Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Marketing an Internet Business - Helpful Information Websites

Marketing an internet business is not easy. I find that the more I educate myself the more I am learning how to navigate my way through the internet.


Below is a list of four helpful information websites that I use.


http://www.howstuffworks.com/ - I find this to be an incredible site! They tell you how everything works, from internet to airplanes.

http://www.problogger.net/ - Tips to help you make money blogging - This guy has great advice on how to make money blogging.

http://www.doshdosh.com/ - A site helping you make money online. blogging, affiliate marketing, advertising etc.. great site.

http://www.startupnation.com/ - My Gurus. A site by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs - everything you need to know about starting your own business.

There are endless blogs and websites on the internet that share excellent information. On the other hand it can make one crazy trying to read everything. Therefore I recommend sticking to a few websites for your personal internet growth.

To Your success!!

This Is How I Market My Website

I have a website helpwithyouressay.com ; well actually my two partners and I have a website. We have been working on this for about four months. It’s a free information website, we finally launched our website a few weeks ago.

In my real job I work in the afternoon, so this gives me time in the morning to work on my own site, after I take the kid to his little nursery, I then come home, make coffee and sit in front of the computer till its time to pick him up.

Oh boy it can be frustrating! I want massive traffic to my site but dear lord HOW? Every day I find another article that will tell me “how to…” Everyday I will discover a new website…. then I find myself just sitting in from of the computer flipping through sites, watching some videos on Youtube , checking my email, checking the news…..Until I decided enough is enough!

Let’s get down to business! I aint no pro. I m just like almost everyone else – learning as I’m going.

I sat down and wrote out my marketing plan. First I understood that there are two aspects when it comes to driving traffic to a website. When I got that little “ka-ching!” in my head then I was able to get to work. Here it is: There is short term traffic and long term traffic. What is short term traffic? This is building up visitors, sending someone and email, posting on a yahoo group, craigslist – I do this to continue the steady flow of traffic to my site. When I send someone an email [from my own personal email contacts – over 300 people] they will usually click on the link, visit the site a page or two and then move one. In some cases they will bookmark the site if they like it. Then the email gets lost in their account. Same thing with posting on a related yahoo group – it gets lost after a few days with all the messages being posted on that group.
What is long term traffic? This is building up an audience around your website. This means that you need to invest a little more time in some areas – and yes its hard but its worth it in the long run. Like being involved in a social network like myspace or facebook. It means making friends on the web via internet forums and when I talk about internet forums I am saying is that you shouldn’t just post things like “ I have a new site! Visit my site today! here is the link!” - You know what that is? That’s called being an internet jerk. The whole idea of a forum is where people can share information with one another , information that is helpful. Get involved in some forums and share your knowledge with the world. Most forums allow you to put your URL as your signature. If you share your valuable information – people will trust you, they will become your followers. I have some “gurus” on the internet. I have never met them. They share such wonderful information that I almost every time visit their websites [ and click on one of their google ads!] and maybe even buy something. Why? Because I trust them, I admire them. Remember this rule: People like nice people.

I decided that I need to create an action plan for myself or I will never get things done!

Sunday morning [my wife is watching the baby] I usually do a round of yahoo group postings. Before launching out site, I joined a bunch of yahoo groups that are related to my website. Then I write something up about my website and I just copy and paste it on every group that I am member of. Now some yahoo groups won’t allow you to just promote your site – so I get involved in the discussion and I add my link at the end.
By doing this I am working on the short term traffic. Then I will go to facebook, I have created a profile and a groupie for my website on facebook. I make friends over facebook and invite them to join my website group. I am very careful about spamming other people. So what I do is I search for people I know and then I approach there networks by asking “hey I am a friend of Joe, I am looking to build my network …” So they know right away that I am not some random unknown guy who trying to spam them. In 99% of the cases people have agreed since they know Joe and trust him. On my facebook group I try to make it interesting. I post music videos, updates about my site, interesting articles…. This is building my long term traffic. I am building a community of people around my site. I try to focus on one social network, If you try more then that – you will go crazy! Focus your energy on one spot and own it!

Comes Monday I focus on Forums. I try to write up an interesting article and then I post it in different forums, I try to create something that has valuable information and that it could start a discussion. Then I will go back and get involved in some discussion groups. Remember: The link to my site is my forum signature. So this really takes up Monday morning.

Tuesday! Social book marketing day! This day always brings us good traffic. We get involved in our social book marketing sites – Stumbleupon.com, Digg.com, Del,icio.us
We stumble, make friends and get involved. This is great for short and long term traffic.

Wednesday is Link exchange day. I have decided that link exchanging really needs a separate day. This is can really drive in long term traffic. When your link is sitting on another popular website – this can really drive in traffic. The beauty of this is – you don’t have to do anything! I also try to post comments on blogs related to my site.

Thursday is the day where I let myself to go wild! No not partying but crazy posting! Anywhere and everywhere I can. Its kind of like having a brick and mortar store in the center of the city- I have fliers and I am going to hang them up on every bulletin board I find in the city. Again you have to be careful about spamming. Sometimes I will send emails to my friends asking them to forward the site to others. Now! Every other Thursday I Do article marketing and submit them to relevant sites like squidoo.com, or ezinearticles.com or even forums [great place for articles!] .

Friday is when my partners and I review the week – what marketing methods worked; we discuss the content of the site and what needs to be added. We discuss ideas for the coming week and ideas for the future, we discuss the Google ads, and affiliate marketing programs… we try to cover everything. Remember: if you want to make money then you have to treat it like a business!

Saturday….. I rest!

In the evening after the baby goes to sleep – I spend time reading articles, exploring new website, I try to understand in depth the websites that I am already using and how I can make them “work for me” – I basically spend this time for my own education and to catch up with what’s new in the internet world.

Is it hard? Yes it’s hard, but one thing that I do know and that is:
“ A Quitter Never Wins And a Winner Never Quits!”

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

This is really funny - The guy cant stop laughing

Five tips for getting over writer’s block

Got an essay? If you’re stuck, feeling helpless, don’t have any ideas… you are not alone. Thousands of high school and college students all over the world are probably having the same experience you are right now. When I wrote my first history paper in high school I was stuck for hours and I remember it as one of the most miserable times in my school career.

Later I learned how to unlock my writing potential. You can too. Yes, you.

Here are a few insights/tips I’ve come up with for getting through the difficulties of the writing process.

1. Before you get started, do two things. One is to create an environment for yourself where you can work. Put yourself into a setting where you will be productive. This is perhaps the most important tip, since your environment can influence how you think and feel profoundly. I personally work well in a room alone without distractions or even music. Other people are really productive when others are around and there’s background noise, like at a cafĂ© or a bookstore. Those people are usually good at multi-tasking too. The point is, you can control your productivity and unlock your writing mind by putting yourself in the optimal situation.
2. The second thing to do before you actually write anything down is to make a writing schedule. Budget for yourself a certain amount of time that you’ll be focused exclusively on your task, with nothing else going on but writing. Give yourself a realistic amount of time in which you can get something substantial done without driving yourself crazy (if you drive yourself crazy, you won’t be able to write anyway!). I like to work in 90-minute stints, with breaks in the middle.
3. When you sit down to write and you’ve got nothing, you’re totally stuck… Two things. The first is, take a deep breath, look at your topic, look at your clean sheet of paper/screen in front of you, put your pen/pencil/fingers-to-the-keyboard and just go for it. Just write whatever comes to mind about the topic. Keep on going and going until you realize that you just jotted some valuable information. Of course, some of that information won’t be so valuable, but that’s not the point. Don’t worry about organizing the information or using the right words – that comes later. For now, just get it all out onto the paper/screen.
4. If you get stuck again, do the second stuck-tip: take a five-minute break to clear your head – make scrambled eggs, do pushups, wash the dishes, listen to your favorite song… just don’t watch TV or go on the internet, because you might get sucked in and procrastinate, which could screw up your essay writing and your self-confidence as a writer. Do something that you will feel refreshed afterwards. Then go back to your writing pad/screen and spill out some more about your topic.
5. The final tip I’ll leave you with is to organize your thoughts with an outline. You’ve jotted down a lot of info – it’s worth investing 45 minutes or so and putting together a plan for how you will present it all. An outline is like a map of your essay – it will guide you through the rest of the writing process, and will save you at the times when you feel stuck and lost. My website (mentioned below) has a free tutorial for doing an outline and a bunch of other free writing-process tutorials and tips and stuff.

Good luck!

Ami
http://helpwithyouressay.com

A Complimentary College-Essay Fix

As the year closes, tens of thousands of high-school seniors are scrambling to put together viable college-application packets, hoping to ensure their academic, professional and social future. The most pressurizing element of that packet is the essay: whereas GPA, resume of activities and SAT scores are statistics to put down on paper, the essay demands something more daunting of students, of these budding young adults. The essay calls for a statement of who they are.

What teen knows how to answer that question? Of course, they've been thinking about it for the past several years. They've been moving in and out of social groups, establishing personal boundaries, trying to fit in, trying to discover their identity. Now they are asked to express this identity in a clear statement – they get stuck.

They turn to their college advisors for help, to their teachers, to the adults in their life. Some spend lots of money on tutors who specialize in college-essay writing. They get advice about being original, about using the right words – they are instructed to omit a key aspect of their personality because Tufts or UC Davis might not like it.

At HelpWithYourEssay.com, we offer students a simple formula for composing the college essay, for formulating their life's vision and self-concept. We provide students with a blank text box in which to respond to the prompt:

"What is it that makes you great? What do you have deep inside of you that can do wonderful things? Spill it out in this box…"

After they've done so, we challenge them: "Done so fast? Go back and write some more."

We then email the students the piece of gold they have just written about themselves, directing them to take it and organize it in a structured, readable essay. We invite them to use our free premier automated essay-writing tutorials to facilitate that process. We wish them success in their endeavors, encouraging them to exploit their own greatness in whatever path they choose.

We at HelpWithYourEssay.com wish the same for you in this holiday season.


Ami Steinberger, MA, has been facilitating the growth of many student writers through private tutoring and other educational encounters over the past ten years. He has now begun to do so en masse with his new online writing facility, http://HelpWithYourEssay.com. Ami is 27 years old and lives in Jerusalem, Israel.