“Extra! Extra! Send Out a Press Release”

If you want people to know what you are up to in your online business, sometimes you have to shout it from the cyber rooftops. One way to do that is through the use of press releases to promote your website.

What is a Press Release?

A press release is basically an announcement. You see them in newspapers and online. For your business, you will use the online approach. When something exciting and new is going on in your business, this is a simple but effective way to let people in on the good news.

These one-page write ups highlight a particular event that is pertinent to your business. When your website is up and running send a short press release to let others know that you are on the scene. Other reasons to write a press release might include a new product launch, a new website launch or a new partnership you are embarking on. 

Tips for Writing a Press Release

Like we said above, press releases are most effective for website promotion when they are kept to one page. Anything longer and you will lose your audience right away. The point is to grab their attention quickly and hold it long enough for them to click and visit your website.

To get all of that said and done in one page takes focus - a targeted approach in your press release writing. There are a few key things to include in your press release:

• Keyword-rich headline (include the line "For Immediate Release" underneath it)
• The where, when, who, what, how and why for the press release
• Bulleted points (easier to read)

A catching headline let's others know what is going on. They will become intrigued and have to read more. Headlines with keywords also help your press release to rank high with the search engines which is what you want so that relevant traffic can find it.

In a conversational manner, lay out the facts for your readers in the body of the press release. You can create a scenario for your readers using a real event from your life such as what prompted you to start the Internet business in the first place. Or, you can link your "big announcement" to some event already big in the news to gain attention.

After you engage them, don't forget to add your website so they can find out more information about your product, site launch or whatever else you are announcing. Your increased traffic will help you gauge how effective your press release has been.

There are websites that will let you showcase and distribute your press releases for free. You will get all the buzz you can handle if you go this route. Here are a few of the ones to check out:

• PRBuzz.com
• 24-7PressRelease.com
• Free-Press-Release.com
• PR.com

Sites like these distribute press releases to news sites, search engines and other relevant places to increase your traffic.

Press releases can get you noticed on the Web. If you know how to write one properly you are even more ahead of the game. Use them to promote all aspects of your website business and watch your business grow.

Ghost Tweeting: Right or Wrong?

Ever had someone else send out tweets for you? Ghost Tweeting is popular with some people. Watch the video to learn more. Right or wrong, what do you think?

More WebProNews Videos

“Join an Online Business Forum and Get Noticed”

Forums are great places to find other like minded entrepreneurs who can help you with your business. You can also help them. Remember, networking is a two way street. While you are learning and teaching useful information you can also get the word out among your peers about your business website.

One advantage of niche forums is the connections. You will meet people who have made it big. Here you are all business people and you don't feel small when you ask questions. The environment is one of camaraderie and is supercharged with money-making energy.

So, what's the key to promoting yourself here? One thing you probably already know, but bears repeating are that forum communities discourage blatant advertising.  Besides, you won't make any friends or useful contacts that way. It is thought to be a privilege to belong to professional organizations so using them the correct way is important.

Usually, you will be allowed to mention your website in your signature line. Here, you can feature your link and a catchy tagline if you have one.

So, what's the key to being seen in these forums? In a word, it's getting involved in the conversations. Find threads that interest you and follow them. When you feel like you have something to contribute join in and post a comment.

People get to know you when they see you around the forums regularly. You can begin your own threads and talk in existing ones. Find your way around the different areas of the forum so that others can see that you are an active member and not just there to talk about your website. Other business owners can easily spot someone who is around for nothing but their own personal gain. They will respond (or should I say NOT respond) to a member they feel is doing so.

There are ways to get your website mentioned in posts but only when it is appropriate. When you have pertinent information to offer to others and it happens to be found in one of your blog posts, linking to it may be acceptable to forum moderators. Make certain that you ask first if posting additional links are okay in relevant posts. Remember, you want to be helpful not annoying.

Another benefit to interacting with a group of professionals is that you can find others with large followings. Building a relationship with them can lead to their endorsement of your website and possible quality backlinks in the future. Those same people may even be interested in entering into joint ventures with you in the future.

If the forum has a place for posting what's new with your business, then by all means, talk about yourself and what you do there. Even with permission, keep it modest and read about the information of others and comment on their posts; visit their sites as well.

You can promote your website in professional forums without wearing out your welcome. All you need to do is participate fairly and help where you can. The advertising will come on its own once you do.

Free PDF Report: “The Oly 3 Steps You Need to Make Tons of Sales in 2010”

Marlon Sanders is one of the "old timers" (no offense Marlon- I mean that in a good sense) online and is a master marketer. If you're looking to learn from someone who walks the talk, it's Marlon. His latest free offering is this PDF report entitled "The Only 3 Steps You Need to Make Tons of Sales in 2010" For more on Marlon see http://marlonsanders.com/

Download the report here http://www.merlesworld.com/e-books/3steps.pdf

PLR: Can It Help Me Train my Direct Sales Team?

"Nicole Dean of http://www.EasyPLR.com was asked how PLR articles can benefit someone in Direct Sales, like a Tupperware or Avon rep, especially regarding training their downline and helping with leadership. Here is her response."

“Offer Coupons to Increase Your Traffic for Free”

In today's economy, people are always looking for businesses who give them a break on prices. There are ways to give customers and potential customers a helping hand on your website without putting yourself in the poor house. One such way is to offer coupons.

We shop at the grocery store with coupons. Retail stores offer discount coupons to get you to come and at least look and hopefully to shop. Online stores are full of coupon codes that are helpful to lower your total shopping bill.

Coupons are a great way for you to promote your website and possibly increase your conversion rate at the same time. A discount coupon will get them in the door to check out your website and what you have to offer. You can use your web content and your fabulous marketing skills to do the rest.

Remember all those names on the list you worked so hard to build?  You can advertise your coupon offerings in your monthly newsletter sent to your email list of names. Create a page or a section of your newsletter devoted to highlighting discounts and coupons.

Here you can create sample coupons that contain a code which you will incorporate in your shopping cart so that customers get their discount. The purpose of the sample coupon is so your subscribers can print it out and pass it along to others. This is viral marketing. Make sure that your coupon has your website name listed on it as well as any terms and conditions of using the code.

Coupons can also be featured in an email marketing series. For instance, when someone on your list downloads your free report or signs up to buy the featured eBook, they get sent a discount coupon code that they can use towards other products in the future.

When you participate in joint ventures, offering special discount coupons specifically for your partner's lists will encourage visits to your site.

Setting Up Your Coupons & Discounts

Most likely, depending on your shopping cart of course, you will find an area to set up coupon codes and discounts. Check for specific details within your cart and then plan out your strategy for creating different offers.

Coupons can be used for a variety of offers to bring you the added traffic you want. Give away a free report or a free crafting kit (if that's your niche) with every purchase. Offer 20% or 30% off of their entire order at checkout or an additional 10% off of sale items in your virtual store. There are all sorts of ways to give people a discount at the same time that you are getting free website promotion.

Two Shopping Cart Systems to check out that make it easy to incorporate those coupon savings.

WamCart

Need an ecommerce system that includes everything all in one place? Shopping Cart, Affiliate Management System, Unlimited Autoresponders,
Digital Product Delivery and Tracking System? Work Smarter not Harder with WAHMCart!

http://wahmcart.com/x.php?adminid=2&id=2592

1 Shopping Cart

A complete Shopping Cart Software System that  instantly connects to both your website and  Merchant Account to start taking orders within  minutes of signing up!  Multiple Autoresponders  allow you to effortlessly follow up sales and  leads, manage your mailing lists, and build repeat customers.

http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?pr=1&id=119465

"What's Up with the Search Engines in 2010"

So it's a  new year already, and what comes along with the new year? Funny you should ask. Besides resolutions by people who never intend to keep them, changes are happening daily with the search engines. So what should you expect in 2010? Listen in on this interview with Amanda Watlington of "Searching for Profit" as she shares her insights into what's ahead.

More WebProNews Videos

“Using Article Directories to Funnel Traffic”

Content is one of the main reasons people keep coming back to the Internet. Providing the information they seek can lead readers back to you again and again. If you are a writer, use your skill to promote your website through article directories.

Article directories are places where website owners can go to find useful content in their niche. People simply surfing the web can also find this content during their topic searches.

This is valuable to you, the website owner. If your content is listed here, you can gain quite a following with the more articles you submit and have posted. The process is not hard as long as you adhere to the submission guidelines set down by the site. Note that while most article directories have similar rules, not all are the same so make sure you’re double checking before submitting articles to each site.

The easiest way to create content is to write about something that you know – your niche market. Within those parameters you have plenty to work with. You can write about business issues: starting a business in your niche, defining your niche and promoting your business. More articles will probably be generated on your business focus. For example, if your focus was gardening: Titles such as “How to Fertilize a Vegetable Garden, How to Grow Bug-Resistant Plants, etcetera would be perfect topics.

Keys to Driving Traffic Your Way

• Whatever articles you write, always have an engaging headline. Include the same keywords that you use on your website. Articles that include steps or processes catch a reader’s eye. Why? They usually include bulleted points or numbered steps which are easy to skim or read quickly. Reader’s like to get their information in as useful a format as possible.

• Use keywords throughout the article. For an article of 400-500 words, a particular keyword can be mentioned about six or seven times to be effective and not considered “keyword stuffing.” For maximum effect, if you have more than one keyword you want to use, write a separate article for each.

• Submit your content to popular article directories. Some people may have their favorite sites like About.com or Ezinearticles.com to find helpful information. There they can search within the site to find helpful articles. If you are there with your expertise in the form of submitted articles, they will find you. Once they have some information from you they can use and trust, the chances of them following through to your website to learn more increase.

• Use your bio box. This is one of the most helpful tools for free website promotion when writing and submitting articles to directories. Here, you have a chance to tell others what you want them to know about you and your business. And, you can include links to your website here for readers to follow.

Even with audio and video showing up more and more, written content is still royalty on the Internet. Drive traffic your way by submitting quality content to popular article directories, along with those other types of content for maximum exposure.

Here are some article announcement lists you can subscribe to then send your articles to on a regular basis:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Free-Reprint-Articles/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freezinecontent/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aabusiness/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/netwrite-publish-announce/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Free-Content/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/articles_archives/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EzineZone/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/publisher_network/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/QC_Reprint_Articles/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Free_eContent/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/I_Need_Content/

A few directory sites to submit to:

WebSite Fuel
http://www.websitefuel.com

Go Articles
http://www.GoArticles.com

Article City
http://www.ArticleCity.com

IdeaMarketers
http://www.ideamarketers.com

Certificate
http://www.certificate.net

Article Central
http://www.articlecentral.com

Article Finders
http://www.articlefinders.com

Some other sites to help with your article distribution:

http://www.articlemarketingautomation.com/1000219-0-5-3.html

http://articlewritingassistant.com/members.php?id=5960

http://www.articlemarketer.com/6132.html

Quick Article Pro and Submitter
http://dakota6969.quikartpro.hop.clickbank.net/

Write an Article Per Day
http://dakota6969.momstories.hop.clickbank.net/

Article Submitter
http://dakota6969.hpwiz2.hop.clickbank.net/

Article Marketing Handbook
http://dakota6969.amhandbook.hop.clickbank.net/

Entrepreneurs Guide to Article Marketing
http://dakota6969.bukisa.hop.clickbank.net/

"Are Your Ears Burning?- 20 Tools for Tracking Social Media Marketing"

By Merle

Social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter make it easy for people to come together and share opinions, experiences and thoughts on a number of topics. Smart companies understand this and are using the power of social media to connect and inform their customers, and potential customers. Referred to as "Social Media Marketing", it's a smart way to open the lines of communication between you and your prospects.

Social media activities run the gamut from Blogging, micro blogging sites such as Twitter, social networking communities such as LinkedIn and Facebook, video and music uploading sites, discussion forums, photo sharing and more. With so many different sites and ways to participate, it can be difficult to keep track of all your efforts.

Participating in social media doesn't take a lot of money, but it is very time consuming and businesses want to know that all of this investment in time is paying off. Before launching a campaign, you should have a firm grasp on what it is you're trying to accomplish. Is it increasing website traffic? Getting more ezine subscribers? Having more people download your free ebook or whitepaper? Or maybe you just want to work on your company's brand image. Whatever it is, you need to have a plan. As the old saying goes, "If you don't know where you're going, you'll never get there”. Have your game plan intact before getting started in marketing yourself, or your company with social media.

There are many different forms of social media, so it's impossible to use them all. Pick three or four, and funnel the majority of your efforts there. Even if you won't be working them all, at the very least you should claim your name or company name on as many social services as possible. You don't want to find out later that someone has the user name that you want. If you need to see if your chosen user name is available try http://Namechk.com which checks dozens of social media networking and bookmarking sites all at once to see if it's available. Claim your name now so you won't end up being sorry later.

So how do you monitor all the buzz? How do you monitor your brand and protect your hard earned reputation? I thought you'd never ask. There isn't one fool-proof method but there are many services and tools out there that will make it easy to see who's talking about you online. Some are free and others will make you pull out your wallet.

These "online reputation management" tools, as they're often referred to, will help you to  define keywords, or phrases you wish to track and then watches for any mention of your company name, products, or services. It's important to defend and monitor your online reputation. Similar to High School reputations, protecting your image online is the name of the game, and just as in real life, everyone has one to maintain.

Let's take a look at some of the measuring and tracking tools at your disposal: 

1)http://BackTweets.com : A search engine for Twitter. See who's tweeting your links and more. Can also sign up for email alerts of new findings.

2) http://Addictomatic.com : A little different than the others , you type in a keyword, topic or phrase and out it goes searching the top blogs, news sites, Google, Technorati, Ask, YouTube, Flickr, Digg, Topix and more. You'll be given a personalized results page to bookmark with everything it finds related to your topic.

3) http://Buzzoo.net : All about Internet buzz, it tracks several different websites to bring you what's "hot" right now.

4) http://Surchur.com : Search for the latest and greatest on topics that are popular right now. Type in a keyphrase and it searches blogs, social news sites, photo and video sites for your chosen topic.

5) http://Commentful.Blogflux.com : This service watches for comments on blog posts, Digg, Flickr, and others and notifies you of any findings.

6) http://AlertRank.com : A better way to organize and sort Google alerts. Get a daily report emailed to you in a spreadsheet format of what it finds.

7) http://BoardTracker.com : A search engine for forums only. Monitor discussion boards and be notified by email when a thread matching your search terms is discovered. Free to use.

8) http://www.google.com/alerts : I've been using this "secret weapon" for years. Simply type in your name or company name and receive daily emails of results found. They do the work, you receive the links. Free and nice.

9) http://BrandsEye.com : An online reputation management tool with a real-time, concise overview of your online reputation. Multiple levels of services and pricing available. Starting at $1.00.

10) http://Twazzup.com : Another Twitter only search engine.

11) http://SiteMention.com : Type in your url and find out what's being said about you. The results returned are gathered from Google Blog Search, Twitter, FriendFeed, YouTube, MySpace, Digg, Delicious and many more.

12) http://Brandwatch.net: This service tracks your brands, companies, even the ompetition. Sign up for free weekly updates on any brand. Their detailed reports break down what sites like you, your most talked about features, weekly summary of all blogs and forum activity. Very similar to the old "press clipping" service.

13) http://Trackur.com : A tool that scans many websites including blogs, news, image and video sites, forums and notifies you of any mention of your brand, products/services. Easy to use and affordable. Prices vary depending on need, a personal account is only $18.00 a month, corporate account $88.00 a month with other options also available. Try a "personal" account free for 14 days.

14) http://FiltrBox.com : This one searches online news sources, Twitter and others to find out what's being said about you or your company. Pricing is based on the number of users, but there is a free version that provides "5 filters" and 15 days of what they call "article history".

15) http://SocialMention.com/alerts : Just like Google Alerts but for social media. Enter your keyword phrase and email address to be notified of any new findings. Searches blogs, microblogs like Twitter, bookmarks, comments, events, images, news, videos and more.

16) http://BlogPulse.com : A search engine that searches only for data posted to blogs. Enter your keyword, hit submit and off it goes to gather results.

17) http://BackType.com : Billing itself as a "conversational search engine" they index millions of conversations from social networks, blogs and other social media.

18) http://sm2.techrigy.com : Industry insiders claim this to be the leading social media monitoring solution online. Choice of free or paid version. Free is limited to five searches and 1,000 results. There are three paid professional levels: Gold, Diamond, or Platinum.

19) http://ReputationDefender.com : This paid service finds out everything there is to know about you online, and if negative information is found they try to have it removed. Different types of plans are available such as "My Reputation", "My Privacy", starting at only $14.95 a month.

20) http://Topsy.com : Topsy will track your tweets that have been retweeted so you can find out who's been sending you all that "link love". Type in your Twitter user name and you'll be amazed at what you find.

If you'd like to track incoming traffic from your various social media profiles, an easy way to do it using Google Analytics can be found here http://Tinyurl.com/kuc9rL

Just as there are many ways to market your company using social media, as you can see, there's a multitude of tools and services at your disposal to track and see if all of that hard work is paying off. Smart companies realize the importance of social media in their marketing efforts and are utilizing it on some level. How smart are you?

"What Can you Do with PLR Articles?"

"What Can you Do with PLR Articles?"

By Nicole Dean of http://www.easyplr.com/go.php?af=977615

You may have seen the term Private Label Rights or PLR articles being tossed around frequently lately. PLR articles are articles you can buy (usually in packages or as part of a membership) that you may edit and use as you wish. Unlike free reprint articles, you are not required to link back to anyone else’s website which makes them appealing to many web publishers.

Once you understand the concept behind PLR articles, you can see why they are appealing. Most people can envision the value of adding the articles to their websites. But, did you know there are more ways to use PLR articles than that?

1. Add them to your blog.

Similar to adding PLR articles to your website, you can take excerpts and use them on your blog for fresh content. Whether you take a portion and use it as a “tip of the day” or use the entire article, PLR articles can be a huge time saver for you.

2. Send them in your newsletter.

Need content for your newsletter? PLR articles are an option. Of course, if you’re developing a relationship with your readers, you may wish to edit the articles to make them your own voice. However, you can pull a section from a PLR article – use it as inspiration — and whip out a newsletter in minutes.

3. Start an ecourse

If you purchase a package of PLR articles based on a theme, it’s quite easy to turn them into an ecourse simply by adding them to your auto-responder. Something as simple as “Five Ideas for Kids Lunches” can become a 5 day ecourse to grow a big newsletter list.

4. Use them in your podcast

Take a PLR article and use it as inspiration for a podcast. Add the content and you’re done.

5. Send them in a print mailing

Direct mailing is huge. If you have a list of postal mailing addresses, put together a free report from PLR articles and send it out.

6. Create a special report

Simply bulk together some PLR articles that have the same topic, and make them flow into a special report. Turn it into a pdf file and give it away to your website visitors.

See how easy that is? The only hard part is finding a PLR service that is high quality and fits your niche. Look around. Make sure the PLR package or membership you choose provides you with high quality articles so you can create something you’ll be proud of.

Article written by:

Nicole Dean is the owner of http://www.easyplr.com/go.php?af=977615 – where you’ll find high-quality PLR articles sold in very limited quantities. The PLR articles at EasyPLR are professionally written and professionally edited — top quality at an affordable price.

"Just One Dog"

OK, so this post is a little off-topic but I'm going to post it anyway. See, I love dogs and I'm not ashamed to admit it. Presently I have 3 dogs who I think own me, and they really make my life complete. On a sadder note there are plenty of dogs waiting for good homes in shelters every day. Many of them are put to sleep before ever knowing the love and companionship of a human. How sad. I'll warn you this vide made me cry. If you love animals and have compassion for them make sure you have the tissues handy. If you like this video please pass it along to others. One person really can make a difference and this video proves it.