Making Money Online With SEO

Are Your Keywords Getting You Website Traffic?

I am going to pick up from my last post where I was discussing website traffic and the importance of using Google Analytics as a traffic building tool. Today, I'm going to talk about keywords. Selecting the appropriate keywords is crucial to your success in climbing the SERPs (search engine results pages). The reason you want to be at the top or nearly so of the search engine results is that that's where the money is. Something in the range of 80% of searchers using Google, or any other search engine for that matter, never look beyond the first page of results. So the lion's share of traffic is to be found within those first ten results. If you're not there, guess what? Here we go.

If you're signed up for Google Analytics and are now getting statistical reports for your websites or blogs, you are able to clearly see how much (or how little) of your website traffic is coming from the search engines. If your website is not getting much search engine (Google) traffic, then you need to improve your search engine optimization.

If, on the other hand, you're getting a good portion of your traffic from Google, but your site is not doing well in terms of sales it could mean a several things; either you're not targeting the right keywords so that searchers looking for your product or service can find you, or you're not getting enough traffic volume to generate sales. It may also indicate that you are not using the proper strategies to convert your visitors to customers once they've arrived at your site to produce sales, or any combination of these problems.

Today, I'm going to focus on keywords, because they are a critical element of your search engine optimization and your ability to get the search engines to list your website in the top of the search engine results for your targeted keyword term.

Fist of all, I'm no keyword expert, and there are MANY places on the Internet that tackle this subject because it is so very important to the success and profitability of any website. So, I realize that if you're serious about making money online, then you know about keywords, what they do and their importance. However, knowing that, it is amazing that so many people still get this part so wrong, myself included. I have gone through keyword changes several times in my chosen marketing niches in my efforts to correctly select the keywords that will give me the highest volume of traffic for my targeted audience.

If targeted traffic for your website is what you desire, then you simply must get the keywords right. By getting your keywords right, I mean that your keywords must exactly, or nearly so, match the terms that searchers are using to search for your product or service.

As an example, in the Internet marketing niche, so many websites whose target audience consists of beginners, focus on the keyword term “Internet marketing”. Okay, question...How many beginners that you know use the term “Internet marketing” when searching for information on that topic? None. Why? Because beginners don't know the term Internet marketing, so how in the world are they using it to search? Get it? So if in that instance you're using the term “Internet marketing”, either you are not targeting beginners or you've selected the wrong keyword search term for your targeted audience.

Take a look at the keywords you're using on your website or blog. Do they accurately depict your website's subject matter and the products and services you offer, or the message that you're trying to promote? If not, then you need to revise them immediately.

Another concern is ensuring the keywords you select allow you to stand out in the SERPs. In other words, if you have a great deal of competition within your chosen niche, it will be harder for you to select keywords for which you can be ranked in the top ten (i.e. first page) search results.

So, you have to use longtail keywords; keywords that include your basic search term, but are still distinctive. For example, you may be focusing on the gardening niche, which is quite competitive. But rather than targeting very broad keyword terms like “gardening” or “vegetable gardens”, you select more specific longtail keyword terms such as “lima bean gardening” or “vegetable gardening in moderate climates” to better target your search audience. Sounds simple enough, but the trick is to develop longtail keywords that are also terms that would be readily used by someone searching for the information on your website.

Two keyword search tools that I recommend are the SEO Book Keyword Tool (this one is FREE) and Wordtracker. Wordtracker also has a free trial search tool, but between the free versions, I like SEO Book's Keyword search better.

If you are serious about making money online, you may eventually want to invest in the full version of Wordtracker. It is an excellent tool for developing the laser-targeted longtail keywords that you'll need for developing multiple websites or blogs.

As I said earlier, I've struggled with finding right keywords myself, and it's a lot harder than it first seems. The trick is in getting into the minds of your searchers. When they sit down at their keyboards and initiate a search for what you want them to find on your site, what are they typing in? That's what you have to nail down.

Then, once you've found the appropriate keywords for your website or blog, you have to use them in such a way that they stand out to the search engines, and the search engines “see” your keywords and understand that those selected terms describe what your site is about. But that's a subject for another post entirely. Go work on your keywords.

Toodles.

Traffic Is The Lifeblood of Your Online Business

You Need Google Analytics

If you're serious about making money online, then you know by now that traffic is the lifeblood of your business. Unfortunately, there are thousands of websites on the Internet that are languishing in obscurity because they don't have enough website traffic. Today, I'm going to try to help you with that.

I apologize that I haven't posted for a week, but I've been extremely involved in multiple tasks and issues, but hopefully you can benefit from some of the information I'm sharing with you today.

As online entrepreneurs, we all know traffic is important, but most of us don't know how to get traffic consistently, get enough of a volume of traffic to our websites so that we can convert a sufficient number of visitors into customers, and we often don't adequately target the traffic we want or need to generate sales.

If traffic is one of the challenges to your online business, then I'm going to suggest that you do a couple of things.

First, let's be clear that the traffic that I'm talking about getting is the traffic that you don't have to pay for. Free traffic. In other words, we're looking for search engine traffic, and more specifically, web traffic from Google. Why Google? Because they're the biggest search engine, and the majority of searchers use Google to find what they need on the web.

Okay, now that we've clarified what traffic we're trying to attract, let's move on.

In order to know what to do to get traffic, you have to have information about the traffic you currently have. I know that many of you out there may have a web host that provides "cpanel". Cpanel for those who may not be familiar with it is simply a website management interface that allows webmasters to manage their websites from a centralized platform. Basically with the click of your mouse, you can access all of the different aspects of your website from file content to databases, email accounts, subdomains, etc.

Within your cpanel is a button for "awstats" and "webalizer" that provides you with detailed statistical information about your website; number of visitors, unique visitors, referring sites (sites from which visitors are coming to visit your site), page views, etc. If you have this information and you're using it, that's good. If you've never really paid attention to the information, you need to start examining and understanding it.

Your statistical information helps you to know what kind of visitors are landing on your site, how they found you, what search terms they used to find you (for search engine traffic), how long they stay on your site, how many pages they view while they're on your website, what browser they use, etc. There is a wealth of information here. From it, you can get a pretty good idea about your website traffic. However, there is something better. And that's Google analytics.

Again, if you are serious about making money online, I strongly suggest you use the Google analytics tool. Google analytics is a tool that provides an analysis of your website traffic. It provides detailed, easy-to-understand reports that give you an overview of the activity on your website or blog.

Google analytics allows you to easily see where your traffic comes from, including breakdowns showing how much is referral traffic, how much is direct traffic and how much of your traffic comes from the search engines. It also provides critical information such as your "bounce rate".

For those of you who may not be familiar with the term, a bounce rate is the number of visitors to your website that immediately "bounce" or leave the site. The bounce rate is important to you because it is an indicator of how well, and more importantly, when you're falling short, of accurately targeting your visitors.

For example, a high bounce rate indicates that the individuals finding your website through the search engines (Google) apparently didn't find what they were looking for. This could mean a couple things to you:

1.The keywords that you are using to attract people to your site and to describe what your website is about may need to be tweaked or completely changed, so that they more accurately depict your product or service, and communicate that information to potential visitors.
2.The landing page of your website may need to be edited or changed to provide a better or more pleasing experience for your visitors. If visitors to your website are bombarded with too many messages, if they're overwhelmed with information or if they don't understand what they should do or where they should go to find what they need immediately, they'll leave, post haste.

So, a high bounce rate tells you that there is something wrong, there's some type of disconnect between your website or blog and the visitors you are attracting.

Okay, this post is getting much longer than I intended for today. So, I'll wrap this up.

If you aren't using Google analytics, go get it. It's free. It will help you to improve your website and your marketing. I promise you within just a fews days of putting Goggle analytics to work, you'll discover things about your website that you didn't know, and you'll begin to get a much better overview of your web presence and promotional and marketing issues that may be affecting the level of traffic you're currently experiencing. We'll talk more later.

Toodles.

Internet Marketing - Reprogram Your Stinking Thinking

I “borrowed” my subject line from fellow blogger and marketing expert, Wendy Maynard, the “Marketing Maven”. She used the term in an excellent article published a few months back entitled “Rev Up Your Inner Game For Outer Success”.

Millions of people spend time everyday searching for ways to succeed. They want to improve their lives, get better jobs, lose weight, get healthier, increase their finances or pursue their dreams. Last week we talked about goal setting and it's importance, but you can't set life-changing goals and realistically expect to attain them if you don't first change the way in which you think.

Any success you achieve, all starts with your mind; the way you CHOOSE to regard your circumstances and situations (yes, it is a choice!), the way you perceive yourself, the way you interpret opportunities, and the way you visualize your future all affect your ability to accomplish whatever it is that you set out to do. It's very simple – if you don't change your thinking, nothing else for you will change.

In order to succeed, you must be willing to rid yourself of the thoughts and feelings and ideas that are poisoning your system, hindering your progress and clogging the channels of your success. In other words, you have to rid yourself of your “stinking thinking”. You must shed those things which are negative, unproductive, destructive and in conflict with your endeavors to achieve success.

So, how do you accomplish that? Begin to gradually replace those things that are negative and toxic in your life with that which is positive and nurturing, and that will continue to attract and manifest positive and nurturing things. Here are a few tips to get you started:

1. Begin each day by exposing yourself to positive thoughts and affirmations. Read them and repeat them to yourself by speaking them out loud. Write a short list of what you're blessed with or thankful for on that day. Sounds silly, but from the time your mind becomes active and aware each day, this exercise forces you to first acknowledge the positive in the Universe, and take on the power of that positive energy as you prepare yourself to meet each day's challenges.

2. Do at least one thing each day that forces you to think or act creatively or in a way that is outside of your norm. If it's nothing more than taking a different route to work or school or the grocery, change something about your daily routine. This is a very small way of broadening your thinking and training your senses to accept new and different possibilities. At the very least it causes you to really “see” and recognize your surroundings, avoid the “daily rut” syndrome, and not take so much for granted.

3. Stop limiting yourself. The are enough obstacles to overcome in working toward success without our adding more. But so often the causes for our failures are really self-inflicted. We can think of a million reasons why we can't, won't, shouldn't. Try this: look for the ways in which to broaden your capabilities and potential. Find how you can be better, more knowledgeable, more skilled, more polished, through engaging in new and unfamiliar situations.

4. Restrict your exposure to negative influence. These days there is so much negativity in our daily living environments. Insulate yourself from that negativity by surrounding yourself with more positive messages. Stop constantly watching the evening news and reading the daily newspaper . They continually bombard us with negative information without balanced exposure to good and positive news.

   And before you roll your eyes and sigh, making some remark about my being a “Pollyanna”, I'm not suggesting that you “plug your ears and stick your head in the sand”. What I am suggesting is that the “what bleeds, leads” view of the world from today's media is not the complete picture. While the world is filled with negative people and events at any given moment, it's also filled with a great deal more positive things than the media ever exposes us to. And ceaselessly taking in and on that negativity changes who you are on a daily basis. You have to be willing to “tune in” to a different message.

This also applies to the people you choose to be around or allow to be around you. If your friends and associates tend to be negative people or attract negative influence, find new friends and associates. It may sound insensitive, but it's absolutely true that negative and positive cannot coexist. They will either always be at odds, or one eventually takes over influence of the other. You cannot expect to attract good and positive and wonderful things and be ensconced in the bad, negative, and life-draining elements.

If the source of negativity is within your familial relationships, find ways to distance yourself from their influence.

5. Feed your mind. Be open to new ideas and information. Don't allow yourself to hold on so tightly to the ideas and thoughts you now possess that you're not flexible enough to change them when you receive new or improved information. Always be eager and willing to learn new things, so that you are continually expanding your depth of knowledge and experience to put new ideas and strategies to work.

Your mind needs to be fed and nurtured just like any other living thing. It requires a fertile environment, one that promotes growth and development. You can't reach for the stars if you're constantly being occupied with the mud and stones and dirt on the ground. Freshen your thinking, renew your perspective, grab hold of new and different opportunities with enthusiasm and determination. That's the way to achieve unimaginable success.

Visit the following link for information and help with goal setting.

Internet Marketing Basics - Search Engine Optimization vs. Personal Contacts – Which is better for Your Web Business?

Internet marketers often find themselves in a schizophrenic environment; caught between two very strong issues in developing their web business. Do I concentrate my efforts and limited resources on SEO or do I focus my attention on making and nurturing personal contacts and networking to move my business forward?

There are of course, valid arguments for both. Search engine optimization is what gets you "found" in a sea of literally millions of websites on the Internet. Without SEO, it is nearly impossible for your business to rise to a level within the search engine results where the people who are looking for you, and the products and services your business offers, can easily find you.

But personal contacts are also immensely important to the success of your online business. Meeting other individuals who are involved in the same niche, have similar backgrounds, are pursuing similar interests or goals, or who may be potential partners or future clients, can put you light years ahead of your business competition. Just making one or two of the "right" contacts has the potential to skyrocket your business overnight.

A great example is the development of a JV or Joint Venture partnership. When you are able to identify and acquire a suitable JV partner, you have the opportunity to greatly multiply your efforts. You gain access to a larger circle of influence, and an opportunity to directly connect with a greater number of individuals specifically interested in what you offer.

So which is it, SEO or networking? If there had to be a choice between the two, which will help you more? Hands down, the answer is personal contacts, and here's why.

You can never lose site of the fact that your website is a tool, it's not your business. Your business is you. Even if the sum total of your business has its presence online, if you have no building, no sales office, no studio, the business exists not because it's presented in a website, but because of you. The virtual real estate you own or rent is the means by which you conduct business, but is not the business itself.

Therefore, one of the most important tools and assets that you can develop and cultivate are the personal contacts you make. That's how you develop your knowledge and awareness of what is happening within your niche and market. That's how you meet and cultivate new clients. That's how you promote and market your business, so that you can reach into territories to which you would not otherwise have access. That's how you keep your finger on the pulse of what's in demand and how you can meet that demand with your supply. That's how you make connections with people who will propel you and your business forward; whether competitor, peer or partner.

So, while I completely understand the necessity and the importance of search engine optimization, if you ever have to make a choice between SEO and making personal contacts or networking, in terms of where to place your resources, you now have your answer. Business is people.

Making Money - For Love & Money – Minimize Financial Trouble In Relationships

Dealing with money matters within relationships is much like mixing oil and water. All too often, the two simply don't mix. Whether we're talking about family members, friends or others close to us, when money concerns enter into the relationship, things often turn out badly.

This is especially true when dealing with intimate relationships such as marriage. Issues involving money are presently recognized as leading causes of divorce. (It may also be argued though, that while finances are a significant issue in many breakups, money problems are often symptoms, not necessarily the root cause, of the problems in a relationship. But that's another day and another article.)

Why is money such an issue? I think, two reasons. One, I don't know many people who aren't passionate and opinionated when it comes to money matters, and two, because as crazy as it seems, a great many individuals still fail to thoroughly discuss financial matters before they enter into close personal relationships.

You'd think that we'd be much more willing to discuss an issue that most of us have such strong feelings about, but that's not often the case. We're either too timid to discuss money, too hesitant to bring up what may be a sensitive issue or one that could possibly present some challenges (ya think?), or we're just too naïve to realize that things don't magically fall into place simply because we're in love.

Anyways, here are a few tips to help you to avoid unpleasantness in your relationships because of money:

Talk About Finances Before Jumping In – For heaven sakes, if you're contemplating spending the rest of your life with someone, don't you think it might be important for you to know more than a little bit about their financial condition? What debts are they bringing into the partnership, and just as importantly, what assets? How does this person feel about money? What are their attitudes about saving, spending, financial planning? Are they experienced in the aspects of money management? What were their parents' attitudes towards money? What examples or modeling did they have in terms of money-related habits? Does money seem to "melt away" in their possession, or do they hold onto every penny like it was the last piece of money on earth? What financial goals do they have? What other goals do you each have that may be dependent on your financial condition?

Getting the answers to these types of questions is not prying, and if the person with whom you're dealing feels that it is, then perhaps you've learned something about them already. These are all extremely important details to discuss with your partner before entering into any type of life-altering stage of a relationship, such as marriage. And if you're contemplating co-habitating with someone without benefit of marriage, it is just as important an issue, if not more so. I cannot stress this point enough. No matter how squeamish or uncomfortable you may feel about discussing finances, do this before you get involved in a situation that will be difficult, at best, to undo if things don't go well.

And just so you know, these are also important issues to discuss with friends with whom you are contemplating living, as well as roommates or family members who will be sharing the same living space.

Agree On A Plan, Work Together – Once you've gotten all of your financial cards on the table openly and honestly, then you have a good idea of what you have to work with, possible benefits and where potential pitfalls may lie. From this point, create a plan together to address how the finances will be handled. How and by whom will the bills be paid? How will you save money and for what purpose? How much will you save/spend within a given period (monthly budget)? What methods of investment will you use? What about an emergency fund?

Be Flexible, "XXXX Happens" - Okay boneheads, that's "LIFE Happens". In spite of our best efforts and planning, and whatever else anyone may tell you, life can neither be completely controlled nor predicted. Unexpected and unforeseen challenges are much of what life is about. So, when those unexpected circumstances present themselves, you need to be ready and willing to alter your financial plans to fit your current situation.

Once you have a plan in place, make certain that is isn't so rigid that you are completely discouraged from following it. Make certain that your plan leaves room for flexibility. A financial plan should be a “living” plan, meaning that it should be developed so that it is easily altered, has room for growth and can accommodate the inevitable changes that will occur in your life and financial status.

Consult With Experts – Chances are you're not a professional money manager. In order to give yourself and your partner the best chance you could possibly have to get the most benefit from your finances, consult with a professional. That doesn't mean to simply hand over your fiscal responsibilities to someone else, but rather have someone (or preferably several credible resources) that you can rely upon to help you to see your financial situation objectively, help guide you around possible pitfalls and trouble spots, and steer you on a course that allows you to manage your finances to effectively accomplish your life goals.

Money matters don't have to adversely affect your relationships. If you do the work to ensure an open and cooperative environment, especially in terms of financial matters, you place yourself and your partner in the best position to achieve financial success.

Internet Marketing Tips - The Key For Achieving Your Goals

I recently read an article, written by Tamara E. Holmes, published in this month's issue of Black Enterprise magazine (www.BlackEnterprise.com). The article dealt with attitude enhancement and attaining goals, and discussed the importance of accountability to goal reaching. And that got me to thinking...

In the Internet marketing and online business industry, we often discuss goal setting. Most often, there's a great deal of emphasis placed on identifying, planning and striving for goals, but honestly, we're often a bit weak when it comes to the discussion of accountability.

In the Black Enterprise article, an entrepreneur discussed her sense of freedom when opening her own business; not having the burden of answering to anyone else, and the relief that “there was no one forcing” her to keep her business open (just in case things weren't working out). However, she soon realized after overhearing an employee's conversation that the success or failure of her business not only affected her, but those she employed. That realization made her view her entrepreneurial venture a bit differently, and forced a less cavalier attitude about what she was doing. She came “face to face” with Accountability.

I think often times online entrepreneurs feel much as the above-mentioned entrepreneur did in the beginning of her journey. Most often we are “one man/woman shows”, so there is a common perception that “if this doesn't work out, oh well, I'll just go on to something else.”

What we're really saying though, is that we don't want to be accountable for attaining the goals we've set for ourselves. And, if we're not accountable, then we can say things like "It's the economy"..."It's the soft market"..."I didn't have a fair opportunity"..."My competition has an unfair advantage"..."We're just too small to compete"...or offer any number of other excuses for failing to reach the goals we've set for our success and the success of our businesses.

So what does it mean to be accountable?

Again from the article in Black Enterprise, life coach and founder of Whole Life Coaching (http://www.wholelifecoaching.us/), Thornton Prayer promotes the SMART system for goal setting. According to Prayer, goals should be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-based. In other words, you have to see your goals very clearly and in detail. If you work in non-specific generalities, chances are very good that you'll never be able to accomplish what you seek. And not only that, others will fail to take you seriously, most notably because you won't appear to be serious yourself, about what it is you're doing or attempting to accomplish.

We all want to be successful in our endeavors, but don't ever be fooled. Success takes work. And part of that work is setting goals, and then ensuring that you do what it takes to attain them.

Formulate your goals, develop a plan for achieving them, then track your progress.

For more information and help with goal setting, I suggest you check out this tool for Goal Setting.

Toodles.

Internet Marketing Tips - Business Networking - Spiderman's Not The Only One Building Webs

Business Networking is crucial to the success of your business. Building a foundational web of contacts, support and resources can be the difference between success and moderate success, or success and failure.

If you are new to online business, Internet marketing, or the business of doing business, you may not be as familiar as you should be with business networking. Let's discuss this very important aspect of doing business, especially as it relates to business online.

The term business networking refers to the practice of people spreading knowledge of their business, products, and services to others in a manner that leaves a good impression, lets people recall you and your business, and encourages the formation of strategic alliances. It is a process of meeting and familiarizing yourself with others, and building relationships that are important to the success and profitability of your business.

Most Internet marketers and entrepreneurs quickly come to realize that in order to grow their businesses, they needed to engage in business networking for all of the same reasons offline businesses do – sharing services, forming partnerships to help promote one another, building sources of support, and expanding their reach and resources. This is really the crux of business networking, to form alliances which translate to mutually beneficial relationships.

Even though some entrepreneurs have years of business and professional experience offline, for whatever reason, they often ignore the practice of networking when becoming engaged in online business. This may be due to their unfamiliarity or inexperience with the Internet, where they may not immediately grasp its fundamental principle. After all, the Internet is networking; the ultimate means of sharing of information.

Business Networking is an activity. Its purpose is to find and build upon connections and relationships that will benefit you and your business. Period. It requires the active participation of the parties involved, and it includes connecting with other people who may be your peers, potential mentors, individuals who have similar business interests, or people who have other things in common with you.

You will likely discover various benefits of networking. These may include new sources of support, added business knowledge, and increased financial resources, however, always be clear in your understanding that the end goal of your networking is to find what benefits you and helps you to succeed.

There are numerous business networks in existence, both online and offline, where members may share special privileges and benefits. For example, a network may encourage members to share or exchange services among one another within the network for reduced fees, in comparison to what is available to outsiders.

Some networks are more formal than others, sometimes having administrators who coordinate activities and events within the organization, enforce governing bylaws of the membership, or collect membership fees annually. Other networks may not actually conduct business within themselves, but serve to gather people of like interests and bring them together. Meet-up.com is one such business network, and allows its online members who share the same interests and location to actually meet face to face.

Now that we know what networking is and some of its benefits, let's take a look at networking online, beginning with a quick glance at social networking.

Social Networking - The last two years have seen a substantial rise of social network activity and the growth of related sites such as YouTube, Facebook and MySpace among others. Since its purchase by Google, YouTube, has continued to become an immensely popular success story. The site allows amateurs, with little knowledge of the web and no software to download to facilitate participation, and literally anyone with a camcorder or camera/video phone to upload personal videos online and make an impression.

YouTube started as a place for friends and families to share videos, but with time, businesses and entrepreneurs began to see the importance of using YouTube to facilitate marketing and business networking. At the close of whatever type of video, publishers simply embed links or other contact information for their businesses or websites. With the immense volume of traffic to YouTube, this has developed into an extremely effective tactic. Social network sites exemplify the concept of viral marketing at its best.

Let’s look at another example.

Facebook is another hugely popular site where friends can share interests, information, sell goods and services to each other, upload photos and videos and even join existing networks. Businesses which join Facebook, enter a world of virtually limitless opportunities and potential leads. As a result of their activities, members can experience a phenomenal surge in traffic to their websites or businesses.

The most important thing to remember about the advantages of online networking is that you can position yourself and your business to benefit from worldwide contacts and relationships, the potential of which is immensely greater than that to which you may otherwise be exposed. And the results of those connections can develop exponentially within short periods of time.

One last thing. In dealing with online networking (where you may rarely have the opportunity of meeting your partners face-to-face), it is especially important to focus on three fundamentals of good business: professionalism, courtesy and great customer service.

Excellent customer service skills can mean the difference in whether or not your business is recommended or selected for a contract or project. It also leaves a lasting impression on the people with whom you come into contact, helping them to remember you. With numerous online sites and portals, many businesses are engaged in competition with one another, and what may very well be a distinguishing factor is customer service and courtesy.

A few tips for business networking:

1.Create a Website-If your main business is offline, create an online presence with a website featuring an easy means of contacting you. Most offline businesses have now realized the advantages of having an online presence. A very large proportion of business is now conducted online and people usually go online to research a company before they conduct any business with it. These days, without a business website, it is impossible to fully tap into the benefits of business networking.

2.Business Cards-It may seem an archaic concept, but business networking, even for online businesses, should not be confined to the Internet. In order to succeed in networking, a business representative should have business cards as part of their marketing plan, which contain the basic elements of the business's contact information.

3.Be skilled in Customer Service - As stated earlier, customer service can make or break a company. With numerous businesses competitors, a crucial aspect is customer service.

4.Join Social Networks Online - We cited Facebook, YouTube, and My Space as excellent sites to join in order to generate exposure to your business, and there are of course many others including common interest groups and forums.

Business networking is of utmost necessity if you are to grow your business in this immensely competitive environment. In many ways, the Internet has leveled the playing field so that small business organizations can effectively compete among each another, and against larger entities. Use this to your advantage. Create your own immense business webs. Spiderman has nothing on you.

Internet Marketing Tips - A Recommendation For ListDotCom... Or Not.

Because I am a person who has had to be concerned about finding the least expensive ways of building online businesses, and because I've always been interested in passing along information on effective resources at little or no cost, I'm always on the lookout for what really works.

There are a number of websites, products and services that claim to help new marketers with business building. One of those is Mike Filsaime's ListDotCom.

In a nutshell, ListDotCom is a giant email list for marketers who have not yet built lists of their own or have had difficulty in building a substantial list. ListDotCom provides a means for having a list to whom products and services may be marketed.

Advertising to the members of ListDotCom is free or nearly free. In return, all members agree to be included on its email list to receive messages and offers from other members. A good deal for all concerned right?

I have been a member of ListDotCom for about a year, having received it as a bonus for purchasing a particular product. But in the last couple months, I have seriously considered unsubscribing. One reason is that the messages just aren't of interest to me. The majority seem geared toward new and less experienced marketers. Another reason for considering unsubscribing is that the volume of email I now receive from List.com has greatly increased recently. With each new day, I'm receiving more and more sales messages, and rather than offering information or services and products I might really be interested in, they just seem increasingly "spammy".

From a marketer's perspective, I also think that the list is losing its effectiveness for anyone using it to distribute their promotional messages. Because ListDotCom is hell-bent on branding itself, all of the messages it sends are branded with ListDotCcom's name. So, when the recipient of any of the email messages from ListDotCom views the message's "sender", it is always shown as ListDotCom (rather than the individual sender). While that's a great for ListDotCom's branding (otherwise, why would they do it), it certainly creates a bit of a disadvantage for the marketer actually sending the message.

The reason? When I open my email box and see that two-thirds of my messages are from ListDotCom, I tend to indiscriminately hit the "delete" button. And the thing is, I may very well be missing a message that I would otherwise be interested in, but because it's another "ListDotCom message" I'm much more inclined to delete it without ever reading it.

So, if you're an entrepreneur looking for ways to get your message out to a larger audience, is ListDotCom worth your time and effort? On one hand the answer may be "yes". It's a legitimate list and I think a responsive one, much more preferable to using safelists (which have not worked for anyone I know) or huge email blasts. However, due to the current level of messages they're distributing, it's likely that the responsiveness from ListDotCom's list may soon be compromised because people won't be opening the messages.

If you're using ListDotCom, you should only be doing so as a temporary measure, while you diligently work to build your own list. In the long run, that's what's to your best advantage.