Choosing How to Market to Your Ideal Prospects

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The first step in marketing to someone is to understand them. Begin to learn what their common fears, frustrations, pain, or urgency is. Look at what they want and who they aspire to be. What is their current world view? What situations are they experiencing? Are there any irrational fears, desires, thoughts or fantasies that they entertain? The question then becomes “Where can I find this type of information?”

There is a multitude of ways to do market research on the internet to find the answers to these questions. Look for research tools and strategies that will save both time and money for you the marketer. Think of these tools and strategies as ways to go “undercover” and spy ethically on your competitors. You will be getting into the mind of your target audience and looking for emotional words, phrases, or patterns that develop. Gathering this information allows you to craft the most relevant message that will capture the attention of your ideal prospects and attract them to you. Below are the top 5 quick and easy rapid research strategies and how they can be used to optimize your research:

1) Google Search and Keyword Tool – This is the primary market research tool, because they are far and away the industry leader in the number of searches made. There are 2 ways to use this valuable tool.

The first is to go to Google’s search box and begin to type in words that relate to your product or industry. As you type them into the search box, Google begins to list out possible search results based on what it thinks you are looking for. Take note of the words and terms as they can be very valuable to you.

You can also go to google.com/sktool. This is a free search and keyword tool that provides you with information on how many people search for a certain keyword or term over a month’s time period. Type in some of your keywords and you will begin to see the power of this particular tool. You can also use this tool to type in a website domain and Google will search and tell you the most powerful keywords associated with that website.

This is just a search engine statistic and has nothing to do with social networking sites, blogs, and other places on the web where your prospects are hanging out. It is just one tool.

2) Twitter Search – This is one of the most valuable tools on the internet as it allows you to see what’s going on in people’s minds in real time and even join in on their conversations if you so desire. This provides excellent content in very concise terms as Twitter requires that each post be no more than 140 characters long. This cuts through the fluff of writing and gets to the meat. Go to http://www.search.twitter.com. Type in words or search topics that pertain to your niche and start watching for emotional hot buttons around that topic or word.

3) Group and Forum Posts – These are places where people who have similar passions meet to share ideas. The best places to start are to Google groups or yahoo groups and type in your most basic keyword or phrase that has to do with your product or service, or the main benefit that your products promote and see what groups are out there. Join a few of these and then just hang out and listen to what is being said here. Also pay particular attention to people who write a lot of content. These are the people to friend. As you post in the forums, be ultra clear on what you post and when you post. Be sure that your posts add value whenever you can.

One quick caution: It is very easy to get sucked into spending several hours a day inside some of these forums and groups, but remember that your main objective at this point is market research. Be sure you are looking for patterns and emotional hot buttons in the posts being made.

4) Online and Offline Competitor Spying – Start looking at various review sites and offline and online publications. A great review site is www.Amazon.com. Many of the products that they promote have reviews from purchasers. You can begin to compare and contrast your products benefits with what the reviewers are saying about the purchases they have made. People who care enough to write those reviews are highly active examples of your target market.

When looking at trade journals, pay particular attention to the advertisements that are being run as they may give you some great ideas for copy of your own. If you have an opportunity to follow a publication for several months, see which ads consistently run month after month. These are the ones that are working for the advertisers and may contain valuable information on your target group.

5) Prospect Interviews and Surveys – This is probably the most important tool of all, and possibly the least utilized by marketers. There is no better research medium than having a one on one conversation with someone about their needs, wants, desires, and fears. The idea is to schedule regular phone conversations with people who are looking for what you have to offer. This requires that you develop the skill of note taking and intense listening.

As you ask the survey questions, you can echo back their answers with absolute precision. This allows you to begin to build trust with people as you will be learning how to meet their needs, and, by echoing back what they say, they will feel heard, and will believe that the logical next step is to follow your leadership.

You will want to do at least 100 of these types of surveys as it will not only give you much insight into your prospects’ needs, wants, and desires around what you are offering, but it will help you gain a huge amount of confidence about what you are offering and how you can help meet needs

Some other tools that are not widely known that will enhance your market research are Quantcast, Alltop, and Google Trends.

Quantcast is an online measurement service that tracks online behaviors and organizes and analyzes who is frequenting various websites. Take a look at the sites that an audience frequents. This allows you to observe how the sites are marketing to their audiences.

Alltop will show you the top headlines and the most visited blogs in your category. You simply type in the keyword or category.

Google Trends allows you to compare various search terms against one another. It will graph the history of search volume as well as the relevant headlines and news stories that have to do with your search.

In the next article, we will take a look at how to “narrow your niche” so that you develop your ideal prospect. Be on the lookout for that!

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Making Money Online at Home in Your Spare Time

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Whatever similar keyword you type into Google you come up with a million or more searches for people wanting to work at home. How can we satisfy this growing army of would-be entrepreneurs? Are they just looking, or are they serious about wanting to work at home.

What exactly are they all searching for? There are so many ways of making money online; here are a few business ideas that come to mind:

Selling imported paintings

Selling portraits of people or pets, painted from photographs

Specific or hand-made greeting cards

Golfing products

Weight loss products – always popular

There are so many ideas, the list could be pages long, in fact any hobby that has a following of people with a disposable income can be considered. Check out magazine racks for ideas. Some ideas will be more profitable than others so do some research into viability and numbers by searching on Google with the keyword tracking tool.

If you were looking and I asked you what you were looking for, could you tell me?

would you be looking to work at home on-line part-time?

would you want your home business to be simple to set-up?

Would you like it to be low-cost?

Do you have a laptop you can use, and an internet connection?

Would you like the flexibility to expand it at a later date?

Would you like to work flexible hours to fit into your life-style?

If you’d answered yes to the above questions I would suggest affiliate marketing, as this is simple to start and run, it is low-cost, and can be flexible, but you would need to commit to spending some-time daily on learning techniques and growing your hobby business. Being involved every-day is much better than fits and starts!

It is best to start whilst you have an income from your current work as it doesn’t happen immediately you have to give it time and effort to grow and learn your new skills. A mentor to guide you initially will save you time, and trial and error as you will follow a proven path. Don’t reinvent the wheel.

Affiliate marketing is a system for sending customers to other people’s products, and getting paid, with no face to face selling. You don’t have to build a website unless you want to or deal with payments delivery or customer service. It is all taken care of for you. It is the simplest system I know for starting online.

Is this the kind of business you would be looking for? You can choose any niche or hobby that appeals to you; in fact it is better if it is a topic you are passionate about as you will enjoy working on it! Especially if later you intend to produce your own products.

There is a great deal of information available on the web, and YouTube and on Facebook groups, recommendation is always good.

A few books that could help you:

If you need to make your current job more satisfying whilst you build your business part-time “Thank God its Monday” by Charles Cameron and Suzanne Elusorr. (Strange title it isn’t religious)!

“Do It a Guide to Living Your Dreams” by John-Rodger and Peter McWilliams, to convince you now is the time and you can do it!

“Living with Passion” by Peter L. Hirsch, he offers you 10 secrets to success.

If you need a new laptop: “Microsoft Windows 8 Made Easy, has great illustrations. Or you could choose a good reconditioned model if you prefer Windows 7.

Well I hope there are some suggestions here to help you if you are one of the millions searching and I would like to wish you every success in your new venture. Growing your own business is one of the most exciting things you can choose to do – I love it.

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79 Secrets On How To Increase Your Income Through Your Personal Brand in 2017

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1. WHAT NEVER WORKS WHILE JOB HUNTING…

Desperation does not work in the Job Market. Build your network before you need it. Just as you will be offered a loan in high amounts when you do not need it – you will be offered good jobs when you do not need one. Grab one when you are at the top.

2. WHY LOYALTY TO YOUR EMPLOYER IS CAREER SUICIDE.

Are you a loyal employee to the company? Yes? Then you are an idiot. The only loyalty you must have – is to yourself and your brand. Remember this much – the day you are useless – you will be replaced. If you are good – you will be kept as an star employee forever.

3. PEOPLE TALK NEGATIVELY ABOUT YOU? GOOD! HERE IS WHY!

What do you think your Boss & your Colleagues would really say about you behind your back? That is the reality the world speaks about you.

4. WHAT IS YOUR WOW-FACTOR?

Tell me – What is your WOW Factor? Now. Right Away. Right this moment. And then elaborate on it for the next 5 minutes. If you cannot or could not do this – chances are – you are fooling everyone including yourself that you can sell yourself.

5. IMAGINE YOUR CHILD HAD AN ACCIDENT…

If you want to make an evolve – it will only happen if it takes place with a sense of urgency and importance. Want proof? Lets assume – your child met with an accident. What would you do? Would you give excuses? Would you say you ‘do not know’ what to do? Would you ask others for their opinion? Would you simply plan things out? Or would just ‘get things done’? Compare the same with how you are approaching the most important goal of your life – your career, what you earn and how much you earn per month.

6. ARE YOU #1 AMONG 4000?

In the Middle East – In any given week – for a given vacancy, around 4,000 people apply for the position. Ask yourself – out of 4,000 people who are competing for the same position, package and promise – where do I stand? If you are not number 1 – then it is a game of lottery winning.

7. WHEN SHOULD YOU START JOB HUNTING?

Get a new job before you get into shaky grounds with your old employer. The best time to being – is when you are at your peak in the existing job. The only other time I would recommend is – Now.

8. STAY UPDATED OR GET OUTDATED

Make sure the image, updates, personal & professional information and photographs Online & on Social Media is the one you want your potential employer to notice. Also – Update your Resume & LinkedIn Profile regularly.

9. FOLLOW THE ’10’ PRINCIPLE AND BECOME AN INDUSTRY EXPERT!

Make sure you read the top 10 publications of your industry, network with the top 10 clients of your industry, make friends with the top 10 experts in your industry, make sure that the top 10 decision makers have your Resume and yes, you make 10 new contacts every year related to your industry!

10. WANT TO BE A LEADER? DO THIS!

Learn the art of writing articles, offering suggestions & ideas on LinkedIn & its various groups. How can you become a leader if you cannot communicate your ideas both verbally and in writing?

11. LINKEDIN IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN FACEBOOK.

Most people spend more time on Facebook than on LinkedIn. Guess where do Industry Professionals spend more time on? Also – ensure LinkedIn is your advertising platform through the value you offer its readers, users and viewers.

12. UPDATE YOUR CONTACT LIST

Update your professional contacts frequently. Do you know that within a span of 12 months – anything from 10% to 20% of all your contacts have either changed their jobs or are not longer available on the same contact details?

13. KILL THOSE YOU LOVE

It may sound rude – but do away with people who are useless and time wasters – even if they are members of your own family. Surround yourself with only those who add value to your life. Remember this much – sometimes the ones who are the closest to us – become the reasons for our success. Or failure.

14. HAVE AND MAINTAIN THE A-LIST!

Have an A-List of contacts whom you get in touch with at least once a month. It’s who you know and not what you know that would bring opportunities into your life.

15. KEEP IT FRESH

Make & Network with new contacts every single month. The more ‘right’ people you know – the better it is for you. There are countless possibilities and probabilities. You do not know what you are missing – until you go out there!

16. YOU = KEY-WORDS

Ensure you use keywords in LinkedIn to describe you, market you and promote you. They become the foundation on which others connect with you. What are your keywords?

17. YOU ARE SMARTER THAN THE SYSTEM? REALLY REALLY?

Don’t think you can outsmart the system with shortcuts. People assume by just re-creating their Resume at the last minute or putting in some fluffy words or just trying to squeeze in a Resume at a job opening will land them a super-high paying job. Wrong. Think again buddy!

18. DO WHAT KIM KARDASHIAN DOES!

Ensure you can grab people’s attention all the while. Everyone is competing to be noticed. So in a crowded competitive room of professional- how noticeable are you? Remember – it is better to be noticed, than to be ignored!

19. ENSURE THIS EVERY SINGLE TIME!

Ensure people endorse you and recommend you. BUT here is a thumb rule! The bigger the names, the bigger the positions, the bigger the brand – the more valuable your Profile becomes. For instance – getting 3 recommendations from the CEO of 5 different multinational companies would do more wonders than getting 50 recommendations from middle line managers.

20. DARE TO DO THIS…

Dare to do things differently – in every possible area and avenue of your life (Dress Sense to how you use Social Media).

21. THIS WAS ONE OF THE BIGGEST SECRETS OF MY SUCCESS!

Get yourself a Professional Mentor & Coach. I wish someone had told me this secret when I was just 7 years old. The magic I have achieved in 6 years – imagine what more could I have done had I been practicing the amazing techniques all my life! Self-Study does help. Self-Help to a certain limit. But there is nothing in the world that can replace being guided by a Professional Mentor!

22. THE MOST AMAZING TRAIT YOU MUST INCULCATE!

Read and Educate Yourself with the latest Industry Trends. The more you read, the more it opens your mind to what is happening around. Can’t read?. Fine. You can watch YouTube videos? You can listen to MP3’s instead of listening to the nonsense that plays on the Radio? Today the oppotunities to study and learn are endless. Stop giving excuses.

23. THE 3 IMPORTANT SKILLS OF BEING NOTICED!

Practice 3 Key Skills – Self-Marketing, Self-Promotion & Self-Sell. However, keep in mind – there is a way in how you do that. It is not just about posting photographs and pictures of yourself online or being limited to smart posts and quotations that you get from the Internet. Do you know what the Gift Economy Is? Read and find out!

24. WANT TO LEARN HOW TO CLOSE A DEAL?

Communication (which includes listening as well) & Negotiation are two key skills that will help you anywhere and everywhere where connecting and making the deal is concerned.

25. NETWORKING 101

If you go into a room filled with 60 people and you have 2 hours – do you know what has to be done? Do you know how to break the ice with strangers? Do you know how to get the information you are looking for? Do you know how to make the guy listening to you or meeting you for the first time – want to know you more? If you don’t – its time to learn this skill now.

26. EUREKA! YOU FINALLY GOT THE BILLION DOLLAR IDEA?

Forget it. Ideas are worthless. And if you wonder why no one else is implementing your idea -chances are – many already did it and it didn’t work out. Want something better? Take an existing idea or product – and make it better. If in doubt – remember Steve Jobs, the iPod, iPad and iPhone.

27. STICK AND STONE BREAK BONES!

Remember the quote “Stick and Stones may break my bone but words never hurt me?” Between thinking of a great idea and implementing an not so good idea – Implementation is everything. It’s only when you start doing or working your idea – will you come to know what works & what doesn’t. And yes, how you can improve on it.

28. DO WHAT EVERYONE DOES – RIGHT?

Wrong! The Grass is always Greener on the other side. So remind yourself this when you assume that changing country or company will solve all your problems. Most probably – the biggest problem – is YOU. And yeah – just because people are doing something in large numbers – doesn’t mean they are probably right. I don’t want to get into any controversies here – but think of all the Atrocities committed throughout history. You will always see people committing these crimes in large numbers!

29. THE KEY TO SURVIVAL!

Evolution is the key. How have you evolved since the last year? Or the year before? Or the year before that?

30. BHAG!

Do you have a BHAG? (Big Hairy Audacious Goal courtesy James Collins and Jerry Porras). If not – set one up.

31. THE P’S & P’S

Keep in mind everything is a process. And every process has procedures. However, if you are smart enough – you would know where the loopholes are and how to maximize on them.

32. THIS TRAIT CAUSES THE WORLD TO GO AROUND!

Likability is a key factor when being selected. So when you are facing unfair competition from those who are even more attractive than you – focus on this Trait! So the question is simply this – On a scale of 1 to 10 – How likeable are you?

33. GET NOTICED OR GET LOST!

At the Red Carpet Event, every single celebrity tries to outdo the other in some crazy way or another. It can be an amazing dress, almost naked dress, crazy dress or something as ridiculous as what Shia Labeouf did one evening on the 12th of February 2014. He sported on a paper back stating “I Am Not Famous Anymore”. Uniqueness is what would help you get noticed. Although I wouldn’t recommend you to follow what Mr. Shia Labeouf did, I would recommend you stand out always. So – Do you stand out from the rest of the crowd?

34. THE BILLION DOLLAR QUESTION

Personal branding is what would help you position yourself. Are you a Brand? Do you know how to make yourself one? In fact, do you even know what is a Personal Brand? If not, you better get to speed with reality!

35. IT MELTS IN YOUR MOUTH?

As human beings, temptation is what makes us finally cave into what we shouldn’t. That is why no matter how hard people try – McDonald’s with its burgers, Snickers with its Chocolate Bar, and even Nike with its over-priced Shoes – ensure its customers keeping spending their hard earned money on stuff they don’t actually need. The message = Desirability. It is what you should communicate to the potential employer. Do you know how to make yourself desirable like these amazing brands?

36. THE 4-7-30-3 PRINCIPLE

Sell-ability is what makes you from being ’employed’ to ’employable’. Do you know how to sell yourself? I train my students how to do it in 4 Seconds, 7 seconds, 30 seconds & 3 minutes – time slots. Why? Because that is what works in order to succeed!

37. THE FUTURE OF COMMUNICATION?

How well do you know the art of Blogging, Video Blogging & Social Media Marketing? This skill alone will make or break your brand.

38. WHO ARE YOU?

How well do you know yourself? Rather let me rephrase it. How well do you know yourself to market yourself to stand out from the rest of the crowd so that when the employer hears about you – he jumps the gun and immediately decides – you are the one he must employ. Do you know yourself that well? If no is the answer – you seriously better stop everything and learn this skill first!

39. WALK IN MY SHOES!

Do you know the art of how to think, communicate and negotiate from the Employers point of view? Almost every employee or job search candidate thinks from his point of view. If you can walk in the shoes of those whom you are dealing with – you will always succeed no matter what happens!

40. SIMPLE QUESTION FOR WHICH MANY SAY NO…

Have you practised, rehearsed and absolutely mastered the art of the interview? Now before you become Dirty Harry and get ready to fire bullets of confidence in my direction – ask yourself this simple question – is your presentation so good that you could absolutely impress Mark Cuban or Sunder Pichai to employ you immediately? If your answer is still a resounding yes – Trust me – I would want to contact you for tips!

41. HOW TO KNOW IF YOU HAVE A PERFECT RESUME?

Is your Resume perfect? Let me give you a method to evaluate if your Resume is perfect or not. Do this – Ask yourself – what is the salary that would keep you happy? Once you get this amount – Multiply this amount with 12 (12 months in a year). So for instance – if the salary you are looking for is USD $10,000, then multiply this with 12 months = USD $120,000. So now ask yourself – is this Resume that you are using to promote yourself – worth being paid USD $120,000?

42. THE MAGIC WORD – VASTAA

In the Middle East, especially the United Arab Emirates, there is a magic word. It is called “Vastaa”. All it means is knowing the ‘God-Father’ who can help you get you what you want – anything from the job of your dreams to the promotion you assumed you deserve. So what is the point I am trying to make here? Simply this – Do you know the right contacts i.e. the decision makers who can make a decision and ensure you get the job right now? If you have only 5 – you will never be unemployed in your life. However, even after knowing 5, if you are still unemployed – it means you are unemployable.

43. THE MASTERMIND GROUP

Do you have a circle of trust worthy, like-minded people who can add value to your brand? If not, create one. They are what Napoleon Hill once called ‘The Mastermind Group’. Here is an article by FORBES that would shed some light into what The Mastermind Group is all about.

44. SHARPEN THE SAW

Do you dedicate at least 1 hour a day Sharpening a Key Skill that will make you employable? Don’t know what that means? Read Stephen Covey’s Sharpening Your Saw Principle.

45. STEVE JOBS, STEPHEN HAWKINGS & SUPERMAN HAD THIS SUPER POWER…

What am I talking about? The ability to be absolutely and totally Obsessed about something. Now I am pretty aware that this would be looked upon in a negative light. After all – don’t we preach having a ‘balanced life’ and ‘keeping life in balance’? Fine. No arguments there. Do you assume any of the great legends of our world had such a luxury? Well, I have to be the bearer of bad news. It doesn’t work. So the question here is – Are you totally and absolutely obsessed about your Professional Growth? On a Scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest) where do you rate yourself? And now – where do you think you should rate yourself if you had to get the job of your dreams?

46. TAKE A NEW KIND OF A VACATION…

When was the last time you took a Professional Wellness Vacation – To Focus Strictly on your Professional Growth and Development? When will you plan to take it? What will you choose to develop during that time?

47. FIND OUT THE WEAKEST LINK IN THE CHAIN…

No matter how strong a chain – do you know where it breaks off during pressure and stress? At its weakest link. Do you know the 3 key areas that need the most development and growth – the ones that can literally break you and cause hindrance to your career growth? (or are you assuming you know?)

48. YOUR BIGGEST FRIEND OR GREATEST ENEMY

Are you aware of the fact that Your Immediate Boss can make or break your career prospects in your company? So is he on your side? Or rather – ask yourself – Is your boss someone whom you would like to be – one day? If not – you better change your boss and your company!

49. IS YOUR ORGANIZATIONAL YOUR COFFIN?

Study your company management structure, hierarchy and history. Do you think there is a place for you to move, grow and evolve into? Or are you wasting your time for the next many years in the same position with the same package? And no matter how hard you work or how many hours you put in, the reality is – you will never grow further? If so, better change jobs and change it fast!

50. BE PRACTICAL

Hope is NOT a strategy. In the same way Praying, doing Charity, or lighting candles to your favorite gods may give you a spiritual sense of fulfilment. However, it is NOT what will work in the real world. Be practical.

51. YOU THINK YOU ARE GOOD? REALLY? TRY THIS…

Do you assume you are really good? Then apply to the top 5 competitors of your company and see their response. If they are ready to employ you and your services without a moment’s hesitation – you are indeed an Industry Leader. However, if they report you to your employer – chances are, no one wants to employ your sorry behind!

52. MONEY IS EVERYTHING!

How much money do you have stored for a bad day? The thumb rule is to have 12 months salary kept in your bank account untouched – so that if and when you do lose your job – you can sit back, relax and regroup yourself after being laid off. And only after you have relaxed for a few days or weeks – go into an all out assault to finding your new job and position. They say money is not everything? Yeah Right. On the day you are without a job – you will take refuge knowing you have enough and more money resting in the bank for your access!

53. READ THIS SENTENCE 10 TIMES A DAY!

Remember the key rule – Its not what you know. Its who you know. Read this again and again and again!

54.THE MORE YOU KNOW, THE MORE YOU DO NOT KNOW!

Do you know how to Mass Unfollow everyone on Twitter? Do you know how to remove ALL your inactive friends on Facebook with a single click? Do you know how to increase your Google rankings in relation to your blog? Ask yourself – how much more you do not know – which you should be spending time learning!

55. IS THIS THE JOB OF YOUR DREAMS?

Do you REALLY seriously, absolutely and vehemently love your job and what you do? If you don’t – PLEASE do yourself a favor – make a change. You just have one life to live. Stop living it doing what you do not love.

56. PENNY WISE, POUND FOOLISH?

Its tempting to save money and redesign your Resume by yourself, practice interview skills by yourself and learn new skills by yourself. Right? Good strategy to save money – right? If Usain Bolt needs a Coach, If Floyd Mayweather needs a coach, If Mark Zuckerberg needs an Advisory Board – what about you? Oh yeah, I get the argument – you do not want to be “so great” like the rest. Then, please do me a favor. Stop reading this article all together and be happy being mediocre. Just as your job as a professional cannot be done by an amateur – stop assuming that you can suddenly wear the hat of being an Industry Professional that too in an industry you have no experience or expertise in.

57. BELIEVING YOUR OWN BS?

Affirmations, Assertions, Positive Thinking – yes, this helps to a limit. However, when it crosses a certain limit – then it becomes an absolute liability. It serve no purpose being negative. Its okay to be positive. However, you must be realistic! An honest assessment of your situtation is very important. Stop lying to yourself. If wanting to change and improve is just a hope, wish, dream but you do not have the drive, desire and determination to do whatever it takes to put thought into action – then all you are tying to do – really hard – is create an illusion of change and feel good about it.

58. 3+3 COMBO!

Time. Money. Effort. Three things you need to make change happen. Oh yes, did I mention Strategy, Consistency & Coaching?

59. DO WHAT THE BIG BOYS DO!

Why do Global Brands need to constantly reinvent themselves? Why do Software Companies keep updating their software? Why does Facebook, Google and YouTube keep coming out with new features, products and services? Think about it. And then ask yourself – what about you? What new products or services can you come out with that will make you relevant to the market?

60. YOUR REAL COMPETITION… GET READY TO BE SURPRISED!

Facebook, Google, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat – None of these must-have necessary addictions existed in your college days. Today’s youngsters are being introduced to this world as young as 6 years old. So the question here begets – how future proof are you for the next 5 years? 10 years? 15 years? Are you ready to face tomorrow’s generation when they compete with you head along?

61. THE MASTERY YOU NEED!

Social Media & Software Mastery – Do you have it? No? Seriously No? OMG! Are you for real? Given that today our entire lives are under the microscopic lens of the world – how can you choose to ignore this avenue?

62. EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS = PPPRRRTTTTBBBBBB!

Proud Of Your Educational Qualifications & Degrees? Really? Go show them to a few potential employers and ask them – “Hey Boss – Isn’t this impressive? Based on this – how much salary increase or promotions can I get?”… Remember – Unless of course it is from an Ivy League School – The answer your potential employers will give you – will give you a reality check you need.

63. MAKE GOOGLE YOUR BEST FRIEND!

Want to know how searchable or noticeable you are? Google your name. See what you get. If someone cannot find you easily and in large numbers – how exactly would be you noticeable or credible?

64. LAW OF AVERAGES!

Follow the law of averages. If you connect with 100 new contacts – chances are 5 to 10 will become the pivotal reason for your success. So what is your current target per month?

65. WE ARE A PRODUCT OF OUR HABITS!

Look at your past – say for the past 5 years or 10 years in any particular endeavor and evaluate yourself. Chances are, you will repeat the same pattern for the rest of your life.

66. HOW VALUABLE YOU ARE TO YOUR COMPANY – THE ACID TEST!

If you were to resign from your company – would your employer accept it or fight & negotiate with you to ensure you stay? The answer to this question would show how important you are to the Industry at large. Or in a micro sense – how valuable you are to your own company.

67. CHANGE IS PAINFUL, POWERFUL & A PLUS POINT!

Maybe you need to change everything about and I mean everything. Have you thought about how that can impact your life – if you changed everything? However, keep this in mind – its not just external that has to change – you from inside also must.

68. YOUR VALUES – ARE THEY GOOD FOR YOU?

They say – Live your life according to your values. However, if you are not happy with your life right now – its time you had a serious look into your own life and ask yourself – which values you need to change.

69. WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM THE WRESTLERS!

Have you noticed the World Wresting Entertainment? For every Undertaker, there is a John Sena, for ever HHH, there is The Rock. Did you notice – all of them have a different costume, walk-in music, storyline, finishing move, style of doing this and presentation? Ever asked yourself why? The day you get the answer to this question – and yes, implement the answer – you will become the most successful person in your industry.

70. THE MOST IMPORTANT TIME OF YOUR LIFE

The 1st 3 hours of your life after you wake up – are the most productive ones in your life. How do you spend the 1st 3 hours of the morning after waking up? Dressing Up + Staying stuck in Traffic + Reading Emails? And you expect amazing changes to take place in your life?

71. WHAT ARE YOUR S.M.A.R.T GOALS?

Do you have a target for yourself this year? Do you have a master goal? Have you broken this goal for the next 12 months into breakable, achievable chunks? In fact – do you know what you are supposed to achieve this week? If not – what are you doing? Where are you headed? What do you want in life? Can you quantify it, measure it and evaluate it?

72. TAKING SMALL RISKS AND FREQUENT ONES!

Practice taking small risks early on in life and take them frequently. The more risks you take, the better you will be at knowing what works and doesn’t work. Never ever ever be happy just being and doing the same.

73. CONSTANT AND NEVER ENDING IMPROVEMENT

This year I have invested in one of the top online coaches for my online presence, Graphic Designing Course to learn how to digitally animate my photographs (which I use rampantly on Social Media), Video Animation Course (as I use YouTube frequently) and also enrolled for a language school in Koh Samui to learn Thai. All this cost me a lot of money. So what are you striving to learn? How much money are you planning to invest?

74. SACRIFICE (NOT THE ELTON JOHN ONE)

Without Sacrifices you can achieve nothing. With prioritising your time to focus on your goals – you cannot achieve anything. So what are you ready to prioritise and sacrifice in order to reach your goals?

75. THE BEST ADVICE I EVER RECEIVED!

My friend Dave Ross (1991 World Champion of Public Speaking for Toastmasters International) said this one quote “I will never let anyone outwork me.” This is a principle I have followed to heart which has been the foundation to my success. Apply it and trust me – it will work wonders for you.

76. WINSTON CHURCHILL SAID THIS…

Never Ever Ever Ever Ever Ever Ever Give Up. When you keep at something – you will succeed at some point. Agreed there will be ups and downs – but if you are truly committed to achieving your goal – chances are – you will succeed it at.

77. THE DANGERS OF EARLY SUCCESSES

There is one danger I must warn you about – Early Success. Or Succeeding in itself. It can give you a false sense of confidence and infallibility. I have seen it happen to many people. Do not assume that just because you have succeed once or a few times or in a particular endeavor – you will succeed at everything or always.

78. SALARY IS IMPORTANT… HOWEVER

Remember – when choosing a job, salary is only one part of the equation. The other factors may make or break you completely. Most importantly – read in between the fine lines. Especially – when things don’t go so well. In fact, evaluate the place where you are planning to work or apply – check out the people who work there. Evaluate them. Check out and find out what happened to those who left. Most probably – the same story may repeat itself with you.

79. SO WHAT NEXT?

What key decisions have you taken after reading this article? If you have read it all the way to this point – it means you surely want to change and improve. So now the question remains – what will you do, when will you do it and how will you do it?

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SEO – How to Improve Your Rank for Google Search Engine Results

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Google is at the foremost amongst all search engines, that a large volume of internet users are using to look for relevant websites that Google returns for a particular keyword or keyphrase being used. So if you have to really make your website highly popular, that attracts a large volume of potential customers, then its important you have to follow certain established SEO techniques.

Keywords are the Key to Success of Your Website

You have to find those keywords that are relevant to the kind of theme or topic that you choose for to promote products and services from your website. You have to find keywords that finds a good many inquiry through the Google search box but not many websites are there that actually deals with that keyword.

Now if you scan through those websites that are displayed on the first page of a Google Search for that keyword, you might find that there is not enough content that throws light on the keyword or phrase used. Here you can exploit, by making inroads.

Highly Informative Content Rich Websites

Start writing rich content that are highly informative and useful to the kind of visitors who are clicking their way into your website. Moreover keep your website fresh by writing more contents, twice a week. Google loves content that are fresh, hot and crispy. Not stale ones, churning in articles that most websites have already dealt with over and over again, and regular visitors have learnt them by heart and does not need it anymore.

In fact Google is worried, that a good many quality visitors are getting diverted from Google and instead preferring other search engines over Google such as Bing, to look for websites that has rich content and very different from the beaten path. Naturally the loss of quality visitors will mean less of revenue earning for Google. That is why Google is hungry for fresh contents from relevant websites, catering to a particular market segment or group.

Satisfy Google’s Hunger For Fresh Content

That is why it is important that just by catering to the requirements of a particular market segment or target group won’t suffice., You also got to look from Google’s point of view too. So write or outsource fresh articles, that are rich in relevant information and also in context to the keyword, based on which you want to gain foothold as an established web site to reckon with.

The Importance of Back Links for Your Website for High Google Ranking

Now you need back links too for your website. as per the PageRank (Page stands for the name of Google co founder Larry Page) algorithm, backlinks are very important if a website wants to climb the greasy pole to Google search result page. More backlinks a website have the better it is. However quality backlinks too count. In other words if a highly established website has a link in one of its pages that points to your website then, the website, as per Google, has the merits to occupy the first few slots of the first page for a given search keyword/phrase.

Article Writing

Article writing is one way of making your website popular, as writing in established article directories, help you to garner more links that point to your website. The other places are of course niche forum sites, where you can contribute regularly with your helpful ideas in the discussion threads concerning your field of expertise and niche. That way you can send more back links to your website, and thereby send more quality targeted traffic from the forum too.

Blogs

For more back links you can maintain blogs that too are content rich and has a back link to your websites. This way you can increase the number of back links. Of course these are all hard work since you have to see that the blog is regularly updated with rich keyword based relevant content.

Stop Using Flash and Graphics in Your Website

Refrain from wasting your precious time and money in sprucing up your website with flash and graphics since the codes are not at all crawled by Google Spiders. So no point in adding those codes that Google hardly pays attention to.

Stop Your Website from Being Slow and Sluggish

Google does not like those websites that are slow and irritating to open fast. So do not use too many videos and graphics that weighs down your website, and makes it open swiftly.

The Importance of HTML / XML Site Map before Submitting to Google and other Search Engines

Another thing I wish to draw your attention is about the importance of a site map preferably XML site map. It is preferable however to have both HTML and XML in the website root folder. The reason is obvious since different search engines have their own preference. It is therefore very important that you have a site map for each websites before you submit to Google.

You can create a site map for free such as http://www.auditmypc.com/free-sitemap-generator.asp. After you have created your site map you may then submit it to Google. You will have a fair idea if you visit the site map of EzineArticles, which is ezinearticles.com/sitemap.html

Stop Plagiarism by Duplicating Content from other Websites

Plagiarism is unlawful and is an offence for violation of copyright and intellectual property laws. Google too hates websites that thrives on duplicate content. So ensure that your website has content which is written in original and no other website has the same content word to word and sentence after sentence.

Content must be of at least 250 words

Make sure your article is at least 250 words in each webpage of your site. Also your keywords need to be put in the first 250 words, since Google crawler scans only the first 250 words and on that basis it checks the relevancy of the webpage for search result.

Keyword Density – Limit it to 2% – 3% of total content. Use Only 2 to 3 keywords only

Do not use too much of the same keywords over and over again. It would be considered offensive by most search engines. The best is to limit it to 3% of the overall content. However it is prudent that you keep it to simply 2 to 3 different keywords alone.

Niche Websites That has very Little Competition but has a Good Demand from Genuine Visitors

Do not turn your website into some kind of a super mall, that sells from mouse to elephant all under one roof. Find your niche that caters to a fine segment of the market, lets say Domain flipping. See that your niche is not already crowded with too many players in the market. Try those that has not too many players and you can be one of them, to fight you way to the top in the Google Search Engine rankings, by catering to only a selected clientele.

Hope the information provided to you here in this article will help you to get started for a successful career in internet marketing and success from websites that you make them profitable using SEO techniques. This is how you can improve the ranking of your website by Google Search Engines.

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Countering the Rising Costs of Google AdWords for Transmission Repair

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To Transmission Shop Owner,

Today we will talk about ways to counter the rising costs of Google AdWords when marketing transmission repair.

If you have been using AdWords to drive customers for the last couple years you will already know: The cost-per-click has went UP for transmission keywords.

• In 2006 it averaged 30 cents per click.

• In most areas, it is now over $2 per click.

• In some areas, it is as high as $4 per click.

If it takes an average 20 clicks to generate 1 good lead (5% average conversion from a click to a lead), you can see how expensive it is getting.

The bad part? As the Google cost rises, the results do not improve. You are still going to get the same quality of leads, no mater how much you pay for them.

Why Did This Happen?

One reason? Google sent free $100 AdWords coupons to every business in the US. Since their pay-per-click system is based on an auction, the more shops, scammers and marketing companies they could get to bid on keywords like “transmission” and “transmission repair” caused the price to continue going higher.

As everyone battles for top position, the price continues to go up. Ultimately, this makes Google more money for delivering the exact same results.

Ways to Counter Rising Costs

Here are some simple ways to counter the rising cost of AdWords and get more from your budget:

Put your phone number in your ad. This is a simple trick that can increase your phone leads. You can get some additional calls without people clicking on your ad and costing you money.

Negative keywords. Very important. Make sure you are not bidding on wasteful keywords by using negative keywords in your campaign. For example, most shops bid on the keyword “transmission”. But, if you do not deal with used transmissions, you may be surprised that the phrase “used transmission” can STILL make your ad come up in searches, because the phrase “used transmission” still contains the word “transmission”! I have a whole list of negatives I used in each client campaign, including “used”, “motorcycle”, “semi”, “lawnmower”, etc. All of these words spend $2-$4 for a click, and Google loves it.

If you hired an outside pay-per-click management company to handle your online advertising, be sure they understand the transmission industry. Some do. But many of these companies have no clue about the transmission business, and their keyword lists may include lots of things you do not want–and NO negative keywords. The reason there are so many complaints about marketing companies? Most of them have a “we service all industries, nationally” shotgun approach. They throw together an ad, some keywords, start the campaign, and no results.

Marketing companies who specialize in the transmission industry have a laser-guided missile approach. They already know what worked before, what is working now, and what will not work.

Write an ad that sets your shop apart from your competition. Look at competitor ads and make sure yours is different.

Use MSN Adcenter to advertise on Bing and Yahoo. Clicks here are generally cheaper due to less competition. You can now advertise on both in one system.

The process to set up an account is the same as AdWords. Being on Bing is more important than you think: Many computer users use Bing because it is their default start page. You are missing this large group of people entirely if you only use Google AdWords.

Work leads after-hours and on weekends. Many people work 2nd/3rd shift and go online outside normal business hours, but they still need transmission service. If you do not have time to do it, give your manager an incentive to do it. First and best gets the job, especially after hours and weekends. If you cannot work leads after-hours and weekends, you will probably want to shut off your advertising during those times if you are currently running your ads 24/7. Only run AdWords during your business hours to save money.

If you cannot always get to the phone at the shop and miss calls, have your Internet leads go to a dedicated cell-phone that always gets answered. If you miss a call on the shop phone that came from your AdWords campaign, you may have just spent $50 for a dropped lead. Another method is to use a service that rings to multiple people if the first is busy, like a hunt group.

Geographical settings should be realistic. If you cannot service a 50 mile radius of your entire metro area, adjust your campaign for just the area you typically service.

Other Ideas

In the end, the whole point of advertising online is generating leads, then working those leads as best you can.

If people who need your services click your ad–but do not call or do not fill out your contact form, that bill from AdWords on your credit card statement is just you helping pay for a Google executive’s corporate jet.

In Summary

To sum all of this up:

• MSN Adcenter is generally cheaper clicks than AdWords. Set up an account to advertising on Bing and Yahoo.

• Work leads after-hours and weekends to get more jobs.

• Turn off leads after-hours and weekends to save $$ if you cannot work them.

• Use a dedicated cell phone for hot Internet leads so that no leads are dropped.

• Use realistic geographical targeting.

• Negative keywords are important to add to your campaign to save $$.

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3 Ways to Get More Traffic to Your Online Store

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An Introduction to Marketing Your Store Online

No matter how wonderful your products are, finding ways to encourage consumers to buy from your online store can be a challenge.

With so much competition out there – especially if you’re competing against a big retailer – means you need to always be focusing on ways to get more traffic to your online store.

Here are 3 ways to grow your online store:

1. Create Compelling Content

Publishing content that is valuable to your consumers is an ideal way to attract people to your website. Potential customers are more willing to buy from a retailer who posts genuine blogs, reviews and articles.

A study done by Gartner, a leading research and advisory company, found that 84% of millennials have used user-generated content to make a purchasing decision.

Plus, if you provide your readers with fresh content, they’re more likely to return to your website and potentially buy from you more than once.

2. Focus on SEO

When creating organic content your readers will enjoy, it’s essential to keep SEO in mind if you want to grow your online store. Organic traffic means visitors finding your website in a way that didn’t require you paying for that traffic to find you.

For example, if you have written a book on relationship advice you want to promote, you could create articles containing keywords such as “relationship tips” and “love advice.”

You also need to expand your SEO campaign to:

• Include keyword descriptions on product images

• Create a sitemap and submit it to search engines

• Write page titles and meta descriptions

You’ll have to do your keyword research first, however, and work on targeting keywords with low competition that still get enough traffic to make your efforts worthwhile. This is where an SEO expert can really come in handy.

3. Use Google AdWords

Google AdWords is a pay-per-click advertising program that can really help you generate traffic and leads.

The cost per click varies, but even an entrepreneur on a limited budget can afford to pay for at least a small campaign.

For an Impressions Campaign, you only have pay for an ad when someone clicks on the ad, calls your business or views your video, so it’s a cost-effective way to get more traffic.

There are a few ways to use Google AdWords:

• Show up in Google search results

• Promote banner ads in Gmail or websites

• Create a video ad for YouTube targeting your audience based on specific criteria

You’ll have to be skilled enough to manage your campaigns, measure results and make changes, or else it won’t help you grow your online store and could end up being very costly. If you’re not sure, seek out a professional who can help you grow your online store through paid traffic.

Like most marketing strategies, getting traffic to your online store takes continuous effort. Your competitors are likely focusing on the same techniques you are, so stay ahead of the game by measuring your results and changing what doesn’t work.

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And Old Book, a New Bestseller

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It’s often said that it can’t be done… but anything is possible if you have a brutal seller’s mindset. Bear in mind that every book is a product. Whether it’s a new releases, an old book, a 50-page story, an 800-page epic, fiction, or nonfiction… they all have something in common when it comes to Amazon. As far as Amazon’s search engines are concerned, all of these books are just other products and their ID is – from their point of view – just a unique ASIN. Neither age, nor gender, nor history matters. All that matters is how well a certain ASIN is likely to sell.

So many authors have published their works expecting their books on Amazon to somehow sell themselves, and even possibly appear on Amazon’s top chart – oh, to have such confidence must be a wonderful thing! With some books having substantial marketing budget behind themselves, and some others represented by marketing professionals, many self-published books are unfortunately destined to disappear in the backgrounds, and simply fail. The quality of the book always matter, but nobody could deny that quality alone doesn’t sell books. Professional sales strategy and big advertising budgets make an enormous difference on digital sales channels… but a self-published author can’t compete against companies that have been selling books for decades; after all, their ability and know-how in making a book perfectly sellable is the second biggest asset they have. The first is – obviously – their money. Money buys audiences: it’s a simple law of big numbers, and one we can’t get away from.

Undoubtedly you may have read some success stories in the past. Yes, I know, some self-published authors really did it – and it’s highly impressive that they did. However, the other side of the coin – the sad truth of the matter – is that thousands of other authors have failed to achieve a positive profit margin, while the lucky few managed to make it big with seemingly little effort on their part. One could imagine that Amazon is not only the biggest bookseller in the world, but also the biggest graveyard for books and authors’ aspirations! A few million books (and that’s not an overstatement, amazingly) are just staying there, resting in limbo, without a single visit for weeks or even months – totally forgotten, marked as a failure, left to fade away. So many potential bestsellers have failed due to the fact that publishing is not a simple task, despite the fact it may look like one when you consider how slick the publishing procedure is on platforms such as Kindle. With just a few clicks, your book has been published! Wow… And then what?

However, your book actually might stand a chance, so long as you adopted a seller’s mindset and acquire some crucial marketing skills – something that I consider a vital element of digital sales success. Let’s drop the technical jargon and dive right into the middle of things. There are several steps to be performed before you engage in publishing on Amazon.

The sales strategy is built on data, not on our own subjective perception of what could turn out well. This is something you’ll have to bear in mind during this entire process. It’s not romantic, it isn’t glamorous… but it’s reality.

In fact, it doesn’t just come down to data. I actually see three crucial elements for any sales strategy:

Data

Technology

Inbound sales

If you are putting your book out there against millions of other books, you’d better have a decent data-based strategy. When writing a book, authors are fine when it comes to making investments in proofreading and editing. Editing is a must-have for any author, I wouldn’t disagree with that for a second. However, how many authors immediately jump at the chance of getting a marketing/sales professional involved? Precious few, actually, despite these people and their skills also being a must-have. You need data, and you need professionals that have access to the right data.

What kind of data do we use? Obviously, our main focus is on our competitors. Our data should show how successfully books in our specific genre are doing. What’s their overall Sales Rank? How many reviews do they have? What keywords do they use when creating their persuasive sales copy? This has nothing to do with writing, I know, and it isn’t necessarily the ‘fun’ part of producing a book for sale. However, this is something that HAS TO BE DONE BEFORE PUBLISHING. If not, you are just another fish in the sea… and one which is being quickly circled by sharks!

A smart seller is also someone who is technologically savvy. They must be familiar with all those fancy marketing tools and techniques, and stay updated on the latest developments in this field. To become familiar with them, an author must, therefore, acquire some specific knowledge. How do you set up a blog? What’s SEO? How do you use social media to sell more books? What’s the deal with Twitter? Are promotional sites any good? Why does a book need a good video?

So many questions, we know. You’d better learn the answers to them for yourself if you are in any way serious about self-publishing, though, as the answers to these questions will result in you seeing a huge difference in your ranking and sales figures. The alternative, of course, involves you hiring a marketing professional, just like you hired your editor. Publishing is not a process of getting your book on Amazon’s shelf. It’s A BUSINESS, and one which requires a business-like approach.

Another point: what about inbound sales? Can you really focus on your buyer’s needs and goals? How do you sell the way prospects buy? Again, more questions than any serious Amazon seller need to consider, if they want their product to get anywhere!

Yes I know, I’m being a little aggressive here… but a seller would understand, trust me. Sales are not something that just happens like a bolt from the blue. It’s something you need to make happen by using data, technology and inbound sales methods, with a professional guide leading you.

So, back to our original question. Can old book become new bestsellers? Well yes, they can, without a doubt. Just imagine, for a moment, that your book had a set-up that utilizes all available data and technology in establishing a unique customer experience. Imagine your book standing out, even without a strong advertising budget, lead by data-driven sales strategy… it’s not impossible, not by any stretch.

I have a real thing for old books. After all, some books simply failed to connect to readers, but many books never had the chance to connect. I always say: it’s never a lost game, so long as you believe in your book. If you want to bring your book back into the game, then have some faith, for there’s no doubt that it really can be done!

How? By following these steps:

Buy a license for professional tools, such as KDRocket, to research your competition, ideas, keywords, and categories.

Join a learning/coaching program on Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, Blogging and other marketing channels that have proven to be successful in book sales

(I may have one for you – SEO Crash Course For Publishers)

Learn about your customer base; read reviews, join groups, engage.

Build your own audience, do some self-promotion. Start with a few followers, and never allow yourself to become discouraged.

There’s also a secret sauce you can add to your efforts: consistency. Remember, this is a marathon, not a sprint.

Don’t give up on your books. Give them the love, care, attention and professionalism they need, and help them bring their message to the readers who are out there, already searching for what you have to share!

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7 Helpful Tips For How to Become a Successful Blogger When You’re Losing Your Motivation

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How can you become a successful blogger when you’re not motivated? It’s tough!

Becoming a successful blogger takes time, effort and dedication. But if you’re putting those things into your blog already and you still haven’t achieved success, it’s easy to lose your motivation and enthusiasm. But you’re also not alone.

Here are my 7 favorite tips for how to be a successful blogger that will help boost your motivation and help you keep moving forward to becoming a successful blogger.

1. Be Social.

Being social does two main things for you. It keeps you motivated and enthusiastic because you are interacting with others, but it also improves your traffic

In the past you could simply optimize your blog for higher search engine ranking and advertise with pay per click keywords for getting all the traffic you could handle. Today that’s all changed. SEO and PPC advertising isn’t as easy. It’s much more competitive and costly. And if you’ve suffered a loss in traffic due to search engine changes, it’s discouraging.

Finding success as a blogger, or any online venture for that matter, is easier if you’re connecting socially and building relationships. You’re more likely to buy my widget if I’m someone you are familiar with and trust.

Of course basic Search engine optimization is still important and advertising can certainly boost traffic, but building connections and relationships aren’t fleeting, they’re not vulnerable to search engine changes and unlike advertising, it won’t cost you a thing.

2. Give Readers What They Want to Know.

This is where great content makes all the difference. Great content is what your target audience wants to read. But how do you know what they want to read?

Here are 3 ways to find out.

1. Use social media. You can ask questions on Twitter or Facebook which is easy to do but I like to join topic groups and ask questions there. My favorites are Linked and Google groups.
2. Create a survey. Create a simple survey using surveymonkey. Send your email list the survey or if you don’t have a list, add the survey link to your blog’s sidebar. Encourage visitors to take the survey by offering them a free gift for participating.
3. Forums. Join a niche forum and ask for reader opinions or feedback. You can also just lurk around and see what questions people are asking.

If content demands are discouraging you, use a ghostwriter or buy private label content and customize it. You can also use these tips for creating content quickly and easily.

• Ask a question on Twitter or Facebook and publish the responses you get
• Repurpose content for guest posts or article directories
• From the social contacts you’ve made reach out and request guest bloggers
• Publish a post on the 10 best blog posts, 10 best bloggers, 10 best tips, etc.
• Make a quick video or audio

3. Research Your Keywords With Care.

People find your blog with keywords, so you must use the keywords your visitors are using to find your content. And of course the more searches a keyword phrase gets, the better. But your keywords must also be relevant to what your post is about.

To start, use a good keyword tool. If you’re on a budget Google’s Keyword tool will work fine. Once you settle on the best keyword phrase for your post, include it in each of these areas of your page.

• Your post title
• Post Description
• Post Heading and at least one sub heading
• Alt Text for images
• Page name and path, “http://www.yoursite.com/keyword”
• Post content (use the keyword phrase and at least once, as well as 2 or 3 variations of the phrase)

4. Be a Headline Master.

Your post headlines are significant to the success of your blog. They’re what attract readers to your post. Your headline should contain your keyword phrase, as mentioned in # 3 but you’ll also want your headline to be magnetic enough to lure a reader in.

Using numbers in your headline works very well, for example ‘7 easy dieting tips’. Also use descriptive words like, easy, fast, shocking, useful, etc. where appropriate. To lure a reader in, include an irresistible benefit. For instance, ‘7 Easy Dieting Tips for Fewer Cravings’.

5. Successful Bloggers are Authentic.

You’re human so be human to your readers. Don’t be afraid to share your challenges and mistakes as well as your dreams and accomplishments. Your readers want to learn from you but they also want to feel they share a commonality and sometimes your commonalities may not be things you’re so proud of, but that vulnerability makes you human and people can identify with that.

6. Successful Blogs are Interactive.

Readers look for blogs that are highly interactive. No one wants to connect with a blog that’s hearing crickets. Successful bloggers often ask questions, they stir up debate and share unusual ideas that are interesting and generate thought.

If you accept comments on your blog, and you should, respond to them in a timely manner, but not with “Thanks for commenting”, respond with genuine appreciation and engaging feedback.

7. Fight Discouragement.

We all get discouraged at times, especially if you don’t see the blogging results you expect in a timely manner.

One way to fight discouragement is to interact more. Find friends and supporters by getting social. It’s number one on my list for a reason. Connecting with individuals within your niche, sharing ideas, and supporting each other are ideal ways to not only fight discouragement but help you maintain enthusiasm about what you do.

In Summary…

Stick with your blog until it’s achieving your desired results. Don’t give up then move on to something else, you can’t achieve success that way. Make it your goal to stay interactive with others, use others to help keep you motivated and accountable. If someone else is taking an interest in you, it’s easier to stay motivated and the more motivated you are, the more you’ll get done.

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Leveraging Google Traffic With the Hashtag

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Valued Reader,

It is impossible to share all the traffic tactics I have discovered in a single post, for now we will take a look at leveraging Google Traffic with the Hashtag. What this ultimately result to when leveraged correctly is Google Page One Exposure. Not Page One Ranking, but Page One Exposure and there is a huge difference between the two.

There are several methods that will result in Google Page One exposure, which is also how you build High Authority Back Links to your site. This in turn boost the Google Ranking of your site, everything online has a purpose, but more importantly a sequence.

By using this same Hashtag tactic and literally pressing a “button”, to see what happens. To my surprise I found my posts with Google+ on the first search result page. You are going to be using the keywords you wish to target as Hashtags, no more that 2 – 3 Hashtags per post. Remember that content is the only magic wand to conversion of any kind.

Targeting the Highest Converting Hashtags

If you would like to know which Hashtags are trending on Twitter, then you need Hashtags Dot Org. Simply log in with your Twitter Credentials, you may also want to Follow Hashtags Dot Org.

You will see the following options; Trending on Twitter, Twitter Terminology, Why Use Hashtags?, What’s The Point?, What is a (#) Hashtag?, How To Start a Hashtag, History of Hashtags, Allowed Hashtag Letters, Hashtag Analytics, Twitter Etiquette 101.

For the purpose of this demonstration you want to click on “Trending on Twitter”. You will the results to the Upward or Downward trending Hashtags, but more importantly the Most Popular Hashtags. Please base your selection of Hashtags not only on your profitable niche, but also the keywords you wish to rank for.

So now you know how to obtain the most popular Hashtags, great. Now what, where and how can you use them to focus on Google? All you will need is your free Google Account.

Once inside your Google+ Profile you will see two options which you want to focus on next. They are “Collections” and “Communities”, which are pretty much like Facebook Pages and Groups. A collection is like having a Page, and the Community will mirror a Group. Just to give you a basic idea of the difference between the two.

Creating a Google Collection

This is done by simply clicking on “Collections”, and then easily create a Collection. But similar to a blog or website, you want your title and content to target all 3 categories of Keywords you wish to target. Short Tail, Long Tail and Anchor Text.

Now your Graphic content is equally important, if not even more so because you wish to attract attention. Colour plays a very important role when it comes to conversion… just a thought. But also you want to share royalty free images, so you don’t step on any toes.

There are several sites that will provide you with high-definition images within just about any niche you can think of. You simply enter “Royalty Free Images” into your web browser, and check out the sites on the search result page. Take your time and find which sites will provide you with exactly what you are looking for based on your profitable niche.

Now a great idea would be creating a collection focusing on something like your blog, so you share your blog content and expertise within the collection. Never share Any Affiliate Links Anywhere on the Internet, a professional post will always present a link to a dedicated domain like a blog or website. Your aim is to get those visitors to your own personal site, and get recognized as a Professional.

Once your collection is created, you are ready to create your first Community too. But don’t post anything yet, we will get to that. For now you just want to create One Collection and One Community, so we can work from there.

Creating a Google Community

Pretty much exactly the same as creating a collection, but bear in mind the similarity to a Facebook Group. Again you must target your keywords in your Community Title.

Once you have successfully created both your sites, it’s now time to add the “Secret Sauce” by adding your first posts. But don’t just flood your profiles with random posts, be objective and target your audience.

While using the Hashtags you selected, you will now need interesting and useful content to populate your Collection and Community. You need to inspire an audience’s curiosity to want to know more, once that happens you will gain followers automatically. And when targeting is done correctly you will gain followers who are actually interested in your content and solutions.

Once you have populated your Collection and Community with keyword rich content and the Hashtag, you also want to share your posts to all your social profiles. Google allows you to share your posts to your Google+ Profile, Facebook and Twitter or even copy the post link should you wish to present it elsewhere.

A Collection and Community is like a sub-domain within Google, so when your posts show up on the first search result to a certain keyword then those visitors are ultimately directed to your blog or website. Remember, always try to share posts with links to your personal domains like blogs and websites, your affiliate offers should be promoted only there.

There is only one other place you should promote cloaked affiliate links and that is to your own email list subscribers, but that is an entire eBook on its own.

Remember that this is a traffic tactic and not a magic button, you need to sacrifice the time to master the sequence. This includes establishing the best dates and times to post that will result in the best conversion. This article is like a structure for you to build from.

Wishing You Prosperity,

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How to Find the Best and Most Profitable Market Niche for Your Products

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The Best Markets aren’t the Biggest

It’s quite understandable for you to pick the largest possible market in which to sell your products. But if you’re a small business, the biggest markets aren’t necessarily the best.

The biggest markets may be the best known, but they are also the most exploited. In big markets you’ll find lots of competitors, more consumer resistance and lots of price competition.

If you’re not very careful your big market full of opportunities could become a wasteland for your business because no matter how much you try your battle with established competitors will be long and hard.

A Solution! – Niche Marketing

If you are a small business and you want to achieve rapid business growth the best strategy is to look for sales opportunities that you can convert better than your competitors. This is the main idea behind “Niche Marketing”

In this and a following article we’ll provide a five-step step plan for implementing a Niche Marketing Strategy.

Five Steps for Developing a Niche Marketing Strategy

The Five Steps of Niche Marketing are?

1. Divide your “large” market into smaller market segments

2. Identify business niche areas for your product within these segments

3. Research these niche areas and estimate their market potential

4. Build a profile of potential customers in these business niche areas

5. Develop a strong product proposition for these customers

In this article we’ll focus on steps 1 to 3.

1. Segment Your Market

Market segmentation has been around for a long time. You may even have already carried out some segmentation of your marketplace by deciding to focus your attention on a particular geographical area or socio-economic group (e.g. small businesses, young professionals, industry type etc.).

Now take your segmentation a stage further by looking at other ways in which you could divide up your marketplace. For example, a manufacturer of devices for petrol and diesel engines decided to segment its market into family automobiles, commercial vehicles and boats.

2. Identify Business Niche Areas

When you have a list of market segments bear in mind that even though you may think your product suitable for all the segments you’ve selected, in each segment they’ll be some groups of companies or individuals who will need and want your products and others that won’t.

These groups may be your first niche markets. For example, the manufacturer we talked about earlier decided that it would be better to focus on “family leisure boats” as a niche market rather than “high performance boats” because it had a lot of knowledge and experience of the types of engines used in leisure boats.

So, look for the business niche areas within each segment and find niches where you think your product will do well. Spend as much time on this as you can.

It’s not always easy to find niches in an existing market or to identify new winning niches in which to create a business. But fortunately there are a lot of online resources to help – local business directories, Internet directories, websites with information on trends and fashions. Also, large retail sites like Amazon and eBay provide information on market sectors and niches in which lots of their products and services are being sold.

In addition to using the Internet you may need to carry out some research on the telephone and in your local library, especially if your business is focused more on the local community rather than on the larger “global Internet” market.

3. Research Your Niche Areas

Once you have a list of niche markets in which you are reasonably confident you will need to estimate the size and business potential of each one. It’s easy to leave this step out, but if you do you could discover after spending a lot of money and doing a lot of work that you are trying to develop business in a niche which isn’t commercially viable.

Research each niche to find out about:

a) Likely level of customer demand

b) Commerciality (i.e. can you make money out of it?)

c) Niche Competition (who and how much)

One of the best niche strategy tools to help you with some of this research also happens to be free. It’s called the Google Keyword tool.

This Tool is most often used for internet-based businesses, but it can also be extremely useful for local businesses that market and sell off as well as on-line.

– Likely Demand for Your Product

Most consumers (domestic and business) today tend to use the internet to help them make decisions about what and where to buy. They do this by entering combinations of words and phrases (keywords) into Google and the other search engines hoping to retrieve helpful information. All the major search engines store these keywords in vast databases which can be interrogated to find how many people globally are searching for particular products or services.

This Tool will also provide you with ideas on other keywords and business niches that you might not have considered.

– Commercial Value

The Google Keyword Tool will also provide you with information on the commercial value of your niche. It does this by providing you with data on the prices that advertiser’s are willing to pay for Internet advertisements based on your keywords.

This whole area can be explored by spending some time investigating Google Ad words and Ad sense, but at this stage all you need to concentrate on are the Cost per Click (CPC) figures that the Google Keyword Tool provides.

– Competition

You can find out about global and local competition in your chosen niches by using the Google Search Engine’s “Advanced Search” feature.

Use your keyword phrases in the search engine to get information about the volume of potential competition. Investigate the search results on the first few pages. These are the main competitors you’ll need to try and outmanoeuvre. If you are focused on local marketing use the advanced search feature to include other appropriate keywords such as your geographic location (e.g. “Oxford”).

When you are carrying out your research work, don’t forget that many of the companies that show up as competitors may not really be serious competition for you because although they are selling products to your niche, they might not be treating it as a specialist area.

4 & 5. Build a Customer Profile and Develop a Product Proposition

By this stage you’ll have a very good understanding of your niche market and can begin to build profiles of your likely customers in this niche and produce marketing and sales materials specifically tailored to their needs.

It’s at this stage that you really start to differentiate yourself from your competitors. The two steps you need to take to achieve this will be covered in our next article on niche marketing: “How to Find the Niche Customers that Want to Buy Your Products”

Expanding Your Niche Strategy

Once you have started to make progress selling your products in one niche start working on another niche. For each niche you will probably need to change your marketing materials and messages a little bit, but you’ll be building on a foundation of knowledge and experience which will enable you to develop your niche strategy very easily to include other suitable niche markets

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