Monthly Archives // December 2008

General

31 Aug 08

Tomorrow Work Starts On Design!!

I’m Excited as so far all the income I make online has nothing to do with blogging.

Well, I am now going to start this blog up and to get it going I am getting a $2,500 Design!

Work starts on it tomorrow and I am told it can take up to 3 weeks (I hope to have it in two :P )

This means I won’t be posting until it is nice and shiny and ready, but please join my feed for when I power up and start sharing how to make money online.

I Trade The Stock Market

So a good Portfolio of Finances is not all in one basket, you need to spread your worth. The main places to spread are: Cash (Term Deposits), Real Estate, Stocks.

I Live in Europe but choose to trade the USA markets. right now I’m mainly in cash, as the market calls for that, a ressession is a good time to be in cash. The USA property market is on the decline still and don’t think it will bottom for another 9-18 months. Stocks are a risky game and finances are getting killled.

I will be posting my stock picks for those who are interested, but it is important to note  that I am not advising you to buy these stocks, I am not a broker, nor am i trained to give advice. This is simply stating what I have purcahsed and why. :)

Look out for the Finance Posts soon

More Online Viral Marketing Tips

I have been talking a lot about viral marketing…and the reason I am doing this is because it works! This a great way to expand the growth of your business without having to pay for advertising and spending the time to do it. You do this simply by offering your product or service for FREE along with your sales copy. Now the plan is that your product will be read and shared with friends and family…and they will share it with clients, prospects, visitors to your sites and those who have your product.

A good way to do this is with a trial or lite version of a software program. Everyone loves something for free, and getting a free software is really fun to get. When they have used it, see the benefits, they are going to want to share it with everyone they know. You want to make sure your customers know to share the software with anyone and everyone. If you need some help in developing some software…you can hire help at Elance.

Next, you should start using discussion boards. Set up a discussion board on your website, and post it up at the top by your banner ad. Then you want to encourage your readers to provide a link to this on their own websites.

What about Ebook’s? This is another great strategy that will make your viral marketing a success. You are going to give away your Ebook with the traffic that comes to your site. You want to advertise your best product line with a captivating full-color ad including your contact information. Remember…tell everyone who gets yourEbook to share it with their visitors and their contacts.

Article writing!

Write articles that coincide with your niche or product. In your byline, you will put your contact information along with your website. Then, give permission to anyone to publish your articles as long as they leave the byline in the article, and without changing it. Your articles will soon be in article directories such asEzine, in newsletters, on websites and anywhere else that can bring you attention to your site.

Another way to do this is through web hosting. Find a small business and make an offer to host their websites on your server for free. In return, you place your banner at the top of their site.

Another great marketing technique is using templates. You can create templates and give them away as a free download, which needs to include your own marketing information. Make them easy to pass along from your recipient to their contacts. You have a few techniques here to try out…see which one works out best for you. When you are using viral marketing techniques, it shouldn’t take long for you to start seeing some successful changes happening.

Check out this article at USA Today regarding Viral Marketing. You will see here why this is such a successful marketing tool. Also another great resource that I have found is the Online Marketing Blog.

General

19 Aug 08

What Is An RSS FEED?

How Do I Set Up An RSS Feed?

Have you seen this symbol? If you read blogs, or visit websites, I am sure you have. RSS represents REAL SIMPLE SYNDICATION or Rich Site Summary (they both mean the same thing), which is a way for you, if you have an interest, to get new information, news, and anything else regarding that topic without having to surf through pages and pages on the Internet.

An RSS page is generated in XML which you are not able to see, but can be seen by the RSS Readers or Aggregators.

How Does RSS Work and What are RSS Newsfeeds?

When you find a blog that you enjoy reading, or a website, they offer a “news feed” where you are able to get their information on a regular basis sent directly to your “News Reader”. This is totally free for you and will be displayed right in your web browser, desktop, or homepage.

If you have seen the stock tickers which are giving you information in real time, allowing you to see what the stocks are doing without going to a website for the a information; this is how the RSS Feed works, delivering the information to your computer as it happens.

Do You Need RSS?

Well, let’s look at the advantages of an RSS Feed and then you get to decide if you need it or not.
This saves your email inbox from getting unlimited newsletters,
You never need to go and get the information,
It is being sent to you without taking up valuable email storage space.

How much easier is it for you to have the newspaper delivered to your front door versus going to the store each morning to get it. This is virtually the same thing, you are having the news you are interested in delivered to you instead of you going out to find it.

An Example:

Let’s say you want to get as much information on viral marketing as that is what you are focusing on at the moment, you will take some time, search out some websites, and when you find something you like and want to stay up on, you simply click on the RSS, and this information will be delivered to you as it comes available. The other way would be to bookmark the page, then go to it every day to see if there is anything new you would be interested in. You will have to wade through all the unwanted information to find what you are looking for. Look how much time and energy you save when you use the RSS Feed option.

How Will RSS Work For You?

There are so many ways this can work for you, there is no one answer. I am going to give you a simple answer allowing you to get RSS Feeds the easiest way possible. Remember however, this is not your only option, just a simple one.

The easiest way is to have it sent to your homepage of your browser.

For instance, I use Google’s homepage and I have RSS Feeds sent directly to my homepage that I have set up for that particular genre of information.

Because I am a writer, I have a page dedicated to writing helps, topics, articles, and I have all of these sent to that home page via RSS. Now, if you have an RSS newsreader (aggregator), you can have it sent there as well. I actually use both. I have my Google Reader where I have RSS Feeds sent to that I don’t read on a regular basis. The more crucial information is sent to my homepage.

If you are wondering about whether you have a newsreader or not, I would guess that you do and not even know it. If you have Yahoo, MSN, Google or Hotmail, you have a reader. Let me help you set one up…We will use MSN as our example.

  1. Go to My.Msn.com and sign in. If you don’t have an account on one of these browsers I have mentioned, set up an account now. You can do this with Yahoo, Google, or MSN in a matter of minutes.
  2. Once you have signed in,you will see information such as weather, news, sports, stocks, local information and ads. This is your selection page, you can move things around, add or delete, making it tailored to your needs and interests. It is simple to move them, just click and drag from the top right of the subject area, moving them, using the minus (-) symbol in the top left area. If you delete one by accident, no worries, you can add them back anytime.
  3. Now in the top left area of the screen, you will see “Welcome”. You are going to add this content below your name, with four choices (Tabs) to assist you. The “Search” tab is the default tab, and from that point you will see your four options. If you know the web address (URL) for a sites newsfeed, enter it there. The three tabs remaining let you browse by subjects and names of companies. You just click on the box that you want.
  4. With Yahoo, you will notice that there are already some news feeds available listed as “Top Stories” from Reuters, along with “Politics”, “World News”, and “Business”. You will notice a big yellow box in the center above these stories giving you clear instructions on how to”Add Content”.
  5. Next you will click on the “Add Content” link bringing up a search box which allows you to “search content” about your subject or topic.
  6. Type in your search phrase, search, and you will be presented an array o results. When you see something that you like, click “Add” next to it. Once you have made your selections, click “Finished” up on the top right of the page.

Now you have added RSS Newsfeeds to your MSN or Yahoo homepage.

As you scroll down your “My Yahoo” page, you will see the headlines you have just added. You can rearrange them in the order you want. If you decide you don’t want a particular fee any longer, then simply delete it.

How Do You Customize Your Own RSS?

You may know a particular RSS Feed you would like and don’t need to “find” it. This is very simple to do. On most pages you will see a small orange box that says XML, News Feeds, or RSS Feed. You then click on that button, and a set of instructions will come up on that page. You will be given an option to choose that Feed to appear in your Aggregator or your homepage. There are some that allow you copy and paste the “news feed URL” and paste it into your news reader.

If you are worried about the code, don’t be, you are just looking at the “feed code” which is the specific URL of the news feed.

This is such a great and convenient way to get the news updated and on a regular basis. My favorite reader is Google Reader, it is so simple to use and navigate.

Below are the Top 7 RSS Readers in order
1.RssReader
2.SharpReader
3.Pluck RSS Reader
4.NewsGator
5.FeedDemon
6.FeedBucket
7.NetNewsWire (Mac OS-X only)

Here are the Top 7 Web RSS Feeds/Aggregators (these require a personal account)

1.Google
2.My.Yahoo
3.NewsGator Online
4.Feedster
5.Bloglines
6.My.MSN
7.My.AOL

Is Outsourcing Right For Your Business?

Let’s Talk About Outsourcing…

One of the biggest blessings to SEO is the ability to Outsource from doing everything yourself. You may be a one person business or a small company, either way, you can greatly increase the growth of your business. You can obtain many of these services through specialized websites. Some of the tasks you may want to outsource are;

  1. Directory submission
  2. Link building
  3. Search engine Optimization
  4. Writing content for websites
  5. Article writing
  6. Keyword analysis
  7. Competitive research
  8. Website analysis

You will find that outsourcing will provide many benefits, leaving you more time to work on the things you enjoy and do best. Also, outsourcing allows you to put your focus on the business end of things rather than the many little things that take up so much of your time.

As you know, Time is something that seems to slip away from us so quickly. We as Internet Marketers have had to learn how to budget our time wisely since we are working on our own schedules without having to punch in a time clock.

There are many Internet Marketers who have been able to build great success by focusing on the important tasks of generating income. You will outsource different tasks, hopefully having them completed in a timely manner, making your business run smoothly.

When using SEO Outsourcing, you need to make sure you do it correctly, and there are some limitations, as there are with anything. You will find that you will have certain expectations, but in the real world, not everyone will meet those expectations. Plan for the bumps in the road, give yourself some time for ‘corrections’ or ‘do-overs’.

You will notice that SEO Outsourcing in on the rise which is due to the ongoing growth of Internet Marketing. More and more marketers and companies are outsourcing different jobs, and therefore, there are more specialty companies or persons who are offering their services online.

Once you find a great Outsourcing help, hang on to them, they will help your business grow and let you put your time where it’s really needed.

Someone I use for outsourcing and highly recommend is: Annette Jensen

Other options are: Guru, Elance and oDesk

More Viral Marketing Tools for you!

Here are some Viral Marketing Tools you need to see and take advantage of!

There are a number of Social Marketing networks and platforms for you to spread your name and get your brand out and known. As you know, we have been giving you some great tips on social marketing and how to use these great tools for your benefit. One to give notice to is Utterz which allows you to use your cell phone to post voice, videos, pictures and text mashups to your blogs at anytime, anywhere right from your cell phone. You can post to one site or all your sitesl at once. Utterz is free to use, does not require any special software for your cell phone, and can be done conveniently whether you are traveling, or just away from your computer.

Another one of the fastest growing communities is CafeMom. This is a site that was launched November, 2006, and has since become the most popular site for women. They have become famous for their photo-sharing, widgets, micro-blogging and more. If you are marketing for the female audience, this is a great place to be.

Here is a site to add to your viral marketing plan, it is coComment. This has been the leader of blog access and comment, aggregation, and tracking technology. They have provided a great hub enabling conversations online, ability to track and share comments anywhere on the Internet.

Get Your Marketing Going Quickly and Effectively!

Another stop on your travels online needs to be FaceySpacey, which is a leading Social Media Marketing and Development Company. They specialize in flash widgets, Facebook Aplications, social networking sites, Rich Internet Applications, YouTube-style sites, and yes, viral marketing! They started sites like OganicIncentive.com, ReelProperties.tv and so many more. FaceySpacey is the shopping mall for Social Media.

Another stop on your Social Media Marketing tour is KickApps and KickDeveloper. This is a great on-demand social media application which enables marketers and web site builders to monetize quickly and easily an online audience. This has a SaaS platform with user generated content, social-networking, viral widgets, and online video players.

Why Do We Use Viral Marketing?

Because it Works! Viral marketing can be done in many different ways, but when you decide to make the leap, it is best to pick on a particular strategy and focus on it. This will be the best way to get the results you are looking for. If you are using an article marketing strategy, you can turn some of your articles into an Ebook or report

Because you have already put the articles together, it won’t take a lot of time to develop them into something that can bring in some traffic and sales for many years to come. You will gather your articles, compile them into a single document, and then maybe do some rebranding, make it look nice and appealing.

The key here is not to focus on the advertisements or the marketing components of your product, but to add value to the reader. This is about them, what they will be looking for. A popular technique used is adding a few products in your niche. You can include them as your own affiliate links, but consider cloaking them to make them less obvious.

When you are ready to distribute it, this can be done in one of many ways. If the publication you have put together is good quality, you may want to sell it. If you want to make it viral, you need to include reprint rights. You will get the sales from the product as well as having it spread around.

Now, if you really want it to go viral, then you should give it away for free and encourage others to do the same thing, with the provisions that nothing is changed in any way whatsoever. This way you can advertise your giveaway in emails and forums. Another place that is often forgotten is on the download page of any similar products that you sell. Everybody loves bonuses, and the unadvertised bonuses are even better, and when it is on the download page, it becomes a part of the actual order, and then most readers will download it.

When it comes to cost, viral marketing is considerably less expensive than traditional advertising. Remember that viral marketing is only one component of your marketing strategy. You need link it with other strategies like your opt-ins and setting up squeeze pages. This will all help to generate traffic to your site, developing a solid customer base and increasing your sales.

General

08 Aug 08

You WANT To Be An Online Marketer!

If you are just getting into the online marketing business, there are a lot of ways to start your journey. I am not going to tell you that the road is easy, the road is actually a bit bumpy…but it is also a lot of fun and very exciting. The first thing you are going to learn is the importance of research. Research will be the key to your success. Find out what you are interested in…what appeals to you. Are you interested in creating your own products, or maybe you like the idea of selling products for others for a commission, such as Clickbank products?

You will find a lot of options and even more hype. This is why it is so important to do your research. There are many who just start on the journey, and that is where the bumpy ride begins, so you can save a great deal of that by knowing how you are going to do this. So, do your research.

If you don’t have a product of your own, then you can sell information products that belong to other people. But before you do this, test the product. Don’t sell something that you haven not personally tested. Think of it this way…if you are going to buy a product, who would you buy the product from…Seller A who knows nothing about the product, or seller B who has firsthand experience with the product and can share his own experience and success with the product? Well, you know the answer…so test the product before you sell it.

Be honest with your customers, let them know that you are someone they can trust and that you have integrity. Integrity seems to be something that is indeed lacking in the Internet Marketing business. If you are honest in the way you portray yourself and your products, then you will have return customers and referrals. This is a key to viral marketing, your reputation will follow you for a very long time….so protect it.

Let’s talk a minute about Email

Email is wonderful! Or IS it? Email comes in many shapes and sizes, and it is sent and received instantly. Email comes in HTML, plain text, and even “rich media”. Email can be a major tool to marketing online. You can use it for advertising, newsletters, and to reach business contacts as well as friends. But as does everything, it has a flip-side. This flip-side would be SPAM. No one likes that four letter word. Sadly to say, spam is a form of email marketing, if you think about it in technical terms. For you however, the legitimate email marketer, it poses as a threat.

Not everybody has the same definition of spam, but typically, it is email from a source you did not request the information from. There are dangers of sending spam, one being the legal consequences, but another very important consequence that is often overlooked is the credibility of the sender. There has been companies that have had their credibility ruined just by sending out spam. So, before you become a “spammer”, know the consequences and the risks you are taking, it could mean “the end”.

Note: You need to be targeting a list of members that have opted in for information from you and are in your niche. They need to be able to opt out at any time too. We have provided a solution called: ViralUrl where you can build an optin list and even instantly have a list of 3,000 by upgrading to Gold. You never have to worry about spam with our program. Check it out.

Setup Aweber To Work With Feedburner

I have had people ask me how you setup Aweber with Feedburner, so I decided to write a Step-by-Step post on how to do it but first lets quickly review why you should do it:

Why Use Aweber with Feedburner:

* Scheduling - Aweber allows you to choose the time and how often (day, week, month) to send out your blog broadcasts
* Designs - You can design your template for your blog broadcasts
* Post Count - You can setup how many new posts before it sends an email with a link to all the posts
* Build a List - You can email your newly established and growing list about anything at any time
* Can-Spam Compliant - There is a link in every email for a subscriber to be removed, fast & easy, so good for your readers
* Now Counts Towards Feedburner Count - Better Than RSS subscribers as it counts them every day, even if they delete the email without reading it. Having a high feed count is very good for getting advertisers, growing your blog and of course increasing your blogs value!

How To Set It Up:

It really is quite simple once you know what you are doing, but to save you some time, here is a step-by-step on how to get Aweber configured to handle your email blog subscriptions and reflect in your Feedburner counter.

First: you need to have an Aweber account, so if you don’t you should open one up. The cost is $19.95 per month.

Second: Create a new autoresponder for your blog:

Aweber1

Third: You click on ‘Messages’ then ‘Blog Broadcast’, from there you click ‘Create Blog Broadcast’:

Fourth: Fill out the form entering your feed, configuring your template and title. Here you also choose how many posts are made before it sends, I have mine set to 2. Also, click on ‘Automatically deliver’ so that it starts sending without you needing to log into Aweber and approve it first each time. (maybe leave it manual for the first few to get the design right):

Fifth: Save your settings then go to ‘List Settings’ and then click on ‘Web Form’. Setup a form and then confirm it. (maybe only use email if you don’t want first name. On my email feed I have first name configured too. Then update setting’s and click on ‘html’. Take the html and paste it into the site where you want to have your form:

Sixth: Your site is now ready to grow you a list with Aweber and communicate your subscribers stats via feedburner. The next thing to do is configure your thank you pages and also the personal email sent for the member to confirm.

To see how you can set it up, why not sign up to my email update service and see how I have done it.

Aweber - Every Marketers Best Friend!

BIG Call there but….

It’s true. You hear all the time, ‘the money is in the list’ and more recently Frank Kern stated in one of his Mass Control Videos, ‘The Money Is In The Relationship With Your List’. I subscribe to Mr. Kern’s thought process but in order to have a good relationship with your list, you first need to have a list.

Aweber is a List Builder and Autoresponder, for those who don’t know what Aweber does, it allows you to capture your prospects names, emails and anything else you might consider useful and then contact them at will.

With Aweber you can setup unlimited lists, Autoresponders and contact forms and send an unlimited number of messages for one low monthly fee. Aweber are also known for their amazingly high deliverable rates with full time staff working on keeping Aweber off the spam lists so that your email gets delivered.

Aweber Works With Feedburner:

I use Aweber with my sites and Niches and in fact have a couple of accounts with them. It just got even better though, because now Aweber offers the ability to integrate in with your blog, so no longer do you need to use Feedburner email subscription as Aweber now reports your numbers to feedburner and allows you to manage your own list and presentation of the newsletter. The benefits here are huge! If you have some vital information you want to get out to your subscribers, you can just login and send them an email, also for those that use the ‘rss counter’ widget provided by feedburner, your subscribers are now reported and show up on there!

This is a brand new function and I have just added it to my blog. At the moment, every time there are 2 posts made an email is sent out to my subscribers that subscribe to this blog by email, with the content of those posts, allowing my readers to never miss a post.

If you don’t yet have an Aweber account and are serious about making money online, I suggest you get one and start building a list from whatever niche you are targeting online

Get Your Account Now

To see the Blog broadcast function in action and to never miss another ‘content rich’ post on ViralKing Dot Com please:

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Disclaimer

This is my personal blog with my personal views. Non of the information posted on this blog is given as advise and results are not always typical. I may give views on my trading or purchase habits but it is not advice for you to do the same. All content is for Informational Purposes Only. Thank you for reading my blog.