Christopher 's Blog

Blog at our website

2007-05-23T09:51:11Z

Hello Everyone- Just an announcement that my company has added a blog to our website. Please check out http://www.imagesites.com/blog.cfm. I love this addition to our website and I want to bring up a point.

Any realtor, mortgage broker or insurance agent who has a website can do VERY well with a blog that is attached to their site. If you want to get great SEO for your site, then now is the time to get it going. My company, ImageWorks, LLC can add a blog to your website for a reasonable fee. Look up blogging today in the search engines, and put it together with real estate and you will see what a great benefit it can be for your business.

One more thing. Til the end of May , I am offering for free ( $195 value), a consultation for your website and SEO needs. If you want to know ways to assist your website in getting recognized on the web, especially locally, then I would love to talk to you. Did you know that 6 years ago, 15% of people looking for a new home looked on the internet? Today, 82% of people looking for a new home look on the internet. If you are not part of the web or if your site is not being optimized the right way, then you need to speak to someone about how you can do better on the net!

Call me at the listed number or email me here at active rain.

Have a great day!

3 Reasons to Use Social Networks for Internet Marketing

2007-05-15T09:18:15Z

By David Bain People who are involved in e-commerce understand how marketing can be very expensive. In order to have sales, marketing your products or services to people who are in need of them is vital. Social networks present a viable internet marketing alternative or supplement. Here are 3 reasons why you should integrate social networks into your marketing plan online. Social networking websites are known to attract a lot of people. It has been said that the top 10 Social Networking websites receive about 45 percent of the total number of active internet users. This really is a proof of how powerful these websites can be. One very good example of a prominent and extremely prolific social network is MySpace. Websites such as MySpace give access to people of various interests. For social networking website owners, the main benefit comes from the content that social network users produce and lodge in their site. The following are the three benefits to business owners and internet marketers.

Number 1: They give you a large market to sell to If you are apprehensive about integrating social networking in your overall marketing plan, recall what the Fox Interactive President said during the Web 2.0 Summit. He noted that MySpace has managed to acquire acquiring a user base whose number is equivalent to the population of Buffalo. Imagine how large this is. This represents millions of users from around the world that you can sell and market to. Using social networks for marketing purposes is very good strategy. Millions of users are attracted to these networks. Entice these visitors to visit your website and you*ve got it made. Getting this many visitors through other marketing means can really cost a lot, but if you use social networks you can get it for free. Social networks like MySpace open the gates for e-commerce businessmen; these sites provide you a place where you can market your products.

Number 2: They make targeted marketing easier Social networks consist of several sub-networks to which one can gain access. These sub-networks have pre-filtered members and users so a business owner can easily pick and choose groups which he is targeting or whose members may be interested in what he has to offer. It is amazing how deep a social network can go. It is truly a very fertile ground for one*s targeted internet marketing efforts. All you*ll have to do is browse over the groups and find people who may be interested in your products and services.

Number 3: They have enormous potential for boosting site traffic and sales Though some webmasters still consider social networks as a fad meant only for teenagers, most businessmen have realized the social networks* potential for boosting site traffic and sales. Online and real-world entrepreneurs alike are flocking to social networks. Affiliate marketers are not to be outwitted, and they have begun promoting the products of their affiliate partners in social networking sites. Fad or not, creative and strategic use of social networks can really boost a business* earnings. --- Just Remember --- Given the wonderful opportunity that social networking sites offer, one can easily get carried away in his marketing campaign. You must remember, however, that as with any marketing method, tact, subtlety and strategy are all required. This is especially true for social networking sites since they are truly not for marketing purposes. Thus, you must never be too obvious about your efforts to sell. You should always couch your marketing pitch in a manner both personal and engaging.

The author of this article,David Bain, is founder of the internet marketing training company http://www.PurpleInternetMarketing.com. Purple Internet Marketing helps marketing managers and business owners harness the power of the Internet as a marketing tool. He has produced a series of Internet marketing training videos. As well as that he offers One-to-one Internet Marketing Training, E-Business Strategy Consulting and Internet Marketing Seminars.

If you need any assistance with developing a social network marketing campaign, give Chris a call. He has packages available to assist you with your social network marketing.

Chris Guerrette is an account manager for ImageWorks, LLC in Vernon, CT. ImageWorks has been a company for 10 years. ImageWorks can accomodate your business web needs in many ways. Please see our portfolio on our website. We have done work for Fortune 500 companies such as UPS, Merrill Lynch, and Yahoo. Chris has been working in the Internet Publishing Field for over 10 years. If you have any web design, development, hosting or internet marketing needs including myspace.com design and marketing and blogging, we can help you.Contact Chris at chris@imagesites.com for more information.

Feed the Search Engines! Content...Content...Content

2007-05-10T08:06:15Z

By Tracy Fredrychowski

Just as our bodies need food to fuel us everyday your website needs fuel to feed the search engines for placement and inclusion.

There are many different factors to consider when trying to optimize your website, but one of the easiest and most successful ways is to feed the search engine with content.

The engines thrive on seeing that you are adding new content to your website very often. As a webmaster, I have seen the results of many of my customers' sites climbing to the top by adding good industry related content to their site. You may feel you neither have the time or the content to add to your site but in today's competitive web world how you can not justify taking the time or creating content. There are many different ways to add content to your site that may take as little as 10 or 15 minutes a week to do so.

Here are a few ideas, and if you can apply one or all of these to your site you will be feeding the hunger the search engines are craving for ...Good Quality Content:

Industry Related Articles - There is no better way to earn creditability with your customers then writing articles about your industry. Your article does not have to be long it just has to give good quality information about your industry. Once you write an article, not only do you want to upload it to your website but you need to submit it to one of the many article submission websites. Don't forget to add your name and URL to the bottom of every article you submit to build your link popularity.

Products Reviews - This is one of the easiest things to add to your website. No one knows your products like you do. Give your visitors a complete detail of how to use, what to do or how your specific product or service can help them.

Blogs- Blogs can greatly increase your visibly but they have to be created and used properly. Blogs do require a commitment from you but remember this; the search engines just love them. Your blog needs to have a specific reason, a draw for your visitors, a reason that they would bookmark it and come back and read it time and time again. Whatever you decide to blog about it needs to be updated on a daily or every other day to make it work for you.

Customer Testimonials - What a great way to show your potential clients the confidence your past customers have in your products or services. Ask all your clients to provide you a short testimonial. It is an easy way to add current content to you site often.

Industry Tips & Ideas - You are the true expert in your industry and your customers want to hear what you have to say. Everyone likes to get something for free, so share a bit of your knowledge with them by providing free tips and ideas on how to better use your products or services.

Newsletters - E-Newsletters are a great way to keep your name in front of your customers, but what many website owners fail to do is to add those newsletters to their websites. With the over abundance of junk email we get many people opt out to receive e-newsletters on a regular basis. In this case it would benefit you by adding those weekly or monthly newsletters to your site so they can be read there.

A couple things to remember when adding new content (pages) to your site:

Don't forget to make your title tags captivating.

Keep your keywords toward the front of your title, description and keyword tags. (Even though very few search engines take into account the description or keyword tags anymore it is always best to still add them.)

If writing an article take one of your keyword phrases and write a specific article about that, keeping in mind keyword density.

Which ever of the above ideas you choose to use keep in mind your target market and create your new pages with it in mind... Remember industry related content!

Don't forget to update your site map with your new pages.

Update your Yahoo urllist.txt and your sitemap.xml file with Google as well.

Lastly...add a new page to your site every week better yet every day!

Author - Tracy Fredrychowski - SEO Instructor Search Engine Academy of SC http://www.searchengineacademysc.com Learn the latest principles and strategies of search engine optimization and become a Certified SEO Professional. The Search Engine Academy of SC holds SEO workshops in Greenville, Columbia and Charleston, South Carolina.

Professional SEO Instructor with the Searh Engine Academy of SC

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tracy_Fredrychowski

Who I am:

Chris Guerrette is an account manager for ImageWorks, LLC in Vernon, CT. ImageWorks, LLC has been an established company for 10 years and can accommodate your business website needs in many ways. Please visit our portfolio on our website at http://www.imagesites.com

We have done work for Fortune 500 companies such as UPS, Merrill Lynch, and Yahoo. Chris has been working in the Internet Publishing Field for over 10 years. If you have any web design, web development, hosting, or intermnet marketing needs including myspace.com design and marketing along with blog writing services, we can help. Contact Chris at chris@imagesites.com

Who do you trust with your website design???

2007-05-06T21:37:43Z

Who do you trust with your internet business?

Having a work at home business, or your successful business that you have had for 20 years going to the next level with a website, who do you trust? As you decide that you want to venture into a website for your business, making the decision of who will take care of you for all of your website needs is VERY important, probably the most important.

There are a multitude of companies and freelancers that can build you a website. There are many items that you will need to know and watch as you choose the company for your new or established business.

1) Experience and Portfolio - As you are looking for a web design company to put together your website, what is the most important as information to assist you in your buying decision is the portfolio and experience that the company has. A lot of new business that the company ImageWorks, LLC out of Vernon, CT gets as clients are redesign or businesses that want a new host and takeover for service on the website. The internet is an open market for everyone who conducts business on the internet, and having the right company running your website is very important. There are scenarios of websites malfunctioning, websites not looking right to attract the customer, or the hosting just not working right and handling the increase in traffic.

2) Customer Service- Make sure that when you decide to choose a website design company, that you are going to be able to reach the people in charge of your website at any time, or if you happen to leave a message that they call you right back and correct or fix any problems that may arise. Many website design companies create problems for themselves and they then escalate to bigger problems when they do not answer their customer needs right away. If a website design company works only through email, stay away!

3) Services offered - when choosing the website design company, be sure that they are well rounded in their knowledge if design and SEO. Here is an example. Let us say you buy a car, and the first time you go to the dealer to get it repaired, they tell you that they cannot do that type of repair. They are a limited service garage, and that the car owner would have to go across town and get it repaired there because they have the right tools. Same thing with your website design company. Choosing the right company to handle every kind of design, hosting and search engine optimization will give you true success on the net and save you a lot of money in the end.

4) Reputation- When choosing your website design company, before you decide who to hire, be sure that the website design company has a good reputation and that you can contact their portfolio. If the website design company objects to you calling any of their customers, then maybe they are hiding information about their reputation.

Protect yourself when hiring a website design company for your business. In the end, this can make or break you as you as you venture into the online world for your business.

Chris Guerrette is an account manager for ImageWorks, LLC in Vernon, CT. ImageWorks has been a company for 10 years. ImageWorks can accommodate your business web needs in many ways. Please see our portfolio on our website. We have done work for Fortune 500 companies such as UPS, Merrill Lynch, and Yahoo. Chris has been working in the Internet Publishing Field for over 10 years. If you have any web, hosting internet marketing needs including myspace.com design and marketing and blogging services, we can help you. Contact Chris at chris@imagesites.com for more information.

Why blogs are a powerhouse for your business....

2007-05-01T10:10:36Z

Blogs are the newest and best thing when it comes to helping you grow and get traffic for your site on the net. How does this work

exactly? What is the process?

What the most important item that you need for your real estate blog to work with your business is the following:

1) Time- you need the dedication to post a new blog at least 3 times a week, every other day. Search engines LOVE new

content, and reward you with new content. However, do not post everyday, or it can ruin you.

2) Keywords- do not place a blog with no important keywords. Keywords are what a search engine lives off of. If you provide

the right keywords, and it is in your blog, then the search engine will be your friend.

3) Connect your blog to your website- Outside blogs are cool and the biggest and best thing going, but for your business,

you need to have a blog either attached to your website or within your website. When this is done, the search engines will

help you and get you noticed and found.

4) Use RSS feeds- People like content, and new content makes people happy. It is like getting the mail, it is a lot of fun to

go to the mailbox and find a new package. The same goes for RSS feeds. RSS feeds let people know you are still around

and its an invitation to let them know you have just submitted some new information.

I hope this gives you all some information about the power of blogs. Blogs can really help you with your real estate business,

mortgage business or insurance business. If you have any questions about blogging, please feel free to contact me.

Chris Guerrette is an Account Manager for ImageWorks, LLC in Vernon, CT. His company offers many SEO services including

keyword analysis, linking, blogging for hire, and social network marketing. If you have any needs for these services, please

contact Chris at 860-647-7725 x 202. You may also visit his company website at www.imagesites.com

Web Design done the right way! Get the perfect site for your business....

2007-04-23T10:29:07Z

Problems with your website? Full Steam Ahead with ImageWorks, LLC.

Over 50 years of staff experience in web development provides our small business customers with a distinct advantage.

OUR SERVICES INCLUDE:

Here are some of the errors that we encounter with our clients that have a website:

Complete Needs Analysis
Site Tune Up
Complete design and redesign
Site Maintenance
E-Commerce and Hosting

If you have a website but are not happy with the look and feel, load time, operation, maintenance, or functionality, then ImageWorks, LLC can streamline your internet operations.

Contact Chris at 860-647-7725 or chris@imagesites.com
Please visit our portfolio at http://www.imagesites.com

Traffic, come get your traffic here! Need more leads? We can help!

2007-04-23T10:26:17Z

Who is directing your web traffic?

Over 50 years of staff experience in web development and search engine marketing provides our customers with a distinct advantage.

ImageWorks, LLC uses the latest technologies and techniques to drive QUALIFIED traffic to your website, increasing your site's ROI and your marketing dollars conversion ratios.

Our Traffic Building Techniques include:

Competitive Keyword Analysis
Repetitive Search Engine Submissions
Integrated Linking Solutions
Targeted Email Marketing
Blogging Services
Social Network Marketing

If you have a website but are not happy with your online marketing results, then ImageWorks, LLC can help streamline your marketing operations.

Contact Chris at 860-647-7725 or chris@imagesites.com
Please visit our portfolio at http://www.imagesites.com

Web Marketing Checklist - Choosing a Web Marketing Company

2007-04-09T14:16:25Z

If you're searching for a web marketing company to help you grow your online presence and increase profits, these are the criteria you should look for (at a minimum).

Search Engine Optimization
When interviewing Austin web marketing companies, be sure to ask what kind of search engine optimization talent they have in-house. This is critical. Because after all, even if you have excellent lead-generation tools on your site, it won't matter if nobody can find your website.

Lead Generation Strategies
Things like search engine optimization, pay-per-click and online PR can get people to your website. But what do you do with them once they're on your site? How do you convert your traffic into sales? These are lead generation questions, and your web marketing company should be able to answer them without hesitation. They should understand how to get your web visitors to respond in some way. Otherwise, your traffic will never amount to sales.

Blogging Support
Business blogs are all the rage right now. There are many reasons for this. Blogs give publishing power to even the most unskilled of web novices. If you can type and send an email, you can publish content to a blog. For these reasons and more, ask your web marketing company if they can set you up with a blog and train you on how to use it.

Website Usability
Who's going to be updating and managing your website, you or the web marketing firm? This is an important question to ask before selecting a web marketing company. Here's why. Some website marketing companies build sites that only a programmer can manage. Such a website can not be updated by the average Joe or Jane -- it will take the programmer's assistance. So each time you want to update your website, you'll have to pay the web marketing company to do it for you.

If you ask me, this kind of approach is outdated. With the abundance of content-management tools available today, there's no reason you can't have an easy-to-manage website. For example, when I build websites for clients, I often use WordPress. This blog program can be configured in such a way that it serves as both a blog and a website. Best of all, the website owner can add content and make updates ... without any programming skills to speak of. If this kind of usability is important to you (and it should be), ask your web designer or web marketing company about it. If they tell you they don't offer anything like that, you may want to keep shopping around.

Web Marketing Success Stories
Any web marketing company should be able to share some success stories with you. Even if they've only been in business a short while, they should have some case studies to share. If they don't, you can consider yourself their guinea pig. Are you comfortable with that role?

Conclusion
These are just a few of the things you should look for in a web marketing company. These are the criteria I feel are most important, but you can probably add to my list with your own criteria. By all means do so!

About the Author

Brandon Cornett provides Austin web marketing services, SEO training and more. Visit the author's popular SEO blog at http://www.austinseoguy.com/seo-tips

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Brandon_Cornett

Why you work as hard as you do and love what you do.....

2007-03-29T07:29:27Z

How to Get Money When You Are Broke - You will never have to do this because you love your job and are persistant in acheiving high goals.

(Money You Don't Have to Pay Back)

1. One way to get money is to have a yard sale and sell items that you are getting ready to toss away because you don't want them any longer.

2. You can always gather shells at the beach and polish and turn into jewelry.

3. Get cash surrender from life insurance policy.

4. Paint faces on rocks and sell as paper weights.

5. Go to a pawn shop and pawn some jewelry.

6. Borrow from a relative.

7. Go get welfare pay or food stamps.

8. Dig small trees from woods and sell to homeowners.

9. Learn names of wild plants and plant in pots for sale.

10. Roll newspapers up in logs, tie, dye and let dry... then sell(fireplace).

11. Cut up old shirts and dresses and make pot holders out of them and sell.

12. Cut square towels out of old tossed out clothes and sell as wiping rags.

13. Gather driftwood from the beach areas and sell to craft shops.

14. Paint old used wine bottles and sell as hand painted vases.

15. Go house to house and paint house numbers on curbs for a fee.

16. Take the lawn mower house to house to mow lawns for a fee.

17. Offer to dig or spade gardens for local neighbors for money.

18. Offer to sell fishing (earth) worms as bait - dig in garden to get the worms.

19. Paint house exteriors in spare hours. Charge prevailing rate.

20. Gather pine cones and sell to craft shops.

21. Turn pine cones into useful jewelry, etc. and sell to shops or houses.

22. Spray old building bricks gold, sell as "Fort Knox Rejects" paper weight.

23. Paint bricks a vibrant enamel and sell as toilet bowl displacements.

24. Fill coffee cans full of plaster, paint all over and sell as door stops.

25. Gather vegetables from your garden and sell at road side stand.

26. Walk pets for your neighbors for pay.

27. Baby-sit for profits.

28. House sit for vacationers, get extra by upkeeping grounds.

29. Make fudge and sell house to house.

30. Do typing for fellow students or fellow workers for a fee.

31. Type menus for restaurants for a certain amount per menu.

32. Read books and do reports for a fee for students.

33. Research any subject (in library) for $25 a page.

34. Paint scrolls and designs on plates or make birthday plates,charge $19 each.

35. Teach people to do calisthenics, charge $2 an hour and have 10 at time.

36. Teach dancing and charge $2 an hour, and have 10 at a time.

37. Learn to do juggling and clowning, put on shows for pay.

38. Rent out as a clown to birthday parties, affairs, etc.

39. Get good at telling jokes and rent out to night clubs.

40. Sing for money at night clubs.

41. Make crafts and sell them at road side yard stand.

42. Teach others to make crafts ($2 each) and have 10 at each class.

43. Bake fruit pies and sell house to house (or in stores at holidays)

44. Make Christmas wreaths during holiday season to sell, using discarded boughs from your own and neighbors' Christmas trees.

45. Make Christmas candles from paraffin wax and sell at Christmas time.

46. Polish shoes for office workers by going office to office once a day every day and charge 50 cents a shine - lawyers best bet here.? Also see all accountants, clerks, insurance agents, etc.