Corporate Branding is Key to a Successful Business

Corporate Branding is Key to a Successful Business - Corporate branding is the process of establishing a name and image for your business. It is something, which should be done by every organization, and establishes a name for your product or service.

While you can have a successful business without the use of corporate branding, it is much harder to remain in the minds of customers when you do not have a brand or logo for them to associate your business with. Corporate branding begins with the designing of a relevant logo, website, business cards, letterheads, and any other promotional materials that you might need.

With these items in place and the corporate logo established, you will begin to see why corporate branding is the key to success.

Why is Corporate Branding so Important?

When you think about Nike, what comes to mind? I can guarantee that most of you just pictured a check mark in your head. This is because Nike has spent a lot of time and money to ensure that their logo and "just do it" motto have been set into the minds of consumers for years.

This is just one example of why corporate branding is so important. Without a brand image to quickly associate your business with, you are instantly out of the minds of consumers.

If you can on the other hand, provide consumers with a lasting memory of your brand, then yours will be the first business that will come to mind when they see that image or logo. It will also allow them to spread the word about your business much easier.

Sometimes people remember logos better than the names of businesses.

You Can't Do It Alone

The first thing you need to understand about corporate branding before you begin selecting a logo or other merchandise, is that you can't do it alone. Even if you could design the image, you would not be able to produce the merchandise such as business cards, letterhead, and other promotional items by yourself.

For this reason, it is important to enlist the help of professionals. Companies who provide marketing services can conduct research based on your business, and help you choose a logo, motto, and merchandise that can help you create effective corporate branding.

While you may spend a little bit of money by using one of these companies' services, it will be well worth it when your business has a successful brand, and your traffic and sales increase. While you are new to the idea of corporate branding, these professional companies have had years of experience helping businesses get their start.

Developing a Logo

The first step that a marketing service company will introduce you to, is the development of a logo. This is the most important step in corporate branding, because it creates an image that will always be associated with your business.

A logo can be serious, humorous, or just about anything else that you like. It can communicate to consumers what type of services or goods that you offer, your quality of service, or any other important information. It is essential that you choose a logo that can't be interpreted the wrong way.

It is also important to choose a logo that makes a statement about your company, and is not just a random choice. The more content you are with your brand image, the better your potential customers will react to it.

Completing the Image

Choosing a logo is not the last step in corporate branding. In order to effectively brand your business, you need to display that logo and brand image consistently on and in all your marketing efforts. A company's letterhead, business cards, and any other promotional items used should reflect the logo and brand image that has been created.

If you are inconsistent, your attempt at corporate branding will fail. Corporate branding is becoming increasingly popular with local small businesses and large corporate companies as well. When you associate a specific logo, image, or motto with your business, the consumers are more likely to recognize your brand as one they know and trust.

Remember though, that it cannot be done alone and that is best to enlist the help of a professional marketing service when working on this strategy. ( entireweb.com )

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Expand Your Business With Blogging

Expand Your Business With Blogging - Statistically speaking, you're likely reading this outside of normal business hours. Am I right, or am I right?

Why? Because if you have a life (okay... admittedly many people don't) the majority of your time is spent away from the office and outside of normal business hours. Usually, when the sun goes down you are already out the door. Frazier has left the building.

But the sun never sets on the internet. It operates 24/7/365 for online and offline businesses both. There are no doors to unlock and no lights to turn on. The doors are always open and the lights are always on. No brick; no mortar; no time clocks.

There are so many important online tools for both marketing (presenting your company and product to the market) and sales (trading that product/service for revenue)... if you're not using them you're soon to be extinct.

Even the US government figured that out. Filed any corporate taxes lately? Most companies now do it online (it is called EFTPS, if you're at all curious).


Low-to-No Cost

Many of the online resources available for your business are usable with no cost and can offer great results. Calculate the ROI on that: small investment (mostly in your time) and great results. Infinite ROI? No, not quite. But as a business owner if you use these available tools correctly it will make a difference in your business.

Put another way, if you are not using online tools for your business, the wolves are at the door and your house is made of sticks. Not brick and mortar; sticks.

Blogging is increasingly being used to effectively to present businesses and products to the market. Websites like Blogger and Wordpress make it possible to share value - your knowledge and experience - through blog posts.

Helpful blog posts on relevant content establish you as a leader and creates a relationship that your consumers don't normally get from just visiting your website. Just today in a phone conversation a client said, "I was so glad to see you are a real person!" The personal touch works.

Need a great example? Go look at 3PAR's company blog called "StorageRap"(www.storagerap.com). No, I'm not associated with 3PAR in any way. But Marc Farley is awesome at what he does for the data storage industry. Take special note of the value that he delivers. Yes, it comes with a heavy dose of opinion, and more than a bit of controversy, but that is the whole point of blogging! Ever read a boring blog post... more than part-way? I rest my case.
If you are venturing into a company blog, ensure it has a clear objective. Brainstorm with colleagues on ideas of what to write and how to represent the company. Then just to it.


Don't be stingy. And don't be a twit.

Contribute to the communication in meaningful ways. A terrific way to increase your network is to be active and to comment on others' posts. Respect the poster; comment on the post. Remember that a single post could be read by thousands, some of whom may take great interest in you and the products you represent.


Don't Abuse the Blog

If you use your blog correctly, clients and consumers will appreciate your information and insight. But consistency is key. Deliver value to your business community by remaining active in blogging and in social networking forums. Don't hold back. Give more, and you will receive more. ( entireweb.com )

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A Guide For Start-Up CEOs

A Guide For Start-Up CEOs - How to survive LeWeb 2010: a guide for start-up CEOs - Who to see, what to do, and how to avoid getting overwhelmed by Europe's largest tech conference

Europe's largest - and most daunting - gathering of geeks is almost upon us. LeWeb's 2010 incarnation promises to be bigger and even more extravagant than ever before. But before I get into telling you how to prepare for the mother of all tech conferences, I suppose first of all you should think about whether it's for you.

First things first: the tickets aren't cheap (although there are plenty of sneaky discounts around if you're smart). And then there's the travel and hotel to consider. But aside from the fact that you can lump all that under marketing spend - especially if you follow the tips below - to be honest it's money well spent, whatever stage your company's at.

Loic Le Meur on stage at LeWeb in 2006

Why? Well, without going into too much of sales pitch on organiser Loïc Le Meur's behalf, there's a lot on offer - most importantly the opportunity to grab any one of 2,500 attendees from over 60 countries, including some of the biggest names in tech, and the chance to show off your start-up or Next Big Idea to whoever you can lay your hands on - including about 500 journalists. (That sounds like a huge number of journos per start-up, but as a CEO that's to your advantage: just think how many of them you'll be able to get hold of if you're clever about it.) All the big tech firms are there - Google, Facebook, Twitter, you name it - and a healthy smattering of investors. Plus there's the usual keynotes, panel discussions, fireside chats and all that sort of stuff.

So how do you navigate this hulking great monster of a conference? Here are some tips.


1. Bring business cards.

A lot of them. Sure, it's a technology conference and everyone will be tweeting, checking in to their geolocation app of choice and even, if they're lucky, swapping hotel room keys, but the real business is done when you get back home, presuming you can remember who's who out of the fistful of cards that tumble out of your hand luggage. I'd say 500 of your own card should do the trick: after all, if you don't give them all away personally, you can always crash the stage and throw them into the crowd in handfuls. Yeah, it'll probably get you thrown out and arrested, but it'll sure as hell get your start-up noticed.


2. Check the programme.

There's no point sitting there for every panel discussion - though, mercifully, most of the stuff on stage is limited to 20 minutes. All the exciting stuff happens in the corridors at this sort of conference. At least, it will if you follow step three...


3. Make appointments beforehand.

Check who's going and contact them before the event, suggesting a time to duck out of the main show and have a chat. If you're clever about this you ought to be arranging at least ten coffees per day. (So, item 3.1: make sure you know where the loos are.) LeWeb is your chance to connect with useful people from all over the world and you shouldn't waste it wandering the corridors eating free bonbons from the corporate stands.


4. Pick one or two of the big names to approach.

When you do, make it quick. Tell them exactly why you want to speak to them and offer them your card. Don't take up any more of their time than you have to. If you're in any doubt about how to approach one of the big hitters...


5. Follow Parisian PR guru Colette Ballou on Twitter.

Her infamous "conference tips" are unmissable, and frequently very funny.


6. Bring a charger, plus whatever adapters you need.

I know that sounds ridiculously obvious but you'll be surprised by how quickly your phone battery will die with all the tweeting and emailing. There are power sockets behind every chair, so there's really no excuse to be out of battery by the time the parties start, which is when you'll really need it. Seriously, no excuse. Even if you have an iPhone.


7. Get plenty of sleep beforehand.

You'll want to party until the early hours and then be at the conference venue ready to go by 8.30am. This is a lot easier said than done; ask anyone who was at F.ounders.


8. Take naps! Real, actual naps on real, actual beds! There are resting areas at LeWeb with plasma screens in the ceiling (yes, we are living that far into the future) so you can doze but not miss yours truly making a tit of himself on stage or one of the TechCrunch guys making the 94th Aol joke of the day.


9. Take full advantage of the free coffee.

There's a Nespresso lounge which last year distributed 15,000 cups of coffee to conference attendees. Stop being so British, barge to the front and grab a cup. Or two cups. (q.v. point 3.1, above)


10. One last thing.

Le Meur tells me there's an official dress code at LeWeb, and it is: "No suits!" So unless you're from IBM, or you're a venture capitalist who doesn't own anything that isn't from Savile Row, it's jeans and tees all the way. And if you see someone in a suit, conference rules state that you're allowed to throw your free coffee over them.*

So there you have it. And if all that wasn't enough to whet your appetite, there's a huge party being thrown by one of Europe's most prestigious newspapers; you'll hear about it once you get to Paris. See you there! ( telegraph.co.uk )

(*OK, I may have made that last one up. Don't throw your coffee over any Microsoft SVPs. Please.)

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Making Money Off The Rich

Making Money Off The Rich - From the canyons of Manhattan to Beverly Hills, Calif., debate is again raging over the rich. Should we soak them by raising their taxes? Coddle them by extending their tax cuts? And who really is rich, anyway?

The debate is likely to continue beyond the midterm elections. Rather than get all worked up over it, I have a simple proposition: Why not sidestep the political issues and make some money off of them?

It is a strategy that can work for virtually any income bracket, considering that one share of Tiffany (about $47) costs less than even the cheapest silver key ring at the luxury chain's flagship Fifth Avenue store.

There are other factors favoring companies that cater to the wealthy:

• The Democrats already have abandoned plans to raise taxes on the rich before the elections, and you can bet it will be a dead horse afterward. The Bush tax cuts will most likely be extended for all, even the rich for at least a few years. That means there will be more discretionary money in those Louis Vuitton handbags.

• The rich also have come under fire for not spending enough and stimulating the economy. This is an abrupt change from even a year ago, when they were being attacked for spending that made everyone else feel bad. Perhaps more of the rich will recognize their patriotic duty to get out and spend, the holiday season being a good time to start.

• The best September for stocks since 1939 has surely given the rich a healthy boost of consumer confidence. Recent research suggests that spending by the rich is closely correlated to the value of their portfolios.

• Fears of a double-dip recession drove down the price of shares of companies producing luxury goods along with the rest of the market. And although the Dow Jones Luxury Index surged in September with the broader market, the combined price/earnings ratio of its components remains below May levels.

I've been working the luxury angle throughout the recession, so far to good effect. The LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton shares I bought back in January 2008 are now showing a gain of over 40%. Tiffany and Sotheby's, two stocks I recommended last year, have been on a roller coaster, but both are showing solid gains in 2010.

Given the current political climate, which luxury purveyors are likely to excel? My hunch is that it will be those that promote consumption—but not conspicuous consumption—and quality over bling. Fine wine and champagne fit the bill perfectly. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that the 2009 Bordeaux vintage is setting new price records, driven by Asian demand.

At this point I'm priced out of the market for the wine itself, but not the producers. Besides being a luxury conglomerate, LVMH owns benchmark Chateau d'Yquem and a stake in Chateau Cheval Blanc, in addition to its famous champagne brands, Moet & Chandon and Krug. Another large producer of premium wines is Diageo.

Watches and timepieces are another relatively inconspicuous luxury. Everyone may recognize a Rolex, but many of the most expensive watches are known only to other connoisseurs. Many watchmakers are privately held Swiss companies, but two are publicly traded: Richemont, which owns IWC and Cartier, and Swatch Group, which owns Breguet and Blancpain in addition to its colorful Swatch brand. In September, Richemont said sales for the previous five months had jumped 37%, well above forecasts.

Tiffany is expanding into leather goods (imitating Louis Vuitton) and offers many reasonably priced luxury items besides the most conspicuous diamonds. Goldman Sachs recently downgraded Tiffany shares over near-term valuation issues, but said it remains "confident in Tiffany's long-term brand appeal."

The appetite for art seems unabated among the rich. A Picasso sold in May at auction house Christie's for more than $100 million. Why anyone would pay that kind of money for something on the wall is beyond me, but as F. Scott Fitzgerald said, the rich are different. The rest of us can get a slice of the action by owning Sotheby's stock. ( wsj.com )

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They promise to give you cash for free, but more than a third of cashback websites fail to stump up the money you are due

They promise to give you cash for free, but more than a third of cashback websites fail to stump up the money you are due - Cashback websites are hugely popular with penny-pinching, savvy consumers (there's an estimated 2.3 million). The sites list product providers and retailers that pay commission when shoppers click on their links. In turn, the cashback website rebates some of this commission to the consumer.


With thousands of retailers available it is easy to make money on the purchases you would normally do each year, such as annual insurance policies and utilities.


For instance, on Quidco.com, you can earn £55 when you take out car insurance from the RAC or earn £105 if you sign up for dual fuel with Scottish Power. While with Topcashback.co.uk, you could earn £150 if you sign up for a pay monthly mobile phone contract with Orange or £90 if you sign up for Sky HD.


It seems like a win-win, yet according to research by Consumer Intelligence, many cashback websites don't pay up as promised.


James Daley, editor of Which? Money, warned customers to beware of the potential pitfalls of the sites. He said that the cashback sites can only pay you if they get the money from the retailers or product providers, so if something goes wrong (such as if an affiliate goes bust) it is possible you may not be paid.


Cashback sites are not regulated, so in the event of a company collapse, the chances of you getting any money would be the same as any other creditor – a wait to see what assets remain before possibly claiming some cash.


Martin Lewis, founder of Moneysavingexpert.com, said cashback should be seen as a bonus, rather than a reason for buying a product.


"Never count the cash as yours until it's in your bank account as things can and do go wrong. I always say, do not let the cashback tail wag the dog, as you need to think about cashback as an extra bonus as you really have no rights as a consumer," he said. "Use one of the bigger cashback websites as they are more likely to pay out the money."


It can take up to 12 weeks for any cash due to reach your account. However, with most sites you can choose how often to be paid, for example every month, or when you hit certain amounts, such as every time you hit £50 in your account.


It is always important to check a site's payment policy as some will only pay out once you hit a certain threshold of say £25, meaning getting paid out can be very difficult. To avoid this, it is worth sticking with the bigger websites that will pay out at any level.


If you do run into problems, these can be rectified. Mr Daley said: "If you fail to receive money owed, write to the site as quickly as possible via the site's official cashback claim link."


Understanding how cashback websites work increases the likelihood of transactions going smoothly. And to use them is relatively simple – register with the site and then every time you buy online, visit the retailer via your chosen cashback operator, rather than directly.


When you complete your purchase, the online retailer sends a commission to your cashback site, which in turn will be passed on to you. Most sites are free but some charge an annual fee of £5. ( telegraph.co.uk )

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Six Ways How to Make Money Online From Home

Six Ways How to Make Money Online From Home . When you set yourself a question about how to make money online, the answer sounds, what do you want? The challenge is to select and to develop your own area of expertise, because it is not wise to try a little bit this and that.

1. Is Social Networking Your Way To Make Money Online?

To participate social networking sites is a time consuming way how to make money online, so you must be serious, when you pick this tactics for your promotion way. To read the profiles of other people and to write requires a lot of actions, but can bring a nice amount of results.

2. Blogging Is The Most Personal Way To Market Online.

Blogging is an indirect way to make money at home, actually it is a medium to build interest and trust for your expertise, which can lead to a good sales. Blogs are like private diaries, which sets a great challenge for the owner. Everything you write builds an image of you, good or bad.

3. Craiglist is Free But You Have To Be Active.

Craiglist offers a great way to advertise your products but they also require lots of work. When you pick this alternative, make sure that you do it correctly. The power of Craiglist ads come from two sources, from selecting the right category and for the good text.

4. Select Online Surveys If You Want To Make Good Money Online.

This alternative offers a chance to make money by answering market research questions. This is a sure way to earn because the payment happens according the answers you have given. Be careful to select the right company, because there are so many scams on the market.

5. Do Some Freelance Work.

Many online companies and entrepreneurs want to outsource their jobs in order to get flexibility or to get the overwork done. If you have an expertise in writing, graphic design, online marketing know how or even programming, you can pick freelance work from services, which have long lists of freelance jobs.

6. Participate Online Marketing Forums.

The forums are not places for advertising but places where you can share your own experiences and to get tips from other members. If your input is useful, you can build a special area for yourself and to become a respected authority. ( Juhani Tontti )

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Mixing Business and Pleasure Can Sometimes Go Too Far

Do You Keep Your Social Media Profiles Separate?. Mixing Business and Pleasure Can Sometimes Go Too Far. In some cases it may be wise to keep social network profiles separate from each other. What I mean by this is that business shouldn't always be mixed with pleasure. I don't mean this in the same way that the Wall Street Journal meant itall business should be mixed with all pleasure. Do you keep your social media profiles separate from each other? Tell us.

I am a firm believer that the two should be mixed within your social media efforts. For example, if all of your tweets or Facebook status updates are only promoting your product, "friends" are likely to quickly lose interest. That is one reason why injecting a little personality and a touch of your own life is usually the way to go.

In fact, in many instances, it's even wiser to keep it personal mostly and inject a little bit of business. The more your social media habits are about you, the less sales-pitchy your efforts will seem. It all of course depends on what your goals are. What works well for one company maybe a completely different strategy than what works for another.

It is often hard to strike the right balance between business and pleasure on social media. It becomes harder the more "friends" you make. In business, it's easy to forget that social networks are for personal use too.

When mixing business and pleasure goes wrong is when something from your personal life that others need not know about gets thrown into the mix, or when you're annoying your real life friends by marketing to them.

You may find that keeping your social networks separate is a good strategy for you. Perhaps all of your friends and family are on Facebook, but not on Twitter, but you have all kinds of business contacts on Twitter, not to mention an ever-growing supply of potential customers. In this case, maybe you should focus more of your marketing/business networking efforts on Twitter. This will spare your true friends and family your marketing strategy.

Granted, there are privacy settings that can be adjusted in Facebook, and lists set up, and whatnot. But it can be a lot of minutia to deal with within the already large and complex field of social media marketing. however. Perhaps a better way to put it would be not

And I'm talking about your personal Facebook profile, by the way. I can't imagine too many social media strategies where Facebook doesn't play some part. It is after all the largest social network in the world. There are always Facebook "Pages" for businesses (not that it should always be limited to this either).

This is only one example anyway. Again, different strategies for different businesses (consider your goals). In addition, there are plenty of other social networks that can be utilized for business or personal reasons.

Just keep these things in mind:

• Do you want your Facebook Friends and Twitter friends to receive the same messages? (something to consider when using apps)
• Not all friends are going to be interested in your business messages
• Likewise, your business friends aren't always going to be interested in your personal life

The point I'm really trying to make here is that you have to think about your audience in each network. It's kind of an extension of the mentality from my Be Careful What You Tweet For post. Sometimes it might be wise to keep your networks separate. Sometimes integration is a much better strategy. Either way, you have to think ahead and anticipate the outcome. And don't forget about those privacy settings. You don't want to become one of tomorrow's headlines for a social media faux pas. ( webpronews.com )

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How Bad Times Are Good Times For Small Business

How Bad Times Are Good Times For Small Business. Bankruptcies are the highest they’ve been since 2001, a million people have lost their jobs, and small businesses got the stimulus package shaft. And that’s the good news.

It’s all good news, says Mark Deo, executive director of The Small Business Advisory Network and author of The Rules of Attraction: Fourteen Practical Rules to Help Get the Right Clients, Talent and Resources to Come to You!

Deo caught up with WebProNews during promotional rounds for his new book and explained how now is the time for small businesses to evolve or die. What seem like troubled times for small businesses may actually carry some golden opportunities, buried way down under a heap of yick.

Deo says that although small businesses generate over $6 trillion of annual revenue, constituting over half of the nation’s gross domestic product, just under two percent of the $789 billion stimulus package—about $16 billion—is specifically earmarked for small business. (Deo includes businesses with $50 million valuations as small businesses.)

The Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) hasn’t been of much use to small businesses either. “TARP was supposed to be used to move money into the hands of small business owners,” said Deo. “But banks have held on to that money and not made it available.”

Until this week, anyway, as the US Small Business Administration announces the availability of 30,000 interest-free loans of up to $35,000 from TARP banks. While that might be a start, a little lube for seized-up credit market, it costs more than that just to send your kid to college.

Deo’s overriding point is that small businesses are not going to be able to rely on the government to pull them through the current financial crisis. “There are 30 million small businesses in the country, but the population is very fragmented.” This leaves small businesses, as a group, somewhat disorganized.

“They really don’t have lobbyists to push their initiatives through, and our economy is suffering because small businesses don’t have the resources they need. All the money is in the hands of these very large companies who are very wasteful, self-centered and bureaucratic.”

Deo stopped short of calling those big companies—energy, oil, telecoms included—evil. “They’re just not spending money wisely.” And yet these big companies are the biggest beneficiaries of government aid.

“There is some good news,” he says. “There are some small businesses that have not been operating effectively in this economy, and a number are folding. There were more bankruptcies in the last quarter than in every previous quarter since 2001.”

That’s good news?

Deo says it is. It’s a survival of the fittest thing. “Weaker businesses are pushed to the side, leaving strong small businesses and market leaders to snap up extra market share.”

The other good news also doesn’t sound like good news: Big companies are laying people off. “About a million people are on the street now,” he said. “Some of them are real smart and some are going to become entrepreneurs.”

Perhaps they’ll start a business specializing in helping small businesses locate stimulus money?

Well that, or, as Deo settles into a short narrative preview (the full story is available in his book—see, opportunity everywhere after all, eh?), they can do like a downsized teacher client of his, who now runs a multimillion-dollar financial consulting firm for teachers only. Focusing locally and specializing can help a small business owner become “a bigger fish in a smaller pond.”

“And that’s what my book is about,” he added.

Or instead of starting their own businesses, the rest of that newly available talent will be looking for work. “Small businesses can scarf up some of those really smart players. A lot of Fortune 500 employees are going to work for small businesses next. I’ve had several clients who’ve been fortunate enough to acquire some A-player talent.” ( webpronews.com )

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Google is Such a Dominant Force

Google is Such a Dominant Force. Google Inc. shifted into a higher gear in the third quarter and began to leave the recession behind as the 11-year-old Internet search leader recorded its biggest profit yet.

Revenue growth also accelerated for the first time since the U.S. recession began in December 2007.

The results released Thursday are the strongest indication yet that the Internet advertising market is bouncing back from its worst funk since the dot-com bust at the start of the decade.

Google is considered a good barometer for the state of online commerce because its search engine serves as the hub of the Web's largest advertising network.

"The worst of the recession is clearly behind us and because of what we have seen, we now have the confidence to be optimistic about our future," Eric Schmidt, Google's chief executive, told analysts in a conference call.

Schmidt's optimism echoed his public remarks leading up to the earnings release. That sentiment has helped propel Google to a succession of new 52-week highs this week, a rally that continued after the company put out its third-quarter numbers.

Google's shares rose $17.13, or 3.2 percent, to $547.04 in extended trading. In regular trading earlier, its shares fell $5.41, or 1 percent, to close at $529.91. The stock remains well below its peak of nearly $750 reached almost two years ago, but has more than doubled from its 52-week low of $247.30.

Google earned $1.64 billion, or $5.13 per share, in the three months ended in September. That represented a 27 percent increase from $1.29 billion, or $4.06 per share, at the same time last year.

Excluding expenses for employee stock compensation, Google said it would have made $5.89 per share — above the average estimate of $5.42 per share among analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

Revenue for the three months ending in September climbed 7 percent to $5.94 billion. That is Google's fastest growth rate so far this year.

In a telling sign that things are picking up again, Google's third-quarter revenue rose 8 percent from the second quarter. That's the biggest sequential quarterly increase since the end of 2007.

After subtracting commissions paid to Google's advertising partners, the company's revenue totaled $4.38 billion — about $140 million above analyst estimates.

Schmidt and other Google executives left no doubt that they believe the Mountain View-based company is poised to scale even greater financial heights in the next year or two. Among other things, they said the company's popular video service, YouTube, is getting closer to making money three years after Google bought it for $1.76 billion.

Feeling more emboldened, Schmidt said Google will start spending more liberally again after skimping on its expenses for the past year. The commitment includes hiring more employees after Google pruned its payroll for the past two quarters, paring its work force to 19,665 people at the end of September.

Google could be further along the comeback trail than other companies that depend on Internet advertising.

Part of the reason is because Google is such a dominant force; it process nearly two-thirds of the Internet search requests in the U.S. Advertisers are more likely to invest in search marketing because it only costs them when Web surfers click on their commercial messages.

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Google is not currently penalizing paid javascript links

Google is not currently penalizing paid javascript links. You may recall back at SMX Seattle earlier this year, Google's Matt Cutts talked at length about paid links. He touched upon the topic of Google being able to read javascript after giving out advice for so long to use javascript as a way to keep Google from reading paid links.

When asked about this, Matt said Googlebot had gotten smarter. He noted that Google began changing its messaging on the subject around 2007-2008 to stop mentioning javascript but to nofollow or do a redirect through a URL which is blocked through robots.txt.

Cutts noted that even on the onclick in javascript, the crawl and indexing team had submitted code so that it would respect a rel="nofollow". So you can put a rel="nofollow" attribute on a link that's running in javascript, and more often than not, Google will make sure it doesn't flow pagerank even if they're executing the javascript.

Cutts did say, however, that if you want to be completely safe, to nofollow or link through things that are blocked.

Cutts revisited the topic in a recent upload to the Google Webmaster Central YouTube channel, in response to the following user question:

Now that Google can crawl JavaScript links, what is going to happen with all those paid links that were behind JavScript code? Will Google start penalizing them?

Matt reiterated that Google has gotten better at crawling javascript, and that URLs you put into javascript that you didn't think would be crawled, might now possibly be crawled and indexed. He says the vast majority of people who do javascript links are ad networks and that Google handles these very well.

He then reiterated the use of nofollow, even within the javascript code, and the use of robots.txt to block out URls, and redirects.

"We find that the vast majority of paid links are typically not done with javascript," says Cutts. "They're typically completely straight text links. so that's where we've been spending the vast majority of our time."

Cutts says that Google is not currently penalizing paid javascript links, but they may start looking down the line. He says it hasn't been a big issue at all in his experience though.

"If you're selling text links, just make sure they don't flow page rank and they don’t effect search engines," he says.

READ MORE - Google is not currently penalizing paid javascript links

The conundrum facing publishers

The conundrum facing publishers. With their advertising revenue drying up, newspaper publishers spent much of the spring and summer debating whether to cut off free online access to some of the material they run in their shrinking print editions.

It looks like the talk will turn to action this fall, when some large newspapers are expected to put up Internet toll booths.

They'll be testing readers' willingness to pay for information and entertainment that mostly has been given away online for the past 15 years. That happened largely because most publishers could afford to subsidize their Web sites with profits from their print franchises. But now those profits have crumbled, just as the prices for online ads are tumbling, too.

A recent study by the American Press Institute found 58 percent of the responding newspapers are considering online fees. Of that group, 22 percent expect to introduce the fee before the end of the year. The findings drew upon 118 interviews of newspaper executives in the U.S. and Canada.

The free-to-fee transition likely will occur in tentative steps rather than bold leaps that would lock all online content behind a pay gate. Publishers are taking this cautious approach because they are still trying to devise online payment plans that will generate more revenue without alienating too many of their readers.

For instance, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, a newspaper with a weekday circulation of about 206,500, recently launched a Web site that includes coverage and commentary on sports, politics and entertainment that isn't in its printed product or free online edition. The service costs $36 annually or $3.99 per month.

Other newspapers that have talked up subscription plans remain reticent. Newsday of Long Island, N.Y., still hasn't rolled out fees for its Web site, even though the newspaper's owner, Cablevision Systems Corp., said it was going to do so this summer. Newsday spokesman Paul Fleishman declined to comment.

The conundrum facing publishers: It's hard to figure out how much, if anything, readers will be willing to pay. Internet search engines and digital communication tools such as Twitter and Facebook ensure people still will be able to find and share plenty of free content.

But running totally free sites hasn't been paying off for most newspapers. Even before the online market began to slump this year, Web ads were generating only a small fraction of the revenue that print ads do. The disparity has made publishers realize they need more ways to make money on the Internet, but few of them have been able to figure out how.

"This is like a four-dimensional chess game. It's really complex," said former newspaper editor Alan Mutter, who is now an industry consultant when he isn't writing "Reflections of a Newsosaur," a free blog.

The Associated Press also has been part of the online fee movement. The not-for-profit cooperative, which is owned by newspapers, is setting up a system that will track the usage of its stories. It's a crucial piece of a plan that could improve the AP's ability to run ads next to news stories and perhaps even lead the AP to charge readers to see major scoops or other "premium" content.

"The value of content has to rise," said Tom Curley, the AP's chief executive. "We are all looking how to make that happen."

Even as newspapers mull just how much to commit to charging readers, a competition is already brewing to provide the technology to enable it.

Four of the world's largest technology companies — Google Inc., Microsoft Corp., IBM Corp. and Oracle Corp. — have expressed an interest in developing an online payment system for publishers. Mutter also has been promoting his own approach to Internet fees, a concept he calls ViewPass.

Separately, more than 1,000 newspapers and magazines have signed nonbinding letters of intent to join an Internet fee system being assembled by Journalism Online LLC. It intends to begin collecting money on behalf of publishers before winter.

Backed by former leaders from Court TV and The Wall Street Journal, Journalism Online wants to run the cash register for a digital news smorgasbord. Readers will be able to buy stories from a wide range of participating publishers without having to repeatedly provide their credit card numbers and other personal information at each Web site. The content would be distributed on the Web and electronic reading devices, with each publisher dictating its own terms. As a commission, Journalism Online plans to keep 20 percent of the revenue collected through its system.

Although he isn't jumping on board with Journalism Online, News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch is sold on online fees.

News Corp. already owns the newspaper industry's most successful Internet subscription model in The Wall Street Journal, with more than 1 million customers who pay for online access. The annual rates vary from $103 for an online-only subscription to $140 for a package that includes delivery of the print edition too. Now, Murdoch hopes to make online fees pay off for his other publications, which include the New York Post and The Times of London. Murdoch hasn't provided a timeline or specifics about his plans, however.

The New York Times is considering charging online readers a membership fee, with more details promised in the fall. It's a road the newspaper has been down before, only to reverse course after management concluded that the online subscription it required to read the Times' top columnists was crimping its Internet ad sales. The subscription service, which cost $50 per year, was scrapped in 2007 after a two-year run. It had 221,000 customers when the Times tore down the toll booth.

These days, the printed versions of newspapers are suffering so much that publishers appear determined to find a way to get readers on the Internet and mobile devices to pay something, even if it's just a few bucks per month. The question is mainly which publisher will jump off the sidelines first.

"There's still a lot of `wait-and-see' attitudes out there," said Randy Bennett, senior vice president of business development for the Newspaper Association of America. "I think a lot of publishers would like to see some empirical evidence of what happens to other publishers who dip their toes into the water."

In a worst-case scenario, imposing online fees would drive away so much of a newspaper's Web audience that publishers would lose more in Internet ad sales than they would gain in new revenue.

In a best-case scenario, newspapers charging their online readers would still retain enough of the audience for their Web sites to remain attractive marketing channels. What may be even more important, the fees might make readers more willing to pay for the print editions if the same content isn't on the Web for free, especially if print subscriptions include free or discounted Web access.

Preserving the value of their print franchises is one of the main reasons for publishers to charge for Web access. That's because newspapers still get most of their money from print ads, which accounted for $35 billion of the industry's revenue last year. Newspaper print ads are on pace to fall below $30 billion this year.

Online ads, in contrast, contributed just $3.1 billion in revenue last year. And while that category had been growing until this year, it wasn't fast enough to offset the erosion in print ads. From 2005 through 2008, the industry's annual revenue from print ads dropped by $12.7 billion. Meanwhile, newspapers' annual revenue from online ads increased by just $1 billion.

Journalism Online's co-founder, Steven Brill, believes newspapers can still hold on to most of their online readership by charging for only their best work — information, images and audio unlikely to be found anywhere else on the Web. This presumes publishers will be able to prevent the content from being copied and pasted or even just summarized at other sites, a potentially daunting task.

Some publishers still have no intention to charge for online access because they have concluded online fees are bound to backfire on the newspaper Web sites that adopt them, Mutter said. The American Press Institute study found 44 percent of the respondents don't think Internet fees will provide a significant lift to newspapers' future revenue.

"The guys who hold off (on Internet fees)," Mutter said, "could get a have a huge windfall in new traffic." [ AP ]

READ MORE - The conundrum facing publishers

Success and Money

Blogging For Success and Money. Blogging seems to be the prime topic of everyone's discussion these days. Blogs appear to grow more popular by the month, as they continue to expand across the internet. A major reason for this increase is due to the prosperous benefits that come along with blogging. When done correctly, implementing this popular method of online communication into your website could bring forth much success. Many of the internet's most prominent businesses realize the importance of a blog; some say it is a must. This powerful tool is much more dynamic than the traditional website. What has made it so attractive is the convenience and freedom of user interaction. It is practically an open forum where individuals get to express their opinions and receive a wide range of feedback If you are familiar with the concept, then blogging may seem simple. While starting a blog is no difficult task by any means, turning yours into a money-making machine requires a dedicated effort.
Managed Search Engine Submission - "Now With More Engines"

Monetizing your Blog

In order of a blog to generate income, you must develop a strong strategy for monetizing it. There are several different venues which you can employ to monetize your blog:

* AdSense
* Advertising space for banner ads
* Donations
* Affiliate programs
* Paid third-party product reviews / pushes
* Selling your own services or products

Deciding on what monetizing strategy you employ depends upon the goals for your blog and its target audience. Each target audience will respond differently to your different monetizing strategies; for example, a humanitarian blog audience may be more receptive to donations, while a cooking blog audience would click through your banner ads for an organic recipe cookbook. You should develop an initial strategy, keeping your targeted audience's psychology in mind. The design and layout of your blog should reflect your monetizing strategy; for example, if you will be employing AdSense, then you may want to use a column layout with clean colors and lines. You want to ensure that your monetizing efforts are optimized in the layout of your website. As you progress with your blog, do not be afraid to test the water and adjust your monetizing strategies based upon feedback and performance results.

Generating Traffic

You may have the best blog and monetizing strategy in the world, but without traffic, your bank account will not grow. To begin making money with a blog, one must first generate traffic. Establishing a stable list of loyal readers has been easier for some than others, but it is the key to running a successful blog. When you are first beginning your blog endeavors, it may seem daunting to generate traffic when there is not a single visitor to your website. However, with a bit of strategy, you can quickly build traffic and a returning base of readers.
Write What You Know

You should consider writing your blog on a topic of your specialty or passion. The more you know about the subject matter of your blog, the better; you will be able to establish yourself as an authority and readers will come to learn from you. Content and traffic have a very strong symbiotic relationship.

Remember what you learned about in advertising class in college? Viral marketing is the most effective form of advertising - period. If people like your blogs, they will refer it to their friends, and in the internet, friends can add up to millions of people.
Regularly Updated Content

Yes, you have heard it before, and you will hear it again - content is king! Readers will flock to your blog if you provide them with insightful, unique, and relevant content that is updated regularly. In addition, when you consistently publish quality content that is rich in keywords, the search engines will frequent your site to update their indexing, which then leads to more traffic coming into your blog. The better, more frequent posts you publish, the more other sites will link to you, thus again bringing in more traffic and increasing your search engine rankings.
Managed Search Engine Submission - "Now With More Engines"

Linking With Related Blogs

Linking is another way to generate traffic and add to your blog's success. You want your site to be viewed by as many readers as possible.

Exchanging links with another blogger is a great way to make that happen. Surf the web for similar blogs that relate to your specialty and host the same audience you are seeking. Linking relative sites on your page also displays credibility to readers.

They will view you as a main source, referring other interested parties to your blog for that relative info. Friendly links also improve search engine ranking and increase the chances of someone stumbling across your blog. All novice bloggers looking to make money should know this: success is hard work. Devotion and great patience is required if you want a blog to work for you. The most comforting fact is that many people are taking advantage of this tool and creating mass revenue. While nothing is promised, applying sound search engine optimization strategies to your blog speaks volumes in the way of success.

Combining this with good old fashion communication can help return profitable results in the long journey with your blog.

READ MORE - Success and Money

If You Are Venturing Into A Company Blog

If You Are Venturing Into A Company Blog. Expand Your Business With Blogging Statistically speaking, you're likely reading this outside of normal business hours. Am I right, or am I right?

Why? Because if you have a life (okay... admittedly many people don't) the majority of your time is spent away from the office and outside of normal business hours. Usually, when the sun goes down you are already out the door. Frazier has left the building.

But the sun never sets on the internet. It operates 24/7/365 for online and offline businesses both. There are no doors to unlock and no lights to turn on. The doors are always open and the lights are always on. No brick; no mortar; no time clocks.

There are so many important online tools for both marketing (presenting your company and product to the market) and sales (trading that product/service for revenue)... if you're not using them you're soon to be extinct.

Even the US government figured that out. Filed any corporate taxes lately? Most companies now do it online (it is called EFTPS, if you're at all curious).

Low-to-No Cost

Many of the online resources available for your business are usable with no cost and can offer great results. Calculate the ROI on that: small investment (mostly in your time) and great results. Infinite ROI? No, not quite. But as a business owner if you use these available tools correctly it will make a difference in your business.

Put another way, if you are not using online tools for your business, the wolves are at the door and your house is made of sticks. Not brick and mortar; sticks.

Blogging is increasingly being used to effectively to present businesses and products to the market. Websites like Blogger and Wordpress make it possible to share value - your knowledge and experience - through blog posts.

Helpful blog posts on relevant content establish you as a leader and creates a relationship that your consumers don't normally get from just visiting your website. Just today in a phone conversation a client said, "I was so glad to see you are a real person!" The personal touch works.

Need a great example? Go look at 3PAR's company blog called "StorageRap" (www.storagerap.com). No, I'm not associated with 3PAR in any way. But Marc Farley is awesome at what he does for the data storage industry. Take special note of the value that he delivers. Yes, it comes with a heavy dose of opinion, and more than a bit of controversy, but that is the whole point of blogging! Ever read a boring blog post... more than part-way? I rest my case.

If you are venturing into a company blog, ensure it has a clear objective. Brainstorm with colleagues on ideas of what to write and how to represent the company. Then just to it.

Don't be stingy. And don't be a twit.

Contribute to the communication in meaningful ways. A terrific way to increase your network is to be active and to comment on others' posts. Respect the poster; comment on the post. Remember that a single post could be read by thousands, some of whom may take great interest in you and the products you represent.

Don't Abuse the Blog

If you use your blog correctly, clients and consumers will appreciate your information and insight. But consistency is key. Deliver value to your business community by remaining active in blogging and in social networking forums. Don't hold back. Give more, and you will receive more.

READ MORE - If You Are Venturing Into A Company Blog

Local Search Important for your Business

Local Search Important for your Business. As the web gets bigger and bigger it is becoming more of a battle to ensure your website gets listed higher up in the search engines. Local businesses can sometimes get lost or struggle to get listed at all for relevant keywords or phrases.

As you will already know it is important for your website to appear as high up in the search engine results as possible. This is a technique known as Search Engine Optimisation or SEO for short and this process can take anything from a few months or even longer depending on the competitiveness of the keyword or phrase you want your website to get listed for.

Google has recently made some changes to its algorithms so that when you search for something Google will display local results on the page allowing you to find local businesses relevant to your search query.

Internet users will be looking for local businesses when searching on the Web

Internet users are becoming more savvy and will learn to broaden their search phrase e.g. locksmith services becomes locksmith services London. This will allow the search engines to deliver content that is more specific and relevant to the user.

Research has shown that around 70% of household users perform some kind of search for a local product or service on a daily basis.

Do you know if your website is being found for Google Local results?

Most internet users will want to deal with a company based in their local area first before dealing with a company based further away. Why not perform a search on Google for a keyword or phrase relevant to your business along with your geographical area and find out if your website is being listed or not. Your listing should appear next to the location map (on the right hand side) being displayed underneath the Local business results on the page.

There are currently two search engines Google and Yahoo! who offer local result listings as part of their service.

How to get your business listed in Google Local listings?

To create your business listing in Google Local you will need to register an account first. When you first login into your Google Local Business Center account you will be asked to enter your username and password.

Once you are logged into your Google Local Business Center account you will be asked to enter your business details such as company name, address, telephone number, website URL address, opening hours, payment options and a brief description about your business along with the categories you would like your website to appear under.

You will need to verify your business listing before it goes live. To do this you will need to enter your pin number and this can be retrieved either by phone, SMS or postcard. After verification you should start seeing your business listings on Google within one day.

Your business listing may not always appear on the first page because of your proximity to your location. However some useful tips to get your listing to appear higher up or on the first page is to make sure your title contains keyword phrases and also ask your customers to leave a review about your business.

How to get your business listed in Yahoo! Local?

Unfortunately Yahoo! Local listings is not a free service and prices may vary depending on your area and the keyword phrase you want your website to be listed for. Why not visit the Compass SEO website to request a quotation on how much it would cost for your website to be listed in Yahoo! Local.

You may think to yourself why should I pay to get my website listed in Yahoo! Local when it is free to get listed with Google?

There is one advantage with Yahoo! Local. All BT users have Yahoo! installed as their default web browser on their PC or laptop and this will help you to introduce your business to an entirely new market who may not use the Google search engine to find what they're looking for online.

READ MORE - Local Search Important for your Business

Are you an Internet marketer?

Are you an Internet marketer? Perhaps you are just aspiring to become one. If you are doing business online, then maybe you are looking for ways to boost your website's traffic or have it more visible to the search engines as well as to your targeted customers.

But, are your methods and efforts fruitful? Have you reached your expectations? Have you accomplished something out of doing the things you thought can help you become successful?

However, fret not. Even though you may think that you're only good in failing or that you have only wasted your time and effort for nothing, there are still so many things left for you to do.

When it comes to making money online or promoting your business on the web, the chances and opportunities are always countless. All you have to do is be keen and determined in finding effective and suitable ways to prop up your website or the business itself.

You should never close your doors to possibilities as you can always find ways to succeed or stay on top. Online marketing is about trial and error, application of the best means and maintenance and continuous search and learning as well as practice and application.

You should always keep your mind open and make yourself busy discovering methods, information and other interesting stuffs. You must come out of your shell and explore as much as you can. Have yourself trained in a regular manner so as to sharpen your ideas and skills.

So to be able to supply yourself with the appropriate, effective and updated skills or information with regards to SEO and other related things, you must take part in an SEO training or other means of gathering helpful stuffs for the sake of your business and online growth. Participate in an Internet marketing class and see to it that you get into the best group.

You can even get a hold of free stuffs. Many expert marketers are sharing their ideas for free. Search for free internet marketing courses or SEO trainings where you can possibly get the best of everything for free. It doesn't matter if you have to pay for the training so long as you can guarantee yourself that you can learn more valuable and effective techniques.

Roam around the web as much as you can. Go from one website to another so you can gather sufficient resources and references. Find loads of internet marketing courses especially those offered for free by some experts.

You should be able to determine the reputation or credibility of a particular website offering SEO training or internet marketing class. The least that you would want to is to participate in some form of a scam or something that would only waste your time, effort and even money.

Nowadays, you can certainly get a hold of free stuffs provided you actively participate or visit their website. Of course, it will always be a win-win situation.

Ask around: either online or personally. Perhaps you have friends who are also making money online or doing business through the Internet. Gather information as much as you can. Compare services or offers. You should pay attention to remarkable benefits or things you can get during the training and after that.

Inquire as many questions as you can to the website offering SEO training or free Internet marketing course. Ask who would train, the modules involved and other necessary information to determine which training is truly worth everything.

It pays to go for trainings rendered by seo experts or Internet marketing gurus. Pay if you have to. That is why you need to make a thorough research so you can compare and choose wisely.

READ MORE - Are you an Internet marketer?

Tips and Tricks to Optimize Your Website Content

Tips and Tricks to Optimize Your Website Content. We all know that search engines are very important for the success of a website. Almost 85% of new internet users find good websites by using a reliable search engine like Google.

Search engines like Google fight to index thousands of pages of content found on the internet in the right order depending on several characteristics.

Search engine algorithms may vary with time but you can ensure that you have a website that is filled with SEO optimized, original content so that your page ranks as high as possible on the search results.

The following explains best 5 tips about SEO optimizing your web page:

Appropriate landing page

Apart from finding a great niche and product, it's also necessary to have a targeted landing page to encourage paying customers. And one great tip I've found is that to ensure your landing page does not sell anything at all!

In fact, it should give a valuable resource away for free like a niche e-book, newsletters, mini-course and even tele-seminars that will educate the customer about the value of your product. Not only does it raise customer awareness but it also encourages customers to buy what you will eventually show them!

Fresh content

Fresh and new content updated daily is one way to ensure that Google keeps returning to your page again and again. Once the search algorithms are trained to realize that the content on your page changes daily and is completely original you are more likely to see your website higher up in page rankings.

SEO optimizing!

You also have to ensure that the content is SEO-optimized. This is possible by using Keywords that are recognized by search engines as related to your product.

Fill your content with an average of 2% of Keywords per page of 100 words. That means your page should run an average of 10 Keywords in a page of 500 words. Do not put in more than that as search engines tend to classify high keyword pages as spam or duplicated content.

Create a lot of internal links where a single article links to another archived articles in your blog or the site itself. This will increase site recognition and page rankings.

Keeping them simple

Don't flood your site with complex codes like Flash, Ajax, etc. Of course, the site will look great but this just tends to slow down your site and as a result might prevent search engines from crawling and indexing your website properly.

Arranging the Keywords can make or break a website!

Start strong by adding your keywords in the first paragraph and the very first line and the first line of the last paragraph. Search engines like this as it makes it easier for them to classify the article, site and content.

Try to use lateral semantic indexing where you use the same keywords in the form of plurals or related variations. The more the number of variations you put in, the better the page ranking.

There you have it.. The most important thing of all is to take action.

READ MORE - Tips and Tricks to Optimize Your Website Content

Step by Step To Use Facebook for Business

Step by Step To Use Facebook for Business, Facebook’s not just for keeping tabs on friends and filling out quizzes — it can also be used as a highly effective business tool. It’s great for marketing your products, landing gigs and connecting with your customers.

Here are 32 ways to use Facebook in your business.

Manage Your Profile

• Fill out your profile completely to earn trust.

• Establish a business account if you don’t already have one.

• Stay out of trouble by reading the Facebook rules regarding business accounts.

• Install appropriate applications to integrate feeds from your blog and other social media accounts into your Facebook profile. (Although you should be careful before integrating your Twitter feed into your Faceboook profile, as a stream of tweets can seem overwhelming to your contacts.)

• Keep any personal parts of your profile private through Settings.

• Create friends lists such as “Work,” “Family” and “Limited Profile” for finer-grained control over your profile privacy.

• Post a professional or business casual photos of yourself to reinforce your brand.

• Limit business contacts’ access to personal photos.

• Post your newsletter subscription information and archives somewhere in your profile.

Connect and share with others

• Obtain a Facebook vanity URL so that people can find you easily.

• Add your Facebok URL to your email signature and any marketing collateral (business cards, etc.) so prospects can learn more about you.

• Post business updates on your wall. Focus on business activities, such as “Working with ABC Company on web site redesign.”

• Share useful articles and links to presentation and valuable resources that interest customers and prospects on your wall, to establish credibility.

• Combine Facebook with other social media tools like Twitter. For example, when someone asks question on Twitter, you can respond in detail in a blog post and link to it from Facebook.

• Before traveling, check contacts locations so you can meet with those in the city where you’re heading.

• Research prospects before meeting or contacting them.

• Upload your contacts from your email client to find more connections.

• Use Find Friends for suggestions of other people you may know to expand your network even further.

• Look for mutual contacts on your contacts’ friends lists.

• Find experts in your field and invite them as a guest blogger on your blog or speaker at your event.

• Market your products by posting discounts and package deals.

• Share survey or research data to gain credibility.

• Use Facebook Connect to add social networking features to your web site.

• Suggest Friends to clients and colleagues — by helping them, you establish trust.

• Buy Facebook ads to target your exact audience.

• Read up on Facebook Beacon to see if it might be useful for you.

Use Network, Group and Fan Pages

• Start a group or fan page for product, brand or business. Unless you or your business is already a household name, a group is usually the better choice.

• Add basic information to the group or fan page such as links to company site, newsletter subscription information and newsletter archives.

• Post upcoming events including webinars, conferences and other programs where you or someone from your company will be present.

• Update your group or fan page on a regular basis with helpful information and answers to questions.

• Join network, industry and alumni groups related to your business.

• Use search to find groups and fan pages related to your business by industry, location and career.

How do you use Facebook for business?

READ MORE - Step by Step To Use Facebook for Business

Develop a Content for Your Professional Blog

Develop a Content for Your Professional Blog. Many web workers have their own blogs, which are usually shared with colleagues and clients. But a good professional blog is not just a matter of just setting up your blogging platform, typing whatever comes to mind, and clicking “Publish.” Most professional blogs would benefit from a well-planned content strategy. So, how do you develop one?

Know your objectives.

Your objectives will determine all the choices you make regarding your blog, from the design to the content. What do you want to get out of blogging? Do you want to communicate your ideas to a broader audience? Are you planning to use it to attract more clients? Be clear about your objectives before planning your content.

With that said, it’s possible to have too many objectives. Narrow your focus on one or two objectives to keep things simple. Otherwise, you’ll spend too much time on your blog, and not enough time on your work.

Determine scope and themes.

What topics are you going to write about? A good starting point would be about your industry or the work that you do. This is something that you have a lot of knowledge and experience with. For example, graphic designer David Airey discusses the different aspects of graphic design on his blog — from how to work with designers to logo design to typography. These are all topics that are relevant to his work, and writing about them displays his expertise.

But this doesn’t mean you should limit yourself to writing about one topic only. As long as you can make connections among varied topics, you won’t confuse your readers. For example, Chris Guilleabeau successfully writes about travel, writing, goal setting and even marketing. His unique angle is about “unconventional thinking,” so all his posts use that approach, even if the topics covered seem broad.

Use an authentic voice.

How you write is just as important as what you write. If you try too hard to sound like someone else, your posts are going to seem contrived. Because of this, it’s best to stick with writing the way you talk. Write the way you’d discuss the topic with a friend or close colleague. Don’t use words that you have to look up in the dictionary. By sticking to your own voice, you’re letting your personality shine through. Also, it’s easier!

Schedule.

When and how often you post is important. This sets reader expectations and allows you to plan for posts accordingly. For my professional blog, I only update it once a month. This may sound extremely infrequent, but the theme of my blog is about low-noise productivity. It would be hypocritical of me to write about that if I posted twice a day. I’d prefer that my readers spend their time working on exciting projects and putting my advice into practice.

Choose your format.

Although blogging was originally a written medium, you don’t have to limit yourself to written content. As an artist, Michael Nobbs has illustrations and comics as the highlight of his posts, and he also uploads podcasts. Choose the formats that you’re most comfortable with.

Make conscious improvements.

If you have an existing blog, look at your archives from last year. I bet there’s at least one post that makes you cringe. As the years go by, you’ll gain more professional experience and become a better communicator. Make a conscious effort to reflect this improvement in your writing (or video blogging, or podcasting).Your audience might not notice it at first, but when someone — including yourself — looks at your track record, the improvement will be obvious. And who doesn’t want to work with someone who keeps getting better at what they do?

Here’s the secret: you don’t have to obsess about your content strategy, especially when posting regularly becomes a habit. You just have to do what feels natural to you. But taking time to prepare your objectives, intentions, schedule and scope allows you to clearly set out and remember what is natural for you, before you get sidetracked with what other people are telling you to do with your blog.

Do you have a professional blog? How do you plan for your posts?

READ MORE - Develop a Content for Your Professional Blog

Headlines Make The Difference (and the Sale)!

Headlines Make The Difference (and the Sale)!. Are you one of the millions of marketers out there who thinks that it is their sterling copy that induces a customer to buy the product? If so, have I got news for you. The results of my own research, conducted over the past thirty six months, involving scores of ads in hundreds of publications, indicates otherwise.

Utilizing the same body copy, effectively written headlines produced fifteen times more sales than poorly written headlines. Don't believe me? Then read what David Ogilvy, of Ogilvy and Mather advertising agency fame has to say about it:

"On the average, five times as many people read the headlines as read the body copy. It follows that, unless your headline sells your product, you have wasted 90 percent of your money."

Clearly all of us, professional copywriters, marketing gurus and home business people alike, need to become better at writing headlines. Unfortunately, there is a wealth of misinformation out there on this subject.

Let me begin by stating that I do not believe there are any "experts" in this field. I am not an expert, merely a student. I am writing this article because I believe that many of you out there may benefit from my experience in the school of hard knocks.

First, we need to define the true purpose of a headline. An effective headline will do many things at once. It will attract the readers attention, convey benefit by appealing to the readers self interest and it will set the expectation for what is to come. An effective headline will also serve as a filter, selecting the correct audience for the copy that follows.

So what are the characteristics of a good headline? First and foremost, an effective headline must be believable. Most people believe that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If your product really can make me: irresistibly attractive to the opposite sex, a millionaire in ten minutes, or cause my hair to return overnight, save those claims for the copy. In the headline, they will most likely scare your potential customer away before you have had the chance to explain why these miracles will occur.

Effective headlines are short. Politicians have learned this lesson very well, they refer to these short "headlines" as sound bites. They use them because peoples attention span is generally short, sound bites are memorable. A good headline is like a good sound bite, short and memorable. Two rules to make your headlines more memorable: 1) Never use more than fifteen words. 2) Use quotation marks. To shorten your headlines, eliminate adverbs and adjectives, save them for the ad copy where they can be justified. This will also help eliminate some of the sensationalism, making your headline more believable.

Effective headlines are easy to read. When typesetting your headlines don't use flowery fonts, reverse type, all caps or italics. Many people find these difficult to read and will skip them entirely. Again, you don't have to believe me, look at your local newspaper. Chance are good they utilize a simple, easy to read type style such as Times Roman.

Headlines that stir the emotions will make more sales. Emotions motivate people into action, the stronger the emotion, the more prompt the action. Therefore, headlines that make the reader curious, fearful, excited or protective will produce the best results. Use the first or second person in your headlines and make sure that all verbs are in the present tense. This will make you headlines more imperative, motivating more people to take immediate action.

Now that we have covered the presentation issues, we are ready to look at the details of the headline copy. I said earlier that the first purpose of a headline is to grab the readers attention. To accomplish this, use strong action words and phrases. Below I have listed just a few of the words and phrases I have found to be very effective at grabbing the readers attention.

Advice... Facts You... Last Minute... Save...
Amazing... Finally... Love... Secrets Of...
Announcing... Free... Luxury... Security...
At Last... Growth... New... Show Me...
Bargains... Hate... Obsession... Starter Kit...
Breakthrough... Here... Only... Share...
Boom... How Much... Protect... The Truth Of...
Discover... How To... Rewards... Yes...
Do You... How Would... Sale... You...

After grabbing your readers attention, you want to further entice them by spelling out, in a few words, what it is your product will do for them. To do this, you must know a little about your target audience. What are they interested in? What are their priorities? What makes them take action? Craft your headlines to use words and phrases that will pique your potential buyers interest. If you are targeting entrepreneurs, try phrases such as "Lower Your Taxes" or "Increase Profits". If your product happens to be diet aids, try "Lose 20 Pounds In 20 Days".

Be careful here. This is the point where headlines tend to get unbelievable. Make sure that your claims are truthful and that your copy supports their truthfulness.
Once you have a grasp of these basics, write as many headlines as you can think of. Write variations of the same headline until you have exhausted all the ideas you can come up with. This will be difficult at first, but it will become easier with practice.

After you have your list of headlines, test each one against the criteria set for a good headline. Is it truthful? Does it grab the readers attention? Does it convey a benefit that the reader will be interested in? If a potential headline does not meet these three criteria, rework it or eliminate it from your list. After you have a short list of headlines, test market them using a trusted family member, friend or associate. Eliminate those headlines that they feel don't make the grade.

Once you have your revised short list, try some test marketing. Use the free classifieds to see which headlines draw the most interest. Keep track of which ones make the most sales. After all, it is sales, not just traffic that you are after. After a few weeks, you should have a couple of real gems that you can start to seriously promote.

By following the steps I have outlined, you will not become a headline writing guru overnight. Additionally, a good headline will not sell an undesirable or overpriced product. However, if you integrate these steps into your headline writing process, practice and put forth the effort required, you will improve the quality of your headlines. And there is no doubt that better quality headlines will result in more drawing power and interest in your product. [Tony L. Callahan ]

READ MORE - Headlines Make The Difference (and the Sale)!