"Email Marketing Not Dead Yet"

"Because email marketing is one of the oldest forms of Internet marketing, many people think it is outdated and not useful. But according to blogging legend Darren Rowse of ProBlogger, it is anything but dead." Watch the full interview to get the rest of the scoop.

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"What to Do if My Site is Being Penalized"

"AliceC from Los Angeles, CA asks: "If it appears that your site has been penalized in SERP position, but you have done nothing wrong and cannot diagnose what the problem is, how do you proceed?" See how Matt Cutts responds.

Review of “Affiliate Niche Packs”

Name Of The Product: Affiliate Niche Packs

Where You Can Buy It: http://www.quicksales.com/app/?af=1096841

Product Description:

Everything you need to get started in a new niche as an affiliate. With each pack you receive a description of the niche and your ideal target market, recommended affiliate products to promote, a list of 1000+ keywords as well as 100 domain name suggestions and 100 article and blog post ideas.
You also receive an extensive guide on how to get started including 2 different marketing strategies along with daily tasks and check lists.
Who This Product is Intended for:


Anyone who is interested in affiliate marketing or wants to increase affiliate income by going into a new niche.
This course is especially for you if you:

• are new to affiliate marketing and don’t know where and how to get started.
• are a seasoned affiliate marketer who wants to get into a new niche.
• want a step by step action plan for generating a new stream of income.
• want to save time and don’t want to research a new niche yourself.

Uses:

Each Affiliate Niche Pack provides the information and tools get you started in a new niche. Follow the marketing strategies and create content that will attract potential customers.


Pros:
Affiliate Niche Packs are for anyone interested in or currently actively involved in affiliate marketing. It saves you days of research time and helps you stay on track with the action plans and marketing strategies. You can sit down and focus on content creation or hand the package and instructions off to one of your assistants.


Cons:

You are limited to the niches that have already been researched and are available for purchase as packs.
There are plenty of article and content ideas included in the pack, but the content is not written for you. The resource section does include links to sites though where you can buy relevant content.

Sign Up as a Contributor for "Greedy Giveaway"

I only like to pass along invitations to giveaway events that are the very best...this time I want to let you know about an event you absolutely CANNOT afford to miss.

Jason James is opening up version 5 of his now famous "Greedy Giveaway" and here's the really cool part...You will earn $1.00 per active contributor you refer! You will get paid right after the event nds too via PayPal, no strings attached!

Sign-up here right away and begin earning: http://greedygiveaway.com/version5/go/64/jv

Jason's events usually pull in at least 20,000 members each time... how would you like to grow your list with 1,000's of these subscribers? There is one small catch...There is only a few days to get involved as this event happens Nov. 25th, 2009.

Go over to this page to get started ASAP (It's free!) http://greedygiveaway.com/version5/go/64/jv

"Merchants Wanted: Pay-Per-Click Advertising with Comparison Search Engines"

Anyone who advertises on the Internet knows about pay-per-click search engines like Google Adwords and Yahoo Search Marketing. But did you know that if you sell products online there's a tool out there specifically for you?

A different form of pay-per-click that uses "comparison search engines". These are actually search engines just for products. Searchers use this type of search engine when searching to purchase a specific product. With the information this type of engine provides, shoppers can locate the cheapest price by comparing prices for a variety of stores all in one place. It's an easy way of doing research before making a purchase and helps the buyer to make more informed shopping decisions. One example of this type of site is Shopping.com

Search results generally include a small picture and sometimes customer comments, or ratings. If you're searching for something online these search engines really are a must to ensure you're not paying too much for your intended purchase.

So, now you know what a shopping search engine is and why they're good for consumers. Let's talk about why they're also a good thing for merchants, and why you'll want to
include them in your online advertising campaigns.

The first major factor is "less competition". If you've been advertising with Google or Yahoo, which most online advertisers use, you will notice that since comparison search engines are only for products, there are less players in the game. Thus you'll stand a better chance of standing out in the crowd and obtaining a good ranking.

All vendors do appear in the search results, but ranking for each shopping search engine is usually based on multiple factors: bid relevancy, popularity, bid amount. Each uses different criteria when deciding who's going to appear at the top.

So how do these search engines get paid, and what's in it for them? I thought you'd never ask. Most engines allow you to submit your products for free and only charge merchants for actual click-throughs. Some make money on any actual sales that are made using their sites.

The traffic you'll receive from this type of specialty search engine is considered to be more "qualified". As these browsers are actively searching for a product to purchase they are in "shopping mode" and are “spend ready”. More qualified traffic means higher conversions
for you.

Every comparison search engine has different rules for submitting your products, but the majority are all the same. They ask for merchants to upload their products in the form of a "data feed" which is usually in TXT, CSV, or XML format. This is essentially a list of all the products the merchant wants included in the search results. It consists of pictures and short descriptions.

Now that I've got your interest, let's take a look at some of these shopping search engines and where you can go to submit your products.

1) Yahoo: "Product Submit" http://Shopping.Yahoo.com

http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/shopsb/index.php

This is Yahoo's product submission page. Minimum bids
vary depending on which category you select. The amount you
bid per click will determine your ranking.

2) Froogle: http://google.com/base/help/sellongoogle.html

My personal favorite when I'm in "shopping mode". Froogle
is Google's shopping engine. No fees to list your products
and no fees for click-throughs to your website. If
submitting more than ten items, Google suggests you upload
a data feed.

3) MySimon- http://www.MySimon.com

https://merchant.shopping.com/enroll/app?service=page/PartnerWelc
ome

Their non-tech listings are powered by Shopping.com.
Their tech listings are powered by CNET. To list your
tech products go to
http://shopper.cnet.com/4002-5_9-1008724.html

4) Shopping.com- http://www.Shopping.com

https://merchant.shopping.com/enroll/app?service=page/PartnerWelc
ome

An Ebay company which lists thousands of products from
online stores. Twenty million unique visitors per month.
Merchants can list products for free and only pay for
clicks. The cost per click amount depends on the
category chosen. To be listed in the top three search
results is  called "featured store placement" and is
based on the top three bids.

5) PriceGrabber.com- http://www.PriceGrabber.com

http://www.pricegrabber.com/sell_here.php/

With over 26 million unique monthly visitors, PriceGrabber
is a strong contender in the shopping search engine
arena. You only pay for clicks to your store. Merchants
can choose to enhance their presence through logos
and what they call "Featured Merchant Product Listings".
There are additional charges for these services.

6) Shopzilla: http://www.ShopZilla.com

http://merchant.shopzilla.com/oa/shopping_search/

No set up fees to list your products and you only
pay for clicks. When opening your account you'll
need to fund it with 50.00 which gets applied to
click-throughs as needed. Your product listings
will also appear in Shopzilla's other sites such
as Bizrate, AOL's Instore.com, etc.

7) Become.com- http://www.Become.com

http://www.become.com/merchant

Founded in 2004, you'll find no set up fees to
submit your products. You'll only be charged for
clicks to your site. Each category has a minimum
cost per click. Your ranking is based on three
factors: relevance, bid amount and popularity.

There is no doubt that comparison search engines can
send additional traffic to your online store. If
you haven't been using them because you didn't know
what they were, or how to include them, now you know.
You no longer have any excuses for not adding them to
your online marketing arsenal.

For additional information on this subject see these
sites:

http://cumbrowski.com/comparisonengines.asp
Additional links and resources.

http://www.LoveYourFeed.com
A blog about data feed optimization for the shopping
search engines.

http://Goecart.com/Comparison-Engine-Datafeeds-Guide.asp
Offering information and reviews on comparison search
engines.

http://www.SingleFeed.com
Helps online retailers submit, manage and optimize
product listings on top shopping search engines via
a single data feed.

All things considered, shopping search engines are not only an excellent tool for online shoppers, they're also a dream come true for merchants who are trying to increase their store front traffic. If you haven't used them in the past, now's your chance to get your products in front of millions of online shoppers. And who knows, you might have just what they're looking
for!

-----------------------------------------

By Merle- The pay-per-click Authority when it comes
to paid search engine advertising. With helpful articles,
how-to's and tips that will help you make the most from
your advertising investment. Download a FREE "How To"
ebook by subscribing to our ezine at
http://www.PayPerClickResearch.com

Google Adwords Announces Ad Sitelinks

Google Adwords announced the launch of Ad Sitelinks today. What is it? Google states "Ad Sitelinks is a new AdWords feature that allows you to extend the value of your existing AdWords ads by providing additional links to content deep within your sites." For more see Google's blog
http://adwords.blogspot.com/2009/11/increasing-choice-and-relevancy-in.html

"Marketing Tips for Social Media"

Listen in as Tamar Weinberg gives viewers some tips on using social media in your marketing efforts. There are a few sites she states that everyone should be using. Find out which ones they are,and more in this interview with WebProNews.com.

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"Google Launches Social Search"

Google's latest experiment was launched the other day "Social Search". Basically, it allows you to find content by people in what they call your "social circle". This consists of your Gmail contacts, Twitter, Friendfeed friends and more. These search results will appear beneath the normal search results. For more see....
http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2009-10-27-n45.html
http://www.google.com/support/websearch/bin/answer.py?answer=165228

"Google Steals the Web"

Another hot topic that has everyone talking online is Google's new Sidewiki. It's an add on for Google's Toolbar that basically allows anyone to leave comments on websites they visit. It has a lot of people up in arms. What happens if people leave negative comments on your website? What will that do to your hard earned reputation? Good or bad Google is continually bringing new products and services to enhance your use of the  Internet. Some people like them, some don't. As my Mama use to say "You can please some of the people, some of the time....."

Hop over to Jim Edward's Blog and get his opinion on Google's latest invention. Then leave your comments here. What do you think?

“The origin of Twitter”

(Guest article)

The Twitter venture first started in 2006 and has its head office in the San Francisco Bay area. What was essentially seen as a fun challenge for the staff of private business soon grew into one of most utilized social messaging services all over America and soon spreading the world over.

Many twitter members choose to use the social media site to read up to date tweets about breaking news or see what their contacts are doing. The concept began when its creator Jack Dorsey took an interest in the search for all the daily actions of his mates. He saw an opportunity in the simple concept, he had envisioned and was quick to discuss it with his workplace buddies. The potential was clearly visible to all so they sought to try and develop a proto-type of this system.

The early history of twitter was due to the complex amalgamation of a few internet companies including the organization, 'Odea' which later turned in 'Obvious Corp' which helped bankroll the investment required for the initial Twitter project. In March 2006, the twitter prototype was operational after only two weeks of development. But it was not until August in 2006, when Twitter was first released online for use by the public. Later, as the service started to gain recognition, the people behind its creation separated again from the original Obvious name to form a stand alone company named Twitter Inc.

Other private web development organizations who were also trying to provide similar short message applications were left quizzing how Twitter grew into such a massive success. I guess the answer to that question was quite obvious at time when web savvy audiences were looking to technology to provide a way for people to keep connection with any person in any locality. Twitter allows messages from the net, SMS, instant messaging, mobile phone, internet and other application programming interfaces (API) and all this array of features were appealing to different people short on spare time.

The massive amount of information transfer from more traditionally means of communication on the web could be seen as providing oversupply of stimulus that was difficult for the human mind to cope with. With Twitter this problem was resolved because it gave each user more control of how, what and when to communicate. After a tweet message is published, an reply straight away is not expected by the sender. News and alerts from your friends, loved-ones and family are sent to your own site, instant messaging, or cell but the user has the choice of when they read that information in which they can reply to the tweets or simply ignore it all together. The information that you receive on Twitter can be set up and changed from your own unique account profile.

"Ruby on Rails (RoR)” is the programming code framework used to make Twitter run. Daily, many code level changes are made to keep improving the application easily and new add-on options are released quickly with no bugs. Their large team of specialist software programmers and networking engineers always use Macintosh computer hardware with the only exception being in the initial testing phase. The twitter graphic user interface (GUI) on their site was designed using the 'Photoshop' and 'Omni graffle' programs. Twitters creators continue to reinvest resources into further development and providing excellent service to the millions of members from all over the globe.

Twitter still puts a big priority on the behavior of their users and any new suggestions they receive. In May 2007 twitter decided to launch the mobile interface version after getting a high number of requests from its users. Despite the rapid rise and spectacular fame achieved by Twitter Inc. they still stay true to their original operating ethos – keeping all things intuitive & simple.