Social Media Marketing Strategies, Internet Marketing Techniques, Hot Topic News, Reviews & More; Bringing you the best web 2.0 marketing methods and money making ideas!
Diane Scott is the persona of two great friends living on opposite ends of the country. We have spent that last decade(+) online making our livings by analyzing and applying search engine optimization, traditional internet marketing, and social media strategies. We test, evaluate, recommend (or not) methods that work to promote your website/blog and increase website traffic. We hope you enjoy your visit.
If you’re tracking stats on your own blog, and you should be, there will be posts that you make where you notice lots of activity. Ideally, you (like us) have your hopes up each time you post that your readers will do more than read (which is always cool), and stay to strike up a conversation with you (in the form of comments).
Well we’re no different than you
We track things. We love to track things! It just may be an obsession around here!
So in going back through our visitor logs, there is a striking up swing whenever we talk about ways to (more…)
Remember the other day when I did a big writeup about SocialSpark? I was going to do it anyway, but found just the fact of writing about SocialSpark could earn our blog $5.50 (and a huge bonus if it was chosen as the “best” post somewhere down the line).
Well yesterday the CustomerLove team approved that very post and in 30 days we’ll be receiving the $5.50 via paypal!
How easy was that?! (LOL, keep reading to find out)
Here was their process so you’ll have a feel for what’s what (including a screenshot of our SocialSpark inbox):
This past week or so has been very interesting. There are several “new” things out there all being promoted like crazy. Funny how some are very successful (for the affiliate owner) while others just languish into nonexistence.
However, this is not a post of praise. Sure there ARE many fine, young and old, upstanding affiliate program owners out there who really give a damn if their affiliates are successful. You can tell these individuals from the crap (sorry but it’s true!) because they are fully involved in ensuring your success. They offer lots of tools upfront for advertising and marketing, and keep things fresh and current for newly arriving individuals.
One of the great advantages of being a member to some remarkable sites, like Entrecard, is the ease at which you find out about really cool “other sites” going live on the net. Websites designed to help you promote your blog and your business.
Tonight I found one such website while approving an advertiser for our blog in Entrecard. Yes, it was that easy
When you click through you’ll notice the “affiliate looking” url (ours), but at the moment there is no indication that we get anything other than the great satisfaction of helping you find yet another spot to promote your blog.
Before I tell you about the set up, I did want to make mention of the look and load of this service. Wow! We like green, and the animation is super easy on the eyes. You’ll like it, too.
Okay, you sign up in two seconds, check your inbox and confirm, and then head inside where the inner workings are really easy to follow. Start by listing your own ad, you’ll need a 125 x 125 banner (just like Entrecard) and a tiny bit more information including the average daily amount of visitors your blog gets (check your cpanel stats). You will also be able to pick what categories you would like your banner to show up on, as well as indicate what types of sites should be allowed on yours.
To the right, in our Highly Recommended sidebar box, you’ll notice the current 125Exchange card showing. Go ahead, click on it! It will open in a new window and you won’t lose your place here at OIMS.
Well that’s it for tonight, we thought you’d enjoy finding another spot to do more free advertising for yourself and your blog.
Sometimes the perfect things land in your inbox that you just have to pass along quickly
You know by now how important viral marketing is and the money that can be made from it.
We have a special gift for you today and this one is going to blow you away.
We’re about to hand you all the tools you need to quickly create (and we’re talking pushbutton) your very own branded ebooks stuffed with your own cash producing affiliate links.
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With Viral Ebook Explosion you are handed professionally created ebooks to brand - and all you have to do is simply fill in your affiliate links and press a button.
It’s as simple as that!
Here’s just a small fraction of what you’ll be able to do with your own Viral Ebooks:
==> Generate easy-cash when people click your affiliate links and purchase.
==> Upload your branded ebooks into free ebook directories and have them distributed all over the web with your affiliate links.
==> Build a name in the Internet Marketing community by participating in giveaways with your branded ebooks.
==> Give out your branded ebooks for * free * to build your own enormous list.
==> Sell these professionally created high quality ebooks for 100%-profit.
==> Use the ebooks as bonuses to give to your customers and profit like mad on the back end.
And we have barely scratched the surface!
You really have to see this unique system to believe it:
Sign up now to gain instant (and FREE) access to the Viral Ebook Explosion member’s area and start making your own profitable viral branded ebooks in seconds…
Currently BlogCatalog is without a doubt our favorite place to hang out, make new friends, and post our most interesting posts. The people hanging on BlogCatalog go above and beyond to reach out, friend you, and then actually participate with you.
Many of these types of services appear to have a “clicky” mentality, you get a visit but no real interaction; isn’t that the point of socializing?
To further enhance BlogCatalog’s likeability, the setup is easy as can be. You do need to know some basics, but they are put in a simple to follow, logical arrangement. Once you are logging in, and if you stay logged in, moving around is a breeze.
We’ll go over some of the fine points here, and then below you’ll see a few links - a How To Setup BlogCatalog YouTube via (with great voice over!) as well as a link out to MattNutts blog (which we advise using Firefox if your IE gets a bit wiggy on you).
So here’s our pointers for making the most of BlogCatalog which are extremely easy:
1. Sign yourself up
2. Validate your email
3. Log in
4. Choose Edit Profile
5. Create a widgit for your blog
6. Start looking around discussions, communities, etc.
7. Up on the right, join stuff as you see them
It really is that simple; no where near the complexity of something like say Facebook or Myspace!
The great thing is your page will also come with some current event stuff going on - so use your right side panel to get off to a good start. To friend someone is also easy (though they call it a “Add to My Friends” right up there under your logged in information).
Frankly, this community is so great that the whole thing just naturally gathers its own steam. There is absolutely no arm twisting and begging here, people are just nice, friendly, helpful, and informed. You can gather a wealth of new information just be taking the time to visit your friends pages, and the pages of their friends. Take the time to interact. Use the My Shoutbox and leave a few words as you visit, watch your inbox and click out to broadcasts and new notices you receive.
A few final words/requests before you watch the video or go read the How To BlogCatalog posts below:
1. Use a real inbox for BlogCatalog you’ll want to get these notices
2. Please leave your feedback here so we know what’s on your mind, what you thought of this post, and any questions or suggestions you have. Even a simple Hello works for us.
3. Right below this article you’ll see some “Be Social Please Tag Us” buttons. Hover over the icons and please do submit our work to these online systems. We’d sure appreciate your efforts!
Okay, here is the video that’s worth the few minutes if you’re a visual person and need assistance with BlogCatalog, along with another How To BlogCatalog advice article. Thanks for reading! Comment, Rate, Enjoy!
And for additional reference (though again my personal experience is Firefox as is loads the page best):
If you missed our mailing yesterday, then you won’t want to miss reading this post. Qassia is an up and coming social community that awards you with backlinks in exchange for your “wiki-like” writeups.
[NOTE: Qassia does send you a "validate yourself" type email to create your account. Be sure to give a real inbox or you will have wasted your time. Validate and return to the site to continue setting up. Your DASHBOARD gives you access to all the different aspects of how to setup your Qassia and what's what on how to write.]
After signing up, you’ll want to do a few things before you start posting. Always, in any community, fill out your profile and upload a picture or your avatar. This particular social media community is not that indepth (nothing at all like Facebook or Myspace), but letting others know who you are and what you do is always critical. Make your information fun and informative, they like that
Then you use the “Add Intel” links to begin adding your tidbits to their wiki-type setup. You need to have a bit of backbone when publishing since 10 other people will read what you’ve written and “grade your work.” We note that not everyone plays fair, and while some questionable entries get okay marks, other pieces of information that would be of use to all don’t always get the proper marks. We think the members of Qassia just don’t “get it” yet, but hopefully do over time.
The great thing is reading is subjective. So don’t be disappointed (or even elated) about your marks. That’s not the point
Gaining valuable backlinks in the search engines for your tags and “reports” is the point. Quassia promises great things in the search engines, so why not be a part of it.
As with all new programs or websites, we are suspending judgment until it’s been around long enough to receive some sort of grade itself. However, if they stay on track with their goals, why not be in at the start of something new that has the potential to really boost your website, blog, etc., into the search engines.
Qassia, after joining or even if you don’t join, please take the time to tell us about your experience here on this blog.
Never pass up the chance to branding yourself!
Enjoy!
UPDATE: Our own Qassia url is already in Google! We only started yesterday…! Now to see if and/or how long before our tagged stuff appears.
Today, surprisingly (or not so), in my inbox was a question from one of our brand new clients. While this individual was interested in getting involved in various internet marketing strategy “pieces,” it was evident on a visit to the website itself (and view sourcing the code), that starting at the beginning was where he needs to be - title tag inappropriate, no metas, etc. After replying in detail and giving him specific directions to begin, I headed out to the internet to chase down a video someone had asked me to take a look at.
To make a long story short (because the video had nothing to do with marketing strategies [or did it??]), somehow I ended up at eMediaWire. Which lead to a press release, which lead to this free pdf you can get right here, without all the rigmarole… Funny how things work sometimes…
So… here’s my take on this free internet marketing strategy resource:
Online Equalizer appears to be one of those “pieces of gold” in pdf format. It is written in such a way that everyone, novice to pro, will benefit from the information it contains.
One hundred and sixty six pages (which I have only skimmed for the moment but will be returning to after this post because several things have already caught my eye) bears all the hallmarks of being one of those “keeper” downloads you infrequently stumble upon.
Brandon Cornett begins his presentation with:
information on search engines, your website, and keyword research
moves on to building backlink popularity
and provides strategies to build those backlinks
and that’s just the first 40 pages!
I’m not going to spoil this and tell you the end of the movie (so to speak), but on page 42 there’s an interesting way of looking at your writing and search engines. It actually goes against the grain of what many tell you and has to do with article writing. But again I won’t spoil it for you
Actually while typing I’m skimming through this free pdf, and am confident that while some of you reading may feel you are beyond this point, never, ever look a gift horse in the mouth. Since it is free, and you can
see what areas you may be personally missing - or check it out for ways to glamorize what you currently have… you just never know when that “oh!” moment will arrive - this pdf could be one of those moments.
Again, I’m heading back into reading. Should, for some strange reason, I change my mind about Online Equalizer, I will be sure to let you know. But from what I’m seeing, and because of those we interact with daily, I truly believe you’ll find immense value inside. Hey, and remember, it’s FREE lol!
P.S. When you’re done, would you please remember to come back and leave your comments and input on this material? We would love to hear what you think!
