Internet Marketing Blog

Knit One Plurk Two

IMNJ - Internet Marketing Specialist (Internet Marketing NJ) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 20:25:00 -0500

Last week I had the pleasure of interviewing Wendy Johnson. Wendy is the Top Plurker (by Karma which is Plurks popularity metric) and has been for quite some time. Prior to this interview I did not know much about Wendy nor did I understand how and why Plurk and knitting worked so well together. That’s right Wendy is a knitting blogger and author of a books!

As I interviewed Wendy the reason why she has such a following became obvious. Wendy is not only a very interesting and dynamic person but she is extremely personable. As I dug a little bit deeper into Wendy’s Plurks and her blog it was amazing to see the responsiveness of her audience. There is no doubt the level of commitment on both sides.

There is no doubt that any business can capitalize from successful social networking. Wendy has a wonderful perspective and we could all learn a few pointers from her success on Plurk.

Howard: I think there are many small business owners that can benefit from your experience and success with social media. Can you tell us a little bit about the impact to you blog and business from the use of Plurk and other social media platforms.

Wendy: Actually, using social media has no impact on my blogging, or my business — I consider it just a fun extra. I have no agenda on Plurk, I’m not really trying to push anything — just having fun chatting with friends.

My success on Plurk is a result of my success with my blog. My blog is quite popular and I have a lot of followers. When I got on Plurk, a huge number of my blog readers followed. Those are the people with whom I interact on Plurk every day.
So my experience is actually the opposite of what you are interested in, I think. The success of my blog impacted my success on Plurk, not the other way around.

Howard: You don’t use Plurk to share new blog posts and to promote? My assumption was that you would be growing your subscription to your blog based on your tremendous success on Plurk. After all you are the current karma champ surpassing the world’s top bloggers that have significant followings and influence. Does top Plurk karma status must create additional opportunities you would not have been exposed to otherwise?

Wendy: Well, I admit that I do a Plurk announcement when I’ve done a new blog post, but that is more as a courtesy to my Plurk friends who read my blog than promotion.

As some background:

I average 3 - 5 million views of my blog per month, and have done so for several years now.

Because of my blog’s popularity, a well-known and well-respected literary agent contacted me a few years ago and talked me into writing a book (a sort of knitting autobiography), which he sold for me. I’m currently working on my second book (a how-to and collection of sock patterns), to be published April 2009 by Potter Craft (a division of Random House).

I have a day job in the federal government and do the blog and knitting designs on the side. Started as a hobby, but has become somewhat lucrative.

What has top Plurk Karma gained me? Well, a lot of followers on Plurk who are probably wondering why the heck I am the top user, considering that I talk about knitting, my cat, and other ordinary topics. I can’t say that it has created any opportunities for me, but then, I haven’t actively sought any.

Howard: That is a tremendous accomplishment. According to Technorati and Alexa data I would never had guessed that your blog generates so much traffic. What a interesting success story.

How do you manage your time? I know the effort it takes to work a full time job, blog, Plurk, write a Book, and take care of Lucy (the cat). How do you pull it all together and keep your loyal audience engaged?

Wendy: Yup, Alexa is not a reliable source. In fact, a friend of mine did a blog entry about that a while back comparing her blog to mine.

How do I manage my time? I never sleep.

Seriously though, I am always thinking, and writing in my head, which probably contributes to my insomnia. When I get home from work I write my blog post pretty quickly, as I usually have it composed in my head. At the moment I’m not doing much on the book, as it is at the publisher and I’m just waiting to see and proof the final galleys before it is printed. But I spend evenings working up new designs, playing with Lucy, Plurking, and watching old movies. My agent is working on getting me a commitment from my publisher to do another book, so no doubt I’ll have to step up the pace a bit if and when that happens.

Howard: Alexa is often criticized as a metric and with good reason. What is the secret to your success?

Wendy: Beats me, I find it hard to understand why so many people want to hang on my every word. But as far as knitting is concerned, I am very good at what I do.

Howard: You don’t build such a loyal following over night. I would say you are not only a great knitter but a fantastic blogger and social media expert. What was the tipping point of your success?

Wendy: Well, thanks. The blog success comes from being able to express oneself and maintaining a humorous positive outlet. I think that’s a key on Plurk, too. There are some people who do nothing but whine and complain and offer TMI (Too Much Information) — these are people I unfollow very quickly.

The tipping point? I’m not sure — it’s all been very gradual. I’ve been writing the blog for over 6 years now. I did get a definite boost a few years ago when there was an article about me, my knitting, and my blog in the Washington Post. August or September 2004, I think it was?

Howard :Google works wonders for finding that Sept. 2004 article titled “Knitting Together a Web Community“.

What is it about blogging and knitting that work so well together?

Wendy: Heh. Clearly your Google skills are better than mine — I searched and failed. I think knitters just love to talk about their craft and show other knitters what they are working on. Blogs are a great way to do that!

Howard: Thanks so much Wendy this was fun. I look forward to getting to know you even better on Plurk!

Wendy Johnson is a mild-mannered civil servant by day and a maniacal knitter by night. She is the author of the upcoming book “Socks From the Toe Up: Essential Techniques and Patterns from Wendy Knits”

The origional post was written on ourmonmouthblog.

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SEO Weekend #4

IMNJ - Internet Marketing Specialist (Internet Marketing NJ) — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 14:02:15 -0500

SEO Weekend #4

One of the most important elements of search engine optimization is link building. I have spent hundreds of hours building quality links for my personal websites and the websites of my clients. When building link be aware of the link building fallacies. This week I want to focus on link building with a little explanation and a great activity that is going to get you started.

As a follow-up from last week I would ask you all to send me some specific questions in a email regarding your Google analytics report. I have a follow-up post planned and would like to answer some of your specific questions. Ready to have some fun and improve the ranking of your search engine results? Here we go.

Your websites link profile is one of the most important elements to search engine success. Link building is the process of creating opportunities to have other websites link to you. There are a number of ways you can do this. Creating profiles, using social media, creating great content and tools that others link to, press releases and so many others. The trick is to be creative, observe successful people, and apply some basic principles.

The other important aspect of link building is the anchor text which also play a factor in search engine results. While a inbound link is always welcome a link with a keyword is always better.

Good example of anchor text:

This is a good example of a anchor text link.

Bad example of anchor text:

Please visit my website at: www.yourwebsite.com

This week your goal is to build three quality inbound links to your website.

Task #1:

Craigslist: Go to craigslist.org and create a simple ad with a link to your website.

Task #2

Create a profile: Create a profile on a professional association, social media, or other website that includes a link to your business website.

Task #3

Blog: Write a great blog post with a deep link to your primary website.

Glossary:

Anchor text: “The anchor text or link label is the visible, clickable text in a hyperlink. Anchor text is the text a user clicks when clicking a link on a web page. Anchor text (text of the anchor) The text that composes a link textual, that is that one comprised between tag the HTML (still) of opening and the respective one tag of closing (). The contained words in a link textual can contribute to determine the page towards which link the tip.” Source: Wikipedia

Deep Link: A inbound link to a website that is not the homepage or a landing page.

Let me know how you made out. I look forward to hearing from you.

Plurktionary

IMNJ - Internet Marketing Specialist (Internet Marketing NJ) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:48:08 -0500

Plurktionary

I found a really useful little website that is full of Plurk goodies called Plurktionary. Plurktionary is a collection of tips, tools, and other resources designed to enhance your experience on Plurk. I have already picked up a few tricks which is key to maximizing any social media platform. Being able to use all of the bell and whistles of a platform helps improve your persona and helps solidify your perception as a subject matter expert.

Plurktionary is broken up into several sections with a clear navigation that allowed me to find what I was looking for quickly and easily. I found the text formatting and imagery sections very useful. While the Plurk UI is simply to use the are a few hidden nuisances that really can help you tweak your Plurks. If you are interested in Plurk this is a great resource.

Stop by and say hello to me on Plurk: IMNJ@Plurk

Are you a .me?

IMNJ - Internet Marketing Specialist (Internet Marketing NJ) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 21:01:54 -0500

There is a new top level domain .me. Here is another chance to get your name or personal brand in a domain. If you missed out on prior opportunities to get your name in a domain now is your chance.

A website like a .name or .me can be used for a number of purposes. One idea I really like is to use this type of site to create an online resume. You can create a website of testimonials or perhaps a portfolio. The uses are endless and another web property in your internet portfolio can never hurt your marketing effort.

Conclusion

Securing your personal brand with another top level domain name can support and enhance your brand. Use the secondary website to support your brand and help increase your authority and trust factor. Secondary websites can be also used to support your SEO efforts.

My newest web property is howie.me.

Plurk is Getting Hotter

IMNJ - Internet Marketing Specialist (Internet Marketing NJ) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 21:05:22 -0500

Plurk is Getting Hotter

Far too often a hot new website gets launched only to fizzle shortly thereafter. This has been the case for many Internet startups with big ambitions that didn’t deliver the goods. Plurk will buck the trend and is here to stay because it delivers. If you read my “Plurk Review” there are a number of great features to Plurk. I really enjoy the conversations that plurk generates. Plurk also has its own points system which it calls Karma, and I know how you all love points. Best of all Plurk has been fairly reliable compared to its counterpart Twitter.

What I saw on Plurk this week is a really good sign and made me believe that Plurk is gaining traction. This week I saw plurks from Andy Beard, Lee Oden, and Robert Scoble. All top bloggers and social media experts with a strong following. More content will bring more Plurk subscribers.

A plurk is a really quick way to generate a discussion or make a statement in a fun format.

Here are a few quick uses for plurk:

Promote your blog post

Promote a event

Share a great blog post

Tell a quick story

Ask a question

Invite people to AR?

The list is endless. I look forward to seeing you on Plurk.

Stop by and say hello to me on Plurk: IMNJ@Plurk

SEO Weekend #3

IMNJ - Internet Marketing Specialist (Internet Marketing NJ) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 21:42:29 -0500

SEO Weekend #3

I am really excited about SEO Weekend #3. Analytics is one of the most important tools we have to understand our users and how they find us. At the time we are building our website we draw on our knowledge and experience to create what we think our target audience wants. There has never been a website that I have been involved in that has not throw me a few surprises. That is one of the reasons why SEO can be challenging but also makes it very interesting.

Many of you already have some kind of stat counter or monitor on your site. If you do not have web stats I recommend you install a package like Google Analytics as soon as possible. We should not manage our business blindly, if you do not have robust data it is impossible to make informed decisions. What I would like to accomplish in this post is to install Google Analytics on our AR blogs. I literally did it in a few minutes and can’t wait to see the results.

So here is the plan. We are going to install Google Analytics on our blogs and do a little discovery and discussion on the traffic patterns our blogs generate. I bet there are going to be a number of surprises and I can’t wait! For the next few weeks we can focus on specific aspects of the tool to better understand the data we gather. What we will learn and discuss here can be leveraged in all of your internet properties. Are you with me?

Task #1 – Install Google Analytics on our AR Blog

You will need a Google account to get started, if you don’t have one now is a great time to get stated. Here we go:

Go to: www.google.com/analytics

Click: Add a website Profile

Enter in the URL of your AR Blog

Copy the tracking code provided.

Go to your ActiveRain my settings page

Copy the tracking code into your "Blog Description" text box.

Go back to the Google page and confirm that the code has been installed.

You did it, way to go! It takes about 24 hours for the data to start pouring in.

Let me know how you made out. I look forward to hearing from you.

Internet Marketing Asset Allocation

IMNJ - Internet Marketing Specialist (Internet Marketing NJ) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:38:04 -0500

I view my web properties like a valuable portfolio the same way I think of my investment portfolio. Research, planning, discipline, execution, and analysis are the same activities needed to succeed. I think the analogy makes sense for a number of reasons. First of all, your web properties are going to pay you dividends for a long time, why play risky games. Secondly, you need to diversify your investment of time and resources and not put all of your eggs into one basket. Lastly, focus on areas that pay the highest returns and have the highest growth potential.

Take a minute to think about all of the internet marketing components you have created. Continue the thought by writing them all down. How much time do you spend in each area? Are you spending time where it yield the most benefit to your business? This exercise may help focus your time.

When it come to risk in my portfolio I tend to be more conservative with these assets. There is no reason to rush their development and I am not going to take a short cuts that may set me back long term. This is critical when planning to and developing links and a link profile. That means no linking software, linking schemes and reciprocal links. Period. I believe a conservative linking approach that is going to build the long term credibility of my site. I am in business for the long haul and my strategy needs to reflect that. Stick to mainstream directory sites, social networking and profile building. This is a key asset to improving search engine results.

I have read a few people blog about how ActiveRain is the only internet tool needed to succeed. Would you bet your retirement on one stock? While AR is a platform that we all enjoy and embrace it should be used in support of a primary website and not become it. It is ok if you want AR to anchor your activities but think how to diversify using a number of other platform to support your primary website and blog.

Focus on activity that generates leads and get you paid. No small business has unlimited time or resources. Your attention should be focused and specific. Stick with what works. Constantly evaluate and refine your game plan. Maximize your opportunities.

What is the appropriate mix?

I think everyone needs to find the right mix pushing the personal comfort zones following a sensible approach for the business. Capitalize on your strengths and work on and refine the weaker areas of your marketing program. Stick to your game plan and budget your time.

Here is my suggestion:

Maintenance: 5%

Link Building: 20%

Blogging: 40%

Press Releases: 5%

Social Networking: 15%

Email Campaigns/Newsletters: 10%

Search Engine Marketing: 5%

Maintenance – Make sure that your website is healthy on a regular basis. Check for broken links and images, visually inspect the site and test in multiple browser and a quarterly basis. Do a in depth click through twice a year or after any upgrades.

Link building – Links are the critical component to search engine traffic. Link building is never done and requires constant effort. Build a great site with quality tools, that provide solutions. Create a website and experience that is worth linking to. Use profiles, social media, and directories to establish the foundation of your link profile.

Blogging – One of the most important activities. It is critical that your primary website has a blog in the same domain. Write material geared to your target market. Do not only think about search engines but address your audience.

Press Releases – This is a easy one to overlook, press releases are a great way to update the world about your business. It is also a great way to build links.

Social Networking – Social Networking is great for promotion, link building, and relationship building. Many people underestimate the value of social networks because they don’t understand how to leverage them.

Email Campaigns/Newsletters – Drip on your clients and prospects. Stay front of mind but don’t overdo it. Never send unsolicited emails.

Search Engine Marketing – Allocate some budget to doing PPC advertising. Test various platforms and ads to see what generates the best results.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Photo credit: net_efekt

Sidebar Litter - Peugh!

IMNJ - Internet Marketing Specialist (Internet Marketing NJ) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 20:13:02 -0500

I have noticed a growing trend of adding “stuff” the ActiveRain blog sidebar. The tools, widgets, and banners we add to our blogs should add value to our blogs. It doesn’t matter if it is to promote outside activity, track visitors, or any other purpose for that matter. What we must avoid is a sloppy appearance, broken pages, or gratuitous distractions. Whatever your personal style is your sidebar serves an important function and we should not litter it.

Here are a few suggestions:

Remove broken widgets – I am often surprised how many blog have broken sidebars revealing little snippets of code. A broken webpage can hurt your credibility and may deter visitors from spending time on your blog. If it doesn’t work just remove it until it can be fixed.

Size does matter – There is a limited amount of usable width in the sidebar. I would not recommend going over 200 pixels wide for any widget. Just my opinion but it looks sloppy if it goes beyond the blog margins that are provided.

Center – Center alignment of sidebar looks cleaner then left alignment. Wrap your widgets in a div tag using the following code as an example:

<div align=”center”>Widget Code</div>

Space – Whitespace is often overlooked in design, but there is nothing worse than a overcrowded page. Wrap side bar code in a p tag:

<div align=”center”><p>Widget Code</p></div>

Don’t overdo it – Is the bobbing avatar really necessary? While it very well may be, carefully consider what to include in your sidebar and what can be taken out. Remember we want our readers to focus on the important messages in our blog.

What other sidebar tips can you share?

Photo credit: MyNameMattersNot

Email Etiquette or Barbarous Rubric

IMNJ - Internet Marketing Specialist (Internet Marketing NJ) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 15:38:35 -0500

It amazes me how my email inbox has grown over the years, on any given day I can have hundreds of unread emails. That is a large amount of material to sift through and determine what is important, what can wait, and what is garbage and spam.

Oh, and don’t forget to check your spam box also for that important client email! Great, isn’t email supposed to make more efficient use of my time? Unfortunately (e)mail takes up a good percentage of my day.

Since effective communication is such an important factor in running a business I have been thinking about the importance email etiquette. Maybe I should be asking myself why I get so much poorly written junk and spam?

In my businesses I often use email as the primary form of initial contact with my prospects and clients. All client email should be treated with care but you only have one shot at a first impression. Email must represent you and your business in a professional, prompt, and courteous manor.

When writing email it is critical to consider who the audience is. The appropriate tone and language should always be used in client correspondence. Be careful not to loose your professional touch when writing email.

From time to time we all forget that email was not intended to replace verbal communication. Sometimes you just need to pick-up the phone to talk to your client or customer. Email is also not intended to be used for “instant messaging” and there are many other tools that can be better used for that purpose.

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Here is a list of 14 email etiquette rules that I think would help every inbox:

Read the email before you send it
Be concise and to the point
Address all questions
Use proper spelling, grammar & punctuation (spell check)
Make it personal
Answer questions promptly
Do not overuse the high priority option
Do not write in CAPITALS
Don’t leave out the message thread
Do not overuse Reply to All
Think twice about abbreviations and emoticons
Do not forward junk mail
Use a meaningful subject
Don’t send or forward inappropriate emails (defamatory, offensive, racist or obscene)

I look forward to hearing your thoughts, comments, and other email etiquette tips.

Yes, Social Networking Works!

IMNJ - Internet Marketing Specialist (Internet Marketing NJ) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 18:23:52 -0500

I am a firm believer in a balanced marketing approach. Allocate the largest time to the activities that have been proven to achieve the best results. A smaller percentage of your time should be spent on exploring new websites and social networking. Even if it is only 10 minutes a day social networking has an important function.

Social networking sites provide a platform for us to expand our Internet footprint. Social networking helps strengthen your online profile and can be used to build inbound links. Any time you create a profile with a link to your primary website it is a score and we must use those opportunities to our advantage. There is absolutely a search engine benefit.

Another important aspect of social networking is the ability to the deepen our online business relationships both clients and associates. Use social networking to establish and develop a national network. These relationships will grow over time and many opportunities can develop. While blogging is a great way to engage people and develop rapport, social networks can take it to another level.

I enjoy the socializing aspect of networking, it is fun. There are so many occasions when I been inspired, educated, or entertained by a social networking friend. I have also been fortunate that social networking friends have supported my blogs and websites. Other active bloggers and marketers have a lot of potential to improve visibility to a website or blog post by flagging it or promoting it in their internet activities. Websites like Digg, StumbleUpon, Bumpzee, MyBlogLog, Twitter, and Plurk can drive substantial traffic and our networks carry substantial juicing potential.

Conclusion

It is very easy to waste time and burn hours surfing the Internet if you aren’t focused on a goal. Your goals and marketing plan should always be in sight when you invest time in your business online. We all need to be not only efficient in our time use but open-minded to all areas of opportunity.

Photo credit: luc legay

Plurk Review

IMNJ - Internet Marketing Specialist (Internet Marketing NJ) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 09:13:00 -0500

Plurk Review

I have been experimenting with Plurk for several weeks now and I have found that I really like it better than Twitter. I am not alone in that opinion. Many of the highly trafficked bloggers recently have been posting on Plurk and it is getting excellent reviews. I recently read stories about Plurk on Problogger, Mashable, and Techipedia there is no doubt that these blogs will bring an audience and contributors to Plurk. If Plurk gets this kind of push from the blogosphere it will gain traction quickly.

One of the obstacles Plurk needs to overcome is the fact that it does not have an OpenAPI. OpenAPI (Application Programming Interface) is a group of technology platforms that allows software to “talk” to other software. OpenAPI is one of the reasons why social media and other Web 2.0 application and websites have been so successful. One of the catalysts for Twitter success was that it plugged into so many other popular websites and widgets so easily. The developers found the niches and made some really useful applications to support Twitter. Plurk is missing the boat here but they will get there quickly if they want to keep building momentum.

What I think works strongly in Plurks favor is that it thrives on discussion whereas Twitter is just a micro-blog post. The interface is intuitive and well designed and the Plurk dashboard is definitely more fun than Twitter. The site just has a light hearted, fun feel to it. Since Twitters last meltdown Plurk is quickly becoming a personal favorite. Two thumbs up.

Stop by and say hello to me: IMNJ@Plurk

Photo credit: legendarymonkey

Commitment to Success

IMNJ - Internet Marketing Specialist (Internet Marketing NJ) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 09:02:39 -0500

Commitment to Success

Commitment: The state of being bound emotionally or intellectually to a course of action or to another person or persons: a deep commitment to liberal policies; a profound commitment to the family. Source: answers.com

It is very easy for people to say they want to be successful. It is human nature; we all want to be successful and get the rewards that come with it. There are some people that have the ability to on sheer will power alone achieve it. For the rest of us it requires inspiration and perspiration. What is needed to succeed is a set of clearly define goals, a thoughtful plan, the tools to execute, and the time to reflect and measure. Success requires commitment.

I believe in this process, but it does not work without commitment. Commitment is shown through effort and daily activities. Commitment is not only time but quality effort. Far too often people look to short cuts or quick fixes to compress timelines. In most cases these short cuts end up being distractions or missteps and our time is way too valuable.

“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” - Thomas Jefferson

My personal roadmap to success:

1. Clearly define goals – Take time to think about your goals. Don't be afraid to push your limits or set them in fear of failure. Write them down.

2. Create a plan – Planning is the foundation of success. Success without a plan is luck. Document it.

3. Execution – Here is where the blood, sweat, and tears yields the results. Never lose site of the goal. Anything can be achieved with perseverance.

4. Analyze – Measure progress and reflect on the plan and execution.

5. Refine – Tweak the plan. Learn from mistakes and successes to improve. Write down lessons learned.

6. Execute – Implement with improvements.

7. Repeat Step 4, 5, and 6 as needed.

Conclusion

In order to succeed you must really want it. The desire for success drives me to wake up every day with vigor and purpose. All of our goals can be achieved if we have the commitment to succeed.

What steps are you taking every day to be successful?

Onpage SEO Tips

IMNJ - Internet Marketing Specialist (Internet Marketing NJ) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:46:30 -0500

Onpage SEO Tips

There are many exercises, analysis and optimization techniques you can apply to your websites and blog. None is more important than writing quality content, providing useful tools, and most importantly solutions your visitors are searching for. So content is king right? Wrong CONVERSION is king. Is it one thing to work hard to generate traffic but the trick is to maximize that traffic and convert it into prospects, clients, and sales, but that is for another post.

Here are five on-page SEO tips that can help improve your search engine optimization results:

Valid HTML, CSS, and JavaScript – In order for a website or blog to be indexed it must be accessible by the search engines to read the content. One way to ensure that this happens is to develop pages that validate to W3C standards. You can read more about this in my post titled "SEO Weekend #2".

Page Title – A well planned and written page title is not only important for search but it is also the key text that gets displayed in search results. Page titles should over lap and support your determined keywords for a given page. Page titles should not be spammy or over done and not be duplicated within a site if possible. Try to limit your title to fewer than 70 characters because that is what Google will display on the results page. Beyond the 70 characters will generally be ignored.

H Tags – Header tags are an important way to organize content on the page. Keep working the mix of your keywords that are appropriate for the content contained in paragraphs under the H tags. H1 - H6 should be used in order of importance with H1 Tags being the most important. Avoid the temptation of writing and organizing content for SEO purpose. Write to engage your audience but have your on-page SEO strategy planned.

Bulleted Lists – Bulleted lists are another way to highlight keywords.

Bolding – Another way to highlight and weight keywords for both human and search engine consumption but be careful not to over do it.

Glossary:

On-page SEO is the programming aspect of SEO which includes HTML, CSS and JavaScript. For example, page titles, H tags, bulleted lists, navigation are examples of on-page SEO optimization.

Off-page SEO is how we influence other websites to help improve our own websites SEO. For example, the creation of an inbound link to your website from an outside source is considered an off-page SEO technique.

Consequences of a Highly Active Profile

IMNJ - Internet Marketing Specialist (Internet Marketing NJ) — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 20:10:26 -0500

Consequences of a Highly Active Profile

Richard Smith from American Acceptance Mortgage recently wrote a blog post titled “AR Spam and Predators”. The post reminded me that one of the consequences of having a highly visible profile is the tremendous increase of spam and unsolicited contacts you receive. SPAM email often carries dangerous links and attachments.

Internet browsing may also occasionally and unknowingly navigate to crafty malicious websites that flood your computer with ads, malware, spyware, keyloggers and others.

Beyond the solicitations that Richard detailed in his blog post there are a number of unscrupulous people on the internet that have the ideas of doing much worse. We need to be aware of the risks as well as what we click and link to. It consider it a wise investment to make sure our equipment is protected.

While most PCs have built in virus protection and firewall software they do a mediocre job at best. It is even more important if you are active daily on the internet. I recommend installing a third party security suite and keep on-top of your updates and renewals. Unless you have a Mac, if you don’t have a full security suite please do yourself a favor a get one this week.

If you do have suite or are considering getting one I really like a program called Ad-Aware. Ad-Aware always finds hazards that my security suite doesn’t. I have been very impressed with a number of applications Lavasoft has developed. Ad-Aware is by far the best and most useful.

The best thing about Ad-Aware is it has a FREE Version. You can read more about the software and the free download here.

What other tools do you use to protect yourself and your PC?

What is Plurk?

IMNJ - Internet Marketing Specialist (Internet Marketing NJ) — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 09:15:36 -0500

What is Plurk?

Plurk is a new social networking site that is very similar to Twitter. Basically you build a friends list and then enter a “Plurk” which can be read by your friends and the world. The easiest way to describe tools like Plurk and Twitter is micro-blogging. Each Plurk is a little blog post.

How can Plurk help my business?

Plurk can support and enhance your active on ActiveRain. Start within your network of friends and associates on AR. It is a extremely easy and efficient way to inform people about a variety of things. One of the best uses for a micro blog is to promote your other activates. For example, you can announce a open house, or a price reduction on a property, perhaps a new listing. Another use for Pluck is to promote your other online activities for example a new blog post, or industry related article your read in a journal? Starting to see the possibilities?

Why now?

Plurk is a recent start-up and early adopters tend to gain the most. When (and if) Plurk becomes more mainstream established users will already have a strong footprint in Plurk. I recently wrote a blog post title “s Twitter Dead”. In the post I explain why Twitter is dying and the reason why people are migrating to Plurk.

It is easy to use!

Plurk has a simple timeline and all responses are listed under the original post. This makes it much easier to follow a discussion on Plurk when compared to Twitter. Plurk has some really fun imagery and icon which work with its name.

Karma

Plurk has its own point system like ActiveRain called Karma.

How do I join?

Use this link to join me on Plurk.

I am IMNJ@Plurk.

SEO Weekend #2 – Easy

IMNJ - Internet Marketing Specialist (Internet Marketing NJ) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:06:50 -0500

SEO Weekend #2 – Easy

Our weekly series continues with our next installment of SEO Weekend. The feedback from week 1 was extremely positive and I am motivated to keep the ball moving. Are you ready!

This weeks exercise is an easy task but the results may be more complicated and perhaps even shocking. One of the most fundamental aspects of SEO is called on-page SEO. On-page SEO is the programming aspect of SEO which includes HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Off-page SEO is how we influence other websites to help improve our own websites SEO. For example, the creation of an inbound link to your website from an outside source is considered an off-page SEO technique.

Valid HTML and CSS are the foundation of on-page SEO. An organization called W3C (World Wide Consortium) has created a set of standards that all web pages should follow. W3C's mission statement is “To lead the World Wide Web to its full potential by developing protocols and guidelines that ensure long-term growth for the Web.”

Task #1 – Validate your homepage.

Enter your homepage URL and hit the check button.

Don’t cringe if you are seeing and abundance of errors. Most are not critical and may not be affecting your SEO. The problem comes into play when your site cannot be crawled by the search engines. To simplify, the search engine have programs that read your site and provide the data for your site to be indexed in search results pages. If your site is poorly coded than it may not be able to complete their task. In addition to potential issues with (those search engine programs called) spiders and crawlers poorly coded pages can also result in a different client experience in one browser to browser (called cross-browser compatibility).

I ran my test today and yielded 11 errors that cropped up along the way. I will be busy tonight!! These errors tend to come up as you develop your site but should be caught in a regular maintenance program.

Tell us your result and let’s discuss a few issues that are out there.

Is Twitter Dead?

IMNJ - Internet Marketing Specialist (Internet Marketing NJ) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 23:10:55 -0500

Is Twitter Dead?

No but it is dying a slow and painful death. I personally am done with all of all of the errors and problems. It really is a social networking buzz kill if you can’t socialize or network. While I am just one blogger Darren Rowse aka Problogger said something today that caught my attention. Darren has blogging influence that can move mountains.

That is the type of event that can kill a promising start-up. While I didn’t want to abandon the ship I don’t need to stick around till it sinks. Plurk seems like a fine alternative and Darren and others can and will start a migration.

You can now find me IMNJ@Plurk.

Go ahead check it out for yourself. It actually works.

Search Engine Rankings

IMNJ - Internet Marketing Specialist (Internet Marketing NJ) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:17:56 -0500

Search Engine Rankings

According to the June 19th comScore press release "In May 2008, Americans conducted 10.8 billion core searches, with Google Sites increasing its market share slightly."

The report continued:

"In May, Google Sites’ share of core searches reached 61.8 percent, up from 61.6 percent the previous month. Yahoo! Sites ranked second with a 20.6 percent share (up from 20.4 percent the prior month), followed by Microsoft Sites (8.5 percent), AOL LLC (4.5 percent), and Ask Network (4.5 percent)."

There is no doubt Google is the steak and the potatoes in the search industry. If you are serious about improving your Internet marketing ability you need to strongly consider how you can improve your Google search results. Search Engine Marketing must be a part of any businesses marketing plan. Local businesses can make their mark using tools like ActiveRain if there is a focused strategy and effort.

What are you doing to enhance your search engine visibility?

Good Will – It's Viral

IMNJ - Internet Marketing Specialist (Internet Marketing NJ) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 07:23:36 -0500

Good Will – It's Viral

One of the really nice things about ActiveRain is the camaraderie it fosters. Through idea exchange and networking, business and personal relationships are established and grown. While I have only been on ActiveRain for a short time I have been touched by the kindness and eagerness of others to help. Not only to assist people growing their business, but to educate and support each other. This type of environment is extremely rare in a public online format.

If you appreciate this as much as I do than we owe it to community to show it through our contributions. Here are just a few way we can spread the good will:

Subscribe – expand your blog readership
Comment – a new member commenting on your blog – thank them with a comment on their blog
Tag – use social media tools to help promote community information you found useful
Email – Send a quick encouraging email to a colleague
Phone – I know it is old fashioned but a telephone call works wonders. Say hello!
Meet – I have read several blogs posts of gatherings, lunches, and getaways. Truly amazing!
Refer - Tell more people about ActiveRain

I may be having visions of grandeur but what if it spreads beyond the electronic halls of the computer and internet. What if we showed the same appreciation and positive attitude in our office and personal lives? Sounds like a fairytale, it doesn’t have to be. We can move mountains.

Goodwill is contagious and a little goes a long way.

Best wishes!

(No) Time to Blog

IMNJ - Internet Marketing Specialist (Internet Marketing NJ) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:25:19 -0500

(No) Time to Blog

There is no doubt that blogging requires a daily discipline. For many including myself, blogging does not come easy. I am not a writer by trade and as a student hated writing, but I feel as if I have come a long way.

Since we all have a full time job, blogging is a part-time venture. How much time do you invest in a single blog post? Blogging can be like the game of baseball you don’t have to hit a homerun every time you are at bat. Blogging is also a numbers game. The more quality blog posts you produce the higher your visibility and traction with your target audience. There is no doubt that the effort invested in collecting your thoughts and getting your blog post eloquently written takes time.

So I ask you “How long does your typical blog post take?”

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Bunt: less than 15 minutes

Single: less than half and hour

Double: less than an hour

Triple: less than 2 hours

Homerun: more than 2 hours

Best Wishes!

Image Credit: zoutedrop

Page Rank... Huh?

IMNJ - Internet Marketing Specialist (Internet Marketing NJ) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 23:45:20 -0500

Page Rank - Huh?

Calculation:

PR(A) = (1-d) + d(PR(t1)/C(t1) + ... + PR(tn)/C(tn))

What the..!

In simpler terms, Page Rank is a numeric value (0 -10) assigned to a web page. The higher the Page Rank value the higher the calculated importance of the page. Google assigns every indexed page a rank which passes “votes”, “authority” or “trust” to the pages it links to. A page can pass a total of 85% of it rank shared by the pages it links to.

This is a simplification of what is a very complex calculation used by Google. The bottom line is that it made two extremely bright and savvy Stamford University students ultra-rich men. For our purposes we need to understand Page Rank as it relates to your own website and how it ranks in comparison to your competition. It is also equally important to understand the profile of pages linking to you.

When we have an understanding of Page Rank we also can better understand why links matter both qualitative and quantitatively. How many links and of what quality factor into how your site will rank for websites competing for the same keywords. We could also examine the link profile of our websites secondary pages. Second level pages are pages are those linked to from the homepage. In most typical websites the homepage carries the most page rank. We can additionally evaluate how our Page Rank is distributed to our second level pages.

How can I improve my page rank?

Write a great blog. The more valuable content you write the more page rank each page will add to the collective page rank of your site.
Get linked to from other ranked sites including QUALITY directories like DMOZ and Yahoo Directory.
Social Networking helps! Leverage your favorite social media. Sites like MyBlogLog, Twitter, Technorati, Stumbleupon, Del.icio.is, etc.

Other things to keep in mind!

“nofollow” attribute – A HTML link with a nofollow attribute does not pass any Page Rank. Nofollow was created by Google (Matt Cutts) to reduce search engine spam.

Example:

<a href="www.awebsite.com" rel="nofollow">I don’t Trust This Link</a>

Firefox Tip To see the code of the web page you are browsing in Firefox pulldown from the top menu under View and select Page Source or as a shortcut use <ctrl+U>.

Take another look at your own website and dig deeper into your link profile.

Sources:

Craven, Phil . "Google's PageRank Explained." WebWorkshop. . . 23 June, 2008 <http://www.webworkshop.net/pagerank.html>

“Our Search: Google Technology.” Google… 23 June, 2008 <http://www.google.com/technology/>

“Google PageRank: What Do We Know About It?” Smashing Magazine… 23 June, 2008

“PR0 - Google's PageRank 0 Penalty.” eFactory… 23 June, 2008 <http://pr.efactory.de/e-pr0.shtml>

Image Sources:

Chained by smohundro

huh? by momin lens

Byproduct of Success

IMNJ - Internet Marketing Specialist (Internet Marketing NJ) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 22:38:45 -0500

Byproduct of Success

I was just reading a blog post by Richard Smith on a spam email he recently received. I know Richard has been working on developing his internet presence. Spam is an unfortunate byproduct of making your business accessible on the internet.

I have read that over 100 billion spam emails are sent daily. Remember if a spammer only gets a .000001 responce rate they are still getting 100,000 responses every day. Spam is one thing, but you also need to be aware of malicious emails that include malware or viruses. These types of attachments or bad website links are dangerous to your internet security.

Another type of phony email is phishing. Phishing is another type of spam that involves a dressed up email disguised as if it was from a financial institution. The email often directs you to go to a website to acknowledge a trade or transaction. These emails don’t originate from the companies they claim to be. The links contained within the email are pointing to cloaked pages that are fraudulent as well. This is a ploy to get your user name and password.

The bottom line is if you are going to be active on the internet you need to be aware of these types of scams. If you have children always make sure you monitor their online activities as well.

Here are a few great SPAM resources:

The original: spam.com

Federal Trade Commission (FTC): ftc.gov/spam

spamprimer.com

Best Wishes!

Image Credit: freezelight

Visualize Your Link Profile - SWEET!

IMNJ - Internet Marketing Specialist (Internet Marketing NJ) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 19:43:16 -0500

Visualize Your Link Profile - SWEET!

This is one amazing application. When I first saw it I was totally impressed and I think you will be too. The Touchgraph Google Browser shows a graphical representation of your link profile. The larger the sphere the higher the authority of the website. If you are a visual person and don’t really understand the codes required to see what your link profile looks like than this is the SEO Tool for you.

Once you see how the linking relationship on your site looks like, it may help you in evaluating who and where you link your site from. I recommend staying away from linking schemes or recripicol linking programs for a fee. The nice thing about a FREE tool like this is that it may help you make a more informed decision when working on your linking strategy. Quality always before quantity.

Related Post: “Warning! Link Building Fallacies Ahead...”

The Daily Discipline

IMNJ - Internet Marketing Specialist (Internet Marketing NJ) — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 19:48:09 -0500

The Daily Discipline

One of my first mentors gave me some very good advice that I have followed since the day he told it to me. The advice has helped me to not only grow my business but to achieve many of my personal and professional goals. It has also helped me put some fairly challenging goals within reach and I am not stopping.

He said “Howard, everyone has goals and aspirations. It is those that have the daily discipline to achieve their goals that will be successful.”

The daily discipline of success can be a powerful tool if you make a commitment to do it. The daily discipline requires you to do an activity that will help you achieve your goal every day. It doesn’t matter what the specific activity is but it must done be every day. Whether your goal is to rank #1 in your local market for real estate search or you want to close 10 deals for the month make progress every day.

Set your goal, create the road map to success, and than do something every day towards achieving it.

It has really worked for me and is part of my daily routine. When possible I block time on my calendar to execute my game plan.

What are some methods you have used to help achieve success?

Image source: allposters.com

What to do with a Rotten Neighbor

IMNJ - Internet Marketing Specialist (Internet Marketing NJ) — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 19:42:19 -0500

Rotten Neighbor – Web 2.0

Yeah, you know the guy... the one who lets his little cute doggie poopie on your lawn. How about the dude next door who is blasting the death metal at 2 a.m. What about the two geniuses across the street that just painted the exterior of their house hot pink? Not exactly what I would call model neighbors and now is your chance to sound your opinion.

Rotten Neighbor can be characterized as a modern (Web 2.0) neighborhood watch. It provides a platform to post information on your neighborhood both good and bad. The platform also maps local foreclosures with a really simple interface that includes a map, satellite and hybrid views. One of the nicer features is for users to post images and video of the local sites like parks and holiday displays. While I think the strongest feature of the website is that it provides information on homes with sex offenders. This is information that I would want to know and Rotten Neighbor makes it easy.

Generally speaking I think the idea has potential. I would like to see the platform further developed to focus on more than just a bad neighbor. How about a rotten restaurant or better yet how about a good one. I think I would also include local entertainment and history. While a rotten neighbor is a catchy title I think you need to provide a little more value to generate continuous traffic. Although a little dirt on your neighbors can be entertaining.

Take a look at Rotten Neighbor yourself and let us know what you think. I look forward to hearing from you.