1st Class Marketing

Monetizing Your Blog

2009-04-04T13:24:00.000-07:00

Everyone's trying to monetize their blog - to some extent at least. Many - in fact most - people feel as if it's not happning to them and they can't understand why.

Jack Humphrey has some really interesting theories to share in this video so listen up and benefit:

Enjoy!
Patricia
Patricia Howitt
1stClassWeb.Biz
http://patriciahowitt.com

Feed URLS

2009-03-27T12:14:00.000-07:00

Seems to me once a blog's feed has been syndicated at Feedburner, it's hard for a visitor to find the feed URL if they need it for some purpose.

I have just been grappling with the problem of getting feed URLs for feeds I'm submitting in the Worlds of Interest (Niche Worlds) at CAGORA, where I work.

I think it's a good idea where your blog is syndicated at Feedburner to list the feed url somewhere on the blog so people can easily find it - I got so frustrated a few hours ago I nearly walked away altogether from a couple of blogs I was trying to list. I just couldn't get them listed using the original feed addresses and I had no way of knowing if the blog was syndicated on Feedburner or not. I finally found the Feedburner URL by a fluke - and that's not good enough when visitors can click away from any site in a second if they don't find what they want. I'm thinking especially of newbies here.

The Feedburner feed url for this blog is
http://feeds2.feedburner.com/1stClassMarketing
and I shall be listing that URL in the sidebar shortly - AND doing the same for all my other blogs.

Feedburner's great, except for this one little drama......

Patricia Howitt
1stClassWeb.Biz
http://patriciahowitt.com

Technorati Tags:
market, marketing, business, shoestring budget, advertising, promotion, blogs, feeds, Feedburner, niches, niche worlds

Stephen Pierce - Brilliant Audio

2009-03-14T18:43:00.000-07:00

Whatever you're doing on the net, I can guarantee there are times when you wonder why you are here.

Don't become a statistic. Sometimes we all wonder if it's worth it, and let me tell you, this audio is going to give you a whole new outlook, no matter what you are into.

Stephen calls it:
"This Will Change Your Life!"
www.makerealmoneyontheinternet.com/freeaudio.html

Click now - it's an hour long recording, but I promise it will be the best hour you've spent in a long time ...

Patricia Howitt
1stClassWeb.Biz

Technorati Tags:
market, marketing, business, shoestring budget, advertising, promotion, success, motivation, mind management

404 Pages

2009-03-13T10:49:00.000-07:00

Over the years there have been quite a few suggested ways to customize 404 pages.

One of the best for blogs, using Google's Webmaster Tools, comes from Vladimir Prelovac on his Wordpress Blog.

Enjoy!

Patricia Howitt
1stClassWeb.Biz

Technorati Tags:
market, marketing, business, shoestring budget, advertising, promotion, webmaster tools, enhanced 404 page, google

More SEO Tools and Sites

2009-03-01T11:21:00.000-08:00

At the end of this article I'm going to tell you how good SEO is for YOU, so listen up!

Monetizing resources has become the name of the game, but there are still a lot of FREE tools around right now that help you in evaluating keywords and choosing the best for your purpose - even tools that help you get creative in exploring new keywords for your topic. Here are a few:

SEO Chat The Best! This is a comprehensive site with a heap of tutorials and SEO tools to help any webmaster optimize his or her site for traffic. Keep this site in your toolbox (see my post on this) because you will want to refer to it often.

SEO Book has a series of paid courses and the owners can be hired for SEO work on your site. You can sign up for a free membership and get a free 7-day SEO beginners course by email also - go for it!

Scrub The Web One of the older engines, Scrubby has always been an SEO resource. They have a comprehensive area devoted to SEO, with some free tools and help, plus a series of courses for their exclusive membership. At $ 79.95 for a 6 month membership, this HAS to be one of the best value for money SEO deals on the net. Scrubby is definitely worth taking a look at because they have extra goodies like a free Metatag Builder, a free Metatag Analyzer and an Easy Submit, to name a few.

EZ SEO News is also worth a glance, though it doesn't rank up there with the above resources and it's not at all well organised, for my money.

Firefox Among all its features, Firefox has a free extension that adds many search engine optimization data points into Google's SERPs and Yahoo!'s SERPs on the fly. You can download it HERE.

Of course, there are heaps of companies out there falling over themselves to do an SEO job on your website - for a fee. For the big guys with money to burn and not much time to spend, that might be the way to go.

My feeling is though, if you're serious about your online presence, it's a much better idea to upskill and do the job yourself. Learning this stuff is going to widen your vision about the potential of the net and how to position your business to make the best of it - and that can only be GOOD for your business!

More tomorrow.

Patricia Howitt
1stClassWeb.Biz

Technorati Tags:
market, marketing, business, shoestring budget, advertising, promotion, SEO, keywords, keyword research

SEO and Keywords Research

2009-02-28T09:20:00.000-08:00

Keywords research is a huge "key" (forgive the pun!) to Search Engine Optimization for any site, not to mention making a proper job of choosing a niche, if you're looking to create a niche site. You should start your keyword research ideally before you even decide on your domain name.

And, who knows, a bit of savvy research right at the start might lead you to one of those still untaken domain name gems of pure gold at rock-bottom prices that James Siminoff talks about in the article mentioned in my previous post.

Okay, so where do you go to do keyword research? Many of the keyword tools now cost - usually a pretty steep monthly fee. Let's have a look at what there is.

Wordtracker.com has an extensive range of keyword tools and tutorials. The monthly fee is $59. They have a basic free keyword research tool HERE, and you can sign up for a free newsletter.

Wordze.com is the cheapest of the paid tools with a current special offer at $38.98. Members get access to daily, weekly, and monthly search trends, and other features. The tool is apparently very well suited to bloggers, and has an intuitive interface. Their index page has an interesting list of the Top 10 keywords from the previous day's search history.

Keyword Discovery is the tool for serious keyword research. According to its site copy, Keyword Discovery is the most advanced Keyword Research tool available. With a standard monthly subscription of $69.95 it is definitely a tool for dedicated researchers only.

Keyword Elite is designed and marketed by Brad Callen, the SEO expert (Get his free book on SEO from the link in my post SEO - Search Engine Optimisation below). Keyword Elite is a downloadable software package, priced at $176. The site copy includes some glowing reports and testimonials. It has a full money-back guarantee.

Good Keywords has just revamped its software range, designed to be downloaded and operated from your desktop. I've used the free Good Keywords before and it's handy to have. There are free as well as paid versions, so well worth looking at when first starting out in this field.

For an excellent review of the first four options above, CLICK HERE.

Patricia Howitt
1stClassWeb.Biz

Technorati Tags:
market, marketing, business, shoestring budget, advertising, promotion, SEO, keywords, keyword research

How to Choose a Great Domain Name

2009-02-27T20:14:00.000-08:00

Just came across an interesting article about choosing and getting a good domain name, by someone who has the $$ to go only for the best. Getting the right domain name is the important first SEO step for your website.

Well worth having a look at. Check out this post by James Siminoff, the founder of PhoneTag.com.

Patricia Howitt
1stClassWeb.Biz

Technorati Tags:
market, marketing, business, shoestring budget, advertising, promotion, domain names

50+ Ways to Analyze Your Traffic

2009-02-27T19:35:00.001-08:00

I use Statcounter for my site traffic statistics, and I would recommend it to anybody, because even the free version has a whole range of useful tools to tell you what kind of traffic you are getting, where it's coming from, and how long it's staying.

But I just found an interesting article by Cameron Chapman on Mashable called Analytics Toolbox: 50+ More Ways to Track Website Traffic

This is very current information. In itself the article doesn't resolve the question which of these tools one should use, but the comments provide a few additional sidelights on that issue.

Patricia Howitt
1stClassWeb.Biz

Technorati Tags:
market, marketing, business, shoestring budget, advertising, promotion, website statistics, traffic

SEO - Search Engine Optimisation

2009-02-26T16:35:00.001-08:00

This is a very important technique to learn as soon as you take the step of creating your own webpages. The best and most responsive traffic you can get is from search engines, because people who have found you from their own search efforts are in a much better frame of mind to respond to whatever it is your site asks them to do - THEY have found YOU and they don't feel pressured.

Brad Callen has just brought out a new issue of his landmark "Search Engine Optimisation Made Easy" Ebook, which you can now download for free as a gift from my marketing and web development site at http://1stclassweb.biz. Just RIGHT click on this image
and save target as ...

I got a pleasant surprise when I opened it, because I checked some of his links and found that the great free keyword research tool at Good Keywords, which disappeared for awhile, is not only back - it is now part of a suite of free tools. I saw it go, and thought it had succumbed to the all-pervading "monetization" syndrome.

THANK GOODNESS sites like this still provide free tools! Don't miss out on this great book and the advice it has for you - this is invaluable stuff for anyone working in website design, on however small a scale.

Patricia Howitt
1stClassWeb.Biz

Technorati Tags:
market, marketing, business, shoestring budget, advertising, promotion, webdesign, SEO, optimization

Surviving in Hard Times

2009-02-25T19:10:00.000-08:00

I'm going to digress today because right now everybody is feeling the cold breath of hard times sweeping across the world.

We might be directly affected already, or we might know friends or relatives who are struggling to survive.

Here is an article that challenges us in a timely fashion to be proactive about bringing change into our lives - because if change has not been thrust upon us already, it may come soon.

This article by Robert Van Arlen has a challenging title - it's well worth a read for everyone right now:

Reinvent Your Life

Patricia Howitt
1stClassWeb.Biz

Technorati Tags:
market, marketing, business, indexing, advertising, google, lead capture, tough times, economic

Wondering About Twitter??

2009-02-24T22:50:00.000-08:00

Not on Twitter yet and wondering if it can do anything for you? I believe it has huge potential - I haven't been at it long and I'm no expert but I'm amazed at who'se on there and how easy it is to access news and interesting information just by keeping an eye on passing tweets.

Below are a couple of links to articles you might find interesting - fairly high-profile assessments of the Twitter phenomenon. And a few thoughts from me:

Twitter Advice

1) Resist the urge to do "having eggs and bacon for breakfast" "now I'm going out for an hour" type posts. These CAN be amusing if you're good at it, but from most people they're not only deadly dull - they fill up a page something wicked. And you know what happens then? ...

2) Don't hesitate to unfollow anyone who bores or annoys you to death. Let them do their thing - BUT - you don't have to watch it: OR get involved.

3) Find someone who speaks your language - be it tech, bizopps or whatever, and start by following a few people from their group - you'll soon feel at home, and if you follow someone with a lot of followers, your radius will grow quickly. Twitter serves a lot of different interests so don't grumble - find your peers.

Twitter Critiques

Enjoy these - might help you make a decision! -

My assessment? - through Twitter I feel more "in touch" with Internet goings-on than I've ever done since I came on the net nearly 12 years ago - BUT don't chase high numbers of followers and review your list for relevance from time to time!

Patricia Howitt
1stClassWeb.Biz

Technorati Tags:
market, marketing, business, indexing, advertising, google, lead capture, twitter, sitemap

Trackback

2009-02-22T20:40:00.000-08:00

Do you ever wonder what trackback is and how it works - and what's more how to work it?

Here's a useful explanatory piece on Cruftbox that describes in detail what it is and how to do it:
http://cruftbox.com/cruft/docs/trackback.html

Only sad thing is that the url referred to at the end of this post - supposed to be on moveabletype.org - returns a "forbidden" response and the only way to contact these people is so go thru the hoops of signing up for their forum ... ahh well.

Patricia Howitt
1stClassWeb.Biz

Technorati Tags:
market, marketing, business, indexing, advertising, google, lead capture, twitter, blogging

HOT Twitter Traffic Secrets

2009-02-22T17:23:00.000-08:00

Ramp up your performance on Twitter, whether you're an out-and-out beginner or a pro!

Go HERE and make a start by getting yourself the 3 FREE GIFTS offered by Skeeter Hansen, Jim Grygor and Al Ferretti.

That's http://alssecret.com/ - DO IT NOW!

Patricia Howitt
1stClassWeb.Biz

Technorati Tags:
market, marketing, business, indexing, advertising, google, lead capture, twitter, sitemap

Listing and Indexing in Google - 3: Sitemaps

2009-02-22T14:14:00.000-08:00

NOW - if you feed this sitemap.xml file to Google, Google will spider it and give you an error message, so I'm going to show you what to do with it to overcome that.

Altering Sitemap.xml

First of all, using FileZilla, download the sitemap.xml file from the root directory of your domain - just drag and drop it from the right-hand panel over to wherever you have navigated to on the left. You are going to open it with Notepad. Remember, when you want to open any kind of "text" file that does not have a .txt extension with Notepad, you need to change the "Files of Type"parameter at the bottom of the Open window from "Text Documents (*.txt)" to "All Files" so you can locate and open the file.

Open the sitemap.xml file in Notepad and look carefully at the first few lines of code. You will see just a few lines from the top the beginning of the url specifications that list out the files on your server. It begins with

Starting at fhe beginning of the sitemaps.XML code select eveything UP TO BUT NOT INCLUDING that first url loc code. Replace what you have selected with the following code:

Save your file. Upload it back onto your server, overwiting the one that's there.

Submitting Sitmap.xml to Google

Now you can log into your Webmasters Dashboard at Google, navigate to your domain (if you have only one you will be there already), select Sitemaps from the sidebar, and insert sitemap.xml in the box provided (you'll notice the root directory of your domain is already specified) and OK it.

That's a good job done, because now Google has something definitive to work with in indexing your site!.

Patricia Howitt
1stClassWeb.Biz

Technorati Tags:
market, marketing, business, indexing, advertising, google, lead capture, landing page, sitemap

Killer Email Headlines

2009-02-21T11:36:00.000-08:00

Go to http://perrybelcher.net/ for a brilliant post dated 6 December 2008 entitled "My Sneaky Little Email Headline Trick".

In it Perry Belcher shares his special technique of using Digg to help him create email headlines that just shout "Open Me"!

Patricia Howitt
1stClassWeb.Biz

Technorati Tags:
market, marketing, business, email, advertising, headline, lead capture, landing page, squeeze page

Listing and Indexing in Google - 2: Sitemaps

2009-02-21T08:46:00.000-08:00

Don't understimate the importance of making a Sitemap for your website.

I'm not talking about the kind of site map you publish as an HTML file on your server so your visitors can see what topics your pages cover, and maybe get some navigational help. Navigational help, by the way is something they shouldn't need. if your site navigation is not completely straightforward and intuitive, then don't try and fix it by putting in a site map - get back to the drawing-board and reorganize it totally!

Sitemap.XML

The Sitemap I am talking about is an XML file you make available to Google to assist the Google engine in indexing your site - and it should help it get indexed that much quicker. This exercise is worthwhile doing, so set aside a little time to get the job done - I'm going to show you how to do it, now that you've verified your site.

I've looked at a number of online free sitemap generators like those at XML-Sitemaps.com and Auditmypc.com - however the one I finally ended up using for my own sites is phpSitemapNG which operates from your own server. It's available free from Enarion.net. If you're able, you can give a donation - it's certainly a valuable service.

The thing I like about phpSitemapNG is that it does a far more thorough job than the others. You have to do a litlle tweak to the resulting Sitemap to get Google to read it, but I figured out how to do that and I'll show you. The result of using this generator is a very comprehensive mapping of your site, and it also gives you an indication of the strength of linking between your site's pages.

Preparing phpSitemapNG

Go to http://enarion.net/google/ and click on the Download link on the left. You'll find the Enarion site has comprehensive instructions for downloading the script and putting it on your server. Save the contents of the zip file to your hard-drive and follow the instructions on the Enarion site for uploading files and folders to your server. CHMOD the files as directed. I've told you how to do that a couple of posts below.

Once you've done that, go to http://www.yourdomain.com/phpSitemapNG/ where you will find the Control Panel of your Sitemap Generator and execute the script. It will show you a graphical listing of all the files it finds, and you can direct it to overwrite the sitemap.xml file you've already placed in the root drive of your domain.

You now have on your own server a script that will create an up-to-date sitemap.xml file whenever you need it.

More tomorrow!
Patricia Howitt
1stClassWeb.Biz

Technorati Tags:
market, marketing, business, indexing, advertising, google, lead capture, landing page, sitemap

Listing and Indexing in Google - 1

2009-02-20T12:41:00.000-08:00

One of the best ways to get Google to index your pages more quickly is to start using Google's Webmasters' tools on your site. The first step in this process is to get a Google account and list your site in it.

Google Webmaster Tools

You may already have a Google account if you use some of their services, but if not, go ahead and sign up for one by clicking on the sign-up link on the main Google search page. Once you have your account. log in and click on My Account at the top right of the page. You will find your personal settings in the top part of the page (you can fill those out with more details), and Google services below. Click on Webmaster Tools.

You are now on the Webmasters Dashboard. where you can add your site or sites. Just type in your URL and you will find Google asks you to verify ownership. You can do this very quickly in one of 2 ways:

By inserting a custom metatag they provide you with into the metatags on your index page;
By putting up an HTML file on your site which has a custom name they provide you with.

Personally, I think the first option is the quickest. If you don't have any metatags yet, I'll be showing you how to create those shortly - it doesn't matter for this exercise because the snippet of code Google gives you will stand on its own. Just copy the code they supply you with and paste it at the top of your website code between the head tags.

Save your HTML file and upload it to your server. You can now go right back to the Google verification page and at the bottom below the code they've given you is a "Verify" button. Click that and you only have to wait a few seconds while Google's spiders go check your index page - verification is a very slick process!

More Tomorrow!
Patricia Howitt
1stClassWeb.Biz

Technorati Tags:
market, marketing, business, shoestring budget, advertising, promotion, lead capture, google, squeeze page

Uploading Scripts

2009-02-18T11:50:00.000-08:00

Why Upload Scripts in FTP

If You are Uploading Scripts You Have to Use FTP. This is because they will be corrupted if they are not uploaded in ASCII. It's not possible to upload in ASCII using the CPanel.

If you don't have an FTP Client, see the last 2 posts on where to get one and how to set it up and use it.

If you go to the top of your FileZilla window and select Transfer - Transfer Type you will see a dropdown that offers ASCII, Binary and Auto. Left on Auto, FileZilla is pretty good a working things out for itself, but you may care to select ASCII if you are loading scripts and you want to be sure.

Why Scripts are Different From HTML

Because scripts like CGI and PHP differ from HTML in that their function is to run systems and execute commands, rather than simply displaying pages, their mode has to be adjusted once they are on the server so they can work. This operation is known as CHMOD (change mode) and it can be done with File Zilla. It is a matter of changing the "permissions" that are given to the file so it can work on the server.

How to CHMOD Scripts in FileZilla

You will find instructions - usually in the readme.txt file that comes with the script - on what is required by way of permissions for the particular functions your script has to perform.

To CHMOD a file, select it in the right-hand panel of FileZilla, right click on it and select File Attributes from the drop-down. You will be presented with a window called "Change File Attributes".

File Attributes relate to the "permissions" for the file, and how they should be set depends on the functions that particular file has to perform. There are 3 functions - Read, Write, and Execute.

These functions need to be set for 3 parameters :
Owner Permissions;
Group permissions;
Public permissions.

The instructions for the sript will tell you what is required for each of thses parameters and usually the modes are set out in words, with a numeric value assigned to the whole combination.

Simply work your way through each of the parameters, checking or unchecking boxes to get the combination right, and you should find once you've done this that the box containing a number below the checkbox panel is the same as the number your script instructions provide you with. If if isn't, check again very carefully and you may find you've made a mistake somewhere.

Once the number in the window reads correct, you can OK your CHMOD and proceed to the next file.

Patricia Howitt
Webdesign, Graphics, Marketing
1st Class Web.Biz

Technorati Tags:
market, marketing, business, shoestring budget, advertising, promotion, lead capture, upload scripts, chmod

FTP Bells & Whistles

2009-02-17T05:15:00.001-08:00

More Features
There's a useful little feature in FileZilla that enables you to save your server login details for quick connecting - very useful anytime, but especially if you have sites on several servers.

Site Manager
Select File - Site Manager and in the window click New Site button at the bottom. Put ftp.yourdomain.com in the Host box on the right and make sure the Normal radio button is selscted below it. This will allow you to fill in Login and Password details and you can save that site. Use the same process for any other sites you have on different servers.

When you come to FTP to one of your sites, select Site Manager again and double-click on the file for the site you want in the left hand column. FileZilla will immediately connect to that site. Saves a lot of hassle.

Speedy Uploads
The drag-and-drop feature of FileZilla lets you upload very quickly. If you are uploading a full site, with images in an images folder, you can drag-and-drop the whole folder across. You can also select your html files in batches and drag them across in bulk, and you don't have to wait for one lot to upload before dragging the next lot across. This means you can set up the upload of many files and then go do something else, which frees up time no end.

Working on the Server
There are a few handy things you can do with files that are already on your servers if you right click on them. The dropdown allows you to download, rename, delete files, and you can also use it to create folders on the server.

In the nest post, I will describe how you can use FileZilla toCHMOD script files you have uploaded so they will function on your server.

Patricia Howitt
Webdesign, Graphics, Marketing
1st Class Web.Biz

Technorati Tags:
market, marketing, business, shoestring budget, advertising, promotion, lead capture, landing page, FTP

The Ins and Outs of FTP

2009-02-16T20:08:00.000-08:00

FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol and it is the easiest and best way to upload files to your domain.

Getting the Software

You need an FTP software package to upload your files with. It's much quicker than using the CPanel. There are a number out there, but the one I use most is a free FTP called FileZilla available from SourceForge. As a matter of fact, Sourceforge is the place to find a whole slew of really good software packages to help you with managing your site and creating webpages. You can download FileZilla from Sourceforge HERE.

Note: FileZilla is a cross-platform graphical FTP, FTPS and SFTP client a lot of features, supporting Windows, Linux, Mac OS X and more. I've personally been using it for about 8 years.

On the Sourceforge site, choose the FileZilla version that suits your operating system (unless you are familiar with .tar files, choose either .exe or .zip version), and click the download link.

Once you download the file - be sure to remember where you have saved it to - navigate to its location using Windows Explorer. If you've chosen the .exe file, start the setup by double-clicking on it. If you have the .zip extension, unzip it usting Winzip - available HERE and then double-click on the setup file. Follow the instructions in the Setup window to install FileZilla on your computer.

Using FileZilla

When you open FileZilla, you will see the following elements:

Across the top, on the bottom of the menubar, the Quickconnect facility. Fill in the information for connecting to your server:- ftp.yourdomain.com in the left-hand box, and your server login and password in the 2nd and 3rd. FileZilla has a default for the Port box. Click Quickconnect button on the far right and the software will connect to your domain on the server.
Below the top bar is a window displaying the connection activity. Keep an eye on it - it tells you how the connection to the server is progressing and records activity on the connection once established. It reads green when all is well and red if there is no connection.
Below the connection window are 2 panes. The one on the left is a double panel showing the files on your hard drive. The one on the right shows the files on the server. Below I'll describe in more detail how to upload.
At the bottom of the window is a panel showing the status of the uploads - you can see the file names as they upload in this part of the window.

Uploading With FileZilla

Now for the uploading process. This is relatively simple.

In the lefthand panel, navigate to where your site files are on your hard drive. If you locate the folder in the top box, the files will be displayed down below.
In the righthand panel, you will see a number of folders on your server. What you are looking for is the public_html folder. Double click on that. FileZilla will navigate into that folder.
Within it, if there is more than one domain on the server, you need to find the folder for your domain - named with a shortened version of your domain name. Double click on that folder. If you have a single domain, once you get into the public_html folder you should be there.
Once you are inside your domain's folder on the server, you can upload your files listed in the left-hand panel of FileZilla by dragging and dropping them across to the righthand panel. FileZilla will alert you if you already have a file of the name you are transferring on your server and you have to OK an overwrite. There is a checkbox to allow overwrites by newer files in the current session.

If you are uploading a site from scratch, you will find a cgi-bin folder already installed on the server, and a file named either index.html or default.html, which is the place-holder for your index file. When you upload your own index file, it will overwrite the existing index.html. If there is a default.html file there, delete it when you have uploaded your site by right-clicking on the filename and selecting Delete from the drop-down.

NOTICE: Occasionally - very occasionally - after uploading a file FileZilla will fail to return to the folder you were uploading to. Keep an eye on the location recorded at the top of the right-hand panel to make sure you don't upload stuff where you didn't intend. It's just a matter of keeping on top of the job in hand, but it can cause mayhem if you overlook it.

Patricia Howitt
Webdesign, Graphics, Marketing
1st Class Web.Biz

Technorati Tags:
market, marketing, business, shoestring budget, advertising, promotion, lead capture, landing page, FTP, FileZilla, uploading files

One Other Autoresponder

2009-02-13T11:40:00.000-08:00

There is one other way of doing autoresponders, and that is having a dedicated software autoresponder that operates from your own server. Though I haven't used this software, I must admit the concept appeals to me enormously because it frees you from the "monthly subscriptions" syndrome.

The package I am thinking of is called BizPacks Pro and you can check it out HERE. It is a fully-featured autoresponder package, allowing you to run unlimited campaigns. It offers free installation and top quality lifetime support, and has a 30 day money-back guarantee.

Features of BizPacks Pro

BizPacks Pro allows unlimited campaigns and unlimited subscribers. It comes with 3 bonus modules - Tell-a-Friend, Contact Forms Generator, and Articles Manager. Two at least of these are services that you would pay for elsewhere. Considering the very reasonable cost of this software and the excellent testimonials, I am looking seriously at this one, and I recommend you check it out too:

And be sure to check out the testimonials HERE.

Patricia Howitt
Webdesign, Graphics, Marketing
1st Class Web.Biz

Technorati Tags:
market, marketing, business, shoestring budget, advertising, promotion, lead capture, landing page, squeeze page, autoresponder

Using Landing Pages to Invite Your Prospects: 2

2009-02-10T20:13:00.000-08:00

The whole purpose of a landing page is to capture at least the name and email of a prospective client, so you can send them out a series of messages telling them about your products or opportunity.

The Role of the Autoresponder

Once the visitor inputs their name and email address on your landing page, the information is saved in an autoresponder, which you program with a series of email messages and a timeline for them to be sent out. So, for example, the first message might be sent out on the day of sign-up, the second 2 days later and the third 3 days after that, and so on.

Though the concept of using autoresponders does have an impersonal feel and there are times when we all groan to see an autoresponder answering us, the fact is that once your business gains momentum of any kind you just cannot do without this tool. Follow-up is absolutely vital.

Types of Autoresponder

For people who are in MLM, most of the programs have their own autoresponders built into the program's control panel, usually with a series of pre-written emails ready to go. There are also some good generic recruiting systems which provide you with an autoresponder as part of your membership deal.

Whether or not you're in MLM, there are good reasons to have your own stand-alone autoresponder though, and you'll find a number being advertised. Just beware that some systems promoting autoresponders have them set up to market THEIR system, not yours!

Many of the autoresponder providers have both paid and free versions. The practical difference between the two usually lies in advertising - the free version has either the company's advert or paid 3rd party advertising inserted at the top of your messages - and the number of options or features available. For example, the number of campaigns available on a free autoresponder is usually only one. If you have several different businesses, you may want more options than this.

Your very first email contact with the client should be an opt-in request, to ensure that your follow-up emails cannot be regarded as spam. Most of the autoresponder providers set this email up automatically, and the visitor's information isn't registered until they click the confirmation link in that email.

Setting Up an Autoresponder

If you are planning on creating your own capture pages and autoresponder campaigns, you need to either use websites that create pages for you, or else you must have a little knowledge of HTML. If you don't have the knowledge to create your own pages, then sign up for the free online service at Instant Squeeze Page Generator.

Once you have your page, you need to insert the lead capture form. Your autoresponder provider will generate the code for this form for you, already programmed to feed your leads into your account with their system. You copy and paste this code into your page, run a few tests, set up a series of emails, and you're ready to go. Follow the steps provided for you inside the autoresponder account to set up your emails and their timing - and sign yourself up to make sure everything works!

It's also a good idea, on your leadcapture page, to insert just below the form an assurance that the visitor's name and email will not be sold or divulged to 3rd parties. This reassures people when signing up and helps to increase conversion rates. You can use something like this:
NOTE: We respect your Privacy. Your information will not be sold or divulged to any other person, period.

Choosing an Autoresponder

There are two autoresponders of professional quality out there - GetResponse and Aweber. GetResponse has free and paid versions and I recommend it for the following reasons:

If you start off with the free version and later decide you need more bells and whistles, you can simply upgrade without having to move your subscribers.
There is no limit on the number of subscribers you can have. But with Aweber, the cost goes up the more subscribers you bring in. Sure, having more subscribers increases your income, but I think it would be rather irksome to be watching subscriber numbers every time a price hike looms.
GetResponse is a sight more intuitive to operate than some of the systems I've tried - and I'm talking paid systems, here. I exited from one paid system because the website just was not up to my standards of customer usability. In short, it got me angry. (The trials of being a webdesigner!)

After years of trying everything out there, I strongly recommend you to get an account with GetResponse. It's a professional system and free or paid, it's just the best deal there is.

Patricia Howitt
Webdesign, Graphics, Marketing
1st Class Web.Biz

Technorati Tags:
market, marketing, business, shoestring budget, advertising, promotion, lead capture, landing page, squeeze page, autoresponder, newbie help

Using Landing Pages to Invite Your Prospects: 1

2009-02-10T00:49:00.000-08:00

If people are coming to your site and leaving again without you gathering any contact information from them, you are missing a big opportunity to create yourself a list of potential customers.

You need to arrange your site in such a way that when people visit, you can capture their information. This is done by using landing pages or squeeze pages.

A landing or squeeze page is basically a one page code of HTML with a capture form for you to capture leads for any business online. It's very useful for network marketing (remember, using a replicated marketing page is NOT the best way to go) and it will help you to find the best solutions when it comes to lead generation.

There are two kinds of landing pages – horizontal pages and vertical pages.

Vertical Pages

A vertical page contains a headline but it has a lot of key points listed out over a very long page. Normally, a vertical page requires the prospect to scroll all the way down to the bottom to opt-in. Sometimes, there might be two opt-in boxes, one near the top of the page and another after the explanation.

The advantage of using a vertical page is that you can elaborate in detail and put lots of information down, but the drawback is that it might minimize your opt-in or conversion rates because the reader has to scroll all the way down to the bottom. People tend to decide in a split second if they want the free report or if they want to scroll down, and our job is to make sure we get as many leads as we can for our business.

Horizontal Pages

A horizontal landing page might be more favorable if you want to capture as many leads as you can. Here’s why…

(1) Horizontal pages do not require you to scroll down at all. In actual fact, the opt-in box is located in or very close to the top fold of the page, along with all the information designed to help your conversions. This will include key benefits, the attention-grabbing headline and other components designed to maximize your conversion rate.

(2) You must offer something for free to entice the visitor to leave his or her information. So you strategically place a free report or E-book right next to the list of your benefits.

Useful Techniques

Here are some different techniques that will help you to get more leads for your mailing list:

- Sometimes, you might consider leaving out the second name in the opt-in box. Your visitors might feel more comfortable just leaving their first name, and giving them too many options may reduce conversion rates as they ponder about all the hoops they need to jump through before they get your book.

- Always use a big flashing arrow in order to tell people where to opt-in. Similar to the word click here which is a common tool in copywriting, it increases the chances of people finding the opt-in box. (Don't Make Me Think!)

- Always give your prospects an awareness that this report is scarce and it will be taken away any moment. People find last minute deals and offers irresistible.

Patricia Howitt
Webdesign, Graphics, Marketing
1st Class Web.Biz

Technorati Tags:
market, marketing, business, shoestring budget, advertising, promotion, lead capture, landing page, squeeze page, newbie help

Organizing Your Business From the Start

2009-02-06T22:01:00.000-08:00

The net is the worst of all places for losing whatever it was you thought you had in the first place. Information, URLs, Logins - there is so much to keep track of, and the trouble is, it's all so easily acquired that you can soon become swamped under a tide of information. That is not good if you're trying to run a business.

URLs, Logins and Passwords

Don't rely on your browser's bookmarks or favorites OR your email client's folders to keep you out of trouble - these nifty little storerooms soon become as untidy as the old attic in the roof, and you can waste a lot of time searching for the URL you need. What's more, when you find it, you may not remember the login and password for that impassable Login box grinning at you from the page.

Of course, your browser may help you - though I find it's hopeless asking IE to remember anything. Or you may have Roboform (available HERE), and if you have the paid version, all is well. But the free version allows you to save only 10 passcards, which can be a big limitation ... Either way, you still really need to have your information saved in an organised manner and all in one place.

For the past 5 years I've been using a free program that solves all my problems with keeping records. It's called Treepad, and you can download it HERE - scroll about half way down the page for the freeware version download. The paid versions have some cool features, but I'm thinking "shoestring budget" here.

How to use Treepad

Some people create just one big file with Treepad, but I structure things to be easier to find by making a number of separate files. For example, you might create a file for "Advertising" or "Webmasters Apps", or "Traffic Exchanges" - or even files for individual programs.

Say for example you've made a file and saved it as "Traffic Exchanges". The main "node" of your file will have the same name. Highlight it in the left-hand column of the Treepad window and select Edit - Insert Node - Child Node. This will make a new branch to your tree. You can make as many as you need and you can call them "Autosurfs" or "Manual Surfs" or whatever is going to work for you, and list the login URLs and the login details, the referral URLs and the surfing URLs for the programs you join in the right-hand box. If a program has a selection of splash pages, you can even add them too.

NOW - the really cool thing about Treepad is that to open the URLs you save in it, all you have to do is put your cursor anywhere in the URL and hit Ctrl H and voila, the url opens in your default browser ...

I use Treepad every day. It's great for blogging, especially if you have several blogs, and you can keep your Technorati tag codes, your Feedburner details and everything else you need in there too. If you give it a try, you will soon get your own method of using it to suit your needs. Quite frankly, I don't know what I'd do without it.

Patricia Howitt
Webdesign, Graphics, Marketing
1st Class Web.Biz

Technorati Tags:
market, marketing, business, shoestring budget, advertising, promotion, records, newbie help