Efficient Ways To Promote Your Web Site

Blog and website owners are always on the lookout for the most efficient and effective ways to get traffic to their site.For some people this can be a very timing consuming and a hard process while for others no matter what they try they always have traffic.

Here are 9 Cost Efficient Ways to Bring Traffic To Your Site:

1.

affiliate marketing is an online-based marketing tool that allows brand/sellers, affiliates, and customers to collaborate.If the customer buys a product from the affiliates web site or ad he gets a commission from the brand/seller.There are different percentages for different affiliate programs.The best ones to promote with the highest percentages are informational products.But remember you have to learn the business before you get into it.

2.Pay Per Click Programs Try using Adwords and other program such as Microsoft AdCenter, and Yahoo Publisher Network if you have an understanding of how the PPC programs work.New comers should not dive into this unless you have a large budget because it can become expensive if you do not know what you are doing.

A more efficient way to use adwords would be to use the site targeted aspect of the program and chose sites that relate to yours.The site targeted adwords are charged on a cost per same type of knowledge about getting traffic to your site.

3.Sponsored Reviews Paying for targeted site reviews is a way to bring in a huge amount of new readers to your site.Sites such as ReviewMe, and PayPerPost provide this service which could be a very inexpensive way for you to get newcomers your site.

4.Private Advertising You do not have to spend tons of money to get your ad on sites like Shoemoney to utilize private advertising.There are a variety of popular websites that have targeted readers where you can purchase ads for a nominal fee.You can purchase an ad for as low as $25 a month.

5.Text Link Ads I know, Google says not to do this but when done right no one can spot a paid link.These are effective when put on the correct site and when they are done the right way.In my opinion, the best links to buy are the ones that are in related posts about the services or products that you are selling.

You can find these links on sites such as SitePoint and the Marketplace on DigitalPointForums.Another way to get these ads is to simply email the site owner and offer to pay them to buy a link to your site.

6.Blog Networks Many site owners swear by this method of bringing traffic to their sites.Some of the blogging networks are Blog Advance and Blog Soldiers and of course the new Blog Rush.These networks allow you to obtain credits for sending traffic to other members sites.Some of these sites also allow you to purchase credits at a very reasonable price.You then use them to buy impressions back to your site.This is a very good method however article marketing and ezinearticles tend to bring in more traffic.

7.Stumble Upon Ads StumbleUpon sends a lot of traffic naturally on many of my sites.For those of you that do not have the knowledge or time to get that amount of traffic from SU, they have ads which are as cheap as 5 cents per click which is cheap according to everyone.

8.Paid Posters This is a method that works by paying people to blog and post about your site and they leave a link back to your site.The going price is as little as 10 to 20 cents per post and is a very effective way to obtain traffic.To find paid posters simply peruse the Marketplaces on DigitialPoint Forums as well as SitePoint.

9.Automobile Ad Wraps bet you never thought of this one This is very effective if you provide a product or a service to a local market.This works by having a broker pay drivers to put magnetic signs or auto-wrap their vehicles to promote their product or service.People notice this method of advertising and it drives very targeted traffic to your site.If you are interested in this method please look on Ad-Wraps.You can also post an ad on Craigslist to find drivers willing to promote your product.

As always, the best thing to do is to try and test these methods to determine which one works the best for you.I think you will be astonished at the amount of traffic you can obtain with a small amount of money.

About the Author

Melissa Finney is an established online marketer who has learned many tips and techniques about online marketing that have made her very successful and she wants to teach you what she knows.

To learn more please visit http://www.thesecret2onlinemoney.com.

Relaited Links:

• Seven Things Internet Marketing Newbies Need to Succeed
• Using The Most Cost Effective Lead Generation Methods
• Improve The ROI Of Your Dental Website Design With Online Marketing

3 Reasons Traditional Advertising Fails for Law Firm Marketing

If theres one truth in operating a successful, profitable law firm, its this: you have to make more than you spend. In order to achieve this, you need clients cycling through your practice on a continuous basis; both new and repeat alike. While thats obvious enough to see, making it happen is often another story.

Law firm marketing isnt that much different than marketing any other kind of service business. With that in mind, you set about the task of getting the word out about whom you are, where you can be found and what services you offer. You place ads in local papers, several popular magazines, on the radio and even a few late night television spots. The consummate law firm marketing plan. Much money and time have been invested and anticipation is high. Then it happens: nothing.

Maybe its just a time factor. Give it a little more time and youll start to see some real results from all your time and money invested in advertising. But today is just like yesterday and after a while there are no actual expectations that tomorrow will be any countless. Some of your colleagues are doing anyways. You went to law school in addition to a handful of themselves and appreciate first hand they are no quicker than you. Whatever is it they absorb that you dont Anything is it in their law organization sales promotion program that categories each other apart savours you

Traditional publicizing is one of the least successful sorts of law firm commercial. Unfortunately, more or less lawyers equate advertisement also pushing. The conclusion is that you tolerate dropped cash and taste no new prospective clients to come into sight for it. Here are three principal reasons why advertising in the traditional sense achieves not book.

1. It achieves not move employees along in the sales cycle. Its only effective in the initially platform anytime the buyer is attaining to comprehend you. It will not raise your likability or discover of trustworthiness.

2. Repetitive publicizing is too overpriced for numerous budgets. In his textbook "Guerilla Commercial Withstand," Jay Levinson discusses a exploration carried out on pushing experiment quoted here in allocation: "Subsequent to a every year-long exploration, researchers concluded that a law bureau commercial moral must penetrate the awareness of a opportunity a full of nine times beforehand that opening becomes a purchaser.

Thats the accepted data. The bad data is that for every three times you divulge your opportunity to your commercial moral, it gets missed or pushed aside two of those times. So youve got to put out the right record close to your firm a finish of 27 times in apply to type those nine impressions."

3. Some ads are incessantly poorly envisioned or written, also to the conduct of individual lackluster in its place of influencing your target publicize.

Also so some peculiar forces vying for the time and notice of your target eavesdropper, classified ads live and die by the element of the ad and the offer it extends. More law corporations time table their services or have a say a couple "reasons" why they are the more proficient law agency. Neither of which realizes whatever to distinguish them cherish peculiar lawyers in the matching exercises area.

There are assured advertising strategies you must bear in mind whenever conducting any brand of law bureau marketing. For instance, the size of your financial plan must be acceptable to unite the demand. Be agreed you knowledge a gigantic adequate finances to divulge your commercial lesson to your convenient target advertise. You need to be able to do this again and again higher than the course of the once a year by means of the similar publicizing moderate.

In other lyrics, if your publicizing moderate of possibility is the receiver, your finances should grant for journal advertising on the equal radio station for a complete per annum. If this is out of your financial statement array, relieve the size of your advertise, raise your ad budget or move your publicizing middle-of-the-road to a less exorbitant one.

For instance, if you calendar to market journal in a local paper, but the prime one in the area is more than your souvenir financial plan, set out and the publication suburban paper instead.

Whatsoever does all this nasty Concentrate your law firm marketing efforts on methods that in reality textbook. Dont barren region your epoch and budget on commercial that is not arranged to form the correctly responses. Center of attention on your target hearer, the best way for you to reach themselves and the certain tempting way to souvenir your services in request to take themselves.


As regards to the Creator

Stephen Fairley is CEO of The Rainmaker Institute is the nation-states chief law organization marketing bureau that specializes in assisting teen law corporations yield more and more adept referrals and bring about a 7 amount law practice. Higher than 6,000 attorneys tolerate benefited take pleasure in our proven Rainmaker Sales promotion Algorithm. Attorneys: protest your Complimentary legal commercial CD 7 Keys to a 7 Total Law Practice at

Relaited Links:

• Article Submission Services: How To Choose The Right Company
• Organizing Your Law Firm Marketing Calendar
• Article Submission Services: How To Choose The Right Company

SEO 101: Should I Put my Business Name in the Title Tag?

What Is Google Adsense?
Software improvements

The html title tag of a web page's html header is the single most important "on page" element when it comes to search engine optimization. That being said, is the best use of this valuable real estate served by including your business name in the title? Chances are the answer is a resounding "no!"

The title tag is an html tag which occurs in the header of a web page's code. The first thing I look at when I get a call from a prospective client is their title tag. More often than not, this tag is being used improperly, to the extreme detriment of the client.

Recently SEOMOZ.org released its rankings of the ten most important factors in search engine rankings. The title tag came in at number 1, and this is no surprise to any SEO that has been around for awhile. Google especially pays a lot of attention to title tag content, and uses title tag information heavily to ascertain the relevant keyphrases for which to rank a site. The opinion of search engine experts is unanimous on this one - keyphrase use in the title tag is the number one "on page" factor affecting search engine rankings. This is not disputed, theorized or subject to professional debate. It is a fact.

Given this fact, we must look at how to best use the title tag to optimize our site for search engines. Many sites place the business name in the title tag (or even worse yet leave it blank or with default content such as "untitled document" or "home page"). Any of these variations can be disastrous!

Let's use an example of a company that manufactures widgets. The primary keyphrase for that company would be "widgets", this being the phrase for which the company would like to rank highly for in the search engines. Now let's assume the company name is "ACME Manufacturing Company, Ltd.". Notice that the word "widgets", which is the desired keyphrase, is not extant in the company name.

So the company goes out and builds a wonderful web site to promote their widgets. However, throughout the site the title tag contains the following content: "ACME Manufacturing Company, Ltd." What is the effect of this?

First off, the effect of this is that the site will likely rank highly for the search query "ACME Manufacturing Company, Ltd.". The problem is that nobody is searching for the company name, they are searching for widgets. So all of ACME's competition shows up in the search engines for a widget query, but poor ACME is nowhere to be found. How do we help ACME rank highly for the search query "widgets"? We must optimize the title tag for the search engines by replacing the current title tag content with the desired search query: "widgets".

Generally speaking, the company name should never appear in the title tag unless you actually expect to derive most of your traffic from searches involving your company name. As this is a rare situation, avoid the temptation to put your company name in the title tag - save it for elsewhere on your page. Put your desired search keyphrases in the title tag, and leave it at that.

Following this methodology throughout your site by optimizing title tag content for each page according to the desired search query for that page will be a major step in the right direction for high search engine rankings.

About the Author: Matt Foster is the President of ArteWorks SEO, a top 5 search engine optimization company in the world. For more information on search engine optimization, please visit http://www.arteworks.biz.

Sephora Pure Beauty Bath and Body Works Participate now and get your $500 Visa Gift Card.
Drive Media Interest at a Trade Show

Striking Keyword Gold

Want Your Start-Up to Be Successful? Appearance is Everything
Finances improvements

Keywords are all the buzz these days, but the migration of keywords from what they were a year or two years ago to where they are now is a different thing altogether. Authors, entrepreneurs and business owners know they need keywords in their web site, in their press releases and in their articles but they don't often know how to find these keywords or what the best keywords are to use.

When your web designer says to you: "Pick your keywords for your web site" the first thing you think of are the root or "gut feel" keywords. These are almost always wrong. Why? Let's dig into this further and find out.

Let's say you're looking for a doctor. Are you going to go online and search for the keyword: "Doctor" Doubtful. You'll probably go online and search for doctor + internal medicine + San Diego, meaning that you want to find a doctor in your specific area and for your focused needs. If, as the doctor, you used the keyword "doctor" you'd end up with a mishmash of traffic to your site and, if you were using these keywords for articles or press releases, neither of those would bring up much in the search engines.

Why keywords?

The long tail has really forced us to dig further into our markets than ever before. In fact research has shown that regardless of the type of search someone is conducting, a consumer who uses focused, finite language is much more likely to buy than a search based on "gut feel" words. Let me give you an example.

Let's say you're looking for a red car, you want a new car and it has to be red. On a fluke you think: "Hey, Lexus makes a nice ride, let me see what comes up when I do a quick search." So you plug in the keywords: red + Lexus, what do you find? A hodgepodge of sites related to everything from the Lexus that someone is trying to sell on eBay to the guy so in love with his car he's created a MySpace page about it.

Chances are it doesn't really matter because you weren't that interested in the red car to begin with. But if you search on more finite terms, let's say red + Lexus + 4WD + sunroof, now we're talking a consumer who is 95% closer to a buy than the guy Googling "red + Lexus". In order for you to find your audience in the maze of traffic and the enormity of messages online, you'll need to get very, very focused.

Getting clear, getting focused

So how can you get focused? Well first, why not try surveying your customers or readers? Ask them to fill in a quick little survey and see what search terms come to mind when they think of your book, message, or product (to get more "buy in" to this survey, offer them a freebie if they do it).

Other ways to gain access to keywords are keyword search tools like Wordtracker and Overture. Both of these sites have a learning curve and Wordtracker does have a monthly fee (but if you have all your data together they offer a free one day trial that might get you started). But buyer beware! According to AME's keyword expert, Susan Gilbert: "If you go to http://inventory.overture.com and type in your keyword, you will get the results from search in Yahoo for that term only for the prior month.

"However, these numbers are not accurate.(Every time someone types a keyword into yahoo for SEO purposes, it counts as a search). Search numbers are only part of the equation, however. You have to evaluate the "results" aspect (how many pages of information are available in that search engine for that term). It's finding the perfect relationship between a keyword that has enough searches with low(er) competition that will tell you the best keyword terms for your purpose."

As you're navigating through a site like Overture, they key is to look for supply vs. demand. Ideally you want a keyword that's being searched on that doesn't have a ton of supply. Let's take the diet industry as an example, if you're trying to promote your message of diet and healthy living, using the word "diet" in your article, press release or web site keywords probably won't get you much ranking. Why? Well everyone in this market is using this same word, but if you dig even further into this market you'll find that the search term: "Lose weight fast" is getting a lot of searches but very few returns. When that's the case those are the keywords you want to zero in on.

So how do you know if your keywords are working? Test them. You'll see very quickly if they're working or if they're too general to matter. Sometimes the only way you can find out is if you test, test, test. Web 2.0 strategies are always growing, building and changing. And speaking of changing, you might wonder how long keywords will last. Well, that depends. According to Gilbert: "Keywords could work for months or years. There's no telling because the WWW is constantly filled with new sites and new information. Use the keywords immediately, and for as long as you are getting results."

Once you finalize your keywords you'll want to use them, but not overuse them. I'd recommend using your keywords in the article or press release title, then once in the first paragraph and once in the last paragraph. This will tie in your words nicely without overusing them.

The key with keywords is to understand that the more focused you can get, the better your results will be. Yes, it's a lot of work but the benefits can be enormous and like anything on the 'Net, it's growing and changing and if you can adapt and learn, you can grow your campaigns and your success!

About the Author: Penny C. Sansevieri, CEO and founder of Author Marketing Experts, Inc., is a book marketing and media relations expert whose company has developed some of the most cutting-edge book marketing campaigns. Visit AME.

Daily Diet's Tips
How To Find a Good Accountant

SEO 101: Should I Put my Business Name in the Title Tag?

Pithy Insights On Startup Marketing
Public Speaking Tips: How To Captivate Your Audience!

The html title tag of a web page's html header is the single most important "on page" element when it comes to search engine optimization. That being said, is the best use of this valuable real estate served by including your business name in the title? Chances are the answer is a resounding "no!"

The title tag is an html tag which occurs in the header of a web page's code. The first thing I look at when I get a call from a prospective client is their title tag. More often than not, this tag is being used improperly, to the extreme detriment of the client.

Recently SEOMOZ.org released its rankings of the ten most important factors in search engine rankings. The title tag came in at number 1, and this is no surprise to any SEO that has been around for awhile. Google especially pays a lot of attention to title tag content, and uses title tag information heavily to ascertain the relevant keyphrases for which to rank a site. The opinion of search engine experts is unanimous on this one - keyphrase use in the title tag is the number one "on page" factor affecting search engine rankings. This is not disputed, theorized or subject to professional debate. It is a fact.

Given this fact, we must look at how to best use the title tag to optimize our site for search engines. Many sites place the business name in the title tag (or even worse yet leave it blank or with default content such as "untitled document" or "home page"). Any of these variations can be disastrous!

Let's use an example of a company that manufactures widgets. The primary keyphrase for that company would be "widgets", this being the phrase for which the company would like to rank highly for in the search engines. Now let's assume the company name is "ACME Manufacturing Company, Ltd.". Notice that the word "widgets", which is the desired keyphrase, is not extant in the company name.

So the company goes out and builds a wonderful web site to promote their widgets. However, throughout the site the title tag contains the following content: "ACME Manufacturing Company, Ltd." What is the effect of this?

First off, the effect of this is that the site will likely rank highly for the search query "ACME Manufacturing Company, Ltd.". The problem is that nobody is searching for the company name, they are searching for widgets. So all of ACME's competition shows up in the search engines for a widget query, but poor ACME is nowhere to be found. How do we help ACME rank highly for the search query "widgets"? We must optimize the title tag for the search engines by replacing the current title tag content with the desired search query: "widgets".

Generally speaking, the company name should never appear in the title tag unless you actually expect to derive most of your traffic from searches involving your company name. As this is a rare situation, avoid the temptation to put your company name in the title tag - save it for elsewhere on your page. Put your desired search keyphrases in the title tag, and leave it at that.

Following this methodology throughout your site by optimizing title tag content for each page according to the desired search query for that page will be a major step in the right direction for high search engine rankings.

About the Author: Matt Foster is the President of ArteWorks SEO, a top 5 search engine optimization company in the world. For more information on search engine optimization, please visit http://www.arteworks.biz.

All About Diet & Nutrition
Finding an Owner That Wants to Sell

4 Great Reasons to use Google Analytics

Strategies: Find, keep that niche
Get rid of acne! Participate now for a year supply of skin products.

Having used a large number of web site visitor trackers over the years, I first approached Google Analytics some time ago, with the somewhat jaded attitude of someone who's 'seen it all' or at least 'seen most of it'. What could possibly make this particular utility stand out in such a large crowd of competitors?

But first... What is Google Analytics?

Analytics is Google's very own visitor tracking utility, allowing webmasters to keep tabs on traffic to their site, including visitor numbers, traffic sources, visitor behaviour & trends, times spent on the site and a host of other information gathered via two pieces of JavaScript embedded in the source-code.

Unlike other free visitor trackers, which insist on displaying annoying and often amateurish badges or buttons when they are being used, Google Analytics simply runs quietly in the background, gathering the necessary information without any visible signs of its presence.

Which brings me quite neatly to Analytics' first major plus-point; the price. What webmasters are effectively getting, is a fully fledged visitor tracking utility without all the irritations and limitations normally associated with free products of this type.

Ok, so its free; but is it any good?

In a word; yes.

The sheer depth of information gathered, really leaves very little to be desired. From search engine analysis to page views, bounce-rates and more, the available data is presented so as to give users an easy overview of the most essential elements, with the ability to 'drill down' to less commonly accessed or more in-depth statistics and figures.

Additionally, on the 18th of July 2007, the Google Analytics old user interface was discontinued, making way for a newer, more ergonomic look which makes reports more accessible and the interface itself more intuitive for the user.

The new Dashboard provides 'at a glance' visitor statistics for the previous month, as well as a graphical breakdown of your visitor's geographical locations in the form of a world map. A pie chart clearly shows what proportion of visitors reached the site through search engines, by referral or through direct access, whereas the 'Content Overview' provides a list of the most commonly accessed pages.

What makes Google Analytics special though?

Although Analytics boasts all the features and statistical data to be expected from a top-class keyword analysis and statistics tracker, it also features a number of additional tools which put it ahead of the most of the pack where ease-of-use and depth-of-information is concerned.

1. The Map Overlay

Essentially, this feature brings up a map of the world, highlighting the countries a site's visitors stem from. Clicking on a country produces a close-up view, along with a geographical breakdown according to the region and/or city from which visitors accessed the site. This tool in itself is invaluable for all those webmasters with geo-specific sites, concentrating on a particular catchment area.

2. The Site Overlay

This is conceivably Google Analytics' single most important feature from a webmaster's or online business owner's perspective, as it provides a hands-on view of visitor behaviour. When clicked, 'Site Overlay' opens the tracked web site in a new window and, after a moment's loading time, overlays each link on the screen with a bar, containing information about clicks to the target page and goal values reached [more about goal values in a moment]. Since it allows the webmaster or site owner to navigate his or her site and see exactly how visitors flow through it, it is difficult to imagine a more effective tool than this as far as raising a site's conversion rates is concerned.

3. Goals and Funnels

Unless the site being tracked is an information site which does not rely on generating sales or enquiries, conversion rates are as important as sheer visitor numbers. The 'Goals & Funnels' feature allows users to set up specific goals for their site, such as tracking a visitor to the 'Thank you for your enquiry' page for instance. It also allows the user to set up specific monetary values for each goal, and thus track the site's financial performance and profitability during any given period of time.

The term 'Funnels' refers to the specific path a visitor takes to reach the goal's target page. Since most web sites sell a number of different product ranges or feature a number of ways to enquire, all of which lead to a single 'Thank You' page, the funnel allows for the tracking of each individual path with a minimum of fuss.

4. Graphical Representations

A great many visitor trackers out there will present the collected information in a certain way, be it a list, graph, pie chart, flow-chart or whatever. Whilst all these methods of presentation are of course valid, it is nevertheless a fact that most users are different, and a pie-chart is not necessarily ideal for those users preferring to work with graphs or vice versa. Google Analytics however, allows users to choose between views on many of its reports. Although this may seem like a relatively minor point, it nevertheless makes things easier, as it allows the user to work with the view he or she is most comfortable with.

In Conclusion:

Google Analytics provides webmasters and site owners with a highly effective means of tracking visitors and analysing statistical data, easily the equal of most subscription based services in the industry.

Although some concerns have been voiced amongst more paranoid internet users, that Google puts everyone's collective data to its own evil demographic uses, there really are precious few reasons not to recommend this fantastic tool as one of the best means to boost any web promotion and marketing campaign.

About the Author: As a technical writer with over a decade's experience, Sasch Mayer has been living and working in the Republic of Cyprus since 2005. Currently under contract to IceGiant Web Design and Promotion Services, he mainly covers topics such as SEM and Site Promotion.

Best Diet's Foods
Using Video Capture Software To Boost Sales

Using the Competition to Boost Your SEO Performance

Developing a Marketing Calendar
It's not a diet, it's a lifestyle - make the change.

When it comes to getting higher rankings in Google, the competition can seem fierce. This is true--unless you're in a niche market where it may be easier to predict or manage the outcome of specific search terms.

If you're in the competitive real estate, health and beauty, or general medical supplies markets, you probably wonder how a company can get and then stay on the first page of Google's search results year after year. Top listings in search engine results pages--also known as SERPs--are considered the mother-load for search terms with significant amounts of traffic. The results are free, and if done right, you could become very successful online.

Competition is both a challenge and an opportunity in business. In SEO, your competitors can be the most valued source of data. When performing competitive research, the goals are to discover:

• How entrenched a competitor is and how hard it is to unseat them;
• The competition's SEO skills; and
• Link prospects, so you can trade links, host articles and do reviews.

Let's go through the steps for analyzing where you stand compared to the competition, using "mortgage loans," a very competitive search term, as an example. We refer to this as a tier 1 keyword, since it's the top search term within this category.

1. Determine link popularity. Go to Google, type in the tier 1 keyword and pick the top three ranked sites. Then go to marketleap.com and use the link popularity checker to see how your site compares in terms of incoming links to the top three sites from Google. Look for sites with the highest Google rankings and lowest amount of incoming links. Keep in mind that MSN records the highest number of back links--incoming links from one website to another--but also pay attention to the Yahoo! results, since it's the best linking engine to use for link review. Also, Google recently updated its Google webmaster tools and has enhanced its link tracking system. Make sure to get an account and compare the results with the others in this step. Write down all the numbers.

2. Find sites to target. Next, go back to Google and enter "allinanchor: mortgage loans." This restricts the results depending on the number of links coming into a site based on that key word phrase. This will help determine which site to target links from.

3. Review link counts. Go back to Yahoo! and enter "link:www.yourbusinessdomain.com" and review the number of results with the numbers from Marketleap in the first step. Note that Yahoo! orders the list by power, or the sites with the most links coming to them. Those sites are the most important to target and are likely to have a good page rank. At this point, you'll know how much work you have ahead of you. If it seems impossible, start by looking at the fifth step about keyword research to narrow down keyword selections and start again.

4. View source and "on page" SEO factors. Once you've found the top list to target, go to each of the sites and review the source code. That's done by selecting menu choice "View: Source" in Internet Explorer browsers and "View: Pagesource" in Firefox browsers. Make sure to review the title, description, meta and H1 tags on the sites. They should be programmed as discussed in my previous column, "10 Steps for Increasing Visibility Online." Some handy SEO tools can help you validate your work, including SearchStatus, a toolbar extension for Firefox and Mozilla, and SEO for Firefox. They can help you indicate quickly whether the competition is doing things right.

5. Perform keyword research. Use the search term suggestion tool at inventory.overture.com, which is one month behind in data results, and look for keywords and their permutations with a good search volume. Any number more than 20,000 to 30,000 is a good average. Continue looking at the tier 1-type terms until you spot an opportunity to build on. Use other tools like Google keyword tools, keyworddiscovery.com. Use the keywords you select in this step by adding pages to your site, a common SEO practice.

6. Consider conversion rates. Finally, visit the competitive sites and compare them with your own. Do they have content, flow and site structure that encourage conversion? Are the sites easy to navigate? Do they emphasize call-to-action statements like "download a white paper," "sign up for this newsletter" or "buy this product now"? Look to see if they are using long tail keywords, such as "mortgage loans for police officers in Los Angeles." If they are, then you should consider doing so, too. Misspellings in text on your page also can work, but be careful not to confuse your visitors. A little trick is to include them in a PDF or Word document. Search engines, specifically Google, spider PDF and Office documents.

Competitive research is a serious SEO exercise for gaining advantage online. Having the tools, capabilities and expertise are not enough; you also need to look at traditional media--print, radio and television--to learn what the competition is up to. Fight back with more pages, more content, improved design and source code, and more incoming links with diverse descriptions. Use tools like UrlTrends to track your progress and SpyFu to look at advertising costs, giving you an indicator of your competition's activity, spending and strategy.

Don't forget to open their spam e-mail marketing messages that you receive. You may learn something by studying that material, however painful. Also review what they send you through the regular mail and discover ways to improve your own campaigns, both offline and online.

Only an alert internet marketer with a keen eye toward the competition will win in today's online business space. Remember to use patience in the most competitive marketplaces and continue using what you've learned here.

Jon Rognerud is a recognized authority on the subject of search engine optimization and has spent more than 15 years developing websites and marketing solutions at companies like Overture and Yahoo!. His website provides a wealth of informative articles, resources and complimentary e-mail courses on everything you'll ever need to know about SEO and search marketing.

Right Diet's Tips
Google Adsense Tips, Tricks, and Secrets

Netflix-Like AV Rentals

Distance Education Helps You Get Ahead

CanadianMedsWorld.com

http://www.meetingtomorrow.com/

Meeting Tomorrow offers business customers easy access to audio visual equipment. Hotels often charge extortionate prices for renting a projector or display screen, and other meeting venues don't always have the equipment needed for a presentation.

On Meeting Tomorrow, you choose the equipment you need, order it online or by phone, and the equipment is delivered to your home, office, hotel or meeting location on time. Advance orders are delivered the day before the meeting, and same day orders are welcome. (Meeting Tomorrow offers same day delivery to 95% of the US, and next day service to the rest of the country.)

The beauty of the concept is how simple it is for customers, who can rely on the equipment arriving on time and don’t have to go out of their way to pick up or return a projector. For returns, Meeting Tomorrow takes a cue from Netflix: pre-paid adhesive FedEx return labels are included with projectors and laptops.

After using the equipment, customers slap on the label and drop the cases in any Fed Ex drop box. Bulkier equipment, such as screens or sound systems, are picked up after the event. Pricing is straight-forward, too: no matter where the equipment is needed, customers pay the same rental prices and a flat delivery fee.

[Via - Springwise.com] 

The Best Business Advice You Can Ever Get
Twain the entrepreneur drifted toward disaster

4 Great Reasons to use Google Analytics

Distance Education Helps You Get Ahead

CanadianMedsWorld.com

Having used a large number of web site visitor trackers over the years, I first approached Google Analytics some time ago, with the somewhat jaded attitude of someone who's 'seen it all' or at least 'seen most of it'. What could possibly make this particular utility stand out in such a large crowd of competitors?

But first... What is Google Analytics?

Analytics is Google's very own visitor tracking utility, allowing webmasters to keep tabs on traffic to their site, including visitor numbers, traffic sources, visitor behaviour & trends, times spent on the site and a host of other information gathered via two pieces of JavaScript embedded in the source-code.

Unlike other free visitor trackers, which insist on displaying annoying and often amateurish badges or buttons when they are being used, Google Analytics simply runs quietly in the background, gathering the necessary information without any visible signs of its presence.

Which brings me quite neatly to Analytics' first major plus-point; the price. What webmasters are effectively getting, is a fully fledged visitor tracking utility without all the irritations and limitations normally associated with free products of this type.

Ok, so its free; but is it any good?

In a word; yes.

The sheer depth of information gathered, really leaves very little to be desired. From search engine analysis to page views, bounce-rates and more, the available data is presented so as to give users an easy overview of the most essential elements, with the ability to 'drill down' to less commonly accessed or more in-depth statistics and figures.

Additionally, on the 18th of July 2007, the Google Analytics old user interface was discontinued, making way for a newer, more ergonomic look which makes reports more accessible and the interface itself more intuitive for the user.

The new Dashboard provides 'at a glance' visitor statistics for the previous month, as well as a graphical breakdown of your visitor's geographical locations in the form of a world map. A pie chart clearly shows what proportion of visitors reached the site through search engines, by referral or through direct access, whereas the 'Content Overview' provides a list of the most commonly accessed pages.

What makes Google Analytics special though?

Although Analytics boasts all the features and statistical data to be expected from a top-class keyword analysis and statistics tracker, it also features a number of additional tools which put it ahead of the most of the pack where ease-of-use and depth-of-information is concerned.

1. The Map Overlay

Essentially, this feature brings up a map of the world, highlighting the countries a site's visitors stem from. Clicking on a country produces a close-up view, along with a geographical breakdown according to the region and/or city from which visitors accessed the site. This tool in itself is invaluable for all those webmasters with geo-specific sites, concentrating on a particular catchment area.

2. The Site Overlay

This is conceivably Google Analytics' single most important feature from a webmaster's or online business owner's perspective, as it provides a hands-on view of visitor behaviour. When clicked, 'Site Overlay' opens the tracked web site in a new window and, after a moment's loading time, overlays each link on the screen with a bar, containing information about clicks to the target page and goal values reached [more about goal values in a moment]. Since it allows the webmaster or site owner to navigate his or her site and see exactly how visitors flow through it, it is difficult to imagine a more effective tool than this as far as raising a site's conversion rates is concerned.

3. Goals and Funnels

Unless the site being tracked is an information site which does not rely on generating sales or enquiries, conversion rates are as important as sheer visitor numbers. The 'Goals & Funnels' feature allows users to set up specific goals for their site, such as tracking a visitor to the 'Thank you for your enquiry' page for instance. It also allows the user to set up specific monetary values for each goal, and thus track the site's financial performance and profitability during any given period of time.

The term 'Funnels' refers to the specific path a visitor takes to reach the goal's target page. Since most web sites sell a number of different product ranges or feature a number of ways to enquire, all of which lead to a single 'Thank You' page, the funnel allows for the tracking of each individual path with a minimum of fuss.

4. Graphical Representations

A great many visitor trackers out there will present the collected information in a certain way, be it a list, graph, pie chart, flow-chart or whatever. Whilst all these methods of presentation are of course valid, it is nevertheless a fact that most users are different, and a pie-chart is not necessarily ideal for those users preferring to work with graphs or vice versa. Google Analytics however, allows users to choose between views on many of its reports. Although this may seem like a relatively minor point, it nevertheless makes things easier, as it allows the user to work with the view he or she is most comfortable with.

In Conclusion:

Google Analytics provides webmasters and site owners with a highly effective means of tracking visitors and analysing statistical data, easily the equal of most subscription based services in the industry.

Although some concerns have been voiced amongst more paranoid internet users, that Google puts everyone's collective data to its own evil demographic uses, there really are precious few reasons not to recommend this fantastic tool as one of the best means to boost any web promotion and marketing campaign.

About the Author: As a technical writer with over a decade's experience, Sasch Mayer has been living and working in the Republic of Cyprus since 2005. Currently under contract to IceGiant Web Design and Promotion Services, he mainly covers topics such as SEM and Site Promotion.

Teens and media: a full-time job
Tech Tools Tutorial

4 Great Reasons to use Google Analytics

PayPal Entices Small Business
CanadianMedsWorld.com

Having used a large number of web site visitor trackers over the years, I first approached Google Analytics some time ago, with the somewhat jaded attitude of someone who's 'seen it all' or at least 'seen most of it'. What could possibly make this particular utility stand out in such a large crowd of competitors?

But first... What is Google Analytics?

Analytics is Google's very own visitor tracking utility, allowing webmasters to keep tabs on traffic to their site, including visitor numbers, traffic sources, visitor behaviour & trends, times spent on the site and a host of other information gathered via two pieces of JavaScript embedded in the source-code.

Unlike other free visitor trackers, which insist on displaying annoying and often amateurish badges or buttons when they are being used, Google Analytics simply runs quietly in the background, gathering the necessary information without any visible signs of its presence.

Which brings me quite neatly to Analytics' first major plus-point; the price. What webmasters are effectively getting, is a fully fledged visitor tracking utility without all the irritations and limitations normally associated with free products of this type.

Ok, so its free; but is it any good?

In a word; yes.

The sheer depth of information gathered, really leaves very little to be desired. From search engine analysis to page views, bounce-rates and more, the available data is presented so as to give users an easy overview of the most essential elements, with the ability to 'drill down' to less commonly accessed or more in-depth statistics and figures.

Additionally, on the 18th of July 2007, the Google Analytics old user interface was discontinued, making way for a newer, more ergonomic look which makes reports more accessible and the interface itself more intuitive for the user.

The new Dashboard provides 'at a glance' visitor statistics for the previous month, as well as a graphical breakdown of your visitor's geographical locations in the form of a world map. A pie chart clearly shows what proportion of visitors reached the site through search engines, by referral or through direct access, whereas the 'Content Overview' provides a list of the most commonly accessed pages.

What makes Google Analytics special though?

Although Analytics boasts all the features and statistical data to be expected from a top-class keyword analysis and statistics tracker, it also features a number of additional tools which put it ahead of the most of the pack where ease-of-use and depth-of-information is concerned.

1. The Map Overlay

Essentially, this feature brings up a map of the world, highlighting the countries a site's visitors stem from. Clicking on a country produces a close-up view, along with a geographical breakdown according to the region and/or city from which visitors accessed the site. This tool in itself is invaluable for all those webmasters with geo-specific sites, concentrating on a particular catchment area.

2. The Site Overlay

This is conceivably Google Analytics' single most important feature from a webmaster's or online business owner's perspective, as it provides a hands-on view of visitor behaviour. When clicked, 'Site Overlay' opens the tracked web site in a new window and, after a moment's loading time, overlays each link on the screen with a bar, containing information about clicks to the target page and goal values reached [more about goal values in a moment]. Since it allows the webmaster or site owner to navigate his or her site and see exactly how visitors flow through it, it is difficult to imagine a more effective tool than this as far as raising a site's conversion rates is concerned.

3. Goals and Funnels

Unless the site being tracked is an information site which does not rely on generating sales or enquiries, conversion rates are as important as sheer visitor numbers. The 'Goals & Funnels' feature allows users to set up specific goals for their site, such as tracking a visitor to the 'Thank you for your enquiry' page for instance. It also allows the user to set up specific monetary values for each goal, and thus track the site's financial performance and profitability during any given period of time.

The term 'Funnels' refers to the specific path a visitor takes to reach the goal's target page. Since most web sites sell a number of different product ranges or feature a number of ways to enquire, all of which lead to a single 'Thank You' page, the funnel allows for the tracking of each individual path with a minimum of fuss.

4. Graphical Representations

A great many visitor trackers out there will present the collected information in a certain way, be it a list, graph, pie chart, flow-chart or whatever. Whilst all these methods of presentation are of course valid, it is nevertheless a fact that most users are different, and a pie-chart is not necessarily ideal for those users preferring to work with graphs or vice versa. Google Analytics however, allows users to choose between views on many of its reports. Although this may seem like a relatively minor point, it nevertheless makes things easier, as it allows the user to work with the view he or she is most comfortable with.

In Conclusion:

Google Analytics provides webmasters and site owners with a highly effective means of tracking visitors and analysing statistical data, easily the equal of most subscription based services in the industry.

Although some concerns have been voiced amongst more paranoid internet users, that Google puts everyone's collective data to its own evil demographic uses, there really are precious few reasons not to recommend this fantastic tool as one of the best means to boost any web promotion and marketing campaign.

About the Author: As a technical writer with over a decade's experience, Sasch Mayer has been living and working in the Republic of Cyprus since 2005. Currently under contract to IceGiant Web Design and Promotion Services, he mainly covers topics such as SEM and Site Promotion.

10 Simple Ways to Lower Your Computer Support Bills
E-Mail Marketing Trends: E-Mail Gets Bigger by Going Smaller
How To Make Wads Of Cash As An Online Dating Coach

A Spartan's Guide to Business

http://eat-healthy-every-day.blogspot.com/

When the movie 300 recently debuted, making more than $70 million during its opening weekend despite having no big-name actors, Hollywood was stunned. Many people have speculated that what attracted the audience was the over-the-top violence, the naked women and the special effects.

Maybe that helped--a little. But director Zack Snyder's film about Spartans bludgeoning Persian soldiers in a fight to the finish is also a business parable.

No, seriously. If you squint a little--and you probably will during some of the beheading scenes--the story resembles what an entrepreneur often faces when competing against a big corporation. It also offers some insight into what it takes to be an effective leader, inspire employees and create a recognizable brand. And, yes, this film can be ugly, but that's sometimes the nature of the business world.

Business Lesson No. 1: Your CEO needs to be a strong leader.
King Leonidas is as resilient as they come, in both the film and the actual historical battle that took place in 480 B.C. between 300 soldiers of Sparta, Greece and the Persian army. Although Leonidas is a warrior, he treats his family and friends as equals. His wife, the queen, is a partner, and he's smart enough to solicit her advice when it comes to business matters. He also spends quality time with his six-year-old son, teaching him the business (i.e., showing the little bugger how to fight).

But when Leonidas suits up and goes to his day job--vanquishing bloodthirsty enemies with his spear and shield--he's focused on what's best for the business and his employees; in this case, the kingdom and his soldiers.

Sure, his competitor, King Xerxes, through messengers he sends to Sparta, makes some powerful arguments for combining the smaller organization with the larger corporation known as Persia. For instance, if the merger goes through, Leonidas would be allowed to live, and his employees wouldn't have to see their families enslaved or worry about getting their limbs hacked off. But while Leonidas appears to mull the offer over, he's concerned that his people's way of life (think office culture) and his freedom to make independent decisions won't be allowed to thrive.

He firmly declines the deal by spearing and then throwing a bunch of Persian yes-men into what appears to be a bottomless pit.

Leonidas next prepares to stop the growing threat of a hostile takeover. He seeks approval from some grotesque oracles (his board of directors) to take 10,000 Spartan soldiers to fight off the Persian army, but he is rebuffed. And so, like all good entrepreneurs, Leonidas finds a loophole. He informs fellow Spartan colleagues that he's taking a walk, bringing 300 of his top-flight employees as body guards, and goes off to complete his business plan--to fight the Persians at the narrow cliffs of Thermopylae and frighten the immense army into fleeing.

Business Lesson No. 2: Train your employees and foster a culture that promotes loyalty.
The Spartans had a grim but effective process for making sure their society only contained healthy children. (If you don't already know what that process was, you probably don't want to). To put it mildly, their organization only accepted the best and brightest employees, who were trained and molded into effective killing machines. It sounds gruesome, but it's handy when your business involves protecting your community from a foe that aims to crush you.

Arguably, loyalty may be the most important aspect of a successful team. At one point in the battle, Leonidas and Xerxes meet up. The Persian ruler tries to reason with his foe, asking how Leonidas can possibly defeat him when "I would kill any of my men for victory."

"I would die for any of mine," replies Leonidas, suggesting that an employee who knows he's valued is going to fight harder for the company's survival than a miserable grunt in the firm. The king has a point. His 300 men are effective at killing what must be thousands of soldiers in the first few hours of the battle. And it's not that surprising. Xerxes literally walks all over his employees; but in Leonidas' enterprise, his staff takes ownership and pride in the company and has a stake in the firm.

Business Lesson No. 3:You need to have a strong brand.
Leonidas is no fool. He knows that his 300 men and several hundred more Athenian soldiers who tag along can't completely destroy the Persian army, which outnumbers the Spartan force at least 1,000 to one. But he figures that if the Spartans live up to their reputation by ruthlessly and efficiently killing the Persians, the enemy might flee. In other words, Leonidas saw the Spartans as a brand.

Leonidas is an early marketer, fully understanding the power of words and images. When Leonidas and his men literally build a wall of corpses they know their enemy will see, it's an advertising message to the rest of the Persian soldiers that come their way: The Spartans are a company of men you don't want to encounter. They clearly hope the message will spread by word of mouth.

Later, the Spartan CEO tells his competitor, Xerxes, "The world will know that free men stood against a tyrant, that few stood against many, and before this battle was over, that even a god-king can bleed." And because Leonidas recognizes how important it is for the general public to understand the Spartans' unique brand of power and will, he sends a messenger back to Sparta to tell the tale of their fight. Leonidas appreciates that even if he and his 300 men don't win this particular battle, educating the public about the company will help the Spartan brand endure long after he is gone.

The brand, in fact, has endured so well that almost 2,500 years later Hollywood made a movie about this battle. If you haven't seen 300 yet, be sure to study these lessons and then go see them put to use in the movie. Do that and you may suck all the joy out of watching a blockbuster action movie--but you'll wind up with one heck of a business.

[via entreprenuer.com]

The World Is Flat : A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century
Couple lets Web visitors choose their next hometown
Baking: From My Home to Yours

Internet Marketing - Search Engine Optimization - Google

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Freelancing


Google Boys. Andrew Hazen, President of Prime Visibility speaks with Google Boys regarding Search Engine Optimization and Marketing.
Microbusinesses find huge benefits in outsourcingWhat Offers Work Best In Direct Mail Campaigns
Teens and media: a full-time job

A Spartan's Guide to Business

Celebrity Castoffs - How To Make Money Selling Used Celebrity Clothing

When the movie 300 recently debuted, making more than $70 million during its opening weekend despite having no big-name actors, Hollywood was stunned. Many people have speculated that what attracted the audience was the over-the-top violence, the naked women and the special effects.

Maybe that helped--a little. But director Zack Snyder's film about Spartans bludgeoning Persian soldiers in a fight to the finish is also a business parable.

No, seriously. If you squint a little--and you probably will during some of the beheading scenes--the story resembles what an entrepreneur often faces when competing against a big corporation. It also offers some insight into what it takes to be an effective leader, inspire employees and create a recognizable brand. And, yes, this film can be ugly, but that's sometimes the nature of the business world.

Business Lesson No. 1: Your CEO needs to be a strong leader.
King Leonidas is as resilient as they come, in both the film and the actual historical battle that took place in 480 B.C. between 300 soldiers of Sparta, Greece and the Persian army. Although Leonidas is a warrior, he treats his family and friends as equals. His wife, the queen, is a partner, and he's smart enough to solicit her advice when it comes to business matters. He also spends quality time with his six-year-old son, teaching him the business (i.e., showing the little bugger how to fight).

But when Leonidas suits up and goes to his day job--vanquishing bloodthirsty enemies with his spear and shield--he's focused on what's best for the business and his employees; in this case, the kingdom and his soldiers.

Sure, his competitor, King Xerxes, through messengers he sends to Sparta, makes some powerful arguments for combining the smaller organization with the larger corporation known as Persia. For instance, if the merger goes through, Leonidas would be allowed to live, and his employees wouldn't have to see their families enslaved or worry about getting their limbs hacked off. But while Leonidas appears to mull the offer over, he's concerned that his people's way of life (think office culture) and his freedom to make independent decisions won't be allowed to thrive.

He firmly declines the deal by spearing and then throwing a bunch of Persian yes-men into what appears to be a bottomless pit.

Leonidas next prepares to stop the growing threat of a hostile takeover. He seeks approval from some grotesque oracles (his board of directors) to take 10,000 Spartan soldiers to fight off the Persian army, but he is rebuffed. And so, like all good entrepreneurs, Leonidas finds a loophole. He informs fellow Spartan colleagues that he's taking a walk, bringing 300 of his top-flight employees as body guards, and goes off to complete his business plan--to fight the Persians at the narrow cliffs of Thermopylae and frighten the immense army into fleeing.

Business Lesson No. 2: Train your employees and foster a culture that promotes loyalty.
The Spartans had a grim but effective process for making sure their society only contained healthy children. (If you don't already know what that process was, you probably don't want to). To put it mildly, their organization only accepted the best and brightest employees, who were trained and molded into effective killing machines. It sounds gruesome, but it's handy when your business involves protecting your community from a foe that aims to crush you.

Arguably, loyalty may be the most important aspect of a successful team. At one point in the battle, Leonidas and Xerxes meet up. The Persian ruler tries to reason with his foe, asking how Leonidas can possibly defeat him when "I would kill any of my men for victory."

"I would die for any of mine," replies Leonidas, suggesting that an employee who knows he's valued is going to fight harder for the company's survival than a miserable grunt in the firm. The king has a point. His 300 men are effective at killing what must be thousands of soldiers in the first few hours of the battle. And it's not that surprising. Xerxes literally walks all over his employees; but in Leonidas' enterprise, his staff takes ownership and pride in the company and has a stake in the firm.

Business Lesson No. 3:You need to have a strong brand.
Leonidas is no fool. He knows that his 300 men and several hundred more Athenian soldiers who tag along can't completely destroy the Persian army, which outnumbers the Spartan force at least 1,000 to one. But he figures that if the Spartans live up to their reputation by ruthlessly and efficiently killing the Persians, the enemy might flee. In other words, Leonidas saw the Spartans as a brand.

Leonidas is an early marketer, fully understanding the power of words and images. When Leonidas and his men literally build a wall of corpses they know their enemy will see, it's an advertising message to the rest of the Persian soldiers that come their way: The Spartans are a company of men you don't want to encounter. They clearly hope the message will spread by word of mouth.

Later, the Spartan CEO tells his competitor, Xerxes, "The world will know that free men stood against a tyrant, that few stood against many, and before this battle was over, that even a god-king can bleed." And because Leonidas recognizes how important it is for the general public to understand the Spartans' unique brand of power and will, he sends a messenger back to Sparta to tell the tale of their fight. Leonidas appreciates that even if he and his 300 men don't win this particular battle, educating the public about the company will help the Spartan brand endure long after he is gone.

The brand, in fact, has endured so well that almost 2,500 years later Hollywood made a movie about this battle. If you haven't seen 300 yet, be sure to study these lessons and then go see them put to use in the movie. Do that and you may suck all the joy out of watching a blockbuster action movie--but you'll wind up with one heck of a business.

[via entreprenuer.com]

Does Copywriting End After The First Sale Is Closed? Here Are Some Interesting Success Stories To Suggest It Keeps Right On GoinCell: A Novel
76 Smart Tech Solutions (part II)

Does Copywriting End After The First Sale Is Closed? Here Are Some Interesting Success Stories To Suggest It Keeps Right On Goin

MIke Epps [Def Comedy Jam]

Listen. Your customers are trying to tell you something.

If you hear what they say, your business will thrive.

This news is as old as the hills, but there are a couple of recent developments that underline these longstanding truths.

These developments could also have major implications for how you use copy in your business.

This week Jim Burt of The Car Connection Web site reported on a J.D. Power study that says Toyota, for the first time, is getting more repeat buyers than any other car company. Toyota has become increasingly profitable and is doing better than any of the Detroit-based automakers.

What is it about Toyota that makes people want to buy another one?

Quality and reliability, for sure. Offering the customer a lot of choices, too, according to Neal Oddes, an analyst with J.D. Power, the survey company.

I'll go further. You can't measure this one quantitatively, because we haven't come up with convenient measures for it. It's a qualitative factor: Listening.

Toyota gives the impression it listens while others don't. Detroit has gone its merry way with bigger and badder SUVs. Toyota comes out with hybrids. Which purport to help the environment.

Do they really? I'm not convinced. I've heard reports that it takes a lot of resources and generates thermal and yucky pollution to create the clean fuels the hybrids run on. More, mile per mile, than old-fashioned gasoline cars.

Maybe, maybe not. No matter for the point of this post. It's what a lot of customers want. Toyota listened. Customers bought. Then they bought again. Then the Japanese company busted to the top, right past the old school tie network that controlled the U.S. car market for years.

Interesting.

Another interesting note:

One of the most perplexing, and I would imagine, annoying, businesses to pop on the scene is Craigslist, headquartered three blocks from where I had breakfast yesterday in San Francisco.

Craigslist is diverting millions of dollars away from the classified ad departments at newspapers around the country. Craiglist doesn't have 19th century marches written about it (like the Washington Post), time-honored nicknames (like the New York Times does) or a worker who leads a second life as a superhero (like the Daily Planet is rumoured to).

But Craigslist has eyeballs - over 9 million unique visitors a month, according to estimates by quantcast.com.

Craiglist gives away a lot for free.

Craigslist also makes money. Enough to have convinced eBay to buy a significant minority stake in it.

But... money is not the top factor in decisions made at Craigslist, according to a recent public statement. Its customers are.

Listen.

"Well, this week, the CEO of Craigslist, Jim Buckmaster, gave a talk at the UBS Global Media and Communications conference. His message was clear: the company listens to its users.

"For example, the company could easily make a fortune from text ads. However, since users have not requested such things, Craigslist won't do it (how's that for a simple corporate philosophy?)."

That, from a very thoughtful and provocative post by Tom Taulli on bloggingstocks.com.

So what does this mean as far as copywriting is concerned?

It's simple. People - smart people, successful entrepreneurs - spend inordinate amounts of money, time and energy on the copy up front. The copy to get customers.

As well they should. Because the nickels turn into 10 dollar bills. They make profits more than most people could even imagine or hope for.

But do they put time, money, effort, creative thought and urgency into post-sale communications? You know, copywriting for existing customers?

They should. Because the real money is in the Toyota and Craigslist world. The world of customer loyalty, where they keep coming back for more.

How do you use copy to start a dialogue and develop a relationship?

Does this blog post give you any ideas?

Not the content, but the fact that I'm writing it, and you're reading it, and if you choose to place a comment below, then we're having a conversation.

I'd love to hear what you think.

David Garfinkel, http://world-copywriting-institute.typepad.com/

Show Your Business Heart With Cause-Related MarketingGo West, Young Entrepreneur! Is The Valley Better For Software Startups?
Dog Vending Business Or How To Turn $6000 into $100,000