How to improve your online business

Website Promotion - 6 of the Best Tips to Article Writing by Phileas Blogg

2006-08-06T17:04:00.000-07:00

Write an article and promote your business!

It is widely considered that writing articles is perhaps THE most important weapon in your armory when it comes to promoting your website.

It is true that editors of online magazines are always looking for fresh content to include in their publications. These publications are widely read and passed around on the web.

Now imagine if your company's website address was attached to these publications! Imagine the potential readership that you could gain from writing an article! Think about the interest that your article could generate in you and your company!

Nice thoughts eh? Well, you are also probably thinking "ok, yep great idea....but what am i going to write about??!" or "how the Shakespeare am i going to do that?!" and "who the Donald duck is gonna read my article?!" All very good questions.

Well, my aim is to guide you along step-by-step with these 6 essential tips so you too can write successful articles, know where to submit them, and point out the traps you don't want to fall in to.

1) What to write about. This is in fact much easier than you might think. There are ezines that address a whole host of subjects including; business, health & fitness, cancer, home & family, legal, writing & speaking, computers, travel & leisure, art & entertainment, sports, leisure......and the list goes on. So you get the idea. You can write about subjects and expertise specific to your industry or you can write about your hobbies, experiences, interests or whatever catches your imagination. You can even write an article on how to write articles!

When your article is posted, the publisher agrees to include a self penned bio of the author. This is where you can write about yourself and include a link to your website!

2) How long should my article be? Most article directories have certain requirements when it comes to article length. Generally they will advise you on the submission page of all the criteria you should meet. So be aware of these requirements. It is widely considered that an article should be anywhere from 500 to 1000 words long. Don't get carried away and write something comparable to War and Peace! Remember that people want quality info wrapped up in chicken nugget size portions, not a five course drawn out bore-fest!

So, moving on quickly!

3) Do not use the article to blatantly write an advertisement for your business. This kind of article won't make it past first base with the editors. This means that including a link to your site in the main body of the text is also one to avoid. Publishers are looking for a quality piece that their readers will find informative and interesting.

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4) You will get your chance to promote yourself and your business in the resource box. This is typically located just after the main text box on the submission page. This space is yours to write an 'about the author' promo which can include a link to your site. Some directories will let you post two or three URL's, again you will be advised by each directory. So you can see that this is of major benefit to you because not only does this create a backlink to your site (good for search engine rankings) but you are also increasing your chances of receiving quality, targeted traffic to your site. This is why article writing has become THE essential marketing tool.

Below is the text that i use in my resource box to give you some idea about what to write.

About the author : Rich Boulter, an English born traveler turned teacher, lived and worked in Istanbul and Barcelona for several years teaching English. Now residing in The United States, he owns a successful online fashion boutique with his wife, which showcases nature inspired fashion items that they have discovered on their travels around the world. http://www.naturebydezign.com He is also the author of two related blogs http://www.phileasblogg.blogspot.com and http://www.naturebydezign.blogspot.com
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5) How shall i write my article? Another great aspect of article writing is that it can take many forms which gives you options when it comes to presentation. 6 successful formats include :

The List. People love lists. 'Top 10 ways to become a millionaire' or '12 tips to whiter teeth!' and '7 wonderful ways to poach an egg!' The list is the easiest and arguably the most effective format to choose. Simply write a short introduction outlining the general theme of your article and then begin your numbered list. People love to rank things which is why the list seems to work so well. Don't forget to include the number in the title of your article too.
The How-to guide. These are extremely popular too because they offer a step-by-step process to follow which leads the reader to an ultimate goal. This is the perfect format to employ if you are describing how to build something, for example.
The Interview. Select a credible expert in your chosen field and interview them. Face-to-face, by telephone, or via email. Then present your interview in a Q&A format within your article.
The latest trend. A social trend, a new product, foreign trends. Basically, give your take and public opinion of the latest 'thing' to hit. Write it in the style of a review.
The case study. Provoke interest with a leading question and then write a thorough article which considers all the angles of the question, using real life cases as examples. For example 'At what stage of my pregnancy should i stop smoking?'
The interpretation. Outline your interpretation of a particular survey, stat, or public finding. Write a report on it, backing your views up with proof in the form of figures, graphs etc.

6) Finally, you will need to know where to submit your article. Do not fall into the trap of trying to rush the whole process. There are online companies which do offer a 'supersonic submission service - a gazillion submissions in under 10 seconds guaranteed!' I would tend to avoid these automated submission programs because an abnormal link boost of these proportions is an instant red flag to search engines. Search engines which if what we are led to believe is true, prefer a finer cultivation of your links. So, below i am listing 5 principal article directories which you can manually submit to for FREE, with a brief review of each :

Article Feeder - Straight forward enough to follow. They do ask for HTML code for links in the resource box so be aware of that. Articles will be reviewed and those that are successful published in 24hr.
ezau.com - Ask you to submit your article as a .txt document, which means writing it and saving it in word pad. Then hit the browse button and select your document. Very easy. Again, review process applies.
isnare.com - Allows 3 URL's in the 'about author' resource box. Sends approval once your article has been approved. Says this will take 3-4 days, but warns that it could take longer.
ezine @articles - Easy to follow, easy to submit (even has audio aids to guide you through) 2-7 days review time of articles. Faster submission times for platinum members (gained when you have successfully submitted 10 articles) Features multiple author tools, including : article promotion, author ranking, article feedback, press release submission, and many more.
article city - Super-easy to submit article. Do not have to sign up for membership to submit. 15-30 days review time. No HTML code allowed at all in body of article except URL's linking to necessary sites.

So you can see that different directories have their different submission criteria. The whole process is straight forward enough and although it can be a little time consuming the benefits of a well written and informative article can be very rewarding indeed.

Making Sense of Google Adsense

2006-08-05T11:24:00.000-07:00

What is google adsense?

According to google their adsense program is " the program that can give you advertising revenue from each page on your website with a minimal investment in time and no additional resources "

Basically, you can easily place ads linking to other sites on your pages and get paid everytime someone clicks on them. The format, size, and color scheme of the ads can be determined by you and placed exactly where you want them on your site. So you don't have to worry too much about the ads being too obtrusive to your site layout.

The theme of the ads are determined by Google. They will automatically assess which ads will be suited to your site according to theme. For example, my site is a fashion boutique which primarily showcases handbags, and sterling silver jewelry. Therefore, Google mostly generated ads around these categories, depending on page content.

How the payments are calculated are not exactly specified by Google but you can keep an eye on the progress of specific ads, which allows you to grade the success of each ad. For example, you might want to place an ad at the foot of your home page and also in the sidebar of another page. By allocating a channel name for each ad you can record their earnings. So you can clearly see which ads are working for you and which locations aren't working so well. This is a helpful aid for you to determine the hot spots on your site.

The creation of the ads is an easy to follow process, which ultimately requires some HTML code to be pasted into your site. The Google adsense setup process generates this code for you. So again, no worries if you find the idea of posting the ads a little daunting.

Getting the most from your Google ads is the key. Your goal is to make some extra money from the advertising space on your site. And you will only get paid if people click on the ads so why not try to optimize the performance of your ads?!

Here are some great tips on optimizing your Google Adsense ads

1. Stick to one format of ad. It is widely considered that the format that works well for most people is the 336x280 large rectangle. Google offers plenty of format options but this is the one that seems to have the most success. This is the one that people are used to seeing, and more importantly used to clicking on. So don't fix it if its not broken, right!

2. Customize the appearance of the ads to gel with the color scheme of your site. You can easily do this while setting up the ads by changing the background, border, and text colors to suit you. Make them blend with the overall scheme of your site. Again, this has the best proven track record for a higher click through rate (CTR)

3. Put your ads in viewable locations! Don't try to hide them. They are not something to be ashamed of! The idea is that you want people to click them, and they can only do that if they can see them. Do not worry about losing potential customers. They visited your site in the first place, so they will go back to you. So take your ads and place them in areas that people view. Put them at the top, put them below your menu, put them on the page where people can see them!

4. Track the ad's progress. Apply a channel name to your ad when setting it up so you can see how successful it is in that particular location. Chart it's performance over time, and if it is not succeeding there then don't be afraid to re-locate it.

5. Try out all of Google's Adsense tools and find the ones that work for your site. Getting it right will generate an additional source of income. Imagine how welcome this would be if it financed your whole advertising budget for the year! Just click on the link below to take you to Google Adsense. The best thing is that you can always delete the ads if you decide that they are not for you, so why not give it a shot?!

Building your Web Site

2006-07-17T11:54:00.000-07:00

Taking Control of your Site

When we decided that we needed a website for our business, we initially looked into getting it done professionally. Apart from the fees, the glaring drawback for me was that i wouldn't be able to have the regular access i wanted to the site. I would have to constantly ask the webmaster to post new content and update images. I would have been working to his/her schedule and was afraid that the finished article wasn't going to be exactly what i had hoped for.

So an easy solution to this was to build the web site myself! That way i could have full control of what and when i could post new content.

I knew that web site programming software could be expensive. And did i really have the time to teach myself the necessary programming skills?! errr....NO!

So when i chanced on a web site which seemed to be offering a product that could help me i decided to take up their 10 day risk-free trial.

There are different options that are on offer for varying needs. We required a web site with shopping cart facility.

Anyway, after just a few hours of messing around with their tools i knew this was what i had been looking for. It was perfect for someone with a limited knowledge of web site management. The easy-to-follow instructions make it an enjoyable process to literally build your own web site. You have maximum input into the site design, color scheme, graphics, and layout. You are working with templates which you just have to add your own text and images to.

The thing i love about this tool is that i can access my site whenever i like and edit my site in any way i like. There is also a helpful support team on hand to help you through any tricky parts. But if you can use a mouse and read then you won't have any problems with this software package! It really is that simple, and they are continually adding more features to improve on their product and service.

Anyways, if you are looking into building your own web site you should really go check them out for yourself. The following link will take you straight to the design page where you can literally pick yourself out a template and start designing risk free for a 10 day trial period! : build your own website!

And if you want to check out my site to see what this software is capable of then just go to nature by dezign

Banner Ads

2006-06-12T15:46:00.000-07:00

For my next marketing campaign, and believe me it is starting to become a pain! I have decided to test out the effectiveness of banner ad exchanges. This is where you approach a web site, usually of a similar theme to yours, and ask them if they would like to exchange links or in this case a banner ad.

A vital ingredient to this process is of course the banner ad. (see above for my chosen ad) I went for this one because i think its pretty eye-catching! and it says oooooh, pretty swirly colors, click me, click me.

You can either pay a company to "design" your banner ad, or like me you can do it yourself and not pay! The not paying option suited me and my marketing budget!

Then search around for web sites that you would like to exchange with. Criteria for this can differ, but if you can get a web site that.......

appeals to you
is related in theme to yours
IS HIGHLY RANKED ON THE SEARCH ENGINES

then this will be beneficial. Go ahead and post something of theirs on your site, in the form of a text link or usually there will be HTML code on their site which you can copy and paste straight on to your site. The HTML code will relate to a link or banner ad.

Then email your new link partner notifying them of the web page address (URL) where they can find their link and then outline what you would like posted on their site.

Info to provide usually takes the form of the following :

Title : Nature by Dezign

http://www.naturebydezign.com

Description : Unique fashion accessories boutique and gifts. Unique real flower handbags, bamboo design pocketbooks & handcrafted, sterling silver 925 shell jewelry. Free chain with purchase of certain sets and pendants!

And that is more or less it.

You will hear from someone either telling you politely that they are not interested, or saying hey! sure exchange buddy, lets do some exchanging! Not everyone you approach will want to exchange links or banners for whatever reason. But from those where you do get a listing you will benefit two-fold by a) getting your name out there somewhere else, and b) increasing the number of linkbacks to your site, which in turn will move you on up in the search engine rankings!

So give the banner a click and see where it takes you! I have just started my link exchange program so i am keen to see how it works. Emailing can take time but link exchanging should be an integral part of your web site marketing plan.

I will keep you posted of the results.

cheers, Phileas

www.naturebydezign.com

Getting your name up in lights!

2006-05-27T16:41:00.000-07:00

Of course it would be nice to have your company name beamed out nightly to 80,000 people at a U2 concert! Unfortunately i am not on first name terms with Bono so i cannot foresee that happening any time soon.

To capture that kind of public attention doesn't come easy and certainly doesn't come cheap.

I have found that a good source of web site traffic can be found through eBay. That's right, the very same place where you can find all kinds of items ranging from cars, boats, antiques, and high end designer clothing. Descending right down to the ridiculous end of the scale of toe nail clippings, old vegetables shaped like Jay Leno, and x-rays of aliens living in a duck! no kidding!

The key is that most people have heard about eBay and for a reasonable fee you can list an item and also incorporate a link to your web site.

I list one of our real flower handbags on there every 10 days for a fee of just under $2.00 , and you don't have to spend as much as that if you don't want to. The current posting has been on there for a little over 2 days and i have had 30 people looking at that item. I make noticeable references to our web site within this listing so the hope is that the person will then feel like checking out our web site and other products. And if they bid on your item then that is obviously good as well!

On our web site i am able to see where the flow of traffic is originating from and the number of people that are linking through eBay is a high percentage of the total. I would definitely recommend this as a low-budget online marketing tool which can generate a steady stream of new traffic.

I hope this is of use, and good luck.

Cheers, Phileas.

Big Time Advertising!

2006-05-24T08:44:00.000-07:00

How is the campaign going?

Well, i started this journey under no illusions that finding 80 ways to market my online business was going to be anything but a tad difficult.

And of course it is proving to be just that.

I am finding that my slimline budget is my main barrier, and it is a budget that is getting slimmer and slimmer.

Our business hasn't got the financial resources to throw at a crack-shot marketing team. So a billboard in Times Square isnt about to happen any time soon!

With our web site i am able to log our traffic. So i can see exactly how many people view the site on a daily basis. These figures are complied into weekly totals, and then on to monthly totals.

The web site is still very new and it has only recently been submitted to the search engines so of course the hits that we have been getting are few and far between, and i can probably attribute those to myself, my mum, and a few friends!

Saying that, we did have an increase in figures shortly after we attended a show in Florida. We were able to hand out business cards and literature so we had the follow up from that you would expect.

Looking at the stats today (they are illustrated in bar graph format) i was amazed to see that yesterday's figures were unusually high! and i mean UNUSUAL. And i mean SKY HIGH!

Now i know that i hadn't arranged for that Times Square Ad just yet!

Yesterday's bar graph figures were in stark comparison to anything we had previously experienced. If you think Empire State Building (that was yesterday) and compare it to the rest of the week's standings (think chiwawa dog house !) then it gives you some idea of the size difference i am talking about.

I am busy trying to work out where the extra traffic came from and obviously want to encourage this extra flow. Once i pinpoint the source i will share it with you. Maybe some of the things i am doing are beginning to pay off! we'll see.

Cheers, Phileas

First Steps (Coupons)

2006-05-14T08:14:00.000-07:00

Everyone likes saving money, and I am no exception. I get drawn to the big red signs in the mall too........

the "buy one, get one 50% off!" signs,
the "buy 5, get the 6th absolutely FREE" promotion,
the "60% SUMMER SAVINGS BONANZA*" (only applies to certain items) ie. the real nasty looking clothes that are just unsellable.

Yes, there always seems to be some kind of sale going on....... a Spring Sale, a Summer Sale, a Fall Sale, a Winter Sale.....a between season sale, a random 2nd Tuesday of the month sale, a CLOSING DOWN sale (I know of a store at home that seems to have been "closing down" for years! It seems the first day they opened they had a closing down sale sign in the window. The closing down business must be doing well!

I personally like those coupons that you can find in supermarkets or local newspapers, where you can save a certain amount on products, depending on the type of coupon. From the point of view of a business owner, coupons are a great way to offer discounts and savings at any time of the year, to push a particular product, or to simply promote your business.

This led me to wondering how you know if a certain store is running a promotional coupon at any particular time. So I put a search in for "coupon codes" and was surprised to find quite a few web sites that actually publish the coupon codes for different stores.

Looking at these web sites it is apparent that it is many of the larger chain stores offering coupon codes that get published. However, there are online forms that you can fill out to notify these web sites of any promotional codes that you know about. So I submitted a trial coupon code for our online business. As mother's day was looming here in the U.S i decided to offer a 10% discount on all online purchases valid until May 15th 2006. This didn't give sufficient time for the offer to get established to be honest as I posted it just a few days prior to mother's day but I will use this resource again in the future and log all the increased traffic/sales that accrue due to this marketing strategy. As I say there were quite a few of these web sites listed, the ones I looked at were :

Even if you don't find these web sites useful to post your coupon offers for your own web site they are worth checking out because you may benefit from the extensive list of coupons they actually have!

Remember to check out the web site www.naturebydezign.com and i will keep you posted on any future coupon promotions that we will be running there!

cheers, Phileas

Introduction

2006-05-11T12:51:00.000-07:00

This is my first entry of my new web log so I will explain what it is all about.........

I am going to use this blog as a record of my progress navigating the world wide web for ways in which to improve mine and my wife's business.

Sounds simple doesn't it?

Well as i've chosen Phileas Blogg as my user name and i'm going with the whole Phileas Fogg/Jules Verne Around the World in 80 Days theme then i've inadvertently given myself the not so easy task of finding 80 ways to improve our business by navigating the world wide web!

Doesn't sound so simple anymore! Note the look of sheer panic on image to the left!!

80 days! 80 ways! 80! I mean, why did it take so long?! Hadn't they heard of British Airways back in 1872!!

Anyway, I have decided to do this because our business is a start-up business and i am constantly seeking ways in which to improve it and at the same time it would be a good idea to record these ideas and post the results (positive or negative!) online. I want to concentrate on the marketing side of things because this is the area in which we need a welcome boost. Hopefully this will help others trying to do the same thing because lets face it, trying to make a success of a small business is no easy thing.

So, fingers, toes, and everything else crossed that we get to 80 posts, because if we do then i am sure that from those 80 ideas at least some of them have to be beneficial.

Like Phileas Fogg, i am from England but unfortunately for me the whole English talking gecko gig has already been thought of, and our husband and wife business (my wife is American) hasn't quite got the financial reserves that geico have!

So i will be looking into ways on how to promote our online presence and improve sales by working on a limited budget, which of course means we can't hire the gecko! I will record all of these promotional ideas in this blog and post the results for each, represented in traffic and sales.

Which leads me neatly to signing off for my first entry by beginning the promotion of our online business!

Our business is called Nature by Dezign and you can view our web site at www.naturebydezign.com

We sell unique floral handbags made with REAL pressed tropical flowers, bamboo design fashion bags, and a beautiful collection of handcrafted sterling silver jewelry inlaid with different types of sea shell.

So, go check it out and let me know what you think!

www.naturebydezign.com

cheers, Phileas Blogg.