In this issue of Promowear we explore the avenue of marketing through writing and submitting articles to online distribution web sites. Here are a few links to browse through after reading the article. I recommend reading through a few articles - your choice of subject - to get a feel for the content that makes article marketing successful. Keep in mind the use of keywords and good headlines.
News from Canada rarely crosses my desktop here in Texas, however recently a fellow dart player from Toronto alerted me to the garbage situation up there. Apparently there's a garbage strike going on and no signs of a speedy resolution. As a result trash is piling up on residents and businesses.
This fellow dart player - Roofer Dave - threw a concept and a question to some of us on a darts forum. He picked up www.fivebucksabag.com and wanted to know how to get the word out.
My suggestion was that a business like garbage collection would be able to utilize Twitter as more of an online marketing tool than a web site. No doubt the web site itself is important, but given the nature of the business consider how Twitter can benefit Dave's new service. He can literally Tweet his location, where he is on route and have users Tweet to him if they are in need of a pick up. Other Twitter users will eventually catch on and follow and before you know it, Dave can run this business from his cell phone during his route rather than having to rely on checking email and updating the web site (or hiring someone to do so).
I thought I'd throw this here on the blog as an example of how some businesses can use Twitter effectively, as well as to alert any readers from the Toronto area about this new service.
To find out more check in at www.fivebucksabag.com or follow @fivebucksabag on Twitter.Do you have social media sharing buttons on your web site or blog?
Providing your visitors with social media sharing buttons provides them one click access for sharing your content. I can add social media sharing functionality with buttons that compliment your site for just $35.00!
Add this important feature to your site today!
Design and Install Social Sharing Functionality to One Web Site or Blog
I recently stumbled across a great tip on how to generate an RSS feed from YouTube.
YouTube has RSS feeds however they do not make them easily available. You can create a feed for your channel, your favorite channel or even have one generated by keywords.
Here are a couple of example feeds I created for myself:
As you can see, by modifying the string you can create an RSS feed for virtually any topic. If you market your business on YouTube you can push the information using your feed. If you are looking for ineteresting web content for your blog or web site you can create a custom feed to update on it's own that interests your visitors. You can also plug the feed into Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites.
Here are the strings in plain text you can use to copy and paste, creating your own YouTube RSS feeds. Simply change the words in all caps to the elements you'd like to use:
In the past I've heard many related questions. Can I use the @ sign in my domain name? I use the @ sign in my branding but why do the search engines don't seem to pick it up? With Twitter's increase in popularity and use of the @ character when addressing a Twitter user even more questions are bouncing around.
I experimented with this following yesterday's Indy 500 and entered a Google search for @danicapatrick (who finished a solid third), @h3lio (3rd time Indy 500 winner Helio Castronevez) and @TonyKanaan (current points leader who met the wall hard at 198mph suffering a DNF for the second straight year at The Brickyard).
The query produced the same results as a search for these drivers without the @ character, while WebMynd for FireFox produced a list of kudos and congrats from Indy Racing Fans across the Twittersphere. With the exception of Helio who uses the number 3 from his Team Penske Dallara/Honda in his Twitter name, the @ character was virtually ignored.
Google of course has their own answers to this in this short video.
This months issue is directed at readers who have not discovered Twitter yet, or have but aren't aware of the marketing opportunities that go with it.
Twitter Basics
If you are brand new to Twitter I suggest you jump to Getting Started With Twitter, then returning to this post to continue.
Twitter Tools
After reading the article a Google search can provide you with hundreds of applications and tools to help you utilize Twitter to your liking, as well as search and review Tweets and MicroBlogs for your target audience and interests. Below are a handful of them that can provide anyone a fresh start.
Do you have social media sharing buttons on your web site or blog?
Providing your visitors with social media sharing buttons provides one click access for sharing your content. I can add social media sharing functionality with buttons that compliment your site for just $35.00!
Add this important feature to your site today!
Design and Install Social Sharing Functionality to One Web Site or Blog
There are many ways to direct qualified buyers to your website, and I see many website owners missing those opportunities. It seems that the simple phrase SEO (Search Engine Optimization) has either intimidated them or has them distracted from the variety of other avenues available for promoting their websites.
I recently posted some advice and suggestions in an online forum, and I received many private messages with positive feedback as a result. After reading through my post again I realized it is something I should elaborate on and share here on the blog.
1) Create and Submit iGoogle Desktop Themes
Internet users who utilize iGoogle enjoy the desktop themes, widgets and the many features that go along with it. By creating iGoogle desktop themes and branding them with your web site URL you can expose your website to thousands of Internet users. You can also put links to the themes on your web site to offer them to your customers, or those browsing and not buying that particular day.
I created a darts theme last year to promote my dart shirts web site. Currently over 2,000 people are using it (they give you a counter that stays current). I've seen the number of users as high as 4,500+ before. Considering that is just one theme and a small number of potential iGoogle users that are interested in darts, anyone with some creativity and a feel for their target audience could create themes to target any demographic.
An added bonus for the technically challenged, as I looked up the link and point you to where you can get started I discovered that Google has now added a Theme Maker feature!
2) Create Wallpapers for Computers and Cell Phones
Everyone with a computer has a desktop, and virtually all of them like to personalize it with wallpaper. The number of cell phone users in the world has now exceeded the number of people who own computers, and most cell phones these days offer personalization as well.
By creating custom wallpapers for both desktops and mobile devices and brand them with your web site URL, you can then offer them as a free download AND submit them to free wallpaper/cell phone web sites. Consider how many people would end up with www.yourwebsite.com right on their desktop and/or cell phone every day. Plus your website would get additional traffic from users searching for wallpapers and themes.
To give you a jump start on this, here are the screen resolutions you should offer:
Windows and Mac Desktops:
640x480 Screen Resolution
800x600 Screen Resolution
1024x768 Screen Resolution
1152x864 Screen Resolution
1280x960 Screen Resolution
1344x1008 Screen Resolution
1280x1024 Screen Resolution
1400x1050 Screen Resolution
1600x1200 Screen Resolution
2048x1536 Screen Resolution
Mobile Devices:
101X80 Screen Resolution
128X128 Screen Resolution
128X160 Screen Resolution
176X220 Screen Resolution
240X240 Screen Resolution
240X320 Screen Resolution
320X240 Screen Resolution
96X64 Screen Resolution
3) Create MySpace Themes
If you really want to get busy, you could create some MySpace Themes. Brand them, link them to your web site and offer them as a free download. Sooner or later your web site - with links to your web site - would be all over MySpace. In addition to the added traffic you'd get from search engines on MySpace Layouts and Themes, all those in-bound links will help your SEO efforts. To repeat my comment regarding iGoogle desktop themes above, anyone with some creativity and a feel for their target audience could create themes to target any demographic.
4) Create a Facebook Application
If you're a savvy developer you know this already. For the rest there's the built in Gift Creator application on Facebook that is as easy to use as a toaster. Using Gift Creator you can create an app that lets users share your artwork, products or anything else you decide on with their friends. This is a major viral tool. I created one in December of 2008 for my dart shirts and currently there are over 4000 daily users - all trading my dart shirts with each other - and all those pages are branded and linked to my website. That number climbs by an average of 100 users per week.
5) Create Twitter Backgrounds
Twitter is growing into quite the social networking/micro blogging experience for millions of Internet users. By creating backgrounds specific to Twitter - and the demographics you wish to target - you can brand them with your website URL and offer them as free downloads. You could even create a Twitter account to promote the backgrounds as well as link to your products on a regular basis.
I am considering buying a domain name and creating a web site just for this purpose. I think it is a great channel to dive into and take advantage of.
Now to get creative!
Consider these ideas and the ways you can put them to use to drive visitors to your web site! The comments feature is active for any questions, comments, suggestions. Tell me what's on your mind.
As Mothers Day approaches, we all begin the quest for this years perfect gift. But what do Moms do that we should know about?
New data from Nielsen Online:
Nielsen defines "Power Moms" as women aged 25-54 with at least one child. These women represent almost 20% of the online population.
Established Moms (aged 40-50 with 3+ kids) are heavy online shoppers. Shopzilla.com is their most popular shopping site.
Newbie Moms (aged 35-34 with 1-2 kids) also shop online, but are more into social networking.
Moms have also generated their own online community with blogs. These blogs cover everything from raising kids to reviewing handbags and sharing shopping tips. Now that you know all of this, go out and find your Mom the perfect gift. And if Moms happen to be a part of your target audience and marketing plan, you now know where to find them.
I was recently contacted for a little Q&A by Printwear's Associate Editor, Heather B. Fried. My Printwear issue arrived today and her article Internet Inevitability provides a great look into today's Internet marketplace and the in's and out's apparel decorators should be aware of. Especially if you have not jumped into the world of e-commerce, or at a minimum created an online presence for your business.
Today CafePress may have turned a positive Internet entity into a graveyard of former talented designers. If you follow my magazine column you know the company I am talking about. For those unfamiliar, CafePress is a fulfillment service that provides print on demand production for online designers and shopkeepers.
From their web page:
In a nutshell we sell T-Shirts, apparel, gifts for the home, stationery, gear, and other stuff that gets printed on. But the interesting thing is, we don't design a thing. Our shopkeepers create the designs. So every time a shopkeeper designed product sells, they make money.
Great Program, Great Traffic
The CafePress web site averages a reported 11 million unique visits per month, and see as many as 2000 new independent shops join the online network each day. The great thing CafePress has (or after today, had) going for it is the designers. Anyone in the imprinted sportswear industry knows that it is the designs and creativity that sell. With a virtual army of designers covering thousands of styles, markets and audiences CafePress has probably one of the largest art departments in imprinted sportswear history. And, they set their own pay scale and are happy with that!
Prior to today the policy was simple for designers. Open your CafePress store, upload your designs and start selling. You are given a base price for each item and the profit was left up to you by marking up each item to what you feel is a fair price for what you have created for the market.
I have had my dart shirts web site going strong there for quite some time now, and as many of you know I have marketed the web site effectively in the search engines, online forums, blogs and other channels around the Internet. After today that will pay off, as I have had to pull all of my designs out of the CafePress marketplace.
Don't *%^& With The Art Department
The announcement arrived in this mornings email. CafePress will now be setting prices for anything appearing in their marketplace, and providing the designer 10% commission for each item sold through the marketplace. Thinking that was surely a typo, some joker broadcasting a 4/20 prank message to shopkeepers or me just plain reading it wrong I was off to investigate.
Unfortunately I found that to be true. CafePress has taken it upon themselves to set a 10% commission - on a pricing structure they create - and apply it as a "reasonable licensing fee" to the designers. What that means is the very graphic designers, photographers and artists that generate sales through CafePress have now had their income cut by an estimated 70% to 80%. Plus, they will have no say in pricing.
What This Means
Shopkeepers who have successfully created a CafePress store that does not rely on marketplace traffic are not going to suffer very much. The way I understand this new policy, all sales through your shop remain the same: your pricing with your designated markup. So in my case, in all honesty I feel like my target audience will find my web site first if not right after searching the marketplace and finding that all of the talented designers have pulled out. Other shop keepers who have kept their Internet marketing strategies focused outside the marketplace will likely experience the same.
However the thousands of designers and entrepreneurs who have been selling through the marketplace and finding success are now left out in the cold to either move to a different print on demand company or suffer the pay cut. Many are reporting that this decision will more than likely destroy what was their primary source of income. Others are simply shutting down, while the majority are just packing up and leaving for another place to sell their creativity.
What it means for CafePress is yet to be determined, I can only imagine it isn't very pretty with the majority of the art department packing up and moving to the competition.
Having brought all of that to the blog, I apologize to any readers of my magazine column that joined in on last years "Online Adventure" series and have been working on a successful CafePress web site. Of course, if you've been successful with the marketing tips I included and not relying on the marketplace for your traffic you're fine for now just as I am. Despite that, I am still disappointed in this turn of events.
A Word On POD / Fulfillment Services
For anyone researching fulfillment services and print on demand opportunities, consider this a heads up. I won't deny CafePress still has my nod of approval for the way things are set up for their premium shops, the shopping cart system itself and the services offered. I decided to go with them for those reasons and more.
However, I will no longer offer my designs in their marketplace under these new terms. I will also be keeping my eyes peeled for a place to move my dart shirts web site. And I will stand by my peers as an insulted graphic designer who has been offered a mere 10% commission on the artistic expression that made CafePress what it is... Or was.
Blog Rolling the Subject
If you post a blog I have missed feel free to add the link in the comments section with your opinion or shoot me the link. And of course, linking back can only better the subjects chances of search engine goodness.
By now you have become familiar with the term Phishing, and learned how to spot these attempts that arrive in your email. Despite the scammers getting better at creating phony web sites to try and capture users information, they're still not good enough to work around ISP's blocking their email broadcasts, filters and other forms of defense.
A new form of Phishing has arrived that you should be aware of called Smishing. Rather than delivering the traditional email, scammers are now sending phishing come ons and scams via SMS message to cell phones.
One popular attempt notifies the user that thay are about to be charged for something unless it is canceled. For example: "Thank you for signing up for our online backup service! You will be charged $2 per day unless you cancel your order by clicking here or visiting this-phony-web-site.com." Just like Phishing emails, the site users are directed to is 100% fake and will ask for your credit card number, certain login information and perhaps even try to install something to your machine or manipulate your browser. Smishing messages have also been reported to have asked for users to call a toll free number in order to complete or cancel a financial transaction.
Another scam reported may try to mimic a message alleged to be from your mobile carrier: "Congratulations! You won $300 worth of free talk time minutes today. To claim your prize just type: (insert random numbers here) and send to 2292 three times. (LOAD REWARD) Thank you!"
With the possible exception of your mobile service provider, the chances of any legitimate business contacting you via text message are slim to none. And most mobile service provider's messages will be recognizable. The recommended action to take if you receive any scam messages is of course to laugh and carry on with your day.
As I was preparing my follow up blog to accompany my upcoming magazine column on Twitter, I discovered much of the content was being taken up by Twitter jargon alone. Yes, as usual new technology and new applications come with their own set of keywords, language and terminology.
Rather than type all of that out, thanks to the folks at CNet.com there is a quick video to cover the basics.
Once the issue has arrived to subscribers I will follow up with some links and comments for readers to use. You can follow my webmaster account on Twitter @Webmaster_Rags.
Do you have social media sharing buttons on your web site or blog?
Providing your visitors with social media sharing buttons provides one click access for sharing your content. I can add social media sharing functionality with buttons that compliment your site for just $35.00!
Add this important feature to your site today!
Design and Install Social Sharing Functionality to One Web Site or Blog
I was just looking over some Internet statistics and once again had to raise an eyebrow at the increase in users of mobile Internet. Not only has the number of users exceeded those with desktop Internet access, there are now more people surfing the web on a mobile device than the number of people driving automobiles.
If you haven't put any thought into adding a mobile friendly web site to your online presence, now would be a great time to consider it. After studying the development end and testing hundreds of websites from my Blackberry I've come up with a few recommendations.
1) Be clear about how you can benefit your audience
As I've mentioned in a previous blog post a restaurant having a mobile web site is a no brainer, and a great example of a business that needs a mobile web site these days. People on the go use their mobile devices to find everything from movie theaters to hot spots on the town. But what about other businesses?
Understanding your customers and target audience will guide you to creative ways of utilizing a mobile friendly web site. If your business sells products you could offer real time order status and package tracking from the moment an order is placed, through any production process and its availability for delivery or pick up. A business that operates by appointments could allow users to make and cancel appointments online. Any business could offer their current specials, sales promotions or incentives.
In short, consider how your customer base - and potential buyers - would enjoy the ease of use, communication and extra service that can make their life a little easier.
2) Be clear and simple
Considering the load time and the nature of small screens on mobile devices, your mobile web site should be simple and effective. The information you decide to offer should be first priority over excessive use of images and/or highly detailed graphic layouts. This is a win win situation for you and your audience, as they're enjoying a speedy visit and getting what they are looking for in a timely manner and on your end there is very little to be concerned with in terms of maintenance and development.
3) Consider purchasing a mobile domain
The .mobi domain is now standing with top level domains like .com and .net with the increase in mobile Internet users. The major difference is that the .mobi extension is exclusive to delivering web pages to mobile devices, although other popular extensions can still be viewed over a mobile device. You will find it beneficial as search engines listing mobile friendly web sites to devices will recognize the extension, and mobile users will recognize it in your marketing efforts.
4) Provide a call to action, but keep it simple
Your existing customers might enjoy the ability to send you a quick message online, while users just discovering your site may want to contact you for more information. Having said that, it would be advisable to include a contact form but a very bare-bones version. A form asking for their contact name, email address and comments is more than likely about all a mobile user will have the patience to fill in from their device.
5) Return on investment
On the development side of things I have discovered that creating a mobile web site is not a very tall mountain to climb at all. In fact, with some clever developing an existing site could easily handle traffic from desktop users as well as mobile devices by using a little browser recognition code in creative ways. Therefore, I expect the cost of having creating a mobile web site to be more than worth the effort.
Last week I experienced something new in terms of receiving payment for services rendered. The first of the month arrived and as usual the pile of bills that go with it. So when sending current invoices I offered clients a discount for fast payment in order to rest assured I could get everything paid up quickly for the month.
To start an interesting chain of events, one customer submitted payment online via PayPal. Trouble is, it was to the wrong email address. It was one of my email addresses, but not the email address connected to my PayPal account.
This no doubt brings a question to my mind: "Why is PayPal accepting payments to non existing accounts?". I was offered the opportunity to add that email address to my existing PayPal account. But that is beside the point. What if it had NOT been to one of my email addresses? Could the recipient have claimed my funds? I had to email my customer and have them pull the payment, which I assume was just sitting in CyberSpace waiting for someone to take it.
I was on the road that day on a field trip to Oklahoma to meet a client, and it was then I discovered that when using my Blackberry to send email an advertisement was being included with my outgoing mail just after my sig file. One in particular that caught my eye was "Pay me through PayPal" with my email address included in the ad. Clearly it was that which created the confusion in the days PayPal transaction going to the wrong account, and something I need to take up with my provider.
My customer then decided to send payment overnight, and rather than write a check they sent a money order to save me any problems getting it cashed. Often banks will hold out of state checks for several days, and almost every check cashing service has some sort of verification process. I - as well as my customer - thought that a money order was just as good as cash.
We were wrong.
My first stop was my local Cash Express. I like the place because for a small fee - much less than banks charge me - I can cash my checks quickly and easily, along with reloading my credit card if necessary. I can also pay many utility bills there all in one stop. I was told that they couldn't cash the money order without verifying it with the issuing bank, which was closed due to the time difference. I then took it to my local bank which informed me they won't cash a money order unless it is issued from a branch of their bank. Two more banks gave the the same answer.
On to the grocery stores. Same thing. You can buy money orders all day, however they will not cash any unless you bought the money order from them. I've never felt so poor with that much money in my pocket before. The feeling is quite disturbing actually.
Later that day I received a check in the mail and returned to Cash Express. While they were cashing my check I explained my afternoon adventure in Money Order Chaos and was told that Money Orders are likely about to be a thing of the past. Apparently they have become very easy to create and/or have become popular in cases of fraud. I was told that every establishment has these strict policies due to that, and it would be in my best interest to stick to online payments and receiving checks.
Just passing along that experience. I am no longer going to accept Money Orders, and having learned that little lesson in finance I'd suggest everyone review their own policies before any hassles arrive in your mail box.
Recently, John Kuczynski contacted me regarding a new e-commerce web site for darts and supplies. This particular project utilizes the PayPal standard, shopping cart integration and checkout procedures.
Today we went ahead and launched the new web site featuring John Kuczynski and Scott Kirchner's Signature Series darts as well as a full line of Tripleight Universal Barrels. We are adding darts supplies and accessories as they arrive from Tripleight.
It has been a pleasure working with John on this project and I look forward to the completed supplies and accessories site.
In recent news the number of people using their mobile device to access news and information on the Internet more than doubled from January 2008 to January 2009. And it comes as no surprise that Mobile Social Networking saw a 427% in 1 year.
As this trend grows it will surely become something to keep an eye on for opportunities in Internet Marketing, and at the least productivity. I know I couldn't be near as productive as I am today without my Blackberry.
Another consideration is creating a mobile friendly web site to go along with your existing site. I have created a few in the past, a good example being a local restaurant. Mobile Internet users tend to search for things on the go, so a restaurant having a mobile friendly web site, hours of operation, menu and directions to their location is a no brainer.
Food for thought while enjoying the Spring weather and brainstorming on creative marketing ideas!
NetworkedBlogs has launched a new application that allows you to promote your blog on Facebook and to discover new blogs in the process. Combining your efforts on Facebook and Blogging by using this great new application is sure to gain you more exposure, visitors and followers.
Features
Show a thumbnail image of your blog on your profile
A visual blogroll on your profile to promote your blog and blogs you like
A directory of blogs organized by topic and geographical locations
Read blog articles inside Facebook
A discussion forum about everything related to blogging
A community of like minded people to connect with and learn from
Facebook users discovering your blog through this application have easy one click tools to invite friends and share your content. And as Facebook now has real time feeds applied to users pages, these actions are even more viral as the action is posted for their friends list to discover.
Despite this article dating back to 2005, after reading it again today I discovered that from a marketing and search engine perspective it has yet to have been out-dated.
Todays blogs have much more than the article mentions in terms of technology you can take advantage of. Built in RSS feeds allow you to syndicate your blog posts to targeted areas around the Internet. Incoming RSS feeds can be utilized to keep your blog content fresh and updated while you are busy running your business. Interactive Widgets give you and your readers easy to use tools to communicate encouraging participation and communication.
But the 10 reasons mentioned in this article still apply today.
If you have yet to create your blog, have a look at my portfolio and consider having me help you get up to speed in the blogosphere. *Save 25% through May!
I've mentioned RSS in blogs and articles a few times, so I thought I'd post a list of directories specifically developed for promoting your RSS feeds. In a little less than an hour you should be able to submit your feed to all of these, each link opens in a new window/tab for convenience.
As a web designer and developer, I have a handful of browsers to test sites for compatibility. But which browser do I use on a daily basis? I've switched to FireFox for productive reasons, some of which you may find useful for your online tasks.
1) Tabbed Browsing and Save Session
Browsing with tabs has been a real time saver. I generally have several windows I have to work with. My Twitter Dashboard, Web Site Editor, the web site I am working on, Gmail, and an active search. Rather than having that many windows open to switch back and forth to, I simply click between tabs.
Save Session is great. If Firefox unexpectedly closes, you don’t have to spend time recovering data or retracing your steps through the Web. If you’re in the middle of typing an email, you’ll pick up where you left off, even down to the last word you typed. Session Restore instantly brings back your windows and tabs, restoring text you entered and any in-progress downloads. With the Save Session on Exit feature added, I can close FireFox at any stopping point and return to that exact place when I return, including all the tabs I had running at the time.
2) Ad Block Plus
We are all annoyed by all those ads and banners on the internet that often take longer to download than everything else on the page. Adblock Plus is a great plugin that gets rid of them. You can right-click on a banner and choose "Adblock" from the context menu — and the banner won’t be downloaded again. With a filter subscription, even this simple task will usually be unnecessary: the filter subscription will block most advertisements fully and automatically.
You might also note that you can set Ad Block Plus to allow ads on specific web sites you choose. Quite often the related content on certain web sites can be important and relevant to your interests.
3) Customization
FireFox allows you to install Add-on's that can improve your productivity as well. For example, as I work throughout the day online, I have Add-ons that alert me to events that may require my attention. There are Add-on's that track your bids on eBay, alert you to updates on your favorite web sites, give you a live feed of activity from all of your social networks and more.
4) Security
An independent study shows that, in 2006, IE users were vulnerable to online threats 78% of the time. Firefox users? Only 2%. Over time Explorer has been attacked by so many threats that rumor has it, version 8 may be the last Explorer browser offered. With Microsoft seemingly always a target for hacks and cracks, FireFox has been a much more comfortable browser to use in my opinion.
5) Productive Features
One-Click Bookmarking allows you to bookmark, search and organize web sites quickly and easily. You can view web pages faster, using less of your computer’s memory. Smart Location Bar let's you find the sites you love in seconds — enter a term for instant matches that make sense. The Password Manager allows you to remember site passwords without ever seeing a pop-up.
And those are just a few. Using FireFox in combination with many online tools from Google and other parties, I can manage to fit what used to be a 12 to 14 hour day into an 8 hour day based on improved task management, automation, ease of use and speed.
Google's Chief Economist, Hal Varian, explains the AdWords Ad Auction and how your max CPC bid and quality score determine how much you pay for a click on Google.
Just as this issue of Promowear Magazine arrives, starting today Facebook users will start to see the new homepage, which is designed to make it faster and easier to create multimedia updates and receive instantaneous feed items from your network. It was also annouced today that Facebook has surpassed 190 million users, and are just weeks away from 200 million.
The news feed stream will now include real-time items being shared by your friends, so you can get instant glimpse of the social activity happening in you and your network. As I mentioned in this article, I recommend importing the RSS feed from your blog or website, and creating a page for your business.
Edit March 13, 2009: At the time I wrote this issues article I had no reference to demographics, I stumbled across some today confirming my predictions.
Providing your visitors with social media sharing buttons provides them one click access for sharing your content. I can add social media sharing functionality with buttons that compliment your site for just $35.00!
Add this important feature to your site today!
Design and Install Social Sharing Functionality to One Web Site or Blog
While I am just about done with John Kuczynski's new web site, taking the time to create a blog for John made a nice addition to his online presence. Johnny has a lot of fans as one of the most popular and winning American dart players, and those fans like to follow his tournaments and achievements.
I sensed a bit of frustration from him in regards to updating the Internet. John was spending quite a bit of time updating his fans on MySpace, Facebook and his own web sites. By creating this blog and utilizing the RSS feed, John can now simply post once and the other sites are automatically syndicated with the same post.
If you are interested in a blog for yourself feel free to contact me.
As an artist and designer, achieving a level of satisfaction with any client comes with the expectation that quite often we will disagree when it comes to our design ideas. That comes with the territory and applies to logo design, branding, advertising and all other forms of artistic expression.
However when it comes to creating a web site and designing for the Internet, there are certain boundaries and guidelines that a designer should conform to in order to please the most important element of the project - your web site visitors.
Believe it or not the most specific disagreements I have experienced have come in the selection of fonts. As you know there are thousands - maybe millions of typestyles to choose from. But when applying that design choice to the Internet, the truth is you should select from only a handful.
Short story is, you can apply any font to your web pages that you like but if the user visiting your web site doesn't have that same font installed on their system they won't see it. It will default to whatever font their system has been set to use in the event that a font is missing.
There is also the given fact that not everyone uses the same size monitor, uses the same monitor resolution settings, or even has the same strength of vision. Having said that, the readability of your font selection comes into play as well.
Reflecting on these technical tidbits of typestyle trivia, I managed to dig up a great article and survey from my bookmarks that explains things in detail and presents a great visual example of what can happen if an unwise font selection is made.
I have mentioned and/or discussed in depth the subject of RSS feeds (Real Simple Syndication) in many of my articles, as well as suggesting RSS to clients frequently. More often than not the subject appears to create hesitation, confusion or the feeling that I am making suggestions on too high of a technical level.
I was reminded of that scenario when I stumbled across this video from Google, and decided it would be beneficial to include it here with a brief how to blog post for anyone who wants to get their feet wet and test the waters of syndicated information.
Let's start the video clip:
The first step of course is to login to your Google account and add Google Reader. You will find this by going to Google, clicking on "My Account" to the top right of your screen, then scrolling down to "Try Something New". If you don't see Google Reader there, click on "More >>".
Once you have added Google Reader you can start adding RSS feeds to it. There are a couple of methods to adding feeds.
One method can be utilized while you are browsing the Internet. If you find yourself on a web page, blog or news site of interest you will usually find an icon something similar to the icons pictured to the right of this paragraph. Other times it is a text link like the one I have at the top of this blog. These links and icons vary from site to site, but after a few glances you will begin to become more familiar with them. When logged into your Google Reader account you can simply click on the link or icon and the following page will allow you to click on "Add To Google Reader". All set!
The other method is to manually add an RSS feed. To add a feed manually you will need to know the feed URL. The easy way to grab the feed URL is to right click on the link or RSS icon and select "Copy Link Location". You may then go to Google Reader, press the "Add A Subscription" button and paste the URL into the field.
Google Reader also allows you to search for feeds you may be interested in directly from your Google Reader page. You can also organize your feeds into folders by selecting "Manage Subscriptions" in the bottom left corner of your Google Reader screen.
An example of how to take advantage of RSS would be to reflect on how you read your local newspaper. I tend to breeze through the front page news rather quickly, then dig out the sports page and occasionally the metro section to see what's happening in my neighborhood. In an online world using RSS feeds, I simply subscribe to the RSS feeds "Front Page", "Sports" and "Metro" from my local newspaper.
I also categorize my subscriptions by keeping them in folders within Google Reader:
Sports: The sports feed from the local paper, the Dallas Cowboys feed along with the rest of my favorite sports teams, Indy Car Racing etc.
Business: I subscribe to many industry related news feeds, stay on top of search engine happenings and follow blogs that keep me in touch and up to speed with what's going on in my field of work.
News: Simply put, I drop all of my news subscriptions there.
Darts: All things dart related.
If you're catching on you're beginning to see that I can log in to Google Reader in the morning and absorb all the news and information I need for the day within a few minutes rather than browsing through bookmarks and links for an hour or more. In addition I can select feeds to be sent to my Blackberry for news on the fly, alerts that are critical to any of my web sites or just to have something nearby to read if I'm stuck waiting for a meeting to get started.
Once you get the hang of RSS you can then start enjoying not only a faster paced gathering of information, but also begin to understand how RSS can benefit your business, provide you with Internet Marketing channels or simplify your daily work routine in some way.
For readers with a few more minutes to view video tutorials, the Google Reader Help Channel has a few more clips that should clear up any other questions.
How would you like a nice full blown Ask Jeeves search bar across the top of your web site?
Well, in this case you don't even have to ask!
The team over at Ask has decided to load their users search results in a frame, along with the web sites users click through to visit. Despite the optional method for dismissing the search bar - which doesn't necessarily work for everyone due to cookie handling - it still creates issues. Once a user gets more than one page deep into a web site, if they dismiss the search bar the reloaded page goes back to the first page viewed.
And let's not even discuss the wonderful suggested search terms they include, which is easy one click access for your visitors to leave your web site.
According to recent Press Release from Yahoo!(R) we will soon be introduced to a new and improved Yahoo! Mobile service.
Features are to include:
Yahoo! oneSearch(TM) - Yahoo!'s award-winning mobile search service providing the most current, relevant answers you need.
Today - The most interesting stories buzzing on the Internet right now, selected by Yahoo!'s editorial team.
Email - Access to Yahoo! Mail and other popular email service providers, including Gmail(R), Windows Live(TM) Hotmail and AOL(R) Mail.
Pulse - Access totheir social networks, including Bebo(R), Dopplr(TM), Facebook(R), Flickr(R), Friendster(R), Last.fm(R), MySpace(R), Twitter(TM) and YouTube(TM).
Yahoo! Address Book - Keeps consumers' contacts always handy and in sync.
Yahoo! Calendar - View, add and edit appointments when users are away from their PCs.
Yahoo! News - Breaking headlines across popular topics.
The smartphone version of Yahoo! Mobile is to include the above, plus:
Yahoo! oneSearch with Voice(TM) - Allowing users to launch searches by simply speaking.
Maps - Powerful improved tools that let consumers locate, learn about and get directions to points of interest.
Opera Mini(TM) 4.2 - An integrated version of the world's most popular mobile web browser, with easy return to the Yahoo! Mobile app, that launches when web site access is needed.
Widgets - Enhanced mobile-optimized experiences for services from Yahoo! and other brands. Users can browse, add and remove these at anytime according to their tastes.
I gave it a spin on my Blackberry this morning and submitted an application to be a beta tester.
I currently use many of Google's mobile services that I find extremely valuable. Google allows you to sync your calendar, contacts and appointments to and from your mobile device and the web, and the Google maps feature is nice on occasion. Gmail has been very easy to use as well. I recently installed Google Latitude, which tracks my Blackberry's GPS signal. Although the application was intended for others to know where you are, I installed it should I ever lose it or have it stolen.
It will be interesting to see what Yahoo! Mobile has in store for us in terms of productivity, tools we can use in our daily business routines and of course possible channels for marketing online.
Recently I came across a post in an online forum where someone relatively new to Internet Marketing had posted a question regarding Facebook. Basically he was asking other web site owners whether or not linking to a Facebook Fan Page would be a good idea or not.
I was a little disappointed in the replies the poster was receiving. Those who responded made sense, basically encouraging the philosophy of "why link to an off-site web page when you have the customer on your site already". While I do subscribe to that theory, I had to disagree in this particular case.
I replied with:
I'm in the other camp {username}. My FB fan page generates sales and is another way to broadcast announcements and promotions to an opted in, qualified group of shoppers. Furthermore it is showing up in the search engines. While I agree that outgoing links need to be under scrutiny, I have to disagree that a Facebook fan page is a bad idea.
Also, Facebook allows you to create applications. I created one that allows users to send dart shirts to each other. It is generating an average of 100 active users per week. Every time someone sends one to a friend, both sending and receiving users have my products right there on their screen with my company info and link to my shop.
Add it all up, and from an Internet Marketing perspective its a no brainer. Go for it.
Back in December while tuning everything in for the last Holiday rush, I created a Facebook Fan Page for my dart shirts web site as well as the application I mentioned in my reply. By January my application had reached 638 monthly active users, and that number increases daily.
Considering the growth and continued popularity of Facebook, consider signing up if you have not joined the crowd. For more of my Facebook Philosophy coming from an Internet Marketing perspective, watch your mailbox for the next issue of Promowear Magazine.
Do you have social media sharing buttons on your web site or blog?
Providing your visitors with social media sharing buttons provides them one click access for sharing your content. I can add social media sharing functionality with buttons that compliment your site for just $35.00!
Add this important feature to your site today!
Design and Install Social Sharing Functionality to One Web Site or Blog
Back in February of 08 I had posted about the iGoogle Darts Theme I had created, and later discovered went over relatively well as a traffic generator. I recently discovered a new and similar avenue in a Widget.
Widgets are nifty little scripts that run on web pages. They can have just about anything in them. Products to shop for, a picture of the day, the joke of the week etc... I'm sure you've seen more than one since you've been online today.
Having a web site that sells dart shirts and gifts to dart players, I discovered a news Widget that would allow me to enter any RSS feed into it for adding darts news snippets to my web site. A small effort to make the site somewhat "sticky" as they like to say. While surfing through my Google Reader for an RSS feed it occurred to me that I read darts news from several sources almost daily. By using the "Share" feature in Google Reader I could customize and generate my own darts news feed.
The result is a branded darts news Widget that dart players with web sites, blogs, MySpace Profiles, league web sites and other web pages might consider installing on their web pages. I know, now you're wondering how this may generate some traffic to my web site right?
Since I am generating the RSS feed through my Google Reader account, I also subscribed to my dart shirts blog. Now every time I post an announcement for a new product or t-shirt design I can share that news along with the other news snippets I share for the day. As a result, that simple click of the share button will broadcast my blog post to every web site using the Widget. And much like the iGoogle darts theme, this Widget will more than likely be placed on darts related web sites, where dart players can be found surfing the web.
I hope to update on some statistical data in the near future, in the meantime don't be shy. You can look at my Widget (yes, that does make me giggle), then browse around the Widgetbox web site and think creatively about making one of your own!
To kick off the beginning of the new year I thought I'd introduce Alternative Search Engines and CSE's to those not familiar with them. The following links open in a new window for you to explore along with the column, the comments feature here is available for questions and discussion:
I'll be straight up honest with you when I say that each end every month I have been selling products and services online, my list of newsletter subscribers has grown and sales have increased through Email Marketing. I am using Constant Contact, the same service I recommend to my clients and most of them enjoy using regularly. Constant Contact is an easy to use third party tool that pays for itself as each and every monthly newsletter or alert I send generates WELL MORE THAN enough sales to cover the cost, and the benefit of the things I get to do behind the scenes in terms of marketing my online store and achieving success.
Email Marketing and Online Surveys build lasting relationships with your customers and keep them coming back. Not to mention having an opted in list of subscribers gives you the chance to contact those who may be browsing but buying at a later time. Email Marketing and Online Survey are the tools you need to help grow your business. They're affordable. They don't take a lot of time to use. And they're effective. In fact, more than 250,000 businesses use Constant Contact to drive their success because they know using our tools to communicate with their current customers generates more referrals, customer loyalty, and repeat business.
Email Marketing lets you connect and get relevant messages out to people who want to hear from you. Online Survey helps them tell you what they really think about your designs, products, and communications - giving you new ideas and feedback to better understand and meet their needs.
The insights you'll get with Online Survey help you focus on how to meet customer needs and deliver what they want. And with Email Marketing, you can deliver relevant, professional-looking email campaigns that get opened, measured and acted on.
Create professional email campaigns and online surveys quickly and easily; choose from more than 200 easy-to-use newsletter templates and 40 survey templates. Or customize your own to compliment your web site.
Get survey feedback and measure email campaign results in real time with instant tracking and reporting, and uncover revealing trends and patterns.
Use online polls to keep your website fresh and your visitors coming back. Find answers to the questions you've been wondering about!
Manage your email and survey lists, and reporting all in one place with your integrated Constant Contact account.
Create targeted email lists based on survey response, and follow up with relevant email communications. Use the targeted lists to allow subscribers to opt-in for info on multiple interests, products and services.
Get help every step of the way with online educational resources and award-winning, free, and unlimited customer support.
My affiliation with Constant Contact gives me the opportunity to offer by blog readers and clients a FREE 60-Day Trial. Get Email Marketing, Online Survey or both. No risk. No obligation. No credit card gets you started with the award-winning service, and support more than 250,000 customers - including mine - know and trust.
Note: This video tour is from August 2007 and does not cover many of the newer features and benefits. It does however give you a good look inside what Constant Contact has to offer.