Archive for category marketing

Good Tool For Online Business Owners

Got an online business? These days, it’s very easy to start one. Many of my blogging friends have started up small businesses for selling their crafts, such as handbags, soaps, jewelry, and etc. The online market can be quite lucrative for the small business owner! I think it’s terrific that any handy person can start a business from home, and present their products to the world for sale.

However, offering payment options are a little trickier. I, for one, am loath to dole out my credit card number to any Joe Brown from Anytown. I must know that the means through which I order is safe and secure. I think that may be the stickler for many small business owners; they do not know where to begin when it comes to Merchant Processing.

If you are in search of merchant processing services, BluePay is an example of a good provider. They’ve made it very easy to sign up and get going. Some of the features with BluePay:

  • All credit card types are accepted.
  • Manage your account online.
  • Transactions are encrypted and secure.
  • BluePay is PCI certified.
  • BluePay is accredited by the better Business Bureau, with a score of A+.

It’s nice to know that online business owners have options. Check out BluePay, see if they are right for you.

This post is brought to you by BluePay. All opinions are mine. :D

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Build Great Backlinks

If you are a blogger, you want amazing backlinks! Backlinks are links that people place on their websites that link back to your websites. Quantities of good backlinks are good for your blog– your blog gets more attention, your content gets read, and maybe advertisers want to give you money. :D

Here’s a good, basic article on how to get “Amazing Backlinks.”

I have found that this kind of stuff can easily be a full-time job in of itself. Building a hugely popular website can consume countless (precious) hours as you monitor every blip in your stats, monitor search engine keywords, and more. And I find it a boring chore. I prefer the more passive route: writing good articles and *hoping* that people discover you. :) It’s not rocket science, but at least I get some sleep.

Give the article a read, if you are a newbie. Then stand back in awe at how seriously people take the Internet. lol.

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Make Money With Twitter

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Sponsored Tweets. All opinions are 100% mine.

I have a career in pro-blogging; I make a part-time living, making money online by promoting various advertisements and endorsements, and writing reviews and articles. If you are an enthusiastic blogger or writer, there IS money to be made. So far, the marketplace has been geared for paid blogging, ghost writing, or article writing. But the Internet is changing, once again. Leave it to the folks at IZEA to invent another excellent way to make money online.

The latest thing to come down the pike is Sponsored Tweets. Sponsored Tweets, at its very basic, is a way for you to get paid, promoting various products or services by your tweets at Twitter. IZEA is the middleman, providing the means of communication and payment from advertiser to blogger. Twitter is HUGE, its the biggest thing in social networking, and your tweets can reach thousands, if not millions, of people. The concept of connecting the vast audience of Twitter with knowledge about good products and services is brilliant.

Here’s how the system works, in a nutshell:

  • Sign up for Sponsored Tweets. It’s free. Offers await you.
  • Oh yeah– you have to have a Twitter account, too! Go do that first, eh?
  • Determine your pricing. There is a recommended price for you, but you can go as high or low as you want. IZEA has a very good help page if you need advice, and the Get Satisfaction forums are outstanding for finding quick help and tips.
  • Wait for offers from advertisers. You can choose to create your own sponsored tweets, or have them pre-written by advertisers. It’s up to you, and only you can give the final stamp of approval before it ever gets released into the Twittosphere. Disclosure is mandatory, however. IZEA has some very witty and unique ways to disclose; I enjoyed reading them, and you can tell that whoever did them definitely does a lot of tweeting!
  • There are some celebrities who have joined Sponsored Tweets. This adds a lot of clout, and you can also learn some tips of the trade on improving your audience. ;)

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There’s a very strict Code of Ethics for the Sponsored Tweets program (as well as all the IZEA ventures). There is always transparency and disclosure, but there is also freedom for expression and choice.

You won’t get rich with Sponsored Tweets, but you WILL make some very nice money on the side. And it’s a great way to supplement any income, online or not. And in this economy, every dollar counts! Check out Sponsored Tweets, it’s a REALLY easy way to make some money. Sign up for Sponsored Tweets here.
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Making the Most of Your Advertising Strategy

I am in the advertising business, of a sort. I write advertisements, both on my blogs and as an independent contractor for various advertising firms. It is not an easy business (but I suppose none is). It’s even more difficult, creating and implementing an advertising strategy. The Internet has opened up a new world for advertising, yet due to the vastness of the Net and it’s fluidity, it is difficult getting concrete results. How do you know that your advertising reaches the segment of people you aim for? How do you even begin to create a strategy, let alone implement it? The Internet has radically altered advertising for small and large businesses alike; and because the Internet is constantly developing, strategies or programs that worked in the past are no longer as effective. For example, several years ago, it was advised to any serious business that it get a website to offer information about services and “get the name” out there. Today, the Internet is glutted with websites. Now the issue is getting your website and/or product or service visible, and more. The advertising scene is constantly changing; how does a company manage it all?

One answer is to partner with a marketing strategy team, such as C-4 Analytics Measured Social Media Marketing. Internet advertising has become a science, and teams like C-4 have attentively studied and implemented a successful method. They offer some of the following:

  • On-staff psychologists who study patterns and adjust online experiences to increase sales and your return of online investments (ROI).
  • Contribute to viral campaigns, social media (which is extremely hot right now), search engine optimization (SEO), press releases, and more.
  • C-4 follows users from initial clicks to sales, giving their analysts all the more information to determine and tweak successful campaigns and strategies.
  • Save you money on outdated methods (such as PPC clicks, which are not as effective and can be very costly– some as high as $50 per click!).
  • and more…

Advertising is not an easy method, not in this new vast, diverse world of online marketing we have today. Check and see if partnering with marketing strategists will save you money– I’ll bet it will!

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Web Design and Content Management Services

I try to be the “Do It Yourself” kind of gal, in everything from electrical wiring to landscaping to blog design. But some things are way over my head. And if you run any kind of small (or large) business, not only is content management and Web Design over our heads, oftentimes we do not have the time or resources to put everything together. And take it from me– a classless, sloppily-built design or e-commerce site makes a very, very bad impression indeed.

Thus, with this in mind, I’ll put a bug in your ear if you have need of some help: Great Minds Design. They are a top-notch company based in Los Angeles and London, comprising of a brilliantly talented, motivated group of designers and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) geeks. They will create your website’s unique, creative, and functional web design; will code your design with the latest web technology; and build the site so that it is search-engine friendly and easily read by all the major search engine bots (Google, Yahoo, Ask.com, Bing).

If the Great Minds Design website is any precursor to what is to be found in the talent of the company, then Great Minds is superior! The web site is very, very classy! Check out the portfolio to get an idea of their style and service offered. Looks great! You can visit their website, or call their offices: in Los Angeles: +1 310 425 9639; London: +44 (0) 7796 955 335.

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