Creative Web Promotions

How to Combine your promoting efforts

2011-10-17T15:59:00.005-06:00

SO many places to promote.... so little time. Make your efforts count & get more "bang for your buck"

Blogging, Squidoo lenses, Twitter, Facebook, Redgage, Forums & more.

Being able to connect to several sites & accounts is a GREAT way to save time. Post on 1 & it posts on another as well. You can connect your Facebook Biz pages to your Twitter account... See the video below.

Now... Squidoo & Redgage both make money when other's click either on it or within it. So here is a scenario:

You have a new blog that has links to your Website or products. You set up a Squidoo lens that has to do with your products & you have links to your blog.

You have a Redgage account that links to your Squidoo lens. You promote your Redgage account on a Facebook page that will also post on Twitter.

SOOOO... promote on Facebook, will also post on Twitter (a twofer)... link to your Redgage (you get paid for clicks) the link from there goes to Squidoo (you get higher ranking AND maybe extra $ if they click on ads).... then you link to your blog (hopefully they follow your blog) & THEN the links in the Blog go to your site or product.

Now I KNOW you are asking "Why not just go directly to the site?" Take a look at that crazy "maze" of a scenerio. You have created many backlinks to your site & searches LOVE backlinks! AND if you have good friends, they will share or Retweet the entire thing all over again to their friends.

This all may sound like a giant Jigsaw puzzle but it is the best way to help in your search ranking & we all know: Higher the Ranking - the better our sales are.

Using Twitter to YOUR advantage

2011-08-21T08:06:00.000-06:00

Follow BusinessesGrowingTogether on Twitter

Twitter is a real-time information network that connects you to the latest information about what you find interesting. Simply search what interests you, follow them & follow conversations.

Twitter are small snips of information called Tweets. Each Tweet is 140 characters long.

Twitter connects businesses to customers in real-time. Businesses use Twitter to quickly share information with people interested in their products and services, gather feedback, and build relationships with customers and other people. Twitter offers businesses a chance to reach a targeted audience.

How do you find that targeted audience?... First, Twitter will give you a list of who you may want to follow based on your profile Keywords. Start following a bunch & many will follow you back.

The next place to get followers is from any twitter lists on forums or groups you belong to. Add yours & follow the others.

Then another GREAT place is www.twibes.com. These are groups of "tweeters". Find a twibe & follow the members in the Twibe. I searched "weddings" & there are a few wedding professionals & planners. So there may be followers that are interested in wedding info.

Searching with Hashtags... Users often preadd # to words in their Tweets to categorize them for others eg: "Check out our new products for the Fall: http://t.co/link2 #fallsale" Think of hashtags as the theme of your Tweet. Users can then click on a hashtag to see other similarly-themed tweets and find yours in search. Then follow the people that are also using that hashtag.

One more trick to find targeted followers.... on the right side on your twitter, you see "trending topics". If you see one that connects to your biz, click on it & follow some of those tweeples.

Now that you have a bunch of followers.... you need to tweet. PLEASE don't tweet an entire page worth of your product links! Add links to interesting things... maybe a DIY "how to"... or a recipe.... & THEN throw in some product links. If you want to tweet thoughout the day & want to schedule tweets, I use www.hootsuite.com ..
You can schedule a weeks worth of tweets in 1 sitting. This way, if you work throughout the week, you can schedule tweets on a weekend for the entire week & promote your business while you are at work.

One other reason I use Twitter... the backlinks get picked up extremely fast! Bots & spiders crawl that link almost immediately. When I tweet a link... by the time I get back to that item, I have 15 to 25 hits within 2 seconds. These are not "eyeballs" but spiders & those spiders "report back" to searches & it helps your ranking in the search engines. Each tweet with a link is considered New Content, so don't spam the same product over & over in the same day. Space them out.

So now you know a bit on how to use twitter to grow your business. Twitter is sort of different but it is a fantastic tool for marketing you business & communicating with customers.

Using Squidoo lenses to promote your products

2011-08-19T15:14:00.004-06:00

What is Squidoo & how can it benefit me?
Think of a Squidoo lens like a blog post. But the main difference is not only will you promote your products... you can make money by getting traffic to your lens.

We will talk more about that later. Also, a blog changes subject matter as you post, Squidoo lenses should be a very specific subject. This creates backlinks to your sites & search engines LOVE these links.

The building blocks of a Lens are called modules. There are MANY different modules & as you make more lenses & participate on other lenses, you will earn points & as you hit new levels, the more modules & widgets will become available to you.

Links: Squidoo has a rule of no more than 10 links to the same site UNLESS they are "whitelisted". How do you know what sites are whitelisted?... When you go to publish your lens, it will tell you that you have too many links to the same site. No "biggie", just make several linked words all to 1 link. The links from specific modules don't count toward the number of links. So you can have several Amazon, Zazzle, Ebay or other modules with product links.

So first you need to Register... That’s all very straightforward and you just need to go to www.Squidoo.com and create an account and follow the links that you will then receive in your email.

Next question... what do I write about? Plagerism is NOT allowed & you will get banned if caught. Also with the new "rules" with Google, duplicate content can also get you shut down until you fix it. Duplicate content is more than the first few sentences coming from another site. Even if you are giving credit to the site you are quoting.... if it's more than a couple sentences, google will flag you & squidoo will "spank you".

Now... Just what do you want to write about? Everyone is an expert at something. Start with a very simple lens about something you do well. Are you the best fundraiser at your kid's school?... Do you grow the best Roses in the neighborhood?... Find your niche & go from there. Most of my lenses only have a small amount of actual info & more selling... but this one has a wide variety of some info & selling:

http://www.squidoo.com/bar-mitzvah-bat-mitzvah-planning

So just get started because you can always go back & add or change your lens. Actually, this will freshen up your lenses & the search engines will pick you up better. Add plenty of Tags. These are the keywords that people will search & you want them to find you. You add a few tags when you create your lens then down the side, you can add more. Only use relevent tags.

Next... about the presentation of your lens. Adding some pictures, graphics & color will keep your readers interested. NOW here is a trick to use some great photos.... you are not to use others' pictures or photos unless you have the rights to do so or give a link credit to the site with the photo, BUT if you set up an affiliate account at AllPosters.com... they have a photo or poster for just about everything. You can use their image & link it with your affiliate info. This is totally allowed as long as you have the affiliate link with it.

Limited HTML & some css coding is allowed in the text link so you can add more photos from your websites & a bit of color text, borders & boxes to add so "zing" to your lens.

This is a great lens for adding some CSS coding. http://www.squidoo.com/squidoo-css
Just follow the exact codes they give & experiment.

Other modules that are great to get your visitors involved are Polls... guestbooks.... link lists. Let others add to your lens. This will put your lens higher up in the Squidoo lens rankings... higher the rankings, more you get paid.

OK.... now the "Money Makers". Don't expect to get rich quick. This is NOT the place for you if you expect that. Right now, I get excited when I hit $10 in a month. I have read other lenses & the people who make high dollars have 100+ lenses. So think of these lenses as more promotional & keep making more & more. Then the money comes in.

You need a Paypal account, so make sure that is all set up. There are several ways that squidoo divies up the money. Google ads, Chitika ads, Amazon, itunes, ebay, zazzle, cafe press & others. The portion you get will depend on your ranking. There is an actual list on some lens but it is confusing, so I just work my rear off & get others to my lens so that my rankings go up. You only get pennies from the ads BUT you get much bigger chunks from any sales from the modules. You do not need to sign up for any Associate or Affiliate accounts with any of them if you don't want to. I can't even sign up for an Amazon affiliate because Colorado & Rhode island are the only 2 that have stupid tax laws, they won't let us. BUT I can get some money through my lenses since it is Squidoo getting the full amount & then giving all of us a little chunk.

Add Modules that match your lens. If you are writing about a Singer... add you tube, itunes, Amazon mp3s. Talking about Authors... amazon books, products on cafe press or zazzle. Party lenses... Amazon books, products, You tube videos, recipes. etc... etc. Add modules that get readers to interact on your lens. Guestbooks, Link Plexos (readers can add their links), polls, debates. The more reader interaction, the higher your ranking & the more your share of the income. "Hugging your lens".... go through & update your lenses. Even if it's a small thing, hit that publish button & share it. Get others to give it a thumbs up.... add to the guestbook... favorite it... lensroll it... All that, again, boosts your ranking. Then simple promotions of your lenses.... Tweet... Facebook... blog... whatever it takes. Add a link from your website to a specific lens. Add to forums... Facebook groups. Promote your lenses as much as you do your websites.

My list of lenses are at: http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/kjscreations and http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/blueskiesplusllc (you don't want 2 accounts.... I had 2 way back when I started... just keep them all on a single dashboard)

Notice that 1 of my lenses is http://www.squidoo.com/squidoo-lens-directory

I collect other helpful lenses & list them all here. I also have a Link plexo that allows readers to add links to other lenses as well. So see about lens ideas? I did a lens about lenses that show how to build lenses. Lens ideas are only limited by your imagination.

The last part is promoting your lenses. Once you publish your new lens... there is a Twitter and Facebook link. Remember that you can promote in forums too (if allowed). Update your lenses every couple weeks or month. Always remember to hit the publish button.

One last tip.... the more you go & "hug" others lenses (adding your links, taking polls, liking other lenses) you also get points for all of this activity. The higher those points... more modules & widgets open up to you.

So that is how you can promote & make some money at the same time. Now go set up an account & start your first lens. Once you get one done, you will want to do another & another.

Setting up a Landing Page on Facebook

2010-10-15T11:14:00.003-06:00

Adding a Landing Page on your Facebook business page is the First Impression your new members will see. Make it WOW them so that they will like your page & suggest to THEIR friends! See http://www.facebook.com/businessesgrowingtogether
If you already "like" my page.... click into the welcome tab. This is my landing page for new members.

So here we go....

You need to know some HTML for this.

Go to your BIZ PAGE.... click in Edit page (under your logo)... down at the bottom where it says "more applications"... click browse more.
In the box that has "search apps" Type in Static FBML
The first on the list... (static FBML), click on it. Then click on "Add to my page" (under the logo) & click on Add to page button next to the page you want it on.
Close
Now go to your biz page....
Click on Edit page & go to FBML 1 under applications....
Click on Edit. In the box title, that will be what is ON THE TAB to be REALLY short. 1 word or 2 short words.
Write your page in HTML in the box. Save Changes.

Now to make this the Landing page for New visitors...
Go to your biz page wall. Click on Options (under share button)... then click on settings.
Choose from the dropdown (second one) next to "Default Landing Tab for Everyone Else:"
This means visitors who are not yet "likers". You don't want all your current members to go there everytime.
Anyway.... choose the tab you want them to land on. OH.... when you go to edit that new page... click on the "link to this tab"... I think that will put in the tab on your page.

You now have a landing page. To edit it.... just go to your biz page, click edite page.... find that page (it will be named what the tab name is)
Click in the edit. Ta-da.... you may need to change your tabs so that one will show.

Now if you want to add ANOTHER FBML page, like I did with my Coupon Page at http://www.facebook.com/businessesgrowingtogether
Simply click on edit on an existing FBML page (your welcome or landing page).... scroll to bottom & you will see "add another FBML box"

Just DON'T click on your settings to have "Default Landing Tab for Everyone Else".

For any graphics... you will have to host them yourself or on a place like photobucket.

Make your Holiday Cards Count!

2010-09-29T20:54:00.002-06:00

Calendar 2011 Holiday Card for Business by BlueSkiesPlusLLC

Get more "Bang for your Buck" when it comes time to send out Holiday cards to your clients or vendors. Send Holiday cards with a Yearly calendar & your Company Info on them.

IF you are a bit "Crafty".... buy small magnets with self adhesive on the back & add a magnet to the back of the cards. Your clients will attach them to a file cabinet or fridge. But the best part is that each time they look at the calendar, they will see YOUR Company information & not forget you!

So make your Holiday cards count!

Calendar 2011 Holiday Card for Business by BlueSkiesPlusLLC
More Business Invitations

Niche Websites Are Still Going Strong

2010-08-17T10:53:00.003-06:00

I get this great newsletter & wanted to pass it on... (This is why we have 40some different websites.) Promote your website by putting your name on great products!

from Daniel Scocco
http://www.dailyblogtips.com

Niche Websites Are Still Going Strong

Daniel Scocco here, and this is the Daily Blog Tips newsletter.

Today I want to talk about niche websites, and why they are still
going strong around the web.

------

First things first, what is a niche website? It is basically a site
that targets a very small niche, like "pinot noir wines" or "sample
resumes." Such websites usually have a small number of pages, say
10 or 20, and their main goal is to rank in the first page of Google
for a specific keyword. Once they achieve that, they will receive
a lot of organic traffic (i.e., traffic from search engines), and
they will monetize such traffic with CPC ads like Google AdSense or
with affiliate marketing.

I prefer to call these sites "mini websites," but many people refer
to them as "niche websites," so we'll be using both terms
interchangeably here.

A couple of years ago some online marketers started to criticize
niche websites, saying that they were doomed to vanish, being
replaced in the search results by large content portals that
covered a wide range of topics.

Guess what? This didn't happen, and niche websites are still going
strong. In fact, recently Google implemented a change in its
algorithm that favored them even more. The change basically made it
harder for large websites to rank for narrow keywords with their
internal pages, especially if those pages are not content rich.

Want an example? Consider the keyword "starcraft 2 download." With
the change in the Google algorithm it is now easier for a mini
website called StartCraft2Download.com to appear in the first page
for that search query, and it is now harder for a large website like
Mahalo.com to do the same simply by publishing an internal page
talking about that topic.

Another criticism that mini websites receive is that they are more
unstable than large, authority websites. In other words, one day
they could be in the first page for a specific keyword, and the
other day they are gone.

This can happen if you use black hat techniques to get your mini
website ranked, but otherwise the above criticism is not true at
all.

If your mini website has all the information about a specific niche
or keyword, and a decent amount of quality backlinks, Google will
consider it an authority inside that small niche, and hence it will
give high rankings for the mini website.

This is the point that most people miss. A mini website can also be
an authority site, although an authority on a very small niche.

Now don't get me wrong. Building a mini website that ranks
high for a competitive keyword is not easy nor fast. You'll need to
work on the content, promote it and get a good amount of backlinks.

But, if you know how to do these things, developing a mini website
when you have some time available could be a smart investment.

In the future I'll talk more about building and profiting from
mini websites, so stay tuned.

Some do's & don'ts when promoting

2010-08-06T14:01:00.004-06:00

Using the social networks such as Facebook & Twitter to promote your wares has become a very popular way to reach 1000's of "eyeballs" with 1 click of a button.
HOWEVER.... there is "etiquette" & ways to get potential customers to read your ads. Now this is based on MY surfing habits. I would think a lot of others feel the same.

Most of this is for both Twitter & Facebook (unless it says different)

First.... DON'T post 2 pages of "look at my stuff"... especially on a personal page. I will NEVER "listen" to anything you have to say & will probably "unfriend" or "unfollow" you in a heartbeat. DO.... spread out your posts or tweets with a product... then an info .... then a funny video ... THEN back to a product. If I find the info worth reading, then maybe I will find your product link worth clicking on too.

Second... DON'T hijack a fan page with your products on someone else's page, unless it is specifically for that as http://www.facebook.com/businessesgrowingtogether is. DO comment IF it is relevent to that post. Or simply hit the "Like" button.

Third ... DON'T spam. Both on Twitter or Facebook messages. A message every hr about "look at your stuff or join a group" on FB messages or posting the same tweet over & over may get you banned from both sites. At the very least, I will unfollow or unfriend you REALLY Fast! DO send a message on FB once a week or so.... & tweet different products at LEAST 20 to 30 min. apart.

Fourth & last.... DON'T connect your Twitter TO your FB page.... this will only result in Pages & pages on your wall & no one will even look if you actually have something important to say. DO connect your FB Fan page TO your twitter. This way, if you have a few things to post on your business fan page.... it will tweet as well without filling up page after page!

Using this information is totally up to you. It is only my opinion but, as I said in the beginning, it is based on MY reading habits.

Google's SearchStories Videos

2010-07-13T18:42:00.003-06:00

SearchStories ... Set up your own to post on facebook or your blog. Advertise your business quick & easy. Google & YouTube will doo all the work FOR FREE!!! Yup, you heard me, FREE!

Check out my first try

12 Favorite and Little Known Tips for LinkedIn

2010-07-12T15:20:00.003-06:00

Posted at http://www.sellinglounge.com/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=3686

12 Favorite and Little Known Tips for LinkedIn
By Elyse Tager (c) 2010
http://www.elymedia.com/

Most business professionals are on LinkedIn at this point. LinkedIn tells us that:

• LinkedIn has over 70 million members in over 200 countries.
• A new member joins LinkedIn approximately every second, and
about half of our members are outside the U.S.

• Executives from all Fortune 500 companies are LinkedIn members.

To me that states clearly that if you have almost ANY kind of business and are prospecting, LI will be a good resource for you. But just setting up a profile and dabbling once a week or so is not going to do much for your prospecting efforts. Below are a few tips that not many folks know about, but are powerful techniques for increasing your visibility and maximizing that "inbound marketing" that Social Media is known for.

1. Create 3 saved searches. If you are doing a search on a company, person, industry or whatever, save your searches. At the top where you see the number of records in your search you'll see a "save this search" button - you get 3 if you are at the basic level. LI will send you a weekly email, if you want, to get updates to your search.

2. Recommendations are important, so ask for them. But make it easy. I first call or email my contact and ask if they will recommend me. If so, write the recommendatíon yourself - so you are sure that you are sending the right message. Be sure to talk about the problems you solved - that's really the point, isn't it?

3. Use the Question and Answer area to gain more visibility on the Internet. On the question that you answer you will see a "share this" with a drop down menu. You can email your network, Digg it, Bookmark the question on Delicious, or use the link provided in your answer and link to one of your blog posts, or somewhere else on your site to pull in traffic.

4. Join groups that are in line with your business, your objectives or your hoped for job. Fish where the fish are. The more "on target" the group, the more valuable the content they provide, and the networking opportunities will be.

5. Use groups to expand your network, but be selective. In the groups tabs, you will see "Groups Directory". Select that and on the next page use Search Groups, selecting "other" from the drop down categories menu. Join the groups that interest you. Once you are a member, you will have access to the members in that group. Try connecting with the ones that make sense. You might evaluate based on the size of their network, the type of company or industry they are in or how much interaction they have had with the group.

6. Did you know you can export your connections? Go to "Contacts." Then "Connections. " At the bottom of your Connections box is "Export Connections. " Export the connections and import them into your preferred address book. Do this frequently so you are consolidating all of your contacts in one spot (might be Outlook, Act, Salesforce).

7. Refer to both the LinkedIn Learning Center and their blog. The Learning Center is full of great tutorials and the blog has info on updated and new features with full explanations.

8. For better and more valued networking, when you invite someone to join your network, don't use the canned LinkedIn message. Say something about who you are and why you want to connect with that person.

9. To really maximize your profile, find one or two LinkedIn specialists (Google that phrase, or check Amazon for authors) and look up their profile. Study carefully and learn by example.

10. Be creative about how you use the Answers section. It can be used to ask for solutions to problems, for resources, for vendors, for processes. But it can also be used to find good connections, or find other groups you may want to join, to deliver information on your products or services, IF it provides an answer to the question. Sometimes you've got the perfect solution!

11. You can share a group with your connections - more value added to your community. When you are in a specific group, on the Overview tab you will see an option to "share group" and you can send an email to 50 of your connections.

12. Don't hop over the "People You May Know" suggestions that appears in the upper right corner of your home page. Expand the box and start connecting with people on an ongoing basis. This is a great way to widen your circle.

LinkedIn is a powerful tool for almost any social media objective - branding, lead generation, or job searching. Invest some time in learning the finer points - you will be glad you did.

About The Author
Elyse Tager is a social media strategist and founder of Elymedia. Elyse develops effective marketing strategies to help the small business grow significantly. Want to learn more about growing your business with Social Media? Sign up for Elyse's free introductory teleseminar available at => http://www.elymedia.com/.

Need to vent

2010-06-03T11:56:00.004-06:00

I know alot of readers don't want to read vents & complaining ... but this is sorta about promoting your site & this may be a better place to scream. LOL

I have quite a few websites since this is my livelihood & it's how I keep the lights on & water running. I work ALL day, EVERY day promoting my online stores. Adding products.... updating squidoo lenses ... blogging ... twittering ... facebook .... ebay.. forums & message boards.
I answer other's blogs & leave my web address if possible. Trying to come up with more ideas to make more money. I have many lenses, blogs, twitters etc.

Now here is my "Venting".

NEW SELLERS who whine about market places not getting fed to google.... googles rules about electronic payments .... "Oh My God, my biz is going down the tubes".... "This FREE store is not like ebay & I'm not getting orders" ... "FREE is not worth my time"..... "they should advertise on TV" (mind you the marketplace is FREE) "Why doesn't my crap sell?" (they have 5 garbage products in their store, shipping is outrageous & there are so many typos in description that I don't understand a word).... "WHAA-WHAA-WHAA!!! I WANT TO SELL STUFF BUT I WANT SOMEONE ELSE TO DO ALL THE WORK FOR FREE"!!!!!

Go AWAY people!!! I am SO tired of giving FREE advise & then you STILL won't get off your rear end & do something!!!

I belong to groups like www.sellinglounge.com where there are a BUNCH of incredibly intelligent business owners. Those are the places to be & anywhere there are stupid people... I just have to stay away because I'm going to say something really nasty one of these days!

WHEW.... Thank you for "listening" & BTW, I thought I could write this here because "not so bright" sellers never read biz info anyway & YOU ALL are the Smart Entrepeneurs on the Internet!!!

Using Video to promote your site

2010-05-10T10:09:00.007-06:00

Use VIDEO to Market & Promote your site!

Brought to you by http://www.promote-101.com/

This is just from my random notes from the ECommerce Summit. Videos are something I've been thinking about doing.... I just need to get a decent idea of WHAT I want the video to "say & do".

Videos are a HUGE way to promote your site! Not only Youtube but there are a bunch out there. So.... here are some notes.

First... this Company will optimize & do video productions. http://www.opv1stpage.com/
Now THEY CHARGE.... have no clue how much, but just wanted to throw that site in. I want to work on doing my own & then see just how bad mine are at first

OK.... Now random notes:

OWNER should star in the video. Makes it more personal & comfortable than some "bikini clad model" Unless you are shooting a Car Wash product. LOL.

FUNNY & HOW TO videos are the largest viewed.

You can use www.tubemogul.com to upload your video to all the video sharing sites.

Must use the right Tags & keywords.... Videos pick up well in Regular Google & other searches AND Google has a separate video search as well.

Use an editing software... Moviemaker is a good one & free. You will have to look how to download... I see a copy for XP... not sure about windows 7. Should be the same.

Have a logo ready to add to your entire video... with your website addy.
see this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeJcDBlQiCE

2-5 minutes max if possible. & "a call to action at the end of every video." (you know... "but wait... order now Blah blah blah")

SHOOTING TIPS:
1: HAVE A GOOD STORYLINE... write out the script
2: Be prepared.... have scripts & demo ready.
3: Have 2 people. One in front of camera & 1 behind.
4: Lighting... have 2 lights... 1 on each side of camera & be about 6 to 7 feet away. Make sure "actor has some depth behind them. Don't shoot with the actor flat up against a wall. OUTSIDE on a nice day is the best for shooting if you can.
5: TEST AUDIO. Nothing more irratating than having to stick your ear directly on a speaker to hear anything.
6: Shoot the video twice using 2 different shots. Ex: 1 from front & 1 from side OR one from waist up & another from chest up. You can edit mush better with extra shots.

Now that you have your videos..... submit them & embed them in your site, blog or squidoo lenses.

Need more Traffic to your WEBSITE but don't have time?

2010-04-25T09:29:00.003-06:00

Do you need to promote your site but just don't have the time to post blogs... twitters... forums?
I can do that FOR YOU!!!
Basic package: each month: 30 blogs (1 per day) to a blog on Google Blogspot with keyword links, 150 Tweets on Twitter with links(5 per day) & 1 post per week on up to 2 forums that you belong to that allows a promotion section. Cost: $400

Added to the above: If you need a blog set up on Google & Twitter account set up... for an additional $100 (1 time flat fee), I will set them up... email you the login & password Info. I will also try to get as many followers as I can in that first month. You can send your company logo for me to add to your Blog as well.

Need a logo for your blog or website? $50 & we can design one for you. (1 change included after you send us your idea or theme)

My credentials: I have 28 websites & stores online.... 5 twitter accounts, 6 blogs, 6 Squidoo lenses & belong to several forums.
EX: twitter - @petsadored or @kjscreations or @bgtogether
blogs: http://www.petsadored.blogspot.com or http://www.apronmadness.blogspot.com

I DO NOT Spam.... I handwrite each blog & twitter to be interesting. I may retweet relevent info & tweet a new blog entry.

So you can take us "for a ride" for 1 month & if you want to do it again for another month.... just let us know.
I take paypal or credit card info over phone... After you email us at kjscreations@comcast.net include an email or phone & I will contact you with the info I need to get you started.

FREE Matching Gift with ANY ORDER!

2010-02-26T15:03:00.010-07:00

Do you need to promote your store?

Order any item from Promote & add your LOGO. With ANY order (1 or 1000)... you will receive a MATCHING free gift! Hand out to clients or be a walking billboard!

Limited time offer. 1 week (2/26 thru 3/6) So hurry & order your promotional products.

● Hats ● Watches ● Totebags ● Earrings ● Buttons ● Magnets ● Ornaments ● Clocks ● Mousepads ● Mugs & More!

Sell YOUR designs on Zazzle... we will set it up

2010-02-16T10:16:00.002-07:00

Earning money & not having to deal with Customers.... payments... questions, returns or shipping is the perfect way to raise money as a fundraiser OR extra income! Pet rescue, school, church or any organization fundraisers.

Zazzle is the place for that!
Don't have time or knowledge to set up your store? I will do that FOR you!

Zazzle has quality products & you earn 20% of any orders from your store.
AND YOU DO NOTHING! (except email me the info for set up & spend the royalties)

Here is how my program works:

* Cost: one time fee $150 for total store set up & up to 25 items added from 1 design.
* $25 per extra 25 items per extra design.
* I will email you for all the profile info I will need.
* You send me your logo & I will design a banner for your store.... add links to twitter & other website on your front page.
* You send your first design via email & I will create up to 25 items & post them.
* I will set it up for royalty payments to go to your Paypal. When royalty payments reach $25 or more... payments will go directly to you. You will also receive all sales info, etc. directly from Zazzle.

I will send you all the login info & it becomes YOUR STORE!
When you are ready to add additional designs on products.... THEN I will invoice you the $25 for each additional design.

Now Marketing & promoting is totally up to you. twitter... add to forums .... facebook ... wherever. So actually making money from sales will depend on your marketing efforts.

Here are some zazzle stores I have set up:

http://www.zazzle.com/petsadored

http://www.zazzle.com/kjscreations

http://www.zazzle.com/kjsweddingshop

http://www.zazzle.com/kjsinvitations

http://www.zazzle.com/blueskiesplusLLC

Email us for more information.... If you would like to get started, send us your paypal email & I will send an invoice. shelly@candybarwrap.com

Get your own store on Ecrater FOR FREE!!!

2010-02-12T09:09:00.005-07:00

Are you planning on defecting from ebay when the next round of price increases take effect?

I don't blame you. All the listing fees... final value fees... payment fees.... 3rd party listing fees... do you REALLY make much money?

Get your store registered & built on ECRATER. They are the ONLY totally free marketplace on the web. (paypal & google checkout still has small fees though)

It is quick & easy to set up. Ecrater sends your store to Google base FOR you to keep your store ranking well in google products. You don't have to keep up with the, ever changing, "Google Rules". Ecrater is also one of the first 3 to become a Google Marketplace Partner.

But don't think if "You build it-they will come". You do have to promote your own store.

Being an active member in the Ecrater Forums will help you do that. It is a forum of all helpful sellers. Some New & some seasoned sellers, all ready to give a helping hand.

More background about the founder of ecrater.

Here are examples of a few stores on ecrater...

and Many....Many more!

Ecrater is quickly becoming the fastest growing marketplace on the web & you can be a part of it!

WOW your customers with Free Gifts

2009-09-25T21:27:00.012-06:00

Wow Them With Giveaways
Promotional marketing techniques that get buyers to spend money

by Janelle Elms - Sep 21, 2009

I'm unsure why people think that just handing me a business card is going to engage me enough to get me to part with my money. As a consumer, I have many choices; a lot of companies are trying to get me to buy from them and, at the moment, I'm less willing to hand over the dough.

So how can you change my mind and get my money? Don't be typical—stand out. Take me away from traditional thinking about what you're trying to sell me. Allow your enthusiasm and excitement about your product or service to wow me.

In recent articles, we looked at useful marketing gimmicks for promoting your business and how to more effectively use your business card to achieve your marketing goals. In this article, we'll cover tips for wowing customers with your giveaways and marketing materials (not to mention, getting them to spend money).

Be flexible with your marketing
I was recently at Creation Fest '09 out at the Gorge in Washington. It was a very beautiful venue but it was so hot and there was no shade. Vendors were having a hard time getting customers to come by their booths. I then saw a brilliant retailer come up with an idea to market their products. Out to the main walkway of this outdoor event went two employees, each wearing a T-shirt with the business' Web site on it.

The vendor empowered these employees with two things that made this on-the-spot marketing opportunity a success: postcards containing product information and a water soaker/sprayer. People were flocking to get sprayed by the cooling water—and they weren't walking away without first getting one of those postcards.

Make your promotion match your product
Not long ago, I ordered a variety of light-switch plates from various online artists. I opened the first one. There was the light-switch plate I ordered wrapped in bubble wrap—that was it. The second one came in an envelope and included one of the free Vista Print business cards. For some reason the business card was about the artist's jewelry business. Even if I had kept her business card, I would have never connected her again with light-switch plates.

The third light-switch plate wasn't wrapped any differently, but the package did include another great product: This seller had thrown in a promotional item advertising their business name, e-mail address and Web site. It wasn't a business card or postcard; it was a mini screwdriver. Exactly what I needed to put up my new light-switch plate!

“Every time I use that screwdriver, I'm reminded of the great product I received from that seller”

It was such a delightful surprise. I, of course, saved it. Every time I pull that screwdriver out of the drawer to use it, I smile a little at the unique idea, and I'm reminded of the great product I received from that seller.

Be willing to do what it takes
I was walking through the local mall when I encountered a rather tall man, completely covered in bright-colored Post-it notes. People were gathering around him to find out what he was doing and what he was handing out. Curiosity didn't kill the cat, but it sure drove these potential customers crazy. They couldn't wait to find out what he was "selling"—neither could I. Upon a closer inspection, he was promoting an online reminder service. Brilliant! And he made sure that the hoards flocking to him all left with information about the company.

Be aggressive with your marketing
Grannie Annie from Hawaii doesn't let anything stand in the way of making sure you know about her products. Besides being one of the most insightful businesswomen I know, at 72 years old, she's also rocking the marketing part of her business. Check out the scooter (pictured, right) she travels to events with.

There's no empty space—the whole thing is covered in marketing messages. And her basket contains a marketing arsenal of business cards, postcards and samples she hands out to literally everyone in her path. Her marketing is focused with one simple pitch: Go to her eBay Store at

www.Grannie-Annie.com.

Use your tools in new ways
One of my favorite things to do is walk down Fifth Avenue in New York and window-shop, especially during the weeks following Thanksgiving. Everyone has such incredible window displays that just stun me. But that's all they ever did. They never inspired me to actually go in and buy items.

Then there was the window that got it. Inside was yet another incredible display with a fabulous outfit. But on the outside of the window was painted information about the clothing, the Web site link where you could purchase it, and a request to join the online group and talk about what you thought of the outfit.

The retailer was not only giving people an opportunity to spend money (especially outside of store hours), but they were also creating an active community that would participate in future promotions and purchases.

Align your marketing to the world of your buyer
The opera world is struggling with an aging audience and no upcoming customer base of 20 to 30 year olds. The opera establishment realizes it not only needs this age group to grow into the traditional opera audience; it also realizes this age group has more disposable income than any has in the past, and could help financially support this art world.

“None of these ideas took a lot of money, just a bit of creativity and thought about who the customers are”

Speight Jenkins, director of the Seattle Opera, is over 70 years old, yet this summer he announced a contest called "Confessions of a First-time Opera Goer." The rules were simple: Send in a video test of your announcer skills and say why you should have a behind the scenes sneak peak at the opera world. These videos were posted and voted on. Genius.

The Seattle Opera did very little work. The customers they were seeking did all of the marketing, using a medium they're very familiar with. These video links were, of course, sent to the family and friends of the entrants, engaging possible additional customers. And since they were done by people who didn't know about opera, the videos allowed others to let their guards down toward this usually pretentious event. Seattle Opera now has a younger, hip spokeswoman working for free, and creating a lot of powerful viral marketing press. The promotion continues with the winner doing video updates on her adventures in the opera house.

As you can see, for the most part, none of these ideas took a lot of money, just a bit of creativity and thought about who the customers are. Do I use business cards and postcards in my business? Yes, but they definitely don't look like the traditional versions of these. I also have bright-orange Rock Star graphics on the back of my car with my Web site and the phrase, "Choose Success. Are you ready to be a Rock Star?" People stop me all the time and ask about my business.

With my other business, Mermaid Caramels, I have an easy and simple way to do my marketing: I hand out samples. The soft sea-salt caramel is put into a small plastic envelope along with the business card that includes the Web site address. It's then sealed with a Mermaid Caramels sticker. The teal and brown branding is very visible, my call to action is included and most important, as soon as they taste the product, I know I will have an order coming. The total marketing package only costs about 6 cents more than just handing out the business card!

So how can you think different about your products, service and business today? What does your customer's world look like, and how can you be part of that in order to attract them?

A Unique business card / coupon... Scratch Off Tickets with your company info & let your customers "scratch" for a discount!

All my saved Twitter tools & articles

2009-09-14T18:08:00.005-06:00

There are a TON of great tools to use for your twitter account.

I thought I'd list all my saved links for both tools and articles that are in my Fav. files.

http://www.copyblogger.com/grow-business-twitter/

http://tinyurl.com/

http://www.socialoomph.com/ (was tweetlater)

http://www.tweetcube.com/

http://wefollow.com/

http://www.bloggingtips.com/2009/08/08/6-twitter-directories-to-add-yourself-to/

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10199077-2.html

http://mashable.com/2007/09/06/widgets-2/

http://pelfusion.com/freebies/365-free-best-twitter-icons-and-buttons/

http://www.free-twitter-apps.com/apps/AutoTweets/

http://www.bigtweet.com/features.html

http://www.free4twitters.com/gallery.php?id=C9B0_49F4D75B

http://www.free-twitter-apps.com/freeapps/UpdateBoxScript/

http://www.webresourcesdepot.com/free-twitter-backgrounds-26-sites-to-get-them/

http://kylegraham.tv/video02.php

http://twitclicks.com/blog/2008/12/12/introducing-twitclicks-track-the-urls-you-share-on-twitter/

http://www.free-twitter-apps.com/apps/MassFollowScript/

http://pocketsapp.com/

http://www.splitweet.com/

http://tellafriend.socialtwist.com/

http://tweeba.com/about/listings/

http://tweetburner.com/

http://rt2buy.com/rt2buy

http://twittercism.com/twitter-101/

http://www.free-twitter-apps.com/freeapps/TwitterButtons/

http://www.free-twitter-apps.com/apps/TweetMatch/

http://www.free-twitter-apps.com/freeapps/TwitterSignatureGenerator/

http://twitterfeed.com/

http://mashable.com/2008/05/24/14-more-twitter-tools/

http://blog.2createawebsite.com/2009/06/15/my-6-twitter-lessons/

http://dossy.org/twitter/karma/ (need to use a browser OTHER than IE)

http://twitpic.com/

Google Docs for Business Partnerships

2009-08-14T15:18:00.006-06:00

With forums... groups...boards etc. alot of "like minded" people meet. The internet has made us all "neighbors".

Having a web biz all by yourself can be really hectic so many people have partnered up & split the duties along with the profits.

Along with my personal bizes... I have a biz partner for a bunch of others. Now... we just live across town, however biz partners can live on different ends of the country with all the tools available.

Phones... IMs ... emails are just a few but a REALLY GREAT tool to communicate with a biz partner is Google Docs.

We use this for lists of sites... twitters...squidoo lenses ... blogs.... since I take care of the "social part"... I set up the list with all the logins (just in case I am "abducted by aliens")... and my biz partner has access to all that info.

Another Doc spreadsheet keeps track of orders that I have to get made & shipped. For our earrings...my biz partner takes care of emails & orders.... puts them on the spreadsheet. Then I go to the spreadsheet... make the earrings, do the shipping & highlight & date the ones that are out the door.

We set up an LLC & all paypal & bank accounts are in our biz name so we both have access to everything. If you do ever get together in a partnership... make sure everything is in writing & everything is available to both partners. Have "duties" separated in writing & never "assume".

So with all the great tools out there, partnerships can be a great way to set up bizes!

Trick to linking your site in forums and message boards

2009-08-09T20:37:00.005-06:00

You work so hard finding forums and message boards that match your interests & will target your potential customers. Let those posts, not only answer questions but also promote your site, blog, store or squidoo lens.

Most forums either don't allow posting your web address or have only 1 thread for you to post your site. HOWEVER... most allow a hyperlink (they have the "url" in the design bar when you post) Hyperlinks are picked up by Google, Yahoo & the rest of the search engines. This is the REAL reason you want to try to hyperlink as much as possible.

Here is an example:

Say you are on a "moms" forum & I sell Candy bar wrappers for parties.

Someone comments on getting their 5 yr old's birthday party ready....

Say this forum does not allow websites... so I can't say "see some party favors at www.candybarwrap.com

What I might say is.... I bought some cute personalized favors & they were the hit of the party!

Hyperlink a KEYWORD in your post.

" My Sister just had a baby"...

My reply may be.... "I saw these ADORABLE Custom watches that you can put a picture on... great Holiday gift.. I bought my mom one with the grandkid's pics on it"

"What did you do today" thread

DON'T say " I blogged new recipes & added products to my video store

DO SAY " I blogged new recipes & added products to my video store"

Search engines are seeing keywords & the fact that they are linked to your site.

For message boards that don't have the hyperlink ability... then you just have to rely on a signature.

So just be sure to follow rules on different forums but I have not had any problems so far.

Happy posting all!

A List of selling forums

2009-07-18T13:08:00.002-06:00

by www.promote-101.com

Joining seller forums is a great way to get fabulous information on just about everything.
Also some (always look at posting rules!) allow promoting your sites, stores, blogs & more. Even if they don't allow any promoting... most allow signatures with your site address.

So here are a few that have been "a bucketload" of information & you can make friends at the same time.

http://www.sellinglounge.com/

http://www.auctionsellersmotivators.com/

http://www.powersellersunite.com/index.php

http://sellersarena.com/index.php

The trick to finding forums you are interested in.... simply google your interest & forum or message boards. SAHMs.... WAHMs ... RVers .... Gardening .... Crafters .... pets ... dogs...
If you sell to a "targeted" group.... join in those groups too! And think outside the box.... if you are a travel agent, join some senior's or wedding groups. If you sell bath & body gift items, join "mom groups". You just never know who will be there & want to buy your "stuff". Google picks up those forums & the posts too!

To Twitter or Not to Twitter

2009-05-06T20:54:00.002-06:00

I have 5 twitter accounts & am fairly new. But in the few months, I have learned a few things.
First... It IS a great way to get hits on your site.... as long as you follow a few of the following tips:
#1: DON'T Tweet incessantly... every 5 min... I will either NOT follow you or Unfollow you really fast.

#2: Don't be spamming constantly. If that's all you have to say, then I won't follow or Unfollow you.

#3: If you are having a "chat" with someone I don't follow.... then "get a room" LOL. "listening" to a one sided coversation is just plain irritating.

#4: If all you tweet about are news articles after news articles after news articles... again, I won't follow or I will unfollow!

#5: Now... everyone puts such a high priority on getting as many followers as possible & follow all of them in return. When someone new follows me, I click on their twitter & see how they tweet & what they tweet about. If I find #1 thru #4.... I just choose not to follow. Don't feel guilty. I don't want to see all the garbage & miss the good stuff that I'm intersted in.

To track your link hits... this is a great place . www.twitclicks.com
It generates a shortened url link for you & when people click on in in your tweets, you can see when, who & where they came from.

So there's a few tips for living in"twitterland". Follow us @kjscreations & @bgtogether

Do-It-Yourself SEO - A Beginner's Checklist

2009-02-08T17:45:00.002-07:00

There have always been do-it-yourselfers succeeding at web promotíon and search engine optimization. In fact, many of the established businesses offering web services today came from humble beginnings, perhaps nothing more than a college student with a laptop, an internet connection, and too much free time. The Web evolves as the result of the innovation and experimentation of individuals. The sharing of knowledge. The do-it-yourself attitude.

As text link brokers and mass link networking decrease in value and use of social media increases, it becomes more important for companies to have an internal approach and awareness of search engine marketing. Don't get me wrong; outsourcing to SEO firms is still a smart option. That said, making the most out of Web 2.0 usually requires some level of cooperation between SEO firm and site owner. You don't need to be an expert to know the basics of good SEO practices, and that added knowledge will be agreat advantage whether you're working along side an SEO team, or promoting your site in your spare time.

So if you're on a "need to know" basis with SEO, the following points should illustrate what an overall plan should include:

1. Create Search Engine-Friendly Content
Unique web content is your most valuable asset, and ensuring search engines can read it is crucial. Text embedded in images or Flash cannot be read, so make sure you use important keywords, headings, and hyperlinks in plain text form. Instead of using images as navigation links, CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) makes it easy to format those links to look more like 'buttons', thus creating powerful anchor text as well as making it visually appealing. Use heading tags properly and don't try to hide keywords or text by making it the same color as the page background or shrinking it so it can't be seen. Make sure the keywords you wish to rank high for are used frequently in the page copy but within reason.Now that you've created good content, is it actually being crawled? Copy and paste a page's URL into a search engine to see if it has been indexed. If you've just created the page, it may take a few days to show up. Aside from age, many factors can lead to web pages not being indexed by search engines, such as duplicate content (ie. a printer-friendly version of a page might be indexed and the normal version not, or vice versa); links generated by JavaScript instead of HTML; poor site architecture (ie. using too many sub-directories); lengthy, dynamically generated URLs using special characters; and orphaned pages.

2. Choose Your Keywords Wisely
One of the first steps of SEO, this one needs to be done properly the first time or all your future efforts and promotion could end up being wasted. Start by writing down general terms that describe your products, services or web content. Use keyword research services to investigate word and phrase variations. Wordtracker, KeywordDiscovery, and the Google AdWords suggestion tool are good starting points. The goal is to find those niche phrases that your target market uses to find sites just like yours and optimize your site for them. If the phrases do not get enough use by searchers, your profíts from ranking for them will be low. At the same time, stay away from general terms that are tougher to rank for (ie. like "art", "computers", "business", etc.) as a great portion of the traffic will be irrelevant and you'll break the bank attaining such competitive phrases.

3. Get Others to Link to Your Site
In theory there are countless ways, some traditional and some quite innovative, to get other web sites to link to yours. In practice, it can be easier said than done. Google defines a link as it pertains to rankings and SEO as a "vote" from one site to another. The more quality votes your site receives, the greater chance you have of ranking well. If a well established site links to yours, that link carries more weight than one would from a mom & pop shop or less reputable page.

If your site has useful content and is doing something unique, you're already ahead of much of the competition. People need a reason to link to your site, as very few will do it out of the goodness of their heart. Trading links can work, but link exchange networks have decreased in value and won't be of much use in competitive fields. Buying links, if you haven't heard, is a big Google no-no. While entire articles could be written on this topic, here are a few popular methods of acquiring incoming links:
* issuing company press releases with a link back to your site
* submittíng to reputable business directories such as Yahoo! and Business.com
* be active on related blogs by commenting and exchanging ideas
* if you have clients with web sites, ask if they would mind adding your link in a "partners" section
* participate in relevant forums and discussion boards with a link in your signature
* write and submit original articles to web publications in your field with a link in your bio
get involved in social media and bookmarking

4. Join the Social Media Revolution
The collaboration between Internet users and the development of online communities is at an all-time high. Social bookmarking sites such as Del.icio.us, StumbleUpon, Furl, Reddit, and Technorati provide users a way to store their favorite pages and media online, and share it with others. These services also provide a way to promote your content or create a buzz over a product or service. Creating a Myspace page or Squidoo "lens" is also a way to network and share information.

However, if your goal is to generate sales, then you must provide something without the promotional hype. The reality of social media is that popularity is based almost entirely on public interest. If your information or media isn't unique or of interest to anyone, you cannot force success using social media communities.The key to using social media and bookmarking sites to your advantage is to not be shy. Getting your entries and content to the popular pages on these sites requires some hard work. Network with other users, bookmark and share useful content, create eye-catching titles for your entries, and tell your friends and co-workers about the content you have on these sites. However, don't force your employees to vote your entries up - this is social media fraud. If you have great content and simply share it with as many people as you can, it will see success naturally.These four points are a general guideline to follow for SEO. Search engine optimization experts and firms are a good outsourcing option in competitive markets, while the DIY attitude can yield great results for web site owners with smaller marketing budgets. If you're in the latter group, hopefully this helps get you started.

Design your site for Search Engines

2008-11-03T00:00:00.001-07:00

Design And Search Engines

By Doug Caverly - Making both humans and machines happy.

Ever look at different doctors' bookshelves? There are usually at least two or three books in common, regardless of the professionals' fields or age. This happens because the basics are important, and a session at SES New York returned to the basics of site design.

Depending on how familiar you are with these matters, Eric Papczun, the director of natural search at Performics, recommended starting out by reading Google's Webmaster Guidelines. Next, concentrate on creating friendly URLs - make sure they're unique, and keep keywords in them. Site maps are great, too.

Papczun then discussed the issue of using Flash, JavaScript, and Ajax. While these things can look nice, he recommends a judicious approach, with a much more liberal use of CSS.

Next, Matt Bailey, the president of SiteLogic, picked up on the topic of accessibility. The problems Target's site pose for the visually impaired have actually gotten the company sued. Since search engines are blind, as well, using alt attributes is important for all sorts of reasons. "Your site should be available to anyone, anywhere, anytime on anything," stated Bailey.
As a couple of added points: Bailey suggested using favicons and not allowing URLs to grow outside the address bar.

Craig Hordlow, the chief search strategist at Red Bricks Media, wrapped things up by once again addressing the issue of Flash and CSS use. He suggested using tabs on a flash page as a way of letting search engines see content, but not throwing the stuff at users until they click for it.

What's A Widget?

2008-10-31T23:53:00.002-06:00

This is great info I found.

SES NY: What's A Widget?

By WebProNews Staff -03/19/2008

It's something that delivers one site's content to others when embeddedLittle desktop gadgets that reside inside a computer monitor deliver extra information to the viewers who opt to make them part of the daily browsing experience.
Our devoted scribes in New York attending the Search Engine Strategies conference brought us news of widgets. Panelists discussed these software doodads and how they fit into the search marketing strategies being used today.

They defined a widget as something that delivers content and interactivity from one website to another, within a smaller, user-installed piece of software. Christian Oestlien of Google said he saw no reason a search campaign could not link to a gadget.

He also noted how advertisers should think of their ads as content. Thinking that way make the gadget display the start of another method to reach out to viewers during a campaign.
Many conference goers likely observed the Getupdated name around the building. The company picked up the tab to be the biggest sponsor for Search Engine Strategies.

Their R&D head, James Welch, likes the idea of using Google Gadget Ads for campaigns. He cited high interaction and great click-through rates as reasons why agencies and clients appreciate them so far.

Those ads may fulfill various needs based on the customer. Brand awareness, lead generation, and data collection serve as reasons to deploy them.
Welch believes sites constructing these ads ought to come from a different source than the IT department inside a company. Marketing people should build them and ensure a great mix of design and data will be in place for the gadget's deployment.

Using Social Networks

2008-10-14T12:53:00.004-06:00

I found this info.... thought it as great material.
www.candybarwrap.com

Getting All You Can Out Of Online Social Communities

By Kailee Brown
So you’ve entered the land of brand-building in online social networks. Now what? Online communities can be great places for marketers to learn and engage with their customers and other consumers. In order to get all you can get out of it, there are certain guidelines to follow that may help. Below are the 5 Commandments for How to Act in an Online Social Community.

1. Get to Know That Online Community
If your research said that your consumers were active in the social networks that you are engaging in, then your goal is to engage. Find out more about them. Let them know more about you and possibly your company, but be careful you’re not pitching to them. Companies invest millions in focus groups every year. Online social networks can sometimes be a great alternative to a focus group. But in order to get all you can get from the community, it’s important to develop meaningful relationships. This concept is heavily reliant on Ignite Social Media’s idea that Social Media is a Cocktail Party.

2. Give to the Community- Don’t Spam
Even if you’ve done all of the research and you feel that the demographic of the online community seems to get you, you also have an obligation to be different than your traditional marketing counterparts. Don’t jump into a social network and immediately start pitching your product or your ideas. People don’t appreciate that! They want to feel like they know you. Part of doing so is in giving back to the community you are immersing yourself in. This shouldn’t be hard if you followed steps 1-6. This process is fundamentally different from advertising. Giving something back to the community means community members trust and view you as a part of the community and not as an advertiser- or even worse- a spammer. If all you do is continuously ask things of the community members or constantly send people to websites, etc. people will resent your presence in the network.
Don’t have time to engage like this? Then look into partnership opportunities with the social networks. These are transparent ways to create a presence in the community without tricking or spamming people.

3. Be Transparent
I feel like I can never say this enough (and even as I say it, there are people out there right now pretending they don’t work for the company they are talking about in a social community). If you have followed the guidelines and you understand your audience and the community that you are engaging with, then chances are they know that you’re not there just to be their friend. Don’t lie! It’s okay to say you work for a company and you are promoting their products by engaging with customers. Most consumers will appreciate that, but will not appreciate feeling like they’ve been tricked in the community that they spend so much time in.

4. Don’t Leave the Community
If a social network is important to someone, they visit almost everyday. That means you must also. Don’t put up a static profile, communicate once with someone, and never visit the site again. If you are truly hoping to engage and learn from your customers, you have the responsibility to continuously visit the site as frequently as your consumers.

5. Start with One Community and Then Add Communities
If you are a social networker yourself, then you know you didn’t sit down at the computer one day and simultaneously set up a YouTube Channel, a Blog, a Facebook Profile, a MySpace Profile, a LinkedIn Profile, etc. Find the most active and RELEVANT community to start in first. Learn from the members in that community and then find other communities that those members are in as well. Then (as with the “Thou Shalt Not Act as if You’re on Myspace” comment in the inspiring article for this post) you have to learn a whole new set of rules and standards for the new community. Examine and learn from the members in that community as you learned from the first community.

One store...Two stores... More stores

2008-09-11T22:45:00.008-06:00

This has just been bugging me.... when new online sellers say "I'm not selling well here so I'm shutting down my store & starting one over here".
Why!!!! Especially if it's free or cheap????

How many of you would go to McDonalds if they were still that first little drive-in in California????
Do you think Pepsi cares WHICH fast food you go to... Taco Bell...pizza hut...KFC????
Nope cuz they get all the profit.

Same with websites & online stores. Nice thing is that the inventory is ALL at your one home....
you don't have to fill each store with separate inventory.

http://www.ecrater.com/

http://www.buyitsellit.com/

http://www.bonanzle.com/

http://www.etsy.com/

http://www.blujay.com/

ebay stores.... your own websites.... blogs & Many more!
Set up shop everywhere .... link each one ....

I have personalized Candybars at http://www.candybarwrap.com/
Then I have Engraved Chocolate at http://www.creativecandyland.com/
More engraved chocolate at http://www.corporatecandywraps.com/
Then Candy labels at http://www.candybarwrappers.ecrater.com/
Custom Candles at http://www.customcandlesunlimited.com/
and scratch off tickets at http://www.scratchchoffgames.ecrater.com/

ALL having to do with favors or company advertising & all pretty much linking to each other.

Now do I care which of those sites you get Custom candy bars or favors for your wedding??? Heck no... odds are it will be in my pocket anyway.

So don't shut down one store to start another.... just leave it open, especially if it's free! You just never know when someone will find it. (just make sure they have orders go to an email you check often.)

Story..... years ago.... I set up a website (in like 1995 or 96)... sold some dollar store items I had in storage. It was with one of those free hosting sites. Well I thought I had shut it down & never checked that email anymore. One day (over a year later)... I just went to that email, planning on using it again... and there was an order from a month before. For some items from that old site!
I couldn't even remember the site name.
It was only a few dollars, so I didn't notice it in my paypal. Luckily I still had those items, emailed an apology & got it sent.

So there ya go.... you just never know when someone will come upon your store.

Tradeshow Vendor Marketing ...

2008-08-21T10:49:00.000-06:00

Advertising to other businesses that are vendors at different tradeshows.

Do you sell personalized items for vendors to give away AT the tradeshows?
How do you get names & contact info????

#1... GO to your local tradeshows & pick up EVERY business card & brochures.
Start your mailing list FROM those cards!

#2... THINK ... what shows are in what seasons.
ski & winter sports will have shows in summer. Winter shows are for "summer vacation" spots.
Sportsman's & RV may be more in winter too.
These businesses are too busy to go to tradeshows or advertise in thier prime season. Think Opposite when it comes to advertising.

Google those types of businesses in the OFF season & start sending brochures, postcards, samples, etc. I don't like doing email marketing. Too much junk.

NOW... do you sell what your Tradeshow customers Need????
Here are some resale, wholesale & dropship merchandise you may want to think about.
Email them for information

www.promote-101.com
www.creativecandyland.com
www.candybarwrap.com
www.golftimeshop.com
www.earringstop.com
www.customcandlesunlimited.com

All are personalized merchandise that your customer's Logo can go on. Perfect to give away at tradeshows.

Real Estate Marketing

2008-08-20T10:21:00.006-06:00

Tip...... for a Busy Saturday Open House.... get a pack of frozen Rhodes Bread dough. Turn on the oven at 250 degrees & put a loaf right in a bread pan & leave in oven all day. Start it an hour or so before open house. Do NOT think you will have a wonderful loaf of bread by the end of the day cuz it will be rock hard BUT.... when your guest come in the house... it will smell like "Home" with the smell of fresh baked bread!!!

Planning your Open Houses???? Add a bowl of Chocolate Houses for your guests!

Submitting to searches

2008-08-20T10:13:00.002-06:00

I found this site... now only a 30 day trial if free..... but submission is faster than doing them manually. http://myeasysubmitter.com/?xredirect=1
I like manually submitting by googling "search engines" but ALOT of copy & paste....
I did do a free massive submission for www.candybarwrap.com
& www.customcandlesunlimited.com

Found that the majority send to smaller & less known search engines & be ready for a ton of verifying emails! Also some on going newsletters & advertisings. I just unsubscribe to most of the ads & any other junk.

I guess it can't hurt.

How to Generate Serious Website Traffic with Article Marketing

2008-08-17T13:03:00.000-06:00

How to Generate Serious Website Traffic with Article Marketing...
Check this video out!

http://www.associatedcontent.com/video/6103/how_to_generate_serious_website_traffic.html

Offering Affiliate Program

2008-08-16T15:16:00.002-06:00

If you have a website that sells a product online, and you’ve built in a fair amount of room into your price for it, then you have an opportunity here to use a GREAT free traffic source.
In fact, running your own Affiliate Program helps you in more ways than one. By signing up affiliates to go out and sell your product for you, you’ll not only build a huge salesforce, (assuming you make your offer tempting for them) but you will also be building hordes of one-way, targeted links back to your website as they advertise in the various places.

Drawbacks? You must be very persuasive to get an interested following to do serious selling for your product. To overcome this issue, simply build more room into your price so that the monetary gain for your affiliates is too tempting for them to refuse. 50% commissions are quite standard these days on informational products, with some products go all the way up to 100% commission structure, so that the seller can build up a newsletter list.

I would have to say that, especially when dealing with Clickbank (the #1 infoproduct marketplace for affiliates) 75% commissions to your affiliates is the way to go. That’s just because there are so many products out there competing for an affiliate’s attention… So since 75% is the maximum that clickbank allows, you’ll soon learn that affiliates will swarm to these products first and you’ll build up a sales force (and incoming links) quickly. –And you can always turn down the commission later.

Naturally, if your product is not available for online delivery (i.e. software only) then the ability to attract affiliates will be much more difficult for you… Not impossible though, because some affiliates understand the importance of offering their readers a full range of products built around a central niche theme. Having an affiliate program that offers multiple tiers helps as well. There isn’t an affiliate marketer alive who wouldn’t like to earn residual income from the work of others. There are two different ways to get started with your own affiliate program. Both can be free, and of course you pay your affiliates out of sales afterwards.

The most common form of affiliate program is when a webmaster loads software, usually some form of PHP or Perl script onto the server, integrating it with the website. These have been sold for years to webmasters and lately have even been offered for free. The second type is a service run off-site, through providers such as ClickBank.com , Commission Junction, or PayDotCom. (There are many other, non-free ones too.) They do the added work for you of helping your products get found by more affiliates, and they even feature your product in an online marketplace of theirs. Naturally, they want their cut of the product’s sale too, usually in the range of 4% to 8%. (Some let you even split that fee with your affiliates.) These services may be more effective in the long run for the average infoproduct seller, but quite often they do not offer the flexibility that many webmasters need to best promote their own product line. In those cases, using server-side software scripts is the only way to go.
Finding a free copy of your own Affiliate program software to load onto your web server is quite painless, as there are now several different scripts to choose from. To find your own script, simply google the phrases “free affiliate program software” or “free affiliate management software.” They should both return helpful results for you. Naturally, you’ll have to investigate each one in depth to see if it runs on your particular server in your software environment. No matter which way you go, there will be plenty of research involved; this is not something you can start up in the next 20 minutes. (More like 2-7 days.) Once it starts though, assuming you make your offer attractive enough, this could really bring in hordes of traffic immediately.

FREE Ebooks

2008-08-13T11:44:00.003-06:00

Ebooks are a great way to get customers to come back, time after time, when you offer free ebooks.

For free business ebooks..... bookmark this post for new ebooks every day.

Just what is a blog & how can I market my site with one?

2008-07-31T10:24:00.004-06:00

Just what is a blog??
From wikipedia:
"A blog (a contraction of the term "Web log") is a Web site, usually maintained by an individual[citation needed], with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.
Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, Web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (artlog), photographs (photoblog), sketches (sketchblog), videos (vlog), music (MP3 blog), audio (podcasting), which are part of a wider network of social media. Micro-blogging is another type of blogging, one which consists of blogs with very short posts. As of December 2007, blog search engine Technorati was tracking more than 112 million blogs.[1] With the advent of video blogging, the word blog has taken on an even looser meaning — that of any bit of media wherein the subject expresses his opinion or simply talks about something."

Blogs can be used for anything you like. I have several for different purposes. You can use it as a simple journal .... marketing ..... recipes .... selling... photos ... music....

My daughter has one for her stories (she loves writing)
I get digital scrapbook graphics from many blogs.
But the biggest advantage to blogs is writing about information & good content that relates to your business.
for my candy bar wrapper site .... I have a link to a party planning & Idea blog. It is linked right on my menu. That blog has party decorating, recipe, games & other great tips for different theme parties.

Alway put alot of keywords & hyperlinks to your site. Also link other relavent sites in your blog also.
Link INTO your blog from your websites.

Blogs are picked up very well by search engines like Yahoo, Google & MSN.

Content on your blog must be updated quite a bit to stay on the top search pages though.
First month or so... blog at LEAST every other day, if not every day. Then once or twice a week is fine.
Now ... do you need to sit & write EACH day?.... NO.
Here are 2 things you can do.

#1: sit 1 day & type up a weeks worth of blogs on notepad or MSword. Then copy & paste into your blog, 1 each day.

#2: Here at Blogger (maybe wordpress has it too) you can use the "post options" & schedule your blogs to post whenever you want.

I use this feature alot, especially if I know I'll be gone for a few days.

There are plenty of blog sites ... I like http://www.wordpress.com/ & google Blogger, since they are the easiest. If you have or use other sites like myspace, auctiva & many more.... advertise your products on those blogs as well. Can't hurt.

Blogs are a great tool to market your site so have as many as you have time for!

Target your marketing efforts

2008-07-24T21:17:00.002-06:00

Yellow pages..... calendar ads at your local high school .... bench signs .... newspaper ads ....
mailed out coupon paks .... these are not only expensive but you are just taking "a shot in the dark" with your advertising dollars.

TARGETING your customers is usually the cheapest (if not free) but can be more time consuming. Now you can buy those expensive lists & send brochures out. I prefer to "make my own list".

If you want to target Brides? .... check with bridal shops or invitation (paper) stores that may allow you to leave brochures or business cards. Want to target Wedding Planners, Caterers etc?... this is something you can use that yellow pages book for local bizes or use google & go into "contact us" mailing addresses are all over the internet!
Hotels .... Resorts .... Country clubs .... Attorneys ... Doctors.....

I keep category files with addresses & little by little... send brochure, postcards or samples.

Google a local or any city's Chamber of Commerce. They have a "members listing" with all the mailing addresses & usually even a person's name.
I hand write all the addresses on the postcards or envelopes ... but you can print on labels.

Flyers.... we all see those bulletin boards filled with flyers with "pull off tabs" ....
Target those too. I do favors for Quinceañeras (latin girl's 15th birthday) .... my flyers go up in Latin food markets.... Chinese New Years flyers in Oriental food markets etc. Now I also put them up in other places, but target the places that have more of your targeted market.
Golf Items on a rec center or golf shop board. Golf flyers at "toys R us" may not be the best place to put flyers. You get the picture.

Can't afford to have 1000's of postcards printed? Go to www.vistaprint.com & watch for free imprinted postcards. I got 100 free (pd s/h) wedding postcards with my www.candybarwrap.com imprinted on the back. & my contact info.

One time I found some really great postcards that were 4 for a dollar at the dollar store. Some had Happy faces .... some had a bear camping .... I personalized each with something like "make your guests Happy Campers with personalized candy bars at www.candybarwrap.com". Get creative.... potential customers will read creative postcards... the plain ol' white cards are "filed in the circular file" (trash can)

If you sell to other bizes .... look at any conventions with tradeshows in your area. Go to the tradeshows if they are open to the public. (sportman's ... bridal ... pets ... stockshows ... home & gardens) Pick up ALL those business cards & brochures & add them to your Mailing list.

***To keep these cards all organized... I bought this a few years ago & not only does it keep all my biz cards organized but business receipts... Tax time is a Breeze! www.neatreceipts.com
It is REALLY worth the small investment!!!

So go to or send to the potential customers that may buy YOUR product. Stop waisting money & time with "just throw it out there & see what sticks" kind of marketing.

A few more linking tips

2008-07-18T11:38:00.000-06:00

If your site has useful content and is doing something unique, you're already ahead of much of the competition. People need a reason to link to your site, as very few will do it out of the goodness of their heart. Trading links can work, but link exchange networks have decreased in value and won't be of much use in competitive fields. Buying links, if you haven't heard, is a big Google no-no. While entire articles could be written on this topic, here are a few popular methods of acquiring incoming links:

#1 issuing company press releases with a link back to your site. Sites of interest & samples of press releases: http://www.publicityinsider.com/release.asp

http://www.press-release-writing.com/sample-press-release.htm

http://www.free-press-release-center.info/sample-press-release.html

http://www.marketingsource.com/pressrelease/releaseformat.html

#2 submittíng to reputable business directories such as Yahoo! and Business.com

#3 be active on related blogs by commenting and exchanging ideas

#4 if you have clients with web sites, ask if they would mind adding your link in a "partners" section

#5 participate in relevant forums and discussion boards with a link in your signature

#6 write and submit original articles to web publications in your field with a link in your bio

#7 get involved in social media and bookmarking

Analyze Your Website's traffic

2008-07-17T12:12:00.000-06:00

Do you know just how much traffic you are getting on a daily basis? What keywords potential clients are using to kind your site? Where those potential clients are coming from? What pages do they look at & how many are return customers?

To know if your marketing efforts are paying off... these statistics are INVALUABLE!

Google Analytics is one that I use with www.ecrater.com & www.buyitsellit.com

Statcounter is the one I use on my regular website... www.candybarwrap.com

Both are free & both gives really good detailed info on all aspects of my sites.
Just sign up (free) .... enter your info & copy & paste th HTML code into your pages of website or use just the numbers that ecrater tells you to & paste into your ecrater or BISI store.

Personally... I like the info I get at statcounter the best. You can look at where your customers came from & when you click on it, it goes right to the spot. I especially like it when I get several orders all on 1 day. I can see that I was mentioned on a blog or forum.

Analytics is good also.... I can see the key words that the most people use & make sure I pack those keywords in forums, blogs or on my product titles.

Stats are a must... or you will never know if staying up till 2 am promoting your site is really worth it! LOL

HUGE list of FREE Places to promote your Website!

2008-07-16T12:45:00.003-06:00

Thanks to Big and tall mens clothing & Boomerang records ... they have allowed me to post their list of Freebie places to list your site.
These ere all checkd a while back & were all good. But you know the internet... one day they are here & the next gone. So sorry if any of these are not working. Also... they were all free, but some may have changed to pay ads. You will just have to check them out.

So here it goes:
#1 http://www.citynews.com/nafta.html [Looks good-- Post your own Classified ad today! Each ad creates a One-page website. You can include a photo with your ad]
#2 http://www.recycler.com Free Advertise products-- Los Angeles and surrounding counties only
#3 http://www.freeclassifiedads.com/reg.htm Found recent ads on this one appears to be nationwide – not sure
#4 http://wwplus.com/ads/viewads.html As with other links like this- it has free ads offered by more than one link [domain is up for sale though]
#5 http://www.theadnet.com/ free ads for items –excludes business and services
#6 http://www.holton.com/ OK-Shows MULTIPLE FREE LINKS
#7 http://www.adlandpro.com/Default.aspx?rep=freememberPlace your free ads in our classifieds and community pages ($2.50 value)
#8 http://www.freebonanza.com/ MICHIGAN must register for classifieds
#9 http://www.aquatrader.com/aquastuff/newad.html SCUBA equipment only
#10 http://classifieds.bmi.net/default.asp This one requires click here to contact advertiser [maybe send ecrater link from there?]
#11 http://www.achieveusa.com/adlandpro.html site is up for sale - offering freeby ads since 1996
#12 http://webpony.com/cgi-bin/class23/classifieds.cgi?session_key=&place_ad=onHORSE related-place ad and be listed on 20 search engines
#13 http://www.aopa.org/classifieds/ XXAirline pilots plane owners $39 reg fee
#14 http://www.1-ads.net/ If this link doesn’t work go to Google and it comes up As #1-ads.net [LOOKS good! Punched in ecrater in search and up came an ecrater seller’s item - CHECK THIS ONE OUT!]
#15 http://wwplus.com/classifieds/ LOOKS free, takes some reading to decide
#16 http://www.dxpnet.com/classifieds/submit.asp displays current free ads
#17 http://classifieds.singnet.com.sg/ free ads requires active X JAVA DOWNLOAD
#18 http://www.primetap.com/class.html free ads and auctions
#19 http://www.militaryfreeads.com/ free website building UK based
#20 http://www.insideneworleans.com/shared/classifieds/placeanad.html New Orleans free classified
#21 http://www.lagumbo.com/freeclass/ Louisiana free ads
#22 http://www.entertheweb.com/classifieds/clad/vault.html free ads for 100 days only
#23 http://www.911hits.com/ Paid membership site boasts of increasing web presence
#24 http://www.nyrock.com/classifieds/categories.cfm 144000 ads free listing no reg
#25 http://www.911hits.com/sendmail.php Paid membership site boasts of increasing web presence
#26 http://www.nyrock.com/classifieds/categories.cfm Free ads Music Gigs Band related
#27 http://www.the-beaches.com/directory/home.html CANADA free ads
#28 http://www.ad-mart.co.uk/ UK SITE- Free ads must register HIGH HITS [it says]
#29 http://www.theecho.com/ FREE UP TO $999 item value
#30 http://adv-marketing.com/marketing/int03classified.htm free ads must agree to webmaster emails
#31 http://eclassified.2n4m.com/main.htm free listing no reg
#32 http://www.homepagetools.com/ BLOG RELATED
#33 http://www.freeads2000.com/ Lotsa free stuff + paid services #34 http://www.midlandonline.com/ MICHIGAN free classified
#35 http://theatreorgans.com/ads/ORGANS/music free ads
#36 http://www.summitnet.com/classifieds/welcome.html COLORADO mostly real estate some ads
#37 http://www.adsonline.co.za/ Free ads -watch for popups!
#38 http://www.inpa.com/ Pennsylvania thousands of hits?
#39 http://www.freereports.net/ click on free website martketing
#40 http://www.homepagenow.com/classifieds/ mostly for web design but check classifieds
#41 http://www.umcmall.com/adlandpro.html Free classified Sacramento CA
#42 http://www.links2u.com/?18098 43 http://www.barattare.net/italian_barter.htm BARTER ONLY
#44 http://www.free-cgi.com/freecgi/classads/index.asp ** Make your website interactive with Free-CGI AND free ads
#45 http://www.localo.com/overview.asp click advertising - shows multiple free links
#46 http://www.infopoint.com/sc/wantads/ free ad but deletes in 2 weeks
#47 http://www.builderszone.com/classads.htm
#48 http://www.upstatelife.com/free_ads.htm WEBSITE services
#49 http://www.classifiedclub.com/boards/ Looks good free ad with forums
#50 http://www.cgi101.com/ A how to site for web design

W will add more as they come. Keep checking back. if you have a list of freebie marketing sites... feel free to add them as comments!

One way links better than link exchanges?

2008-07-15T12:42:00.001-06:00

Having many inbound links is a daunting task, but in the end ... worth every bit of time spent working on it. Unlike link exchanges, inbound only links give your site a tremendous boost in ALL search engines.
So just HOW do you go about getting those other QUALITY sites to like you enough to put your link on their site?

#1 Be generous with your outbound links
Giving outbound links to quality content is one of the best ways of establishing yourself in your online marketplace. But be selective with the sites you link to - don’t just link to any relevant sites you find, choose sites that have exceptional or useful content.
Add some comments and descriptions as you link. The readers of your website will appreciate it and your generosity will encourage some valuable word of mouth marketing for your site.
And of course, the publisher of the site that you’ve linked to will appreciate it. Think how badly you want links - other webmasters are the same and they will pay attention to sites that link to them. Your outbound links could be the start of a beautiful relationship.
On my http://www.candybarwrap.com/ I have a link to a great Personalized Product site,
http://www.promote-101.com/ in my menu. I don't expect a return link.... I just think this site compliments mine.
Customers appreciate some other sites than may help them. Have an Antique store? Links to appraisers or restorers would be extremely helpful to your customers. Pet store? link to vets, groomers or other pet gift sites!

#2. Obsess about quality
It’s not the number of links you get, or the number of articles you write or the number of pages that you publish. It’s about getting links from quality sites in your industry. Remember:
In deciding the importance of your site and your search rankings, search engines put emphasis on the quality of sites that link to you. What could be a better source of unbiased information than a link from an article that a journalist has written and an editor approved?
Just as important if not more so, is that quality sites will have high levels of traffic and as a result, you’ll get a lot of interested people visiting your site.
Quality links attract other links. People see a link to your site on BBC.com. NYTimes.com, Digg.com and many others and they’ll be more likely to link to you. There is a power law at work, the strong get stronger - people with good inbound links get more inbound links without asking.
You can also get some pretty neat testimonials - being able to write, ‘as featured on the BBC’ on your website is a valuable endorsement.

#3. The number of links pointing to your site is not a good measure of the success of your link building efforts.
A website with 100 quality inbound links will outperform a website with thousands of links from mediocre websites. And the situation is further complicated by the fact that Google does not report all the links that it knows about.
So what should you do? Here are the main things I would look at:

Appearance on the top blogs and blog search engines
Appearance in Google news
The sites that already link to you and drive traffic
New sites that link to you - check your log files regularly.

Of course, the thing about quality links is that they’re hard to get - you have to really make a concentrated effort, but the results will be well worth it.
Building quality links is rarely an overnight success but there are exceptions. Sites can make a tremendous impact in a short time if they have an exceptional story to tell. But for most of us, immediate success is not usually the case. Sure, go for the spectacular if you can but treat it as a bonus. Don’t forget to stick to the task and build up quality links over time. If you start with content that is genuinely useful, and if you target sites that are real sources of information for sizable numbers of readers in your marketplace, then you will succeed and start to see powerful and sustained results in a matter of months.

#4 One other way to start boosting your 1 way links.... list in directories. There are an abundance of them on the web. I, personally, choose only free directories. IMHO paid ones have no more power than free ones.
check this list that has a ton of directories.

http://directory.webpronews.com/ct-96-web-directories.html

Most directories do not require a recipicol link, so these are considered 1 way links.

NOW... Get to work! You have a big job ahead of you!

Free Classified Ads

2008-07-14T12:27:00.004-06:00

A bazillion free classified ad sites are out there.
Most don't allow "store ads" however, I have posted 1 item within my store as "for sale".
Read all the "rules" for each of these.
http://www.craigslist.com/
This is the "big boy". You can only post 1 ad in 1 city for the same thing each week.
However, for my Candy Bar wrapper site....
I may select 1 city, post a "for sale" 100 custom wedding favors for $xxx ... see http://www.candybarwrap.com/ for designs.

then in another city .... "for sale" 100 custom Birthday candy bars for $xxx ... see http://www.candybarwrap.com/

OR from http://www.promote-101.com/ , I post "golf stuff" in Arizona & t-shirts in another city.
You get the jist.

http://www.classifiedsforfree.com/
http://www.usfreeads.com/
http://www.freeadscity.com/
http://www.ablewise.com/
http://www.webclassifieds.us/
http://www.buysellcommunity.com/
http://www.classifiedads.com/
http://www.backpage.com/classifieds/index
http://www.adoos.us/
http://www.stumblehere.com/
http://www.adlandpro.com/
http://www.bestwayclassifieds.com/
http://www.inetgiant.com/
http://www.freeadvertisingforum.com/
http://tumano.com/
http://www.freeadlists.com/
http://walmart.oodle.com/

Here are a few to start with....
When I google "free classified" I get over 19 million results.

So use your wordpad, develop an ad & start copy & pasting.
BE SURE to read the rules for different sites and remember that MOST offer free for 7 days & want you to pay for 30 day ads.
You decide but I, personally, use free & relist each month or so.
Set up "free ads" in your bookmarks & each month you can quickly find all those free classified sites.

Happy Promoting all :)

Promote for the Holidays

2008-07-13T19:22:00.004-06:00

I know.... it's July but promoting for the next season should be a good season ahead. Now you may not get orders & hits right away but considering google indexes sites about once in 2 weeks to a month.... now is the time to get started. Also... potential clients will start "thinking" about shopping or Companies will start planning client gifts & Holiday parties. Will YOUR website be ready for those "early birds"?

Here is a place to add your site to. It is Free, of course, & they would just like you to "spread the word"

You can see a sample: http://www.businessesgrowingtogether.com/Discount/Gifts.html

More info & form link at http://www.businessesgrowingtogether.com/Discount/1

Happy Holidays all LOL

Top 20 Contributing Factors For Google SEO

2008-07-12T09:00:00.000-06:00

Websites are one of the most popular ways of advertising. Whether it's a business, product or service or something completely different, everyone of all ages is turning to the web as a method of getting their message out there.
With the popularity of this marketing medium increasing and the number of websites always growing, everyone wants to be at the top of Google's search engine rankings. Doing that is not an easy feat, however with patients, one can definitely improve their chances of reaching that glorious first page result.

Given that there are a ton of websites out there who are on the first page, what is their secret?
It is a little industry term called "SEO" and it stands for Search Engine Optimization. SEO basically consists of the customization of your website, its content and its internal and external links to assist in the overall indexing and ranking of your website in popular search engines.

First... here are some GREAT free tools to help you out:
http://www.seomoz.org/tools.

There are many contributing factors that are used in determining a website's ranking and every search engine is different. This makes trying to optimize your site for Google, Yahoo, Live and the many others quite a huge undertaking.

As most of us are aware, Google is currently the most popular search engine for the majority of Internet users. As such, it is only normal that we'd want to focus our sights on achieving a higher ranking within Google first with the hope that the rest will follow.

To do this, we must start this project that could take months before we start seeing any real results, however we have to start somewhere.

This begins by defining some of the key contributing factors that Google uses to determine a website's and webpage's ranking within its results. These factors range from keyword use to manipulating internal and external links and the líst goes on.

To get you started, we have listed the top twenty factors that you should focus on in order to help get your website that little bit closer to the top of the search engine results listings.
Keyword Use Factors:
The following components relate to the use of search query terms in determining the rank of a particular page.

1. Keyword Use in Title Tag - Placing the targeted search term or phrase in the title tag of the web page's HTML header.
2. Keyword Use in Body Text - Using the targeted search term in the visible, HTML text of the page.
3. Relationship of Body Text Content to Keywords - Topical relevance of text on the page compared to targeted keywords.
4. Keyword Use in H1 Tag - Creating an H1 tag with the targeted search term/phrase.
5. Keyword Use in Domain Name & Page URL - Including the targeted term/phrase in the registered domain name, i.e. keyword.com plus target terms in the webpage URL ie: www.candybarwrap.com
Searching "candy bar wrap" I am on page 1.
6. Link Popularity within the Site's Internal Link Structure - Refers to the number and importance of internal links pointing to the target page.
7. Quality/Relevance of Links to External Sites/Pages - Do links on the page point to high quality, topically-related pages? http://www.candybarwrap.com/OurLinkPartners.html
You can see that the majority of links are relevent to my Custom Candy Bar Wrapper site
8. Age of Document - Older pages may be perceived as more authoritative while newer pages may be more temporarily relevant.
9. Amount of Indexable Text Content - Refers to the literal quantity of visible HTML text on a page.
10. Quality of the Document Content (as measured algorithmically) - Assuming search engines can use text, visual or other analysis methods to determine the validity and value of content, this metric would provide some level of rating.Site/Domain AttributesThe factors below contribute to Google's rankings based on the site/domain on which a page resides.
11. Global Link Popularity of Site - The overall link weight/authority as measured by links from any and all sites across the web (both link quality and quantity).
12. Age of Site - Not the date of original registration of the domain, but rather the launch of indexable content seen by the search engines (note that this can change if a domain switches ownership).
13. Topical Relevance of Inbound Links to Site - The subject-specific relationship between the sites/pages linking to the target page and the target keyword.
14. Link Popularity of Site in Topical Community - The link weight/authority of the target website amongst its topical peers in the online world.
15. Rate of New Inbound Links to Site - The frequency and timing of external sites linking in to the given domain.Inbound Link AttributeThese pieces affect Google's weighting of links from external websites pointing to a page and ultimately will assist in the ranking of that page.
16. Anchor Text of Inbound Link.
17. Global Link Popularity of Linking Site.
18. Topical Relationship of Linking Page.
19. Link Popularity of Site in Topical Community - The link weight/authority of the target website amongst its topical peers in the online world.
20. Age of Link.

Negative Crawling/Ranking Attributes - There are also some points we should make before you start getting your hands dirty. With any type of SEO marketing, there are some things that can actually have a negative impact on your ranking.

These following components may negatively affect a spider's ability to crawl a page or its rankings at Google.
Server is Often Inaccessible to Bots.
Content Very Similar or Duplicate of Existing Content in the Index.
External Links to Low Quality/Spam Sites.
Duplicate Title/Meta Tags on Many Pages.
Overuse of Targeted Keywords (Stuffing/Spamming).

It's now time to get busy! Start prioritizing your tasks, modifying your content and building your internal and external links to meet some of the above guidelines. Keep in mind that improving indexing is mostly a technical task and improving ranking is mostly a business/marketing strategy. What might work now may not work in the future and finally, it takes time. Loads of time. Still, with a bit of trial and error and a good dose of persistence, you can achieve the search engine ranking you're after.

Social Media Advertising works

2008-07-11T10:21:00.002-06:00

The reality is that social media delivers the holy grail for advertisers on the Internet: a mass-concentrated U.S. audience reach similar to television.

The top 25 social media networks delivered over 155 million unique visitors in Feb. 2008 with 70 percent coming from MySpace, ( www.myspace.com/candybarwrap ) Facebook and Classmates.com. Add in YouTube and Flickr and you get another 60 million totaling an estimated 215 million humans viewing social media monthly. Compare that to television where an average 24-hour period delivers around 50 million unique viewers.

The highest viewership day of the year, Super Bowl Sunday, has an estimated 110 million unique U.S. residents viewing television. Even over an entire month there is arguably less than 200 million total unique television viewers. The Internet has become a powerful platform for advertisers to reach mass audiences via user generated video too. According to comScore Video Metrix, U.S. Internet users viewed over 10 billion videos online in the month of December alone. Imagine a 15 to 30 second commercial with each video view and the Internet seems ready today to compete with broadcast TV in delivering commercial views.

Advertising on social media is not about clicks or click rate any more than TV commercials are; it's about quickly reaching reaching a huge U.S audience. Sooner rather than later, advertisers will see social media as a great way to reach mass audiences. After all, in terms of audience size there are several Super Bowls every day on Facebook, MySpace and YouTube! It simply doesn't matter what the click rate is for Facebook, MySpace and YouTube because they reach huge audiences that major advertisers like Ford, Pepsi and McDonald's can't help but see the value in. Predictably, Adwords buyers will see the value too. Click rates are a reflection of pageviews and social media sites similar to TV have a large overlapping audience that hang around them all day, every day.

Television would have a low click rate too if an ad campaign were measured over the course of a months worth of programs on the same network, assuming you could click the screen. People also tune in and out of TV just like they do with social media. According to Compete's figures for every unique visitor to YouTube there are 54 pageviews. With Facebook, a unique visitor creates an amazing 564 pageviews in a month and on MySpace each person generates a staggering 1,110 pageviews. The social media audience is loyal, large and habit-oriented just like broadcast TV.

They also hit the prime youth-tilting demographic who are big spenders online and are considered a high value audience by ad agencies and advertisers. Ultimately, what advertisers value is the audience, not just the clicks.

Marketing OFFline

2008-07-02T14:05:00.004-06:00

There are many free & really cheap ways to market your web business.

#1: BUSINESS CARDS. handing out cards is one of the cheapest ways to advertise your business. It is your "little billboard". Printing yourself or you can get cheap card from http://www.vistaprint.com/
Put them in EVERY order.... leave at restaurants .... hand to Bank teller.... always have them in your wallet or purse. Do you sell pet supplies? Leave some around a pet store...

Many people don't set their cards up right... Always have these 3 things on your card:
WHO you are
HOW to get ahold of you
WHAT you do.

I have seen SOOOO many cards left on bulletin boards with: ABC company & a phone...
what the hell do they do????? OR ABC company, a phone AND with a pen, "piano repair"...
WELL JUST PRINT THAT ON THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE!!! I just want to shake people who do that. (one of my pet peeves)

#2: Be a walking billboard. At http://www.promote-101.com/ you can
put your logo or web address on shirts... totes.... golf markers....
Get others to be YOUR walking billboard! Give-a-ways..... all from http://www.promote-101.com/
Hats, watches, earrings, Clocks, even Golf ball markers for those SPECIAL golfing clients!
Let them wear or use items with YOUR info on them!

#3: Your message on voice mail or machine..... "sorry, we are not available. if you would like more information visit http://www.candybarwrap.com/ for personalized candy bar wrappers" Something like that.

#4: Postcards & flyers
The internet is full of addresses to most targeted markets..... google certain bizes if you work with them .... I signed up for a cheap mailing address for bridal leads ... baby leads ... graduates in any zip code I wanted. Local leads in Yellow pages or online yellow pages. Google Chamber of commerces in a certain city. They almost ALWAYS have member lists with addresses & phone numbers. If you have a local "welcome wagon" or Chamber of commerce (not free though) see what it would cost to add your brochure into their packets.

#5 Let those high Gas prices help pay to advertise. Vinyl window stickers from http://www.jlcustomgraphx.com/ . Always in white & on the rear window. Cars at stop lights or in rush hr traffic have nothing better to do than stare at the back of your car.
Car magnets. (just make sure they don't have REALLY cool graphics.) A friend of mine who had a Beer making shop had a beer mug shaped car magnet. After the 2nd one got stolen, he changed to Text in a square magnet.

So there are a few ideas....

Feel free to add comments with other ideas!

Marketing.... Search Engines

2008-07-01T14:00:00.001-06:00

There are a TON of search engines but the first ones to get listed on are Google, Yahoo, MSN & DMOZ. Most searches will pick up sites from the DMOZ

The best way is to go to each & manually submit your site.
http://www.google.com/addurl/?continue=/addurl

http://dir.yahoo.com/ click on "suggest a site" in upper right.

http://search.msn.com/docs/submit.aspx

http://www.dmoz.org/

http://www.altavista.com/

Here are some others that will submit to several other search engines for you

http://www.scrubtheweb.com/addurl.html

http://www.exactseek.com/add.html

http://www.entireweb.com/free_submission/

I've submited only once. If you keep your site fresh & new at LEAST every month, the searches will see that you have new content & will reindex you each time they do a search.

Some takes...days, weeks or months to index. Be patient & just keep doing all the other suggestions in this blog.

http://www.ecrater.com/ will send your site to google products automatically. So there... you don't have to do google feeds everytime you list new products.

Just having Fresh & New content will keep your site at the top of the heaps.

Marketing on Forums & groups

2008-06-30T14:20:00.001-06:00

Now it's time to "talk up" your new site.
Find forums that would sorta match your site content. Baby items... "mommy forums"... Book sellers ... reading & book clubs.

Now most forums or groups either allow you to intro yourself once & some with a link to your site. But just about all allow a sig. (a small link under your name)
However... I sorta link my site while I'm "talking about" something or answering a question.

Example:
Q: how are your sales doing during the summer? blah...blah...blah

My A: My sales are doing great.... my Kid's ceiling Fans are selling great for the summertime.
OR.... alot of mom's are redecorating their kid's Bedrooms & ordering children's ceiling fans

OR another example:

Q: I am having a party for my daughters first birthday. We are planning on a big party with a BBQ. Any Idea's for other stuff?

A: I got a bunch of personalized Hershey miniatures & Custom Hershey Kisses & tossed a few in the middle of all the tables with confetti that I got at the party store.

Another cool idea are scratch off tickets.... put them under each plate & give the winner a prize.

So you see how you can add your links without spamming your forum.

If you can't add any hyperlinks... CRAM your responses with keywords & say "at my site... I have these cool Italian Charms that would work great for what you are looking for. A Charm Bracelet would be a perfect for your neice as a Bat Mitzvah gift" then you should have your sig under your name that they can click & look.

This way, the search engines will not pull any links .... but it may pick up "Bat Mitvah" or "italian charm" & your sig will be right there.

Now Start Marketing... linking

2008-06-28T17:43:00.001-06:00

After you have your site all ready for customers..... it is time to market.

Years ago... the thought was "build it & they will come" . Those days are long gone. "build it & PROMOTE ...PROMOTE...PROMOTE." Then Promote some more!

This post will start with tips on Linking with other sites.

Set up separate pages on your site for recipicol linking. Each page should be for a separate category. All categories should be relavent to your site. If you are a furniture site... don't link with a viagra site or online casinos.

Do Not set up a "link farm" & link with sites that are not 20 pages of just "links".

I also will not link to a site that has NO resource or "link partners" linking from their HOME PAGE. I will also not link with companies that have a third party directory site.

Linking helps with your search ranking but I also get hits from some of those sites.

My resource page: http://www.candybarwrap.com/OurLinkPartners.html
I link with party, baby, wedding mostly.
I have the ecrater stores as a courtesy for all my ecrater friends. I just HOPE it won't mess with my search ranking.

You can make your own "rules" for linking sites with others. I don't link with direct competitors like other candy wrapping sites. And don't be afraid to tell a "requester" "sorry, I can't link with link farms... etc."

Finding sites that take recipicol links is relatively easy. Google "add link"... start linking & emailing.

Another site to get links & link requests: http://www.linkmarket.com/

Yes... it's FREE!

STEP #2 Design Tips on your website

2008-06-27T14:56:00.000-06:00

Here are some tips on setting up a great looking website.

The best way to start is get a paper notebook. Do a draft layout of the pages you are planning to add. This will make it ALOT easier when you are designing it on your computer!

Start by putting a page name at the top of every page. (home, resources, prices, samples, etc.)
Then you can write the text you want on each page, write in the link locations etc.

*** tip **** start each page with text that has your keywords for that page.
Have your phone number on your front page. Customers don't like hunting for ANY information.
They also don't want to wait a day or 2 for an email response.

IF YOU DON'T WANT AN EXPENSIVE SECOND LINE or don't want customers calling your home phone..... I have this REALLY COOL & CHEAP line! www.magicjack.com
You have to have high speed internet.... choose a number in your area. It hooks into your USB port (I have one desktop in the house that is always on) then you hook ANY phone into the magicjack instead of the wall. Now here's the best part!!! Cost like $50some for the magicjack AND the first YEAR of local, long distance, messages, caller ID... after the first year it is a whopping $20 a YEAR!!! Yes... a YEAR! I don't have a landline anymore. I have magicjack & my cell phone. I save just over $50 a month!!! if you google "magicjack" there is a NonOfficial forum.

OK... now some design tips.

LOGOs: You can design your own... I use PaintShopPro for all my design work. If you are not a great designer, see http://www.cooltext.com/ http://www.flamingtext.com/ http://www.logoblog.com/ & many more for simple quick logo designs.
Logos should reflect your business. Professional looking logos are the best.
Don't want an elephant on your clothing store logo ... you get the picture.

My daughter hand drew this one & then I added the text & made it a bit 3D with PSP (it's light because it's watermarked into my background on my site)

A few inexpesive places for logos & other cool store buttons etc.

http://kjscreations.ecrater.com/category.php?cid=50785
http://website-graphics.ecrater.com/ *this one is really cool!*
http://brenbeads.ecrater.com/category.php?cid=458691
http://photoforyou.ecrater.com/product.php?pid=434354

WEBSITE COLORS: White or light is the best. Textures or image background should be very light like a watermark. Bright colors can be used as menu bars or headers. Please match colors & be sure they are in your theme. Red & green is Christmas... so unless you have a Christmas Item store, those 2 colors would NOT be a great choice.
Now this is MY opinion: pastels.... men (yes, I get business men calling to advertise their bizes at my candybar site) would not stay very long. If you cater to the baby industry, party or weddings ... then pastels would be fine. But you may want to stick to very neutral backgrounds, & darker blues, tans, browns or greens if your targeted customers are both genders.
I am setting up a Golf shop (a work in progress) but you will notice the color scheme is green.
Even though women visit... I kept it "golfing green".

& Finally for this post.... Meta Tags... titles & descriptions:
Tags are the main thing search engines look at. If those tags are NOT relevent to that page, you will be chewed up & spit out on page 999 of the searches.

Tags must be listed above the body of each page in the header.

TITLE TAGS: This is the text that is displayed in the top section of the browser when you open a certain page. Example: Books Audio Movies Music - Online

META DESCRIPTION TAGS: This a a short description of your web site. Example: variety of books of all types: children's, adult's, audiobooks, homeschool curriculum, classics.

META KEYWORD TAGS: List all related keywords separated by "," Example: books, movies, audio, audiobooks, classic books, adult books

These Tags should be different on each page. "wedding" on your wedding page, etc.
3rd party stores & template made sites may be different.

STEP #1 Setting up a website

2008-06-27T12:21:00.000-06:00

You can't market a site if you don't have one.

So I thought I would start from the beginning. There are MANY types of sites to build. Depending on your knowledge level.... some of this info may or may not be for you. I am NOT a "geek" so alot of this stuff you will have to figure out, ask your webmaster or call a tech support.

I will give you the basics but you have to do the "click by click" action.

**** THE BIGGEST & MOST IMPORTANT TIP ****
If you are having a webmaster, friend, sister, brother, child, spouse or ANYONE OTHER THAN YOURSELF designing your site..... have them send via email ALL passwords & locations of your domains & hosts. If you can, have them send an HTML file of EVERY WEB PAGE.
Even if it all looks like Greek to you, SAVE it on your computer!!!
If your designer moves or is abducted by Aliens ..... you can have someone else OR if you have learned web designing, change or redo your site .... you are not stuck with 99 cent items forever! LOL

EASY way to start:
Using a third party store. This is a way to get products up & posted with a shopping cart already integrated. No HTML knowledge... just plug in the info & pictures.

2 places that are free: http://www.ecrater.com/ or http://www.buyitsellit.com/

My favorite is ecrater only because they come up really high in Google if you set up your store & do alot of the things they tell you to do. Google "children's ceiling fans" my ecrater store is #2 on page 1. http://www.kjscreations.ecrater.com/

PROS: Easy to set up... they help you promote .... shopping cart already available .... the community forums are full of helpful info & other sellers that can help. You can also buy a domain name from anyplace ( I highly recommend http://www.godaddy.com/) & quickly forward it to your ecrater or buyitsellit store.

CONS: No HTML designing... no html linking. It is a "subdomain" unless you have your domain forwarded. No forms available for customer to add personalized info.... you will have to email the customer for the info.

Here are 3 samples http://www.kjscreations.ecrater.com
http://www.corporatecandywraps.com (auto forwarded)
& a 1 page site that links into our ecrater store: http://www.petsadored.com/

INTERMEDIATE: Free sites that have "subdomains" usually have templates.
You can google "free web hosting" or Free subdomains

PROS: easy to set up.... most are totally free
CONS: Popup advertising.... banners & subdomains are harder to get into searches.
Usually a template... so you can't add alot of the "bells & whistles" that you may want.

HIGHER INTERMEDIATE TO ADVANCED: This MAY be hard for some. Get your domain & I also buy hosting thru http://www.godaddy.com/ they have GREAT prices, great sales & AWESOME phone tech support!

You need to either have Dreamweaver, Frontpage or an FTP program to design & upload to whoever your Host company is.

PROS: You or your webmaster can add all the bells & whistles you need. Can add form scripts, shopping carts... just about anything you need.

CONS: Not absolutely free... but pretty cheap. Harder to set up. Usually takes longer to set up, depending on your content.

Now... these 2 sites were designed on Frontpage & then I uploaded the HTML files via an FTP program.

http://www.candybarwrap.com/

http://www.petsadored.com/

Here is a FREE FTP program:
http://filezilla-project.org/

I had to have a webgeek teach me how to use it... once I learned, it's now a breeze.

Intro to finding Free or Cheap web promoting sites

2008-06-27T11:48:00.000-06:00

I am starting this blog for great tips & locations where to get either FREE or REALLY CHEAP tools to promote your site.

Let me introduce myself... I am Shelly & I have been building my own sites since 1995. I remember the VERY first business site I did via ALL HTML (as I was learning) & remember thinking it was just the coolest site ever. I had more blinking...scrolling.... goofy graphics... music... Now I think back to that first site & laugh. What a mess it was!

Now.... even though my sites are always a "Work in Progress" ... I've come a long way from the days of blinking stars & embedded Midi files!

This blog will have "places I've seen" & "tips I've heard" about building & promoting websites & third party stores. There is alot more out there than I know about, but by subscribing to e-zines... newsletters & such, I am always finding "new & improved" ways to get my sites up on the searches & get that traffic really flowing into my site!

I have many sites.... but the main ones are www.candybarwrap.com & www.creativecandyland.com
Google "engraved chocolate".... my www.creativecandyland.com site is #1 (NOT sponsored listings... this is for FREE promoting)
I am STILL working on getting www.candybarwrap.com higher with certain keywords
but I'm #3 on page 1 with "candy wraps"

So... take a look at some of these tips & great places to promote YOUR website!