So I’m checking around on my latest article Building Street Cred for Your Small Business and I have to say I was quite amused…sort of. I know that people steal stuff online…it just happens. I also know that people buy “so-called” private label rights articles and put them out as their own work just changing a word here or there. I personally can’t stand the thought of putting my name on something that I:

1) didn’t write and 2) don’t think is good

…but that’s an entirely different issue…

So for the first time I’ve run into a ridiculous hybrid. This blog “Or Capital On At” whatever that’s supposed to mean…and no I am certainly not going to link to them, has put up the following…

Building Street Cred for Your Small Business

“As a substance of principle, I never go to the first yearly anything.” - Saint George Carlin

As an entrepreneur, one of the toughest barriers you run into when first starting out is edifice your reputation. Whether you are in a service industry or merchandising your ain new merchandise line, how make you carry prospects to go clients? At times, it can look like an impossible task, but take heart, there are things you can do.

My first piece of advice for any new concern proprietor is usage the people you know! Whether it’s friends, family, past employers or neighbors, do certain everyone you cognize (and everyone they cognize for that matter) is in the cringle about your new concern venture. I would propose sending out an e-mail to everyone on your contacts listing giving them a dislocation of what you’re doing and asking them to go through it along to anyone they cognize who might be interested in your service or product. You’d be amazed how fast your contact listing can multiply by just asking the people you cognize to go through your information along. You can even include a particular Family and Friends offering or discount. Remember, it takes a batch of work and money to acquire your concern off the ground. Even if you only interrupt even or lose a spot of money on these sales, the portfolio and/or great mentions or testimonies you addition will be invaluable in the hereafter of your business!

Ok, so maybe you got a few gross gross sales or undertakings out of that and you have got a few solid mentions under your belt, now what? I would propose before you throw a clump of money into conventional advertisement that you take a small more than clip to really construct a first social class client list. I’ve establish one attack to tapping into a grouping of possible clients that is a small friendlier than your tally of the factory cold-calling assault. Range out to prospects that you already have got got something in common with or a connexion of any kind.

For example, when I began selling my web land site designing business, it was indispensable for me to have a solid portfolio before I could anticipate company’s who ran across me through conventional advertisement or hunt engines to swear me enough to set their company’s online mental image in my hands. So after contacting friends and household and completing a few undertakings for them, I took it a measure further.

I reached out to little concerns and enterprisers locally. By specifically approaching that group, I had at least two things in common with these new contacts: location and the battle of starting out. I establish this extremely effectual and made some great connexions by being completely honorable and unfastened with them about what I was doing and what I was hoping to accomplish. And of course, I always included information about how a website could assist them in their selling efforts.

Once I had pretty much exhausted those possibilities, I racked my encephalon for another grouping of prospects I could approach. I thought of what groupings of people I would have got some kind of natural resonance with and whom I would be fairly comfy contacting out of nowhere. For me, this mark marketplace came to mind on a Saturday afternoon while at a Equus caballus show. I grew up riding Equus caballuses and still bask my Equus caballus time! I then realized that there was a big per centum of barns I was familiar with that didn’t have got websites. So from there, I began contacting each and every barn that had an address, telephone figure or e-mail computer address listed! I got a nice amount of concern out of my attempts and managed to construct a solid portfolio to boot.

Starting out in the concern human race is always a challenge. When it come ups to little concern success, repute and mentions are key. Don’t acquire discouraged, just happen your ain grouping of “friendly” prospects and leap in!

Feel free to check out the real article here.

So is that what those software programs they sell that change articles enough so that they’re not identical to the other copies out there? It’s like Mad Libs on crack! Dear God, I’m glad my name isn’t on that! I also apologize to Saint George for even having his quote trashed…but hey, at least he gained sainthood!

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It just occurred to me that though I have written a lot on the topic of article marketing on my virtual assistant blog, I haven’t touched on it a lot over here. And since it is a website promotion service we offer, I might give a little background info. or the W’s (who, what, where and why) of article marketing.

As I see it, there can be many benefits to using articles to promote your site. Two always rise to the top of the list in my mind:

1. Well-written, informative articles can help establish you as an expert in your field.
2. In the all powerful eyes of Google, Yahoo and the rest of the bunch, links coming into your site from relevant sites are, if not the Holy Grail, pretty dang important! It’s basically the same as number one but with computers instead of people. The search engines see links to your site as recommendations or votes for your website. So the more links you have coming into your site from other sites that are in related fields, the higher your search engine rankings will eventually get.

So how does writing an article get other people to link to your site?

Well, for one, always display your article on your own website or blog. When people run across it or find it by searching, they might just link to your site to refer their clients or readers there. But most importantly, when writing articles for the purpose of website marketing, you must submit your articles to article directories.

Article directories are just what they sound like. They are like giant filing cabinets full of articles that people have submitted. When you submit an article to a directory, you are giving permission to the directory and anyone else who might come across your article to reprint your article. This is where the links come in.

All directories(or at least all the directories that you submit to) allow you to include an author resource box, basically an “About the Author” section that gives a brief bio about you and a certain number of links (typically 3 or less) to your website or relevant sites you are associated with in some way. Webmasters are always looking for great content to put on their websites and blogs, and this way any time they use your article, they’ll be linking to your site.

So where do you submit your articles?

There are lots of services that offer article submission. Also, many virtual assistants offer that service too. In the past, I have used Article Marketer. If you’re really not wanting to spend the time to submit them yourself, you can certainly use on of these services. Personally, I stopped using them and submit articles manually these days both for myself and my clients. I like to have control over where the articles are going, and I like to have the option of changing up the resource boxes when I submit to different places. That allows me to track which ones work best and tweak them.

I’ve often found that submitting to a few of my favorite standby article directories can be just as effective as when I used a service to submit to hundreds.

A few of my favorite article directories that I always submit to first are:

• Ezine Articles
• Go Articles
• Article Dashboard
• Article Alley

There are literally hundreds if not thousands of them…if you have more, feel free to add to this list in comments.

Well, I could literally go on for several hours about the ins and outs of article marketing and preaching the Gospel of content and links. But I think that’s it for this post. Now that I’ve realized that I am seriously lacking in my article marketing blogging though…keep an eye out for more article marketing posts for the all-important How, that you might have noticed I left out of this one!

Please feel free to leave your thoughts, links to other article directories, questions or advice for fellow article marketers in the comments section below. Where do you submit articles? Have you found articles to be a beneficial marketing tool?

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I’m finally fitting in some writing time, and I’ve just finished my latest article.  I’d love to hear your thoughts on maintaining small business websites.  Let me know what you think!

The Lindsay Lohan Approach to Website Management

By Dana Wallert 

As we’ve all witnessed, maintaining anything, be it sobriety, sanity or search engine rankings takes consistency and dedication.  You may have had an awesome website when you launched it five years ago, but gradually you’ve seen your traffic, earnings and search engine rankings falling.  So is the answer to send your entire site to rehab once everything goes wrong?

Simply put, no.   There are many things you can do on a regular basis to make sure you’re staying on the right track.

Make sure you update the information on your website as you do with any other marketing information.  If you’ve stopped selling a certain product or service, make sure your website reflects that.  Similarly, if you add services or products make sure you are showcasing those on your site.

Also, having a news section or even better a blog that you update regularly with any news, latest projects, tips or other information relevant to your business is a great way to make sure your site is staying fresh to readers and to the search engines!

Likewise, make sure you are maximizing any relationships you have with online and offline partners or groups.  If you belong to the Chamber of Commerce in your town, make sure that your website is listed in any directories, and especially make sure they add a link to your listing in any online directory.  The same goes for any other industry or local business groups you belong to.  A lot of people have belonged to these type of organizations for years before they even had a website, so make sure you have updated any and all places where you are already listed.   Equally, always include your website on any membership applications or directory listings that you submit in the future.

In the same way, any forums or blogs you consistently read will usually allow you to list your website in your profile or in some form in the comments you leave.  Think of your website address as your online AmEx…don’t leave home without it.  The more references (links) to your site that appear across the internet the more important and relevant the search engines determine you to be.  They will reward you with higher rankings for related keyword searches.

So as you can see, the key to managing your website is really to stay on top of it.  Pick up good simple habits, and your website will continue to serve you well!  There are Promises-like website design firms that can take your website at its rock-bottom and completely rehab it, but by proactively managing your site you can save yourself a lot of time and money.  So please, commit to your site’s success, and remember to take your website management one day at a time!

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