Traffic Building With Mouse Traps
December 12, 2008 by jp · 3 Comments
Traffic building comes with creativity and work. One of the most powerful ways to attract and retain traffic is through word of mouth - or as it is known in the world of online marketing: “word of mouse”!
Word of mouse marketing is an incredible way to get your message out and spread your URL. People who tell others about a website, product, or service are usually considered a trusted reference or resource. They have a lot of credibility in their communities and people listen to what others in their niche have to say. Imagine how many people can be touched by one person who tells two more who tells three more and so on. Your advertising increases exponentially! Read more
Humor - Pass it On!
It’s true that people love to pass around funny or unique postings and content from websites. After all, that’s what viral marketing is all about - spreading the word!
Don’t forget to include some humor in your website occasionally. Even the most serious products or services can use a little humor now and then. You can include graphics, cartoons, funny quotes, or other amusing ideas. Make it something unique that is relevant to your website’s theme.
You may find that humor is one of the best ways to keep people coming back too. It gives Read more
Videos go viral quickly (Part 7 - Viral Marketing Series)
October 17, 2008 by jp · Leave a Comment
We don’t have to tell you how important it is to optimize the technology available to you as an online marketer. It seems that there is some new technology introduced every day or some new way of reaching out to your potential customers.
But there are many existing ways that you can capitalize on to ensure you are making the most of your marketing efforts. Viral marketing takes on a life of its own when you utilize tools that allow your articles, reports, and other content to proliferate through the Internet. Read more
Ways to Optimize Press Releases (Part 6 of Viral Marketing Series)
If you typically think of press releases for hard-copy newspapers and believe they are reserved only for the big corporate announcements from large companies, then think again! Press releases are a great way to gain attention and position yourself as an expert in your market. They are also a great way to capitalize on viral marketing.
Well-written press releases make optimal use of keywords and unique content. They offer you an incredible opportunity to expand your marketing reach by creating newsworthy updates and information related to your area of expertise. And press releases are free so it’s not like paid advertising.
Timeliness counts
Press releases must be timely and have some news of value to report. You may want to notify your target market about a new product, new findings in your industry, or new reports available that contain data and statistics relevant to your business. They must include something of value for your target market and they must be professionally written and meticulously written. Read more
Blog Carnivals Attract Traffic (Part 5 - Viral Marketing Series)
In your efforts to increase traffic to your website, have you considered participating in a blog carnival? Blog carnivals are a great way to meet people who are interested in your niche products. They are likely looking for something you have to offer and they are willing to pay for it!
A blog carnival is basically on online magazine, or eZine, that is created by a large group of people who are interested in a particular niche. The term ‘carnival’ was coined to help create an air of enthusiasm and fun around the release of these online magazines periodically.
There is usually a lot of hype and preparation to the blog carnival and lots of people visit the website of the blog host to find out what’s happening. People submit articles to the online magazine for publication in the blog to showcase their knowledge and expertise.
What better place to demonstrate your expertise in a niche than to participate in one of these carnivals? When you do, you’ll find that your target audience is once again – right at your fingertips! You just create your articles, reports, and other compelling content to be included in the blog carnival and they will definitely come to read it.
Blog carnivals are typically used to create an interest in the niche and to increase product exposure. People are invited to comment on articles and to provide insights into the niche, in addition to submitting their well-written articles. They are also allowed to include their URL and other information in their articles so visitors can find them easily. This increases your exposure and your ability to capitalize on viral marketing.
Finding a blog carnival in your niche industry is simple. You can visit one of the following websites to find a comprehensive listing of blog carnivals organized by topic or niche category:
Visiting these sites offers you a huge listing of upcoming carnivals. They are usually promoted and advertised many weeks or even months in advance. The most effective blog carnivals are held on a consistent schedule and the person who organizes the carnival and aggregates the articles and content is rotated for each carnival. You could host a carnival and gain even more exposure.
Don’t just wait for traffic to come to you. Go out and find targeted traffic and entice them to visit your website. A blog carnival is one place where you’ll find massive numbers of potential customers for your niche. When you display your expertise and knowledge in your niche market, they’ll be knocking on your door.
And don’t forget the value of viral marketing – once they visit your site and are impressed with the products, information, and interactive content they find, they’ll invite their friends and others in their community. Your website and information will remain on the online magazine for many months to come.
Blog carnivals can keep the traffic coming for a long time to come!
Visit a carnival today and see for yourself.
Newsgroups go Viral (Part 4 - Viral Marketing Series)
October 10, 2008 by jp · Leave a Comment
Viral marketing is a unique way to promote your website and find new potential customers which will increase traffic to your website. It’s a viral marketing strategy because once people recognize you as an expert in your niche, they tell other people about it. They will also invite friends to participate in the newsgroups that they find interesting and that means even more exposure for you.
Newsgroups are a group of people who meet online to discuss topics in a specific area of expertise. They interact and exchange ideas, thoughts, and questions. It is a virtual gathering to review and exchange valuable information related to specific topics, or niches, and people are searching for that particular topic!
That puts a target audience right at your fingertips!
Some of the things discussed on newsgroups include:
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The value and importance of specific websites and who has the best products and information
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What people want related to the niche
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Blogs of particular interest that provide unique, interesting posts
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News of interest in the particular niche market (or topic area)
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Other online resources to support the group including upcoming blog carnivals, eZines, newsletters, and other
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Where to find experts in the niche
When you participate in newsgroups specific to your niche expertise, you can demonstrate your knowledge and entice people to visit your website or blog. And don’t forget that many people make buying decisions by listening to what people have to say in newsgroups.
Another valuable aspect of participating in newsgroups is that you learn more about what people are saying and what they want. It enables you to ensure your niche products are responding to the market demand.
Visit http://www.newsgroups-1.com/ for an alphabetical listing of thousands of newsgroups. You can dig deeper into sub-categories to find the newsgroup that best matches your niche. The best strategy is to visit the newsgroup several times to hear what people are saying, understand how they interact, and gain insights into what they talk about. Then you can begin to participate and before long, you’ll be a welcome member of the group with your expertise and knowledge in the niche.
Participate in a couple of newsgroups to make your website viral. Viral marketing is an excellent way to keep the traffic flowing!
Our next post update will be about blog carnivals and how they can make your niche website go viral even faster.
eZines and Newsletters Attract a Crowd (Part 3 of Viral Marketing Series)
October 8, 2008 by jp · Leave a Comment
Looking for interesting and creative ways to attract a crowd? Make sure you’re capitalizing on the benefits of eZines and newsletters. These online ‘publications’ are a great way to position yourself as an expert and attract a crowd to your website.
These tools are an effective way to communicate with potential customers in your market niche. It’s also a great strategy to stay in front of your customers on a consistent basis and provide them with value-added information, data, and knowledge. You can send customers and registered visitors an email link to your newsletter or eZine notifying them that the publication is available and draw them into your website – when your site is ‘sticky’, they’ll stay around longer too.
Asserting yourself as an expert through your eZines is easy when you include valuable information and up-to-date findings in your niche area. Tips to help you create fresh, energetic content that also helps make your site ‘sticky’ include:
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Create content that involves breaking news
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Provide creative tips relevant to the niche market
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Create compelling content that is value-added to your audience – make sure your content is fresh and is not found on every other website on the Web!
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Provide your niche market with data and statistics that showcase the value of the niche without being too ‘salesy’ or giving the appearance of ‘advertising’
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Include surveys and other ways to solicit reader feedback, opinions, and comments
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Make them an offer they can’t refuse – include a link to a free article, free report, or free eBook that they can download from your website
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Ask your customers to submit their own articles for inclusion in your content
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Quote industry experts to increase credibility of your niche site
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Use keywords effectively throughout your content
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Conduct customer satisfaction surveys through the publications
Newsletters can be published more often than eZines since they are usually much shorter and provide summary level information. eZines are typically published to your online audience monthly or quarterly. You can create your own content or invite your customers and visitors to contribute to your articles. You can also work with a freelance copywriter or editor to help you create interesting periodicals that keep your customers coming back for more. Private label rights (PLR) articles are useful but only when you take time to heavily edit and rewrite them to make them unique to your niche.
Make your newsletters and eZines interactive and attractive. This is one of the best ways to engage your audience. Include surveys or solicit questions for a ‘Question and Answer’ section. Survey customers for feedback and highlight their comments in upcoming issues – people love to see their name on websites.
Creating a strategy to consistently provide your target audience with fresh, unique information is the best way to keep them coming back for more. Give it a try and you’ll be a believer.
Article Writing – Part 2 of our “Viral Marketing” series
October 6, 2008 by jp · 2 Comments
What better way to promote your niche website than to demonstrate your expertise across a huge online audience! Article marketing is the perfect strategy for positioning yourself as an expert while attracting a crowd to your site.
When you create valuable, unique, keyword-rich articles that are relevant to your niche market, you instantly gain recognition in your market. Articles that include current and breaking news are extremely well-received. You can also write articles about recent studies that include data and statistics related to the niche for even greater reader interest. Articles that are substantiated with data, information, and credible resources are highly regarded by online users.
People who read articles and find them valuable and interesting will frequently forward the links to many other people in their community. Your article should include your URL, your name, and other summary information about your niche. People will likely include the URL to the article on their website and will link to your website. This gains you instant links and increased exposure.
There are many free article publishing sites, and once your article is published, you give permission for others to reuse your article information. They are required to maintain your contact information and URL in the article when it is used! This gives you great viral marketing that rapidly spreads your information through the Internet - for months and years to come!
Write often
When you embark on an effective article writing strategy for viral marketing, you must be committed to submitting articles frequently for the best exposure. A random submission of articles will not result in the high traffic volumes and authority status you seek. It is recommended that you allocate time each week to write articles and submit them to the major article sites.
Article marketing sites are free marketing opportunities
It’s not just the quality, value, and integrity of your article that counts It’s also where you publish the articles that has a huge impact on your website exposure. Increasing your own credibility as an authority in your niche is easier when you utilize article sites that include an indexing system by category.
Start by checking out well-known article sites that actively solicit quality content. Focus on a few of the best sites rather than spreading yourself too thin across dozens of sites. You can increase your exposure by writing a lot of articles for a few sites.
Some of the most well-known and respected article sites include:
§ EzineArticles.com
§ Goarticles.com
§ Articledashboard.com
§ Articlecity.com
§ Articlesbase.com
Visit some of these sites, review the existing articles, and then create your own strategy to optimize the use of your knowledge and expertise in your niche. You’ll soon be recognized as an authority and your website will be actively sought out by visitors and potential customers.
You can sit back and watch the traffic flow!
Next post - “e-Zines Attract a Crowd”!
Viral Marketing (A Multi-part Series)
October 3, 2008 by jp · Leave a Comment
Do you wonder how those online marketers with massive amounts of traffic are able to draw such a huge audience? There must be some mysterious strategies or secret tips that aren’t shared with the rest of the world.
Right?
Wrong!
Writing compelling articles is one way that online marketers are able to increase the number of visitors to their website. And they don’t just update their website or their blog, they write in many places across the Internet.
How does this help you in your niche market?
Although it may sound simple, it is a strategy that absolutely works! Drawing traffic to your site is easy when people know who you are and what you have to offer. Becoming an expert in your niche market is one of the first things you should do as a successful entrepreneur. Authoritative articles and reports based on your particular niche business will have people listening and clamoring for more. The more often your articles are published with your name and URL, the more visitors you will attract.
Your articles become viral – racing through the Internet for millions to read!
Creating articles that provide your audience with valuable information, unique data and statistics, and other niche specific content will position you as an authority. It won’t be long before you’ll have an “authority website” that is not only frequently visited by potential customers, but that magnetizes search engines and moves you higher up on the page ranking!
Articles can be written from a serious or a humorous perspective – the objective is to gain the reader’s interest, give them something of value, and entice them to visit your website.
So exactly where should you write? That’s a great question because where you publish and post your articles can make a difference in how much traffic you attract. You must know where to submit articles to take advantage of viral marketing. In this series of posts over the next several weeks, we’ll talk about specifics related to article marketing, blog carnivals, e-Zines, and many other resources where your articles can have a significant impact on your business.
We’ll also provide you with tips and strategies to make your articles engaging, fresh, and unique. Let us help you attract the crowds. You’re an expert in your niche market and it’s time the rest of the world knew that too!
Next post – we’ll talk about the value of article marketing. Don’t miss this valuable post that will have your articles taking your business to new heights of success with viral marketing!
