian on February 2004. The word is a blend of the two words, ‘ipod’ and ‘broadcast’ but you don’t have to have an ipod to see a podcast or even to create a podcast.
Very simply; podcasting is a way to publish audio and video online which lets software automatically find and download new broadcasts over a period of time by using RSS feeds that contain a link to the multimedia broadcast file.
You can create and publish your own audio program or video program or audio/video program and feed them to your audience who can then listen to or view them when they have to time or are so inclined.
With nothing more than a personal computer, some software and a webcam if you are doing video, anybody can create a podcast and publish it. It isn’t rocket science.
The term ‘podcast’ was actually coined by Ben Hammersley in the Guardian on February 2004. The word is a blend of the two words, ‘ipod’ and ‘broadcast’ but you don’t have to have an ipod to see a podcast or even to create a podcast.
Very simply; podcasting is a way to publish audio and video online which lets software automatically find and download new broadcasts over a period of time by using RSS feeds that contain a link to the multimedia broadcast file.
You can create and publish your own audio program or video program or audio/video program and feed them to your audience who can then listen to or view them when they have to time or are so inclined.
With nothing more than a personal computer, some software and a webcam if you are doing video, anybody can create a podcast and publish it. It isn’t rocket science.
How do I get audio and video for my blog?
Just to set your mind at ease right away, you don’t have to shoot your own video or record your own audio.
You can do that, of course, if you want to and if you have the equipment and the know-how but you really don’t have to.
There are an abundance of sites on the internet that will happily (and freely) provide video and audio for you. All you have to do is download them, upload them to your site and tag them. That is pretty much it.
Google has videos that you can use. The link is right there on the Google search page. Recently Google purchased YouTube for a reported one point six billion dollars.
You can find free videos there on almost any topic that you can imagine and likely a few topics that you would hope to never imagine.
You can find videos on topics that are related to the topic of your website or your blog that will be of interest to your visitors and when visitors are watching videos they aren’t surfing away from your site.
You can do that, of course, if you want to and if you have the equipment and the know-how but you really don’t have to.
There are an abundance of sites on the internet that will happily (and freely) provide video and audio for you. All you have to do is download them, upload them to your site and tag them. That is pretty much it.
Google has videos that you can use. The link is right there on the Google search page. Recently Google purchased YouTube for a reported one point six billion dollars.
You can find free videos there on almost any topic that you can imagine and likely a few topics that you would hope to never imagine.
You can find videos on topics that are related to the topic of your website or your blog that will be of interest to your visitors and when visitors are watching videos they aren’t surfing away from your site.
Why do I Need Audio, Video or Podcasting on My blog?
Successful internet businesses all depend upon one common factor. That common factor is traffic. Traffic equals sales. Sales equal profit.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that a successful business must make sales and a profit and in order to make sales and profit it is essential that there are customers.
Getting website traffic is exactly what all the fuss is about when marketers are discussing SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
The higher a site ranks in the search results that search engines provide to those using key words to find products and services, the more visitors will visit. More visitors = more sales = more profits. It is just as simple as that.
Blogs have proven themselves to be very, very useful tools in the drive to creating more and better website traffic. People love blogs. Web 2.0 is built upon the idea of a user driven web and users want a voice.
Blogs give them that voice. It is a simple technology and it can even be found free on the internet. If you don’t have a blog site or a blog on your website, you are simply missing the SEO boat.
The popularity of blogs has, of course, increased the number of blogs on the Internet many fold over this last year or so.
With the increase in numbers of blogs online comes an increase in competition for visitors to those blogs and, of course, stiffer competition for PageRank by search engines.
So, the question, “Why do I need audio/video/podcasting on my blog?” is one that can be answered rather easily. You want visitors. You want a high PageRank. You want sales and profits. That’s why.
Successful blogs are all about content. You’ve been told a million times that, on the internet, content is king and it is true. Search engine spiders consider content as one of the factors that determine page rank and there are two parts to content that are considered.
The first is how often the content changes. This is why it is very important that posts be made to blogs every single day...multiple posts are better than one long post. Key-work density is the other content factor that is considered by search engine spiders.
Links found on the Internet to your website by search engine spiders is another factor that determines PageRank. That is the reason you should always make use of social bookmarking sites and add the links to your blog posts.
Each time you make a post the search engine spiders count it but the number of links to that post is even more important.
You can create one link but when others pick that link up and add it to their own favorite’s lists more links are created for search engine spiders to count.
You probably already knew those things but did you know that the duration of visits to your site is also considered? Most visits to websites last thirty seconds or less. You can even actually see this statistic in the web-stats for your blog or website.
Search engine spiders like for visitors to websites to stay longer than thirty seconds and you like that, as well. The fact is the longer a visitor stays on your website, the better the chance is that he will make a purchase.
That begs the question, ‘how do I get them to stay longer than thirty seconds?’ The answer to that one is audio/video/podcasts. It is a very simple calculation.
If a visitor is watching a video that lasts for say two minutes, how long will they stay on your site? Two minutes! Videos and podcasts are mesmerizing.
When a visitor begins to watch either, they will stay awhile. Search engine spiders love that and the longer they stay, the longer they are exposed to your advertisements for products and services that you sell. The longer they see the advertisements, the more likely they are to make a purchase.
Now you should be aware of the fact that search engine spiders cannot ‘read’ audio and video content.
That is audio/video is not going to aid you in search engine optimization but it will help with the length of the visits made to your website.
The fact that search engine spiders can’t ‘read’ audio and video content also eliminates the duplicate content problem.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that a successful business must make sales and a profit and in order to make sales and profit it is essential that there are customers.
Getting website traffic is exactly what all the fuss is about when marketers are discussing SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
The higher a site ranks in the search results that search engines provide to those using key words to find products and services, the more visitors will visit. More visitors = more sales = more profits. It is just as simple as that.
Blogs have proven themselves to be very, very useful tools in the drive to creating more and better website traffic. People love blogs. Web 2.0 is built upon the idea of a user driven web and users want a voice.
Blogs give them that voice. It is a simple technology and it can even be found free on the internet. If you don’t have a blog site or a blog on your website, you are simply missing the SEO boat.
The popularity of blogs has, of course, increased the number of blogs on the Internet many fold over this last year or so.
With the increase in numbers of blogs online comes an increase in competition for visitors to those blogs and, of course, stiffer competition for PageRank by search engines.
So, the question, “Why do I need audio/video/podcasting on my blog?” is one that can be answered rather easily. You want visitors. You want a high PageRank. You want sales and profits. That’s why.
Successful blogs are all about content. You’ve been told a million times that, on the internet, content is king and it is true. Search engine spiders consider content as one of the factors that determine page rank and there are two parts to content that are considered.
The first is how often the content changes. This is why it is very important that posts be made to blogs every single day...multiple posts are better than one long post. Key-work density is the other content factor that is considered by search engine spiders.
Links found on the Internet to your website by search engine spiders is another factor that determines PageRank. That is the reason you should always make use of social bookmarking sites and add the links to your blog posts.
Each time you make a post the search engine spiders count it but the number of links to that post is even more important.
You can create one link but when others pick that link up and add it to their own favorite’s lists more links are created for search engine spiders to count.
You probably already knew those things but did you know that the duration of visits to your site is also considered? Most visits to websites last thirty seconds or less. You can even actually see this statistic in the web-stats for your blog or website.
Search engine spiders like for visitors to websites to stay longer than thirty seconds and you like that, as well. The fact is the longer a visitor stays on your website, the better the chance is that he will make a purchase.
That begs the question, ‘how do I get them to stay longer than thirty seconds?’ The answer to that one is audio/video/podcasts. It is a very simple calculation.
If a visitor is watching a video that lasts for say two minutes, how long will they stay on your site? Two minutes! Videos and podcasts are mesmerizing.
When a visitor begins to watch either, they will stay awhile. Search engine spiders love that and the longer they stay, the longer they are exposed to your advertisements for products and services that you sell. The longer they see the advertisements, the more likely they are to make a purchase.
Now you should be aware of the fact that search engine spiders cannot ‘read’ audio and video content.
That is audio/video is not going to aid you in search engine optimization but it will help with the length of the visits made to your website.
The fact that search engine spiders can’t ‘read’ audio and video content also eliminates the duplicate content problem.
Podcasts or Webcasts - Audio/Video/Podcasting
A podcast is a series of digital computer files, usually either digital audio or video, that is released periodically and made available for download by means of web syndication.The syndication aspect of the delivery is what differentiates podcasts from other ways of accessing files, such as simple download or streaming: it means that special client software applications known as podcatchers (such as Apple Inc.'s iTunes or Nullsoft's Winamp) can automatically identify and retrieve new files in a given series when they are made available, by accessing a centrally-maintained web feed that lists all files currently associated with that particular series. New files can thus be downloaded automatically by the podcatcher and stored locally on the user's computer or other device for offline use, making it simpler for the user to download content that is released episodically.
Like the term broadcast, podcast can refer either to the content itself or to the method by which the content is syndicated; the latter is also called podcasting. A podcaster is the person who creates the content.
The term is a portmanteau of the words "iPod" and "broadcast",[1] the Apple iPod being the brand of portable media player for which early podcasting scripts were developed (see history of podcasting), allowing podcasts to be automatically transferred from a personal computer to a mobile device after download.[2] Despite the source of the name, it has never been necessary to use an iPod, or any other form of portable media player, to use podcasts; the content can be accessed using any computer capable of playing media files.[3] As more mobile devices other than iPods became able to synchronize with podcast feeds, a backronym developed where podcast stood for "Personal On Demand broadCAST."
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Social Networking
Social networking isn’t a new phenomenon. It wasn’t invented in the twenty-first century. Every Elks Lodge, Lions Club, Chamber of Commerce, Sewing Circle, Book Club, etc. that ever existed afforded an opportunity for social networking. Some social networking groups are secretive.
They have passwords and secret signals that help one member identify another member. Others may be more open but they are aware of who is and who is not a member in good standing of the social networking group.
The members of any social networking group identify with and help other members of their group. They provide information to one another that is mutually beneficial.
They tell each other when something of interest or something of concern in happening that is interest to or a threat to their particular social network and the members collectively pursue the interest or ward off the threat.
These social networking groups can be either very close knit or very loosely organized or even have no apparent organizational structure at all. The organization is of a great deal less importance to the members than the benefits that each gains from it.
Many times social networking groups are work related.
For example: you have very likely heard of the way that law enforcement personnel stick together and ‘watch each other’s backs’ so to speak.
This social networking group is often referred to as ‘the long blue line’.
Another work related social networking group is long distance truck drivers. By using their CB radios, they stay in contact with one another and warn each other of road hazards. If one of them has a problem, others go to his or her aid.
No, social networking was not invented in the twenty-first century and it didn’t come into being with the advent of the personal computer.
It has been around probably since the beginning of time in some form or another but the advent of the personal computer certainly put a new spin on social networking. Web 2.0 has really kicked social networking up several notiches.
No longer is social networking limited to people who work at the same jobs or who live in the same communities. Social networking is now world wide and easily accessible to everyone who has access to a computer and an internet connection.
It all started with the advent of instant messaging technology but it has grown far beyond that limited ability. With instant messaging it was necessary to let others see your email address and so you lost much of your anonymity.
In today’s Web 2.0 world, social networking and complete anonymity are both possible.
The online dating sites are a very good example of this compatibility. People can register and pay for memberships on online dating sites and conduct an entire relationship for many months without either party knowing the other party’s real name, ISP email address or the name of the city in which they live.
All communication is conducted on the online dating website itself thus affording both social networking and anonymity.
There are Web 2.0 websites that are dedicated to nothing BUT social networking. One of the better known ones among the younger set is MySpace but there are at least a hundred different social networking sites on the internet and probably a lot more that that.
Web 2.0 social networking sites are divided in many different ways.
There are social networking sites that are dedicated to specific ethnicities; BlackPlanet.com is for African Americans, Babbello is for Australian teenagers, FaceBox is for European young adults, Gronco.net is for Poland, iWiW is for Hungary, Migente.com is for Latinos, Mixi is for Japan are just a few examples.
Social networking sites are also divided sometimes by interests. For example you can find such social networking sites as CarDomain for car enthusiasts, Flickr for photo sharing, Gaia for gamers, Gopets for virtual pets, Joga Bonita for football or soccer, or Last.fm for music.
These are only a very few example. There are a great many more.
Most social networking sites, however, are not dedicated to a specific group. They are general membership sites and the members themselves divide themselves into appropriate groups according to interests and compatibility.
Almost all of the social networking sites are free to join. There are just a few that have membership fees. The site owners make their money from advertisers rather than from users. A few sites are only open to those who have been invited to join by other members.
Most of these social networking sites provide you with your own blog when you join the site. You can make posts to your blog and you can invite others to post to your blog. The trick here is to also use the social bookmarking sites and upload links to your blog posts into them with the appropriate tags containing key words.
The blogs on social networking sites are in addition to and not a replacement for blogs on your own website if you are an internet marketer and the social bookmarking sites should be used to upload links to both blogs.
Social networking is easy and it is fun. It is a way that you can enhance your online business and have a lot of fun in the process. You can meet some of your very best potential customers on social networking sites. You can make friends and influence people as well.
It has long been a well established fact that more business is actually conducted in social settings than in offices.
More deals are made on golf courses than in board rooms in the real world and more sales are made through the use of social networking sites on the Internet than through all of the paid-for advertising combined.
People HATE commercials but they don’t mind hearing their friends recommend a product or service. Not only do they not mind...they even go to a lot of trouble to seek out that information.
In addition to being a great way to advertise a business social networking sites are also a great research tool and one that should never be overlooked. Rather than having to conduct a lot of expensive and time-consuming surveys for example, you can simply look through a social networking site and find out exactly what people are thinking about.
You can find out what their problems are and what measures they are taking to solve those problems. You can find out what their interests are and how they go about pursuing those interests.
By using social networking sites as research tools, you can likely get more and better information in a single hour and for free than you could get by spending hours on sending out surveys and trying to decipher the results.
One very interesting social networking site is called 43 things. That is the name of the site. On this social networking site people list their goals and then other people with similar goals discuss how to best achieve those goals.
Some goals that have been listed are ‘learn a foreign language, be a good parent, improve my memory, get in shape, lose weight, be a better gardener and the list just goes on and on.
As a research tool it would be hard to beat 43 things to find out what people are interested in and concerned about.
Web 2.0 is great! It is driven by those who actually USE the internet and not by people who are sitting behind desks at large companies and who are out of touch with the real world.
Social networking is simply a group of like-minded people exchanging information that is of mutual interest. That is all it is and all it has ever been.
It is important that when you are using social networking sites that you remember this and conduct yourself accordingly.
If you join a site and start just posting blatant advertisements, you are not going to be doing social networking.
You are simply doing advertising...which people hate. If you establish yourself as part of a group, then you are social networking and you will find that those who are members of your online social circle are the best help you can find anywhere.
Social networking is valuable in and of itself but it can be made doubly valuable by using social networking in conjunction with social bookmarking.
Join a social networking website. Find a group of people who are interested in the topic of your website but don’t start out advertising that.
Make posts to your own blog on the social networking sites as well as to the blogs of others. Add those links to your social bookmarking account. Be certain that you use the appropriate key words in those tags otherwise they are worthless.
Altogether this is an excellent marketing strategy. It is a way to market your website and your products or services and have a lot of fun at the same time. You will meet people that you really do like and even admire and respect.
Friendships are not made for the purpose of profiting from them but they usually are profitable.
They have passwords and secret signals that help one member identify another member. Others may be more open but they are aware of who is and who is not a member in good standing of the social networking group.
The members of any social networking group identify with and help other members of their group. They provide information to one another that is mutually beneficial.
They tell each other when something of interest or something of concern in happening that is interest to or a threat to their particular social network and the members collectively pursue the interest or ward off the threat.
These social networking groups can be either very close knit or very loosely organized or even have no apparent organizational structure at all. The organization is of a great deal less importance to the members than the benefits that each gains from it.
Many times social networking groups are work related.
For example: you have very likely heard of the way that law enforcement personnel stick together and ‘watch each other’s backs’ so to speak.
This social networking group is often referred to as ‘the long blue line’.
Another work related social networking group is long distance truck drivers. By using their CB radios, they stay in contact with one another and warn each other of road hazards. If one of them has a problem, others go to his or her aid.
No, social networking was not invented in the twenty-first century and it didn’t come into being with the advent of the personal computer.
It has been around probably since the beginning of time in some form or another but the advent of the personal computer certainly put a new spin on social networking. Web 2.0 has really kicked social networking up several notiches.
No longer is social networking limited to people who work at the same jobs or who live in the same communities. Social networking is now world wide and easily accessible to everyone who has access to a computer and an internet connection.
It all started with the advent of instant messaging technology but it has grown far beyond that limited ability. With instant messaging it was necessary to let others see your email address and so you lost much of your anonymity.
In today’s Web 2.0 world, social networking and complete anonymity are both possible.
The online dating sites are a very good example of this compatibility. People can register and pay for memberships on online dating sites and conduct an entire relationship for many months without either party knowing the other party’s real name, ISP email address or the name of the city in which they live.
All communication is conducted on the online dating website itself thus affording both social networking and anonymity.
There are Web 2.0 websites that are dedicated to nothing BUT social networking. One of the better known ones among the younger set is MySpace but there are at least a hundred different social networking sites on the internet and probably a lot more that that.
Web 2.0 social networking sites are divided in many different ways.
There are social networking sites that are dedicated to specific ethnicities; BlackPlanet.com is for African Americans, Babbello is for Australian teenagers, FaceBox is for European young adults, Gronco.net is for Poland, iWiW is for Hungary, Migente.com is for Latinos, Mixi is for Japan are just a few examples.
Social networking sites are also divided sometimes by interests. For example you can find such social networking sites as CarDomain for car enthusiasts, Flickr for photo sharing, Gaia for gamers, Gopets for virtual pets, Joga Bonita for football or soccer, or Last.fm for music.
These are only a very few example. There are a great many more.
Most social networking sites, however, are not dedicated to a specific group. They are general membership sites and the members themselves divide themselves into appropriate groups according to interests and compatibility.
Almost all of the social networking sites are free to join. There are just a few that have membership fees. The site owners make their money from advertisers rather than from users. A few sites are only open to those who have been invited to join by other members.
Most of these social networking sites provide you with your own blog when you join the site. You can make posts to your blog and you can invite others to post to your blog. The trick here is to also use the social bookmarking sites and upload links to your blog posts into them with the appropriate tags containing key words.
The blogs on social networking sites are in addition to and not a replacement for blogs on your own website if you are an internet marketer and the social bookmarking sites should be used to upload links to both blogs.
Social networking is easy and it is fun. It is a way that you can enhance your online business and have a lot of fun in the process. You can meet some of your very best potential customers on social networking sites. You can make friends and influence people as well.
It has long been a well established fact that more business is actually conducted in social settings than in offices.
More deals are made on golf courses than in board rooms in the real world and more sales are made through the use of social networking sites on the Internet than through all of the paid-for advertising combined.
People HATE commercials but they don’t mind hearing their friends recommend a product or service. Not only do they not mind...they even go to a lot of trouble to seek out that information.
In addition to being a great way to advertise a business social networking sites are also a great research tool and one that should never be overlooked. Rather than having to conduct a lot of expensive and time-consuming surveys for example, you can simply look through a social networking site and find out exactly what people are thinking about.
You can find out what their problems are and what measures they are taking to solve those problems. You can find out what their interests are and how they go about pursuing those interests.
By using social networking sites as research tools, you can likely get more and better information in a single hour and for free than you could get by spending hours on sending out surveys and trying to decipher the results.
One very interesting social networking site is called 43 things. That is the name of the site. On this social networking site people list their goals and then other people with similar goals discuss how to best achieve those goals.
Some goals that have been listed are ‘learn a foreign language, be a good parent, improve my memory, get in shape, lose weight, be a better gardener and the list just goes on and on.
As a research tool it would be hard to beat 43 things to find out what people are interested in and concerned about.
Web 2.0 is great! It is driven by those who actually USE the internet and not by people who are sitting behind desks at large companies and who are out of touch with the real world.
Social networking is simply a group of like-minded people exchanging information that is of mutual interest. That is all it is and all it has ever been.
It is important that when you are using social networking sites that you remember this and conduct yourself accordingly.
If you join a site and start just posting blatant advertisements, you are not going to be doing social networking.
You are simply doing advertising...which people hate. If you establish yourself as part of a group, then you are social networking and you will find that those who are members of your online social circle are the best help you can find anywhere.
Social networking is valuable in and of itself but it can be made doubly valuable by using social networking in conjunction with social bookmarking.
Join a social networking website. Find a group of people who are interested in the topic of your website but don’t start out advertising that.
Make posts to your own blog on the social networking sites as well as to the blogs of others. Add those links to your social bookmarking account. Be certain that you use the appropriate key words in those tags otherwise they are worthless.
Altogether this is an excellent marketing strategy. It is a way to market your website and your products or services and have a lot of fun at the same time. You will meet people that you really do like and even admire and respect.
Friendships are not made for the purpose of profiting from them but they usually are profitable.
What is The Bottom Line of Social Bookmarking?
The bottom line is that social bookmarking is here and it is here to stay. People are using social bookmarking sites to make social connections as well as to form communities.
From the internet marketing point of view, social bookmarking is a tool that can be used to increase search engine optimization, the number of website visitors and ultimately increase sales but there is also the possibility of the system being abused.
Like everything else...the more social bookmarking is abused, the less effective it will become.
Internet marketers are learning that they can have a lot of fun by using sites like MySpace, FacE-Book and Friendster and social bookmarking sites and make a lot of money in the process. It’s what is known as a win/win situation and one that internet marketers are flocking to in droves.
From the internet marketing point of view, social bookmarking is a tool that can be used to increase search engine optimization, the number of website visitors and ultimately increase sales but there is also the possibility of the system being abused.
Like everything else...the more social bookmarking is abused, the less effective it will become.
Internet marketers are learning that they can have a lot of fun by using sites like MySpace, FacE-Book and Friendster and social bookmarking sites and make a lot of money in the process. It’s what is known as a win/win situation and one that internet marketers are flocking to in droves.
Is There a Down Side to Social Bookmarking?
If there is an up-side, you can bet there is always a down-side for anything and everything and social bookmarking is not the exception to that rule.
The very fact that social bookmarking is user driven is one of the potential down sides of it. Users are not professionals. Users are just people and the ability to use social bookmarking sites for fun as well as for profit does not require a great deal of technical knowledge.
As a matter of fact, it requires almost none. And because users are ‘amateurs’ (for lack of a better word), key words used in tags are not consistent. The information is sometimes scattered and key words that seem logical to amateurs don’t necessarily lead to related topics.
Yet another potential down-side and one that is happening more and more frequently is that users are abusing the system. Since it is a user driven system it is more susceptible to abuse and misuse.
There are spammers out there that are bookmarking the same site multiple times.
The idea, of course, is that the more times the link appears the better the search engine spiders like it and the more apt the link is to be clicked on and the more apt it is that the site will be visited.
More visitors always equal more sales of products and services.
The very fact that social bookmarking is user driven is one of the potential down sides of it. Users are not professionals. Users are just people and the ability to use social bookmarking sites for fun as well as for profit does not require a great deal of technical knowledge.
As a matter of fact, it requires almost none. And because users are ‘amateurs’ (for lack of a better word), key words used in tags are not consistent. The information is sometimes scattered and key words that seem logical to amateurs don’t necessarily lead to related topics.
Yet another potential down-side and one that is happening more and more frequently is that users are abusing the system. Since it is a user driven system it is more susceptible to abuse and misuse.
There are spammers out there that are bookmarking the same site multiple times.
The idea, of course, is that the more times the link appears the better the search engine spiders like it and the more apt the link is to be clicked on and the more apt it is that the site will be visited.
More visitors always equal more sales of products and services.
Why is Social Bookmarking Important to Internet Marketing?
There are several ways in which social bookmarking is having an affect on internet marketing. It would be hard to determine just which effect is having the greatest impact.
The ability to create tags using key words which social bookmarking sites allow is very attractive to internet marketers.
It didn’t take the internet marketing community long to figure out that these links and the backlinks that are created when the links are added to other favorites lists cause search engine spiders to visit websites and that PageRank can be dramatically increased along with the number of visitors to a website.
The more visitors, as any internet marketer worth his salt knows, means more sales of products and services.
So social bookmarking sites provide free advertisement, increase the number of visitors to a website and are a great search engine optimization tool to boot.
Another asset that internet marketers quickly became aware of that social bookmarking sites provide is that they are great research tools in and of themselves.
For example: a website owner might find that a ‘sailing’ tag is also associated with a ‘boat repair’ tag. That information can open doors for business expansion.
The ability to create tags using key words which social bookmarking sites allow is very attractive to internet marketers.
It didn’t take the internet marketing community long to figure out that these links and the backlinks that are created when the links are added to other favorites lists cause search engine spiders to visit websites and that PageRank can be dramatically increased along with the number of visitors to a website.
The more visitors, as any internet marketer worth his salt knows, means more sales of products and services.
So social bookmarking sites provide free advertisement, increase the number of visitors to a website and are a great search engine optimization tool to boot.
Another asset that internet marketers quickly became aware of that social bookmarking sites provide is that they are great research tools in and of themselves.
For example: a website owner might find that a ‘sailing’ tag is also associated with a ‘boat repair’ tag. That information can open doors for business expansion.
How is Social Bookmarking Affecting Education?
Teaching and learning are the two components of education. The objective of transferring information and knowledge from one person to another person or a group of persons is being greatly affected by social bookmarking.
The exchange of information and the coming together of like-minded individuals into loosely knitted online communities are both impacting education as a whole.
For so many centuries education suffered from slow communication. Today the internet itself has greatly speeded up communication and social bookmarking has doubled that speed in the last few years.
Social bookmarking has created a method whereby bibliographies, papers, etc. can be easily and quickly shared and accessed by multiple people at the same time. These same resources can be altered or edited in real time.
The exchange of information and the coming together of like-minded individuals into loosely knitted online communities are both impacting education as a whole.
For so many centuries education suffered from slow communication. Today the internet itself has greatly speeded up communication and social bookmarking has doubled that speed in the last few years.
Social bookmarking has created a method whereby bibliographies, papers, etc. can be easily and quickly shared and accessed by multiple people at the same time. These same resources can be altered or edited in real time.
How will Social Bookmarking Impact the Web?
Actually, it is pretty clear right now that social bookmarking is having a huge impact on the way that information is being classified, categorized, stored and exchanged.
It is impossible to believe that in the future the impact will be even stronger. Web 1.0 was static but Web 2.0 is fluid. The face is ever changing.
The technology that social bookmarking is based upon is really rather simple...there isn’t anything complex about it. It is user friendly. The level of knowledge needed to gain huge benefits from social bookmarking is low.
People do not have to be computer gurus to make use of the technology at all. The technology is so simple and the system is so easy to use that it will continue to grow in popularity into the foreseeable future.
Because of this inevitable growth of social bookmarking and the easily used tagging of such things as multimedia files, it may well be just as inevitable that the design and function of databases themselves will also change drastically.
They may have to change just to be able to accommodate this new way of managing information.
It is impossible to believe that in the future the impact will be even stronger. Web 1.0 was static but Web 2.0 is fluid. The face is ever changing.
The technology that social bookmarking is based upon is really rather simple...there isn’t anything complex about it. It is user friendly. The level of knowledge needed to gain huge benefits from social bookmarking is low.
People do not have to be computer gurus to make use of the technology at all. The technology is so simple and the system is so easy to use that it will continue to grow in popularity into the foreseeable future.
Because of this inevitable growth of social bookmarking and the easily used tagging of such things as multimedia files, it may well be just as inevitable that the design and function of databases themselves will also change drastically.
They may have to change just to be able to accommodate this new way of managing information.
How Does Social Bookmarking Work?
The basic concept of Web 2.0 is that it is user-directed and social bookmarking is a part of Web 2.0 so it is, of course, user directed. Social bookmarking is a way of organizing and categorizing information with the use of ‘tags’.
Tags are user generated and are based upon key words that identify the bookmark so this is a true user-directed way that information is organized and categorized.
When a bookmarked site is clicked on, the social bookmarking site identifies the person who created the bookmark and provides access to other sites that the same user has bookmarked.
Now, the person who created the bookmark and the tag is also provided information about how many times the link has been clicked on as well as who clicked on it.
This system makes it very easy for like-minded people to make social connections and to identify others who have the same interests. Over time a community of users develops.
As a community of users develops, they sometimes develop a very unique set of key words that define resources of common interest. These unique sets of keywords have come to be referred to as ‘folksonomy’.
Wikipedia defines the term, folksonomy as: “Folksonomy is a neologism for a practice of collaborative categorization using freely chosen keywords. More colloquially, this refers to a group of people cooperating spontaneously to organize information into categories.
In contrast to formal classification methods, this phenomenon typically only arises in non-hierarchical communities, such as public websites, as opposed to multi-level teams.”
Tags are user generated and are based upon key words that identify the bookmark so this is a true user-directed way that information is organized and categorized.
When a bookmarked site is clicked on, the social bookmarking site identifies the person who created the bookmark and provides access to other sites that the same user has bookmarked.
Now, the person who created the bookmark and the tag is also provided information about how many times the link has been clicked on as well as who clicked on it.
This system makes it very easy for like-minded people to make social connections and to identify others who have the same interests. Over time a community of users develops.
As a community of users develops, they sometimes develop a very unique set of key words that define resources of common interest. These unique sets of keywords have come to be referred to as ‘folksonomy’.
Wikipedia defines the term, folksonomy as: “Folksonomy is a neologism for a practice of collaborative categorization using freely chosen keywords. More colloquially, this refers to a group of people cooperating spontaneously to organize information into categories.
In contrast to formal classification methods, this phenomenon typically only arises in non-hierarchical communities, such as public websites, as opposed to multi-level teams.”
Who is Using Social Bookmarking?
In a word....everybody! Researchers have found social bookmarking sites to be an invaluable tool as they conduct research and find the need to share information about research with their colleagues.
Professionals like doctors, lawyers and engineers are using social bookmarking services in record numbers.
But social bookmarking is far more than simply a tool for research. People from all walks of like are using social bookmarking.
Users of popular websites like Friendster, FacE-Book and MySpace have found that it is very easy to share information about websites that they find to be of mutual interest.
Networks of friends can be set up so that whenever a new posting is made to a social networking site other members of the network are notified immediately by RSS feed.
With all of this instant communication happening, you can see why those who are involved in Internet marketing are very much in touch with social bookmarking sites.
These innovative marketers join such sites as Friendster, FacE-Book or MySpace and while they are having a lot of fun, they are also selling their products and services.
They are getting visitors to their websites. They are improving their PageRank. They have found that social bookmarking is one of the very best search engine optimization tools that have come along in a very long time.
Professionals like doctors, lawyers and engineers are using social bookmarking services in record numbers.
But social bookmarking is far more than simply a tool for research. People from all walks of like are using social bookmarking.
Users of popular websites like Friendster, FacE-Book and MySpace have found that it is very easy to share information about websites that they find to be of mutual interest.
Networks of friends can be set up so that whenever a new posting is made to a social networking site other members of the network are notified immediately by RSS feed.
With all of this instant communication happening, you can see why those who are involved in Internet marketing are very much in touch with social bookmarking sites.
These innovative marketers join such sites as Friendster, FacE-Book or MySpace and while they are having a lot of fun, they are also selling their products and services.
They are getting visitors to their websites. They are improving their PageRank. They have found that social bookmarking is one of the very best search engine optimization tools that have come along in a very long time.
Social Bookmarking
According to Wikipedia, social bookmarking is defined as: “Social bookmarking is an activity performed over a computer network that allows users to save and categorize a personal collection of bookmarks and share them with others.
Users may also take bookmarks saved by others and add them to their own collection, as well as to subscribe to the lists of others - a personal knowledge management tool.”
Actually, the idea was first launched back in 1996 as ‘itlist’. Other similar sites quickly followed but that all went belly-up with the dot-com bubble bust in 2001. The idea is new again now with the advent of Web 2.0 and this time around it is thriving.
Users may also take bookmarks saved by others and add them to their own collection, as well as to subscribe to the lists of others - a personal knowledge management tool.”
Actually, the idea was first launched back in 1996 as ‘itlist’. Other similar sites quickly followed but that all went belly-up with the dot-com bubble bust in 2001. The idea is new again now with the advent of Web 2.0 and this time around it is thriving.
Blogging
Blogging is hot right now. It might even be called a buzz word. But it is also the wave of the future for Internet marketing. ‘Blog’ is a term that is actually a combination of two common words.
Those two common words are ‘web’ and ‘log’. They have been combined into the term ‘blog’ which is short for web log.
Blogging is the result of the use of the new technology that collectively makes what is known today and Web 2.0. You will see the term “Web 2.0 websites” used frequently but what exactly does that term mean?
Back in the murky, dusty past of the Internet (a few years ago) in 2001, there was a happening that is now referred to as the dot com bust. People who had a great deal of technical know-how built websites, promoted them and made millions on speculative ideas that were not founded in reality.
The internet was a one-way street. Those who had the technical know-how to build websites posted what they wanted their readers to know and nothing more. The Internet was a relatively new thing and people bought into this one-way communication but only for a short few years.
Fortunes were made and lost overnight. There are those who blame the dot com bust on nothing more than technological break through....and it could be that they are right.
As technological advances started making building websites easier and easier, more and more people built websites and jumped on the Internet marketing bandwagon.
They began sending out millions and millions of unsolicited marketing emails daily. These emails were known as SPAM.
SPAM got so bad that the Congress of the United States actually passed the CAN SPAM act in late 2001 and it became the law of the land in early 2002. This was actually the final puncture to the already deflating Internet bubble that let the rest of the air out.
Internet marketers were required to get permission from recipients before they could send out marketing emails and many of the companies couldn’t survive the blow. Those who did began building opt-in lists.
Opt-in lists are a big part (maybe the biggest part) of all successful Internet marketing operations that are alive and well today and that need for an opt-in list is not ever going to go away but it has been supplemented.
It has been supplemented by blogs. Now Internet marketers who have blogs can give potential opt-in list members the one thing they all want...a voice.
Blogs are now discussed in the same breath and given equal weight among successful Internet marketers as opt-in lists.
You can, of course, have one without the other but it is of far greater advantage to have both and a blog is one of the best ways available to build a long and impressive opt-in list.
People have been keeping journals of course for centuries but the Internet version of journal keeping that we call blogging is far different. Rather than it being just the details of a personal life or the musings of a single person, blogging is more a source of shared information today.
Blogs are dedicated to specific topics. These topics are as varied as the people who have blogs. Let’s make up a fictional blog website and see how it works.
The owner of this travel blog might post the details of trips that they have taken, invite questions but those planning on making similar trips, and provide information about products and services for which they are affiliate marketers.
We all know that website traffic is one of the keys that unlocks successful Internet marketing. The secret of creating an astounding amount of traffic to a blog website is social bookmarking.
There are many social bookmarking sites on the Internet. These sites allow users to upload their favorites to lists where others can click on the links in those lists. Users are able to categorize their lists and create tags for each link within their lists.
Each time another user clicks on a link in a user’s list a back link is created. As the back links multiply, indexing is accelerated.
Many of those who have created very successful (and profitable) blogs make use of such Web 2.0 advancements as RSS feeds, podcasts and webcasts to enhance and promote their blog websites.
Blog software is often part of web services but it can also be purchased separately at very low rates.
When a blog is created by a user there are many choices that must be made. The first and most obvious choice is the topic of the blog. For those who plan to monetize their blog, the choice of topic is a very critical one.
If a user is already an active Internet marketer in a particular niche market, then the choice is easy but if a user is only just beginning in Internet marketing, the choice of a topic can be a lot more difficult.
Research is necessary. It is important to choose a market that is viable. There simply will not be much money made from a topic like under water basket weaving.
One of the better ways to research and find a viable topic is by visiting other blog sites and forum sites on the Internet.
You might consider going to one of the social bookmarking sites like Delicious to find out what others are concerned about or topics for which they are seeking information.
Once a topic has been selected the next step is to actually build a blog. There are many web hosting companies out there and many of them offer blogging capabilities.
There are even web hosting companies who specialize in blogging websites. One of the better known ones is Word Press but there are a great many others out there.
There was a time when only gurus could build websites. It was necessary to be proficient in the use of HTML among many other things but that is simply no longer the case.
Web 2.0 technology now allows even novices who have never even thought of building their own website to do exactly that and to do it very quickly and very efficiently.
There are, of course, some things that one needs to know but these are things that are very easily learned and there are even blog websites that teach you how to build a blog website.
Once a blog website is up and running, then it is important to get the search engine spiders to visit the site so that it can become indexed and appear in searches made on search engine sites. This is the place where social bookmarking comes into play.
There is software out there that makes it very, very easy to list your site with many social bookmarking sites all at the same time. It can be done quickly and easily.
Owners of blog sites have learned to help each other in a sense. They can ping one another’s sites and create back links for both sites that are picked up by the search engine spiders.
Web 2.0 websites are user driven unlike the old Web 1.0 sites. The owner of the blog does have control of content but he also allows visitors to his blog website to add content and some even allow content to be edited by users.
Where Web 1.0 websites were constructed so that information and ideas flowed only one way (from the website to the visitor), Web 2.0 websites allow for information to flow two ways.
Many even brand new blog website builders use RSS feeds, podcasts and webcasts to enhance their blog websites. Of course people still read but people also like to get information via audio and video.
Bloggers don’t even have to record their own audio and video products. There are websites out there which will supply audio and video products...some of these are even free of charge.
The old idea that a blog is simply a web log or a journal are a little behind the curve. Blogs today are far more than that. Today’s blogs are rich with information that is constantly changing.
You can find very active blogs that discuss controversial topics like politics and religion and you can also find blogs that are dedicated to nothing but pure pleasure like travel, fishing, hunting, gold, sewing, needlecrafts, boating, etc.
There are blogs that are devoted to business concerns. There are blogs about blogs. It would not be likely that you could think of a topic that holds any interest for human beings in general and not be able to find more than a few blogs that are currently discussing them.
Yes, blogging is a buzz word and it is a ‘hot’ topic of today but it is also the wave of the future where Internet marketing is concerned.
Find a topic that you are interested in...even passionate about....and go out there and start your very own blog. If you construct the site well and if you pursue social bookmarking, you can begin to create your own online empire.
Those two common words are ‘web’ and ‘log’. They have been combined into the term ‘blog’ which is short for web log.
Blogging is the result of the use of the new technology that collectively makes what is known today and Web 2.0. You will see the term “Web 2.0 websites” used frequently but what exactly does that term mean?
Back in the murky, dusty past of the Internet (a few years ago) in 2001, there was a happening that is now referred to as the dot com bust. People who had a great deal of technical know-how built websites, promoted them and made millions on speculative ideas that were not founded in reality.
The internet was a one-way street. Those who had the technical know-how to build websites posted what they wanted their readers to know and nothing more. The Internet was a relatively new thing and people bought into this one-way communication but only for a short few years.
Fortunes were made and lost overnight. There are those who blame the dot com bust on nothing more than technological break through....and it could be that they are right.
As technological advances started making building websites easier and easier, more and more people built websites and jumped on the Internet marketing bandwagon.
They began sending out millions and millions of unsolicited marketing emails daily. These emails were known as SPAM.
SPAM got so bad that the Congress of the United States actually passed the CAN SPAM act in late 2001 and it became the law of the land in early 2002. This was actually the final puncture to the already deflating Internet bubble that let the rest of the air out.
Internet marketers were required to get permission from recipients before they could send out marketing emails and many of the companies couldn’t survive the blow. Those who did began building opt-in lists.
Opt-in lists are a big part (maybe the biggest part) of all successful Internet marketing operations that are alive and well today and that need for an opt-in list is not ever going to go away but it has been supplemented.
It has been supplemented by blogs. Now Internet marketers who have blogs can give potential opt-in list members the one thing they all want...a voice.
Blogs are now discussed in the same breath and given equal weight among successful Internet marketers as opt-in lists.
You can, of course, have one without the other but it is of far greater advantage to have both and a blog is one of the best ways available to build a long and impressive opt-in list.
People have been keeping journals of course for centuries but the Internet version of journal keeping that we call blogging is far different. Rather than it being just the details of a personal life or the musings of a single person, blogging is more a source of shared information today.
Blogs are dedicated to specific topics. These topics are as varied as the people who have blogs. Let’s make up a fictional blog website and see how it works.
The owner of this travel blog might post the details of trips that they have taken, invite questions but those planning on making similar trips, and provide information about products and services for which they are affiliate marketers.
We all know that website traffic is one of the keys that unlocks successful Internet marketing. The secret of creating an astounding amount of traffic to a blog website is social bookmarking.
There are many social bookmarking sites on the Internet. These sites allow users to upload their favorites to lists where others can click on the links in those lists. Users are able to categorize their lists and create tags for each link within their lists.
Each time another user clicks on a link in a user’s list a back link is created. As the back links multiply, indexing is accelerated.
Many of those who have created very successful (and profitable) blogs make use of such Web 2.0 advancements as RSS feeds, podcasts and webcasts to enhance and promote their blog websites.
Blog software is often part of web services but it can also be purchased separately at very low rates.
When a blog is created by a user there are many choices that must be made. The first and most obvious choice is the topic of the blog. For those who plan to monetize their blog, the choice of topic is a very critical one.
If a user is already an active Internet marketer in a particular niche market, then the choice is easy but if a user is only just beginning in Internet marketing, the choice of a topic can be a lot more difficult.
Research is necessary. It is important to choose a market that is viable. There simply will not be much money made from a topic like under water basket weaving.
One of the better ways to research and find a viable topic is by visiting other blog sites and forum sites on the Internet.
You might consider going to one of the social bookmarking sites like Delicious to find out what others are concerned about or topics for which they are seeking information.
Once a topic has been selected the next step is to actually build a blog. There are many web hosting companies out there and many of them offer blogging capabilities.
There are even web hosting companies who specialize in blogging websites. One of the better known ones is Word Press but there are a great many others out there.
There was a time when only gurus could build websites. It was necessary to be proficient in the use of HTML among many other things but that is simply no longer the case.
Web 2.0 technology now allows even novices who have never even thought of building their own website to do exactly that and to do it very quickly and very efficiently.
There are, of course, some things that one needs to know but these are things that are very easily learned and there are even blog websites that teach you how to build a blog website.
Once a blog website is up and running, then it is important to get the search engine spiders to visit the site so that it can become indexed and appear in searches made on search engine sites. This is the place where social bookmarking comes into play.
There is software out there that makes it very, very easy to list your site with many social bookmarking sites all at the same time. It can be done quickly and easily.
Owners of blog sites have learned to help each other in a sense. They can ping one another’s sites and create back links for both sites that are picked up by the search engine spiders.
Web 2.0 websites are user driven unlike the old Web 1.0 sites. The owner of the blog does have control of content but he also allows visitors to his blog website to add content and some even allow content to be edited by users.
Where Web 1.0 websites were constructed so that information and ideas flowed only one way (from the website to the visitor), Web 2.0 websites allow for information to flow two ways.
Many even brand new blog website builders use RSS feeds, podcasts and webcasts to enhance their blog websites. Of course people still read but people also like to get information via audio and video.
Bloggers don’t even have to record their own audio and video products. There are websites out there which will supply audio and video products...some of these are even free of charge.
The old idea that a blog is simply a web log or a journal are a little behind the curve. Blogs today are far more than that. Today’s blogs are rich with information that is constantly changing.
You can find very active blogs that discuss controversial topics like politics and religion and you can also find blogs that are dedicated to nothing but pure pleasure like travel, fishing, hunting, gold, sewing, needlecrafts, boating, etc.
There are blogs that are devoted to business concerns. There are blogs about blogs. It would not be likely that you could think of a topic that holds any interest for human beings in general and not be able to find more than a few blogs that are currently discussing them.
Yes, blogging is a buzz word and it is a ‘hot’ topic of today but it is also the wave of the future where Internet marketing is concerned.
Find a topic that you are interested in...even passionate about....and go out there and start your very own blog. If you construct the site well and if you pursue social bookmarking, you can begin to create your own online empire.
Profiting From Web 2.0 Sites
Web 2.0 Sites Exposed!
You witnessed, were a victim of or have at least heard about the bursting of the dot com bubble in the fall of 2001. Fortunes that had been made overnight were lost overnight.
The sky was falling. It was a very scary time for a lot of people. Some said that the World Wide Web was just a flash-in-the-pan idea that had been over-hyped and that the crash was irrefutable proof of that fact.
There were, however, some survivors of the 2001 dot com bust. The survivors had a few important commonalities and there were those who insisted that the World Wide Web was more important than ever and had a very bright future indeed.
One of those who saw the results of the 2001 dot com bust as a ‘glass half full’ rather than a ‘glass half empty’ was a man by the name of Tim O’Reilly. O’Reilly (of O’Reilly Media) met with Dale Dougherty of Media Live International in 2004. Out of that meeting the term ‘Web 2.0’ was born.
The definition that Tim O’Reilly gives for Web 2.0 is: "Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform.
Chief among those rules is this: Build applications that harness network effects to get better the more people use them."
Web 2.0 can be viewed as an upgrade to the World Wide Web. It is still the web but it is a new and improved version of the web.
New technologies such as blogs, social bookmarking, wikis, podcasts and RSS feeds are just a few of the technologies that are helping to shape and direct Web 2.0.
The Web before the dot com crash is often referred to as Web 1.0 now but only since the coining of the term Web 2.0.
Some of the more obvious difference between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 are: DoubleClick replaced by Google AdSense, Britannica Online replaced by Wikipedia, Personal Web Pages replaced by Blogs, Content Management Systems replaced by Wikis and Directories replaced by Tagging.
These are only a very few of the differences between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 but they are major ones.
You will notice, if you look carefully that the commonality of many of the differences between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 is that Web 1.0 was driven and controlled by the ‘powers-that-be’ and Web 2.0 is driven by users.
That is a huge difference and the one that is making Web 2.0 more and more user friendly not to mention more and more profitable for just average people. You might even call it a power shift of seismic proportions.
Once the websites that could be accessed on the Internet were built and controlled by only a few and were certainly not ‘interactive’ but today anybody with an idea, a few dollars and just a little know-how can build a Web 2.0 website that is completely interactive and turn it into a money-making enterprise if they choose to.
The technology is there. It is easy to use. It is accessible and it is relatively cheap....some of it is even free.
Many websites that started out as static websites are now adding features like blogs and forums and propelling themselves into the future of Internet commerce. Those websites who continue be ‘old hat’ are falling further and further behind.
Just regular people now expect to be able to ask questions and get answers from websites and they expect websites to be at least somewhat interactive. The Internet has always been and still is a platform for information but with Web 2.0 is has also become a platform for participation.
Let’s look at just a few of the innovations of Web 2.0 and how these innovations have changed the way that all of use the World Wide Web:
Blogs: Blog is a term that is derived from the blending of the two words ‘web’ and ‘log’....Blog. Fairly early in the history of the World Wide Web people could build personal web pages. It is true that not many people did build personal webpages but it was, nonetheless, possible.
Still, these personal webpages were static websites. The owner of the website could post information about himself or his interests but others could only read the information that the owner of the website posted.
He could keep an online journal that he could allow others to read but it was ‘read only’.
Then along came technology. Blogging software was developed. Now those who had personal websites could not only post about themselves, but they could allow their visitors to comment on what had been posted or ask questions. It was a huge advancement.
Because of that technology, today blogging is very big business.
People visit and post to blogs all over the Internet about any and every subject that they are interested in and the owners of these blogs have figured out that they can make their blogs very, very profitable indeed.
Social Bookmarking: Social bookmarking is more or less a by-product of blogging but it is based on the same basic technology.
Social bookmarking sites such as Delicious, allow their users to upload their own favorite site bookmarks so that everybody else in the world can see and use those bookmarks.
When a user uploads his favorite site bookmarks into his online account, a backlink is created to that site. When enough people click on the link, the site that has been book marked gets indexed and gains a rank by search engines.
It is a form of user driven advertisements that is far more successful than any kind of paid-for advertising can ever be.
There are a great many social bookmarking sites on the Internet now and new software is being developed all the time that makes these sites more and more productive as advertising tools and traffic driving tools.
Wiki: A short definition of Wiki is “Wiki is a piece of server software that allows users to freely create and edit Web page content using any Web browser. Wiki supports hyperlinks and has a simple text syntax for creating new pages and crosslinks between internal pages on the fly.”
In short Wiki technology allows editing of material posted on a website by the poster or by others.
The best example of Wiki technology is action on the Internet is Wikipedia. In the old Web 1.0 way to doing things the owner of a website had full control over all material that was posted to the website and only website owners could edit material posted on the website.
With the advent of Web 2.0 that idea has gone the way of the horse and buggy.
RSS Feed: The acronym RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and is yet another Web 2.0 feature that allows the web to be driven by people rather than by the powers-that-be. Those who use RSS content use reader or aggregator technology. Users subscribe to these feeds.
The reader or aggregator then checks the user’s website and when the site has new content, it is picked up and sent to the user. That is a rather simplified explanation but that is basically how it works.
A client based reader or aggregator is a stand-alone program that is attached to an existing program such as a web browser or an email reader.
A web-based reader or aggregator makes the user’s feeds available on any computer with web access.
Podcasts or Webcasts: As broadband internet connect connections and wireless networks become more and more common throughout the entire world, the podcast or webcast is gaining in popularity.
While people do still read, they are better at looking and listening to information thanks to television, hence, the advent of podcasts or webcasts.
You can find and tune into podcasts or webcasts on almost any subject imaginable today. Those who have blogs are making use of this technology to sell products and to promote their websites in record numbers.
Web 2.0 is definitely here to stay and those who are still trying to do things the old Web 1.0 way are falling behind this wave of today and of the future. Will there be changes to Web 2.0?
Well, of course, there will be. Web 2.0 is fluid and it is every changing. New technology will be developed and as it is developed people will use it. People are, after all, the driving force of Web 2.0.
And, you might ask, just who will benefit the most from Web 2.0? It will be those who embrace the new technologies as they become available and it will be us...all of us.
The internet no longer belongs to the few and the privileged. Big business has lost its edge. The Internet and Web 2.0 has leveled the playing field.
All of us (you, me and all those who have access to the Internet) can now compete and win.
You witnessed, were a victim of or have at least heard about the bursting of the dot com bubble in the fall of 2001. Fortunes that had been made overnight were lost overnight.
The sky was falling. It was a very scary time for a lot of people. Some said that the World Wide Web was just a flash-in-the-pan idea that had been over-hyped and that the crash was irrefutable proof of that fact.
There were, however, some survivors of the 2001 dot com bust. The survivors had a few important commonalities and there were those who insisted that the World Wide Web was more important than ever and had a very bright future indeed.
One of those who saw the results of the 2001 dot com bust as a ‘glass half full’ rather than a ‘glass half empty’ was a man by the name of Tim O’Reilly. O’Reilly (of O’Reilly Media) met with Dale Dougherty of Media Live International in 2004. Out of that meeting the term ‘Web 2.0’ was born.
The definition that Tim O’Reilly gives for Web 2.0 is: "Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform.
Chief among those rules is this: Build applications that harness network effects to get better the more people use them."
Web 2.0 can be viewed as an upgrade to the World Wide Web. It is still the web but it is a new and improved version of the web.
New technologies such as blogs, social bookmarking, wikis, podcasts and RSS feeds are just a few of the technologies that are helping to shape and direct Web 2.0.
The Web before the dot com crash is often referred to as Web 1.0 now but only since the coining of the term Web 2.0.
Some of the more obvious difference between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 are: DoubleClick replaced by Google AdSense, Britannica Online replaced by Wikipedia, Personal Web Pages replaced by Blogs, Content Management Systems replaced by Wikis and Directories replaced by Tagging.
These are only a very few of the differences between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 but they are major ones.
You will notice, if you look carefully that the commonality of many of the differences between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 is that Web 1.0 was driven and controlled by the ‘powers-that-be’ and Web 2.0 is driven by users.
That is a huge difference and the one that is making Web 2.0 more and more user friendly not to mention more and more profitable for just average people. You might even call it a power shift of seismic proportions.
Once the websites that could be accessed on the Internet were built and controlled by only a few and were certainly not ‘interactive’ but today anybody with an idea, a few dollars and just a little know-how can build a Web 2.0 website that is completely interactive and turn it into a money-making enterprise if they choose to.
The technology is there. It is easy to use. It is accessible and it is relatively cheap....some of it is even free.
Many websites that started out as static websites are now adding features like blogs and forums and propelling themselves into the future of Internet commerce. Those websites who continue be ‘old hat’ are falling further and further behind.
Just regular people now expect to be able to ask questions and get answers from websites and they expect websites to be at least somewhat interactive. The Internet has always been and still is a platform for information but with Web 2.0 is has also become a platform for participation.
Let’s look at just a few of the innovations of Web 2.0 and how these innovations have changed the way that all of use the World Wide Web:
Blogs: Blog is a term that is derived from the blending of the two words ‘web’ and ‘log’....Blog. Fairly early in the history of the World Wide Web people could build personal web pages. It is true that not many people did build personal webpages but it was, nonetheless, possible.
Still, these personal webpages were static websites. The owner of the website could post information about himself or his interests but others could only read the information that the owner of the website posted.
He could keep an online journal that he could allow others to read but it was ‘read only’.
Then along came technology. Blogging software was developed. Now those who had personal websites could not only post about themselves, but they could allow their visitors to comment on what had been posted or ask questions. It was a huge advancement.
Because of that technology, today blogging is very big business.
People visit and post to blogs all over the Internet about any and every subject that they are interested in and the owners of these blogs have figured out that they can make their blogs very, very profitable indeed.
Social Bookmarking: Social bookmarking is more or less a by-product of blogging but it is based on the same basic technology.
Social bookmarking sites such as Delicious, allow their users to upload their own favorite site bookmarks so that everybody else in the world can see and use those bookmarks.
When a user uploads his favorite site bookmarks into his online account, a backlink is created to that site. When enough people click on the link, the site that has been book marked gets indexed and gains a rank by search engines.
It is a form of user driven advertisements that is far more successful than any kind of paid-for advertising can ever be.
There are a great many social bookmarking sites on the Internet now and new software is being developed all the time that makes these sites more and more productive as advertising tools and traffic driving tools.
Wiki: A short definition of Wiki is “Wiki is a piece of server software that allows users to freely create and edit Web page content using any Web browser. Wiki supports hyperlinks and has a simple text syntax for creating new pages and crosslinks between internal pages on the fly.”
In short Wiki technology allows editing of material posted on a website by the poster or by others.
The best example of Wiki technology is action on the Internet is Wikipedia. In the old Web 1.0 way to doing things the owner of a website had full control over all material that was posted to the website and only website owners could edit material posted on the website.
With the advent of Web 2.0 that idea has gone the way of the horse and buggy.
RSS Feed: The acronym RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and is yet another Web 2.0 feature that allows the web to be driven by people rather than by the powers-that-be. Those who use RSS content use reader or aggregator technology. Users subscribe to these feeds.
The reader or aggregator then checks the user’s website and when the site has new content, it is picked up and sent to the user. That is a rather simplified explanation but that is basically how it works.
A client based reader or aggregator is a stand-alone program that is attached to an existing program such as a web browser or an email reader.
A web-based reader or aggregator makes the user’s feeds available on any computer with web access.
Podcasts or Webcasts: As broadband internet connect connections and wireless networks become more and more common throughout the entire world, the podcast or webcast is gaining in popularity.
While people do still read, they are better at looking and listening to information thanks to television, hence, the advent of podcasts or webcasts.
You can find and tune into podcasts or webcasts on almost any subject imaginable today. Those who have blogs are making use of this technology to sell products and to promote their websites in record numbers.
Web 2.0 is definitely here to stay and those who are still trying to do things the old Web 1.0 way are falling behind this wave of today and of the future. Will there be changes to Web 2.0?
Well, of course, there will be. Web 2.0 is fluid and it is every changing. New technology will be developed and as it is developed people will use it. People are, after all, the driving force of Web 2.0.
And, you might ask, just who will benefit the most from Web 2.0? It will be those who embrace the new technologies as they become available and it will be us...all of us.
The internet no longer belongs to the few and the privileged. Big business has lost its edge. The Internet and Web 2.0 has leveled the playing field.
All of us (you, me and all those who have access to the Internet) can now compete and win.
Marketing Secrets - Table Of Contents
- About : A Step - By - Step
- Introduction to Article Marketing
- Basic Theory of Article Marketing
- Using Keywords to Position Your Articles
- Keyword Research
- Keyword Enriched Articles
- Grabbing Attention with Headlines
- Content of the Article
- Further Promotion
- Where to Start Submitting Articles
- Simple yet Sublime: Article Marketing
- Final Action Plan For Success
Final Action Plan For Success - Step 5
Step 5 - Double up on your keywords
By now you should have written 150 articles and submitted them to the relevant article directories. Now it’s time to track your results.
It’s really important to track your results so you know which keywords or articles are working well for you so you can increase your efforts on those.
You can login to your Clickbank account to check your tracking stats based on the different links you’ve set up in Step 3.
If after a few weeks, you find a certain product is doing really well, double up.
Like we explained before, create a second Ezinearticles.com account and write the same articles again under this different person’s account.
Also go and look for other keywords you can write articles on.
Milk it for all it's worth.
Do all of this for 4 weeks straight and if you are not seeing $100 or more a day in your Clickbank account, we will be surprised. This system WILL work if you try it. It is not another “tactic”, it is THE magic key you have been looking for, a way to be lazy and make money. Who doesn’t want to live life like that?
All the best!
By now you should have written 150 articles and submitted them to the relevant article directories. Now it’s time to track your results.
It’s really important to track your results so you know which keywords or articles are working well for you so you can increase your efforts on those.
You can login to your Clickbank account to check your tracking stats based on the different links you’ve set up in Step 3.
If after a few weeks, you find a certain product is doing really well, double up.
Like we explained before, create a second Ezinearticles.com account and write the same articles again under this different person’s account.
Also go and look for other keywords you can write articles on.
Milk it for all it's worth.
Do all of this for 4 weeks straight and if you are not seeing $100 or more a day in your Clickbank account, we will be surprised. This system WILL work if you try it. It is not another “tactic”, it is THE magic key you have been looking for, a way to be lazy and make money. Who doesn’t want to live life like that?
All the best!
Final Action Plan For Success - Step 4
Step 4 - Create your landing pages and submit your articles
Ezinearticles.com will no doubt in the future change the rules for what is acceptable as the landing page people click on in your article byline.
In the future Ezinearticles.com will probably not allow you to redirect their readers straight to a signup form for an opt-in email list. They probably won't even let you send readers straight to a sales letter or affiliate page via redirect.
So, you will have to let the reader get directed to a page on your website.
But instead of just having one page site, visitors can click on and either sign up to your free opt-in list or click straight over to the affiliate website. And on the side of the page in the navigation area, you would put links to other articles you've written.
This is likely where you will make your most money, but getting people to opt-in to a list is equally important, because you can always market your product to them later through your own email promotions.
To build a mailing list, you need an autoresponder account. And the only one we recommend is Aweber. It is the most reliable autoresponder service and ensures your emails gets delivered to your subscribers. You can check out their 30 days trial here.
When a reader can see that there is more content to read on the topic, they will read those articles as well and get even more excited about the product you are promoting.
If you do a good job of writing articles, they will believe you have quality content to offer, and they are more likely to trust whatever products you have to recommend to them.
This is pre-selling at its best. Many people really hate giving away their email address straight away just to get more information, so give it to them free repeatedly, and they will eventually WANT to give you their email address.
There is already too much junk mail out there, so more and more people want something tangible immediately. They do not want you to bombard them with crap, so just don’t do it. Do as I say and make money the right way.
Once you have created your landing page, submit your articles MANUALLY to Ezinearticles.com and Goarticles.com. Those are the only article directories we use.
Ezinearticles.com will no doubt in the future change the rules for what is acceptable as the landing page people click on in your article byline.
In the future Ezinearticles.com will probably not allow you to redirect their readers straight to a signup form for an opt-in email list. They probably won't even let you send readers straight to a sales letter or affiliate page via redirect.
So, you will have to let the reader get directed to a page on your website.
But instead of just having one page site, visitors can click on and either sign up to your free opt-in list or click straight over to the affiliate website. And on the side of the page in the navigation area, you would put links to other articles you've written.
This is likely where you will make your most money, but getting people to opt-in to a list is equally important, because you can always market your product to them later through your own email promotions.
To build a mailing list, you need an autoresponder account. And the only one we recommend is Aweber. It is the most reliable autoresponder service and ensures your emails gets delivered to your subscribers. You can check out their 30 days trial here.
When a reader can see that there is more content to read on the topic, they will read those articles as well and get even more excited about the product you are promoting.
If you do a good job of writing articles, they will believe you have quality content to offer, and they are more likely to trust whatever products you have to recommend to them.
This is pre-selling at its best. Many people really hate giving away their email address straight away just to get more information, so give it to them free repeatedly, and they will eventually WANT to give you their email address.
There is already too much junk mail out there, so more and more people want something tangible immediately. They do not want you to bombard them with crap, so just don’t do it. Do as I say and make money the right way.
Once you have created your landing page, submit your articles MANUALLY to Ezinearticles.com and Goarticles.com. Those are the only article directories we use.
Final Action Plan For Success - Step 3
Step 3 - Write the articles for your keywords
Now is the time to write your articles. You know you have a great product; you know it will convert, so there is nothing stopping you from making great money except your willingness to write a LOT of articles - Great articles.
We've given you many tips above to make this easier and more profitable for you.
If you wanted to outsource the article writing you could do that as well.
There are places that write articles for as little as $5 or even lower.
If you go to http://forums.digitalpoint.com and sign up to that forum, and go to the services for sale section, you will find many, many people offering article writing services for as little as 2 or 3 dollars a pop.
If you do decide to hire people to write articles for you, here is a tip.
Never pay upfront. Pay after the articles are completed.
Now is the time to write your articles. You know you have a great product; you know it will convert, so there is nothing stopping you from making great money except your willingness to write a LOT of articles - Great articles.
We've given you many tips above to make this easier and more profitable for you.
If you wanted to outsource the article writing you could do that as well.
There are places that write articles for as little as $5 or even lower.
If you go to http://forums.digitalpoint.com and sign up to that forum, and go to the services for sale section, you will find many, many people offering article writing services for as little as 2 or 3 dollars a pop.
If you do decide to hire people to write articles for you, here is a tip.
Never pay upfront. Pay after the articles are completed.
Final Action Plan For Success - Step 2
Step 2 - Find at least 30 keywords for each product
This is, without a doubt, the most critical phase you’ll go through in your article marketing journey. So pay close attention to this step. Your success depends greatly on how well you perform this step.
The real goldmine is in your keyword list. So take time to correctly select the right keywords. Once you master this step, you’ll be way ahead other bum marketers.
If you wish to invest in a solid keyword research software, we recommend using Keyword Elite. It might seem a little pricey but it can really help you ALOT in your keyword research efforts.
If you want to find more keywords, even better, but start with 30 first to see if the product will be worth it. There is nothing worse then writing 50 to 100 articles to promote a product and then realize the product doesn't covert to sales.
Sometimes, this is going to happen. It is not a big deal if you have not invested a lot of time or effort in your article writing.
This is very frustrating and it is going to happen on occasion, that's life. Some products will convert better then others.
But the very minimum articles we write for a specific product is 30.
If we write 30 articles and we make very little sales, then we know not to keep going.
The great thing about article marketing is it's a perfect way to test if products are winners for free while making money. If a product is a winner, there is nothing stopping you from advertising with Google Adwords and Ezine advertising.
This is, without a doubt, the most critical phase you’ll go through in your article marketing journey. So pay close attention to this step. Your success depends greatly on how well you perform this step.
The real goldmine is in your keyword list. So take time to correctly select the right keywords. Once you master this step, you’ll be way ahead other bum marketers.
If you wish to invest in a solid keyword research software, we recommend using Keyword Elite. It might seem a little pricey but it can really help you ALOT in your keyword research efforts.
If you want to find more keywords, even better, but start with 30 first to see if the product will be worth it. There is nothing worse then writing 50 to 100 articles to promote a product and then realize the product doesn't covert to sales.
Sometimes, this is going to happen. It is not a big deal if you have not invested a lot of time or effort in your article writing.
This is very frustrating and it is going to happen on occasion, that's life. Some products will convert better then others.
But the very minimum articles we write for a specific product is 30.
If we write 30 articles and we make very little sales, then we know not to keep going.
The great thing about article marketing is it's a perfect way to test if products are winners for free while making money. If a product is a winner, there is nothing stopping you from advertising with Google Adwords and Ezine advertising.
Final Action Plan For Success - Step 1
Step 1 - Find 5 products to promote
You will need to find 5 decent products to promote that fit the criteria we talked about in the above sections. Clickbank.com is a good start to find products to promote. There are new products being added daily.
Make sure they pay you enough for your time. Don't promote a product that pays you peanuts
Another great idea for the bum marketing method, one not many bums are taking advantage of (apart from Travis) is promoting residual income affiliate programs.
In short, affiliate programs that pay you every month, like web hosting. We love residual income affiliate programs. Here is how they work. You promote a product one time. A customer buys the product. Every time they come back to buy another, you make more money. Promote a product once and are paid for as long as that customer stays a customer.
For example: If you promote an autoresponder company such as Aweber and make a sale, you will make that same amount of money every month for as long as that customer stays with that autoresponder service.
Residual income affiliate programs are the wave of the future.
If you want a list of some good affiliate programs that pay this way go to....
http://www.lifetimecommissions.com
This is a website directory full of residual income affiliate programs.
You will need to find 5 decent products to promote that fit the criteria we talked about in the above sections. Clickbank.com is a good start to find products to promote. There are new products being added daily.
Make sure they pay you enough for your time. Don't promote a product that pays you peanuts
Another great idea for the bum marketing method, one not many bums are taking advantage of (apart from Travis) is promoting residual income affiliate programs.
In short, affiliate programs that pay you every month, like web hosting. We love residual income affiliate programs. Here is how they work. You promote a product one time. A customer buys the product. Every time they come back to buy another, you make more money. Promote a product once and are paid for as long as that customer stays a customer.
For example: If you promote an autoresponder company such as Aweber and make a sale, you will make that same amount of money every month for as long as that customer stays with that autoresponder service.
Residual income affiliate programs are the wave of the future.
If you want a list of some good affiliate programs that pay this way go to....
http://www.lifetimecommissions.com
This is a website directory full of residual income affiliate programs.
Final Action Plan For Success
This is what you should be doing every week. If you want to succeed, if you want to be the top article marketer you deserve to be, the kind of person we’ve been talking about all along…
Simple yet Sublime: Article Marketing
Really, there are few techniques as effective as a well conducted article marketing campaign. Furthermore, there are also few techniques that are as easy to execute, provided you know the logic behind it – which you now do.
Put it to good use, and you’ll no doubt find that you get more and more traffic with each passing day.
Put it to good use, and you’ll no doubt find that you get more and more traffic with each passing day.
Where to Start Submitting Articles
Choosing the right place to submit your article depends on a number of factors, and there really is no substitute for actual trial and error.
To start off with though, the most popular article directory to date is still, without a doubt, EzineArticles.com. Tests have consistently shown that articles published there have a tendency to outperform those published elsewhere.
Partly, this is due to the high Page Ranking of EzineArticles.com, but it is also due to the internal links that could really help your article out once it reaches the ‘most viewed’ link bar for a given niche.
So, if you’re thinking about starting up, it would probably be best to try out EzineArticles.com first. Should that not work for you, then there are always other simple options that are.
To start off with though, the most popular article directory to date is still, without a doubt, EzineArticles.com. Tests have consistently shown that articles published there have a tendency to outperform those published elsewhere.
Partly, this is due to the high Page Ranking of EzineArticles.com, but it is also due to the internal links that could really help your article out once it reaches the ‘most viewed’ link bar for a given niche.
So, if you’re thinking about starting up, it would probably be best to try out EzineArticles.com first. Should that not work for you, then there are always other simple options that are.
Further Promotion
Once an article is written, submitted, and published, the journey is still not completely over. Assuming that you targeted some keywords as per your research, then it should be showing up somewhere on the search engine listings, but in order to get more traffic, you’re going to want to be higher up those listings.
To accomplish this, the best way is to do it in much the same fashion as you would for any webpage: Build backlinks.
Of course, you don’t want to spend too much time building backlinks to a third party website that is not your own, so it is probably a good idea to start off with the easiest method of all: Social bookmarking.
Just bookmarking your article on a couple of dozen social bookmarks alone could dramatically alter their search engine list position.
As you get higher up, the traffic to your article will no doubt increase, and in tandem with that, so will the amount of visitors that you’ll be getting through your backlink. Simple and quick, yet it could be one of the most defining parts of your article marketing campaign.
Another, lesser used technique, to build backlinks is to resubmit your published article to other article directories, with the backlink changed to point to your original article. Even on its own, this could be great, especially if you want to get even higher after you run out of websites on which to social bookmark your article.
With a built-up supply of backlinks linking to your article, you should have no problem appearing even in the top couple of results for a low-competition keyword on Google.
To accomplish this, the best way is to do it in much the same fashion as you would for any webpage: Build backlinks.
Of course, you don’t want to spend too much time building backlinks to a third party website that is not your own, so it is probably a good idea to start off with the easiest method of all: Social bookmarking.
Just bookmarking your article on a couple of dozen social bookmarks alone could dramatically alter their search engine list position.
As you get higher up, the traffic to your article will no doubt increase, and in tandem with that, so will the amount of visitors that you’ll be getting through your backlink. Simple and quick, yet it could be one of the most defining parts of your article marketing campaign.
Another, lesser used technique, to build backlinks is to resubmit your published article to other article directories, with the backlink changed to point to your original article. Even on its own, this could be great, especially if you want to get even higher after you run out of websites on which to social bookmark your article.
With a built-up supply of backlinks linking to your article, you should have no problem appearing even in the top couple of results for a low-competition keyword on Google.
Content of the Article
Primarily, there are two parts of content in an article. These are both the article body, and the resource box, and each has their own set of rules. Knowing how to craft an article properly could let you get audiences interested in the article body, and then spur them on to action in the resource box.
Article Body
Seeing as the primary point of article marketing is to steer the reader through the article so that they get to the backlink, there are a number of things that the article body must accomplish.
First and foremost, of course, it must create and maintain interest throughout, so that the reader doesn’t stop reading. Apart from that, a good article body can also act as a ‘pre-sell’ of the backlink. In other words, it could make the reader more open to the suggestions that you might make.
Bearing all that in mind, here are a few points that you should consider:
1. Relevancy
Seeing as your target traffic is mostly coming from search engines, when they type in a keyword, they probably have something specific in mind.
For long keywords, it is simple to know what they want, such as someone searching for ‘Perfomance of Honda Civic Type R’ is probably looking for just that.
On the other hand, someone typing in ‘Honda Type R’ could be looking for information about the Honda Civic Type R, or… well, anything at all. If your niche is something motoring industry, then of course, you’re going to want your article to be about the former.
While it is tough to get your article to be relevant for all the individual keywords that you’re targeting, you should definitely try to give your potential audience exactly what they want.
2. Creating Interest
Of course, if your article is exactly what someone was searching for, then your problem is solved. However, if it isn’t, then it is going to have to create the sort of interest that is going to keep a reader reading from start to finish.
Truth is, there are no hard and fast rules about creating interest, but basically, if you give a reader content that is appealing to them, they’re probably going to stick around.
In short, the article body should provide something of value, whether in terms of advice, general information, or even ‘secrets’. Otherwise, it should at least hint at any other benefits that will be obtained by reading the article.
Taking care of both these aspects as far as the article body is concerned will put you off to a great start. Still, there is one very important rule to the article body…
Important Note: Never conclude the article in its body. The article proper is only actually done after the resource box, so do not attempt to put in any type of conclusion before that.
Resource Box
As was mentioned just above, the resource box is the conclusion of the article. More importantly, it is also the place where the backlink is contained, and for this reason, some people often describe it as the most important part of the article.
Since the focal point of the resource box is getting people to actually click the backlink, it is essentially a call to action. After the reader has been guided through the bulk of the article, and presold to as much an extent as is possible regarding what your backlink has to offer, he should find a clear course of action in the resource box.
Commonly, a resource box might contain something like: “If you want more information, just visit http://www.tyresandwheels.blogspot.com.”
Although that is a call to action, it isn’t a very good one. Imagine how much better it would be if it was more like: “Get Your New Car!”
At the end of the day, the important part is that the reader be given some reason, any reason, to want to click your backlink. That should be the conclusion to your article; the logical next step of continuing through the backlink.
Following these few pointers should get you both and article body and resource box that is much more effective than the regular variety.
Article Body
Seeing as the primary point of article marketing is to steer the reader through the article so that they get to the backlink, there are a number of things that the article body must accomplish.
First and foremost, of course, it must create and maintain interest throughout, so that the reader doesn’t stop reading. Apart from that, a good article body can also act as a ‘pre-sell’ of the backlink. In other words, it could make the reader more open to the suggestions that you might make.
Bearing all that in mind, here are a few points that you should consider:
1. Relevancy
Seeing as your target traffic is mostly coming from search engines, when they type in a keyword, they probably have something specific in mind.
For long keywords, it is simple to know what they want, such as someone searching for ‘Perfomance of Honda Civic Type R’ is probably looking for just that.
On the other hand, someone typing in ‘Honda Type R’ could be looking for information about the Honda Civic Type R, or… well, anything at all. If your niche is something motoring industry, then of course, you’re going to want your article to be about the former.
While it is tough to get your article to be relevant for all the individual keywords that you’re targeting, you should definitely try to give your potential audience exactly what they want.
2. Creating Interest
Of course, if your article is exactly what someone was searching for, then your problem is solved. However, if it isn’t, then it is going to have to create the sort of interest that is going to keep a reader reading from start to finish.
Truth is, there are no hard and fast rules about creating interest, but basically, if you give a reader content that is appealing to them, they’re probably going to stick around.
In short, the article body should provide something of value, whether in terms of advice, general information, or even ‘secrets’. Otherwise, it should at least hint at any other benefits that will be obtained by reading the article.
Taking care of both these aspects as far as the article body is concerned will put you off to a great start. Still, there is one very important rule to the article body…
Important Note: Never conclude the article in its body. The article proper is only actually done after the resource box, so do not attempt to put in any type of conclusion before that.
Resource Box
As was mentioned just above, the resource box is the conclusion of the article. More importantly, it is also the place where the backlink is contained, and for this reason, some people often describe it as the most important part of the article.
Since the focal point of the resource box is getting people to actually click the backlink, it is essentially a call to action. After the reader has been guided through the bulk of the article, and presold to as much an extent as is possible regarding what your backlink has to offer, he should find a clear course of action in the resource box.
Commonly, a resource box might contain something like: “If you want more information, just visit http://www.tyresandwheels.blogspot.com.”
Although that is a call to action, it isn’t a very good one. Imagine how much better it would be if it was more like: “Get Your New Car!”
At the end of the day, the important part is that the reader be given some reason, any reason, to want to click your backlink. That should be the conclusion to your article; the logical next step of continuing through the backlink.
Following these few pointers should get you both and article body and resource box that is much more effective than the regular variety.
Grabbing Attention with Headlines
When someone searches for your article and sees it in the listing, the very first thing that they’re going to see is the title of the article, or in other words: The Headline.
For this reason, your headlines are very importance. Essentially, they’re going to ‘make or break’ your article as far as it getting views is concerned. Unfortunately, once you’ve submitted an article you don’t get to edit or tweak the headline, so you’re going to have to get it as right as possible on the very first try.
Certainly, trying to sum up the entire article that are dedicated to the subject of headlines, and how to write them well, in this small space, would be close to impossible. But, at least you can be pointed in the right direction.
Since the whole purpose of the headline is to attract attention, think of what has grabbed your attention in the past. Certain words may tend to perform better than others, but since you can’t be sure without testing… it probably isn’t the right place to experiment.
Here are some types of headlines, with examples:
Remember, all that you need to do is attract attention in your headline. It is up to the rest of your article to build interest, and make clicking the backlink more likely.
For this reason, your headlines are very importance. Essentially, they’re going to ‘make or break’ your article as far as it getting views is concerned. Unfortunately, once you’ve submitted an article you don’t get to edit or tweak the headline, so you’re going to have to get it as right as possible on the very first try.
Certainly, trying to sum up the entire article that are dedicated to the subject of headlines, and how to write them well, in this small space, would be close to impossible. But, at least you can be pointed in the right direction.
Since the whole purpose of the headline is to attract attention, think of what has grabbed your attention in the past. Certain words may tend to perform better than others, but since you can’t be sure without testing… it probably isn’t the right place to experiment.
Here are some types of headlines, with examples:
- Lists, such as, “Top 5 Ways to Make Money With Blog.No Risk!”
- Questions, such as, “Do You Want To Learn To Make Money With Blog?”
- Commands, such as, “Start T0 Learn Make Money From Anywhere, No Risk!”
Remember, all that you need to do is attract attention in your headline. It is up to the rest of your article to build interest, and make clicking the backlink more likely.
Now, let’s take a REST!
you got a second to pray
don't think about yesterday
take a minute to rest, take a second to pray
you only got a minute to rest
don't think about yesterday
take a minute to rest, take a second to pray
you only got a minute to rest
Keyword Enriched Articles
With the keywords that you’ve acquired, you need to enrich your articles with them. Mind you, there is a difference between enriching and stuffing, and search engines are smart enough to recognize when someone is trying to fool them.
Insert keywords in such a way that they flow smoothly through the article, and follow the 1% to 3% keyword density rule closely. For each article, it is generally advisable to have one ‘short’ keyword of about 2 to 3 words, and two ‘long’ keywords of 4 or more words.
If you do all of this, your articles should be showing up for the keywords that you’re targeting, and so, all that remains is to consider the other aspects of article marketing.
Insert keywords in such a way that they flow smoothly through the article, and follow the 1% to 3% keyword density rule closely. For each article, it is generally advisable to have one ‘short’ keyword of about 2 to 3 words, and two ‘long’ keywords of 4 or more words.
If you do all of this, your articles should be showing up for the keywords that you’re targeting, and so, all that remains is to consider the other aspects of article marketing.
Keyword Research
Basic keyword research is really pretty easy, and there isn’t too much about it that even a beginner can’t come to grips with. To start off with, the keyword research tool of choice is Google Adwords Keyword Tool.
Seeing as Google is the most popular search engine around, getting data from it seems to be a logical place to begin.
When conducting keyword research, there are three considerations in particular that play an important role:
1. Number of Searches
Quite literally, this is just the number of searches per month. If a term has a high number of searches, it means lots of people are looking for it, which definitely makes it a better choice.
2. Competition
Once you have a keyword that has a decent amount of searches, plug it into Google and search for it. When you get the results, take note of how many there are. For instance, if there are 11,800,000 results, then that means a lot of people are competing for that keyword.
On the other hand, if you end up with something like 1,800 results, then there are very few competing websites.
Needless to say, with less competition, you stand a much better chance of appearing on the first page of the search results, which is really what you should be aiming for. Once you’re there, you will no doubt see a dramatic increase in your views.
3. Profitability
Not all traffic is as profitable, and sometimes, for certain keywords, the traffic that is obtained just refuses to be converted. While there are a lot of factors that can affect this, it isn’t too relevant as far as keyword research is concerned.
Instead, it is better to know just one simple test of the ‘profitability’ of a keyword.
When you perform a search for the keyword to scope out the competition, take notice as to whether or not any adverts appear. If they do, then that means someone out there feels that it is worth spending money on that keyword.
Admittedly, this isn’t a 100% accurate test, but it should suffice to give you a general idea.
By looking at these three areas of keyword research, you should end up with a list of keywords which you can use to position your articles well. Remember: The idea is to get profitable keywords that have a decent number of searches per month, and low competition.
Seeing as Google is the most popular search engine around, getting data from it seems to be a logical place to begin.
When conducting keyword research, there are three considerations in particular that play an important role:
1. Number of Searches
Quite literally, this is just the number of searches per month. If a term has a high number of searches, it means lots of people are looking for it, which definitely makes it a better choice.
2. Competition
Once you have a keyword that has a decent amount of searches, plug it into Google and search for it. When you get the results, take note of how many there are. For instance, if there are 11,800,000 results, then that means a lot of people are competing for that keyword.
On the other hand, if you end up with something like 1,800 results, then there are very few competing websites.
Needless to say, with less competition, you stand a much better chance of appearing on the first page of the search results, which is really what you should be aiming for. Once you’re there, you will no doubt see a dramatic increase in your views.
3. Profitability
Not all traffic is as profitable, and sometimes, for certain keywords, the traffic that is obtained just refuses to be converted. While there are a lot of factors that can affect this, it isn’t too relevant as far as keyword research is concerned.
Instead, it is better to know just one simple test of the ‘profitability’ of a keyword.
When you perform a search for the keyword to scope out the competition, take notice as to whether or not any adverts appear. If they do, then that means someone out there feels that it is worth spending money on that keyword.
Admittedly, this isn’t a 100% accurate test, but it should suffice to give you a general idea.
By looking at these three areas of keyword research, you should end up with a list of keywords which you can use to position your articles well. Remember: The idea is to get profitable keywords that have a decent number of searches per month, and low competition.
Using Keywords to Position Your Articles
In a nutshell, keywords are just words or phrases that people use to search for anything and everything online. Seeing as we’re getting the nomenclature out of the way, ‘keyword density’ is the amount of a certain keyword per 100 words.
Keywords are important – that can’t be stressed enough. Considering that search engines are still the primary way in which people look for anything on the internet, it means that people who are looking for things in whatever niche you’re in, are going to be doing so on search engines.
Thus, when talking about positioning your articles, it essentially means positioning them in the relevant searches, so that they’re more likely to be found by the right people.
What happens if this isn’t done? Well, say you had an article about blogging for money, but it didn’t contain any keywords that are being searched for a decent amount of times per month. In this sort of case, there would be no way that anyone would find your article, and so it would go pretty much unread and unattended.
Admittedly, for long articles there inadvertently ends up being a keyword used here or there, but for reliable results, you’re going to want at least a 1% keyword density (but not more than 3%).
First though, you’re going to have to find the keywords that you intend to use.
Keywords are important – that can’t be stressed enough. Considering that search engines are still the primary way in which people look for anything on the internet, it means that people who are looking for things in whatever niche you’re in, are going to be doing so on search engines.
Thus, when talking about positioning your articles, it essentially means positioning them in the relevant searches, so that they’re more likely to be found by the right people.
What happens if this isn’t done? Well, say you had an article about blogging for money, but it didn’t contain any keywords that are being searched for a decent amount of times per month. In this sort of case, there would be no way that anyone would find your article, and so it would go pretty much unread and unattended.
Admittedly, for long articles there inadvertently ends up being a keyword used here or there, but for reliable results, you’re going to want at least a 1% keyword density (but not more than 3%).
First though, you’re going to have to find the keywords that you intend to use.
Basic Theory of Article Marketing
“What do you think is involved in article marketing?” If you were to pose that question to a group of beginners who are just starting out, 9 out of 10 will probably say that it just involves submitting articles to article directories.
While that isn’t wrong, it is only part true.
Submitting an article to an article directory would get it on the internet. That part is what’s correct. But, it won’t mean that the article will actually get viewed, and it also won’t mean that people will click the backlink.
Basically, you could end up with 1,000 articles that each get 1 view a day since no one can find the article, and getting a total of maybe only 10 click-throughs. Which is why, the basic ‘dummies’ theory of article marketing is this:
1. Position your articles where they can be found
2. Write headlines that gain attention
3. Evoke interest in the article body
4. Call to action in the resource box
5. Get more visitors to visit your article
Chances are, unless you’ve done article marketing before, you probably didn’t understand any of that. Let’s take a look at them one by one.
While that isn’t wrong, it is only part true.
Submitting an article to an article directory would get it on the internet. That part is what’s correct. But, it won’t mean that the article will actually get viewed, and it also won’t mean that people will click the backlink.
Basically, you could end up with 1,000 articles that each get 1 view a day since no one can find the article, and getting a total of maybe only 10 click-throughs. Which is why, the basic ‘dummies’ theory of article marketing is this:
1. Position your articles where they can be found
2. Write headlines that gain attention
3. Evoke interest in the article body
4. Call to action in the resource box
5. Get more visitors to visit your article
Chances are, unless you’ve done article marketing before, you probably didn’t understand any of that. Let’s take a look at them one by one.
Introduction to Article Marketing
Admittedly, article marketing may sound like something complicated, but on a very basic level, it really isn’t. The one and only aim of article marketing is to get visitors to visit your website through the backlink of a submitted article.
Of course, in order to successfully do that, it isn’t enough to just submit tons and tons of articles and then hope that people click the backlink. True, if you went by the quantity over quality approach then you’d probably end up getting a couple of visitors here and there, but it would be more time consuming, and less effective, than going about it the smart way.
Really, the only reason that people tend to flop at article marketing is simply because they don’t think it through from the get go.
So, in order to avoid going through the same tedious rigmarole, we’re going to look at article marketing from the ground up; from the theory right down to the practice. By doing so, you should end this article with a firm grasp of what you need to go out there and do, and how you can do it.
Of course, in order to successfully do that, it isn’t enough to just submit tons and tons of articles and then hope that people click the backlink. True, if you went by the quantity over quality approach then you’d probably end up getting a couple of visitors here and there, but it would be more time consuming, and less effective, than going about it the smart way.
Really, the only reason that people tend to flop at article marketing is simply because they don’t think it through from the get go.
So, in order to avoid going through the same tedious rigmarole, we’re going to look at article marketing from the ground up; from the theory right down to the practice. By doing so, you should end this article with a firm grasp of what you need to go out there and do, and how you can do it.