Creating a Corporate Writing Style
Developing a corporate writing style will unify your company’s communications and create a unique ‘voice’ that enhances corporate recognition and brand awareness. To ensure that your corporate writing style is applied consistently, you need a style-guide.
Writing style refers to the words and expressions - as well as to the spelling, grammar and punctuation - a person uses when writing letters and memos. Each of us has a personal style of writing which, like our speaking voice, is usually recognizable.
To distinguish itself from its competitors your company also needs its own writing style, one that will make it recognizable and enhance brand awareness.
The problem is that corporate communications are written by many people, each with their own personal style. This is especially true where particular documents, such as newsletters, technical manuals and corporate brochures, websites and ezines, contain contributions from several people.
Thus there is a need to create a company writing style that unifies written communications and reflects corporate identity and image.
If you examine the brochures and websites of major corporations you’ll see that the style of writing varies - sometimes subtly but always distinctively - from one company to the next. You will also notice that the corporate literature of each particular company reflects a unified style, as if it had all been written by the same person, ie the same corporate personality.
The best way to achieve a unified writing style that is stamped with your corporate personality is to create a document called a style-guide.
A style-guide is a booklet that covers word, phrase and sentence usage, and approaches to be taken in structuring particular types of communications, such as brochures, technical manuals or ezines, as well as common errors in grammar and syntax. It lays down the ‘rules’ to be followed when writing corporate literature.
A style-guide should provide your corporate communications with a distinct vocabulary and cadence that is appropriate to your business. Obviously a writing style that is suitable for a financial services company or bank must differ greatly from the style of a fashion house. An appropriate style-guide will provide your company with the overall tone and word-quality you need to communicate successfully with your target audiences.
When devising a style-guide, an independent consultant is essential to preserve objectivity. Giving the job to an in-house executive may result in writing style that is contentious because everyone within your company is likely to have views on what is an appropriate and ‘correct’ style. An external writing consultant will have the experience needed to devise an appropriate style - it’s his main job after all.
The consultant will begin with an examination of your company, its marketing efforts, communication channels and target audiences. He or she will also peruse the company’s marketing communications and other corporate literature. This getting-to-know-you phase must be done thoroughly which can take time.
Once he understands your company, its communication objectives and typical audiences, the consultant will be in a position to draft a corporate style manual and agree its content with senior management. To illustrate the value of the proposed writing style, he or she should rewrite some of your recent corporate literature and show how the proposed style will enhance corporate recognition and branding.
You should always ensure that the final guide is delivered in electronic format so that it may be printed and distributed among your staff without restriction. Once it has been issued, you will also need to take steps to ensure that the writing ‘rules’ are followed in all communications with markets and stakeholders.
A well-thought out writing style-guide with clear understandable rules, which are applied consistently to all corporate literature - print and electronic - will ensure clarity and harmony in your corporate communications and reinforce corporate personality. It’s just as important as your logo and visual imagery.
About the Author: Paul D Kennedy is a business consultant and writer. His writing services solve corporate writing challenges and imbue business communications with clarity, impact and persuasiveness. http://www.writingservices.eu
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Since Twitter launched, there was one question to rule them all: What’s the point? The point of Twitter is still debatable, but a few hundred thousand people funneled in anyway, people from all kinds of backgrounds and interests, people with all kinds of connections. Only one problem: To find people, you had to depend on luck, or at least stumbling through a maze of faces and followers with the hope of finding someone interesting or relevant.
We love feedback. Check out Twellow, and let us know what you think in the comments section.
Enter Twellow.com, WebProNews’s Twitter people search and directory platform, a yellow pages for Twitter, or, as blogger David Risley has described it: this is awesomesauce. We don’t want to brag, especially since we made it, but it is kind of, well, awesomesauce.
Here’s the basics: Based upon Twitter’s open API, Twellow allows Twitterers to search for people on Twitter or, if they don’t exactly know who they’re looking for, they can search by categories sorted by keywords related to such things as industry, interests, or hobbies. If a user is looking to connect with someone in publishing, for example, Twellow will bring back Twitterers who have indicated that on their profiles, ranked by number of followers.
It even brings back what they’re most recent tweet was. Maggie Mason, for example, author of No One Cares What You Had for Lunch, a book on better blogging, tweets about her struggle with tissue paper and gift boxes, which suddenly becomes a metaphor for death. Not bad for a 140 characters. Call it flash non-fiction.Though we’ve been quietly nudging people about it for a little while, once the blogosphere got a good look at it, this new Twitter directory saw a spike in usage of over 600 percent in under 16 hours.
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“It kind of got out of the bag before we intended,” said Twellow lead developer Matthew Daines. By “we,” he means himself and WebProNews publisher and iEntry, Inc. CEO Rich Ord. And by “before we intended,” he means Twellow’s still at the alpha stage, just two months after conceptualization.
Nonetheless, Profy.com’s Leslie Poston blogs that despite its alpha status, Twellow “is surprisingly complete.” Once people started talking about it, and they did talk about it at sufficient length on blog after blog, a chorus of “one more thing” came spiraling through our blogospheric ear canals: Now that I can be found and indexed, how do I control what Twellow says about me?
Because Twellow pulled from how people had categorized and named themselves on Twitter before there was a Twellow around, some were surprised or dissatisfied with how they were now appearing in public, as though caught picking up the morning paper off the porch (nice slippers!). Not a problem, users can now edit their own results.
See, we’re swell. As Twellow grows, those wishing to come out from behind their shrouds of anonymity and obscurity would be wise to complete their profiles so Twellow and. . .Twellowers? . . . know what to make of them.
After the jump, more awesomesauce: What bloggers had to say about Twellow, and an interview with lead developer Matthew Daines.
What Bloggers Are Saying about Twellow.com
“Straight from the ‘why didn’t Twitter build that’ category. . .” Scott Clark, Finding the Sweet Spot. Clark’s own interview with Matthew can be found here. “. . .could fundamentally change the way people use [Twitter].” Adam Ostrow, Mashable.com.
“Once I started using it, I was hooked. . . .A lot of folks, myself included, make sure to use useful key words in their Twitter profiles, and now there is a reason other than SEO. You can be indexed in Twellow!” Michelle Lentz, bub.blicio.us.
“The site is actually as much news service as directory. . .a godsend for specialist journalists who can quickly build up a list of twitterers in their field.” Online Journalism Blog.
“I think you will find this invaluable for building a solid network of people who are interested in what you have to say - personal or professional.” RSSApplied.
“Twellow has absolutely made my bookmarked list of Twitter tools.” Leslie Poston, Profy.com.
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About the Author:
Jason Lee Miller is a WebProNews editor and writer covering business and technology.
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6 Qualities of a Good Domain Name
Choosing a good domain name is crucial to the success or failure of your business. You may wonder how something so small and slight could have an impact on your business, but the best way to compare this is to think about how important location is to an offline business? If you do not have a good location, you are likely not going to get many visitors. The same holds true for a good domain name as well.
Here, you will discover the six qualities that a good domain name must have to ensure maximum success.
1.) Memorable
A good domain name must be memorable. Yes, we have the option of bookmarking a site that we enjoy; however, the hard truth is that many people do not take advantage of bookmarking. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that your domain name is one that is easy to remember and makes an impact. It should be easy, memorable, and straight forward.
Avoid complexity and it is usually a good idea to avoid initials in most cases. The only exception to this rule would be if the letters represented the website name or business and was still easy to remember.
2.) Short and Sweet
Twenty characters is the maximum that you should use for a good domain name, ten is even better. A long and complicated domain name is not going to help you. Your best bet is to keep it short and sweet. A great domain name is less than ten characters; a good domain name is less than twenty characters. A bad domain name goes over twenty characters.
3.) Be Choosy On Your Extension
There are several domain extensions available to you such as .com, .net, .org, .tv, .info, .gov and so on. However, some of these work better than others and are more memorable at the same time. It is important to understand that some extensions also have restrictions such as .gov is reserved specifically for government websites. The .com domain name extension is the best by far, because it is the most widely used.
The .net extension is the second best, but be prepared most people will type .com before they will .net if they cannot remember which extension you use. The type of extension you use might also have a bearing on the type of website. Some people have come to expect certain things when a particular extension. For example, .org is typically used by not-for-profit organization and educational websites. The .info extensions are generally used for informational websites.
4.) Spelling Means Everything
Having a difficult to spell domain name could cause you some trouble. Again, many do not even make use of bookmarks; therefore, if your domain name is hard to spell, they may end up at a competitor’s website.
A good domain name contains only words that are easy to pronounce, have a good combination of words or letters that are used in every day language, and does not contain foreign words that may be difficult to non-native speakers.
5.) Tells a Story
A good domain name should be descriptive and tell a story. In other words, when your visitors, customers, or potential customers see your domain name they should instantly be able to tell what they are going to find. For instance, if it is your business, a business name is good.
6.) Avoid Fancy Symbols
It is never a good idea to use numbers or hyphens within your domain name. Even if your domain name is memorable, many people will not pay attention to the symbols, which could lead them to someone else’s website.
About the Author: Joseph Nyamache has the worst domain name. Learn not to make the same mistakes at expired domain names blog.
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Test Your Way To Greater Conversions and Internet Success!
Testing your website pages, especially landing pages, squeeze pages and sales pages is one of the most profitable things you can do to tweak your pages and gain higher conversions. On top of that, you can learn more about copywriting though split tests and other means of testing your web pages than any other way.
Back in the days of mail order marketing, testing sales letters and catalogs gathered more real information about new concepts and ideas than through most other methods of research at that time. In these days of the internet, the bell even rings louder.
You can test whole concepts of your pages to find out what emotional triggers and core desires your market truly respond to. Simply test two or three versions of your sales page that each focus on a separate theme or slant on the product or service. The page that pulls the most conversions will give you the answers you are looking for.
In this day of fierce online competition, testing is something you should, no MUST do to gain the highest conversions from your website and pages. If you’re not actively testing your pages, your competition will soon pass you by.
What Exactly Should You Be Testing?
The simple answer is: Everything! Everything on your pages and in your sales message is a contributing factor to your conversion rate. This includes your headline, opening paragraphs, body copy, your offer, post scripts, background color, font, font colors, images and every imaginable component of your page in between.
Volumes of information have been written about what to test and how to test your web pages. This work is extensive, so when you begin to test, I suggest you concentrate your first efforts on the three areas that have been shown to have the most impact on your sales page, the headline, the first three (or four) opening paragraphs, and your offer.
In this article, I will focus on Headlines as they are the critical element of your page.
Testing Headlines
Headline changes can have the most impact on your conversion rate and response of these three components. 75 - 80% of your visitors will never read past the headline. It doesn’t matter how wonderful you have written your sales page, if the headline doesn’t work correctly and do its job of getting people to read on, your page will be a failure.
In order for your headline to be effective, you have to discover the biggest core desires within your market to feed. The best headline test are based around the different core desires and motivating reasons why people would be interested in your product or service.
Testing different headlines around different concepts will tell you which one is more appealing to your market audience. Once you have the key concepts and desires tested and you have discovered which one works best, you then go to work tweaking your headline in more alluring and persuasive ways.
Split testing is generally used to test headlines. In the beginning, you will probably want to use simple A/B split testing but if you are dealing with high volume traffic and high price sales, you may want to consider speeding up the process with multi-variate testing. You can find out more about these tests by going to: What Is Split Testing?.
What Type of Headline Format Do You Test?
There are some classic headline formats that have been shown to be effective over time that you can begin with. There’s the “If/Then” headline, “Amazing Secrets of …” headline, the “Who Else Wants to …” headline, and of course the classic “How to …” headline.
Test as many headlines as you can think up for your web page. In fact, you should never stop testing different headlines on your page. A simple 10% increase in your conversions could result in hundreds to tens of thousands of dollar or more. Testing your headlines could bring an increase of 50%, 100%, or even 200% or more in the response your web page brings.
The next time that you feel that your landing page, sales page or squeeze page should be converting better, think about testing the component of your page to increase the effectiveness and response that it should be eliciting.
Continue reading more about this fascinating arena of online marketing by going to: Testing Your Web Pages.
About the Author: Jim Bruce is a SEO Web Consultant and writes frequently about search engine optimization techniques and search marketing. You can find out more about these topics by going to Ristvin Marketing.
Top 20 Contributing Factors For Google SEO
Websites are quickly becoming one of the most popular ways of advertising. Whether it be a business, its product or service or something completely different, everyone of all ages are turning to the web as a method of getting their message out there. With the popularity of this marketing medium increasing and the number of websites always growing, it is obvious that everyone wants to appear at the top of Google’s search engine rankings. Achieving such a task is never an easy feat, however with a bit of perseverance, one can definitely increase their chances of reaching that glorious first page result.
Given that there is a heap of websites out there who are on the first page, what is their secret? It is a little industry term called “SEO” and it stands for Search Engine Optimisation. SEO basically consists of the customisation of your website, its content and its internal and external links to assist in the overall indexing and ranking of your website in popular search engines. There are many contributing factors that are used in determining a website’s ranking and every search engine is different. This makes trying to optimise your site for Google, Yahoo, Live and the many others quite a pain staking task.
As most of us are aware, Google is currently the most popular search engine for the majority of Internet users. As such, it is only normal that we’d want to focus our sights on achieving a higher ranking within Google first with a hope that the rest will follow. To do this, we must start a journey that could potentially take months before we start seeing any real change, however we have to start somewhere.
Our journey begins by defining some of the key contributing factors that Google uses to determine a website and webpage’s ranking within its results. These factors range from keyword use to manipulating internal and external links and the list goes on. To get you started, we have listed the top twenty factors that you should focus on in order to help get your website that little bit closer to the top of the search engine results listing.
Keyword Use Factors
The following components relate to the use of the user’s search query terms in determining the rank of a particular page.
1. Keyword Use in Title Tag - Placing the targeted search term or phrase in the title tag of the web page’s HTML header.
2. Keyword Use in Body Text - Using the targeted search term in the visible, HTML text of the page.
3. Relationship of Body Text Content to Keywords - Topical relevance of text on the page compared to targeted keywords.
4. Keyword Use in H1 Tag - Creating an H1 tag with the targeted search term/phrase.
5. Keyword Use in Domain Name & Page URL - Including the targeted term/phrase in the registered domain name, i.e. keyword.com plus target terms in the webpage URL, i.e. seomoz.org/keyword-phrase.
Page Attributes
The following elements comprise how the Google interprets specific data about a webpage independent of keywords.
6. Link Popularity within the Site’s Internal Link Structure - Refers to the number and importance of internal links pointing to the target page 7. Quality/Relevance of Links to External Sites/Pages - Do links on the page point to high quality, topically-related pages? 8. Age of Document - Older pages may be perceived as more authoritative while newer pages may be more temporally relevant 9. Amount of Indexable Text Content - Refers to the literal quantity of visible HTML text on a page 10. Quality of the Document Content (as measured algorithmically) - Assuming search engines can use text, visual or other analysis methods to determine the validity and value of content, this metric would provide some level of rating.
Site/Domain Attributes
The factors below contribute to Google’s rankings based on the site/domain on which a page resides.
11. Global Link Popularity of Site - The overall link weight/authority as measured by links from any and all sites across the web (both link quality and quantity) 12. Age of Site - Not the date of original registration of the domain, but rather the launch of indexable content seen by the search engines (note that this can change if a domain switches ownership) 13. Topical Relevance of Inbound Links to Site - The subject-specific relationship between the sites/pages linking to the target page and the target keyword 14. Link Popularity of Site in Topical Community - The link weight/authority of the target website amongst its topical peers in the online world 15. Rate of New Inbound Links to Site - The frequency and timing of external sites linking in to the given domain.
Inbound Link Attribute
These pieces affect Google’s weighting of links from external websites pointing to a page and ultimately will assist in the ranking of that page.
16. Anchor Text of Inbound Link.
17. Global Link Popularity of Linking Site.
18. Topical Relationship of Linking Page.
19. Link Popularity of Site in Topical Community - The link weight/authority of the target website amongst its topical peers in the online world.
20. Age of Link.
Negative Crawling/Ranking Attributes
There are also some points we should make before you start getting your hands dirty. With any type of SEO marketing, there are some things that can actually have a negative impact on your ranking. These following components may negatively affect a spider’s ability to crawl a page or its rankings at Google.
* Server is Often Inaccessible to Bots.
* Content Very Similar or Duplicate of Existing Content in the Index.
* External Links to Low Quality/Spam Sites.
* Duplicate Title/Meta Tags on Many Pages.
* Overuse of Targeted Keywords (Stuffing/Spamming).
It’s now time to get busy! Start prioritising your tasks, modifying your content and building your internal and external links to meet some of the above guidelines. Keep in mind that improving indexing is mostly a technical task, improving ranking is mostly a business/marketing strategy, what might work now may not work in the future and finally, it takes time. Loads of time. Still, with a bit of trial and error and a good dose of persistence, you can achieve the search engine ranking you’re after.
About the Author: Jon Bergan is the owner of Bergan Blue, an Australian based creative design firm focused on bridging the gap between the online world of the Internet with the offline world of Marketing. Please visit http://www.berganblue.com.au for more information.
First off, I’d like to wish all the Dads a very
happy Father’s Day. We will be watching the
Comrades Marathon today.
Last weekend I gave you 2 sites for wonderful fr.ee
stuff to download. I normally give you a great
membership site on Sundays, but in trying to satisfy
those who are hungry for graphics, I must tell you
about a huge pack of graphics you can have for fr.ee.
This pack contains headers, footers and templates and
is worth $950,but you can have them all for nothing.
Download, Copy, Paste. It’s As Easy As 1, 2, 3
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Because They Are Yours……Absolutely Fr.ee!
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Hope you like them!
Regards and good luck!
Derek Robson
Dersalsites
http://www.dersalsites.com/myblog/
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Dersal, 3 Penny Lane, Pietermaritzburg, KZN 3209, SOUTH AFRICA
Happy father’s day! GIVAWAY
It’s a special day, and I hope you can pass this to all
the father’s you know. It is a day to give thanks for
everything a father has, and to enjoy a day to enjoy
the family and the people that love you.
Here is a special gift that every father will enjoy:
http://referralcamp.com/happyfathersday
All the best,
Jack Sinclair
p.s. you can get everything offered without signing up - just look at the fine
print after you register.
143 Grove Ave, Ottawa, ON K1S3B2, CANADA
Extention of ZenZuu 2008 convention T-SHIRT contest YOU CAN WIN!
The whole organization is breaking new record of members every day. Due to many request by ZenZuu members to extend the exciting ZenZuu 2008 convention T-SHITS contest, tell your downline, families and friends about the renewing of ZenZuu collectible 2008 convention T-SHIRT contest, THE MORE T_SHIRT THEY WIN, THE MORE MEMBER YOU HAVE.
THE CONTEST EFFECTIVELY STARTS FROM NOW TILL THE LASVEGAS 2008 CONVENTION SO YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE YOUR EXCITING SUCCESS STORY ON THE STAGE WITH OTHER MEMBERS WORDLWIDE AT THE CONVENTION!!!
So, starts on June 6th ,2008, ending June 22nd , 2008
Zenzuu collectible T-SHIRT Contest for members worldwide.
Any ZenZuu member who refers 2 new persons and helps each of these 2 persons refer 2 each during the period starting June 6th ,2008, ending June 22nd , 2008 is recognized as a ZenZuu Star of the convention and receives a collectible ZenZuu 2008 Las Vegas Convention limited edition T- SHIRT. This one of a kind, future collector’s item is to be presented to you at the exciting ZenZuu 2008 Las Vegas Convention (If you cannot be there, it will be sent to you)
Due to limited availability (because we want to make these T-SHIRTS collectible items), to claim your prize, you must be on the ZenZuu special live conference call for the ZenZuu Las Vegas June 21st & 22nd 2008 Convention at 646-519-5860 pin number 3214# at 7 PM PST any day during the week starting June 1st ,2008, ending June 22nd , 2008 . On this live conference call, simply announce your name, and the names of the two new members you sponsored, and the names of the four persons these two persons sponsored (two each), immediately after, you must follow up by going to the Web Site: www.ZenZuuconvention.com, give us the detail information to claim your prize. No purchase necessary. This offer is void where prohibited. Contestant must be at least 18 years old.
Be a ZENZUU Hero, the few persons you help grow this week could grow to tens of thousands and help secure your financial future!
Success of the week:
Congratulation for the ZenZuu June 21st & 22nd 2008 Convention collectible T-SHIRT winners so far:
Visit this Site often to view updated ZenZuu 2008 Convention T-SHIRT winners pictures
Congratulation to a ZenZuu visionary member:
It takes four months for a future!
Fred Erickson heard about ZenZuu Global Advertising Revenue Share program and its beta pre launch in Feb 2008, he got so excited for his future and told a few friends about ZenZuu immediately,
Are you excited?
Fred’s few friends told their families and friends to get on the ZenZuu daily conference, they also got excited about it, and told their families and friends…
Are you happy for FRED?
Today, Fred HAS OVER 55,000 IN HIS DOWNLINE.
Are you the one who someday will say I WISH I DID? Or I am glad I DID!
The number of people in his down line keeps on growing even when FRED is sleeping.
Have you seen a better opportunity?
DO YOU THINK FRED ‘S MONTHLY ZENZUU ADVERTISING REVENUE SHARE CHECK WILL KEEP ON GROWING IN HIS FUTURE?
CAN YOU IMAGINE THE SAME HAPPENING FOR YOUR FUTURE, OR BETTER?
NOTHING HAPPENS UNLESS YOU MAKE IT HAPPEN.
FREE TO JOIN AND YOU CAN GET PAID, MAY BE EVEN A FORTUNE!
Log in, Go to your ZenZuu Welcome Center, Click on Marketing, print out the ZenZuu flyer and start telling people about ZenZuu, and how easy it is to recruit their friends by just telling them to get in on the next ZenZuu daily Conference calls.
The wonderful future is what you make it to be….TODAY!
Have you ever found a better opportunity than Zenzuu? FREE to Join, and you can MAKE MONEY, May be lots of it.
Can you afford to walk away from what could be one of the greatest accomplishment of your life?
Print out your marketing flyer, start bringing people to the ZenZuu Live Conference calls NOW!
It is easy to ZenZuu. Many leaders of ZenZuu started out with a few recruits, why not you?
Check out the ZenZuu collectible 2008 convention T-SHIRT winners, do they look more special than you. Do not think it just a T-SHIRT that you will win, but it is definitely represent the CONTENT OF YOUR TRUE DESIRE TO SUCCEED. Today you have the will to create success to win a T-SHIRT, the same will can lead you to create bigger financial achievement in your life!
Your future is dependent on what you do TODAY!
Have a ZenZuu time!
Video Marketing for Small Businesses
Technology has created video marketing opportunities - cable TV, email marketing, websites and video - for small businesses to be on an even playing field with large companies. From extremely inexpensive video streaming in an email to the full-production TV ad with hired actors, even small companies and home-based businesses can include video advertising in their budget.
You might be asking why you should consider it at all when your current advertising is working just fine. Aside from the fact that adding another strategy to your marketing plan is a good idea, videos are very personal. Who better to discuss your service or product than you? It brings a familiarity to you and your company, which allows the prospect to feel like they already know you. If the message is directed to your current customer base, seeing and hearing you gives the feeling that you are presenting your message directly to them.
There are professional videos and way too often, not so professional videos. Most of us cringe when we hear a car salesman screaming about a wonderful deal waiting for you if you’ll come down RIGHT NOW! Or the windows and siding guy who squawks about the fantastic savings if you call within the next 30 minutes (but the ad runs all day long). These are stereotypes of TV advertising available for the small business owner. But it doesn’t have to be that way!
Cable TV ads can be very cost effective because you can be specific where your ad dollars will be spent. The cable company has demographic statistics so you can learn what programs are viewed most frequently by your target market then select where (as specific as the zip codes) and when you want your ads to run. The variety of shows cable companies have in their lineup provides a fantastic choice for the advertiser. In addition, they can also slot your ad in during the Big 3 networks’ shows as well.
Videos aren’t only just for cable TV. There are many companies that create videos which can be linked to websites, newsletters, social networking sites and email signature lines. They serve many purposes from advertising to introducing a new product or service to just send a keeping-in-touch message to current clients. These videos are also used for on-line training and even instructions to learn how to use a new networking website (http://www.OneDegreeConnected.com). Some are scripted, while others are produced to simulate a talk show format. Compare cost as well as professionalism. This form of advertising can be extremely high-quality or can be an embarrassment to your company’s image. Get referrals! View some of the finished productions of each company you are considering before signing any contract.
You can even create your own video while sitting in your office. Do you have a video camera or a video cam connected to your computer? You’re all set to create your own video stream to be placed in emails or on your website. A word of caution is to make sure it’s not too long. Keep it less than 90 seconds and you’ll usually keep the viewer’s interest.
Video has created the opportunity for business owners to star in their own commercials. Consider the scenarios mentioned earlier of what video advertising could - but shouldn’t - be. Luckily, these are the exception and not the rule; most ads are professional from writing the ad copy to the production. Of course, it’s important to remember that the familiar saying “junk in, junk out” holds true for video more than any other media. You’re dealing with three methods of presenting the message: content, visual and audio.
Therefore, if you choose to take part in your videos, it’s best to receive some coaching prior to production. Accent On Business (http://www.accentonbusiness.net), known throughout the United States, will help you with voice and presentation skills. Public speakers, politicians, sports figures, CEOs and others consult with a professional voice and speech coach; so should you. You will have total control over what needs to be said, but they will help you say it with the professionalism that will provide the image you want to present.
New technology has made video marketing very affordable even for the smallest budget. There are a variety of opportunities and one will certainly fit your budget. Consider video in your next marketing plan. You’ll find a new media that will present your company with a fresh message and make it personal.
About the Author: Cindy Hartman invites you to view her marketing video at http://www.HartmanInventory.com to discover why you need a personal property inventory. Also learn about a complete business startup package for a business or home inventory service. Let the Hartman’s help you start and grow your own personal property inventory service.
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Determining How Long Your Traffic Stays
How long your traffic stays on your website is an indication of how interesting you have made your website.
It is always good to check the number of visitors coming to your site and how long they have stayed. How do you check this? You will check this by your log files. This is done by your c-panel or a similar place depending on what your host has set up for you. Here you can view the different stats about your website.
They will show you:
* Monthly stats-how many visitors came to your site during one month. These will be divided into unique and general (repeat visitors).
* Weekly stats- how many visitors came in 1 week, again they will be divided into unique and general
* Daily stats
* Hourly stats
Most visited pages: These let you know how many visitors have come to certain pages during 1 month. This is where it gets interesting, as you will be able to tell which pages are attracting the most visitors.
The amount of time visitors have spent on your website: This is a good estimate of the quality of your site. Obviously the longer your visitors stay the more chances there are of them buying.
Once you know which pages are attracting visitors you can then work on getting all your pages sticky and compel surfers to visit them.
Google also tracks how long visitors are spending at your site. Again it is a quality check as far as they are concerned. When Googlebots bring information back to the Database about a website being visited and people are staying longer, they can naturally assume the standard of that website is high.
High standard and quality means Google customers (your visitors) are being serviced well and that makes Google happy. This will earn you a higher Page Rank.
Encourage a longer stay:
So we can naturally assume that the longer your visitors stay the better it is. Now how to encourage them to stay? Have you ever read a book that you just could not put down? Well you website must have that same effect on your visitors. They will not want to leave until they have devoured every word of your pre selling content. They should be in the mood to either sign up for your free newsletter and become your leads or go on to your sales page and buy your products or services.
Making them stay: Make your site an irresistible, sticky website that draws your visitor in and compels them to stay. Here are some ways:
* Interesting informative content
* Stories, anecdotes, and news about your industry* Quizzes relating to your industry-the answers will be found on one of your important pages
* Good user friendly navigation
* Humorous jokes, quotes and stories related to your industry-these are often shared among friends and associates (viral marketing).
So try some of these ways to make your visitor want to stay at your site. Use all the resources you have and write that good informative content to pre sell your visitors. Provide them good products and services and see your visitors convert to your loyal customers because you have made your website irresistible to them.
About the Author: Frank Herald. A webmaster and internet marketing specialist Search Engine Optimization Australia
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Google’s dominance in search leads to a dominance in coverage, but the drama surrounding Yahoo lately has thrust the number two ecommerce engine back into the public consciousness. First it was the nearly hostile takeover by Microsoft, which has yet to go away, and more recently the impending battle, a showdown slated for August 1, between Yahoo and activist investor/corporate raider Carl Icahn and his backdoor posse.
Even with the smoke far from clearing, Yahoo conducts business as usual—or perhaps arguably has been more aggressive because of it—by unveiling a swath of new partnerships with major media players and a new program called Yahoo! Circular. Powered by ShopLocal, Yahoo! Circular aims to apply the concept of Sunday newspaper ad inserts online, allowing for locally targeted coupons and sale advertisements across the Yahoo network.
This network, which now includes content and partnerships with Walmart.com, Havas Digital, major television networks NBC, CBS, and Fox, and 779 US newspapers as part of the company’s Newspaper Consortium, many of whom will be early adopters of Yahoo’s upcoming AMP! ad network, which the company claims will simplify the ad buying and selling process. As a result of all this wheeling and dealing, Yahoo claims a reach of over 90 percent of the US-based web audience.
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Yahoo President Sue Decker complained in a conference keynote yesterday that all of the focus on Microsoft and the ensuing drama has taken attention away from the bold moves Yahoo is still making. We’d argue that seven announcements in one day will dilute the significance of those moves, too, but hey, it’s not our company.
So without further ado, here’s a roundup of what Yahoo’s been up to this week, which is a lot.
The Yahoo/Microsoft/Icahn Drama Intensifies
Though Microsoft balked at $37 per share, the new magic number could be $42, if Mr. Softy decides to swagger back to the negotiating table. That of course may depend on the success of Icahn’s corporate coup, which has raised hostilities to a palpable level. After raiding the board, Icahn (strongly) suggests Yahoo do away with its severance package proposal, a suggestion that earned him a strongly worded reply from chairman of the board Roy Bostock.
Yahoo Goes Announcement Crazy
Yesterday, Yahoo issued seven, count’em seven, press releases and one early this morning. The subjects ranged from Sue Decker’s outline of Yahoo’s advertising future, to several new partnerships, to the aforementioned letter from Bostock. Here is a summary of those announcements.
Wal-Mart Turns Smiley Face Toward Yahoo
Walmart.com will be one of the first participants in Yahoo’s forthcoming AMP ad network, allowing Yahoo to handle display and video advertising for the world’s largest retailer.
Yahoo Unveils Circular Logic
ShopLocal will convert local print ads into Web ads for Yahoo, pushing out local deals toward 140 million monthly US visitors. For local vendors and national vendors, this could be huge.
CBS Has Its Eye On Yahoo
The CBS Audience Network joined up with Yahoo to distribute programming across Yahoo’s network. Combined with other partners like Fox and NBC, that gives Yahoo a reach of 92% of the US-based market.
About the Author:
Jason Lee Miller is a WebProNews editor and writer covering business and technology.
Using Social Media To Drive Traffic
SMO, or Social Media Optimization, helps build website traffic by using social media based websites. The dawning of web 2.0 has seen many different social media websites crop up in an equally large number of different guises. Content sharing, social bookmarking, and collaborative websites form the basis of this initiative and it is these types of website that you need to use in order to leverage the power of the social web.
SMO As Guerrilla Marketing
The nature of Social Media Optimization is such that it could be considered form of guerrilla marketing. Website owners and blog owners have the choice of either investing money or their own skills and time in order to generate traffic from social sites. As long as your efforts are directed appropriately, the more work you put in the more reward you will reap.
SMO As A Link Building Technique
Social optimization also has a happy side effect - it helps to build your link profile so you will usually gain search engine traffic in the long term. Becoming a part of an online community is essential to your social optimization and this, in turn, will naturally provide links to your website. The links will usually be from relevant pages based on a similar topic to that of your own page. The more popular social sites are also given a lot of weight by certain search engines.
Optimize Your Existing Site
Create genuinely interesting, intriguing, or informative pages. Includes images, links, video, and collaborative tools so that visitors really get involved when they do visit your site. SMO is basically digital word-of-mouth and if your website doesn’t offer some kind of appealing experience to your visitors, then it simply won’t attract the positive word-of-mouth that you want.
Add new pages, if necessary, so that you can include more information. However, don’t just add pages for the sake of it - ensure that each page really does have something unique to offer. A website still needs to be well structured.
Get A Blog
Add a blog. Every website has potential blog posts in it so find yours and start blogging regularly. Blog posts tend to attract links from other blog posts and those in turn will spread the word of your website. The more popular your blog becomes, the more value it is perceived to offer and the more visitors you will continue to get.
Be active in those blogs that are within your industry and use your link where permitted and relevant. Don’t spam because that will lose you more friends than it will make but if you offer relevant information and a forum or blog allows you to link to it, then offer an insightful comment and provide a link.
Be Active
Being active is a vital part to your whole SMO campaign. Simply registering with social bookmarking sites and content sharing sites is